Guests from the Void Sea

The Spirit Sword Square outside Hong Meng Hall had turned a glazed color. Three thousand new sword cultivators sat cross-legged under the Old Scholar Tree, their Spirit Swords floating above their laps. The sword scabbards were etched with various Dao Patterns, from "Initial Bud" to "Fate Defying." Chu Mo stood on the viewing platform, watching the Blacksmith Boy wield his Hammer Sword scabbard, executing the first stance. The hammer head rubbed against the air, igniting golden sparks—a sign of Chaos Power resonating with the Crafting Dao.

"The eighth batch of seekers comes from the Thunder Domain." Yun Che handed over a Jade Slip engraved with thunder cloud patterns. As her fingertips brushed his hand, a coolness lingered from her morning sword practice in the land of primordial chaos. "Their elder said that after the Thunder Cloud Sword Tassel came into contact with the Endless Sword Manual, it actually began to develop sentience."

Before her words finished, the sky suddenly darkened. A muffled rumble came from the distant Void Sea, as if a colossal entity was colliding at the boundary between chaos and law. Chu Mo's twin pupils constricted sharply. He saw the space in the direction of the Void Sea boiling, countless tentacles formed from Void Power penetrating the mist wall. Wherever they passed, the glazed ground of the Spirit Sword Square developed corrosive black spots.

"It's the Void Race!" The Azurewood Domain Lord, one of the Eight Great Domain Guardian Envoys, exclaimed in alarm. The World Tree Phantom in his sleeve shook wildly. "They can actually break through the Myriad Realms barrier!"

Chu Mo finally remembered the records in the Sword Master's fragmented scrolls: in the Void Sea beyond Hong Meng, there existed the Void Race, who lived by devouring laws. Their bodies were composed of the impurities from the dawn of chaos, making them natural enemies of all law-based civilizations. The Void Race vanguard attacking now was infiltrating the Divine Realm in a misty form. Every mist droplet was absorbing the Sword Intent in the air.

"Protect the new sword cultivators!" Yun Che's soft sword transformed into an ice crystal barrier, but she found that upon contact with ice elements, the Void mist droplets expanded into even more tentacles. The Blacksmith Boy's Hammer Sword suddenly let out a mournful cry; the Crafting Dao patterns on its scabbard were being devoured by the mist droplets.

Chu Mo's Twin Life Swords automatically unsheathed. He finally understood why the masked person mentioned the "Seed of Finality"—the characteristics of the Void Race were precisely what the Sword Master's lineage feared most. When his sword tip slashed through a Void Tentacle, it couldn't cause substantial damage. Instead, it allowed the tentacle to absorb some Chaos Power, making it more solid.

"Chu Mo, use our initial intentions as a guide!" Yun Che suddenly grabbed his wrist, connecting their spiritual veins once more. In an instant, the fragrance of the Old Scholar Tree, the scorching heat of Godfall Island's magma, the clear ringing from Mount Guiji's Sword Tomb—all their shared memories transformed into a tangible net of light, enveloping the collapsing mist wall. The Void Tentacles shrieked the moment they touched the light net. Fearful images, which they had seen in the Light Cocoon, appeared on the surface of the mist droplets.

"So the Void Race doesn't devour power, but..." A golden and purple light flashed in Chu Mo's pupils. "...the obsession each life has with their Dao Heart." Suddenly enlightened, he plunged the Twin Life Swords into the ground and activated the "Illuminating Break Style" from the Endless Sword Manual. "Yun Che, channel the flowing light of the Light Orb Race into the sword manual!"

The Old Scholar Tree in the center of the square vibrated in response. Tens of thousands of Light Butterflies flew out from its canopy, each carrying a sword cultivator's initial memory: a child's excitement holding a wooden sword for the first time, a mortal's tears picking up a reborn Spirit Sword in the ruins of Mount Guiji, and Zi Lin's resolute determination etching blood characters on Godfall Island. As these memory Light Butterflies merged into the sword manual's light net, the Void Tentacles began to tremble violently. The fearful images on the mist droplets' surface were purified one by one.

An angry roar came from the depths of the Void Sea. A colossal figure formed by Void Power stepped through the mist. Its body was translucent, with the impurities from the dawn of chaos churning within. Law crystals plundered from other Divine Realms were embedded in its seven orifices, one of which was a rhomboid fragment engraved with the words "Sword Master."

"Host of the Chaos Sword Body..." The voice of the Void Race Lord was like sandpaper rubbing. "Do you think these fragile memories can stop us? Thirty thousand years ago, the Sword Master built a wall with his Dao Heart, and in the end, wasn't he still trapped and died in his own cage?"

Chu Mo noticed that the "Sword Master fragment" within the opponent's body was absorbing his Twin Life Force. This was a remnant that had accidentally fallen into the Void Sea when the First Generation Sword Master disintegrated his Chaos Sword Body back then. "So the Void Race has been using fragments of the Sword Master's lineage to decipher the laws of the Myriad Realms." This discovery caused his sword momentum to change abruptly. He no longer sought to kill but aimed precisely at the connection point between the fragment and the Void Race Lord.

"Be careful! He wants to seize your Chaos Sword Body!" Yun Che's Ice Clan Fate Pearl suddenly shattered, transforming into twelve ice dragons that coiled around the Void Race Lord's tentacles. Chu Mo saw the Zi Lin Curse Mark in her hair dimming—that was the last protective Dao force Zi Lin had left for her with her life.

"Yun Che!" In Chu Mo's roar, the Twin Life Swords erupted with unprecedented light. He finally grasped the ultimate true meaning of the Endless Sword Manual—the so-called "illuminating break of myriad tribulations" wasn't about crushing with power, but about letting the initial intention of every life become the sharpest sword. When the light net completely enveloped the Void Race Lord, the law crystals within its body disintegrated one by one, revealing a core that was a curled-up Light Orb Race child, contaminated by Void Power.

"So you've been plundering the spiritual souls of nascent worlds!" Chu Mo's sword tip stopped an inch before the child's brow. "The fragments of the Sword Master's lineage are your key to opening the Myriad Realms." He circulated his Twin Life Force, drawing the Void Power out of the child's body, only to find that a Star Map imprint identical to the one in Mount Guiji's Sword Tomb was etched over its heart. The Void Race Lord let out a sharp laugh before dissipating: "Kill us, and more Void Race will surge from the Void Sea. Host of the Chaos Sword Body, do you think you're a savior? You're just another one of the Sword Master's lineage..." Before it could finish, it was twisted into nothingness by the light net, leaving only the fragment engraved with "Sword Master," which fell into Chu Mo's palm.

When the crisis on the square was resolved, the new sword cultivators gathered around. The Blacksmith Boy picked up his Hammer Sword and found that the Crafting Dao patterns on the scabbard had not disappeared. Instead, they had merged with the Void Race's chaotic impurities, forming unique Quenching Patterns. "Great Teacher, my sword... can forge the void!" His eyes sparkled with excitement.

Chu Mo looked at the sword in the boy's hand and suddenly understood: the Void Race's invasion had instead caused the Endless Sword Dao to evolve. When Chaos Power collided with Void impurities, it actually bred a new law that could encompass everything—"The Path of No End inherently grows through breaking and restructuring."

Yun Che's hand suddenly covered his palm holding the fragment. The warmth made the fragment emit a faint light. They simultaneously saw the scene inside the fragment: when the First Generation Sword Master disintegrated his Chaos Sword Body, he deliberately pushed a piece into the Void Sea. A line of small characters was engraved on it: "If you encounter the Void Race, teach them that the sharpest sword of chaos is the initial intention."

The ripples in the Void Sea gradually subsided. Among the branches and leaves of the Old Scholar Tree, several spiritual birds, purified from Void mist droplets, had appeared at some point. Their feathers were translucent, and when they chirped, they sounded like different sword cultivators practicing their swords. Chu Mo knew this was a gift from the Myriad Realms to the Endless Sword Dao—the most dangerous enemy had ultimately transformed into nourishment for the lineage's growth.

"Chu Mo, look!" Yun Che pointed at the sky. A brand new Star Map had appeared on the mist wall in the direction of the Void Sea. Beside the dark star representing the Void Race, a new star formed by Light Butterflies had emerged. "This is the star belonging to all beginners."

When the first ray of primordial sunlight once again shone down, the Spirit Sword Square echoed with the ringing of swords, one after another. This time, the sword ringing was no longer uniform. Some sounded like the hammering in a blacksmith's shop, some like clear springs flowing over a rocky beach, and some like the whispering of the Old Scholar Tree's branches and leaves—this was the most beautiful sound of the Endless Sword Dao, without a fixed rhythm, only the most authentic echo of each life's Dao Heart.

Chu Mo looked towards Mount Guiji in the distance. The new Sword Tomb there was erupting with golden sword light. In the sword light, the phantoms of Zi Lin and Wu Yin stood side by side, nodding lightly at him. He knew that the cycle of thirty thousand years and the invasion of the Void Race were just the prelude to the Endless Sword Dao. The real challenge was to let this seed of lineage, nurtured by initial intentions, grow into a towering tree that would never wither amidst the chaos and laws of the Myriad Realms.

And he and Yun Che would hold the Twin Life Swords, standing at the base of the tree, guarding every life's right to wield a sword—whether this sword was a hammer forged from iron or a butterfly wing condensed from light, as long as the heart flickered with light, it was the most brilliant radiance of the Endless Sword Dao.