Suddenly, his ears drumd and popped with an unbearably loud sound.
The voice of two beings lost in the sands of ti - eternally forbidden to be rembered again, crashed against his being.
A sound so loud, so ancient, so wrathful, it felt like ti itself was screaming.
Voices older than the world. Layered. Echoing. Bleeding into his thoughts like oil into water.
Bear witness, the last of my kind.
Begone.
Inevitable end, Human Emperor.
Let the era shatter, evil cur. I will see to it that my children stand at the end.
Thieving insects. The world was ours.
When the world was in darkness, then. In light, you have no place!
"GRRAAAAAGhhhhh!!!!" Riven roared, clutching his head.
He fell on the ground on one knee.
Blegghh
Blood spilled out of his mouth. Bright red with a hint of black energy.
Before everything blacked out, he used all the ntal energy he had to block his thoughts from reaching Selene.
"RIVEN!"
"Your Highness!!"
Selene and Nysalea both cried out in alarm as Riven suddenly started clutching his head and fell.
Selene, who could feel the turmoil in his mind, was even more alard.
Riven’s mind had never been in such chaos.
This marked the first ti.
Even though Riven blocked the telepathy, she still ’sensed’ it.
She felt like she was behind a sturdy glass wall (the ntal barrier Riven erected), looking at a swirling grey chaotic storm (the storm of emotions within Riven).
She ’saw’ the turmoil but couldn’t ’feel’ it.
"Riven! Talk to , honey!" she cried. Her eyes glistened with tears. She shouted again and again.
Yet he didn’t speak. Still clutching the head with one hand and a black, red sword in the other.
Nysalea was right behind her. Though she didn’t share the sa soul bond, the sight of Riven convulsing in pain, silent and trembling, was unbearable.
The two girls worriedly called out to him, but he only ca to his senses after around ten minutes.
After a long and excruciatingly slow ti, the sounds faded, and he could open his eyes again. The ringing in his ears had faded.
The phantom voices receded like a slowly retreating tide.
Riven, even with all the chaos, turned to her and forced a small smile, "I’m alright, love," he said hoarsely.
"Just... found out sothing I wasn’t supposed to know."
CRACKLE
The sound of lightning suddenly bood. Riven’s head jerked and glanced at the sky.
But the lightning was alone. After that, nothing happened.
No second lightning.
Riven let out a breath of relief and looked at Selene.
He gently placed his left hand on Selene’s cheek, wiping the tears off her face.
He then turned to Nysalea, too, rubbing her head gently.
"I’m okay, Nysalea. Don’t look like that. I’m still here."
Neither girl responded imdiately, still shaken.
But when Riven stood upright again, his posture steady, it offered them so reassurance.
It took so ti to convince the girls that he was alright.
He cleaned up the blood spilling from his chin.
His energy flared and removed all the impurities clinging to his body.
Afterward, he turned to the panel again to curse, but his eyes were drawn to the remark section.
Remark: After the first ti, all side effects for the sword bearer will be cleansed by the system.
’After the first ti,’ Riven read.
’Fuck... what kind of shady fine print was that?’
’System bro... what the fuck did you give ? Should I even be holding his sword?’, Riven sighed inwardly.
This sword was definitely not sothing of this realm. At least not sothing from an era known to mankind.
’Did you fish this sword out from the ti river or sothing?’, he thought.
Unfortunately, the system is not the sentient kind and would not answer his questions.
He looked at the sword in his hand. Coincidentally... or he should say obviously... the girls, too, were staring at the sword that appeared in his hand out of nowhere.
"Umm... don’t ask~", Riven chuckled at the bewildered girls.
Selene harrumphed, crossing her arms and giving him a pointed look.
She knew Riven had secrets.
Nysalea simply smiled faintly, brushing her hair behind her ear. She wasn’t that close to digging into such secrets.
Once everything cald down, they then focused their attention on the other two swords.
The valley was still. Quiet as a mouse.
At so point, the battle between the divine birds ended.
None of them knew who the winner was; they were too engrossed in the swords to care.
But in this stillness, the atmosphere shifted.
Now only the other two swords remain.
The Velvet Elegance. A Heavy Sword.
Carved beneath the two were lines of inscription:
"The Velvet Elegance, wielded before the age of thirty. It wounded one not ant to be hurt. It was abandoned in sha."
"A Heavy Sword, without edge or refinent. From thirty to four hundred, it dominated the battlefield with sheer force."
"After four hundred, the blade beca aningless. Grass, wood, bamboo, stone, everything beca a sword. True mastery lay in form without a static structure. I am always holding a sword, yet you see none in my hand."
Selene read them aloud, her tone reverent.
"A progression through stages of understanding. From external dominance... to internal enlightennt."
Nysalea was speechless.
Just these two swords, combined with the decayed wooden sword planted on the top of the tomb, revealed the path the Lone Sword Demon had walked.
From extre sharpness to extre elegance to raw aggression and finally... to transcendence.
"A sword beyond swords," Selene whispered. "No sword surpasses having one."
Nysalea nodded slowly.
"My swordsmanship... I can’t even draw out the true potential of the first stage."
"Don’t underestimate yourself," Selene replied.
"The Lone Sword Demon was a once-in-a-millennium genius. Even the elites of this generation can’t match his footsteps."
She smiled and added, "Besides, every blade has its own Dao. The fact that you can wield the first stage already places you among the strongest in your age group."
Nysalea looked at her with admiration. "You know so much, sister. I hope I can learn from you in the future."
"With pleasure," Selene said, her smile softening.
......
Riven, anwhile, was crouched low, carefully examining the stone base.
There was one more technique, the Lone Sword Demon’s infamous Nine Swords, known to break all techniques and render defenses aningless.
The man didn’t even bother to na the technique.
’What kind of na is even ’Nine Swords’?’ Riven grumbled inwardly.
But there was no sign of it.
He activated his energy sense, spreading a thin pulse of energy across the stone.
Nothing.
No hidden compartnt. No engraved manual.
Just plain stone.
He exhaled silently.
So the Nine Swords... is elsewhere.
According to rumors and myth, traces of the technique had appeared among the Five Mountain Sword Sects, particularly within the Starcrest Sword Sect of the Great Myrahl Dynasty.
It was possible the Lone Sword Demon had scattered his legacy across the Nine Dynasties during his final years. It was said he had left his footprints in each of the major kingdoms.
Perhaps Starcrest Sword Sect was their next destination.
....
Suddenly, a sharp cry echoed through the valley.
"Goo-goo-gooo!"
Then, a second call, sharp and ringing, the cry of a crane.
Riven looked down from the edge of the platform.
The grotesque divine eagle had returned.
Its talons scraped against the cliff face as it launched upward. Despite its massive body, its movents were shockingly agile.
Its wings spread wide as it landed with a thud on the circular summit.
It stood tall, chest puffed, black eyes scanning the area.
When it saw the destroyed tomb, it let out a screech of fury and lunged.
"Your Highness, watch out!"
Nysalea instinctively stepped in front of Riven, drawing her newly gifted sword.
It wasn’t mindful action, it was instinct.
She wanted to protect him even if she stood no chance.
Selene, watching quietly, gave a faint smile.
True character is revealed in a mont of danger.
With a flick of her sleeve, she sent a glacial blue ribbon-like energy flashing forward. It coiled around Nysalea’s waist and pulled her backward.
"Let the bad boy handle this one," she said playfully.
Nysalea stumbled to a stop beside her, heart still pounding.
Riven was already on the move.
He gently placed Red Dawn on the ground horizontally as it had no hilt.
He can’t stab it on the ground because the sword would sink to the hilt as it is too sharp and too heavy.
In a single fluid motion, his right foot struck the ground of the pillar top with explosive force.
He turned into a blur and shot upward like a bullet. With no wasted movent, he closed the distance.
His body twisted, turned, and coiled in rhythm.
Then struck.
A single punch, launched from the waist and propelled through the spine, infused with the raw density of his pure yang divine bones.
The air cracked.
The divine bird’s wings slashed downward like twin guillotine blades of flesh and bone. The most surprising thing is that those wings clearly exuded sword energy.
"Wow," Nysalea breathed. "It’s fast."
Selene spoke calmly beside her.
"This eagle must’ve been trained by the Lone Sword Demon himself. Look at how it positions its strikes... there’s imnse martial intent behind it."
BOOM!
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