Chapter 573 - 40: Well Said! So Am I

The moment he successfully cultivated the Fire of Sin, Su Zhou knew.

It wasn’t so much that the power of the True Soul had granted him this Divine Technique. Rather, swallowing the True Soul—a Divine Object entwined with the dual forces of Curse and Wishing Power—was itself the ritual that unlocked the Divine Technique hidden deep within his own soul.

’So this is the Fire of Sin.’

Slowly rising from his seat, Su Zhou raised his right hand. A black, cold flame, originating from his heart, extended to his palm and began to burn, releasing rings of white light into the surrounding air.

At the same time, everyone in Qinxing Academy, student and professor alike, felt a wave of fear and apprehension wash over them from an unknown source. It was the soul’s instinctive reaction to perceiving a power so dangerous that its very existence signified immense disaster and death.

"Who is it?"

Qiu Wubin, the former deputy director of the Security Bureau and current headmaster of Qinxing Academy, snapped his eyes open, breaking his meditation. The reaction from his powerful Spiritual Power was so strong it caused violent convection currents in the air around him. The headmaster, it turned out, possessed the strength of the Extraordinary Peak. Though he usually kept a low profile, he was truly worthy of his position and title.

However, after briefly sensing the direction the danger was coming from, the headmaster clicked his tongue and settled back down. "Ah, it’s Professor Su. That explains it."

"Relying on his great Talent, he doesn’t even use a Seclusion Chamber. Isn’t he afraid his Cultivation will go awry and he’ll blow up his own office?"

The many professors who were in the middle of their lessons also quickly realized the source of this sudden threat.

"It’s Professor Su. Nothing to worry about, then."

"Quiet down. You’ll get used to it. Experiencing the Suppression of a High-level Cultivator every now and then will be beneficial for your future Cultivation and battles."

"He broke through again."

Meanwhile, Su Zhou didn’t retract the Fire of Sin.

On the contrary, he observed the cold light in his palm with rapt curiosity.

As Su Zhou stared at it, he was able to analyze its composition. The so-called Fire of Sin was essentially Curse Fire, concentrated to its absolute limit. However, it was stabilized by Desire Power, which prevented it from collapsing and self-destructing. The principle was simple, but the structure was exceedingly complex—comparable to building the Great Wall out of nano-scale grains of sand, one particle at a time.

Although this high-concentration Karmic Fire, stabilized by Desire Power, wouldn’t actively harm anyone, it could trigger the self-immolation of all similar forces within a certain radius—things like Karmic Force, Demonic Thought, and Curse—causing them to spontaneously combust and burn out, taking the Soul and even one’s Beliefs along with them.

If Su Zhou hadn’t already advanced to the Commander tier and eaten two Wisdom Fruits to strengthen his Soul, he would have met a terrible fate. The Enhancement had increased his thought-processing speed to the point where he could enter Bullet Time, experiencing several minutes in the span of a single second. Without that, the Awakening of the Fire of Sin would have likely ended with his own Soul being burned to ash.

After experimenting a bit more with the Fire of Sin, Su Zhou discovered he could control the Karmic Fire just as he did his Spiritual Power, making it soar and rotate around him. However, his supply of Karmic Fire was finite, its reserves based on the number of Evil People he had previously slain.

For now, the amount of Fire of Sin Su Zhou could control was only enough to cover both of his arms.

’Interesting. I wonder how destructive it is.’

Su Zhou was already trying to combine the Fire of Sin with his Gale Armor. ’While my supply of Karmic Fire is small,’ he thought, ’it’s more than enough for projectiles. I could mix some Karmic Fire into my Dragon Breath, then use the Gale Armor’s launchers to fire it at several times the speed of sound. Let’s see who can block that!’

’Even better, I could bundle the Gale Armor launchers together to make something like a Gatling gun for shooting Karmic Fire—3,600 rounds per minute! The Karmic Fire of Compassion, delivering Evil People from their wicked ways!’

It was a great idea. The only problem was finding a test subject.

Just as Yara was about to suggest Su Zhou go for a stroll and find some "lucky" little miscreant to test it on, Su Zhou had a flash of inspiration. "Speaking of Evil People," he mused, "isn’t there one right here?"

"Wait, you mean me?"

Instantly, Yara went on guard. The black hat perched on Su Zhou’s head transformed into an octopus-like shape, seven or eight tentacles grabbing his hair and clamping down firmly. "I’m warning you, Su Zhou," she said, "you’re playing with fire!"

"Who said anything about you? I’m talking about myself!"

Su Zhou patted Yara irritably and said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Am I not evil enough? Don’t I have enough Curse clinging to me? Am I not worthy of testing the Karmic Fire’s power?"

As he spoke, he gazed at the black-and-white cold flame, a determined light flickering in his eyes. "Besides, this is my own Divine Technique. I know full well that with something like the Fire of Sin, if the user doesn’t even have the resolve to be burned and judged by it himself, how can he possibly wield it as a weapon to pass Judgment on others?"

Those who kill must be prepared to be killed. Those who judge must be prepared to be judged themselves.

Having reverted to her hat shape, Yara felt the conviction in Su Zhou’s heart. She couldn’t help but recall the Su Zhou of two years ago, when he had first Awakened the Divine Technique of the Evil-Devouring Demon Lord. Back then, he had muttered to himself, confused as to why a Knight like him, who fought for justice, would be granted an ’evil’ Divine Technique.

How things had changed. The greenhorn kid from back then was gradually becoming someone with true conviction.

Indeed, as the sayings go: even the best swimmers can drown, and those who play with fire are bound to get burned. For someone who wields Karmic Fire, how could he claim to truly control it without first testing it on himself?