328: Sword Heart Clear! It's my turn!

Li Hanyue's heart suddenly tightened.

She looked in the direction Lin Fan was pointing; in the deepest part of the Ten Thousand Swords Burial, that simple stone sword was quietly stuck there.

Clearly, it emitted no Sword Intent, yet it seemed to be the source of all the horror and finality in this sword graveyard.

"Warm-up is over?"

"The next target?"

She had just barely recovered from the extreme fear of her "existence being deleted," and had witnessed Lin Fan being blasted into dust by three streaks of Sword Intent. Now, this man, who had been resurrected for less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, had actually locked his sights on the most terrifying existence in the entire Ten Thousand Swords Burial?

A massive, indescribable sense of absurdity, like an invisible giant hand, gripped her heart tightly, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

She looked at Lin Fan's face, which glowed slightly with excitement, and his eyes, which burned with a flame she completely failed to comprehend.

This guy... does he have any idea how terrifying a thing death is?

"Are you... crazy?"

Li Hanyue's voice was dry and hoarse, each word squeezed out from between her teeth.

"Crazy?" Lin Fan was stunned for a moment, then laughed. The smile was as bright as a child who had just received a favorite toy.

"No, no, no, this is called being professional! This is called dedication!"

He took two steps forward, stood beside Li Hanyue, lowered his voice, and spoke in a tone used for sharing a shocking secret.

"Look, that three-in-one wave just now directly gave me an S+ rating! What does that mean? It's an unprecedented, massive success!"

"It proves that as long as the operation is handled correctly, the gains from death can be maximized! This stone sword is clearly the final BOSS here. If I take care of it, I won't say I'll get an SSS, but it should at least be a guaranteed S+, right?"

Li Hanyue: "..."

She was completely speechless.

Logic, Dao Heart, and common sense were crushed into powder before the man in front of her.

She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the churning impulse in her heart to pry open Lin Fan's head and see what exactly was inside.

She knew she couldn't talk him out of it.

This man had already walked a path of "seeking death" that was entirely his own—a Dao that no one else could understand.

Since she couldn't stop him, she could only... keep up with his rhythm.

"Fine." Li Hanyue closed her eyes. When she opened them again, all the shock and absurdity in those cold eyes had faded, leaving only a resolve that spoke of burning one's bridges.

"I need your help."

"No problem!" Lin Fan agreed immediately, waving his hand with heroic spirit. "Speak, how do you want me to die? Do you need me to help you draw out the stone sword's attack, or do you need me to test its mettle first and give you a detailed Death Report?"

Li Hanyue was silent for a moment.

"No."

She shook her head, her gaze piercing through the endless sword remains to lock firmly onto that stone sword.

"Next, it's my turn."

...Tranquility returned once more to the bridge of the starship.

Lin Fan didn't go off to seek death again.

This was what he had promised Li Hanyue.

Before Li Hanyue finished her business, he would behave himself and act as a Protector.

Of course, it was mainly because Li Hanyue had promised him that as long as her Breakthrough was successful, she would find a way to help him deal with that stone sword.

What was this called?

This was called investment!

Trading a small wait for a more powerful teammate to help himself complete higher-difficulty KPIs—this deal was a massive profit!

Lin Fan plotted happily, his gaze falling on the cross-legged Li Hanyue.

She had already set out.

Not with her Physical Body, but with her Divine Soul.

In her mind, the unique "Ten Thousand Swords Burial Safety Map" that Lin Fan had paved with countless deaths was shining brightly.

It was no longer just a simple route.

It was marked with every region and the characteristics of every broken sword.

"The Sword Intent here is sharp and indestructible; one must use softness to overcome hardness."

"This area of sword remains contains unyielding Battle Intent; facing its edge directly can temper the Divine Soul."

"Watch out for that crack; the Sword Intent inside is like a venomous snake, killing in one hit... I've already died seventeen times, and I've mapped out all its attack angles, which are..."

These were all insights Lin Fan had shared with her in his previous "Death Reports."

At this moment, this precious information bought with life turned into the sturdiest steps for Li Hanyue.

Her Divine Soul, like a ghost, followed that absolutely safe path, traveling unimpeded through the peril-filled Ten Thousand Swords Burial.

She passed by that overbearing Golden Greatsword.

Feeling that Imperial Sword Intent, her mind stirred. The image of Lin Fan being cut into nothingness by its single strike intertwined and collided in her heart with the insight Lin Fan shared after death: "Dominance is also protection."

She drifted past the shadow crack.

That lethal assassin Sword Intent seemed to be asleep, showing no reaction. Yet Li Hanyue could almost see how Lin Fan had his Divine Soul pierced by it time and again, finally summarizing it with the phrase: "Extreme speed is extreme silence."

She moved forward, gaining insights all the way.

The pain, despair, and the flashes of sword-path inspiration that Lin Fan had experienced through countless deaths were now presented before her without reservation.

The deeper she went, the more the shock in her heart became insurmountable.

She finally understood what kind of bloody and cruel truth lay behind Lin Fan's nonchalant phrase, "paved the way forward."

Finally.

Her Divine Soul crossed numerous obstacles and arrived at the very center of the Ten Thousand Swords Burial.

The simple stone sword was close at hand.

Li Hanyue did not touch it, but instead sat down cross-legged a hundred feet away from the stone sword.

Her Divine Soul fell into complete silence.

She began her own sword-path Breakthrough!

On the bridge, Lin Fan keenly noticed the change in Li Hanyue's aura.

He immediately focused all his attention, his gaze like a torch, warily scanning the surroundings.

Protector!

A professional Protector!

Although he felt it was safe here, he had to show his professional attitude so that his "investment" would be more valuable!

At that moment, a sudden change occurred!

Buzz—!

With Li Hanyue as the center, an invisible sword-path rhythm quietly spread out.

Within the Ten Thousand Swords Burial, those countless broken swords and blades that had been silent for eons seemed to receive some mysterious summons and, at the same time, emitted a faint humming!

At first, it was just one or two swords.

Then, it was hundreds and thousands!

Finally, it was the entire Ten Thousand Swords Burial!

The cries of ten thousand swords converged into a world-shaking torrent!

Those overbearing, eerie, annihilating, and violent Sword Intents that had killed Lin Fan countless times actually woke up from their slumber at this moment!

But their target was no longer any living being.

Instead, it was... pilgrimage!

They turned into streams of pure Sword Intent light, rising from all directions. They held no hostility, but rather a sense of recognition and submission, pouring toward Li Hanyue's Divine Soul like a hundred rivers returning to the sea!

Resonance of ten thousand swords! Using the tomb as a furnace to refine the Sword Heart!

"Holy crap! What a spectacle!"

Lin Fan's eyes widened.

He had died so many times and never caused such a big commotion!

As expected of a professional Sword Cultivator, a Breakthrough is just different!

However, just as the ten thousand Sword Intents were refining the Sword Heart for Li Hanyue, that stone sword, which had remained motionless, finally showed a hint of a reaction.

A terrifying will, billions of times more horrifying than any Sword Intent Lin Fan had felt before, seemingly representing the "End of the Sword Dao," slowly awakened.

It seemed dissatisfied that this "feast" was being disturbed.

That will crushed down toward Li Hanyue's location!

Lin Fan's heart instantly leaped into his throat!

However, an eerie scene unfolded.

When that terrifying will was about to approach the hundred-foot range around Li Hanyue, it seemed to hit an invisible wall, becoming sluggish and chaotic.

It seemed unable to "see" Li Hanyue.

In its perception, Li Hanyue's position was an incomprehensible, un-lockable... thick mist.

Mist of Destiny!

Lin Fan's passive talent automatically took effect at this moment!

The terrifying will hovered outside the mist, seemingly caught in great confusion. It couldn't lock onto the target, so that pressure, which was enough to crush an Immortal Emperor, naturally couldn't fall on Li Hanyue.

Not only that.

In Lin Fan's palm, that dim wisp of the "Origin Sword Lord's Will" also grew slightly warm at this moment, emitting a circle of soft light that firmly protected Li Hanyue within it.

It seemed to be saying to the ten thousand Sword Intents: She's one of us, use them as you please!

And it seemed to be saying to the stone sword's will: Get lost, don't bother my boss's person!

Lin Fan watched all this blankly.

So... I'm sitting here, doing nothing.

My passive talent helped her block the final BOSS's lock-on.

The rewards I farmed before helped her obtain VIP access to the Ten Thousand Swords Burial.

A perfect, absolutely safe Breakthrough environment, with ten thousand Sword Intents helping to "cheat," had just... formed?

Lin Fan's breathing suddenly became rapid.

An unprecedented sense of achievement welled up!

Is this the feeling of "strategizing within a tent to win a battle a thousand miles away"?

BOOM!!!

At that moment, a world-shaking Sword Qi erupted from Li Hanyue, directly tearing through the starship's dome and piercing the endless Void Realm outside!

In the sky, the clouds changed color, and countless golden lotuses condensed from Sword Dao Laws appeared out of thin air and fell one after another!

Her cultivation aura surged wildly at this moment, breaking through the shackles of the Immortal Venerable Realm in one go and stepping into a completely new, unfathomable Realm!

Sword Heart Clarity! A single step to the heavens!

Li Hanyue succeeded!

Just then, the stone sword that had been blocked by the Mist of Destiny suddenly quieted down.

It seemed to give up the attack, only vibrating slightly.

Whoosh!

An imperceptible golden light flew from the tip of the stone sword. It met no resistance, passing directly through the Mist of Destiny and the protection of the Origin Sword Lord's Will, instantly merging into the space between Li Hanyue's brows.

Li Hanyue's tightly closed eyes snapped open.

In those eyes, it seemed as if billions of sword lights were being born and extinguished.

She turned her head to look at Lin Fan, and for the first time, that cold face showed a complex expression mixed with shock, realization, and... excitement.

She spoke, her voice clear and resonant like the cry of a sword.

"I know who 'He' is."

"And I know where the next 'High-Quality Death' location is."