Legend has it that the Undying Great Emperor came from the Boundary Sea, rose on the Twilight Continent, and dominated the Cangming of the Ancient Immortals before being besieged by all races.
Ultimately, he was defeated.
He retreated back to the Boundary Sea.
That battle was known as the War of the Fallen Emperors.
Since that battle, there were no more Immortal Emperors in Cangming, or at least that was the version Lu Yuan knew.
When it came to the Li family, Lu Yuan knew a bit more.
He said that in his memory, there was indeed a Li clan; among the 3,000 Great Provinces of the 99 Heavens in the Upper Realm, one province was ruled by the Li family.
However, this Li family was not nearly as powerful or invincible as the old tortoise claimed.
In Cangming, they were merely mediocre, capable of ruling a small corner but lacking the strength to vie for world supremacy.
Though it was true that the descendants of the Li family often claimed to be the lineage of a former Emperor clan.
Lu Yuan explained that after the fall of the emperor, any race in Cangming with even a bit of standing loved to boast that they were descendants of a great emperor.
They called themselves an Emperor clan to feel a sense of pride.
Such people who indulged in self-satisfaction were common.
But true descendants of an Emperor clan were few and far enough between.
After the War of the Fallen Emperors in the Era of Ancient Immortals, the emperor fell, and the true descendants of the Emperor clan faced a reckoning.
Their bloodlines withered, their foundations were plundered, their sects were destroyed, and even their lands were seized.
Any remaining survivors were hunted by their former enemies, and even if they fled to the mortal realm, their bloodlines would be fought over by various major powers.
Few Emperor clans possessed enough power to preserve themselves.
Lu Yuan said that those events were too ancient, and the brief lines in history books could not truly describe the details.
He also remarked that history books are written by the victors anyway, so one should just listen to the stories for fun and take them with a grain of salt.
Taking the opportunity, Xu Xian casually asked, "What about you? Why did you end up in Fanzhou?"
Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes with a smile and uttered two words.
"Take a guess."
"You were beaten down by someone," Xu Xian speculated.
"Essentially."
"That is rough!"
Lu Yuan shrugged his shoulders and said cockily, "It is fine, at least I did not die."
Xu Xian asked again, "What was your cultivation level when you were alive?"
Lu Yuan played it mysterious. "What do you think?"
Xu Xian thought for a moment. "Hmm... at the very least, you must have been an Immortal King, right?"
Lu Yuan smiled without saying a word.
Xu Xian's eyes flickered; it seemed he had actually guessed correctly.
In that case, it seemed even a mere Immortal King was just so-so.
He had already caught two of them.
Lu Yuan said there were no more Immortal Emperors in Cangming, so did that not mean he was currently standing at the very peak of Cangming?
He even had an Immortal King at his beck and call.
He silently did the math.
Three swords for the seventh stage.
Five swords for the ninth stage.
Six swords to become an immortal.
The stages of the immortal path were: first stage, Mortal Immortal; second stage, Earth Immortal; third stage, Heaven Immortal; fourth stage, God Immortal; and fifth stage, Immortal King.
That meant ten swords.
At ten swords, one would already be an Immortal King.
He would naturally be invincible in the world.
Just thinking about it made Xu Xian feel a surge of inner satisfaction, his eyes filled with mirth.
Seeing this, Lu Yuan was utterly confused. What was he so happy about?
When Xu Xian's daydream ended, he withdrew his thoughts and gave the tortoise on the ground a kick, saying crossly, "Have you heard enough?"
The tortoise remained motionless.
"If you keep pretending, I will toss you into a latrine."
The old tortoise opened its eyes, glanced at the two of them, and rolled over to sit on the ground.
It propped its chin on one hand and yawned.
"How boring!"
Lu Yuan licked his lips and teased, "This little thing can actually talk?"
The old tortoise shot him a look.
"Brat, who are you calling a little thing? Grandpa Tortoise's true form... even when it is soft, it is bigger than your true body, believe it or not?"
Lu Yuan knit his brows and looked down curiously. "Do turtles even have those things?"
The old tortoise said proudly, "Nonsense! Do you think everyone is like you deer, leaving that thing exposed for all to see? We tortoise folk have class. We are born with clothes."
Lu Yuan was speechless. The words were crude, but the logic was sound. When he thought about it, tortoises were indeed born with shells on their backs.
Xu Xian listened with amusement, not expecting there to be a hierarchy of contempt even in the animal kingdom.
"It seems the turtle is in a good mood today," Xu Xian remarked.
The old tortoise narrowed its eyes and did not deny it.
"It is alright!"
Hearing from this young man that the Li family had truly declined made it feel quite good.
It asked Lu Yuan, "What era is it currently in Cangming?"
Lu Yuan ignored it.
It was not until Xu Xian looked at him with the same questioning gaze that Lu Yuan casually replied, "Before I came down, it was still the Era of Ancient Immortals. As for now, I have no idea."
That was the truth.
The old tortoise did not know how long it had slept, and Lu Yuan did not know either.
They were the same.
The only difference was that Lu Yuan was free, while the old tortoise was not.
What they shared was that both had ended up in Xu Xian's hands.
The old tortoise waved a limb. "Whatever. As long as the Li family is suffering, it is fine. The era does not matter."
Seeing that it was in a good mood, Xu Xian asked from the side, "Hey, was the War of the Fallen Emperors he just mentioned the same fight where you were suppressed?"
"Mhm," the old tortoise grunted.
"Did you not say your Sovereign was beaten pretty badly by the Li family's Immortal Emperor? Then why did he say all the Immortal Emperors fell?"
The old tortoise looked at Xu Xian as if he were an idiot and said crossly, "Nonsense. I was one-shotted as soon as the fight started. How was I supposed to know my Sovereign was so fierce that he took all the Immortal Emperors in the world to the grave with him?"
To be fair, the Sovereign was truly powerful.
To be able to take everyone down with him under those circumstances meant his methods were truly extraordinary.
No wonder no Immortal Emperor had appeared to try and wipe it out after it was suppressed.
It seemed those few from the Li family had likely all died back then.
Xu Xian and Lu Yuan had the same idea; they both wanted to coax some information out of the old tortoise.
But the old tortoise was no fool and naturally refused to talk.
Threats and bribes were useless.
It could no longer believe any of Xu Xian's promises.
Just as Xu Xian himself did not believe a word the old tortoise said.
Their acquaintance was built on a foundation of lies.
Xu Xian's first lie was that he had sunk down there himself.
The old tortoise's first lie was that the Shadow Soul Stone was its droppings.
From then on, the man and the tortoise had gone back and forth, deceiving and tricking each other in every way possible.
Their credibility with one another was effectively zero.
Xu Xian said, "Just one thing. Is your Sovereign also imprisoned here in Fanzhou?"
"Why do you care?"
"Just tell me if he is or not."
"I do not know."
"You really do not know?"
"Believe it or not."
Xu Xian did not bother arguing. If it would not say, then so be it. Once he built the fourth floor of the Sword Tower, he would just ask his master.
Seeing that Xu Xian stopped questioning, the old tortoise figured the kid must be planning something bad and asked casually, "I say, kid, you are not thinking of trying to rob my Sovereign too, are you?"
Xu Xian said quite openly, "If I run into him, I will definitely take him down. Even if he is dead, I will dig up his grave, believe it or not?"
The old tortoise clicked its tongue. Though it found Bai Mang's ignorance laughable, an Immortal Emperor was not someone to be provoked.
But... as for Bai Mang, he really would dare to do it.
"I believe you. That is definitely something you, Bai Mang, would do."
Lu Yuan was confused.
"Bai Mang?"
He looked at Xu Xian.
Xu Xian gave a hollow laugh and, catching the old tortoise off guard, stored it and the stone stele back away. The old tortoise let out a pained shriek.
Inside the Divine Sword Pool, the tortoise continued its grand boasting.
Outside the Divine Sword Pool, Lu Yuan teased, "It seems your trip to the Demon Abyss was quite eventful?"
Xu Xian waved it off. "It is not worth mentioning!"
He walked away with a flick of his sleeves, keeping his deeds and reputation hidden.
Xu Xian thought that since it was not a glorious matter, it was better not to mention it.
Lu Yuan thought that since he was unwilling to mention it, the matter was definitely shameful.
Rate on N.U.
