Chapter 6 — Ten Thousand-Year Sword Spirit: I Am Yours No More

My pupils constricted as I gazed at his remorse-stricken face, finding myself at a loss for words. "For ten thousand years, I have lived in longing and regret. Frost-Snow, do you truly have no need for me anymore?" He remained on his knees, the rims of his eyes so bloodshot they seemed ready to weep gore, his voice low and wretched, as if dissolving into the very mud beneath him. I remained silent for a long moment before finally shaking my head. "It is all in the past, Le Huyen."

"I cannot forget!" His composure shattered, and he lost control of the demonic aura surging within his body. "Frost-Snow, you are mine. No one has the right to tear you away from me!" As the words left his lips, the demonic essence of heaven and earth erupted, coiling tightly around me and Dao Quang. I hardened my gaze, stepping firmly in front of Dao Quang to shield him. Le Huyen had completely lost his sanity; he had fully succumbed to the demonic path. I had never imagined that one day I would have to stand in opposition to him.

He fought without a weapon, relying on sword techniques and raw demonic power to assault Dao Quang. Dark clouds swirled, and thunder roared—it was an exact mirror of the day he had transcended his tribulations, the day I had once stood before him to take the blows. But now, it was I whom Dao Quang held, my blade pointed directly at the center of his forehead. The disturbance in the Demon Realm rippled into the Immortal Realm, and soon, Dao Quang’s master arrived with the sect elders. Seeing Le Huyen, they were instantly on high alert, preparing for a full-scale battle. A great war was imminent, but this time... there would be no sword named Frost-Snow foolish enough to block the strikes for him.

Le Huyen was wounded, yet he seemed to feel no pain. His eyes, sharp as blades, remained locked onto Dao Quang, every strike aimed at him. Dao Quang’s cultivation was ultimately a notch lower; he was flung backward, and in the next heartbeat, I was gripped firmly in Le Huyen’s hands. His eyes were wet, his body drenched in blood, yet in his maddened state, he instinctively pressed the heart of the Ghost-Shadow into the hilt of my blade.

At that moment, a feeling of unprecedented relief flooded through me. Inch by inch, my body was restored; the divine sword Frost-Snow, cracked for ten thousand years, was finally whole again. Le Huyen offered a satisfied smile. "Frost-Snow, I kept the promise I made to you. I did it. Don't be angry anymore. Come back to me, and we shall fight side by side as we once did. Aside from you, I need no one else."

He touched my brow, attempting to re-establish our soul contract. But the very next second, the smile on his lips stiffened. Dao Quang, who should have been dying, had appeared right before him. In that moment of life and death, the youth had broken through to the Great Vehicle stage. He gripped my hilt tightly, his eyes cold as glacial ice. "Give her back!"

Before long, the battlefield held only Le Huyen and Dao Quang. Though Dao Quang’s cultivation could not yet rival Le Huyen’s, he held the divine sword Frost-Snow, and his momentum was sharp. Le Huyen, conversely, was heavily injured, his internal demonic essence tearing him apart, and he gradually fell into a defensive position. After several hundred exchanges, Dao Quang severed one of Le Huyen’s arms. He pressed the advantage, forcing his opponent back step by step. The sect leaders and elders of the Spirit Sword Sect took the opportunity to cast a grand sealing array. A Demon God like Le Huyen, much like the Demon Lord of old, could not be killed; he could only be sealed.

The array descended like a collapsing sky, yet Le Huyen’s eyes remained fixed on me. Even as he was pinned to the earth, he struggled to crawl toward me. "Frost-Snow, do you truly not need me? Everything I have done... it was all for you! Give me one more chance, won't you? I was wrong... I beg you, forgive me..."

I turned my gaze away, speaking with quiet detachment. "You cannot die. Even sealed, there will come a day when you wake again. So, forget me. Forget everything. A thousand years from now, when the seal breaks, return to the Divine Realm and be your celestial god."

He seemed to anticipate my intention, his face shifting into a mask of pure terror. He pleaded desperately, "No, do not erase my memories! Frost-Snow, you are all I have left! I cannot forget you!"

I sighed, stepped forward, and crouched before him. Le Huyen had only me, but I... I already had someone else. To forget was the kindest path. I raised my hand and placed it against his brow. He struggled with all his might, but bound by the restraints and the barrier, his divine power slowly dissipated. "Don't... I beg you..."

His choking sobs were as faint as the wind against my ear, and though my heart ached, my hand did not falter. As my spiritual energy penetrated his sea of consciousness, ten thousand years of memories flashed before my eyes like a flicker of film: the moment I first took form, naked and ashamed, while he turned away in a panic, his hands trembling as he draped his cloak over me; the long nights after the war with the Demon Lord when I was gravely wounded, and he searched for medicine without sleep or rest; my departure from the Divine Realm, and his descent into darkness, searching the six realms for me for ten thousand years.

Gradually, Le Huyen’s eyes grew hazy. When I finally withdrew my hand, his gaze held no longing or agony, only bewilderment. "Who are you?"

That was enough. I curled the corners of my lips, my voice raspy as I replied, "We are strangers."

I turned and walked toward Dao Quang. From behind, Le Huyen called out, his voice thick with panic. "Strangers? Then why, the moment I saw you, did my heart ache so deeply? Little sword spirit, did we... did we once have a destiny together?"

I did not stop, merely lowering my eyes. "No. You and I have never known each other."

Le Huyen was sealed within the Demon Realm. Perhaps it would be a thousand years, perhaps ten thousand—he would eventually awaken. But he would never remember me again.

As for Dao Quang, with my guidance, he broke through to the Unity stage within a few decades, one foot already stepping into the Tribulation stage. Everyone called him a rare genius, claiming his ascension was merely a matter of time. But he no longer cared for such things.

That day, the sunlight was warm and golden. The boy from the past had grown into a calm, steadfast man. He looked at me, his eyes and brows full of quiet joy. "Frost-Snow, would you be willing to be my cultivation partner? I will not ascend, and I will never leave you. Let us walk this beautiful world together."

I smiled, taking his hand. "That is enough."