As a child, they longed to save the world; as youths, they longed to make a name for themselves; as adults, they longed to dominate the world.
Their hearts kept changing, and the power they learned kept growing stronger.
In the end, they became demons of this world.
Inner demons that endangered the people of the world."
"I slew every one of them here. Only afterward did I discuss creating this Sword Heart Art with my friend."
"Can you grasp its deeper meaning?"
Chi Yuan watched Ye Chang'an, who fell silent.
The few seemingly ordinary words became terrifying upon deeper thought.
Because Ye Chang'an recalled one of Chi Yuan's outfits—no, one of Phoenix's outfits.
Phoenix: Sword and Fire, along with its recolored version, Phoenix: Fire and Sword.
That outfit was clearly styled after a battlefield soldier, and it belonged to the character Phoenix.
Although it had been obtained through a side-story event, when connected to Fu Hua's long life, it seemed to carry another layer of meaning.
Phoenix was Hua's character image during the early days of the Current Civilization. The sisters Cang Xuan and Dan Zhu had designed it for her, and she had used it for a long time.
If what Chi Yuan had just described had truly happened, it should have taken place during Phoenix's era.
Cang Xuan, Dan Zhu, and Ji Lin had died in the battle against Chiyou. Phoenix had been unable to reach them in time and regretted it deeply. Afterward, she resolved to use Divine Sound to cultivate powerful people to protect the world.
Yet these people had been blinded by power. Each took a different path, plunging the world into chaos.
Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han... it might have been sometime between the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
And between Shang and Zhou, there had been the Investiture War, famous throughout the ages.
Well damn, the clues suddenly connected.
People of the Shang-Zhou era had adapted to Destruction through Divine Sound and gained power, only to be blinded by it and try to proclaim themselves gods, throwing the world into turmoil and leaving the people in misery.
Phoenix had stepped in and smacked all those idiots tainted by inner demons to death, then, after reflecting deeply, transformed Divine Sound into the Sword Heart Art.
"To practice martial arts, first temper the heart—is that what it means?" Ye Chang'an answered. Chi Yuan nodded approvingly.
"You are very clever."
By the standards of an eight-year-old child, that was indeed very clever.
But Ye Chang'an was not an eight-year-old child. He felt nothing at the praise and merely frowned. "So you will not allow Chang'an Melody to replace the Sword Heart Art, correct?"
The answer was already obvious.
Chang'an Melody was indeed more suitable for cultivation than the Sword Heart Art, but it was too suitable.
Because Chang'an Melody had no restrictions. If used for cultivation, it would likely spark another Investiture War.
"If you can place restrictions on Chang'an Melody, replacing it would be acceptable."
"..." Ye Chang'an was speechless. This problem had stumped him.
He could not even alter Chang'an Melody. How was he supposed to restrict it?
Yet without restrictions, history would indeed repeat itself. Chi Yuan could not possibly make the same mistake again.
"...Can I do it?"
Ye Chang'an was lost and not very confident.
"You can." Chi Yuan patted his shoulder and encouraged him. "In you, I see Eden's shadow."
"She could do it, and so can you. Besides, I will help you."
Chi Yuan truly wanted to help Ye Chang'an accomplish this, because Chang'an Melody could make the sparks of this era shine even brighter.
That was something the Sword Heart Art could not achieve.
But the current Chang'an Melody truly could not be spread.
It was too dangerous.
"...I will work hard to accomplish it." Ye Chang'an took a deep breath and accepted the challenge. Then he spoke seriously. "Once I do, Immortal Chi Yuan, I want to ask you to shatter your Sword Heart and cultivate Chang'an Melody instead."
Chang'an Melody needed to change, and Immortal Chi Yuan needed to change as well.
Her Sword Heart had made her even more dangerous than Chang'an Melody.
So even at the risk of having his skull cracked open by a forceful blow, Ye Chang'an had to say it.
"Alright!" Chi Yuan agreed.
PS: This was the opportunity behind the birth of the Sword Heart Art. As for what the Sword Heart was, that would be explained next chapter.
Taixu Chapter, Section One: 9. I Fucking Got an Arbiter Core
"However... there is one thing I need you to promise."
Chi Yuan changed the subject, and her gaze on Ye Chang'an became somewhat sharp.
"Please speak, Immortal."
"I want you to understand your true heart, so that you do not stray down the wrong path. Otherwise, I will cut you down."
Just as Ye Chang'an found Chi Yuan dangerous, Chi Yuan also found Ye Chang'an dangerous.
After all, he was too young, and Chang'an Melody was too powerful.
If he continued growing like this and strayed onto the wrong path, he might destroy the entire world.
Thus, Chi Yuan laid out the ugly truth in advance, serving as a warning to Ye Chang'an.
But Ye Chang'an did not take it too seriously. He nodded and said, "I already understand my true heart. I will not stray down the wrong path."
"What is your true heart?"
"Music."
Ye Chang'an answered with a smile. Chi Yuan fell silent, then smiled as well.
"Then that is excellent."
She could tell that Ye Chang'an was not lying.
The heavy topic ended there. Chi Yuan led Ye Chang'an through this battlefield from thousands of years ago and casually asked,
"Do you wish to know how Divine Sound came to be?"
She wanted to speak of the past, and Ye Chang'an naturally wanted to hear it.
So she spoke, explaining in the literary style of the ancients. Ye Chang'an reasoned backward and pieced together the circumstances behind Divine Sound.
It had happened after Hua's Super-Variable Factor Experiment succeeded.
Based on Hua's successful experience, Mobius proposed that the human body might adapt to Super-Variable Factors under the guidance of consciousness. Only afterward did she propose the Divine Sound Experiment.
But its initiator was busy with fusion soldier experiments and could not spare the time, so she had Mei take charge.
There were two assistants: Eden and Aponia.
Eden's music could make people feel relaxed, making it highly suitable for the Divine Sound Experiment's hypnotherapy.
And Aponia's commandments were also something that affected the human subconscious.
Thus, Eden composed the first version of Divine Sound, while Aponia used her commandments to hum the tune and induce hypnosis.
Many people underwent the Divine Sound Experiment, but everyone except Hua developed all sorts of mental problems.
Because the war was urgent, after the Divine Sound Experiment produced one successful case, there was no more time to investigate it in depth.
Thus, the original Divine Sound syllables continued to be used until the Current Civilization, when Chi Yuan modified them into the Sword Heart Art.
"..." Ye Chang'an was somewhat speechless. After a while, he asked, "Immortal Chi Yuan, do you still remember the original Divine Sound?"
"I do." Chi Yuan nodded and recited the original Divine Sound.
She recited it rather than sang it.
After making a few minor adjustments, Ye Chang'an softly hummed it.
"..." Chi Yuan stopped walking and stared at him with surprise in her eyes.
Because the melody he hummed was exactly the same as when Eden had hummed it.
"Immortal Chi Yuan, did I hum it correctly?"
"...Very correctly. So correctly that it is unbelievable." Chi Yuan acknowledged it, her expression somewhat complicated.
"You really are very much like Eden," she continued as she resumed walking.
"Perhaps." Ye Chang'an sighed, feeling a little sad.
"Do you have any ideas about how to place restrictions on Chang'an Melody?" Chi Yuan's question interrupted his melancholy. He shook his head.
"Not yet."
"Take your time. You still have plenty of time." Chi Yuan did not urge him. She then mentioned the past, when she had discussed jointly creating the Sword Heart Art with her friend, hoping to offer Ye Chang'an some reference.
The original Divine Sound had only 108 notes, while the Sword Heart Art had 462. Those additional notes had been created by that friend.
"Back then, I hoped cultivators would cultivate their hearts before cultivating themselves. If inner demons arose, their entire cultivation would be rendered useless.
For humans, this was very difficult to achieve.
After all, no matter how corrupted one's mind became, the power possessed by the physical body would not diminish much.
So this was nearly impossible to accomplish."
"But this object gave us inspiration and made us think of a solution."
As Chi Yuan spoke, she spread open her palm, and a feather appeared.
"This object is called Feather Dust. It was made from the core of an ancient demon skilled at controlling minds, preserving part of the demon's power from when it was alive."
Feather Dust, the eighth God Key made from the Herrscher of Knowledge's Arbiter Core.
Ye Chang'an knew about this thing, so Chi Yuan's introduction was not particularly important.
But Feather Dust was closely connected to the opportunity that transformed Divine Sound into the Sword Heart Art.
"Through this object's effects, memories related to how cultivators mobilize true qi can be gathered and sealed. The object of that seal is the Sword Heart.
By fixing the Sword Heart within the sea of consciousness as a kind of mental imprint, one can obtain the means to use true qi simply by forging the Sword Heart.
Once the Sword Heart shatters, those memories are lost, making it impossible to wield true qi."
"(⊙o⊙)..." Ye Chang'an was dumbfounded.
It seemed unbelievable, yet also perfectly reasonable.
After all, Feather Dust truly possessed the ability to erase and add memories.
Phoenix had integrated her techniques for using Destruction energy into the Sword Heart. It was similar to inherited memories: once one forged the Sword Heart, one could obtain them and thereby wield Destruction energy.
And once the Sword Heart shattered, those memories would be lost. Even related memories learned afterward would vanish together with the shattered Sword Heart.
Because the Sword Heart was like a magnet, specifically drawing in those memories.
Using the Herrscher of Knowledge Authority to forge the Sword Heart had achieved control over Divine Sound.
Pure genius.
"So those additional notes are the essence of the Sword Heart?" Ye Chang'an asked curiously, feeling that he understood.
But Chi Yuan glanced at him and shook her head.
"That is not so.
Those additional notes were my friend's analysis of Feather Dust's power. In essence, they are part of Feather Dust's power.
As for the essence of the Sword Heart, it is merely one's true heart."
"What? True heart?" Ye Chang'an was stunned.
"Yes. The true heart, or perhaps one's steadfast will."
Before you continue