Guiji's Bone Resonance

On the other side of the spatial rift was Mount Guiji, a place that even the Chaos Sword couldn't help but tremble before. The entire mountain peak was piled high with tens of thousands of sword cultivators' skeletons. Each skeleton's hand bones maintained a gripping posture, and dense Sword Tombs were stuck in the bone gaps like tombstones. What condensed on the sword blades wasn't rust, but Divine Blood that had splattered during the great battle between the First Generation Sword Master and the Demon God. That Divine Blood hadn't dried even after ten thousand years, forming flowing golden markings on the surface of the skeletons, flickering like living things with the mountain wind.

The Sword of Primordial Chaos Source standing at the mountain peak was more dilapidated than Chu Mo had imagined. The seven-foot sword body was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, and fine golden light seeped from every crack, as if sealing the power that had split heaven and earth. A faded Sword Tassel was wrapped around the hilt, and twelve beads of different colors hung from the tassel's end – these were the Life Beads of the twelve Divine Lords. Flame-shaped cracks condensed on the surface of the red bead, shattered lightning was frozen inside the blue bead, and the golden bead in the center had long since dimmed, like a withered star. And among the pile of skeletons beneath the sword, a skeleton sitting cross-legged was particularly striking: a fist-sized rhomboid crystal was embedded in its chest bone, and the surface of the crystal flowed with the same Chaos Markings as on Chu Mo's chest. The ribs were fractured radially, clearly having been disintegrated from within by a powerful force. The finger bones remained forever in a sword-gripping posture, and a fragment of a Broken Sword was still stuck in the palm lines.

"That is... the First Generation Sword Master's skeleton." Chu Mo's voice was torn apart by the mountain wind. He saw the Sword Master's left hand holding a half-burnt bamboo slip, with yellowed torn pages rolled at the edges of the slip. The writing on it was appearing as the Chaos Sword approached: "I use bone as a scabbard, and blood as a sword guide. If a descendant comes with the Fate Defying Sword, I hope my remnant soul will be sacrificed at the Dawn of Primordial Chaos." The Sword Master's skull was tilted to one side, the eye sockets deeply sunken but not closed. Dried Divine Blood still condensed on the remaining brow bone, as if he was still gazing at Mount Guiji, which he had built with his bones and blood, even as he fell.

Yun Che suddenly pointed at the sea of mist at the foot of the mountain: "Something is devouring the Primordial Chaos Source!" They saw the remaining black-robed figures from the Shadow Hall surrounding a huge vortex. In the center of the vortex, a pulsating dark purple heart gradually took shape. The surface of the Demon God's Heart was covered in tumor-like protrusions, and countless human faces were embedded in every fold – these were the Hosts of the Chaos Sword Body that the Demon God had devoured. There was a penetrating wound in the center of the heart, the mark left by the First Generation Sword Master's Fate Defying Sword back then. Black blood was seeping from it now, staining the surrounding sea of mist a thick inky black. The heart pulsed with a wet, muffled thud, and each beat was accompanied by the screams of the Hosts. Those human faces twisted and struggled on the surface of the tumors, eventually being sucked into the depths of the heart, transforming into the Demonic Markings flowing on the heart's surface.

"Chu Mo, the Sword Master's skeleton is repelling us!" Yun Che's soft sword was suddenly repelled by a force. She stumbled and crashed into a Sword Tomb, only to find that a Light Butterfly flew out from the eye sockets of each skeleton. The wings of the butterflies were imprinted with the memories of Chaos Sword Body Hosts from different eras: Zi Lin's last smile on Godfall Island, Wu Yin's struggle in the Mist Forest, and even Chu Mo's future back in Hong Meng Hall. A damaged Heart Protecting Mirror was stuck between the ribs of the Sword Master's skeleton. The mirror's surface reflected the Sword Master's appearance when he fell – his golden hair had turned snow-white, and the markings of the Chaos Sword Body covered half of his face, yet he still used his last strength to seal his Dao Heart into a Light Cocoon. His fingertips still condensed a Sword Art he hadn't had time to unleash.

The Chaos Sword suddenly let out a mournful cry, and its blade automatically inserted itself into the Sword Master's skeleton's palm. In an instant, the Sword Tombs throughout Mount Guiji all unsheathed simultaneously. Amidst the sound waves of ten thousand swords鸣, Chu Mo saw the Sword Master's memories from before his death surge like a tide: thirty thousand years ago, he knew that splitting the Chaos Sword Body would inevitably cause future Hosts to fall into reincarnation, yet he had to divide his Dao Heart into nine parts, transforming them into the Nine Islands of the Divine Realm, solely to buy a glimmer of hope for the Myriad Realms. The Sword Master's finger joints were covered in calluses, marks left by a hundred thousand sword swings. Tiny Sword Arts were carved on the inner side of his wrist bone, only visible to the Chaos Sword Body – "Use bone as a monument, and blood as an inscription. If my Dao collapses, I hope those who come after will step over my bones and press forward."

The Demon God's Heart beat faster and faster. The black-robed leader pressed the twelve Life Beads into the heart, and dark purple demonic energy instantly blackened half of Mount Guiji. The Demonic Markings on the heart's surface suddenly formed the face of the First Generation Sword Master, but with the Demon God's unique ferocious grin. The penetrating wound in the center of the heart began to heal, revealing the Demonic Core curled up inside – it was a tumor formed by the remnant souls of countless Hosts, every fold devouring the Primordial Chaos Source. Chu Mo felt the Endless Body within him resisting, but the voice of the Sword Master's remnant soul echoed in his Sea of Consciousness: "Cut my bones, sever the demonic thought. The Chaos Sword Body is originally endless." He gripped the Fate Defying Sword, its tip pointed at the Sword Master's skeleton's brow. Yun Che suddenly grabbed his hand, her eyes reflecting the final image transmitted by the Light Butterfly: Zi Lin's "Don't trust the Sword Master" carved with her scales on Godfall Island, overlapping with "My Dao was mistaken, I hope future generations will correct it" from the Sword Master's memory. At the Sword Master's skeleton's chest bone, the Chaos Sword Body marking suddenly lit up, revealing the hidden Star Map beneath it – it was a map of the locations of the Sword Tombs on Mount Guiji. The placement of each skeleton corresponded to the trajectory of the stars at the Dawn of Primordial Chaos.

As the Fate Defying Sword and the Chaos Sword struck down simultaneously, the Sword Master's skeleton's chest bone burst open, and a Light Cocoon wrapped in the Primordial Chaos Source flew out – the Light Cocoon's surface flowed with the First Generation Sword Master's untainted Dao Heart, pure as the first ray of light at the Dawn of Primordial Chaos, forming a stark contrast with the dark purple of the Demon God's Heart. The Demon God's Heart let out a shriek, and the faces on its surface suddenly all turned towards Chu Mo. These were the past Hosts he had seen in the Mirror Abyss Corridor, and their eyes now held tears of relief.