"Once I've paid respects to Mother with Master, I'll go to Mount Tai Xu to find you."
"Don't make decisions for me about what I want to do."
After clearing out the Honkai Beasts, Cheng Lingshuang pushed open the door. When she saw Su Mei's body split into three pieces on the floor, her eyelid twitched, and she looked at Li Sushang with a strange expression.
"Sushang, did your Sword Heart break through?"
Li Sushang's previously cheerful expression darkened slightly, lingering fear still visible on her face.
"It did... The Illusion Realm created by Grandmaster was terrifying. The lingering illusions afterward made my killing intent surge even more. The first part was manageable, but because I knew the latter had truly happened, I broke through all at once."
"Once you enter the Tai Xu state of mind, becoming a Sword God will naturally follow. What you lack now is practical combat experience. Why not study martial arts under Master from now on? Her combat experience is far richer than mine."
Cheng Lingshuang nodded gently and turned to Fu Hua.
"Master, would that be all right?"
"Of course. It is only teaching one more person."
Fu Hua shook her head and agreed to teach Li Sushang.
"Master, what do you mean by that? Aren't you coming with me to Mount Tai Xu?"
Confused, Li Sushang hurriedly asked.
"Why would I go to Mount Tai Xu? Too many things happened there that displeased me. If I could avoid it, I would rather not go. After accompanying you to pay respects to your mother, I will return to Mobei and live there alone."
"I was perfectly comfortable in Mobei to begin with. The more than ten years I spent teaching you were far more troublesome. Once I return, I can simply descend the mountain in my spare time to slay demons. That would be carefree enough."
As Cheng Lingshuang spoke, she tossed the Xuanyuan Sword she was carrying to Kaino.
"Since we are about to part ways, I'll return the Xuanyuan Sword to you. I didn't bring much with me, so I have nothing to give you now. I'll have Sushang bring something to you later."
Holding the Xuanyuan Sword, Kaino thought for a moment, then took out an alarm clock he had constructed earlier from Imaginary Space and handed it to Cheng Lingshuang.
"A parting gift. It wakes people up."
Kaino was brief and to the point.
He still vividly remembered being abruptly awakened by a rooster's crowing.
"What kind of disciple gives her master a gift when they part? Keep it for yourself."
"Master, Master! Kaino has a gift, so what about me?"
Li Sushang squeezed in front of Cheng Lingshuang, visibly excited. Other than her mother, she had never received a gift from anyone else.
"We aren't parting ways yet. What are you in such a hurry for?"
Cheng Lingshuang leaned back slightly and rolled her eyes.
"When we pass through a town, I'll give you ten taels of silver. Buy whatever catches your eye and consider it my gift to you."
"Wow, Master, that's way too insincere, isn't it? You're treating us differently!"
Li Sushang protested.
Ignoring Li Sushang, Cheng Lingshuang glanced at Lin Chaoyu and the other three still sprawled on the ground, then turned to Fu Hua.
"Master, since you have already reclaimed Feather of the Underworld, why haven't Senior Sister and the others awakened yet? At their level of Sword Heart, they should be fully capable of breaking free from the Illusion Realm by now."
"They don't dare to come out, nor do they want to, perhaps? After all, they can sense what is happening outside now."
Kaino tossed both the alarm clock and Xuanyuan Sword into Imaginary Space, folded his arms, and wore an unhappy expression.
"The moment they thought Fu Hua had come to kill them, they raised their swords and attacked without bothering to distinguish right from wrong. After learning the truth, all they could do was lie on the ground and play dead, too afraid to face their master... Heh. That's all they amount to."
"The truth? What do you mean?"
Cheng Lingshuang looked at Su Mei on the ground, confused.
Fu Hua's expression tightened. After hesitating for a while, she spoke.
"Su Mei..."
"Uh, Master, I'll tell you about that later while we're on the road."
Seeing that Fu Hua did not want to discuss the matter, Li Sushang hurriedly spoke up and took over the responsibility of explaining.
Cheng Lingshuang nodded.
"In that case, let Senior Sister and the others lie here. They should wake up not long after we leave."
Fu Hua nodded, bent down to collect several Xuanyuan Swords, then turned to Kaino.
"Retrieve the Herrscher Core, then we'll go to Mount Tai Xu."
The End of the Previous Civilization
"Still unable to fuse the Herrscher Core with your body?"
In the carriage, Fu Hua asked Kaino with concern as he tossed the Herrscher Core in the air.
Kaino sighed at her question.
"It's still the same as before. It's not like practicing the Sword Heart Sutra, where I end up bleeding all over, but the moment I try to put it into my body, I feel awful, like I'm drowning. And the core itself occasionally repels me too. Anyone who didn't know better would think we were opposite poles of magnets."
"I wonder if it's because I'm male... That shouldn't be it, right? Honkai can't possibly discriminate based on gender, can it? Besides, I think there was a male Herrscher in my world."
Fu Hua pondered for a moment.
"Let us put aside the matter of the core for now. I do not know the reason behind the Sword Heart Sutra either, since I am its user rather than its creator. However, I do understand its principles. Broadly speaking, it uses the chanting of incantations to hypnotize oneself to a certain degree, thereby guiding the body's development."
"That is precisely why the Sword Heart Sutra is most effective when practiced from childhood. Once the body has fully matured, it becomes very difficult to cultivate it."
"Then there shouldn't be any reason for me to be injured that badly, right? Even if I developed early and my body had already matured, it should only mean the Sword Heart Sutra would have no effect on me."
Kaino was confused.
"And I remember that I really did trigger the flow of Honkai energy by silently reciting the Sword Heart Sutra. It was at that moment that wounds inexplicably appeared on my body."
Fu Hua thought for a while before offering her view.
"There are too many unusual things about you. A Stigmata containing Herrscher Authority, a consciousness that even Feather of the Underworld cannot influence... I have never heard of any of these. Under such circumstances, I cannot judge your current condition based on experience."
"To be honest, when I first came to Shenzhou, the thing I had the least hope of finding was a way home, because it was too hard to trace. Yet in the end, that part went rather smoothly. Finding a method that would let me absorb Honkai energy better has been nothing but setbacks."
Kaino sighed, caught the core, and tossed it to Fu Hua.
"I can't use this core anyway, so you should keep it... Maybe you can put it back inside the Xuanyuan Sword and make it useful again?"
"Simply placing it inside Soul Steel without any processing will not accomplish anything. All I can do is keep it safe so that it does not fall into the hands of those consumed by greed."
Fu Hua shook her head and placed the core into the bag holding the Xuanyuan Swords.
"You said before that you wanted to use the power of the Herrscher of Reason to analyze the core. Have you gotten any results?"
"The analysis of the Herrscher Core has gone fairly smoothly. It was because of that that I discovered some problems."
Kaino sighed and stretched out his right hand. A flash of blue light passed, and a core identical to the one he had previously tossed to Fu Hua gradually appeared in his hand.
"It looks no different."
Fu Hua gave her assessment.
"Indeed. In essence, there is no difference between them. But that is exactly the biggest problem. I tested it before. I cannot reproduce a genuine Herrscher Core."
Kaino frowned as he spoke.
"This kind of core places severe restrictions on the use of Authority. You cannot wield it as naturally as moving your own fingers. The only difference between it and a God Key is probably the vessel. Someone who fuses with this cannot truly be called a Herrscher. Calling them a humanoid God Key would be more appropriate."
"I suspect that whoever turned the original core into a God Key performed some kind of processing on it, allowing humans to use it more smoothly. But because of that, the core lost something. It still possesses Authority, but it also comes with many restrictions."
Fu Hua nodded, understanding what Kaino meant.
"You mean that although it looks like a core, it is actually a God Key without its shell, one that cannot even be used unless it fuses with someone."
"It's even worse than a God Key. After all, you can't use its Authority freely that way, while the Soul Steel used to make a God Key's shell is far sturdier than the human body."
Kaino shrugged and dispersed the core in his hand.
"If Su Mei had fused with a core possessing the Herrscher of Flame's Authority and actually used it, she probably would have died without us needing to do anything. Even the Authority of Life couldn't have saved her from something like that."
"This is probably why Doctor Mei chose to create God Keys back then."
"Doctor Mei? Fu Hua, tell me about that civilization from fifty thousand years ago... Ah, I'm not bringing up the fifty thousand years to mock your age."
Thinking of the Previous Civilization Fu Hua had mentioned during their conversations over the past few days, Kaino looked at her sincerely.
"I know, and you do not need to deliberately mention it. I do not mind. However, I remember very little about the Previous Civilization. The thing I remember most clearly is the final battle."
Fu Hua lowered her head slightly and sank into recollection.
"The final battle? If the fighting was awful enough to upset you, then you don't have to tell me."
A name like final battle did not sound promising, especially since Fu Hua and the others had lost. Kaino still did not want to bring up things that would hurt too much.
"No, that battle was not brutal. Humanity suffered no losses at all... But it represented humanity's complete and utter defeat."
Fu Hua sighed and continued recounting her memories.
"After killing thirteen Herrschers in total, Doctor Mei predicted where the final and strongest Herrscher, the Herrscher of the End, would descend. Thus, the nearly extinct remnants of humanity organized eight warriors, myself included, and sent us to the moon to prepare to confront the End."
"At the time, we had already prepared ourselves for defeat. Only the last trace of stubbornness in our hearts supported us as we went to face it... But the Herrscher of the End did not descend."
"Wasn't that a good thing?"
Kaino was confused.
"No... It was not."
"At the time, we too believed that the Herrscher of the End failing to descend was a good thing, and we prepared to rebuild human civilization... Until Doctor Mobius conducted a self-inspection of the world."
Fu Hua shook her head, grief filling her expression.
"I do not know exactly what happened afterward. I only remember that our world was pushed to the brink of destruction. The Herrscher of the End did not descend, yet our world encountered an even more despairing end."
"I no longer remember what that crisis was. I only remember that several people led by Kevin entered the Quantum Sea to keep watch in solitude for the survival of the world. The rest of us, myself included, were to protect the continuation of civilization and seek out someone who met the conditions, someone capable of completely saving our world."
"Fifty thousand years is enough to wear away far too many things, whether memories or lives. By now, only a few people, including Kevin and myself, are likely still alive. Yet they lost contact with me several centuries ago."
"If the Honkai Beast I fused with had not been so special, I probably would have died long ago as well. Fortunately, I found you. But I only found you."
"Once I help you make that battery, tell me what I need to do."
After a long silence, Kaino spoke.
A world struggling on the brink of destruction, one to which only he could extend a helping hand... There was no way he could refuse to help Fu Hua.
And now he understood why Fu Hua had immediately determined that he had mistaken someone else for Kevin, even though she had said he resembled Kevin so much.
Suddenly, the carriage came to a stop.
Book of Cang Xuan
"This is Mount Tai Xu? Didn't they say it was burned down?"
Noticing the carriage had stopped, Kaino came back to his senses and looked toward the majestic mountain nearby.
The words Tai Xu in Mount Tai Xu were obviously named after the Tai Xu Sword Sect founded by Fu Hua, so its name alone revealed nothing about the mountain's appearance. Before this, Kaino had always thought it would be a sharp, towering peak that pierced the clouds.
But after seeing it in person, Kaino overturned his earlier judgment.
Although Mount Tai Xu did indeed rise into the clouds, it did not give off the oppressive feeling of those steep and perilous mountains. Instead, its scenery was beautiful and its climate pleasant. Lofty mountains and flowing waters made it resemble an immortal realm, imparting a sense of solidity and gentleness.
Just like Fu Hua.
But hadn't Mount Tai Xu been burned down by the Seven Disciples after Fu Hua died? Why was there no sign at all of it having been destroyed?
"Because I spent many years in Shenzhou slaying demons and eliminating evil, many residents moved near Mount Tai Xu in search of protection. Perhaps they restored Mount Tai Xu over the years."
Fu Hua raised her head to look at the side of Mount Tai Xu, becoming slightly lost in thought.
Following Fu Hua's gaze, Kaino discovered a massive stone statue standing there. The statue was nearly as tall as the mountain itself, and no one knew how much time had been spent carving it.
"Uh... Is that statue you, Fu Hua?"
Kaino asked tentatively.
"It is indeed me."
Fu Hua nodded.
Kaino was speechless.
Other than the hairstyle, it did not look like Fu Hua at all.
Seeing what Kaino meant, Fu Hua said:
Before you continue