Chapter 1400 : Legacy of the Verdant Leaf

"Verdant Leaf Sword."

Watching the direction in which the flying sword departed, Eldrin Chen felt a faint tremor in his heart.

He said nothing, merely stepping forward to follow the path of the Verdant Leaf Sword. Before long, he arrived at a marketplace and stopped before an elderly man.

Eldrin Chen arrived soon after. Seeing this scene, he could not help but sigh softly within.

The old man's cultivation was not high, merely at the Foundation Establishment [the second major stage of cultivation, where one builds a solid foundation for their future path] realm. Yet, the Verdant Leaf Sword before him circled him ceaselessly, as if showing a hint of familiarity and affection.

"Alas."

Witnessing this, Eldrin Chen was filled with emotion, and a look of reminiscence involuntarily appeared on his face.

This sword was named the Verdant Leaf Sword. It was a final keepsake left to him by his Old Granduncle, Eternal Verdancy Chen, just before the elder's passing, back when Eldrin Chen was but a child.

In those years, when the Chen Immortal Clan was still merely a Foundation Establishment Immortal Clan [a clan whose strongest members have reached the Foundation Establishment realm], the family's Sixth Elder, Verdant Bud Chen, had failed in his attempt to reach Foundation Establishment, plunging the clan into dire straits.

The Seventh Granduncle Eternal Verdancy Chen of the Chang Generation [the generation of the Chen Clan whose names contain the character 'Chang' (Eternal)] fell gravely ill because of this and never recovered. Not long after, he passed away peacefully within the family compound.

Eternal Verdancy Chen had no descendants. Before his death, he donated all his worldly possessions to the clan and bequeathed his final legacy to the young Eldrin Chen.

The Blazing Fire Talisman, the Golden Armor Talisman, and the Verdant Leaf Sword.

To this day, Eldrin Chen still remembers those three treasures.

Although, from the vantage of Eldrin Chen's current cultivation level, these three artifacts were mere low-tier items of the first rank—akin to a mote of dust before the Universe—to the Eldrin Chen of that time, they were priceless treasures that safeguarded his path.

Among the three treasures, the Verdant Leaf Sword aided Eldrin Chen through numerous fierce battles, helping him survive his earliest trials.

The Blazing Fire Talisman was used in the very first battle of his life, shattering the Seven-Soul Malevolent Ghost Banner and slaying the Demonic Cultivator.

The Golden Armor Talisman was expended during the battle at Spirit Isle Lake. Relying on that single talisman, he managed to block a treacherous sneak attack from the Golden Ray Heart-Locking Needle.

It could be said that without these three treasures, Eldrin Chen would likely have perished at the hands of vicious enemies during his most vulnerable and inexperienced youth.

It was precisely by surviving those initial, brutal clashes that Eldrin Chen lived to grow into the man he is today.

Otherwise, the Eldrin Chen of the present might have long since fallen at the very dawn of his cultivation journey, never to know the glory he now possesses.

Among the three treasures, the two Spirit Talismans [enchanted papers imbued with magical power] were used by Eldrin Chen to defeat his foes, leaving only this Verdant Leaf Sword behind.

Later, after Eldrin Chen achieved significant cultivation success, he carefully preserved the Verdant Leaf Sword, constantly nurturing it with his spiritual energy.

As Eldrin Chen's cultivation realm advanced, his spiritual energy grew increasingly profound and wondrous. Under his meticulous nurturing, this Verdant Leaf Sword was transformed from something ordinary into something truly divine.

Unbeknownst to all, the sword had metamorphosed into a Peerless Immortal Sword [a sword of unmatched power, capable of slaying both immortals and demons], one that could strike down deities above and vanquish demons below.

The once insignificant trace of a Dao Pattern [a fundamental law of the universe etched into an object] within the blade had now, over time, given birth to a sentient spiritual awareness.

"Seventh Granduncle."

Gazing upon the Verdant Leaf Sword before him, Eldrin Chen could not help but sigh softly before speaking in a measured tone.

The old man was taken aback. Sensing Eldrin Chen's boundless cultivation aura, he promptly prostrated himself on the ground, his voice filled with immense trepidation. "Esteemed Senior, you must be mistaken. This humble one does not know you."

"A divine artifact recognizes its master."

Eldrin Chen spoke slowly, a note of profound emotion in his voice. "Even after one hundred thousand years have passed, traversing the endless Myriad Heavens [the countless realms and dimensions of existence], and enduring a thousand cycles of Reincarnation [the cycle of death and rebirth of the soul]."

"When It draws near you, it will still remember the faint aura of its original master."

Eldrin Chen spoke slowly, raising his hand in a pointing gesture. In that instant, the heavens and earth were overturned.

Boundless chains of divine law materialized, their power so immense it could shake the heavens and move the earth, capable of tracing the past and future. They manifested the phantom images of Eternal Verdancy Chen's past lives.

In a Ksana-time [an infinitesimal unit of time], the light of one thousand lifetimes of Reincarnation [the cycle of death and rebirth] flickered into view. Across that vast expanse of time, the old man had been a farmer, a scholar, a merchant, an official, and had also trodden the path of cultivation many times.

Alas, across dozens of lifetimes of cultivation, Eternal Verdancy Chen's cultivation level had at most reached the Foundation Establishment [the second major stage of cultivation, where one builds their spiritual foundation] realm. Therefore, he had not received special attention from the Netherworld Underworld Court [the celestial bureaucracy governing the afterlife and reincarnation], nor had he accumulated sufficient foundation.

This is the state of Reincarnation [the cycle of death and rebirth] for the vast majority of ordinary cultivators. Without sufficient Faith Power [power derived from the belief and worship of followers], and lacking adequate cultivation attainment in their previous life, the path in the next life is typically arduous.

Only those who cultivate to the Golden Core [the third major stage, forming a solidified core of spiritual energy] or Infant Soul Realm [the fourth major stage, nurturing a nascent spiritual soul] can use their current life's cultivation as a foundation to nurture a better starting point for their next life.

Those at the Primordial Spirit Realm [the fifth major stage, where the spiritual soul matures into its primordial form] can even gestate a special Path Body [an innate physical constitution exceptionally suited for cultivation] for their next incarnation.

In the past, Chen Caleb, with his Golden Core Late Stage [the advanced phase of the Golden Core realm] cultivation, underwent reincarnation. Coupled with the massive supply of incense offerings from the Infant Soul Immortal Clan Chen Clan, he obtained an exceptional foundation, allowing him to cultivate to the Immortal Path Principles [the fundamental laws and principles of the Immortal Path] in his next life.

Thereafter, when he returned from Reincarnation [the cycle of death and rebirth], he was born with the Xavier Path Body, which paved the way for his current Celestial Immortal Foundation [the foundational stage for ascending to become a Celestial Immortal].

Eternal Verdancy Chen was different. When he fell, he was only at the eighth level of Vital Essence Refinement, and the Chen Clan was merely a minor Foundation Establishment clan, unable to provide much ancestral worship energy [a form of spiritual power derived from the reverence of descendants]. Consequently, his cultivation path in the subsequent cycles of reincarnation was exceedingly arduous.

In those countless lifetimes thereafter, the highest cultivation Eternal Verdancy Chen ever achieved was the Foundation Establishment realm. This meant his journey after each Reincarnation [the cycle of death and rebirth] remained perpetually difficult. Thus, even after a thousand cycles of Reincarnation, he was never able to transcend and rise above it.

At this moment, Eldrin Chen employed his supreme, boundless power to trace back through time for Eternal Verdancy Chen, Antiquity-Tracing [a profound ability to peer into the distant past] across the ages to uncover the mysteries from a thousand lifetimes ago. In the span of a single breath, he found the familiar scenes of bygone days.

There, upon Green Chariot Mountain, was a life: from infant to youth, then stepping onto the path of cultivation, only to have that Path [one's destined way of cultivation] severed and crippled during a Beast Tide [a catastrophic invasion by monstrous beasts], followed by a lifetime of melancholy ending in a quiet demise.

"Sever all past incarnations, return to the true self."

In that fleeting Ksana-time [an infinitesimal unit of time], Eldrin Chen suddenly spoke.

Behold, the immeasurable, majestic power of Eldrin Chen pierced through the river of time. The accumulated karma and memories of those thousand past lives were utterly severed, leaving only the memories from that single lifetime within the Chen Immortal Clan to emerge.

Only then did Eternal Verdancy Chen slowly open his eyes.

In that instant, he remembered all the events of his past existences, recalled the bygone eras, and understood everything.

He looked at Eldrin Chen, a glimmer of tears appearing in his eyes. With a tone tinged with profound emotion and wistful melancholy, he spoke.

"One hundred thousand years of time, one thousand lifetimes of Reincarnation [the cycle of death and rebirth of the soul]."

"Having traversed the myriad realms of the Great Cosmos, you and I have finally met again."

Eternal Verdancy Chen spoke softly, his fingers gently tracing the space between Eldrin Chen's brows as he sighed. "Little Eldrin, a hundred thousand years have passed in the blink of an eye. You have truly grown."

"Seventh Granduncle."

Eldrin Chen spoke slowly, a smile tinged with nostalgia gracing his features.

In that moment, he finally understood. If one was strong enough, if one lived long enough, then those lost to the past could reappear, and old regrets could perhaps be mended.

If he lived long enough—through one hundred thousand years, one million years, ten million years, one hundred million years, even billions upon billions of years—everything that had faded away could be found once more.

With this thought, Eldrin Chen smiled and said, "With the current strength of your divine soul, you cannot bear the memories of a thousand lifetimes of Reincarnation. Therefore, I have severed all ties to your past for you."

"When the day comes that you step into the Celestial Immortal Realm [a realm of immortal cultivation where one becomes a true celestial being] and your divine soul is sufficiently powerful, you may personally trace back through the river of time to retrieve the memories of your former days."

Hearing this, Eternal Verdancy Chen gave a slight, understanding nod.

The memories of one thousand lifetimes of Reincarnation [the cycle of death and rebirth], if they were to surge into one's soul in an instant, would be an unbearable torrent. Even a Primordial Spirit Path Lord [a supreme cultivator whose soul has ascended to its primordial state] would find their consciousness shattered under the weight.