Gone to become a legend.

“Achoo!”

Tong Qiannian suddenly sneezed and rubbed his slightly sore nose.

The chief steward hurriedly handed him a hot towel. “Master, the night air is damp and cold, and you’re seriously injured. Why don’t you rest first? The young miss has guards with her, and no matter how reckless Young Master Shu may be, he wouldn’t dare do anything outrageous in public.”

“You know nothing.”

Tong Qiannian slammed the towel onto the table, the fat on his face trembling. “If Shu Yufeng cared about rules, he wouldn’t be the son of an Immortal King! Back then, his father was willing to offer even his own wife to secure his rise…”

The words reached his lips, but Tong Qiannian forcibly swallowed them back.

Some things could not be said, even in one’s own home.

If they accidentally got out, they could bring down a catastrophe. They were forbidden secrets.

…

By the banks of the Tianshui River, lanterns glowed and oars splashed.

As Tianshui City’s most famous den of extravagance, this place was even more boisterous at night than during the day.

Countless pleasure boats glided across the broad river, the sounds of strings and flutes rising without end. The air was thick with the mingled scents of rouge and spirit wine.

Compared with the so-called City That Never Sleeps in the Chaotic Star Sea, this was the true “never-night city.”

Su Ji held two skewers of freshly purchased grilled spirit squid, munching as he squeezed through the crowd.

Su Jiu followed behind him, carrying an assortment of snacks. Her cheeks were puffed out, making her look like a hamster storing food.

“I’m telling you, old man, are you sure this is the place?”

As he swallowed a mouthful of squid, Su Ji asked within his sea of consciousness, “Aside from rouge and the stench of money, what good thing could possibly be here?”

“Nonsense!”

The Old Emperor’s voice exploded in his mind, filled with undisguised disdain. “I can smell that sour stink from eight hundred li away! It’s on the biggest wreck of a boat ahead!”

Su Ji looked up.

At the center of the river, a colossal pleasure boat thirteen stories tall was slowly coming to a stop.

The entire vessel had been built from fragrant sandalwood, with carved beams and painted rafters displaying breathtaking extravagance.

Two enormous red lanterns hung at the bow, each bearing the large character “Shu.”

On the deck, a group of richly dressed young cultivators were drinking and making merry.

But on the terrace of the highest level, the atmosphere was distinctly tense.

A young man in an embroidered robe and jade crown held a wine cup as he advanced step by step.

Opposite him stood a girl in a pale yellow dress.

She was delicately beautiful, but her lovely face was now filled with resistance. Her back was pressed against the railing, leaving her nowhere left to retreat.

“Miss Tong, are you going to drink this cup or not?”

Shu Yufeng shook the wine cup in his hand, a playful smile curling his lips. “Could the Shu family’s standing in Tianshui City really be worth less than a single cup of wine?”

Tong Xiaoxiao bit her lip, her face pale. “Young Master Shu, I can’t hold my liquor, and… my father is still waiting for me to return…”

“Return?”

Shu Yufeng gave a light laugh and took another step forward. The distance between them instantly shrank to an intimate inch.

“Return where?”

“I’ve already sent someone to inform Uncle Tong.”

Shu Yufeng reached out, attempting to lift the girl’s chin. “Tonight, we’ll have a good talk on this boat… about that ‘family heirloom’ of yours.”

At the words “family heirloom,” Tong Xiaoxiao’s pupils contracted sharply.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, turning her head to avoid his hand.

“Stop pretending.”

Shu Yufeng withdrew his hand. Though he had failed to touch her, he still raised it to his nose and inhaled, his face revealing a drunken, greedy delight.

“I know your family possesses a sword passed down through the generations…”

Shu Yufeng lowered his voice, and it slipped into Tong Xiaoxiao’s ear like a venomous snake.

“According to my father, it’s at least a transitional weapon once used by an Immortal Venerable in his early years.”

“Although it can’t compare to his natal weapon, how could anything belonging to an Immortal Venerable be ordinary?”

“Even an ordinary wooden sword, after being nurtured by an Immortal Venerable for many years, would absorb a trace of sword intent…”

“Your Tong family is nothing more than a merchant clan. What right do you have to possess such a treasure?”

“In your hands, it’s not a blessing—it’s a disaster.”

Shu Yufeng finally revealed his true intentions. “As long as you give yourself to me tonight and bring that sword over as your dowry… I guarantee that the Tong family’s business in Tianshui City will double again. Otherwise…”

He did not finish.

But the threat was obvious.

Tong Xiaoxiao trembled all over.

Although she was the daughter of a merchant, she had witnessed plenty of intrigue and deceit in the business world. Yet she had rarely encountered such a blatant attempt at extortion and seizure.

…

“So what exactly is it?”

Su Ji continued chewing on his grilled squid while bombarding the Old Emperor relentlessly through his sea of consciousness.

“Old man, can you stop speaking in riddles? If you push me too far, I’ll just turn around and leave. You can retrieve it yourself.”

The Old Emperor’s tone was equally unpleasant. “You fool, you think I’m asking you to retrieve it for me? You’re retrieving it for yourself.”

“I can tell you’re the kind of person who won’t lift a finger unless there’s something in it for you.”

“You’ve eaten so many of your supplies these past few days. You may not say it aloud, but you’ve probably cursed me countless times behind my back.”

Su Ji rolled his eyes and swallowed the last piece of squid from the skewer. “Obviously. That was all paid for with my hard-earned money. You’d better pray this thing is worth the price.”

“This one item alone can make up for all the heavenly treasures you’ve fed me. You’ll still come out ahead.”

“Are you serious?”

Su Ji stopped in his tracks, his eyes lighting up instantly.

“Of course I am. That was Fallen Dragon’s sword from his early years,” the Old Emperor snorted. “I can tell you already possess sword intent, yet you’re carrying no weapon of your own. Cutting people down with someone else’s sword is hardly ideal. This sword should be barely good enough to serve you for three to five thousand years.”

Su Ji’s brows drew together. “Can we really get our hands on it with our current strength?”

One should not be fooled by the Old Emperor’s overwhelming entrance. In truth, he was merely a spent force.

If an Immortal King came knocking, the Old Emperor would have to play his final card on the spot and achieve the fastest resurrection in history.

“Who said anything about stealing it?” The Old Emperor’s tone was full of contempt. “Can’t you use your brains and take it by guile?”

“By guile?” Su Ji eyed the idea suspiciously. “Old man, didn’t you say you’ve forgotten a lot of things? Why do you remember this one so clearly?”

Silence fell in the sea of consciousness for a moment.

Then the Old Emperor let out an extremely strange laugh, as if he had recalled something particularly amusing.

“Let me put it this way.”

“That was Fallen Dragon’s embarrassing past.”

“Embarrassing past?” Su Ji grew interested.

For something to be called embarrassing in the history of a ruthless figure capable of fighting an Immortal Emperor head-on, it had to be quite something.

“Back then, Fallen Dragon was still a nobody…” The Old Emperor clicked his tongue twice. “He thought ordinary flying swords weren’t stylish enough, so he insisted on forging one himself. He used deep-sea silver, mixed it with extraterrestrial meteorite iron, and added a little… Ahem. In short, the materials were a complete mess.”

“The important part is that he carved a line of words onto the sword.”

“What words?”

“Don’t fall for me, bro. I’m just a legend.”

Su Ji: “…”

Su Jiu was stuffing a piece of osmanthus cake into her mouth. When she saw Su Ji suddenly freeze, she asked indistinctly, “Senior Brother, what’s wrong? Did you choke too?”

Su Ji ignored Su Jiu and complained furiously in his sea of consciousness, “What the hell? That works too? Can this sword even be used? Won’t people laugh themselves to death if I take it out?”

“That’s why it’s a dark chapter in his history!” the Old Emperor said, laughing gleefully. “Later, he became famous and decided the sword was far too embarrassing, so he never made it his natal artifact.”

“Setting aside the fact that the sword is a little shameful, its foundation is genuinely solid. And because it carries the early karma of the Fallen Dragon, it has a certain special trait.”

“What trait?”

“Impossible to look at directly…” The Old Emperor chuckled. “After that kid muddled along for a few more years, he realized that the sword was simply too embarrassing.”

“So every time he used it, he added a few special effects. Over time, it gradually took on a certain quality that made it even harder to look at.”

“All right, stop dawdling.” The Old Emperor urged him on. “That kid is about to make his move. If you don’t get up there, this little play about ‘forcibly abducting a common girl’ will be over.”

Su Ji sighed and casually tossed away the bamboo skewer in his hand. It landed precisely in the trash can by the roadside.

“Ajiu, you keep eating for now.”

“Where are you going?” Su Jiu asked blankly. Clearly, she could not hear the conversation between the Old Emperor and Su Ji.

“To become a legend.”

…