Little Shirou?

As the others stared as if they had seen a ghost, chains filled the sky, and spears appeared above Taixu Mountain. The Void Sword God wielded at full strength by the Herrscher constantly tested their nerves.

"Just as expected of Junior Disciple Brother."

Splat!

Unlike last time, this time it was his chest.

And what pierced through his chest was Lian Su, which had been in his hand just a second ago.

It happened so suddenly. Of everyone present, only Su Mei was unsurprised.

It was as though Fu Yuan had suddenly figured everything out. He understood it all.

He understood why Senior Sister had carved a name onto his sword, why she had waited more than half a year before giving it to him, and why, despite his extraordinary talent in the sword, he had been unable to nurture a sword spirit.

He understood why Senior Sister was always holding his sword!

He had figured it out. So she had planned everything from that very moment!

"Ha! Hahahahaha! I knew it! Senior Sister, you're a peerless genius! How could you possibly fail to nurture a sword spirit?"

He laughed wildly, no longer bearing any trace of his former innocence.

At the same time, his body was no longer that of a child.

Little by little, Fu Yuan pulled the sword from his chest, then snapped it in half at the place where the name had been carved!

He understood now. He had been the one overthinking things all along!

Su Mei's face visibly paled, but she did not appear weak. Instead, she continued to chuckle softly.

As though she truly did not care about anything...

"But Junior Brother, can you really keep fighting now?"

Su Mei looked as though victory was already hers, though in truth, she could not think of any chance Fu Yuan had left to turn things around.

"Kill him!"

Jiang Wan Xi did not care about the bond between senior and junior disciples. In fact, she did not dare gamble on that bond.

She was afraid. She feared that if she failed to kill Fu Yuan now, he would return to his peak in two years and seek revenge against her.

All she wanted was freedom!

Fu Hua clearly did not understand why things had turned out like this, but she knew that if she did not do something, Xiao Yuan would die!

She had barely managed to summon a trace of strength when Fu Yuan took Yu Du Chen from her.

"No!"

He could not! Xiao Yuan was only a child. What would he have left after using that thing?!

Though the others did not know what Fu Yuan intended to do, nor what he held in his hand, they were not foolish enough to test its effects.

Fu Yuan did not dodge, nor could he anymore!

Take his voice, sever his shadow, erase his senses—even he had no ability to resist.

But it did not matter anymore!

Yu Du Chen

First Rated Power

Exchange memories for vitality and combat power.

Fu Yuan's memories were not long. Even counting his previous life, he had only lived for a little over thirty years.

But the ability Eternal Memory (Incomplete) had given him was enhanced memory.

It hurt!

The instant his sense of touch returned, Fu Yuan felt pain radiating from every part of his body.

But he was not dead!

Transcendence (Incomplete)

The fury in his heart churned endlessly, yet the light seemed to gradually fade from his eyes, leaving them utterly hollow.

The difficulties of the sword and the hardships of life all seemed, in that moment, to come with solutions written before him.

But Fu Yuan did not care about those now. He blocked the sword thrusting toward him again, while the chains around him seemed to grow ever stronger, stopping attacks coming from every other direction as well.

The spears in the air seemed to have grown eyes, piercing precisely through every weakness of his Senior Sisters and Senior Brothers.

"Impossible!"

Cheng Ling Shuang could not accept this outcome at all. The talent she had always been proud of now seemed like a joke.

But no matter how furious she was, the three spears pinning her down were real.

"Pfft! Just as expected of Junior Brother!"

Su Mei finally could no longer suppress her injuries and spat out a mouthful of blood!

Though she had not anticipated this development, she was strangely not all that angry. Instead, her emotions returned to their usual calm.

Fu Yuan ignored her. The memories in his mind continued to burn away.

First, he adjusted his master's body, at least so she could recover faster. After all these years of raising him, Xiao Yuan might no longer be able to repay her kindness.

Then he drew the Xuanyuan Sword they had found years ago from his master's back.

For once, an expression returned to his face.

"Please, Xiao Lin."

Little Fellow was no longer as lively as before. With a grave expression, he carried Fu Hua away, Yu Du Chen slung across his back as well.

He understood that Fu Yuan could not bring himself to do it!

He was still the same idiot he had met face-to-face back then! Even though he had become this strong!

Fu Hua said nothing. She understood that there was nothing she could do now.

Fu Hua still did not understand why!

Yet she could not change anything.

"I lost... Hahahahaha! Kill me or torture me as you please, Junior Disciple Brother."

Su Mei suddenly burst into laughter instead, looking as though she had been freed.

Only then did Fu Yuan snap out of watching his master's departing figure. He looked at Su Mei without the slightest trace of emotion.

Su Mei closed her eyes as though resigned to her fate, while also awaiting her death.

The pain she had expected never came. Fu Yuan did not even pause before her for a single step.

He slowly walked past the seven Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters before finally sitting down on the threshold of Floating Cloud Temple.

"I forgive you."

His voice was soft, but everyone present heard it. Fu Yuan, however, no longer had the energy to see their reactions.

Sixteen years of affection—Fu Yuan ultimately could not bring himself to strike them down. He had even deliberately lured his master away. In the end, he understood nothing at all!

He did not understand. Could decades of nurturing kindness truly not erase hatred?

He did not understand. Was his master too heartless, or had his Senior Sisters and Senior Brothers demanded too much?

He did not understand. What kind of hatred could make them have no regrets in their sword hearts?

And as the surroundings gradually became unfamiliar, confusion occasionally appeared in Fu Yuan's eyes.

Should he not have survived in the first place?

Fu Yuan did not know the answer.

For the first time, he became afraid of living.

Sometimes, he wondered whether things would have been better if he had never existed at all.

The once clean and tidy Floating Cloud Temple had become ruins, though the scenery outside had not changed much.

Unfortunately, all of Fu Yuan's memories were beginning to blur, and his vitality was fading away with them.

Only at this moment could the formerly mischievous child notice it.

"So this is what the scenery outside the temple looks like?"

P.S. In the original work, after they murdered their master, only Su Yi's sword heart shattered. The others lived rather carefree lives.

After Fu Hua returned, Su Yi was the first person she killed. It could be said that Su Yi's involvement in that incident had not been minor.

Su Yi was somewhat like Aika. She liked her Senior Sisters and Senior Brothers, and she liked her master, but when it came time to choose, she chose her Senior Sisters and Senior Brothers.

Chao Yu founded the Tai Xu Sect. Ma Yan Qing changed his name to Ma Fei Ma and married Chao Yu.

Su Mei returned to the Wu Shuang Sect, and Ma Yan Qing still obeyed her every word.

I forgot about Jiang Wan Xi and Jiang Wan Ru...

Cheng Ling Shuang went into seclusion and called herself the Void Sword God? Probably.

But their sword hearts did not shatter, which meant they had not betrayed their true hearts.

None of them were good people.

P.S. 2.

The Immortal was really something!

Fu Hua killed Chao Yu's parents after they underwent Demonic Possession, then kept her by her side.

Fu Hua killed Su Mei's parents after they underwent Demonic Possession, then kept her by her side. Su Mei was already old enough to understand!

Fu Hua killed an entire Demon Sect, leaving Jiang Wan Ru, Jiang Wan Xi, and Cheng Ling Shuang alive and keeping them by her side.

Ma Yan Qing was more or less the same...

Su Yi was impressive too. She had no past and remembered nothing. She was extremely dependent on her master and Senior Sisters.

The Immortal still raised them freely...

P.S. 3. This was a personal reinterpretation!

In the original work, Ma Yan Qing's Xuanyuan Sword, Crimson Absolute Shadow, could take away others' sight, while Jiang Wan Xi could take away sound.

My setting was that Tai Xu Intent Essence could allow weapons to take form, and at a deeper level, grant them their own special effects.

Little Shirou?

"Little brother, you're not well yet. You can't run around!"

"Big sister, I'm going to the rooftop. I'll be back soon!"

The nurse was clearly helpless as she watched the little boy scamper upstairs. She did not chase after him.

After all, who would not like such a lively and cheerful child?

For instance, the child sharing his hospital room seemed far more depressed.

Fate comes and goes until it is exhausted; flowers bloom and wither, returning to dust.

"...I told you already. I forgive you."

Fu Yuan leaned weakly against the rooftop railing, his eyes slightly hollow and devoid of discernible emotion.

Senior Sister had died. She had died so that he could live. How ironic.

The one who wanted to die was still alive, while the one who wanted to live was already dead.

Fu Yuan would no longer think of dying. There was no particular reason—he simply wanted to live.

Heaven was quiet, with only the sound of wind passing by. Fu Yuan rather liked this atmosphere now.

Quiet and still, with no one coming to disturb him, as though he were in his own world.

But soon, that peace was broken by a burst of hurried footsteps.