"Then you will fade," Ye Cangtian said, his tone devoid of emotion, a simple statement of fact. "Your body will become a shell, your mind a sieve. You will be useless to your Alliance, useless to this world. And then, once your light is fully extinguished, I will simply find a new vessel. This blade has waited millennia; a few more weeks is nothing."
The thought of becoming a mindless husk, a burden to his people, was a fresh wave of terror. He had seen the slow, agonizing decay of cultivators too deeply exposed to the celestial Qi. He imagined himself, wandering the tunnels, a blank stare in his eyes, his memories gone, his will extinguished. That was a fate worse than death.
Xiaochen looked down at the black sword, its surface reflecting his distorted face. His white hair seemed even s
