A vast, clear sky stretched for ten thousand miles.
Or rather, at the height of Heavenly Summit Mountain's peak, clouds could never exist in the sky above.
On the steps before Heavenly Summit Palace, a young cultivator was half-reclining there, idly playing with a blank token of Heavenly Summit Mountain in his hand, his gaze fixed firmly upon that token.
After a moment, a handsome young man clad in plain white daoist robes quietly appeared behind him.
"Here?"
Mr. You didn't turn around, merely speaking slowly.
"Yeah."
Chen Yan replied.
"All the trivial matters in this era taken care of?"
"Then why are you here now?"
"Because no matter how much I arrange things, I'll still end up worrying."
"Heh. Truly, the heart of a parent is ever burdened."
Mr. You laughed, sighing with that sentiment.
Chen Yan's gaze drifted toward Mr. You:
"Master, have you ever experienced being a parent?"
"Of course not."
Mr. You shook his head.
"How many cultivators in this world are willing to become parents or form dao partners with others... Cultivation is, at its core, a selfish pursuit."
"What if one carries the world and its people in their heart?"
Chen Yan asked.
"Then they'd die a miserable death."
Mr. You answered with a smile.
"Perhaps."
Chen Yan said.
Then, Mr. You returned his focus to the blank Heavenly Summit Mountain token in his hand, slowly raising it and holding it before Chen Yan's line of sight.
"Look at this,"
He said.
"A token of Heavenly Summit Mountain."
He paused briefly, then continued.
"For a very long time, I always believed that Heavenly Summit Mountain represented everything about the cultivation world of this domain, even now, nearly sixty thousand years after its fall.
"Though the ones ruling over this realm changed from Heavenly Summit Mountain to the Five Great Sects, in truth, the Five Great Sects merely inherited Heavenly Summit Mountain's assets. That means Heavenly Summit Mountain's influence still endures."
As he spoke, he suddenly curled his fingers, tightening his grip on the blank token in his palm.
Countless cracks spread across the token, then it shattered in an instant, breaking into countless fragments that scattered across the steps of Heavenly Summit Palace.
They bounced along the steps, tumbling into the void over ten thousand feet above the ground.
"But that's not the truth. Heavenly Summit Mountain was merely an extension of some unknown, distant era, and I know nothing about it."
Mr. You's tone was remarkably calm.
He wasn't just recounting Heavenly Summit Mountain's past; he was lamenting the collapse of his understanding of the Chenping Continent's cultivation world.
This world wasn't as Mr. You had previously known it, or rather, this world was never real.
It was as if everything was built on a stage, always under the control of those behind the scenes.
This was the real reason Mr. You ultimately decided to forcefully become a Sage, regardless of the attention from "that existence" lurking in the shadows and watching everything.
Immortal Venerable Fusheng could never willingly be a puppet on a stage, controlled by others.
This was his rebellion, a revolt against those ancient existences, those unknown beings.
"Any more questions?"
Mr. You looked calmly toward Chen Yan.
"No."
Chen Yan replied just as calmly.
"Then, it's time to start preparing."
As he spoke, Mr. You slowly rose from the steps, raising a hand to lightly brush the dust off his plain-colored daoist robes.
"Oh, right. There's one more thing I need to give you... no, entrust to your safekeeping."
Mr. You added.
"What?"
Chen Yan asked.
Then, Mr. You raised his hand, lightly flicking his daoist robe's sleeve, and a pure white "jade block," about three feet long, two feet wide, and two feet tall, materialized before him.
Though it was his first time seeing it, Chen Yan recognized what the pure white "jade block" was in an instant.
An immortal embryo.
Or rather, an immortal artifact embryo.
Chen Yan could channel the Great Derivation Art to use the world's spiritual energy or his own natal spiritual energy to derive an immortal artifact.
But neither the world's spiritual energy nor Chen Yan's natal spiritual energy could bear the lingering resonance of the immortal path. Immortal artifacts derived through such channels would inevitably wear down and crumble over time.
An immortal embryo was different.
An immortal embryo was inherently meant to nurture and forge immortal artifacts.
Using the Great Derivation Art to transform an immortal embryo into an immortal artifact could skip the excessively long nurturing process required for ordinary immortal artifact forging, which often took millennia.
And it wouldn't wear down or crumble over time either.
"I found this back in the day in the Xiling Mountain Range in the northwest of the Chenping Continent. It's not far from the Kongshan Sect, only a few thousand miles away."
Mr. You said.
The Xiling Mountain Range, located near the Kongshan Sect...
Chen Yan remembered.
The Fallen Sword Mountain Range was named that only after the foremost Sword Immortal of the Chenping Continent, the Falling Star Realman Su Hongzhen, fell there. Before that, the Fallen Sword Mountain Range had always been called the Xiling Mountain Range.
"Entrust to safekeeping?"
Chen Yan stared at the immortal embryo Mr. You had just handed him, murmuring.
"What, are you thinking of embezzling this treasure?"
Mr. You clasped his hands behind his back, teasing with a smile.
"You've got no use for this thing. With your cultivation level, there's no way you could nurture this immortal embryo into an immortal artifact."
"What if I could?"
Chen Yan said calmly.
"If you could nurture this immortal embryo into an immortal artifact, then I'll just give it to you!"
Mr. You was full of confidence.
Chen Yan said nothing, simply channeling the Great Derivation Art.
His spiritual energy poured into the immortal embryo cradled in his palm. Then, under the derivation of the Great Derivation Art, the immortal embryo began to glow with a blinding white light, and the chanting of the lingering resonance of the immortal path slowly arose.
The smile on Mr. You's face began to freeze.
The immortal embryo, originally about three feet long and two feet wide, started to deform, becoming more slender and elongated, ultimately taking the shape of a long sword in Chen Yan's hand.
A profound, jet-black long sword, as if bearing the weight of eternal night spanning ten thousand ages, appeared in Chen Yan's grasp.
On the blade of the sword, countless minute silver-white light points flickered, like fragments of stars.
The lingering resonance of the immortal path spread outward like the tides of a star sea, centered on the blade, emitting a mysterious, low hum.
And on the sword hilt, a few obscure inscriptions were carved, encrypted using the Hidden Immortal Art, incomprehensible to anyone.
These few arcane inscriptions were all extracted from the Emptiness Annihilation Art.
Deriving the silence of cause and effect, bearing the shattering of laws—
The Falling Star Sword.
"Then, junior thanks Master for his generosity."
Chen Yan gently caressed the Falling Star Sword in his hand, speaking slowly toward Mr. You.
"Mm, yeah, good, not bad, mm..."
Mr. You first stood there slightly dazed for another moment, then began nodding and chuckling in agreement.
Only, his smile was terribly strained.