Remould the Glory of Sword Art

The most terrifying Divine Soul Forbidden Technique in the world is probably the "Nine Death Forbidden."

Once marked by the Nine Death Forbidden,

It truly is... only after nine deaths that a sliver of life arises.

Miles of frost and snow, covering the Heart Lake.

Xie Xuanyi gazed at the character "death" suspended in the mid-sky, a half-drop of Undying Spring spread out within Jiang Huang's Divine Sea, forcibly dispersing the Silent Annihilating intent of this Divine Soul Forbidden Technique... much of the biting coldness of this Heart Lake dissipated, but still, frost and death qi lingered and encircled.

The Nine Death Forbidden is terrifying,

Not because its killing power is tremendous, making it hard for those affected to survive.

But it's because...

The Divine Soul of the affected will endure torture over and over from the assault of death qi, and ultimately completely sink.

Death is not the scariest part; it's giving people hope for life yet making it impossible to die.

That is the most terrifying aspect of the Nine Death Forbidden.

"Am I… dead?"

Floating in the air, covered with frost, Jiang Huang slowly opened her eyes, her lips shivered uncontrollably.

The scene before her gradually shifted from blurry to clear.

Xie Xuanyi's figure also became gradually distinct.

"If it weren't for me, you might have already died once,"

Xie Xuanyi, with his back to the main Divine Soul, squatted down, gently wiped the frost off the young girl's brows, and smiled, asking, "What should this situation be called, like death?"

"…"

The expression of the main Divine soul was somewhat complex.

She looked at the water droplet suspended in the air in front of her, her eyes somewhat vacant.

The Nine Death Forbidden sealed her Heart Lake, continuously pouring death qi into it.

And now...

This surging death qi flowed continuously into the droplet.

Technically, this wasn't even a droplet anymore.

A thin mist, swirling and changing shape, was absorbing the dense death qi from the Nine Death Forbidden!

Is this how Xie Xuanyi saved her?

"What is this?"

The main Divine soul asked, her voice husky, looking incomprehensibly at the mist.

Xie Xuanyi did not answer directly, but patiently continued to wipe the snow off the cheeks of the young girl before him.

Because the soul impact of the Nine Death Forbidden was too strong,

The young girl had "fallen asleep."

After a moment,

He stood up and slowly stepped before the main Divine Soul.

"This is… half a life."

Half a life?

Jiang Huang stood stunned, finding this answer somewhat hard to comprehend, yet looking at the clump of lifefull mist, she seemed to grasp something.

The chill of the Heart Lake eased quite a bit.

Asleep for ten years at Jinli Mountain,

She always felt cold,

But now… a warm vitality poured into her Heart Lake.

Jiang Huang had heard that in this world there exists a divine object, elusive and unsearchable, just a single drop of which could bring the dead to life, mend flesh and bones.

A cultivator, upon taking a drop, could extend their life, breaking through the fetters of fate.

The clump of mist hanging before her

Reminded her of this legendary divine object.

The Undying Spring.

This moment, she suddenly recalled the events that transpired before her slumber, and that news that spread throughout the Imperial City, every street and alley, throughout the entirety of Da Chu and even the whole world, known to all.

Da Sui Sword Immortal Xie Xuanyi, buried in the North Sea, his body and dao vanished.

After his body and dao vanished, he appeared in the Northern County at Jinli Mountain.

No matter how you looked at it, it didn't make sense.

But with this "divine object," everything made sense.

"Undying Spring…"

Jiang Huang murmured, "This half life… is the Undying Spring…"

"Don't misunderstand, it's only temporarily lent to you..."

Xie Xuanyi did not deny it, but laughed softly, looking back at the sleeping little one, his eyes gentle as he said, "Or perhaps you could consider it, lent to her."

"It really is the Undying Spring…"

Jiang Huang looked at Xie Xuanyi's expression, her shock beyond measure.

Her heart seemed to be tightly clenched.

"You used the 'Undying Spring' to save my life?"

Jiang Huang, unable to comprehend, looked at Xie Xuanyi.

She looked at this face that was young as yesterday, feeling that the person before her had become much more unfamiliar.

Back in the Northern Hunt, they fought fiercely,

Jiang Huang remembered it vividly,

The Xie Xuanyi standing before her then, his body exuded sharp Sword Intent, even making eye contact would make one feel the sharp killing intent.

But now, his leaden thoughts washed away,

Xie Xuanyi's killing intent no longer overflowed.

He still resembled a sword, but not the freshly sharpened sort,

Rather, he was like a blunted, heavy sword.

His edge still existed, just not easily revealed; looking into his eyes felt like gazing into an unfathomable abyss.

Jiang Huang had to admit,

She could no longer see through him.

"My master once told me, the greatest affair under heaven is no greater than cause and effect,"

Xie Xuanyi looked at the clouds slowly rolling over the Heart Lake, mockingly smiled and said, "Back then I didn't think much of these words, only later did I gradually understand... every drink and peck, every cause and effect, seems truly inescapable."

In his youth, to compete for the title of Sword Dao Leader,

Every sword he wielded eventually returned to confront him years later.

Sword Cultivators cultivate nothing other than 'Sword Heart Communication.'

The reunion at Jinli Mountain, and now this rescue... all were the fruits of seeds sown in days past.

"Xie Xuanyi, have you gone mad?"

Jiang Huang couldn't understand his words.

She suddenly raised her voice, sharply questioning, "I've already told you, I want to kill you! Once I recover my cultivation, the first thing I'll do is seek revenge... why do you save me! How dare you save me?!"

Perhaps due to the Divine Soul being tortured by the Nine Death Forbidden for too long,

Jiang Huang's voice was very weak,

So much so that her fierce shouting sounded stern but frail, weak and powerless, with a hint of grievance in it.

"The matter of revenge... let's talk about it after you escape the 'Nine Death Forbidden,'"

Xie Xuanyi shook his head.

This half-drop of Undying Spring, temporarily residing in Jiang Huang's Heart Lake, greatly alleviated the deadly erosion caused by the Nine Death Forbidden.

But it treated only the symptoms, not the root cause.

To lift this Forbidden Technique, either the Caster must personally reclaim the branding, or it requires a vehement Divine Soul impact to shatter the "death" character.

He turned his head, once again looking at the little girl curled up at the end of the Heart Lake, and spoke calmly, "First, live well, then think about revenge."

...

...

Xie Xuanyi slowly exhaled a breath.

The Flame Eyes that lit the bed and pavilion completely extinguished.

Jiang Huang's body temperature had returned to normal, her complexion no longer pale, and her wrinkled brows and eyes gradually relaxed.

Her breathing became even.

Xie Xuanyi settled the little one and then sat down cross-legged.

The fight against the Nine Death Forbidden tonight seemed effortlessly casual, but in reality, it was extremely draining.

Xie Xuanyi's back was soaked with sweat.

Within the Sword Qi Cave Heaven, came the clanging Sword Sounds—

The aged Flying Sword lying within the Cave Heaven now flew out, vibrating a thread of Sword Intent.

The Lifebound Flying Sword is connected with its owner's Divine Soul.

Chen Ke had already developed a certain spiritual sense, though it couldn't transform into shape nor speak human language.

But it knew what had happened tonight.

"Hum hum hum!"

The Sword Qi vibrated, and Xie Xuanyi understood the Sword Intent transmitted by Chen Ke.

"For the sake of calling someone brother, is it worth it?"

Xie Xuanyi smiled and shook his head, he stretched out his palm, reaching into the opened Sword Qi Cave Heaven, caressing the Flying Sword that empathized with its master's pain.

"Not everything in this world is about whether it's worth it or not."

Initially, he just didn't want to betray his own heart, hence he chose to save Jiang Huang.

But afterwards… as Jiang Huang followed him through their wanderings, Xie Xuanyi occasionally felt thankful, thankful that at the moment of Jinli Mountain's collapse, he made the right choice.

"Saving her life, was also saving my own."

Xie Xuanyi stood up, walked over to the wooden table, pinched the oil lamp's wick between his fingers, rubbing it a bit, and the nearly extinguished wick ignited once more.

He chuckled softly and said, "The Undying Spring is indeed important, but clarity of the Sword Heart is even more so."

Chen Ke still bore some melancholy, vibrating its sword body once again.

This round's transmitted Sword Intent was—

"But you only have half a drop left, what will you do?"

"At the beginning, I didn't even have a single drop."

Xie Xuanyi slightly raised an eyebrow, calmly saying, "Since I've managed to live thus far, there are ways to make it multiply…"

In his view.

While the Undying Spring is divine, it is after all a "thing".

The Dao that Cultivators cultivate is always centered around themselves, prioritizing the "self."

Xie Xuanyi calmed his mind, scanning the position of his Dantian with Divine Thought.

After igniting one hundred and eight acupoints, he had condensed the first drop of Undying Spring.

And reshaping the Sword Qi Cave Heaven allowed the Undying Spring to receive "nourishment" from the Sword Qi, beginning to expand in scope.

According to Xie Xuanyi's speculation, forming the second Cave Heaven would probably yield the second drop of Undying Spring.

As his own Dao progressed.

The Undying Spring would also "accumulate from little to much," eventually converging into a spring source.

Having given away half... it seemed as if it had injured the vitals, but the foundation of the Sword Qi Cave Heaven had already been laid, and the misty water vapor within the Dantian quickly filled up the gap left by that half drop of spring water.

"The rate at which the droplets increase is much faster than I had anticipated."

Xie Xuanyi glanced around and felt somewhat surprised.

After parting with the Undying Spring.

The Undying Spring actually began to repair itself rapidly.

At this rate, in about twenty days, this droplet would be restored to its complete form.

Chen Ke also noticed that the recovery speed of the Undying Spring was beyond expectation.

This divine artifact presiding over the Dantian.

On normal days, unless he was injured, Xie Xuanyi would never use it!

After all, anyone who obtained such a divine object would handle it with utmost care, fearing the slightest damage, let alone... give it away as generously as Xie Xuanyi did!

In the previous battles, whether it was the killing of Chu Man in Beihai Ling or the fight with Jin Yuan and Chi Hun in South Border, the consumption of the Undying Spring was almost negligible.

Healing minor injuries might only consume a wisp of water vapor, and even healing severe injuries, consuming seven or eight wisps, would not use up even a tenth of a drop of the Undying Spring.

"Could it be... that the Undying Spring was originally meant to be 'gifted out'?"

Xie Xuanyi stared at his own Dantian, a bold idea suddenly bursting through his mind.

He took a deep breath.

He took out his lifebound flying sword, its surface damaged and somewhat rusty.

Chen Ke was entwined by the Tao Rules of the "Dao Pen", and despite being washed hundreds of times, it still bore many scars.

Half a drop of the Undying Spring remained.

Xie Xuanyi hesitated only for a moment before dispersing it; the droplet expanded into water vapor, about forty or fifty wisps, and then he grabbed a handful of water vapor and smeared it on the surface of Chen Ke—

Hum!

The flying sword sang!

Chen Ke was startled by its owner's bold move.

Using the Undying Spring to polish a sword?

But the next moment, the rich vitality spread on the surface of the sword, visibly lightening the damage caused by the Dao Pen to the flying sword by a notch!

Xie Xuanyi did not wipe a second time.

Because that half droplet of Undying Spring, now reduced to just ten wisps of water vapor, could no longer coalesce...

He stared intently at those ten lightened wisps of water vapor.

It could be said.

Up until now, that drop of Undying Spring had been squandered by ninety percent.

Yet those ten wisps of water vapor had not dispersed, as if a mysterious force twisted them together.

The pace of "repair" was twice as fast as before.

If a half droplet needed twenty days to recover to the complete shape of a water droplet.

Then, a single wisp of water vapor would only need ten days to recover to half.

"What does this mean..."

"The more one values life, the less one understands the true use of the 'Undying Spring'?"

In the dimly lit room, Xie Xuanyi sat at the table, silent for a long time, finding this discovery profoundly ironic.

He looked at the oil lamp he held in the palm of his hand.

It must be said...

The nature of the Undying Spring was somewhat similar to that of this lamp flame.

When only a little embers remain.

It is easiest to ignite.