Though it wasn't immediately clear from the prompts what Yang Xian's exact cultivation realm was, everything pointed to him being extremely strong. Most remarkable of all, he was only 21 years old.
Gu An reviewed the notifications, his mind filled with thoughts. This Great Hong Realm might even surpass an ordinary Great World. Everything seems to revolve around the word 'immortal.'
[At the age of 25, your master, the Myriad Sword Immortal Ancestor, summoned you for a private meeting. You went to see him, and he expressed his desire to pass the position of the Ridge Master of the Myriad Sword Immortal Ridge to you. If you accepted, you would gain the authority to command all the immortal swords, divine swords, and treasure swords within the ridge, and you would attain immortality. However, the cost would be your freedom. Do you accept this position?]
Lose my freedom?
Absolutely not!
Decline!
Gu An made his decision without hesitation. In this lifetime, he sought to live a life of chivalry, not to pursue immortality.
Besides, if his reincarnated self attained immortality, what would that mean for his true self?
[You declined the position of Ridge Master. The Myriad Sword Immortal Ancestor did not force you, but instead assigned you a task to track down and confront your senior brother, who had betrayed the sect.]
[At the age of 30, you arrived at Blood Deer City, the last known location of your senior brother. There, you met the city lord's daughter, Fang Meng. Through a series of fateful encounters, the two of you developed mutual affection. Under her guidance, you ventured into the underground city and stumbled upon a powerful legacy, learning the Killing Sword Technique.]
[At the age of 31, a mysterious cultivator attempted to sacrifice the entire city's population. You discovered that this person was none other than your senior brother. After a fierce battle, your senior brother captured Fang Meng and threatened to kill her unless you abandoned your sword intent. Do you agree to his demand?]
Gu An sighed deeply. So it's come to this… Love truly is the Achilles' heel of swordsmen.
Yet, to walk the path of chivalry meant saving Fang Meng. How could he, a self-proclaimed hero, stand idly by?
Still, agreeing to his senior brother's terms would effectively mean handing over his life.
After a moment of inner struggle, Gu An chose to believe in Yang Xian. His senior brother's attempt to use Fang Meng as leverage proved his fear of Yang Xian, which suggested Yang Xian likely had hidden cards to play.
If he perished, then so be it—perhaps the path of chivalry was unattainable. Gu An resolved to simply read about such lives in books if this one failed.
Agree. Gu An made his choice silently.
[You chose to abandon your sword intent. You expelled the sword intent from your body, leaving yourself gravely injured. Your senior brother laughed wildly, mocking your foolishness as he prepared to kill Fang Meng. At the critical moment, your master, the Myriad Sword Immortal Ancestor, intervened from a thousand miles away, wielding a single finger as a sword to annihilate your senior brother. Gritting your teeth through the pain, you caught Fang Meng as she fell from the sky.]
[At the age of 32, as you meditated in your courtyard, Fang Meng visited you. She confessed her love and proposed marriage, offering to let you inherit her father's legacy and re-enter the path of cultivation. Do you accept her offer?]
No! Absolutely not!
Gu An decisively made the choice on Yang Xian's behalf.
Even I, the original, haven't married. Why would you?
[You rejected Fang Meng's heartfelt confession, leaving her heartbroken. That night, you quietly left Blood Deer City, continuing your pursuit of the sword path.]
The subsequent prompts described Yang Xian's adventures. He traveled, upholding justice, but he neither returned to the Myriad Sword Immortal Ridge nor the Purple Micro Immortal Mansion.
Watching Yang Xian tread the path he had envisioned filled Gu An with satisfaction.
Yang Xian was far more obedient than his previous reincarnations.
[At the age of 40, your years of wandering and acts of chivalry earned you a widespread reputation. However, you struggled to reclaim your sword intent, and your cultivation progress stagnated. You faced a crossroads in life, unsure whether to embark on a path of slaughter by killing wicked individuals to absorb their lifespans and restore your sword intent. Do you choose to take this path of slaughter?]
What was there to hesitate about? Slaying the most heinous villains should align perfectly with the ideals of justice.
To Gu An, the ability to absorb lifespans didn't conflict with being a hero. True justice wasn't about abstaining from killing altogether but about punishing evil and upholding righteousness.
[You chose to embrace the path of slaughter. However, another voice in your mind warned you to stay true to your ideals. Torn between these two impulses, you hesitated. Ultimately, you decided not to take the path of slaughter, choosing instead to remain steadfast in your principles. In that moment, you caught a fleeting glimpse of sword intent—near, yet intangible.]
Huh? Was it possible to resist my choice?
This was the first time Gu An had encountered such a scenario. Still, Yang Xian's progress toward enlightenment, even without resorting to slaughter, made Gu An anticipate his development even more.
[At the age of 41, while rescuing someone, you were severely injured by a powerful cultivator. You fled into a river and were carried downstream to a remote and isolated mountain island. There, you discovered an abandoned bamboo house and began to recover.]
[At the age of 43, after spending years observing the mist in the forest, you gained an understanding of the natural order. You began creating your own sword techniques.]
[At the age of 45, you developed a thousand sword techniques, rekindling your sword intent and attaining enlightenment.]
[At the age of 48, your understanding of the sword surpassed anything you had achieved before. You discovered the spirit within all things—grass and trees held meaning, and mountains and rivers carried divinity. You embarked on a unique path of the sword.]
[At the age of 50, a young boy stumbled onto your secluded island, mistaking you for an immortal and requesting to become your disciple. Upon his arrival, the bamboo swords you crafted trembled in resonance. From him, you sensed a latent sword intent, recognizing that he was the innate sword intent wielder foretold by the Myriad Sword Immortal Ancestor—an individual born with a natural affinity for the sword. Do you accept him as your disciple?]
An innate sword intent wielder? How extraordinary!
Gu An didn't hesitate and chose to agree.
Taking on a disciple wasn't a bad thing—after all, he himself had accepted disciples before.
Every choice carries its own blessings and challenges. As long as he didn't resist the notion, it was worth embracing.
[You chose to accept the boy as your disciple. Hearing that he had been raised by mountain bandits and lacked a proper name, you gave him one, naming him Yang Ping'an to signify safety and peace.]
[At the age of 52, Yang Ping'an mastered all of your sword techniques but had yet to comprehend sword intent or refine his own.]
As the notifications continued, Yang Ping'an's name appeared more and more frequently. Through observing Yang Ping'an's growth, Yang Xian also deepened his own understanding of the sword path.
Gu An was amazed. This Yang Ping'an's talent in swordsmanship is astonishing—perhaps even surpassing Yang Xian's.
[At the age of 60, your swordsmanship reached a new peak. That same year, Yang Ping'an expressed his desire to leave the island to temper himself through worldly experience. Do you agree to let him go?]
No!
He's only been training for a few years—what could he possibly accomplish out there? Is he looking for a quick death?
[You declined Yang Ping'an's request. Dissatisfied, Yang Ping'an protested, prompting you to set a condition: he would only be allowed to leave the island if he could defeat you. Yang Ping'an agreed and threw himself into rigorous training.]
Seeing this notification, Gu An felt an uneasy premonition.
Would this master-disciple relationship eventually turn to rivalry?
As Gu An pondered this, more notifications followed, detailing Yang Ping'an's training and repeated challenges against Yang Xian.
Every five years, Yang Ping'an challenged Yang Xian, and according to the notifications, both master and disciple were growing rapidly.
[At the age of 100, your swordsmanship ascended to a higher level. During this time, your consciousness glimpsed the River of Sword Dao, where figures stood tall and resolute. Drawn by this sight, you ventured closer, only to be struck by a sword from one of the figures. Your swordsmanship was damaged, and your consciousness returned to your body. You realized your sword intent had temporarily dissipated, and your spiritual energy was drained. Just then, your disciple, Yang Ping'an, came to challenge you. Do you accept his challenge?]
What terrible timing!
Gu An wanted to decline, but upon reconsideration, he realized that doing so would seem cowardly.
Yang Ping'an likely didn't harbor any lethal intent. This could be a good opportunity to test Yang Xian's skills in his weakened state.
Could Yang Xian win without sword intent or spiritual energy?
[You chose to accept Yang Ping'an's challenge. After an intense battle, you both sustained heavy injuries, with Yang Ping'an narrowly achieving victory. Elated by his triumph, he vented years of frustration, forcing you to let him leave the island. Before departing, Yang Ping'an knelt and kowtowed three times, vowing never to forget your teachings.]
[At the age of 101, you fully recovered from your injuries and regained your sword intent, along with newfound insights.]
Seeing Yang Xian lose left Gu An feeling helpless, but at least Yang Ping'an showed some gratitude.
The following notifications detailed continued training.
Yang Xian, having abandoned the ability to steal lifespans, still grew rapidly. Living in seclusion within the mountains, he delved deeply into the sword path, advancing his cultivation at an astonishing pace.
Meanwhile, Yang Ping'an never returned.
[At the age of 507, you attained a level of mastery where all things in heaven and earth became swords. You buried all your swords in the lakebed outside the island.]
[At the age of 508, a veiled woman arrived on your island, claiming to be Fang Meng's daughter. She informed you that Fang Meng was gravely ill and wished to see you one last time. Do you agree to her request?]
Fang Meng?
She had a daughter? It wasn't entirely unexpected—not all women could wait forever, especially after being rejected by Yang Xian.
Gu An sighed at the thought, then hesitated.