First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2822 – No Matter the Sins You Encounter in Your Path, You Ought to Act With Innocence

The first level of the Sin-Severing Dungeon.

The dozen or so Sin Souls were all bewildered and uncertain.

“Why did everything quiet down all of a sudden?”

“I’m afraid that kid is already dead,” the black-robed Xuan Zhong said suddenly. “Cen Xinghe, if your grandfather dies, as his grandson, shouldn’t you don filial mourning garb and pay your respects?”

Uproarious laughter ensued.

Cen Xinghe stood there in a daze, inwardly despondent. I suffered badly at that boy’s hands, and he even managed to seize Heart Executioner. How could someone like that just up and die?

“Look at Ol’ Devil Cen’s grief-stricken face! He’s sure immersed himself in the role of ‘grandson’! Impressive!” someone jeered.

“Even if I thought with my toes instead of my brain, it’d be obvious that that kid would have no chance against the ruler of the dungeon!” someone said with a cold laugh. “It would be stranger if he somehow managed to survive!”

As the Sin Souls of the Sin-Severing Dungeon, they were naturally keenly aware of the little girl’s terrifyingness. During the Devastation, Heavenly Sovereign Zhenyue, the master of the Laws of the Nine Luminaries, couldn’t really kill her. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but that if he tried, he’d destroy the entire Sin-Severing Dungeon with her, effectively releasing the Sin Souls into the world. That would, in turn, bring ruin to the masses!

In other words, the Sin-Severing Dungeon would only stand so long as its ruler drew breath! No one else could take her place.

“Let’s put it this way. If that boy returns alive, I’ll call you my grandfather, Ol’ Devil Cen!” said a fair-skinned, unearthly man in silver robes. He was tall and thin, and he teased Cen Xinghe without the slightest politeness. But then, his eyes widened as two figures appeared in the doorway to the second level of the dungeon.

The first was a relaxed, leisurely man in blue. He was accompanied by a disheveled, gaunt little girl in ragged clothing. The girl hung her head and clutched the hems of her clothing, quivering as she followed the man in blue. She looked as pitiful as could be.

Practically simultaneously, the other Sin Souls noticed the new arrivals. All of them were flabbergasted, and all of them widened their eyes in shock, their minds going blank.

What’s going on?

Su Yi stopped in front of the silver-robed man’s cell. “If you call him grandfather, and he calls me grandfather, what are you to me?”

The silver-robed man took a deep breath, then responded solemnly, “You’re my grandfather’s grandfather, and that makes me your grandson’s grandson!”

He then bowed deeply at the waist. “Great-great-grandfather, please forgive your great-great-grandson for speaking out of turn!”

As he spoke, his teeth clattered, and his whole body tensed. He was nervous to the extreme.

The dimly lit first level of the dungeon was deathly silent save for the echo of the silver-robed man’s voice. No one took the opportunity to laugh at him; Su Yi and the little girl’s arrival startled them, too.

The girl silently turned, looked up at the silver-robed man, then said with the utmost seriousness, “Are you worthy of being my master’s great-great-grandson?”

The silver-robed man looked stricken.

The girl stretched out her hand, and the silver-robed man blurred into a strand of green firelight, which she promptly devoured. She chewed, then swallowed, her clear, guileless eyes scanning the other cells.

All of the Sin Souls lowered their heads. None of them dared to meet her gaze! The Sin Souls weren’t afraid to die, and they weren’t afraid of vanishing from this world. The only thing they feared was the attention of the little girl, the incarnation of all evils!

Once she’d swallowed the silver-robed Sin Soul, she burped.

Su Yi swatted her on the forehead. “Who gave you permission to do that?”

The girl looked at him piteously. “Master, I didn’t kill him! I just turned him into a doll. A punishment like that is nothing at all.”

Su Yi’s brow furrowed.

The girl shuddered and lowered her head. “I was wrong, and I won’t dare to do it again. If you’re angry, please punish me as you see fit!”

Deathly silence descended over the dungeon. The Sin Souls’ minds went blank; they felt as if their very perception of reality had been called into question. This is the terrifying existence we call our ruler? Why… is she acting like this?

“The rules and boundaries I laid out for you haven’t changed,” said Su Yi. “If you want to test them, go right ahead.”

The girl hurriedly shook her head and said in a quavering voice, “I won’t do it again, Master!”

Su Yi said no more on the matter.

Earlier, in the third level of the dungeon, his first incarnation’s heart devil placed a seal in the little girl’s heart. He then said that so long as Su Yi gave the girl a true name, he’d have control over her life and death forevermore. But he also noted that there was no guarantee she wouldn’t disregard her own life and try to kill Su Yi anyway.

Su Yi knew that the heart devil had left the girl some wiggle room on purpose; he wanted Su Yi on guard at all times. But Su Yi didn’t mind. He saw the little girl as a whetstone to temper his heart with. If she were as meek as a lamb, what would be the point?

Su Yi then came up with several names and let the girl choose one. Her options were Innocence, Sincerity, Kindness, and Compassion.

The little girl was an incarnation of the source of all evil, and her tiny frame hid endless malevolence and murderous power. She could never have guessed that Su Yi would choose such ludicrous names for her.

Kindness? Bleh! Compassion! Bleh! Innocence? Sincerity! Bleh bleh bleh! What the hell is he thinking, choosing names like that?

But the girl didn’t dare to say it to his face. She just looked at Su Yi through eyes misted with tears and tentatively asked if he could try coming up with a few more names. Almost anything would have been better!

But to her immense disappointment, Su Yi refused.

After a long time, she forcefully suppressed her frustration and bitterness, choosing the name “Innocence.” Compared to the other three names, she could just barely accept “Innocence.”

Su Yi nodded as if to say, “Just what I thought.”

Out loud, he said, “Good and evil are distinct. You must think rightly and maintain a pure heart and a spirit devoid of malice. No matter the sins and wickedness you encounter in your path, you must act with innocence. That is my wish for you.”

The girl was on the verge of dying from sheer frustration. She longed for nothing more than to rip Su Yi to shreds. How could she stomach listening to all that drivel? But on the surface, she wept with tears of gratitude, as if she had received a new lease on life, and nodded repeatedly. “Thank you, Big Brother, for choosing such a wonderful name for me! I’ll carve your words into my heart, and I’ll remember them for the rest of my life!”

Su Yi smiled broadly and tousled her disheveled hair. “Call me something else going forward. ‘Big Brother’ is too grating on the ears.”

The girl listed a long list of options, like “grandfather,” “grandpa,” and “dad.” All were kinship terms. Su Yi’s brow furrowed. In the end, they grudgingly agreed on “master.”

Then Su Yi laid out a simple rule for the girl to follow going forward: No matter what happened, she needed his permission before she did anything.

To the little girl, this restriction felt like shackles, but as frustrating as it was, she had no choice but to accept it.

She had devoured the silver-robed man to vent. She would never have guessed that her attempt to vent would invite punishment. She couldn’t help but feel a wave of despair wash over her. She couldn’t even imagine how bleak the days ahead would be for her.

“Grandfather! I’m so happy to see you again!” Cen Xinghe cried out, practically weeping with happiness. He gripped the bars of his cell and beamed at Su Yi, beside himself with joy.

The others looked on, their expressions complicated. Earlier, they had teased Cen Xinghe for his shamelessness in acknowledging an Unfettered Realm kid as his grandfather. But now, the situation had turned on its head.

“I don’t have a grandson like you.” Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh. Cen Xinghe sure is something. He doesn’t care about his pride or reputation in the slightest.

“Then I’ll just call you ‘grandfather’ in my heart!” Cen Xinghe said with a smile so broad that it almost reached his ears.

He’d bet right! No, he’d gotten ridiculously lucky!

Sometimes, being a grandson felt just great!

The little girl glanced at him coldly, but although his hair stood on end, he smiled nonetheless and didn’t back down. It was only the subtle quivering of his shoulders that betrayed his true terror.

“Do you approve of him, Master?” asked the girl.

“He’s got good eyes, and he’s totally shameless,” said Su Yi. “He’s adaptable, too, and of course, he’s a sword cultivator from the Devastation, a Heavenly Monarch who once achieved great merit in the battle to defend the Ancient Nine Luminaries City. It would be hard not to admire him.”

Cen Xinghe was flattered but startled. He waved modestly. “You exaggerate, Grandfather! I cannot accept such praise!”

“Then I’ll just spare him,” said the girl. “And only him.”

Cen Xinghe inwardly sighed in relief as he realized he was going to get through this.

The other inmates, however, had the exact opposite reaction. All of them looked stricken. What does she mean, she’ll spare him? Don’t tell me she plans to refine the rest of us?

Bang!

The little girl stretched out her hand and grabbed. The nearby sin souls’ bodies shattered into different colored flames, which she gathered in the palm of her hand. As casually as if she were grabbing a handful of silk threads.

The black-robed Daoist, Xuan Zhong, shot to his feet. “I can acknowledge him as my grandfather and become his grandson, too!”

The girl reached for him, and his body shattered into ink-black flames. She took them in hand and said irritably, “Others clasp the Buddha’s feet for luck before going into battle, while you’ve gone so far as to acknowledge a new grandfather. You’ve got no sincerity to speak of.”

With that, she devoured him. Then, she casually waved her hand through the air, and all of the remaining sin souls shattered into bundles of fire. She quickly gathered up the flames.

Cen Xinghe was the only one left.

He quivered from head to toe, inwardly celebrating his close brush with death. Becoming one of the little girl’s dolls would be far, far worse than living on as a Sin Soul! The worst part was that her dolls couldn’t die, not even if they wanted to!

I sure accepted a good grandfather this time, thought Cen Xinghe.

He might have been a bit ashamed of his behavior earlier, but now, he felt no shame whatsoever. After all, even the ruler of the dungeons called that young man her master. So what if he was only in the Unfettered Realm? He was still more than qualified to be Cen Xinghe’s grandfather! Even if Cen Xinghe scoured his entire family tree, he wouldn’t find anyone else so capable!