Chapter 2945: Mysterious Legend
Fire Ancestor was a progenitor lacking records including their active aura - a particularly cryptic one. [1]
Strangely enough, despite lacking concrete details and evidence, he was listed among the Decemvirate. Some even said that he was comparable to Gao Yang.
All in all, no one could actually say why he was so highly regarded. One theory stated that it was just because of the rumor that his master was Emperor Sui.
Many didn’t accept this argument because the existence of the three emperors itself was up for debate. Moreover, some shared the same skepticism about the timeline just like Jinning did earlier. How could Fire Ancestor be Emperor Sui’s disciple when they were so separated in history?
Therefore, another explanation became popular - Fire Ancestor wasn’t a disciple of the emperor but he just found a scripture left behind by him. It contained merit laws so he inherited the emperor’s legacy. In a sense, he became the emperor’s disciple.
Some still refused to support or accept this theory about why he was in the top ten.
The supporters of this claim often cited the peerless warship back in Arrogance, that the ambitious progenitor was ready to cross the expanse in order to reach the other shore.
In a particularly vague record of this event belonging to Arrogance Enterprise, other masters also followed him.
This group consisted of more than ten emperors. Some were in the same era as Fire Ancestor, others have been living reclusively from older generations.
Moreover, a hundred or so Everlastings also joined along with many divine beasts. The weaker part included numerous powerful True Gods, ready to die for Fire Ancestor.
This level of force was rare in history. Progenitors have entered Uncrossable Expanse previously but none formed this large of an alliance - nothing short of a miracle.
Moreover, because of this ultimate force, Arrogance Enterprise decided to go all out as well and created a matchless warship.
The ship was essentially a mobile fortress. Even an immortal-level progenitor wouldn’t be able to take down its defensive lines. Thus, it could go anywhere in Immortal Lineage.
According to Arrogance Enterprise, this was the ultimate ship of Three Immortals - fastest, toughest, and mightest!
The enterprise took great pride in creating this work of art. In fact, they didn’t even ask Fire Ancestor for the payment.
They were the only ones capable of creating this ship on top of having enough resources. Other stores, no, even other systems couldn’t do so.
This impressive feat and story were the reason why people believed Fire Ancestor was a part of the Decemvirate.
Later on, other brilliant progenitors have emerged. However, none of them ever questioned Fire Ancestor’s spot and greatness. Perhaps they knew more about him than regular cultivators and skeptics.
Jinning was the same as the rest, not knowing enough about Fire Ancestor due to his mysterious nature.
“The timeline isn’t as you imagine.” Li Qiye smiled: “The three immortals might have been from an ancient era but think about it from a different perspective, they didn’t need to recruit disciples from their same era, right? The recruitment process was up to their whim and could be many eras and generations later.”
“Makes sense…” Jinning pondered and thought that he was right.
“So if they’re called immortals, they might actually live forever. That’s why Fire Ancestor can actually be Emperor Sui’s disciple.” She figured it out.
“Immortality is another topic altogether. However, they have lived for a very, very long time.” Li Qiye smiled.
“Hehe, I’ve heard about this too.” The bull showed off its knowledge: “There is a reason why Emperor Sui took Fire Ancestor in.”
“What is it?” Jinning became interested.
“But I can’t tell you.” The bull laughed and tried to look mysterious.
“It doesn’t know the reason.” Li Qiye shook his head in response: “There were several reasons, but the most direct one was that a calamity was coming.”
“A calamity? What was it? Has it passed?” She asked.
She wouldn’t dare to claim to be a historian but she still knew about the major events in Immortal Lineage.
“It’s not something you can see or read, it might not be in your world either.” Li Qiye looked at her then glanced over at Uncrossable Expanse.
“So the legend is true?!” The bull became startled and shouted, also shifting its gaze towards the expanse.
“What legend?” Jinning curiously asked.
The bull had a strange expression and ignored Jinning’s question. It said: “I heard that damned saint say something about a calamity and those who have tried to stop it so I thought he was trying to boast about his greatness, thinking that he’s a savior. So maybe he wasn’t talking about himself but rather Fire Ancestor’s group?”
The bull realized a few things now after finally understanding some conversations in the past.
“That’s why Fire Ancestor marched towards the expanse. Moreover, numerous masters came with him to stop the calamity of unknown origin. In a world unreachable by regular people was an incredibly destructive battle. Everything turned to ashes; the fabrics of existence were torn asunder. And there, they managed to stop the calamity in Uncrossable Expanse, allowing Three Immortals to have peace and prosperity.”
Li Qiye knew more than the bull and especially the girl about this matter.
“Shit, I get it now, so all the legends were true.” The bull took a deep breath: “That’s why that damned saint escaped, so he knew about it.”
“You got it wrong this time.” Li Qiye chuckled: “He didn’t come to Three Immortals over this matter. In his opinion, it had nothing to do with him. He came searching for an answer to a question in his heart, that’s why he didn’t feel the need to participate in this mess.”
“Hmph, still a scum like always.” The bull certainly didn’t like Desolate Saint.
Li Qiye only smiled and didn’t comment. After all, the saint had done plenty of wrong things in his life, worthy of criticism.
“No wonder why Arrogance Enterprise built the ship for free despite being a bunch of ruthless merchants. It makes sense now.” The bull turned back towards the auction house.
“They actually built two ships, not one. They’re identical.” Li Qiye revealed.
“Two of them?” Jinning became confused. This wasn’t the story she heard from living in Sky Pass.
“Two.” Li Qiye nodded and turned back towards the auction house.
“Damn, so this is the other ship, not just a model?!” The bull reacted faster than Jinning.
“What, we’re looking at it right now?” Jinning became startled and took another look at the auction house.
No matter how hard she looked, the place still only resembled a ship model without the other intricacies.
“Don’t bother trying to detect anything. Since Fire Ancestor was Emperor Sui’s disciple, the blueprint of this ship should be left by the great emperor. How can the two of you see through his concealing method?” Li Qiye said.
The bull and Jinning stopped looking. They agreed that this was above their level.
1. The same issue with Insane Ancestor in the past. From the title alone, it should be Ancestor. With this context, it should be Fire Progenitor. There is a vagueness in the Chinese text that can’t be reproduced in English because Ancestor is different than Progenitor. The word for progenitor consists of two characters, (Beginning) and (Ancestor). However, the titles for Insane and Fire only have two words - (Insane) + (Ancestor); (Fire) + (Ancestor), when it should be (Insane/Fire) + (Beginning) + (Ancestor). I thought about changing Insane Ancestor to Insane Progenitor a couple of times, especially in the beginning. Now the question is here again, do I keep Fire Ancestor just like the text or change it to Fire Progenitor? If I change it, this line ‘Fire Ancestor was a progenitor” would be meaningless since it would become “Fire Progenitor was a progenitor”; I would have to omit this line. It’s really not a big deal, just a note on translation. This particular confusion can be used by authors to trick the readers and characters in a different novel. For example, in battle, a combatant will realize and scream, “He’s not an ancestor, he’s a progenitor!!!” before running away. I’m keeping it as Ancestor, the same logic as to why some queens will have King kept as their title or why Hong Tian is Empress instead of Emperor. This is to stay as close to the text as possible, when possible