666 The Incredibly Great— (2/2)
The so-called first ever record of a legend was referring to the Seventeenth Master of the Abyss and his unknown origin. However, he had adopted Seventeenth as his nickname ever since he made his appearance. There was a record of someone asking him; why are you the Seventeenth?
Seventeenth Master explained. ”Where I was from, there were sixteen other elders before me who had already ascended into immortality. They had become the masters of the world, reigning over heaven and earth! How can a descendant like me, who came after them in the seventeenth place, hope to adopt the titles of my elders, when my sole wish was to merely keep up with their pace?”
The biggest revelation from that statement was that there were actually sixteen other similar individuals before the Seventeenth Master. For example, the First Master of the Abyss, the Eleventh Master of the Abyss - so on and so forth; without exceptions, they had all ascended to the heavens, attaining immortality.
The land was overwhelmed by shock over such sensational news when the truth was revealed!
Of course, this truth was based on the premise that the Seventeenth Master of the Abyss was rivaled by none ever since his appearance, and this was on the basis where there were no equals across the whole of Tianxuan. Eventually, there seemed to be no worthy adversaries even after going through the borderless oceans, the endless snow-capped mountains, and the boundless forests… he was left alone at his own leisure.
Another outcome he had gathered from his state of leisure was the innumerable rare mystical beasts that had perished under his hands. It seemed that many powerful species that had low means of reproduction had gone extinct and vanished forever from the face of the world. Until much later, where he felt truly unrivaled in the mortal world, he gave a long sigh and said, ”A sea of heroes in this world, yet none was a worthy match; why should I subject myself to a state like this - a lonely and miserable life? Very well, I should find another place to sharpen my skills.”
”Alas, Tianxuan, the Great Continent - a land blessed with a multitude of heroes, yet none of which, a worthy prodigy? The Seventeenth shall slaughter one dragon today, and a special map shall be etched upon its hide before it is left beneath these skies. Should one man be fated to lay hands upon it, he shall be bestowed with the entire arsenal of my wisdom; hopefully, after many years, we will meet in the heavens!”
As he finished, he grabbed a dragon from the borderless ocean and slashed at it with a sword. He obtained a piece of dragonhide from its neck and inscribed a map upon it, then, after a moment's thought, tore it into six pieces and exhaled a breath of air upon them, spreading them across the whole of Tianxuan.
Upon completing these gestures, the Seventeenth Master then proclaimed. ”Behold, the First Master and the rest of the elders above – the Seventeenth shall ascend now!”
In a flash, his body ascended into the mass of clouds. At the very same moment, thunders roared and rumbled before the descending darkness as a path to the heavens appeared, allowing a short glimpse of the world beyond. As the Seventeenth took his leap of ascension, heaven's path disappeared along with him.
The Seventeenth Master had since vanished from the mortal realm.
All of the above was the truth!
No matter how long it had been since this event took place in history, it was still an undeniable, non-negligible legacy!
The existence of a legendary being as such would certainly tickle the imaginative minds of the masses, and his legacy would certainly be yearned and desired by many. However, in many years, there was not even the slightest clue of the dragonhide treasure map. To think about it, it was pretty reasonable - anyone who had a piece of the map would undoubtedly treasure it themselves and not reveal it to anybody else.
Tens of thousands of years stood between this myth and the present day. After all this time, the six pieces of dragon hide treasure maps never once did surface in this world, and there was never the appearance of a powerful being like the Seventeenth Master ever again. It had gradually became a myth – a passed-down anecdote – which was half-forgotten by the masses in the present. If it was not for the shocking incident yesterday, not many would have associated that with this long-forgotten tale.
The so-called hide of a mythical beast – dragonhide, in other words – was only meant to exist in myths. Hence, who had really encountered a dragon in this present world? How about the existence of other mythical beasts?!
Now, however, it was all because of one man!
A great man!
A great dumbf*ck!
Before everyone's eyes, he burned it with fire and sliced it with a saber, thoroughly proving that such an indestructible, impregnable hide existed in this world. It was, unquestionably, a precious item!
Undeniably, this was an incredibly great dumbf*ck!
Someone had been backed into a corner from having the two pieces of maps in his possession but had stuffed them in his embrace as a distraction that stemmed from a spontaneous improvisation of plans. Initially, judging from the extents of his vision and extensive experiences, the person did not think that any clue of its existence would be discovered and had planned to discreetly retrieve it afterward...
Due to this incredibly great dumbf*ck's usual foppish way of conduct, he had blatantly made this known to the public just to satisfy his frustration!
Coincidentally, this dumbf*ck actually possessed some of his senses, be it his cultivation base, experience or knowledge. First, he desired to destroy without a care by way of revenge to the person who came up with the improvisation plan. He then developed a fear over the indestructible nature of the treasure map and had directly attempted to destroy it with the exquisite, treasured saber. However, his impulsive reaction had only served to highlight that this treasure map was indeed the dragon hide treasure map of legend!
In the end, it was inevitably stolen by a covetous observer in the shadows!
To sum it up simply, it was like someone had placed a bank note worth half the world's riches in your arms, which you then took out to examine if it was genuine... and when you confirmed it was, it had been pilfered by someone else— How much more could this…
Everybody suddenly recalled all these upon Dong Tianleng's mention of the Seventeenth Master of the Abyss.
At that moment, the looks directed at Dong Tianleng were full of complicated emotions.
'Your father has never been impressed by a dumbf*ck, but I must admit that I am terribly impressed by this dumbf*ck before me!'