Ten Years

Under Shen Lingxi's narration, Chen Yi picked up a background story about Xu Jinghong.

Unfolding it, it was essentially the tale of an invincible swordsman who, after falling in love, could no longer lift his sword.

The story rewinds to 9,500 years ago.

Xu Jinghong, the Sword Immortal, failed to transcend his heavenly tribulation, his Dao heart shattered. Wandering the mortal world in desolation, he adopted the alias "Useless Old Xu"—unkempt, disheveled, and always clutching a gourd of wine, behaving like a madman.

Xiuzhi was an ordinary woman from a small town at the foot of the mountain. Gentle and kind, she spent her days serving warm wine and tea to travelers in a roadside tavern, listening to their tales of the fantastical and mysterious world beyond. Though she had never stepped into the jianghu, she yearned for its wonders.

One day, a disheveled drunkard stumbled into town, carrying an endlessly bottomless wine gourd and a rusted, broken sword on his back. His tattered robes reeked of filth.

Most taverns shunned such a freak.

In a world where cultivators roamed freely, there were always those who had strayed from their path—and this raving drunk was clearly one of them! Even cultivators avoided such figures to evade karmic entanglement, let alone ordinary mortals who dared not provoke divine wrath.

Naturally, everyone kept their distance.

Except for Xiuzhi’s tavern.

That day, heavy rain poured down. Xiuzhi watched as the self-proclaimed "Useless Old Xu" sprawled on the cold, hard stone pavement, letting the icy rain pelt his face. Shivering violently yet laughing wildly, he seemed oblivious to the cold. Unable to bear it, she approached him with an umbrella.

"I don’t know what you’ve been through, but it’s freezing out here. If you don’t mind, come inside. I’ll warm some wine for you—look how cold you are..."

"Aren’t you afraid of me?"

"I am... but I’m more afraid you’ll freeze to death at my doorstep."

Her eyes, misty like warm springs, held a trace of fear but overflowed with sincerity and care, deeply moving him.

Useless Old Xu froze for a moment, watching as she tilted the umbrella mostly over him while her own shoulder soaked in the rain. As if bewitched, he followed her home.

From then on, Useless Old Xu became a helper in Xiuzhi’s tavern, reveling in the role. He loved chatting with her in their spare time, and she always listened with gentle warmth. Together, they spent ten blissful years.

Ten years ago, they were strangers.

Ten years later, their gazes held unspoken longing—missing each other when apart, searching for one another in crowds, pretending not to look when found...

Everything was perfect.

But this was no ordinary world.

One day, extraterrestrial demons invaded. A terrifying pressure engulfed the land, and a stampede of frenzied beasts stormed the town. Chaos erupted as people fled, their cries piercing the heavens.

Amid the turmoil, Xiuzhi was knocked down by a beast. Just as she thought her life was over, a dazzling sword light—swift as a fleeting shadow—sliced through the air, cutting down every beast in half!

"Xiuzhi, Xiuzhi! Are you alright?" Old Xu rushed to her side in a panic, his eyes filled with dread.

Stunned, Xiuzhi stared at him. Though she hadn’t seen it, her instincts told her he was the one who had struck.

Recalling how Old Xu had once spoken of the world’s strongest swordsman, "Xu Jinghong the Fleeting Shadow," with such pride and vigor, she pieced it together.

After the beast tide, she secretly dug up the rusted broken sword Old Xu had buried and resolutely confronted him.

"Old... Old Xu, I think... you shouldn’t waste away in this little tavern. You’re not useless. You... you should stand above the heavens, just like you said—swift as a fleeting shadow, peerless in the world, your sword sweeping away all chaos!"

Her eyes shimmered with admiration as she solemnly handed him the broken sword.

Xu Jinghong fell silent for a moment, watching the demonic scourge in the sky force even the mightiest cultivators into retreat. With a bitter smile, he shook his head.

"Truth is... I don’t want to stand above the heavens. Right now, I just want to protect you."

"Wait for me. When I return, I’ll take you to see the ends of the earth!"

With that, he took the sword and soared into the sky.

As he ascended, the rust on the broken blade flaked away, revealing a radiance that could split the void. The missing half of the sword reappeared, restoring it to its full, unparalleled might.

The Fleeting Shadow had returned—the peerless Sword Immortal!

With a single strike, he cleaved the heavens!

Xu Jinghong charged into the stars, battling fiercely, growing stronger with each clash. He beheaded nine matured scourge demons, an interdimensional fiend, and a half-step True Immortal matriarch, his momentum peaking as he forged an invincible sword domain and ascended to True Immortality!

After years of dormancy, Xu Jinghong erupted back onto the scene with overwhelming force!

Instantly, his name shook the Multiverse Transmigrators’ Mutual Aid Group, rocketing from the bottom ranks to second place—nearly overtaking the then-established group leader, "Pickled Fish" Zhao Huazhen!

What is invincibility?

This was the epitome of it!

But alas, his glory was short-lived.

Just after slaying the half-step True Immortal scourge matriarch and ascending, at the peak of his power—

The true scourge matriarch, lurking in the deepest reaches of the cosmos, awakened!

This was an interdimensional monstrosity!

"Yu" spanned the vastness of space; "Zhou" encompassed the flow of time.

The scourge demons evolved along two paths:

"Yu"—devouring cosmic space as sustenance, eroding the universe from its material foundation.

"Zhou"—consuming spiritual essence, extinguishing civilizations across time itself.

Though their methods differed, their goal was the same: to annihilate all thriving universes.

The scourge matriarch’s evolution had four stages: Aberrant, Interdimensional, Semi-, and Supreme. Whether Yu or Zhou, the progression was the same.

An interdimensional scourge matriarch had already begun gnawing at the fabric of space. Its power surpassed ordinary True Immortals—even Heavenly Immortals would struggle against it!

Thus, though Xu Jinghong had just ascended to True Immortality and stood peerless in the world, he was no match for this cosmic foe.

Cornered, he had no choice but to cry out:

"Group leader, save me!"

The chat group’s emergency quest triggered instantly. Zhao Huazhen, now a golden-scaled dragon of immense power, accepted without hesitation.

Though Zhao Huazhen was only a mid-stage True Immortal at the time—theoretically no match for an interdimensional scourge—he was the reincarnated spirit of the Primordial Chaos Creation Disk. A bit slow-witted, but far from weak, his methods were vast. Killing an interdimensional fiend should’ve been effortless.

But Ling Xiao hadn’t yet fallen into deep slumber, forcing Zhao Huazhen to hold back. He pretended to struggle, barely managing to repel the scourge matriarch after an exhausting battle, saving the severely wounded Xu Jinghong.

After enduring this calamity, Xu Jinghong reforged his Dao heart, vowing to slay the lurking Sub-Cosmic Abyssal Matriarch in order to protect all he held dear.

True to his word, he also brought Xiuzhi out of their small town, allowing her to witness the vastness of the world beyond.

Yet peaceful days were fleeting—unseen turmoil had already begun to stir.