Fog Isle.
Situated in the middle of the ocean of corpses, it’s the only piece of land in the entire world.
It is also the only place in the world with any living beings.
Although this place is cold all year round, sometimes staying in the negatives for months on end, it is still the most desirable place for humans to live.
No matter which world they are from, as long as they know of this place, they will desire to be here.
It is the legendary Island of Fate.
Unfortunately, to make it here, the first thing you have to do is experience death once.
And a very painful death at that.
Whenever someone arrives at the world of Fog Isle, they would always appear in the ocean of corpses.
And monsters that are specifically made to kill people would arrive from the ocean below.
Once they’re killed by the monster, the newcomer’s bodies will be swept away by the sea currents.
Their souls trapped inside their bodies, they will experience the pain of suffocating for eternity.
If one day, a corpse manages to escape the sea current and drift ashore onto Fog Isle, it will have been a miracle of fate.
With such a person whose appearance are miracles in and of themselves, even if all that’s left are their corpse, the Fog Isle would still grant them a new life.
Su Xue Er was now on that Fog Isle.
Before, when she flew through the sea of mist, she arrived here.
She was a person who made it to Fog Isle without dying.
The first person to do so in a hundred year.
Her luck became the envy of countless people.
Not to mention, when they investigated her identity, they suddenly found that she was a person that the Fog Isle had no way to reject.
Her parents gave their lives for the sake of the Fog Isle.
Although they were both uninteresting people without much achievement, it was still fact that they contributed to the Fog Isle.
Because of that, their daughter ——-the orphaned girl with the most fortunate fate, wouldn’t be rejected by the Fog Isle.
At this time, Su Xue Er was in Guru Isa’s room.
“Since you are now my Disciple, there is something you must learn” the black robe woman spoke.
“That is to enjoy pain”
She reached her hand out and began to draw cards while speaking: “Let us see, what kind of punishment you shall receive before death and what kind of pleasant screams will I hear”
Su Xue Er remained silent.
Is it still not ready?
It’s not time yet?
While she was thinking, a knock came from the empty space at the mountaintop.
Su Xue Er silently clenched her fists.
——finally, the arranged matter is here.
“Who?” the black robe woman spoke irritatedly.
From the void of space, darkness began to rise, then opened up as a pair of black heavy gates appeared from the ground.
Two rows of antique looking armors marched out with swords and shields in hand.
There was no one inside those armors…
This seems to be some sort of unknown spell, perhaps a God’s Chosen Skill.
More and more armors came, slowly filling the space on the mountaintop.
“Guru Isa, sorry to bother you” the leading armor spoke with an echoing voice.
“Sentry, for what reason have you come to my abode?” the black robe woman questioned.
“We suspect that this Disciple candidate might be doing something inappropriate” the armor spoke.
“Ah? Is there such a thing? How serious is it?”
“The death penalty might be required” the armor answered.
“Very well, go ahead” the black robe woman thought for a bit, then said.
Receiving her permission, the two rows of armors marched to either sides of Su Xue Er.
“Su Xue Er?” the leading armor spoke in a low voice.
“That is me”
“The Sentinel has summoned you to receive interrogation”
Su Xue Er still hung her head, her emotions calm.
This is what I wanted, if only a bit slow.
She spoke: “Why me? Didn’t those girls tried to frame me and was disciplined by the Gurus?”
The armor spoke: “This time, what you did is punishable by death, so all 7 Gurus are present”
The black robe woman was clearly in high spirits when hearing that: “To gain the attention of the 7 Gurus, not to mention punishable by death, it seems you’ve done something that I didn’t know about”
Su Xue Er looked at her and begged: “I beg you, please save me”
The black robe woman was originally still a bit hesitant, but as she hears this, she smiled and waved her hand: “This is fine too, go and face your fate, I won’t bother with you”
“Su Xue Er, come with me to the House of Law, lest we use violence” the armor coldly spoke.
Before Su Xue Er could answer, she was already surrounded by 7-8 armors without a single chance to run.
Su Xue Er wasn’t panicked at all.
“Then please show the way, I also want to see just what schemes they’ve hatched this time” she calmly said.
She followed the armors into the gate and disappeared from this space.
The black robe woman stood there for a bit, muttering to herself: “The House of Law… entry is blocked unless invited, that’s fine too, it’s better if I don’t have to act myself”
When leaving Guru Isa’s room.
Su Xue Er followed the two rows of armor, currently crossing a phantom bridge dangling above a bottomless abyss.
The chilly wind continues to blow.
She controlled herself as well as her gaze to not look at whatever gigantic shadowy beings below.
What followed the hanging bridge was a wide hallway.
Every dozen meters, a new burning torch could be seen lined the walls.
They light up the darkness, chasing away the chill and wetness in the air.
Despite having the 7 Gurus waiting for her, Su Xue Er only moved forward slowly step by step, not using any power at all.
This perfectly follows the rules.
Because the Institute is built in the air, the entire structure is outfitted with anti-magic.
And Disciples aren’t allowed to use their powers in public.
Areas that allows the usage of power is marked clearly.
This way, the Institute hidden deep inside the Fog Isle wouldn’t attract the attention of powerful monsters from across the realms.
It took Su Xue Er almost half an hour to reach the House of Law.
The magnificent House of Law looks like it was built with an ancient Gothic-style architecture.
When they passed through the gates of the House of law, a path lead straight towards a large throne situated on high in the air.
Sitting on the throne was a skeleton hanging its head.
The skeleton man wore a blood-red coat, leaning back on the throne, unmoving.
Blood flows like a river, manifesting behind him to form a magnificent sight.
The river of blood took up all the space behind the skeleton, blocking out everything from the floor to the ceiling.
The intense current of blood silently flowed, occasionally splashing waves onto itself.
The river flowed upwards, not downwards.
A person that carries a river of blood behind him.
This is a legendary character even in the Institute.
Lord Bloodcloak, the Institute’s Sentinel.
Dozens of statues lined up on either side of the path.
Each of these statues held a different posture, giving off a solemn air of being watched and judged.
A few cloaked girls stood absolutely still in the middle of the path and didn’t dare to even breathe too heavily.
As they saw Su Xue Er approaching, they looked up at her with triumphant eyes.
The two rows of armors knelt on one knee and reported: “Sentinel, the 7 Elders, we have brought her here”
The skeleton sitting on the throne looked up and spoke: “Step down”
“Yes”
The group of armors stood up, bowed slightly before leaving the House of Law.
“Su Xue Er”
Lord Bloodcloak leaned on the throne and asked with a hoarse voice: “You have committed a crime punishable by death, what do you have to say for yourself?”
Su Xue Er looked at him and very casually bowed to etiquette.
She answered: “Sentinel, I do not even know what my crime is”
Lord Bloodcloak answered: “Possession of heretical techniques”
Su Xue Er smirked and replied: “Heretical techniques? I do not know of any heretical techniques”
“But someone had claimed that they saw you reading from a note of heretical techniques” Lord Bloodcloak answered her.
“Then please have her step forward and confront me” Su Xue Er replied.
Seeing how confident she was, Lord Bloodcloak’s tone softened slightly and said: “You lot, what do you have to say?”
The girls standing in the middle of the path exchange looks.
“One day during nighttime’s rest, I saw her reading from a small booklet, she was so focused on it that she didn’t notice me approaching her” one of the girls spoke.
Another added: “When she was reading from that booklet, I happened to read one line in there”
“What line?” the Lord asked.
“The path of cultivation is split into realms, first is Qi Training, then Foundation Establishment” she replied.
Suddenly, of the dozens of statues on either sides of the road, seven of them spoke up one by one:
“Heresy!”
“Heresy!”
“Heresy!”
“Heresy!”
“Heresy!”
“Heresy!”
“Heresy!”
Lord Bloodcloak’s tone became fierce: “Su Xue Er, studying heretical techniques is a crime punishable by death, what else do you have to say for yourself?”
A rusty long blade appeared from thin air, trembling.
Countless screams could be heard from the blade.
The girls exchanged looks to see the excitement in each other’s eyes.
This living person who arrived at Fog Isle will finally have to die.
They wanted to enjoy the look of fear in Su Xue Er’s eyes before her death.
But Su Xue Er only smiled and calmly replied: “One day, during nighttime’s rest, I saw them flipping through a small booklet, which contains a line ——— The path of cultivation is split into realms, first is Qi Training, then Foundation Establishment”
“They are probably afraid that I will report them, that is why they went ahead and instead reported me to the elders first”
The girls instantly shouted back: “Such nonsense!”
“Bullshit!”
“That is you!”
Su Xue Er kept her hands behind her back and spoke without worry: “That is the truth”
Lord Bloodcloak became silent.
It seems someone is looking down on me, to dare to lie in the House of Law in front of myself and the 7 Gurus.
He started to snicker in a low voice: “The consequence of trying to fool us isn’t just a simple felony”
He reached out and took a scroll from the throne.
A black scroll.
“Su Xue Er, do not resist”
After Lord Bloodcloak said so, the scroll flew up and left a bloody glow behind.
The scroll itself wasn’t gone, but scattered into countless blood-colored sprites that circled around Su Xue Er once before returning to the throne.
In Lord Bloodcloak’s hand was a small booklet.
“Inside your accommodation, within a newly carved corner, there was this book” Lord Bloodcloak spoke.
“It’s that!” one of the girls yelled with a high-pitched voice.
Su Xue Er remained silent.
Lord Bloodcloak took the small booklet and began to read through.
Suddenly, his tone became very gentle: “Right, Su Xue Er’s parents died during that war, giving up their lives for the sake of the Institute”
“This booklet was her mother’s study notes back then”
“I can still remember that girl —-she was a bright student, let me read a bit more…”
“Ah, found it, this class was one that taught about the origin power of all worlds”
“I was the one who taught that class, what’s written in here was my view of the worlds’ origin power at the time, so she remembered everything”
Lord Bloodcloak’s tone started to become heated.
“There were also her questions and my answers, yes, that’s right, this is how I would always answer…”
“What a good student she was”
Lord Bloodcloak closed the booklet in nostalgia and looked at Su Xue Er.
