From the distant Sword Mound, sword light suddenly soared ten thousand feet into the sky. Thousands upon thousands of broken swords tore free of the earth at once, golden radiance bursting from the cracks in their blades. In midair, they converged into a sword dragon a hundred zhang long, carrying an incomparably vast tide of spiritual energy that poured madly into the Sword Cavern.
"Heaven's Way is merciless... Sword Dao shall endure forever!"
Patriarch Qiu's voice took physical form alongside the blood essence erupting from his body. His insights into sword intent, suspended in midair and containing a lifetime of understanding, transformed into thirty-six swords of light that entered the brows of Dongfang Shikai and the elders of the various peaks, one after another.
As the last ray of sword light faded, Patriarch Qiu's face grew haggard and impossibly old, his body withered like dead wood.
"In ages past, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye cast themselves into the furnace... sacrificing their bodies to forge divine weapons. Today, I shall follow their example... and reforge my sword, in the hope that it will be passed down for eternity..."
The moment his words fell, the mountains of the Vertical Sword Sect shook with a thunderous roar. Patriarch Qiu struck the ground with his crutches and soared into the air. The two bronze crutches shattered, their outer layers flaking away to reveal flowing halos of sword qi within. They were two sections of a bronze sword. The broken blade bared its keen edges and rang out, plunging with Patriarch Qiu into the roaring furnace.
"Old Qiu..."
"Patriarch..."
Patriarch Peng's grizzled beard trembled, hot tears brimming in his eyes, while the Taotie Sword on his back hummed without cease.
Witnessing this with his own eyes, even Dongfang Shikai could not help being solemnly moved.