"Don't they say good people die young, while scourges live a thousand years? I let the demon ancestor's saintess go. I'm practically a great scourge of the human race, so I certainly won't die anytime soon. You, on the other hand, should be careful. Good people die young." Hearing the voice beyond the courtyard wall, Su Xiuyi sneered.
Su Xiuyi knew the visitor's voice well. This was the very person who had personally crippled all his cultivation and destroyed his Divine Runes, striking with ruthless cruelty. It was also his essay, "On Su Xiuyi's Ten Great Crimes," that had made Su Xiuyi a traitor to the entire human race, guilty of ten unforgivable evils. Crime after crime had nailed Su Xiuyi to the pillar of shame. No matter how peerless his talent, no one dared stand up for him.
"Hmph!"
"Naturally, I won't die before you. The imperial preceptor severed his own arms for your sake and went into seclusion, then risked his life to slay a demon king, and all he could do was secure you an intact corpse. No one will come out of this land of certain death alive, and you won't last long either. It's wonderful to have a good teacher, isn't it? Before you die, you'll eat and drink well every day, since we can't be sure which meal will be your last." With that, the man swaggered away.
"Martial Uncle Su, please open the barred window." Just then, an honest-sounding voice came from outside the courtyard gate.
The barred window was where meals were delivered to the Literary Saint Courtyard. Su Xiuyi was astonished to hear someone still calling him martial uncle. He was a sinner of the human race, after all.
"Tiezhu!"
Opening the barred window, Su Xiuyi finally saw who it was. It was the cowherd boy he had once saved and brought back to the academy. The fellow had always said he wanted to repay his kindness. No wonder he was willing to deliver food to this cursed place. No one wanted to come to this godforsaken place; they were all afraid of being tainted by the curse.
"Yep, it's me!"
"Martial Uncle Su, take a look and see if there's anything else you need. These are all your favorites. If you want anything else, I'll prepare it for you tomorrow," the honest Tiezhu said with a smile.
Su Xiuyi glanced at the food and immediately smiled. These were all his everyday favorites. He was also extremely curious: Tiezhu was perfectly calm in front of the Literary Saint Courtyard. "Nothing else. This is great. Tiezhu, aren't you afraid of this ominous place? It's really creepy here."
"My dad used to say that as long as you walk the straight path, you don't need to fear any demons or ghosts."
One stood outside the gate and the other inside, chatting about everyday matters. After Tiezhu left, Su Xiuyi knew who had taken his Top Scholar Literary Rank: the man from before, Shen Dong.
But Su Xiuyi didn't care in the least. Others were terrified of the Literary Saint Courtyard, but he wouldn't necessarily die here. With the Sign-In System in hand, he was practically cheating. There was no way he would die.
In this world, the martial cultivation realms were Origin Opening, Thousand Jun, Ten Thousand Stone, Skysoar, Cloudbreach, Mountainsea, Sunmoon, and the Invincible Realm at the pinnacle of the martial path.
Having eaten and drunk his fill, Su Xiuyi still had no intention of going anywhere else. After all, his current strength was far too weak. He needed to lie low here first, signing in to increase his strength. Calm and unhurried, Su Xiuyi sat cross-legged and continued nurturing his "Slow" Will Character. Without mishap, he carried on until a new day arrived.
As he killed a poisonous rat, the system's voice rang out.
"Would you like to sign in before the poisonous rat's corpse?"
The instant the system's voice sounded, Su Xiuyi froze for a moment. He could actually sign in before a poisonous rat's corpse? What the hell? Even so, Su Xiuyi took a deep breath and signed in with great anticipation.
"Sign in!"
After Su Xiuyi signed in, the system's voice rang out again as he waited expectantly.
"Signed in before a poisonous rat's corpse. Congratulations on obtaining the 'Curse' Will Character. An incomparably powerful, damaged 'Curse' Divine Rune exists here. Its willpower is leaking out in all directions. You can absorb the willpower leaking from the 'Curse' character to cultivate."
The instant the system's voice rang out, Su Xiuyi froze.
"I can absorb the power of the curse here?" Su Xiuyi felt as if he were hallucinating. He could actually cultivate by absorbing the willpower leaking from the "Curse" Will Character hidden here.
Didn't that mean this place was his supreme treasure ground? The kind of supreme treasure ground no one would dare accept even if he gave it away, one where he didn't have to worry about anyone coveting it.
After confirming that a "Curse" Will Character had indeed appeared in his sea of souls, Su Xiuyi smiled, his grin a little creepy. "If that bastard Shen Dong knew that this deathtrap, which hastens everyone else to their graves, was a treasure ground for my cultivation, would he die of rage?"
"Yeah, he'd definitely die of rage. After all, that bastard's been kept down by me for over twenty years, and he'll still be utterly suppressed in the future. How pitiful."
Su Xiuyi laughed, utterly unrestrained.
But when the people keeping guard outside heard Su Xiuyi, their faces all soured. They thought he had gone mad. After all, this was a place where the curse had killed countless powerful beings. For a cripple like Su Xiuyi, lasting one night inside was already impressive.
"Damn it, this place is terrifying. He's finally about to die. Once he's dead, we can leave this place too."
The two outside felt their skin crawl at the thought of the hair-raising feeling that came over them every night.
But Su Xiuyi, whom they said was about to go mad and die, had just absorbed the willpower inside the poisonous rat and discovered that the "Curse" Will Character in his sea of souls had grown a little stronger.
That made Su Xiuyi smile even more happily. To him as he was now, this place was practically strewn with treasures.
"Just how powerful is that incomparably powerful, damaged Divine Rune? I really can't wait to find out."
Su Xiuyi licked his lips like a savage wolf cub. He had stayed behind the gate for two whole days. Now dark clouds hung overhead, and it looked like rain. Naturally, there was no shelter from the rain behind the gate, but Su Xiuyi was no longer afraid. The power of the curse leaking out everywhere here was a treasure to him. So he walked over to a relatively clean spot beneath the eaves, sat down, and continued absorbing the leaking willpower to cultivate.
Su Xiuyi had been absorbing the leaking willpower to cultivate his Will Characters all this time. As for martial cultivation, he had paid it no attention. After all, martial cultivation required opening acupoints, and there were no treasures or resources here. But that didn't affect him now, because willpower was leaking out everywhere. As long as his Will Characters grew strong quickly, he could skip straight over the Ten Thousand Stone realm and enter Skysoar in a single step. That was one of the advantages of literary cultivation.
Having gained control of the "Curse" Divine Rune, Su Xiuyi was practically the master of this place. He no longer feared that sinister power of death, because it was all nourishment for him. The rats, snakes, insects, and ants tainted by the power of the curse posed no danger to him anymore.
Another day passed. Su Xiuyi slowly opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his lips. Although there were now two great Will Characters in his sea of souls, willpower was leaking out everywhere here, so he didn't need to study any Will Characters at all to absorb willpower and cultivate. His sea of souls was brimming with willpower.
Both Will Characters had grown considerably stronger. Su Xiuyi signed in without hesitation.
"Ding!"
"Sign-in successful. Obtained the 'Clean' Will Character."
"Hm?"
"Now that's useful."
Far from disdaining it, Su Xiuyi smiled and activated the "Clean" Will Character. The next moment, his surroundings became spotless, without a speck of dust. His body, too, felt as though it had been washed with clear water.
The great hall behind him also became spotless under the power of the "Clean" character. He now had himself a "good servant."
"A scholar should be like this. If you can't put one house in order, how can you put the world in order? Looking good is a must."
The cultivation realms here were borrowed from Tribulation of the Myriad Races so everyone could understand them more easily. Let's not beat around the bush: please add this to your collection and give it recommendation tickets.
(End of chapter)