Eden sounded as though she were humoring a child, though he was thinking quite far ahead.
They had only just made their relationship official, and he was already talking about marriage.
"We'll practice singing together from now on."
"(⊙o⊙)... Practice singing? Is that necessary?"
"Yes, and it's very necessary." Ye Chang'an nodded firmly. He would not compromise on this matter.
His appearance had already changed Eden's fate. If she deviated from her original path again, she might end up dying in some Honkai disaster.
Even though he could now fight Death Warriors and Honkai Beasts, he truly had no answer for Herrschers.
And there was also the problem of Destruction energy corrosion.
Thinking of this, Ye Chang'an suddenly felt it was necessary to increase Eden's resistance to Destruction energy, just in case.
"We don't need to rush the singing practice. I have a sequence of syllables to teach you. Memorize them, then make sure you practice them every day."
The Sword Heart Art could gradually improve the human body's resistance to Destruction energy. Even if one failed to cultivate a Sword Heart, it could still have some effect. Any increase was better than none.
So, he recited all four hundred and sixty-two syllables of the Sword Heart Art to Eden.
Eden found it baffling, but she did as he said.
It took her two days to memorize the entire thing without missing a single syllable, but it always felt awkward when she recited it.
"Why does this sound like hypnosis? It's awkward and uncomfortable."
Eden disliked the Sword Heart Art's syllables. If Ye Chang'an had not forced her to practice, she would not have wanted to touch it at all.
Even after practicing for a long time, she still could not get used to it. Instead, her dissatisfaction only grew.
"No, this is really too uncomfortable. Change it."
As a method used by the Previous Civilization to modify the human body, the Sword Heart Art was something called Divine Sound, jointly researched by Dr. Mei and Hua.
Divine Sound was a form of subconscious hypnotherapy that stimulated the brain on a subconscious level, allowing the body to adapt to Honkai.
That was the root of why the Sword Heart Art could increase resistance to Destruction energy.
If it were altered carelessly, it would most likely lose its effect.
But that depended on who was doing the altering.
The one modifying it now was Eden, a legendary singer whose voice represented an entire era.
When it came to understanding sound, even Dr. Mei and Fu Hua combined could not compare to her.
So Eden began analyzing the Sword Heart Art's hypnotic effects. Once she had fully analyzed them, she would rearrange suitable syllables for it.
She could do such a thing.
Because she was Eden.
Chapter of Creation: Journey to a New World: 9. Sword Heart Art: Eden's Enhanced Version
Ever since that confession at the age of seventeen, Eden and Ye Chang'an had officially become a couple.
After the school term began, news of this swiftly spread throughout campus and stunned all the students. It was said that one-third of the female students fainted on the spot.
Many people refused to believe it until they saw the two holding hands and showing off their affection on campus, as well as the smile on Ye Chang'an's face that differed from his usual one.
"Waaah, my Music Prince! How could someone else have won you over?"
The girls were heartbroken, covering their faces as they cried. They simply could not understand how Eden had managed to win Ye Chang'an over.
Even if they were childhood sweethearts, it should not have happened.
Since ancient times, childhood sweethearts had mostly ended up as losers. Those who could make it work would have gotten together long ago. Why wait until they were seventeen?
They did not believe it. They refused to accept it. But they would not go looking for trouble with Eden.
They were no longer in their edgy teenage phase. They knew what they should and should not do.
So they secretly resented Eden, until one campus celebration, when they witnessed Eden's solo performance and the two of them performing together. Only then did their resentment turn into sincere admiration.
Because of Ye Chang'an's presence, Eden rarely performed in public. Almost no one at school knew just how outstanding she was.
The Music Prince's childhood friend and tagalong—that was everyone's impression of Eden.
But after she finally revealed her talent, that impression was completely overturned.
Only Eden was someone who could keep pace with the prince, and she was also someone they could never hope to reach.
She was on too high a level. They were convinced.
Their mouths, however, were not convinced.
Either way, they would still think of every possible way to steal Eden's man.
Likewise, there were also people who wanted to steal Ye Chang'an's girl.
"Eden, I got surrounded by another group of boys challenging me today."
In the dining room of the little villa, Ye Chang'an complained helplessly to his girlfriend. This was the who-knew-how-manyth time he had been challenged since they started dating.
After Eden revealed her abilities, she became extremely popular with boys. The number of people who fell for her and declared war on Ye Chang'an had grown exponentially.
Almost every day, outstanding people from other fields would challenge Ye Chang'an. Yet not a single one came from the field of music.
Music students were not stupid. They would not humiliate themselves.
"Mm-hm, so did you win?"
"I lost once. That guy had no sense of fair play—he actually competed with me in advanced mathematics." Ye Chang'an spoke indignantly, complaining, "We're still in high school. Isn't it cheating to use university-level material for a competition?"
"Haha, that is pretty unfair, but it's amusing." Eden smiled and fed Ye Chang'an a grape as consolation.
She certainly would not tell Ye Chang'an to work hard on advanced mathematics. After all, winning or losing could not change their relationship.
The challenge results were merely topics of conversation in their spare time, and they worked rather well as seasoning for their relationship.
Ye Chang'an was not someone who dwelled on such things. After complaining for a while, he returned to the main topic. "How has your Sword Heart Art been going? Do you feel any changes?"
They had been dating for eight months, and Eden had cultivated the Sword Heart Art for eight months as well.
The chances of her cultivating a Sword Heart were not high, but her resistance to Destruction energy should have increased somewhat.
However, resistance could not be quantified numerically. Ye Chang'an had no idea how much it had increased, or whether it could withstand the corrosion of a minor Honkai event.
"Mmm~ The Sword Heart Art..." Eden interlaced her fingers beneath her chin and looked at Ye Chang'an leisurely, smiling as she spoke.
"The change is huge. You'll definitely be shocked when you hear it."
She had not told him about modifying the Sword Heart Art. She had planned to surprise Ye Chang'an once it was finished.
And now, it was finished.
"Hm? Is this kind of change something I can hear?" Ye Chang'an looked confused, then Eden pulled him into the bedroom and pressed him down to sit beside the bed.
"Sit there. Listen while I play something for you."
Eden picked up the harp and sat across from Ye Chang'an. Closing her eyes with a smile, she plucked the strings with graceful fingers.
A gentle melody rippled outward. Ye Chang'an closed his eyes and listened, not yet noticing anything unusual.
Whenever he listened to Eden's music, he felt his mind settle into peace. He thoroughly enjoyed the process.
But after the song ended and its lingering notes faded, he gradually sensed that something was wrong.
A sweet spring emerged within his sea of consciousness, which had become abnormally barren after his Sword Heart shattered. It gurgled forth, swiftly nourishing the dried-up riverbed.
It seemed like a sign that his Sword Heart was reviving, yet it also seemed completely unrelated to the Sword Heart.
"Eden, what song was that?"
He opened his eyes and asked. He had his suspicions, but he did not dare be certain.
"It was the Sword Heart Art."
Eden smiled, set down the harp, leaned against his shoulder, and softly sang. The tune was the very piece she had just played.
Ye Chang'an was shocked, but he did not rush to ask questions. He continued feeling the changes in his sea of consciousness.
The spring continued to flow. The damp riverbed gradually formed a shallow pool, and new springs kept appearing.
The water gradually rose, submerging the Sword Heart fragments scattered throughout. Like strong acid corroding matter, it dissolved and assimilated the fragments.
After every fragment disappeared, Ye Chang'an felt it.
—I can use Destruction energy.
Clearly, he should not have been able to use Destruction energy without a Sword Heart, yet he felt that he could. And he did.
A flame ignited at his fingertips. His eyes were filled with astonishment, and Eden was surprised as well.
"Chang'an, when did you learn magic? How did you make that flame?"
Eden reached out to touch the flame at Ye Chang'an's fingertips. She could feel its heat. It was indeed real fire.
Yet she was not burned. It was as though it were not truly fire after all.
"How amazing," Eden marveled.
"You're the amazing one." Ye Chang'an dispersed the flame and held Eden by the shoulders, his face full of excitement.
"What were that piece you played and the thing you hummed just now? Why were they so similar to the Sword Heart Art? No, they were quite different. Uh, no, that doesn't seem right either."
He was so excited that his words became disorganized. Eden hurriedly covered his mouth and laughed. "Don't get so worked up. I'll tell you."
"That tune was the Sword Heart Art, but it wasn't entirely the Sword Heart Art.
"Mm, how should I put it? It was the Sword Heart Art after I modified it.
"The original syllables were just too awkward. They were hard to recite and unpleasant to hear. I really couldn't accept them, so I studied them carefully and composed a new sequence of syllables."
Ye Chang'an calmed down somewhat. After thinking it over carefully, he still found it unbelievable.
"Is something like that really possible?"
"Why wouldn't it be? The syllables in the Sword Heart Art are merely a form of hypnosis. There are many ways to achieve hypnosis. Even if you use sound, you can choose different syllables to perform it. As long as the result does not differ too much, the process can be changed into something more comfortable."
Eden had seen through the root of the Sword Heart Art, then reverse-engineered and reconstructed the path leading to that root.
It was possible, just as someone else had accomplished something similar.
Otto Apocalypse.
That combination of genius and madman had also modified Immortal Chi Yuan's Tai Xu Sword Qi, though Otto's modification had merely simplified it.
Eden's modification, however,
was an enhancement!
Chapter of Creation: Journey to a New World: 10. Sword Heart Art (×) Chang'an Melody (√)
Once Ye Chang'an thought of Otto having modified the Tai Xu Sword Qi, he accepted the fact that Eden had modified the Tai Xu Sword Qi.
Then came happiness—immense happiness.
"HAHAHAHA! Eden, you're incredible! Just as expected of you!"
He picked Eden up and spun her around happily, his grin as bright as that of a child given candy.
Eden was happy too. She let him spin her a few times before patting him and telling him to stop.
If he spun her any longer, she would get dizzy.
Ye Chang'an: (*^▽^*)
After putting Eden down, his smile did not diminish. He still looked a little foolish.
Eden could not help pinching his cheek. Teasingly, she said, "All right, stop smiling. If you keep smiling like that, you won't be leaving this room tonight."
His smile was too pure, so pure that it made Eden's heart itch. She truly might not be able to hold herself back.
Before you continue