First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2584 – A Man as Unfathomable as an Abyss

The Ancient Forest Sword Sect lay in ruin. Blood and corpses lay strewn all over the ground.

The few survivors sat in puddles of blood, hair loose and disheveled, grief-stricken, with hollow eyes.

It seemed they dared not believe they’d been saved.

Rather, they dared not believe the enemies attacking like a pack of ravening wolves had been eradicated in a flash.

“Even if you’re innocent, harboring a treasure is a sin in its own right. This is yet another tragedy caused by a Fragment of Heaven’s Will,” sighed one of the sword cultivators, a colorfully dressed woman.

“You’re wrong. It isn’t just about the Fragments of Heaven’s Will. The balance of power has crumbled, opening the door for all types of slaughter and bloodshed,” said the leader of the ground, the clear-faced, handsome young man in long robes. “If we want to end this, there’s only one way to go about it. We have to restore order to the world!”

Su Yi was listening from afar. He couldn’t help but nod to himself. Exactly.

He stood in midair, but the sword cultivators in the distance couldn’t sense his existence in the slightest.

“Senior Apprentice Brother, what do we do with this Fragment of Heaven’s Will?” asked a middle-aged man with a willowy beard.

He held a Fragment of Heaven’s Will, the one taken from their slain enemies.

“Give it back to them,” the young man in long robes said casually.

“You’re giving it back?” The woman frowned; she obviously didn’t agree.

However, she also seemed intimidated by the young man. After a brief pause, she said, “My opinion differs in two ways.”

“Tell me,” the young man said warmly.

“First, they suffered this disaster today because of this Fragment of Heaven’s Will. If we give it back to them, there’s no guarantee that they won’t suffer another similar disaster later.” The colorfully dressed woman took a deep breath, then continued. “Furthermore, we saved their lives, and we cannot go unrewarded. The fragment can serve as our reward.”

Many of the others agreed, but the young man frowned, his gaze frosting over. “Completely, totally wrong!”

The woman looked stricken, and she promptly fell silent.

The others exchanged glances. Wrong? How is she wrong?

The young man scanned the group. “First, it’s true that their Fragment of Heaven’s Will invited this disaster, but who’d dare to say with certainty that it’ll happen again? That reasoning is entirely unfounded and incomparably absurd. It’s just an excuse to seize the fragment for ourselves.”

The crowd fell silent.

“Second, we just happened to be passing through, and happened upon this bloody battle by chance. We helped because doing so was in accordance with our hearts, not for the sake of rewards.”

The young man’s gaze was suddenly severe. “Compared to acting in accordance with my true nature, what does a Fragment of Heaven’s Will matter?”

Many of the others’ expressions shifted, visibly more reserved than before. The colorfully dressed woman went so far as to lower her head, not daring to meet the young man’s gaze.

“Most ridiculous of all, you think we’re entitled to a reward just because we saved them,” said the young man. “If we did that, how would we be any different from those who use past favors as leverage?”

The colorfully dressed woman stiffened, then said with shame, “I understand my mistakes, Senior Apprentice Brother.”

“When we get back to the sect, you’re to confine yourself in the Heart-Tempering Cave for the next three months,” said the young man.

“Understood.” The woman lowered her head in assent.

The others, meanwhile, were so tense that they dared not even breathe too loudly.

Su Yi watched this whole exchange from afar. He couldn’t help but find it surprising. The young man was as steady as a pine or a boulder, and as smooth as jade. He seemed amiable, but he handled his affairs with imposing dignity.

Rarest of all, his words made it obvious that he wasn’t the least bit simple.

“Why… did you save us?” Suddenly, an enraged shout rang out.

The speaker was a member of the Ancient Forest Sword Sect, a woman lying in a puddle of blood. She struggled to her feet with great difficulty, her face covered in blood.

Many of the sword cultivators frowned. They were stunned, and they found this behavior hard to understand. We saved her, so why is she pointing her finger at us?

The young man in long robes, however, remained calm. “What do you mean?”

The woman cried out in grief, “You might have saved us this time, but can you keep us safe for all time?

This time, the young man fell silent too.

The woman continued, expression bleak and eyes hollow, “Practically all of us are dead!! And we… might still be alive, but our lives are worse than death!

“It’s all you people’s fault. It’s powerful people like you who destroyed the rules governing this world, all for the sake of those dogshit Fragments of Heaven’s Will. You…”

She paused, gnashing her teeth so hard they almost shattered. “You’re the ones to blame for this!”

With that, she took out a knife and stabbed herself in the chest. Blood splattered the air, and soon, she too was dead.

When the other three survivors of the Ancient Forest Sword Sect saw this, they couldn’t help but kneel in puddles of blood and wail.

Several of the sword cultivators’ expressions darkened. “She said we’re the ones to blame… but we’re the ones who saved their lives!”

The young man in long robes waved. “She might have been a bit deranged, but she wasn’t exactly wrong. The natural disasters of the Dark Days of Legend aren’t terrifying. It’s the man-made disasters we really need to worry about.”

He let out a long sigh, a determined look on his face. “But when the curtains fall on the Dark Days of Legend, all of this bitterness and suffering will end!”

Everyone fell silent. In truth, they really didn’t understand how the young man in long robes did things.

They most certainly didn’t understand why he felt the need to save complete strangers.

His personality was in some ways hard to pin down. He wasn’t exactly merciful; there was no counting how many powerful figures had died by his hand.

He wasn’t precisely compassionate, either. His heart was as firm as iron, and he was among the coldest, strictest people in the sect.

Yet he habitually behaved in these inexplicable ways. For instance, they’d only been passing through earlier. They could have just left without saving anyone.

But the young man in long robes didn’t hesitate.

Even when those he saved “rewarded” him with hostility, he wasn’t the least bit upset. On the contrary, he seemed quite understanding about it.

“Let’s go,” said the young man.

But just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly gazed into the distance. He wasn’t sure when, but a tall, upright figure in blue robes was walking toward them.

The stranger’s aura was entirely unassuming, as if he were just another tree or blade of grass. He showed no sign of a cultivation base.

Had they encountered him under other circumstances, they’d have taken him for a mere mortal and overlooked him.

But under these circumstances, there was no way the young man in long robes could disregard him.

“No need to be nervous. I’m just a passerby. I showed myself because I have a question, and I’d like to hear your answer,” Su Yi said with a smile.

The young man in long robes clasped his fist. “Please go right ahead.”

“Had the people you’d saved earlier offered you treasures as a reward, would you have accepted it?” asked Su Yi.

It was a simple question. The sword cultivators couldn’t help but find it strange. Do you even need to ask? If they offered something good, we’d take it. If not, we’d refuse it.

The young man pondered briefly, then said, “I save people in accordance with my heart, not for the sake of rewards.”

“I understand.” Su Yi inclined his head.

With that, he turned to leave.

This, too, seemed inscrutable. The sword cultivators were baffled, unable to wrap their heads around this strange behavior. He appeared out of nowhere just to ask a simple question, and now he’s already leaving?

“Please wait, sir,” said the young man in long robes. “Do you perhaps have a different answer to the question you just asked?”

Su Yi thought briefly, then turned to look at him. “In the past, I was like you. I saved someone with no thought for gratitude or rewards, acting purely in accordance with my own heart.”

“But now?” probed the young man.

“No…” Su Yi laughed. “I won’t ask for a reward, but if those I save offer one to me, I’ll take it, no matter what it is. Even if it’s just a copper coin or a piping hot meal, I won’t refuse it.”

With that, he floated off.

The young man in long robes was unwittingly stunned. After a brief pause, he said, “I’m Bai Yulou of Fortuitous Sword Mountain. Might I request your honorable name and surname?”

This time, he clasped his fist and bowed solemnly toward Su Yi’s departing figure. The difference in etiquette left his companions stunned. Senior Apprentice Brother is almost never this reverent, not even when interacting with the sect’s old-timers.

Yet now, he’s treating a complete stranger with such respect after exchanging just a few words.

How could his companions not have been stunned?

“I’m a passerby in this world, a humble sword cultivator. Our paths crossed by chance. Why concern yourself with my name?” Su Yi waved, then left without so much as turning his head.

His robes billowed around his tall, upright figure. Before long, he’d vanished without a trace.

“A humble sword cultivator, huh… It seems he’s a ‘fellow traveler’ of the Dao of the Sword.” Bai Yulou straightened his spine and said softly, “If his Dao of the Sword is anything like his conduct, that would be far too terrifying…”

His companions were completely flabbergasted. How could Senior Apprentice Brother appraise a stranger so highly after just a few sentences?

It was simply unbelievable!

“Senior Apprentice Brother, was that guy really that impressive?” the colorfully dressed woman couldn’t help but ask.

Bai Yulou inclined his head. “It would be no exaggeration to describe him as ‘unfathomable.’ I suspect that even if my true body were here, I wouldn’t have been able to see through him.”

He shook his head slightly, as if summarizing the situation. “He’s as unfathomable as an abyss, his heart unreadable. It’s truly impressive!”

Silence descended over the crowd. Everyone exchanged glances.

None of them understood.