Sinner

[You watched the men who had come in grope Ye Lingling, but felt nothing. You observed it all like an outsider, as though none of it had anything to do with you.]

[The men looked at you, then at Ye Lingling, as though something had dawned on them. They sneered, "So this is your type, Clan Head Ye? No wonder you keep coming here. It wasn't for this damned old hag—you came to keep your pretty boy company! Don't worry, we'll give you plenty of loving in a moment. We'll show you what real men can do."]

["You're worse than animals! Come any closer, and I won't hold back!" Ye Lingling pulled out a small knife she carried with her and brandished it at them.]

[The men exchanged glances, finding Ye Lingling's behavior laughable. They stepped forward, easily pinned her limbs, and took the dagger from her.]

[The man who took the dagger looked at you, then hurled it with all his strength. The blade flew straight toward your heart.]

[The sight of a blade piercing flesh never came to pass as they had expected. Half a meter from your body, the dagger stopped, hovering motionlessly before you.]

[You looked at these people, who were scarcely different from ants, unable to understand why they had attacked you.]

["Damn it, he's got some strength after all. Brothers, let's cripple this pretty boy first and show Clan Head Ye what happens when someone defies us." They all released their martial souls, though none possessed a genuine Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul. They had either lightning-attribute tool martial souls or lightning-attribute beast martial souls.]

[You sensed their malice toward you. Raising your hand, you curled your index finger, and slender black threads linked them together, fastening around their necks.]

[You lifted your hand through empty air, and the threads around their necks hoisted them off the ground.]

[They struggled, but the threads did not budge. As the suffocation gradually overwhelmed their minds, their terror mounted. They unleashed soul skills at random, trying to break free.]

[You watched, then tightened the threads. Several heads, still dripping blood, fell and rolled to Ye Lingling's and Dugu Yan's feet. Their bodies hit the ground with a thud.]

["S-Senior, who... who are you?" Ye Lingling asked in a trembling voice. She stared in disbelief at how effortlessly you had killed several Soul Saints, unable to comprehend how you could be so powerful.]

[You looked at her and uttered a single word: "Su."]

[Hearing your familiar voice and looking at your familiar face, Ye Lingling could not stop a few tears from spilling from the corners of her eyes. "Senior Su Ming, is it you? You're back. You've come back to save us."]

[You looked at the tearful Ye Lingling, puzzled, and searched your mind for memories of her. Yet even after a long search, you found none.]

[You shook your head. "Sorry, I don't know either of you." With that, you strode out of the Dugu Residence. Though the place felt familiar, it gave you no desire to stay.]

[Watching your retreating back, Ye Lingling hurried out after you, wanting to ask what you had gone through all these years. But by the time she reached the door, only a gust of wind swept past, just as your departure back then had carried a gust of wind away with it.]

[You left Heaven Dou City and continued traveling on foot.]

[You did not find it boring. Every place you visited allowed you to absorb more negative emotions, which would ultimately turn into the purest evil energy.]

[And the more places you visited, the stronger your control over the wind became.]

[You kept walking until you reached Shrek City. You entered without paying any attention to the strange looks from those around you.]

[A month had passed since you killed the members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Wanted posters bearing your likeness were on practically every street and alley.]

[Shortly after you entered Shrek City, Yu Tianheng arrived at your location with several clan elders.]

["Villain! You dared murder members of our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan! Do you know that every member of our clan does good deeds and accumulates virtue? They are all living saints! How dare you murder our people!" As soon as Yu Tianheng arrived, he piled accusations upon you, then demanded that you take your own life in atonement before the passersby.]

["Die—" You raised your hand, and the heads of Yu Tianheng and all the clan elders fell to the ground.]

[After your last slaughter, you had discovered how useful the dead were to you. You could absorb their death energy, their various negative emotions, and their cultivation, making them your own.]

[After Yu Tianheng and the others died, you drained their corpses of everything useful, leaving only a somewhat shriveled body behind.]

[After killing them, you continued strolling around Shrek City as though nothing had happened. Before long, someone from Shrek Academy came to make trouble for you.]

[You swung a palm at them, and they exploded into a mist of blood, becoming part of your nourishment.]

[Though your level was only a little above two, your physical strength had already reached the level of a god.]

[In the one hundred and fifteenth year of the simulation, after you successively killed members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Shrek Academy, the Clear Sky Sect, and the Tang Sect, you were branded a sinner against the continent. Assassins came for your life almost every day.]

[Unfortunately for them, not one ever returned, leaving all those major powers severely weakened.]

[In this age of decline, cultivation was already difficult for soul masters. Losing so many soul masters who had taken years to train would pain any faction and could even cripple its strength.]

[After that, those sent to assassinate you changed from soul masters to ordinary people. Most risked their lives so their families could live better, but their sacrifices brought their loved ones no kindness. Not a single coin of the promised riches was paid out. In the end, their wives, children, and elderly relatives received only a slave contract.]

[It was laughable. These people fought desperately and died, yet their families still ended up as slaves. Among those slaves, the women became tools for expanding the clans, while the men became laborers.]

[You knew nothing of this. You simply walked aimlessly, facing all manner of dangers along the way.]

[You encountered Ye Lingling again. She wore rags, and dirt obscured her features. On her back, she carried the mentally impaired Dugu Yan.]

[Perhaps you could not bear the sight, for you allowed Ye Lingling to bring Dugu Yan and follow you.]

[Your solitary journey became a journey of three.]

[Under your protection, Ye Lingling's and Dugu Yan's lives improved. Though they could not feast on fish and meat, they could at least have a few meat dishes now and then.]

[They changed their clothes as well and washed the dirt from their bodies.]

[You walked ahead, while Ye Lingling followed behind, pushing Dugu Yan in her wheelchair.]