At the other end of the rift stood Mount Guiji, a place that made even the Chaos Sword tremble. The entire mountain had been piled from tens of thousands of sword cultivators' skeletons. Every skeletal hand remained clenched around an imaginary sword, while densely packed sword graves stood wedged between the bones like tombstones. What clung to the blades was not rust, but Divine Blood spilled during the battle between the First Generation Sword Master and the Demon God. Even after ten thousand years, that Divine Blood had not dried. It formed flowing golden patterns across the bones, flickering with the mountain wind like living creatures.
The Sword of Primordial Chaos Source standing atop the mountain was far more dilapidated than Chu Mo had imagined. Its seven-foot blade was webbed with cracks, each one seeping fine motes of golden light as though it sealed the power to split heaven and earth. A faded sword tassel was wrapped around its hilt, its end hung with twelve differently colored beads—the Life Pearls of the twelve God Lords. The red bead bore flame-shaped cracks, shattered lightning lay frozen within the blue bead, and the central golden bead had long since dimmed, like an exhausted star. Amid the pile of bones beneath the sword, one skeleton sitting cross-legged was especially conspicuous. A fist-sized Rhombic Crystal was embedded in its breastbone, its surface flowing with Chaos Markings identical to those on Chu Mo's chest. Its ribs had fractured outward in a radial pattern, clearly shattered from within by immense force. Its finger bones remained forever curled around a sword, and a fragment of a broken blade was still lodged in the lines of its palm.
"That is... the First Generation Sword Master's skeleton." Chu Mo's voice was torn apart by the mountain wind. He saw that the Sword Master's left hand held half a charred bamboo scroll. Yellowed fragments curled from its edges, and the writing upon it emerged as the Chaos Sword drew near: "I make my bones a sword sheath and my blood a sword guide. Should one of later generations arrive bearing the Fate Defying Sword, I pray that my remnant soul may be offered in sacrifice where Primordial Chaos first dawned." The Sword Master's skull tilted to one side. His eye sockets were deep but not closed, and dried Divine Blood still clung to the remnants of his brow ridge, as though even in death he was still gazing upon Mount Guiji, which he had built with his own bones and blood.
Yun Che suddenly pointed at the sea of mist at the foot of the mountain. "Something is devouring the Primordial Chaos Source!" The remaining Black-robed Figures of Shadow Hall surrounded an enormous vortex. At its center, a beating dark-purple heart gradually took shape. The Demon God's Heart was covered in tumor-like protrusions, and countless faces were embedded within every fold—hosts of the Chaos Sword Body who had been devoured by the Demon God. A piercing wound ran through the heart's center, the mark left by the First Generation Sword Master's Fate Defying Sword all those years ago. Black blood now seeped from it, staining the surrounding mist sea into thick ink-black darkness. Each beat produced a wet, sticky thud, accompanied by the hosts' screams. The faces twisted and struggled across the tumors before finally being sucked into the depths of the heart, becoming Demonic Markings flowing over its surface.
"Chu Mo, the Sword Master's skeleton is rejecting us!" Yun Che's soft sword was suddenly knocked away by an unseen force. She staggered into a sword grave, only to discover streams of luminous butterflies flying from every skeleton's eye sockets. Their wings bore the memories of Chaos Sword Body hosts from different ages: Purple Scale's final smile on Godfall Island, Mist Hidden's struggle in the Mist Forest, and even the back of the future Chu Mo within Hong Meng Hall. A shattered Heart Protecting Mirror was wedged between the Sword Master's ribs. Its surface reflected his appearance at the moment of his fall—his golden hair faded snow-white, Chaos Sword Body markings crawling over half his face, yet he still used his final strength to seal his Dao Heart within a cocoon of light. Sword seals that he had not managed to unleash still condensed at his fingertips.
The Chaos Sword suddenly let out a mournful cry, and its blade drove itself into the Sword Master's palm. In an instant, every sword grave on Mount Guiji unsheathed at once. Amid the roaring wave of ten thousand swords crying in unison, Chu Mo saw the Sword Master's final memories surge toward him like a tidal flood. Thirty thousand years ago, although he knew splitting the Chaos Sword Body would doom future hosts to fall into reincarnation, he still had no choice but to divide his own Dao Heart into nine portions, transforming them into the Nine Islands of the God Realm, all to win a sliver of survival for the myriad worlds. Calluses covered the joints of the Sword Master's fingers, marks left by one hundred thousand sword swings. Tiny sword seals were carved along the inner side of his wrist bones, visible only to a Chaos Sword Body: "With bones as steles, with blood as inscription—should my Dao collapse, may those who come after tread upon these bones and press onward."
The Demon God's Heart beat faster and faster. The Black-robed Leader pressed the twelve Life Pearls 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, yet it wore the Demon God's uniquely savage grin. The piercing wound at the heart's center began to heal, revealing the Demonic Core curled within—a tumor formed from the remnant souls of countless hosts, every fold devouring the Primordial Chaos Source. Chu Mo felt the Endless Body within him resist, but the Sword Master Remnant Soul's voice rang through his sea of consciousness. "Sever my bones, cut off the Demonic Thought. The Chaos Sword Body has no end." He tightened his grip on the Fate Defying Sword and aimed its tip at the Sword Master skeleton's brow. Yun Che suddenly seized his hand, her eyes reflecting the final image conveyed by the luminous butterflies: the words "Do not trust the Sword Master," carved into scales by Purple Scale on Godfall Island, overlapping with the Sword Master's memory—"My Dao has gone astray. I pray that later generations will set it right." The Chaos Sword Body mark upon the Sword Master skeleton's breastbone suddenly lit up, revealing the hidden star map beneath. It was a map of the sword graves on Mount Guiji; the placement of every skeleton corresponded to the paths of stars at the Dawn of Primordial Chaos.
When the Fate Defying Sword and the Chaos Sword fell together, the Sword Master skeleton's breastbone burst apart with a thunderous crack. A cocoon of light wrapped around the Primordial Chaos Source flew out. Across its surface flowed the First Generation Sword Master's uncorrupted Dao Heart, pure as the first ray of light at the Dawn of Primordial Chaos, forming a dazzling contrast against the Demon God's Heart's dark purple. The Demon God's Heart released a piercing shriek. Every face on its surface suddenly turned toward Chu Mo. They were all past hosts whom he had seen in the Mirror Abyss Corridor, and now, tears of liberation shone in their eyes.
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