Remould the Glory of Sword Art

"Thud!"

The whole world fell into silence. This sound was like a fish smashing through the ice on a lake surface, and also like the final drum beat when a heart stops beating.

Xie Xuanyi gazed at the "self" that was moving away in the distance.

This was the first time he had directly confronted his Heart Demon.

The pain in his Divine Soul reached its peak at this moment. It felt as if a knife had been thrust into his head, stirring fiercely!

"Mmm."

Xie Xuanyi pressed hard against his forehead.

This pain was indescribable. Countless fragmented memories churned in the Heart Lake.

Images of the year he fell into the North Sea suddenly inserted themselves aggressively into his mind.

For a moment, he did not know whether he was the one who had emerged victorious or the one who had fallen into the lake and failed...

The "Heart Demon" that had deeply fallen into the Heart Lake had long since disappeared.

But unexpectedly, countless ripples emerged on the pristine white surface of the lake, spinning around Xie Xuanyi. Soon after, pairs of pale hands stretched out, seizing Xie Xuanyi's collar and sleeves.

He gritted his teeth and looked towards the lake surface.

These hands belonged to the "self" that had fallen into the North Sea years ago.

They struggled desperately against the lake surface, fiercely trying to drag him into the Dead Sea.

The Heart Demon is the most fearful thing inside a cultivator's heart.

They've never been alive.

So...

They will never die.

"You all..."

Xie Xuanyi looked at these pale faces and smiled softly, saying, "Are you trying to pull me down to experience death once again?"

After a brief silence.

He stopped resisting and let these pairs of hands exert their force, pulling him down.

The familiar, ice-cold, bone-chilling coldness immersed his entire being from bottom to top.

He fell into the North Sea once again.

During the battle with his Heart Demon, Xie Xuanyi had questioned himself.

Is his Heart Demon truly himself?

He was reluctant to face the truth, unwilling to repeat past mistakes, unwilling to go through it again.

Perhaps, it was not because he feared that version of "himself" from back then.

He was simply afraid of... "death."

Only those who have experienced near-death can understand this sensation.

Xie Xuanyi immersed in the dead waters of the Heart Lake, as if returning to that coffin in Yuzhu Town.

He looked at the faces surrounding him, pale and numerous, encircling him from all sides...those were all the "dead" versions of himself.

The earlier Xie Xuanyi who had fallen to the bottom of the lake was merely one among them.

The familiar sensation of suffocation surged to his heart.

The whole world was pitch black.

But this time, there was something different...in this world, there was still a glimmer of light.

The light came from above the Heart Lake.

Xie Xuanyi reached out his hand.

He gently motioned.

The next moment—

"Boom!"

The Heart Lake exploded violently. A Flying Sword plunged into the lake, and the golden glow emitted from the sword turned the dark Heart Lake as bright as day. As faces retreated in terror under the countless dead gazes, Flying Sword Chen Ke swept into Xie Xuanyi's raised palm.

Afterward.

Xie Xuanyi grasped the sword.

He slashed down.

The pitch-black Heart Lake, like a coffin, was thus cleaved into two, shattered and disjointed.

...

...

Tonight, in the South Border.

It rained heavily and thundered mightily.

But in the cave where Xie Xuanyi was in seclusion, two Purity Arrays were set up, completely blocking out the sound of rain and thunder.

If one stayed within the Purity Array, they would only hear the faint noise of the light rain tapping against the mountain and the muted rumbling of thunder.

However.

The Purity Array could only block out sounds, not scenes.

Dozens of floating talismans rustled in the wind. In the slightly smaller Purity Array, a figure suddenly sat up.

In the darkness, a fire lit up.

It wasn't a bonfire, nor was it a talisman.

It was a pair of eyes.

Jiang Huang sat up straight, her expressionless face gazing at the larger Purity Array.

Her gaze passed over the talismans, beyond the extinguished fire, and landed on the young man sitting cross-legged in the Purity Array.

These burning eyes showed no emotion.

Only endless indifference.

If anyone were to stare into these Flame Eyes...they would only feel the cold.

This didn't seem like fire, more like ice.

"..."

Because of the wind and thunder outside, the world was noisy.

Because of the talismans, the world inside the cave was quiet.

Jiang Huang bowed her head, staring at her own withered, shriveled legs that looked like kindling.

After a failed attempt at standing up.

A hint of self-mockery emerged in those always indifferent eyes...

She looked around and saw a crudely made wooden wheelchair and two even cruder cypress crutches nearby.

A moment later, she slowly moved her torso and sat in the wooden wheelchair.

Then she pushed aside the Purity Talismans that trapped her.

She obtained "freedom."

To be precise, the freedom to move around within this cave.

Jiang Huang slowly turned the wheels of the wooden wheelchair, moving slowly towards the front of the larger Purity Array.

From here, she could see very clearly.

In front of her, a young man in black was silently meditating.

The two were merely about ten yards apart.

Although Xie Xuanyi wore the Mask of All Beings,

Jiang Huang still felt a familiar presence.

Some people she would not forget in a hundred years.

Xie Xuanyi was one of them.

The young girl's eyes showed a hint of disgust, and... a hint of fear.

As she gazed at Xie Xuanyi.

The flying sword suspended above Xie Xuanyi's head, constantly trembling, was also gazing at her.

Threads of Sword Intent already filled the entire Great Purification Array; if she dared to step forward even one step... the Sword Qi would be released immediately.

This was also why Xie Xuanyi intentionally rested separately and set up two formations.

If only one Purity Array was formed, the Sword Qi from tonight's meditation to break through to the Grotto Heaven might likely harm Jiang Huang.

"..."

The girl in the red dress gritted her teeth.

Memories from more than a decade ago surfaced in her mind.

The Northern Hunt of the Human Race, her duel with Xie Xuanyi, her legs being severed, sent to the Imperial City...

These painful memories invaded her Heart Lake, making her complexion pale by three shades.

Then there was a blank.

Her memory had gaps.

Luckily, she was not dead.

Even more fortunate was that she had met Xie Xuanyi again today!

An opportunity for revenge was right before her eyes.

Even though the Great Purification Array isolated all sounds from the outside,

she could feel that at this moment, Xie Xuanyi was at a critical point of breakthrough, and just by striking him down, she could not only destroy his great opportunity... but also possibly doom him forever!

With a bang!

Jiang Huang raised her palm, and a dazzling blaze suddenly ignited in the pallid center of her hand.

However.

The wooden wheelchair outside the Purity Array ultimately did not continue moving forward—

Jiang Huang's expression fluctuated unpredictably, and large beads of sweat emerged on her forehead.

Every cultivator has a Heart Demon.

Demon Cultivators are no exception.

Her Heart Demon... was none other than Xie Xuanyi.

That battle from years past, she lost thoroughly.

As a phoenix-blooded Great Demon, she had never lost to anyone.

If not for that accident back then, she was destined to become one of the future "Great Venerates" of the Demon Country!

The prouder the person, the less they can accept their own failure.

And the more such a failure,

The more it incites fear, terror, dread.

Although she did not know what misstep the other party had made, it was clear that his cultivation had greatly diminished, far lesser than before.

Jiang Huang knew clearly in her heart that this might be her "only chance in this lifetime" —

Once missed, it would not come again.

But she dared not.

She feared that all this was but an illusion, and once she stepped into the Purity Array, Xie Xuanyi's Sword Qi would erupt.

Xie Xuanyi had encountered an "accident," and so had she.

Just as she hesitated,

The Sword Qi enveloping the Great Purification Array fluctuated intensely, countless glimmers of Primordial Energy lit up on Xie Xuanyi's body, Chen Ke ceased trembling, and steadied instead.

One hundred and eight major orifices, each like a niche enshrining a divine spirit, ignited with fire!

And every strand of firelight resonated with the Lifebound Flying Sword, eventually forming a continuous thread, weaving into a Golden Cave Heaven!

The Sword Qi Cave Heaven slowly took shape.

To be precise... it was initially taking form.

This Cave Heaven, located to the right side of Xie Xuanyi's Dantian, was just as Xie Xuanyi had initially conjectured; after his physique was altered by the Undying Spring, he had pioneered an unprecedented path of cultivation.

This Dantian could accommodate more than one Cave Heaven!

"You're still as timid as ever..."

A gentle sigh emerged from within the cave.

Xie Xuanyi slowly opened his eyes.

He waved his hand, summoning the Purity Talismans, and calmly looked at the girl in red on the wheelchair, seriously saying, "Actually, you still have a chance now, do you want to try?"

Jiang Huang's expression suddenly darkened.

The Phoenix Fire, which had almost extinguished, reignited.

Boom, boom, boom.

In just a few moments, the entire dark cave was lit by the Phoenix Fire, with heavy rain pouring outside and flames swirling inside—

With a "boom,"

a wisp of Phoenix Fire fell from above Xie Xuanyi's head.

The Flying Sword instantly swept out.

The Phoenix Fire was shattered by the Sword Qi, scattering and falling to the ground, turning into tiny specks of ash.

"???"

Upon seeing this scene, Jiang Huang frowned.

The power of the Phoenix Fire was much smaller than she had anticipated!

What was going on?

"I apologize, it seems I spoke wrongly,"

Xie Xuanyi looked down at the sparks on his body, brushed them off with his hand, and said indifferently, "You are still too weak now, thinking of revenge... you have no chance at all."

Jiang Huang's current Phoenix Fire was very weak, relying on the element of surprise, it might be possible to try killing a cultivator in the Qi-controlling Realm.

Killing someone in Grotto Heaven was very difficult.

Not to mention killing himself...

"Xie Xuanyi, in what ways are you better than me?"

These words enraged Jiang Huang.

The girl sitting in the wheelchair scornfully said, "I might have greatly deteriorated, but look at you now, even your Lifebound Flying Sword is cracked, and the Sword Qi Cave Heaven has just been reconstructed... I suppose these years haven't been much better for you either?"

Xie Xuanyi remained silent.

Seeing Xie Xuanyi's expression,

Jiang Huang couldn't help but laugh, she puffed up her chest and said carelessly, "Yes, I can't kill you, and I don't care... You kill me then, I didn't want to live anyway!"

Although she dropped a harsh statement.

But the fluctuation in Jiang Huang's chest was significant, it was evident... she didn't quite care as much as she imagined.

At the face of life and death.

No one remained so calm.

The Phoenix Fire inside the cave gradually faded, not because Xie Xuanyi extinguished it with his Sword Qi, but because Jiang Huang was too weak.

She closed her eyes and waited a long time, but Xie Xuanyi's Sword Qi never came.

After a moment.

Jiang Huang opened her eyes, but only saw the young man in black fiddling with the dying bonfire.

"You're right, these years, I haven't been much better off than you."

Xie Xuanyi's response was calmer than she expected.

Much calmer.

More accurately... it was a kind of composure.

"These days, living really isn't easy."

The young man picked up a stick, using the dying Phoenix Fire to light it, and blew a breath on it, using the ember to light a bonfire.

The entire cave brightened up a bit.

Xie Xuanyi threw the stick into the bonfire, turned his head to look at the girl in the wheelchair, and earnestly asked, "Since living is so difficult, why choose to die?"