83: Chapter 83 "Father"

She watched as Su Chen comforted the Mermaid Maiden, watching her return to the sea with great reluctance.

She watched Su Chen's figure turn into green smoke and dissipate, evidently returning into the su chen sword.

Ye Jingjun stood frozen in place for a long time, until the sea breeze chilled her to the bone, before she moved step by step, dejected and listless, back to that cold and dilapidated "home."

She gently pushed open the courtyard gate.

Under the moonlight, the long sword still lay quietly on the stone steps, as if nothing had ever happened.

The young girl remained unwilling to give up.

She picked up the su chen sword, attempting to imitate the scene from earlier that day at the Penglai Sect, and swung the blade.

However.

That sword qi was completely different from what it had been during the day.

Although it was still just as immensely powerful, the color of that sword qi...

...had changed from pure white to a color tinged with a hint of blood red.

A surging red current swirled within the small courtyard before finally dissipating and vanishing.

The young girl sighed softly and placed the sword back in its original position.

Even she didn't notice that her path of cultivation had already undergone a heaven-turning, earth-flipping change.

Just as Su Chen had said.

For a Heartless Sword cultivator, the greatest taboo is to develop feelings.

It is not that they are unable to develop feelings, but that it is extremely difficult.

The person who originally guided Ye Jingjun to practice this cultivation method must have considered this point.

But he had not considered another point.

For such martial artists, once they develop feelings, those feelings become too intense.

Either they slowly succumb to obsession, behaving like a madman, and will not rest until they obtain it, or they perish.

Or, their sword heart shatters; in mild cases, their cultivation dissipates completely, and in severe cases, they die on the spot.

The current Ye Jingjun had unknowingly embarked on the first path.

She walked over, slowly crouched down, and reached out to touch the cracks on the body of the su chen sword.

As well as that blue pearl which looked so glaringly offensive in her eyes.

The pearl cast a faint, gentle luster under the moonlight, just like the eyes of that blue-haired maiden.

She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart and recoiled her hand.

She turned and crouched in the corner of the wall.

Curling up like a little hamster that had been abandoned by someone.

...

The next day.

The tightly closed door to the inner room creaked open from the inside.

Ye Yuan stepped out, the aura of severe injury and listlessness on his body having been mostly eliminated.

If one were to say that the previous Ye Yuan gave people the feeling of a sword that had been overused and was about to snap.

Then the current Ye Yuan was as sharp as a blade that had been reforged after breaking.

Su Chen, who had a contract with him, felt this most directly.

Seventh-Rank Martial Artist.

In just one short night, he had actually broken through the bottleneck that had troubled him for so long, officially stepping into the threshold of a high-rank martial artist.

One must know that in the entire Great Ning, where the Ninth Rank is the highest level for a martial artist, there are only a mere few dozen such individuals.

A Seventh-Rank Martial Artist, let alone in this small Donglai Prefecture, even in the entire Qingzhou, could be considered a famous and well-known figure.

Even the elders of the Penglai Immortal Sect only had a maximum cultivation of the Eighth Rank.

Ye Jingjun was sitting on the stone steps in the courtyard with her knees hugged, lost in thought while staring at the long sword on her lap.

Hearing the sound, she looked up, a trace of surprise flashing in her cold eyes.

Immediately, she lowered her head again, concealing all her emotions.

Ye Yuan "looked" in his daughter's direction and remained silent for a moment.

On that face, which had been cold and hard for the past few days, there was a rare, barely perceptible softening.

He walked into the courtyard, found a relatively flat stone to sit on, and did not immediately begin his morning exercises or go out to investigate as usual.

"Jingjun."

He suddenly spoke and asked.

"Is there something... you want to tell me?"

Ye Jingjun seemed surprised by Ye Yuan's keenness and nodded.

She did not immediately ask her question, but said in a low voice.

"Father, your injuries seem to have healed?"

"Hmm."

Ye Yuan replied with a sound, hesitating for a moment, as if deliberating his words.

"My cultivation has improved slightly; it can be considered a blessing in disguise."

"Father, do you think... the current turmoil in Donglai Prefecture is really caused by the demon race? What is your opinion on the sea demons?"

"Daughter does not understand. The rumors in the world say that all demons harm humans, and sea demons, in particular, are the source of disaster."

"But sometimes, what I see seems not to be entirely so."

Ye Jingjun quietly looked at Ye Yuan's blind eyes.

She believed in the orthodox education she had received since childhood regarding "those not of our race."

But she also believed in Su Chen.

After arriving in Donglai Prefecture, especially after witnessing Su Chen and that Mermaid Maiden last night, the boundary in her heart regarding "those not of our race" had become blurred.

Ye Yuan sneered, carrying a hint of desolation and mockery.

"Rumors?"

"Heh, rumors in this world—how much is true, and how much is false?"

"The human heart is as terrifying as a ghost's domain, and demons are also terrifying."

He tilted his head back, as if looking at the sky obscured by morning mist, falling into some kind of painful reminiscence.

"Many years ago, I had a close friend who was also a sword cultivator."

"He had a bold and unconstrained nature, and his talent was extremely high. We were born in the same small coastal town, practiced in the same sect, served in the imperial court together, and were once known together as the 'Twin Jades of Youzhou'."

"Later, during a mission to slay demons, he saved a fox demon who was severely injured and nearly devoured by its own kind."

"That fox demon was extremely beautiful, yet its nature was pure and kind. Knowing gratitude and seeking to repay it, it actually developed secret feelings for him."

"My friend was extremely upright and strong-willed. At first, he kept in mind that 'humans and demons walk different paths' and deliberately kept his distance."

"But that fox demon treated him extremely well, even going so far as to betray the demon race for him."

"It followed him all the way, protecting him with its life whenever he encountered danger."

"Later, they became husband and wife."

"That fox demon even bore him a daughter."

"At that time, we all thought this was a beautiful story."

"Even that fox demon, in order to completely integrate into the human race, crippled most of its own demonic power, willing to become an ordinary woman."

Ye Jingjun's heart gave a slight tug, as if she sensed something.

"Unfortunately, the good times did not last."

"Once, my friend was ordered to wipe out a demon stronghold that was causing harm."

"That fox demon actually turned around at the critical moment, stabbed my friend with a sword, and threw itself into the demon stronghold!"

"The reason was that the demon race was its roots, and it could not bear to see its own kind slaughtered."

"What?"

Ye Jingjun exclaimed in a low voice.

"My friend was nearly mad at the time, filled with monstrous hatred."

"This blow was truly too great for my friend, who at the time took protecting the human race as his own duty."

"He prided himself on slaying demons and eliminating evil for the human race, yet he hadn't just married a demon wife; she was also a traitor."

"From that moment on, he believed that all tenderness was a disguise, and that demonic nature is ultimately difficult to tame."

"Dragging his injured body, he fought his way out, bathed in blood. After returning, he was even more extremely harsh toward his daughter, who was still in swaddling clothes."

"He taught his entire sword technique to their daughter."

"However, what he taught was the 'Heartless Sword Path'."

"He repeatedly warned her that only by severing all emotions and love could one achieve a clear sword heart."

"He hoped to forge his own daughter into a sword without any emotions."

"Only in this way could he prevent her from walking the same crooked path he had once walked."