First Immortal of the Sword - Chapter 2591 - Su Yi’s Answers
Chapter 2591 – Su Yi’s Answers
After a while, Ji Heng said, “Everlasting life… is a good thing!”
The purple-robed, golden-crown man sneered. “You might live forever, eternal and undying, but as time passes, your friends and family will perish… even your children, grandchildren, and descendants.
“Everything you care about will disappear. Everyone you love will vanish, leaving you all alone for all eternity. You… call that a good thing?”
Ji Heng said calmly, “If life loses its appeal, I can simply end myself.”
“Everlasting life means you can’t even kill yourself,” said the purple-robed, golden-crowned man. “You must live forever, for all time, with no rest and no end.”
“…” Ji Heng fell silent. After a while, he said, “I’d still be willing to live forever!”
“Why?” The purple-robed, golden-robed man looked at him.
“To pursue the Dao,” Ji Heng said calmly. “Living forever with the Grand Dao for companionship is enough for me. If even the Dao itself vanishes in the end, I’ll just contemplate the mysteries of everlasting life. That way, I’ll still have ‘the Dao’ by my side.”
The purple-robed, golden-crowned man paused to mull that over, but in the end, he shook his head. “Your answer only half satisfies me. I’ll spare you for now.”
With that, he strummed the zither. Its strings hummed like swords, and Ji Heng’s body split into pieces. Only his soul remained.
Ji Heng was shocked and furious. His eyes filled with hatred.
But then, his senses were sealed off.
Jian Dushan, meanwhile, regained his awareness.
“Let me ask you this. If you had to choose between the Grand Dao and your loved ones, which would you choose?” asked the purple-robed, golden-crowned man.
It was a simple question, but it directly tested Jian Dushan’s Dao Heart!
Jian Dushan, however, merely laughed. He didn’t even miss a beat. “My Grand Dao exists for my friends and family. Without them, what would be the point?”
“Oh,” said the purple-robed, golden-crowned man. “That answer doesn’t satisfy me at all.”
Jian Dushan said coldly, “So what if it doesn’t satisfy you? Death is nothing to fear. Go ahead and kill me!”
The purple-robed, golden-crowned man shook his head slightly. “The Grand Dao is heartless. It’s no wonder that someone like you, who cannot set aside his emotions, has been stuck at the pinnacle of the Nine-Tribulation Undying Realm for so long, unable to step into Eternity. Ultimately, you cannot abandon your humanity, and you cannot break through your emotional fetters.”
Jian Dushan furrowed his brow. “I can tell that you’re utterly devoid of humanity!”
“How many experts of the Path of Eternity retain their humanity?” the purple-robed, golden-crowned man said calmly.
He paused, then said, “Those who abandon their humanity don’t sever their emotions completely; we simply aren’t fettered by them. We, too, have human emotions: joy, anger, grief, love and hatred. They just cannot control us.
“Take now, for instance. I’m getting revenge against Su Yi because I hate him, but there’s no way I’ll let my hatred cloud my rationality.”
Jian Dushan just laughed coldly.
The purple-robed, golden-crowned man sighed. “This is what they call ‘playing the zither for a cow.’ You… can die now.”
With that, his hands shifted on the strings of his zither.
Jian Dushan remained calm. It was just death. What was there to fear?
He’d faced countless life-or-death struggles in the Boundless Battlefield. How could he possibly still fear death?
However, in the face of his imminent death, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of regret.
He regretted not living enough to see his chance at Eternity, or to see the outcome of the Battle for Order.
Most of all… he regretted never getting to drink and celebrate with his old friends one last time.
Clang!
The humming of a zither rang out, like a phoenix soaring overhead, its cries echoing throughout the firmament.
Practically simultaneously, the humming of a sword rang out, sweeping forth like a tidal wave and rumbling like thunder. The sky collapsed, and the clouds dispersed.
It completely suppressed the sound of the zither!
A tall, upright figure appeared, even faster than the humming of his sword.
He appeared in front of Jian Dushan, seemingly out of nowhere, swinging his sleeve. His right hand pressed down, like the blade of a sword.
Boom!
The streak of sharp, forceful Dao Light shooting toward Jian Dushan collapsed and dispersed.
All of it—the purple-robed man strumming his zither, the clash of sword hum and music, Su Yi’s sudden appearance, and the collapse of that beam of Dao Light—happened practically simultaneously.
It was just too quick!
Jian Dushan had thought he was dead for sure. His taut body quivered uncontrollably. When he saw that tall, upright figure appear in front of him, he was unwittingly stunned.
Brother Fuyou!!
Not far away, the seated man in purple robes didn’t move a muscle. His expression showed neither surprise nor sadness. He didn’t seem surprised, either.
He looked at Su Yi. “Earlier, I asked them three questions. Would you like to try answering them, too?”
The little-red snake by his left ear raised its head, its blue-green eyes boring intently into Su Yi. It flicked its tongue, seemingly eager to fight.
Su Yi pointed to the captives. “First, undo their seals.”
“Sure,” said the purple-robed man.
He spoke, and the world obeyed. The power sealing Mu Bai, Jian Dushan, and Di Heng vanished instantly.
When Mu Bai and Ji Heng noticed Su Yi, they were both instantly excited. They found it hard to believe.
Both of them had been prepared to die. Neither could have guessed that, when they next regained awareness, Su Yi would be standing right in front of them!
“They can live a while longer, but he must die today,” said the purple-robed man, pointing to Jian Dushan. “Because his answer displeased me. Not even you can save his life.
“But I’ll give you a bit of face and wait until you’ve answered my three questions, then kill him.”
He spoke calmly, as if simply stating a fact. His voice didn’t so much as ripple.
Mu Bai and the others’ expressions darkened, but neither of them said anything. The purple-robed man was just too terrifyingly strong, and he was indeed capable of doing just as he said. Neither of them doubted it.
Su Yi, meanwhile, looked at the purple-robed man and said calmly, “If you answer three of my questions in turn, I wouldn’t mind answering yours.”
The purple-robed man smiled. “Very wel.”
He then repeated the same questions he’d asked Mu Bai, Ji Heng, and Jian Dushan.
Su Yi didn’t even pause to think. He just answered them one by one.
His first answer was that he’d face life and death with the others on board the ship.
His second answer was that he saw everlasting life as a bad thing.
His third answer was that he’d put his friends and family first!
The purple-robed man pondered briefly, then said, “Your answers quite surprised me.”
“How so?” asked Su Yi.
“Because yours are the answer of a human, not a god,” said the purple-robed man. “Your first answer is both selfish and pedantic. You’re inferior to even that self-sacrificing kid. I wouldn’t have guessed an unparalleled figure such as yourself would make such a choice.”
He shook his head, his disappointment too great for words.
Su Yi laughed but didn’t explain. He’d chosen at random. The idea that the purple-robed man could use his answers to figure out Su Yi’s character was unquestionably ludicrous.
As if reading Su Yi’s mind, the purple-robed man said, “Your choice came straight from the heart. Even if you chose at random, it was surely your instinctual response.
“The way I see it, your responses are more than sufficient proof that, even after cultivating all this time, you haven’t seen through the limits of humanity. On the contrary, you’ve let it shackle you, and you aren’t even aware of it.”
Su Yi took out a jug of wine and had a sip. “In my eyes, a mortal body can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a god’s, and even the lowliest ant can slay a dragon! They say you must cast aside your humanity to achieve eternity, but it’s all complete nonsense!”
He spoke with utter disdain.
The purple-robed man arched an eyebrow. “How can you achieve Eternity without severing one’s humanity?”
Su Yi said casually, “Why can’t I just use my sword to cleave open a path straight to Eternity?”
The purple-robed man’s gaze focused. Had anyone else said that, he’d have sneered, but Su Yi was different.
After all, he carried the Epoch Spark and controlled the power of reincarnation!
Based on that alone, his seemingly ludicrous words carried additional weight.
After a brief pause, the purple-robed man said, “If you really manage to take that step, you’ll have broken an ironclad rule. It will be an absolutely unprecedented accomplishment! However…”
He put away his zither, rose, and looked directly at Su Yi. “That’s on the condition that you manage to leave this place alive!”
The atmosphere silently grew stifled.
Austere murderous intent spread throughout heaven and earth, and all of creation shifted.
