Chapter 77: The Shattered Sword Heart

Gu Chang’an approached the bedside, her steps deliberate. “Zhaoqing,” she declared, “I will not allow any further harm to befall you.”

“But…” Shen Zhaoqing murmured, her gaze fixed on the woman before her.

Despite the facade of unwavering strength and calm Gu Chang’an presented, Shen Zhaoqing keenly sensed the subtle tremor in her voice.

“Perhaps… we should simply let it be,” Shen Zhaoqing suggested softly.

“No,” Gu Chang’an refused, her lips pressing into a thin line as an involuntary tremor flickered in her eyes.

Shen Zhaoqing understood that once this particular look settled in Gu Chang’an’s eyes, not even ten oxen could sway her resolve.

“You will be alright,” Gu Chang’an promised. She extended a hand, her cool fingertips resting gently upon Shen Zhaoqing’s brow.

A surge of True Essence, pure to the extreme and chilling to the bone, slowly yet irresistibly, probed into her Violet Palace and Sea of Consciousness.

Shen Zhaoqing’s body convulsed. Instinctively, she tried to resist, only to find herself as insignificant as a lone skiff before Gu Chang’an’s True Essence.

The True Essence flowed unimpeded, tracing a path from her brow downwards, delving deep into her chaotic meridians.

Initially, the sensation was rather pleasant.

Wherever Gu Chang’an’s sword intent passed, the impurities and blockages caused by the clashing spiritual energy were smoothed away and cleansed. Her once congested meridians instantly felt much clearer.

Shen Zhaoqing even harbored a fleeting illusion: perhaps Senior Sister Gu truly could succeed?

However, that thought lasted less than three seconds.

As Gu Chang’an’s vanguard sword intent cautiously navigated around the Dantian and reached another primary meridian in the lower abdomen, an abrupt change occurred.

The blood-fiend demonic energy coiled there instantly bristled.

The indolent black mist abruptly contracted, then erupted with a wild, destructive force.

Boom!

A thunderous roar seemed to echo in Shen Zhaoqing’s mind. She felt her body was no longer her own.

On one side was an extreme chill that froze the Divine Soul, making her blood and marrow feel as though they would solidify into ice. On the other was an intense heat that scorched all creation, making her internal organs, limbs, throat, and tongue feel as if they were being seared by raging flames.

Pfft!

Shen Zhaoqing suddenly arched her back, a mouthful of scalding, dark red blood clots erupting uncontrollably, splattering all over Gu Chang’an.

On the pristine white sword robe, dazzling crimson plum blossoms instantly bloomed.

Gu Chang’an’s face, the moment she saw the blood, turned instantly paler than her sword robe.

The two forces had completely spiraled out of control, engaging in a frantic struggle within Shen Zhaoqing’s body. Gu Chang’an’s sword intent was no longer an obedient tool but had transformed into the sharpest ice shards, mercilessly tearing through Shen Zhaoqing’s meridians. Meanwhile, the demonic energy left scorched earth in its wake.

Uh… Ah…

Inhuman guttural sounds tore from Shen Zhaoqing’s throat. Her body convulsed violently, her pupils dilated, and the last flicker of vitality in her peach blossom tear mole rapidly dimmed.

Her life force was draining away at a visibly terrifying speed.

“Shen Zhaoqing…”

Gu Chang’an gazed at Shen Zhaoqing, whose breath was rapidly fading in her arms. Panic and fear flickered in her usually placid, cold-star-like almond eyes.

Her cultivation, of which she was so proud, her sword dao, in which she had unwavering faith, her sword heart, which she believed to be impregnable—

All were shattered by that mouthful of blood Shen Zhaoqing spat out.

It was her.

If she failed,

It meant she had personally pushed the person she most wanted to protect into an abyss of eternal damnation.

****

The scalding, fresh blood, tinged with an eerie dark hue, seemed like magma pumped from the depths of hell, completely splattering Gu Chang’an’s immaculate, snow-patterned sword robe.

Gu Chang’an froze completely.

She lowered her head, her gaze fixed on the rapidly spreading crimson stain. The color was so stark, it made her Divine Soul tremble; it was more horrifying than any enemy’s blood on the northern battlefield.

This blood had been forced out by her own hands.

The person in her arms went limp, their breath so faint it seemed a mere breeze could scatter it.

Shen Zhaoqing’s eyes were half-open, the last trace of light in her pupils rapidly fading. The peach blossom tear mole, usually appearing somewhat cynical, now resembled a solidified drop of eternal, unshed blood-tear. Her consciousness plunged into an endless, dark abyss where cold and heat intertwined.

“Senior Sister! What happened?!”

The door was violently flung open, and several inner disciples, having rushed over upon hearing the commotion, burst in.

“Quick! Go quickly and invite Elder Dan Chenzi!”

One person reacted, scrambling out of the room.

Soon, the Chief of Qingyun Sect’s Pill Chamber, an old man with white hair and beard, possessing an immortal’s demeanor and Daoist bones—Dan Chenzi—arrived in a frantic rush.

Behind him followed several of the Pill Chamber’s most capable disciples, all with solemn expressions.

“Move aside!” Dan Chenzi pushed through the crowd, instantly spotting Shen Zhaoqing on the bed and the distraught Gu Chang’an beside her.

His brows furrowed deeply. Disregarding formalities, he strode forward, two withered fingers resting on Shen Zhaoqing’s wrist.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths…

Elder Dan Chenzi’s expression shifted from solemnity to bewilderment, then to utter horror.

He abruptly withdrew his hand, as if burned by something, staggering back several steps, his face filled with disbelief.

“Elder, how is she?” a disciple anxiously asked.

Dan Chenzi’s lips trembled, and it was a long moment before he finally uttered a sentence:

“…She’s beyond saving. Prepare for the funeral.”

Boom!

Gu Chang’an violently lifted her head, her crimson eyes locked onto Dan Chenzi. Within them churned a chilling killing intent, enough to freeze anyone into an ice sculpture.

“What did you say?” Her voice was hoarse, like two pieces of metal grating together.

Dan Chenzi’s heart trembled under her gaze, but he steeled himself and sighed, explaining, “Chang’an, calm down. I’ve practiced medicine for five hundred years and have never seen such a bizarre injury. I told you before, this girl’s body is truly a battlefield.”

He continued, still shaken, “One is the purest, most pristine Forgetfulness Sword Intent, and the other is an overwhelmingly tyrannical blood-fiend demonic energy.”

“These two forces are diametrically opposed in nature, yet both are powerful to the extreme. They’ve formed a miniature standoff within her meridians. Any external spiritual energy, whether it’s gentle healing energy or domineering energy attempting to suppress one side, will instantly shatter this balance and ignite the entire battlefield.”

Dan Chenzi pointed at Shen Zhaoqing’s paper-pale face. “You just tried to use your True Essence to sort out her meridians. Now, the two forces are completely out of control, fiercely tearing at each other within her body. Her internal organs, her extraordinary meridians, even her Dao foundation, are being simultaneously ripped apart and incinerated. Not even immortals could save her!”

“But you said she wouldn’t live more than ten days,” Gu Chang’an demanded, her voice sharp.

“Indeed,” Dan Chenzi sighed deeply. “Among the entire Qingyun Sect, only your sword intent is pure and pristine. But if even you cannot do it, then her fate is merely a difference between dying now or dying in ten days.”

“What?” Gu Chang’an gasped, struggling for air.

‘It was her.’

‘It was indeed her.’

‘Her proud sword intent had personally pushed Shen Zhaoqing to the brink of death.’

“Get out!” A single, icy word was forced through Gu Chang’an’s clenched teeth.

“Chang’an…” Dan Chenzi tried to persuade her further.

“I told you to get out!”

Gu Chang’an abruptly stood up, and a terrifyingly potent sword pressure erupted from her, blasting outwards. The temperature in the entire room plummeted to freezing point, and a thick layer of white frost instantly condensed on the walls, tables, and chairs.

The Void Return Realm’s overwhelming might, mixed with the uncontrolled grief and rage from her shattered sword heart, transformed into a tangible storm, sweeping Dan Chenzi and the disciples out of the room.

Bang!

The door slammed shut, severing the two worlds inside and out.

Outside the room, everyone exchanged glances, silent as cicadas in winter.

“It’s over, Senior Sister Gu… she might be falling into demonic cultivation!” a young disciple stammered, trembling.

Dan Chenzi’s face was ashen. He stared at the tightly closed door, ultimately letting out a long sigh and shaking his head. “Go quickly and report this to the True Monarch Sect Master, now!”