98: Chapter 98 A Decisive Strike, Love Severed, Soul Destroyed

"Brother Ming... I... I really don't understand what you are talking about..." Ao Chan's eyes were blurred with tears, her expression helpless; her eyes were filled with the grievance and fear of being misunderstood.

"You naturally don't understand, because you are merely a chess piece in the hands of the Heavenly Dao." Jiang Chen's tone was cold, devoid of the slightest ripple.

Although the Ao Chan before them was not the Heavenly Dao itself, she had truly become a link in the Heavenly Dao's layout—approaching Ming He, awakening his sealed emotions, and shaking that heart born for slaughter.

One must know that what Ming He cultivated was the ultimate Dao of Slaughter; his heart had to be as cold as frozen iron, allowing no shred of love or pity.

Once emotions stir, the killing intent cracks; if the heart has fissures, the path cannot be continued.

Now, Ming He's heart of slaughter was already covered in cracks and on the verge of collapse; it only needed one final blow to be completely shattered.

Hearing that Ao Chan did not intend to betray him, Ming He felt slightly relieved, but the next moment, Jiang Chen's words fell like a heavy hammer, striking straight at his soul.

"Kill her! Only if she dies will your Dao have a glimmer of survival!" Jiang Chen coldly ordered, his eyes devoid of sorrow or joy, as if he were adjudicating something perfectly ordinary.

Ao Chan shuddered, deep fear appearing on her exquisite face, and she could barely stand.

"Master... Disciple... cannot do it..." Ming He's voice trembled as he looked at the woman beside him, his heart feeling as if it were being cut by knives. She was the only person he had deeply loved in his life; even if it meant abandoning the Dao, he could not raise the butcher's knife.

"If you refuse to act, then I shall do it for you."

Before the words faded, Jiang Chen raised his palm, and killing intent surged like an abyss, pointing directly at Ao Chan's crown.

"No!"

Ming He roared and used all his strength to block in front of Ao Chan, begging: "Master! Disciple swears, from this day forward we will never meet again, severing all ties forever... I only ask that you spare her life!"

Before he finished speaking, a great force descended with a boom; Ming He flew backward like a bird with broken wings, slamming heavily onto the ground, blood continuously overflowing from the corners of his mouth.

"Brother Ming!!"

Ao Chan sobbed uncontrollably, stumbling toward him and kneeling by his side; tears rolled down like pearls, dripping onto his blood-stained lapels as she wept in agony.

"Don't... don't cry... I'm fine..." Ming He struggled to prop himself up, reaching out to gently wipe the tear stains from her face.

"Look at you now, your heart is broken, your Dao foundation shaken; how are you still like a cultivator of the Dao of Slaughter?" Jiang Chen walked closer, expressionless, only a trace of disappointment flickering in his eyes. "If you continue like this, you will never have hope of reaching the Primordial Realm in your life!"

Ming He endured the pain, summoning the twin swords Yuan Tu and avici, holding them horizontally before him, his voice low but firm: "Master, Chan'er is the love of my life. Even if I must fall into the mortal realm forever and sever my path to the Dao, I will never harm a single hair on her head!"

"A fine 'sever the Dao'!" Jiang Chen sneered, his smile filled with sarcasm and sorrow, his disappointment deepening.

Immediately, he turned his gaze to Ao Chan and asked coldly: "Since you love him so much, are you willing to sacrifice your life to fulfill his Dao?"

"I..." Ao Chan's lips trembled, her expression full of struggle.

Ming He was shocked and said urgently: "Chan'er! Do not believe Master's words! I would rather betray the world than betray you! What is proving the Dao, what is the Primordial Realm, none of it is important! I only want to stay with you for this life!"

Bang—Jiang Chen flicked his sleeve, and Ming He instantly froze on the spot, able only to watch everything happen with wide eyes.

"Do you know?" Jiang Chen stared at Ao Chan, his tone heavy. "The person you love was supposed to achieve greatness that would shake the past and present. But if you do not die, he will be forever trapped in the tribulation of love, his path to the Dao severed, and he will remain mediocre and accomplish nothing for the rest of his life."

Ao Chan looked at the frozen Ming He, seeing his eyes filled with anxiety and pleading. She bit her lip and finally spoke: "You mean... as long as I die, Brother Ming can regain his Dao of Slaughter and prove the Primordial Realm?"

Ming He's heart shook violently, and he blinked desperately to signal 'No,' but no one could understand his meaning.

Jiang Chen smiled slightly and nodded: "Exactly. You once caused him to fall into the web of love, destroying his Dao heart; but if you voluntarily go to your death, he will find enlightenment through pain, severing all emotional ties, and thereafter his path to the Dao will be smooth and unstoppable."

"Very well." Ao Chan's expression gradually steadied, the last trace of hesitation vanishing completely. She slowly stood up, took Yuan Tu and avici from Ming He's hands, gripped the hilts tightly, and said softly: "I know... what I must do."

"I know what I must do!"

Ao Chan's last hint of hesitation vanished quietly. Under Ming He's terrified and trembling gaze, she gently took the two divine swords, Yuan Tu and avici, from his hands.

"No! Chan'er, don't do this!" Ming He roared madly in the depths of his heart, but he could not make a sound. His eyes were bloodshot and on the verge of cracking, tears swirling in his sockets, ready to fall.

Ao Chan raised her soft, boneless hand and gently wiped the tear stains from his face. But as for the two lines of clear tears sliding down her own cheeks, there was no one to wipe them away for her.

"Brother Ming, your Master is right. Chan'er is your tribulation. Since Chan'er appeared, your sword heart has never been as indestructible as it once was." Her voice trembled slightly, and tears fell like broken strings of pearls, continuously rolling down from the corners of her eyes, streaking across her pale, snow-white face.

Suddenly, a wind rose, sweeping the crystalline tear drops on her face into the air, refracting tiny glimmers of light, like stars falling into the mortal world.

"You have a heaven-shaking destiny to bear; in the future, you are destined to stand at the peak of this world, overlooking all living beings. Such scenery must be extremely beautiful."

"It's a pity... Chan'er will never see it again."

A sorrowful, beautiful smile appeared at the corners of Ao Chan's lips, her eyes filled with sorrow that could not be dissolved. Memories rushed in like a tide, and her life seemed to unfold slowly before her eyes.

She was the ninth daughter of the East Sea Dragon King, and should have been a noble Ninth Princess. But her mother was merely an ordinary twin-winged electric eel, who had conceived and given birth to her due to a whim of the Dragon King while drunk. Her humble bloodline meant that from birth, she was despised by her father, never receiving a single glance of regard. Those so-called sisters bullied her in every way, treating her like dust and never walking or speaking with her.

These, she endured.

But when her mother was tortured to death, her last light was extinguished.

Just because her bloodline was low, her mother was seen as a stain by the Dragon King's many wives and concubines, who said she was unworthy of bearing dragon offspring, cursed her as a lowly slave, and even called Ao Chan a bastard who defiled the dragon bloodline!

It was amidst such humiliation and cruelty that her mother passed away in hatred.

The young Ao Chan held her mother's cold body, and it was as if a thunderclap exploded in her ears; the sky collapsed and the earth sank, and the world instantly lost its color.

And that high-and-mighty father, upon hearing this, only gave a faint "Oh," not even knitting his brows.

From then on, she became truly alone. Every day, she sat alone on the sea, watching the sun rise and the moon set, letting the wind mess up her long hair, with no one to ask if she was cold or warm.

There was a time when she thought about dying—living had no meaning at all.

But whenever she was on the edge of life and death, her mother's dying murmurs would always ring in her ears:

"Chan... Chan'er... live... live on well..."

Those calls were like a thin thread, pulling her back from the abyss bit by bit.

In order not to disappoint her mother's expectations, she gave up on death and turned to walk on a path of cultivation where she washed blood with blood.

She had to become strong! Only by being strong could she stop being trampled on by others!

Only by being strong could she kill her enemies and avenge her mother!

So she used hatred as fire to burn away weakness; she used pain as a whip to drive herself forward. After experiencing thousands of difficulties and calamities, she finally did not fail the pity of heaven—

She was the first princess of the East Sea Dragon Clan to transform into a True Dragon. When her cultivation stepped into the realm of the Great Luo Golden Immortal, the dragon blood dormant in her body completely awakened, transforming into the noble body of a True Dragon!

This change shocked the entire East Sea. Even the Dragon King, who had never looked at her directly, summoned her for the first time, his face full of kindness, asking about her well-being as if he were truly a father who loved his daughter dearly.