First Immortal of the Sword

The atmosphere was stifled.

Huang Quanjun was well aware that his choice would determine how this ended.

He took a deep breath, then gnashed his teeth. “Brother Su, today, I had to borrow your power to force Qin Feng to his knees and make him apologize. If you kill him now, he won’t be convinced of his defeat, nor will I get any satisfaction from his death.”

He then turned to Su Yi and clasped his fist. “Brother Su, I want to end this grudge myself. I want him to die convinced of his defeat.”

Su Yi sheathed his sword. “You’ve got potential after all.”

With that, he turned to leave. Qing Feng still knelt there, quivering like a lamb to the slaughter, but Su Yi didn’t so much as spare him a second glance.

“Qin Feng, I know that given your personality, letting you live means you’re certain to choose revenge in a mad frenzy. Even so, I must warn you that doing so will only hurt your father. Whether you heed my warning or not is up to you. Think it over for yourself,” said Huang Qianjun before following Su Yi out the door.

Qin Feng felt as if he’d set down a massive burden. His butt thudded to the floor.

His cheeks were still red and swollen, and his hair was unkempt; he looked like a wreck. His eyes were full of terror, but also limitless resentment and hatred.

……

That night, word of the bloody incident at the workshop spread, stirring up no small number of waves in the prefectural capital.

After all, Qin Feng was Prefectural Governor Qin Wenyuan’s son! All of his guards had been killed, and he himself had been forced to kneel, kowtow, and beg for mercy! This was a blatant slap in the governor’s face!

Anyone would have been startled to hear about this!

And everyone who learned of this incident wondered about Su Yi and Huang Qianjun’s backgrounds. Who were these people, and where had they come from? Just who could so brazenly disregard even the prefectural governor?

It was a pity that both Su Yi and Huang Qianjun had arrived at the prefectural capital only a few days prior, so practically no one outside their immediate circle knew who they were.

……

On their way back to Humble Tranquility Cottage.

Su Yi was leisurely and composed as he admired the lights and lanterns.

But Huang Qianjun looked fearful and ill at ease. After a while, he couldn’t take it any longer. He whispered, “Brother Su, I made trouble for you this time.”

His voice revealed his shame.

“A minor matter,” said Su Yi offhandedly. “But of course, if this incident serves to teach you the importance of power and cultivation, it’ll all have been worth it.”

“Brother Su, rest assured,” said Huang Qianjun hurriedly. “I’ll be sure to redouble my efforts from now on. I won’t disappoint you again, no matter what!”

“Your cultivation is your own business. There’s no need to make me any guarantees,” said Su Yi. He thought about it. “Tonight’s incident is sure to have consequences, and with the paltry power at your disposal, I’m afraid they’ll be more than you can bear. But you needn’t worry either. If Qin Wenyuan dares attempt revenge, I’ll just stop him myself.”

Huang Qianjun’s heart shook. He was both moved and ashamed.

He knew full well that after tonight’s incident, his uncle would be utterly enraged. There was no way Qin Wenyuan simply let this go.

When that happened, it wouldn’t just affect Huang Qianjun. The governor’s rage would extend to his aunt, Qin Wenyuan’s concubine. The full extent of the consequences was impossible to estimate; even the Huang Family would be implicated.

That was what worried him the most.

He never would have guessed that Su Yi would discern his deepest fears at a glance and make it clear that he intended to handle it all on his own!

That was like taking this entire impending disaster onto himself!

How could Huang Qianjun not be moved?

“Brother Su, I won’t say any more. Just that from this day forth, this life of mine belongs to you. Even if you told me to drop dead this instant, I wouldn’t so much as furrow my brow!” Huang Qianjun’s voice was raspy, and the rims of his eyes reddened. He was so worked up, his words came out a little choked.

“Is it worth getting so worked up over a trivial matter like this?” Su Yi couldn’t help but shake his head.

But when he thought about it, it made sense. Compared to the governor of the Cloudriver Prefecture, Huang Qianjun and the Huang Family were indeed just too weak.

If they got mixed up in this, there was no way they could withstand the resulting impact.

“Since you decided to follow me, I won’t allow anyone to bully you. Later on, you’ll understand: never mind a piddling little prefectural governor, all factions and powers of this mundane world are no more threatening to me than clay chickens and porcelain dogs.” Su Yi spoke casually, as if this were so trivial, it was barely even worth mentioning.

Huang Qianjun was dazed. He couldn’t even imagine just how much confidence Su Yi had to have to say something so disdainful with such understated ease.

Humble Tranquility Cottage.

Feng Xiaofeng and Feng Xiaoran were still waiting. Neither had gone to sleep.

The night wind blew past, shaking the leaves and grasses of the courtyard, like a natural symphony. From time to time, insects buzzed, adding an additional layer to the tranquility. Beneath the eaves, the lamps were fully lit, and their gentle glows warmed the heart.

When Su Yi stepped through the gates and saw this, he felt an inexplicable sense of peace and tranquility.

“Big Brother Su, you’re back!” Feng Xiaoran dashed up to him and smiled sweetly.

Su Yi tousled her hair and laughed, “It’s the middle of the night. Hurry up and get some rest.”

“Mm! Big Brother Su, you should go to bed soon too!” Feng Xiaoran obediently turned and went back to her room.

“Junior Apprentice Brother Feng, you needn’t wait for me like this going forward,” said Su Yi as he walked inside.

“Sure.” Feng Xiaofeng agreed with a smile.

Su Yi paused, then after a moment’s thought, added, “Two nights from now, I plan to sever all lingering enmities from our time in Blueriver Sword Manor. Remember to warm a jar of wine. When I get back, let’s drink it together.”

Feng Xiaofeng suddenly quivered from head to toe, but just as he was about to say something, Su Yi entered his room and closed the door.

“It makes sense. With Senior Apprentice Brother Su’s current power, there’s no reason for him to suffer in silence or wait any longer….” Feng Xiaofeng muttered to himself. He suddenly recalled what had happened on the ninth floor of the House of Prosperity, as well as the sight of Wu Tianhao kneeling like a panicked dog in this very courtyard.

“Brother Feng, allow me to push you back to your room.” Huang Qianjun walked up to him and began pushing the wheelchair with a smile.

“Brother Huang, you seem to have something on your mind?” said Feng Xiaofeng, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Do I?” Huang Qianjun started.

“No matter what it is, make sure you talk to Senior Apprentice Brother Su about it. Don’t try and carry it all on your own. Without him fighting by my side during our time in Blueriver Sword Manor, I’m afraid those jerks would have bullied me to death a long time ago.

His eyes suddenly filled with emotion. “Senior Apprentice Brother Su Yi has changed completely, but I know that once you win his approval, he’ll treat you as he would his own brother. If you encounter difficulties and don’t tell him, you’ll only make him mad. Do you understand?”

Huang Qianjun felt a twinge in his nose. He nodded. “Brother Feng, I understand.”

After seeing Feng Xiaofeng back to his room, he got his thoughts in order and returned to his own chambers.

He lay down, but he tossed and turned. He found it difficult to sleep.

Tonight’s incident was an enormous shock. Just thinking about how he’d provoked a thread of dissatisfaction from Su Yi filled him with shame and regret.

I can’t let anything like this happen ever again! He shouted furiously to himself.

Suddenly, he heard Su Yi’s voice from beyond the door. “Are you asleep?”

Huang Qianjun jumped, then hurriedly let him in. “Brother Su, is something wrong?”

“Take this.” Su Yi passed him a thick stack of papers, then turned to leave.

Huang Qianjun was flabbergasted. He wanted to say something, but the words died in his throat; Su Yi had already slipped back to his own chambers.

“What is this?” Huang Qianjun returned to his room, sat at the desk, and began reading.

Before long, he was frozen in place.

The ink had yet to fully dry on the paper. It was obvious someone had only just finished writing.

The papers recorded a cultivation technique called “The Great Celestial Origin Art.” It even included annotations and further explanations for every single line of text; it was incredibly nuanced and thorough.

Although the papers only recorded the subtle mysteries of the Four Realms of the Martial Dao, it was enough to shake Huang Qianjun to the core.

He couldn’t even imagine it. How could such a miraculous text exist in this world?

His intuition told him that this was a peerless lost inheritance, an ingenious secret art.

By comparison, the Huang Family’s legacy cultivation techniques were far, far too shallow and crude.

It was then that Huang Qianjun realized why, beneath that aloof exterior, Su Yi was so immensely prideful!

It was simply the result of having peerless foundations and strength!

Huang Qianjun sat there in a daze, lips quivering, emotions surging through him. Beneath the lamplight, his eyes gradually moistened, and his vision blurred……

Meanwhile, in another room.

Su Yi carefully scrutinized his new spiritual weapon. After a while, a faint, satisfied smile tugged at his lips.

He finally had a sword he could use freely.

Making this sword had expended most of the spiritual materials he had on hand. He’d used up four kilos of Bluescale Cold Iron alone.

Furthermore, at the very end of the forging process, he’d used his own blood essence as a medium to inscribe an obscure and mysterious edict into the blade.

This edict was called “Profound Gathering.”

This meant that it gathered the profundities of heaven and earth and put them to use.

This edict was Daoist, and it was used for forging weapons. When carved onto a sword, an edict granted a weapon a unique attribute.

For example, with the “Profound Gathering” edict, whenever Su Yi swung his sword, he could draw upon the power of all of heaven earth.

And when his sword was hidden in its sheath, it could continue “gathering the profound”, collecting the wandering mysterious energies of heaven and earth and using them to nourish itself.

It was no exaggeration to call it miraculous.

It’s worth mentioning that edicts were created by taking excerpts from talismans. They were subdivided into numerous categories. There were medicinal edicts, and edicts for forging, combat, divination, and flight….. Each category included several different types of edicts.

Daoists called edicts “Invocations.” Buddhists called them “Divine Decrees”, Confucianists called them “Injunctions”, and demonic cultivators called them “Secret Spells.”

But regardless of what they were called, all could be jointly classified as edicts, and all were extracted from the obscure and mysterious Dao of Talismans.

“This sword can control the power of heavenly and earthly mysteries, so I’ll call it ‘Guiding Mysteries.’” Su Yi brushed his fingers along the blade and muttered to himself.

Clang!

Guiding Mysteries hummed faintly; it was fully spiritual.

This was a true spiritual weapon. Its power was starkly different from Mortal Edge, which only had a trace of spirituality.

The addition of the Profound Gathering Edict put it in a class of its own even among spiritual weapons.

Su Yi sheathed Guiding Mysteries, then began cultivating without any further delays.

As for Mortal Edge, he didn’t throw it away. Instead, he stored it within his black jade pendant.

Mortal Edge was the first sword he’d forged since his rebirth. Although it was merely a mortal weapon, it was uniquely significant to him.

I enter the mortal world and sharpen my heart like the edge of my blade!

This phrase represented the beginning of Su Yi’s Sword Dao. When the day came that he stood supreme at the pinnacle of the Dao of the Sword, Su Yi’s name would give this sword yet another layer of unique, irreplaceable significance!

Meanwhile, beneath the same night sky.

Qin Feng scurried back to the governor’s estate like a panicked dog, then entered his father’s study, his heart still burning with indignation.

Seth's Thoughts

I took some liberties with the name “Guiding Mysteries,” but I think it works. If you disagree, well, I’m generally open to constructive criticism, so feel free to go at it in the comments.

If you’re curious, I’ll describe how I picked this particular name+a common strategy I use for translating terms not found in a dictionary below.

The sword is called 御玄 in Chinese.

“Guide” is not how I would translate 御 in most contexts. 御 has several meanings, including “o” as in “Onee-chan” and “imperial” as in “imperial censor.” As a verb, it means to “control”, “govern”, “drive”, or “steer”, but “guide” isn’t on the list. I think “guide” works here, though, since the edict inscribed on the sword is described as “drawing upon” the power of heavenly and earthly mysteries. This is a badass sword, but it doesn’t make Su Yi literally omnipotent, and I think words like “govern” imply a higher level of control than we’re seeing here. He can control these energies with his new sword, but only to an extent.

As for the other character, 玄, it’s the ever-present character we usually translate as “profound.” "Mysterious" is another common translation for it.

In short, the approach I used here is one I often use: I took both characters in the name, wrote out a bunch of synonyms for each, plus synonyms for the synonyms, then mixed and matched until I found something that sounded cool and fit the context.