First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2776 – Given the Cold Shoulder and Suppressed

The following morning at dawn, Su Yi received orders from the Hall of Discipline. The sect was sending three inner sect disciples on a mission to hunt yao and demons.

And Su Yi had been chosen as one of the three.

The discussion of the Dao would begin in just nine days, yet he’d been sent on a mission now of all times. Su Yi didn’t even need to think to know that Elder Yun Husheng was behind this!

After a moment’s silence, Su Yi left the cave and went to see Mountain Lord Mo Lanhe.

Mo Lanhe was the administrator of Snowy Pine Peak, as well as the entire inner sect. He was also an elder of the Ancestral Hall and a true Heavenly Monarch of the Dao of the Sword.

However, Su Yi was turned away at the door. Mo Lanhe refused to see him, instead sending a messenger to say that as a disciple of the sect, carrying out missions was his duty!

Su Yi turned to leave. Mountain Lord Mo Lanhe obviously wasn’t ignorant of the situation. He knew full well what was going on, but he had no intention of upholding justice. Instead, he’d chosen to remain a bystander.

Su Yi wasn’t particularly disappointed. He was, after all, a newcomer, and he had no foundations in the Blueleaf Sword Sect.

All he had was his extraordinary performance over the past few months.

“Brother Li, I heard you’ve been sent out of the sect on a mission?” Luo Xiao came looking for Su Yi and said in a huff, “That’s far too unfair! Who doesn’t know that you’re the favorite to take first place in the upcoming discussion of the Dao?”

Su Yi smiled. “I’m a newcomer; it’s to be expected.”

Luo Xiao looked stunned; he hadn’t expected Su Yi to be so relaxed. “Brother Li, you do realize that if you miss the discussion of the Dao, you’ll miss out on an opportunity to enter the Ancestral Hall, too! Are you… really okay with that?”

Su Yi took a sip of wine, then said, “As a newcomer, I’d be a fool to expect everything to go that smoothly. If I come across as too weak, others will look down on me, but if I seem too strong, they’ll try to bring me down out of jealousy. If I really seize a spot in the Ancestral Hall’s selection of legacy disciples, I’ll be damaging their interests. How could they tolerate that?

“It’s true that human affairs matter to cultivators too, but I dislike this sort of toxic, cutthroat atmosphere. I might well suffer unfair treatment or miss out this time, but… that doesn’t matter.”

Su Yi smiled. “You can rest assured that I won’t lose heart over this trivial setback.”

Luo Xiao couldn’t help but say, “What do you plan to do, Brother Li?”

Su Yi said casually, “I’m going to resign myself to my fate.”

With that, he got up and left.

Luo Xiao sighed.

That very day, Su Yi set off with the others chosen to carry out this mission.

When Elder Yun Husheng heard this, he couldn’t help but stroke his beard and chuckle. What can a hothead who doesn’t know how to do anything but cultivate possibly achieve?

He seriously tried to ask Mountain Lord Mo Lanhe to uphold justice on his behalf. What an ignorant greenhorn!

Naturally, Yun Husheng didn’t say any of that out loud.

Later that day, he went to visit Mo Lanhe to discuss the upcoming discussion of the Dao. Once they’d finished making arrangements, Mo Lanhe asked out of nowhere, “Elder Yun, how do you see Li Muchen?”

Yun Husheng was instantly solemn. He sighed. “The boy’s extraordinary, with rare talent for the Dao of the Sword, but being too firm makes you brittle, and when you shine too brightly, it’s easy to invite trouble.”

He paused, then said solemnly, “As his senior, I have no choice but to become the villain and suppress his bluster. Otherwise, he risks rising too quickly, then falling back down to earth—hard. I’m doing this for his own good. Please understand, Daoist Brother.”

Mo Lanhe smiled noncommittally. A newcomer to the sect, that’s all. He might be dazzlingly talented and stand out of the crowd, but that’s all there is to him.

As a Mountain Lord, Mo Lanhe had seen countless dazzling, unparalleled figures over the years. Heavenly Monarch factions lacked nothing less than geniuses!

Li Muchen’s performance wasn’t enough to make a Heavenly Monarch-level faction like the Blueleaf Sword Sect value him.

Moreover, if anything, Mo Lanhe was a bit disappointed. How could a proud, unyielding sword cultivator back down so easily in the face of injustice? Why was he too scared to even let out a fart?

No… how could someone so resigned to his fate be considered ‘proud’ or unyielding?’

Swords hummed in the face of injustice.

But it seemed obvious that Li Muchen’s pride and character ultimately just weren’t that strong!

Someone like that was entirely unworthy of Mo Lanhe’s attention.

……

Li Muchen’s mission didn’t stir up many waves in the sect. Most people were accustomed to such things.

They’d at most bring him up when making conversation and say things like, “There’s something wrong with Li Muchen’s brain. He has no idea how a newcomer is supposed to behave. Shining so brightly was sure to invite suffering. This was inevitable.”

That was the extent of it.

What the sect really cared about was the upcoming discussion of the Dao. Several unparalleled inner sect disciples would participate and show their strength. People were already talking about it throughout the sect.

Nine days later, the discussion of the Dao began on schedule.

Ten unparalleled figures, each known throughout the sect, managed to distinguish themselves, earning a chance to participate in the Ancestral Hall’s selection of legacy disciples.

Half a month later, Su Yi completed his mission and returned, but he wasn’t at all depressed to learn what had happened in his absence.

It was also then that he realized that he’d become a laughingstock and an outcast on Snowy Pine Peak. With the sole exception of Luo Xiao, no one in the inner sect was willing to interact with him.

In truth, Su Yi didn’t care about any of this in the slightest. He’d grown accustomed to solitude since entering the sect. He naturally wouldn’t mind the others excluding him.

Still, from then on, he frequently left the sect on various missions. No one forced him this time; he did it of his own accord.

The Blueleaf Sect’s Hall of Missions frequently posted new missions divided into different levels to suit a wide range of cultivations. Anyone who completed them was rewarded accordingly.

Su Yi quickly became one of the Hall of Missions’ regulars. Practically all of the missions he chose involved hunting yao and demons or exploring forbidden zones. All were perilous.

At least, they were to other people. They weren’t any challenge for Su Yi. He chose these missions simply to justify his frequent absences from the sect.

Of course, he did actually complete them all, but it was an afterthought.

……

Half a year later, Su Yi returned to the sect and headed straight for the Hall of Missions.

“Little Brother Muchen, did you complete yet another mission?” the old man overseeing the place asked with a smile.

His name was Tao Su, and he was one of the hall’s elders. He was careless, indolent, and overly fond of his drink. He often drank to intoxication and passed out in his chair.

Over the past six months, Su Yi had come so often that Tao Su had long since taken note of him. By now, they were old acquaintances.

“Here are all three heads, as well as the organs the sect requested. Everything’s inside,” said Su Yi, handing Tao Su a bag of holding.

Tao Su didn’t even glance at it. He just gave Su Yi a big thumbs-up. “The younger generation is impressive indeed. Well done!”

Over the past six months, Su Yi had completed a dangerous hunting mission practically once every ten days. Furthermore, his results were always exemplary; there was nothing for even an old-timer like Tao Su to criticize.

By now, Tao Su couldn’t help but see this newcomer in a new light, and he often sighed on his behalf.

The way he saw it, had Li Muchen been allowed to participate, he unquestionably would have made it into the top ten in the competition six months ago!

Unfortunately, he’d offended too many people, and he’d thus been suppressed.

Tao Su wasn’t in a position to object. In this regard, cultivation factions were no different from the bureaucracies of the mortal world.

The competition was so fierce that it frequently led to infighting, scheming, and other unseemliness.

To the sect’s higher-ups, suppressing a rootless newcomer was as easy as turning over their hands.

So much so that there were no grounds to find fault with them.

“The Ancestral Hall will select three legacy disciples from the finalists in three days’ time. Want to stick around and broaden your horizons?” Tao Su asked warmly. “Personally, I think you should go and see just how capable the top sword cultivators of the inner sect really are. Realizing the distance between you and them will help you close the gap.”

Su Yi smiled. “I’ll pass.”

Even the strongest inner sect disciples were still just in the Divine Wandering Realm. At this point, they weren’t even worth looking at. How could Su Yi possibly have been interested in watching the spectacle?

“I see you’re still nursing a grudge, but then, that’s how a sword cultivator ought to be,” Tao Su said solemnly. “You cannot participate in this year’s selection, but there’s always next time, or the time after that. The way this old man sees it, the inner sect won’t be able to keep you down forever!”

Su Yi tossed him a jug of wine. “A reward for your auspicious words.”

With that, he turned to leave.

Tao Su watched him fade into the distance, then sighed. The kid’s Dao of the Sword is extraordinary, but he doesn’t understand human affairs. I’m afraid he’ll be in for even more suffering in the future.

Tao Su let out a self-deprecating laugh. Wasn’t it the same for me back then? I was so proud. I thought I was strong enough to rise above the competition, but reality proved that I was far from capable of that.

After all, a Heavenly Monarch-level faction lacks nothing less than so-called ‘unparalleled geniuses.’

No matter how talented you are, if you don’t know how to conduct yourself, you’ll be suppressed, ostracized, and rejected!

Tao Su had suffered similarly back in the day. As a result, he was stuck in a dead-end role in the Hall of Missions despite his Immeasurable Realm cultivation base.

When he saw Li Muchen’s misfortune, he couldn’t help but ask himself, That’s how the world is, but does that make it right?

At its peak, the Blueleaf Sword Sect was one of the five strongest Heavenly Monarch-level factions in the continent.

But now, we’ve declined. Why?

Wasn’t it because those old scoundrels won’t quit squabbling over power?

Newcomers cannot distinguish themselves, while the old grow complacent. How could a sect like that not fall into decline?

After pondering for a while, Tao Su sighed, then set the matter aside. He drained the jug of wine Su Yi gave him, drinking to intoxication before falling fast asleep.

Out of sight, out of mind.

…

After leaving the Hall of Missions, Su Yi encountered Elder Yun Husheng on his way back to Snowy Pine Peak.

Yun Husheng looked him up and down and smiled. “It’s been a little over half a year since you joined the sect. Do you have any thoughts?”

He looked amiable and well-mannered.

Su Yi glanced at him, then said calmly, “With my seniors looking out for me, all is well.”

Yun Husheng froze, then approached and patted Su Yi on the shoulder. He transmitted, “Even the finest jades need to be carved into shape. I’m doing this for your own good. When you understand, lower your head in sincere apology, and everything will be up for discussion!

“But if you insist on hating me, well… heh.”

He straightened up the lapels of Su Yi’s clothing, then smiled and left.