Chương 51: Sword Dao Genius (Part 1)

"What a pity." Su Chen felt a twinge of regret. If the sacred land had not been destroyed, he might have had a chance to glimpse the threshold of the Void Refining realm. The sacred land's saintly ancestor had stubbornly insisted on attacking a forbidden zone, leading to the complete annihilation of their elite forces. Even the saintly ancestor himself had perished. Though Su Chen had narrowly escaped with his life, he lost all backing and became a wandering cultivator.

In the end, he founded the Prison-Suppressing Sect to pass down the Prison-Suppressing Sovereign's inheritance. Without cultivation resources, his progress stalled painfully. He ultimately stopped at the eighth layer of Profound Connection and died of old age. Fortunately, during his first hundred years, the Prison-Suppressing Sovereign's support had allowed him a brief period of glory.

[Talent: 0 (+)] [Comprehension: 0 (+)] [Family Background: 0 (+)] [Dao Heart: 50] Su Chen had eight hundred Reverse Fate Points remaining. He allocated them: +350 to talent +350 to comprehension +100 to background With everything arranged, he began his next life. … When he opened his eyes, Su Chen stared in a daze at the tiny, tender palm in front of him.

"This life… I awakened my memories this early?" He froze for a moment, then joy surged through him. The earlier one awakened past-life memories, the better. He looked around. Everything in sight was luxurious and precious. This life, his origins were clearly excellent. Around him stood many people, including a strikingly handsome man and a beautiful woman. The man never let his sword leave his side. Dressed in a flowing green robe, he gently lifted Su Chen into his arms, his gaze soft and warm.

This was a very gentle swordsman. He carried Su Chen over and placed him before the woman. She was stunning, seemingly only in her early twenties. When she lightly touched Su Chen, her eyelashes trembled. Tears welled in her eyes as she whispered, "This is our child." The man nodded.

"From now on, he will be called Shen Chen—the future successor of Imperial Sword Manor." Su Chen's eyelids drooped. A wave of exhaustion washed over him, and he drifted into sleep. In the blink of an eye, three years passed. By now, Su Chen had a clear understanding of his current circumstances. This was not the Eastern Wasteland, nor the Central Continent. It was the South. The Southern Barbarian Lands was one of the five great regions and the weakest among them.

The Eastern Wasteland ranked second-weakest, yet it still had twelve sacred lands anchoring it, along with several declining but once-mighty powers. In the Southern Barbarian Lands, sacred lands could be counted on one hand. In this life, Su Chen was born into Imperial Sword Manor. The manor focused solely on the way of the sword and was guarded by a Profound Connection expert. It qualified as a major power in the region. Su Chen had fond memories of sword cultivation.

Apart from his first life, when he had practiced the sword largely because it looked dashing, he had never seriously pursued it again. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Top-tier sword bone! As expected of my grandson!" Su Chen's small face was full of alarm. The manor lord—his grandfather—had the appearance of a middle-aged man. His unkempt beard scratched painfully against Su Chen's tender cheeks. Shen Lianxin watched for a long moment before giving a helpless smile.

"Father, please spare Chen'er. Your beard has already made half his face bright red." Only then did Shen Tianyi realize what he had done. Seeing the flushed patch on his grandson's cheek, he burst into hearty laughter.

"Excellent, excellent! Such endurance at such a young age—he's definitely a fine seedling for the sword! Just now, I was only testing Chen'er's perseverance. Sword cultivation demands not only talent but also an unyielding heart. No matter how many centuries of wind and rain batter it, the will remains as immovable as bedrock. Any other child would have started wailing by now. Chen'er did not." Shen Tianyi's eyes gleamed.

"Chen'er… is extraordinary!" Su Chen: "…" Damn it. Utter nonsense delivered with complete seriousness. Staring at that beaming face, Su Chen clenched his tiny fists. If he weren't still so small and weak, he really would have swung at it. Shen Lianxin looked half-convinced, half-doubtful. Su Chen glanced at his foolish father and inwardly shook his head. On the other hand, this "grandfather" was rough on the outside but sharp within.

Shen Tianyi rummaged through his robes and produced a small, crystalline sword that shimmered with five-colored radiance. Su Chen's eyes instantly widened. With the experience of his previous life, he recognized it immediately.

"Innate Sword Embryo…" Even among the sacred land's top prodigies, very few possessed one.

"Good grandson, do you like it?" Shen Tianyi dangled the Innate Sword Embryo in front of him. Su Chen nodded vigorously.

'For the sake of this sword, this young master will forgive you,' he thought. An Innate Sword Embryo was something even his master from the previous life—the Prison-Suppressing Sovereign—had never managed to obtain. Shen Tianyi smiled, looking as though his scheme had succeeded.

"If you're willing to follow Grandfather and cultivate the way of the sword, then this Innate Sword Embryo will be yours." Su Chen's eyes lit up.

"Really? Then I am willing to cultivate the sword with Grandfather!"

"Chen'er!" Shen Lianxin snatched Su Chen up and placed him behind his back, facing Shen Tianyi directly. His voice was low and firm.

"Chen'er is still so young. That was just childish talk. Please, Father, let him off. He absolutely cannot train with you." The smile vanished from Shen Tianyi's face. His gaze turned cold.

"Shen Lianxin, you dare defy me now?" Su Chen watched his grandfather's sudden change in demeanor and felt a wave of frustration. What had started as fatherly affection seemed to have twisted into something far less gentle. Shen Lianxin was clearly terrified of his own father. Yet for the sake of keeping Su Chen from training under him, he summoned his courage. The azure sword at his waist—the Azure Wind—left its sheath for the first time, blooming with soft, clear light.

Shen Tianyi casually pinched the blade between two fingers. The Azure Wind Sword let out a mournful cry before being tossed aside. Shen Lianxin was seized by the collar and lifted off the ground. The gap in their cultivation was simply too vast. Seeing his father about to be seriously harmed—or worse—Su Chen hurriedly cried out, "Grandfather, please spare Father! I'm willing to cultivate the sword with you!" At those words, Shen Tianyi released Shen Lianxin and burst into loud laughter.

"That's my grandson! Shen Lianxin, you can't even compare to a child." Shen Lianxin's face turned ashen. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again, silent. Su Chen understood. In this life, his father was an exceptionally gentle man. But his grandfather was domineering in the extreme. He tolerated no defiance—not even from his own son. Since Su Chen was willing to learn the sword from him, Shen Tianyi handed over the Innate Sword Embryo without hesitation.

The two of them left Imperial Sword Manor together. Only then did Su Chen finally realize why his father had tried so desperately to stop this. He was only three years old! Su Chen was utterly speechless. Inside the sword-forging furnace, scorching sword intent surged around him, threatening to pierce him full of holes. Su Chen clenched his teeth and endured. In his heart, he cursed furiously.

Three days later, when Shen Tianyi saw that Su Chen was still clinging to life despite being on the verge of collapse, his eyes blazed with excitement. He threw his head back and laughed.

"Good grandson! I knew I wasn't wrong about you. You truly are a born sword dao seedling!" Su Chen: "…" He was half-dead already—couldn't the old man at least toss him a healing pill? Was this really his grandfather? Anyone watching would think this was an enemy settling a grudge. And so Su Chen continued training under his thoroughly unreliable grandfather. Every imaginable form of brutal torment was inflicted upon him. The suffering was unbearable. Yet strangely, Su Chen found himself enjoying it. Because…

to his astonishment, he discovered that his cultivation aptitude was actually improving with every round of his grandfather's merciless torture!