No sooner had he answered than the third question followed close behind.
"Third question: if one day, there is no sword in your hand, no sword in your heart, and no Sword Dao left in heaven and earth to follow—
"Would you still be yourself?"
As the question fell, Ye Lin's brow grew faintly warm.
The sword seal deep within him pulsed once, as though something had stirred it.
He slowly closed his eyes, then slowly opened them again. Not once did his gaze flicker.
"Where did the sword come from?" he asked in return.
The Vast Expanse gave no answer.
Ye Lin continued.
"When Chaos first opened, the first rift was a sword. But what came before that rift? Within Chaos, there were no swords, no Dao, no myriad things."
"Then why did that rift appear? Because there was something within Chaos."
"A will that wished to cleave apart, an obsession unwilling to sink into oblivion—something older than the sword, more primal than the Dao."
At this point, Ye Lin paused.
"That is me. That is the most fundamental thing within every person who wields a sword."
"The sword is merely an outward manifestation. That will to split apart all things is the true origin."
"If one day there are no swords left in heaven and earth, then I will cleave another rift from Chaos. That strike will mark the beginning of a new Sword Dao."
The instant his words fell, the Vast Expanse shattered.
As if an invisible sword had cleaved it straight down the middle, it split in two. Then each half split again, and again, collapsing layer upon layer.
White light poured from every fragment of the shattered Vast Expanse. The lights intertwined and gathered, condensing beneath Ye Lin's feet into a stairway that reached the