Chapter Ten
1185 Words
Three days passed.
The Jade Palace remained under lockdown.
No immortal was permitted to leave.
No mortal could enter.
The theft of the Chronicle of Forgotten Lifetimes had shaken all Nine Heavens.
Yet life inside the palace continued.
At least…
For everyone except Bai Lingxi.
“Again.”
THUD!
Lingxi landed flat on her back.
She groaned at the endless blue sky above.
“I think…”
“… I’m beginning to hate the word ‘again.’”
Mo Xuanyuan stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
His black robes fluttered gently in the mountain breeze.
“Then improve.”
She sat up and rubbed the back of her head.
“You know…”
“Most teachers explain things.”
“You just watch me suffer.”
“The pain is the explanation.”
She stared at him.
“… That doesn’t even make sense.”
“It will.”
“When?”
“When you stop talking.”
She huffed.
“I liked you better when I didn’t know you.”
“I doubt that.”
Today’s training ground was unlike any she had seen before.
Hundreds of swords floated in the air.
Some glowed crimson.
Others shone silver.
A few were wrapped in lightning.
Each radiated overwhelming spiritual power.
Lingxi’s eyes widened.
“So many spirit swords…”
Mo Xuanyuan stepped toward the center.
“This is the Valley of Ten Thousand Blades.”
“Every sword here has chosen its master.”
She looked around excitedly.
“They’re beautiful.”
“They’re dangerous.”
She smiled.
“I’ve always liked dangerous things.”
His expression remained unchanged.
“I noticed.”
A white-haired elder appeared from the valley.
His beard reached nearly to his waist.
He carried a wooden broom instead of a sword.
“Lord Xuanyuan.”
He bowed deeply.
“The preparations are complete.”
Mo Xuanyuan nodded.
“Begin.”
The elder looked at Lingxi.
“So…”
“You’re the child.”
“What child?”
“The one the Lord personally brought to Heaven.”
Lingxi scratched her cheek.
“I’m beginning to think everyone knows about that except me.”
The elder chuckled.
“Probably.”
He raised the broom.
Instantly…
Every sword in the valley began humming.
Thousands of blades rose into the sky.
The sound was like countless dragons roaring together.
Lingxi instinctively stepped back.
“What are they doing?”
“They’re choosing.”
“Choosing what?”
“You.”
She blinked.
“Me?”
“If even one sword acknowledges you…”
“You may begin learning sword intent.”
Her eyes lit up.
“Really?”
The elder smiled kindly.
“Walk forward.”
Lingxi took a deep breath.
One step.
Two.
Three.
The floating swords trembled.
She smiled hopefully.
“They’re responding!”
The elder narrowed his eyes.
“No…”
“They’re…”
Suddenly—
WHOOSH!
Every single sword turned away from her.
Not one.
Not two.
All ten thousand blades.
They flew to the opposite side of the valley.
As far from her as possible.
Silence.
The valley became deathly quiet.
Lingxi stared blankly.
“…Did…”
“…did they just run away from me?”
The elder had never seen anything like it.
In ten thousand years…
Not once.
Mo Xuanyuan’s eyes narrowed.
One tiny sword remained.
It hovered uncertainly before Lingxi.
She smiled.
“See?”
“At least one likes me.”
She reached out carefully.
The little sword trembled.
Then…
It spun around.
And shot away faster than the others.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Lingxi slowly lowered her hand.
“I’ve just been rejected…”
“…by a sword.”
The elder coughed into his sleeve.
“It would appear…”
“…yes.”
Several young heavenly disciples standing nearby burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!”
“Even spirit swords don’t want her!”
“How embarrassing!”
“She really has no destiny with the sword!”
Lingxi’s smile slowly disappeared.
She lowered her eyes.
The laughter reminded her too much of the Azure Cloud Sect.
The whispers.
The pity.
The disappointment.
She clenched her fists.
Not again…
Mo Xuanyuan turned toward the laughing disciples.
His voice was quiet.
“Enough.”
Only one word.
Yet every disciple instantly fell silent.
One of them reluctantly stepped forward.
“My Lord…”
“We merely spoke the truth.”
Mo Xuanyuan looked at him.
“What truth?”
“The swords rejected her.”
“They did.”
“Then—”
“They rejected her…”
His gaze swept across the Valley of Ten Thousand Blades.
“…because they fear her.”
Everyone froze.
Even the elder’s eyes widened.
Fear?
Spirit swords…
Feeling fear?
Impossible.
Mo Xuanyuan walked toward the valley.
His hand slowly rose.
The air itself became heavy.
A low hum spread across the mountain.
One by one…
Every sword began trembling violently.
Not with excitement.
With terror.
The blades shook so fiercely that they could barely remain airborne.
Lingxi looked around in confusion.
“What’s happening?”
The elder whispered,
“They’re afraid…”
“But…”
“They aren’t afraid of Lord Xuanyuan.”
He looked at Lingxi.
“They’re afraid…”
“…of something inside you.”
Lingxi instinctively touched the center of her chest.
“My spiritual core…”
“But it’s gone.”
Mo Xuanyuan’s voice interrupted her.
“No.”
Her heart skipped a beat.
She looked up sharply.
“What?”
“You believe…”
“…it is gone.”
Her breathing quickened.
“You mean…”
He met her gaze.
For the first time since she arrived at the Jade Palace…
His eyes held unmistakable certainty.
“You never lost your spiritual core.”
The world seemed to stop.
“What…”
“…did you say?”
Before he could answer—
BOOM!
The sky split open.
Black lightning tore across the heavens.
A gigantic crimson eye appeared above the Jade Palace.
It looked down upon the valley.
Upon Lingxi.
And upon Mo Xuanyuan.
Then a voice…
Ancient.
Cold.
Beyond male or female…
Echoed through all creation.
“THE SEALED ONE…”
“…MUST NOT AWAKEN.”
The crimson eye slowly opened wider.
Every immortal in the Jade Palace fell to their knees.
Lady Mingyuan dropped her loom.
The Jade Emperor himself looked toward the heavens in alarm.
Mo Xuanyuan’s expression finally changed.
Not to fear.
To fury.
He stepped in front of Lingxi.
His black robes billowed like a storm.
A terrifying wave of divine energy erupted from his body, shaking the Nine Heavens.
He raised his head and looked directly into the enormous eye.
His voice thundered across Heaven.
“If you wish to touch her…”
He summoned a black sword that seemed forged from the night itself.
Its blade radiated enough power to make space itself c***k.
He pointed it toward the sky.
“…you will first pass through me.”
The crimson eye remained silent.
For one long heartbeat…
God…
And something even older than the gods…
Stared at one another.
- Writer
