First Immortal of the Sword

ne, with the good looks of a fairy.
Her talent for martial arts was equally shocking and outstanding.
Who knew how many talented youths admired her? 

Ah, so that’s where that cold attitude Wenxue has at school came from.
She’s obviously imitating her big sister. Su Yi instantly understood.

Wen Lingxue pretended to be cold, but Wen Lingzhao really was cold.
Her icy, aloof demeanor had already fused into her very bones. 

Meanwhile, Wen Lingzhao noticed Su Yi’s gaze and faintly scrunched up her brow.
A moment later, she regained her usual calm, and her cold eyes didn’t so much as glance in Su Yi’s direction.
She outright ignored him. 

Husband and wife had been apart an entire year, yet they were acting like strangers!

“Su Yi, I called you here to inform you of something.” Sitting in the clan hall’s seat of honor, Family Head Wen Changjing’s tone was casual, but he instantly drew everyone’s attention.

Wen Changjing was clad in purple.
He was bearded, and his hair was white.
He had a face like carved jade.
His hands were on his armrests, and he towered like a dignified mountain.

“Due to Lingzhao’s stunning talent, despite having only cultivated within the Blueriver Sword Manor for a year, she had the good fortune to attract a major power’s attention.
They’ve given her a recommendation to continue her cultivation at Heaven’s Origin Academy.

“In other words, Lingzhao is already an official student of Heaven’s Origin Academy.” Wen Changjing glanced indifferently at Su Yi.
“You were once the ‘Sword Chief’ of Blueriver Sword Manor’s outer sect.
You might be worthless now, but you should still understand what kind of vast and transcendent existence Heaven’s Origin Academy is.
To the Wen Family, Lingzhao’s admission is a blessing as grand as the heavens themselves.”

So that’s what was going on. Only now did Su Yi understand why the Wen Family’s higher-ups had called him here.

Heaven’s Origin Academy was the top cultivation spot in all of Gunzhou, the “Gun” or “Imperatorial Province.” Practically everyone capable of gaining admission was a peak-level genius in their state of origin!

It had only been a year since Wen Lingzhao began her cultivation at Blueriver Sword Manor, but she’d already earned a recommendation to continue her studies at Heaven’s Origin Academy.
It was immediately obvious just how shocking her talent for the Martial Dao was.

To the Wen Family, this was indeed a blessing.

But to Su Yi, this meant that it would be a long, long time before he next saw his wife.

When he realized this, he glanced at the nearby Wen Lingzhao, but she was as cold and expressionless as ever. 

“Family Head, Elders, have you called me here to ask my opinion?” asked Su Yi.

When the group heard this, they were stunned.
Their expressions soon turned strange.

A burst of jeering followed.
“Su Yi, you’re overthinking this! This isn’t up for discussion.
It doesn’t matter whether you agree or not.
We won’t let a wretch like you hold back Lingzhao’s glorious future!”

The speaker was Wen Changqing, Wen Lingzhao’s second uncle.
He was whiskerless, and he wore brocade robes.
His gaze was sharp and sinister. 

The hall burst into soft laughter.
It seemed Su Yi’s words had amused them.

A mere live-in son-in law wanted to share his opinion on this particular matter?

Surely he realized that in the eyes of the Wen Family, he was nothing but an insignificant waste?

Yet against all expectations—

Su Yi responded with utter calm and complete ease, as if none of this had anything to do with him. 

His relaxed composure actually made several of those about to taunt him rather uncomfortable. 

“If you’ve already made your decision, might I ask why you’ve called me here?” Su Yi asked casually.

Before reawakening his memories, their taunts and insults would have been hard to bear.
He’d surely have been indignant.

But Su Yi was no longer that person.
Why should he care about such things? 

“It’s because I wanted to take this opportunity to see you, Senior Apprentice Brother Su.” A burst of crisp, hearty laughter echoed throughout the hall, and a handsome, dignified-looking youth in wide-sleeved white robes strode inside. 

Instantly, the gathered members of the Wen Family rose from their chairs, warm smiles plastered on their faces. 

“Young Master Wei, please take a seat!”

“Young Master Wei, we planned to send Su Yi to greet you.
We’re flattered that you’d pay us a visit in person.
Please forgive us for failing to greet you properly.”

…..Their flattering words contained blatant fawning and adulation, each more zealous than the next. 

Family Head Wen Changjing even went so far as to guide “Young Master Wei” into the hall personally.

Su Yi couldn’t help but inwardly shake his head.
Their behavior was really sickening….

But then, the white-robed youth strode right up to Su Yi, his manner overbearing and arrogant.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Su, long time no see.” 

Seth's Thoughts

The first part of Wen Lingxue’s elaborate, flowery compliment, “the air of a treasure in the making, a youth with glorious prospects, whose smile is as radiant as if he were carrying the moon” comes from the poem “Master White Stone” by Song Dynasty poet Guo Maoqian.
I did not find any official or professional translations of it, so I did my best to come up with something appealing and comprehensible while staying as true to the classical Chinese as I could manage.

The second part, as far as I can tell, is not a reference to anything in particular.
It has a distinctly literary feel, though, so I tried to evoke that with my translation. 

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I don’t think you can even call this a spoiler so much as a terminology adjustment. 

Early in the story, the author calls the province Cloudriver Prefecture is located in ““Heaven’s Origin Province”, but he later switches to 衮州, or “Gunzhou.” I decided to just go ahead and make the switch now.

As for the name, 衮 means “imperial robes”, or “inexorable advance” when reduplicated, but it’s usually used alongside other characters, and it wasn’t immediately obvious to me how to translate it.
I considered just leaving it as pinyin, but “the Gun Province” is a bit misleading, so here we are.
If for whatever reason I decide to adjust my approach, I'll let you know.