Heavenly Sword Saint
Liu Ruyan's body trembled.
The moment she heard Jian Chen call her Mother, tears finally slipped down her cheeks.
She reached out and gently held his face, as though afraid that if she let go, he would disappear again.
"You silly child..."
"As long as you're alive, Mother doesn't care about anything else."
Jian Chen smiled faintly.
For a thousand years, he had buried his emotions beneath the Sword Dao.
He had learned to remain calm beneath pressure that could crush ordinary cultivators. He had watched friends die, enemies fall, and countless geniuses rise to prominence before eventually disappearing into the endless passage of time.
Yet these simple words stirred something deep within him.
The warmth of family.
Something he had possessed in his previous life but had never truly appreciated.
Xiao Yue quietly stepped forward and placed a steaming bowl of medicine on the table.
"Young Master, the physician said you should drink it while it's still warm."
Jian Chen glanced at the bowl.
A faint medicinal fragrance immediately entered his nose.
Spirit Ginseng.
Bloodleaf Grass.
Three-Leaf Orchid.
He identified the ingredients almost instantly.
They were ordinary herbs commonly used to replenish blood and repair internal injuries.
Useful, but far from sufficient to treat serious damage.
Jian Chen looked at the medicine for a moment before shaking his head.
"This won't heal me."
Liu Ruyan's smile stiffened.
"I know."
She lowered her eyes.
"But it's the best Mother could afford."
Jian Chen fell silent.
From the memories he had inherited, he already understood how much Liu Ruyan had sacrificed for him.
For years, she had searched for physicians throughout Moonriver City. She had purchased medicine after medicine, hoping someone would discover a way to repair his blocked meridians.
Most people had eventually given up.
She had not.
Even when the entire clan regarded her son as a useless cripple, she had continued searching.
Jian Chen's gaze softened.
Then he noticed something unusual.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Liu Ruyan's complexion was paler than before.
Her breathing was faintly uneven, and the spiritual energy within her body was circulating with unusual instability.
That wasn't ordinary exhaustion.
"Mother."
Liu Ruyan looked at him.
"Are you injured?"
For the briefest moment, her eyes flickered.
Then she smiled.
"It's nothing."
"I simply haven't rested properly."
Jian Chen stared at her.
She was lying.
After spending decades among powerful cultivators in his previous life, Jian Chen had developed an eye for injuries that even experienced physicians could overlook.
The fluctuations in Liu Ruyan's spiritual energy were too irregular.
Someone had wounded her.
And judging from the condition of her energy, the injury had been suppressed for quite some time.
"Mother, tell me"
A cold laugh suddenly came from outside.
"So..."
"The useless young master finally woke up."
Bang!
The courtyard gate was kicked open.
Three young men strode inside.
The one in front was tall and broad-shouldered, wearing luxurious blue robes embroidered with the Jian Clan insignia.
His face carried the arrogance of someone accustomed to being obeyed.
Jian Hu.
The moment Liu Ruyan saw him, her expression turned cold.
"Jian Hu."
"What are you doing here?"
Jian Hu smiled.
"What?"
"Am I not allowed to visit my dear cousin?"
His gaze shifted toward Jian Chen.
A trace of surprise appeared in his eyes.
"Oh?"
"You actually survived."
He chuckled.
"I thought yesterday's beating would have killed you."
Xiao Yue's face immediately turned pale.
"You..."
"You were the ones who attacked the Young Master!"
Jian Hu glanced at her.
"So what?"
"He offended me in front of everyone."
"He deserved what he got."
One of the youths behind him laughed.
"Exactly."
"Someone who can't even cultivate should know his place."
The other sneered.
"Yet he still calls himself the Young Master."
Their laughter echoed through the courtyard.
Liu Ruyan's fingers slowly tightened.
She stepped forward, placing herself between them and Jian Chen.
"Jian Hu."
"You nearly killed him."
"Have you forgotten the clan rules?"
Jian Hu shrugged.
"I haven't forgotten anything."
"I simply taught him a lesson."
His gaze became mocking.
"If he's too weak to withstand a few punches, how is that my fault?"
Liu Ruyan's aura suddenly surged.
The temperature of the room seemed to drop.
The two youths immediately stopped laughing.
Jian Hu's expression also changed.
Although Liu Ruyan rarely displayed her cultivation, everyone in the clan knew that she was far stronger than him.
For several breaths, the courtyard became completely silent.
Then Jian Hu forced a smile.
"What?"
"You want to attack me?"
He spread his arms.
"Go ahead."
His eyes flickered with provocation.
"Your useless son can't defeat me, so now you're going to use your strength as an elder to avenge him?"
He laughed.
"How pathetic."
Liu Ruyan's aura grew heavier.
But before she could move, a calm voice came from behind her.
"Mother."
She turned.
Jian Chen had already stood up.
His body was still weak, but he was standing without support.
"Let him go."
Liu Ruyan frowned.
"Chen'er..."
Jian Chen shook his head.
"Not today."
His voice contained no anger.
Only certainty.
Liu Ruyan hesitated before finally withdrawing her aura.
Jian Hu looked at Jian Chen with renewed contempt.
"So you've finally found some courage?"
Jian Chen didn't answer.
He simply looked at him.
There was no fear in his eyes.
No anger.
No pleading.
Only an unsettling calm.
Jian Hu's smile slowly disappeared.
For some reason, that gaze made him uncomfortable.
He had expected Jian Chen to shrink behind his mother as he always did.
Instead, the boy was looking at him as though he were nothing more than an insignificant disturbance.
Jian Hu frowned.
"Why are you staring at me?"
Jian Chen remained silent.
What could he possibly say?
That the person standing before him was once a genius whose name had shaken the Divine Realm?
That countless princes had once lowered their heads before his sword?
That if Jian Hu had dared speak to him like this a thousand years ago, he would have been dead before he could finish his sentence?
None of those things mattered.
This was his reality now.
He had no cultivation.
No strength.
No status.
He couldn't even protect his mother with his current body.
Jian Chen understood the difference between knowing how to kill someone and possessing the strength to do it.
In his previous life, he had learned that lesson through countless battles.
Now, after dying once, he understood it even more clearly.
Revenge without strength was merely a wish.
Jian Hu eventually snorted.
"Hmph."
"Remember your position."
He turned around.
"Let's go."
The three youths left.
The courtyard gate slammed shut behind them.
Silence returned.
Liu Ruyan immediately turned toward Jian Chen.
"Chen'er..."
"You shouldn't have endured this for so long."
Jian Chen looked at her.
There was no anger in his expression.
Only quiet determination.
"Mother."
"Don't worry."
"I'll handle everything."
Liu Ruyan stared at him.
Something about her son had changed.
The timid and withdrawn boy she knew seemed to have disappeared.
Yet she couldn't explain what had replaced him.
After a moment, she reached out and gently touched his hair.
"Just take care of yourself."
Jian Chen nodded.
"I will."
That night, Moonriver City gradually became quiet.
The sounds of the Jian Clan faded as the moon climbed into the sky.
Inside his room, Jian Chen sat cross-legged on the bed.
He looked down at his hands.
They were thin and weak.
The hands of a sixteen-year-old who had never been able to walk the path of cultivation.
He slowly clenched his fists.
These were not the hands that had once wielded a sword capable of shaking the Divine Realm.
But that did not matter.
Strength could be rebuilt.
Cultivation could be regained.
A sword could be picked up again.
And this time, he had something he had never possessed when he began cultivating in his previous life.
Experience.
Knowledge.
Sword Dao comprehension.
Jian Chen closed his eyes.
His consciousness sank into his body.
Darkness surrounded him.
Deep within his sea of consciousness, the ancient golden scroll floated silently.
Countless sword-shaped runes covered its surface.
The Heavenly Sword Scripture.
Jian Chen stared at it for several breaths.
He still did not understand what it was.
He only knew that it had appeared before his death and somehow crossed the boundary between life and death with his soul.
Whatever secret it carried, he would uncover it eventually.
But not now.
There were more immediate matters.
Jian Chen withdrew his consciousness from the sea of consciousness and began examining his body.
His brows gradually furrowed.
The meridians were indeed blocked.
But the longer he examined them, the more certain he became that something was wrong.
He carefully traced the pathways through which spiritual energy should have circulated.
One.
Two.
Three.
Again and again.
His expression slowly became serious.
The blockages weren't random.
They followed a pattern.
Jian Chen's eyes narrowed.
"This isn't natural."
He continued examining the meridians.
The original owner had been told that he had been born incapable of cultivation.
Physicians had called his meridians damaged.
Others had simply declared him useless.
But Jian Chen had spent his previous life studying countless physiques and cultivation systems.
He knew what damaged meridians looked like.
These weren't damaged.
They were obstructed.
Sealed.
And whoever had sealed them had done so with remarkable precision.
Jian Chen's breathing slowed.
"Who sealed them?"
No answer came.
He continued examining the first meridian.
There was a faint resistance hidden deep within it.
So faint that an ordinary physician would never notice.
Jian Chen gathered the tiny amount of spiritual energy his body could produce.
Then he carefully guided it toward the obstruction.
The moment the energy touched it
Boom!
A faint tremor passed through his body.
Jian Chen's eyes opened.
Something had moved.
Not much.
But he had felt it.
His gaze sharpened.
He tried again.
This time, the spiritual energy moved slightly farther before being stopped.
Jian Chen's expression changed.
"So it can be moved."
A faint excitement appeared in his eyes.
For the first time since awakening in this body, he saw a genuine path forward.
Then
A golden light flashed deep within his sea of consciousness.
The Heavenly Sword Scripture trembled.
Jian Chen's consciousness immediately returned to it.
One of the countless sword-shaped runes had changed.
It was glowing.
Only for an instant.
Then it faded.
Jian Chen's eyes narrowed.
The scripture had reacted to the meridian.
He didn't know why.
He didn't know what connection existed between them.
But he knew one thing.
His path had begun.
He returned his attention to his body.
This time, he didn't attempt to force the blockage open.
He carefully guided the spiritual energy around it, studying every fluctuation.
He would not rush.
He had once stood at the summit of the Divine Realm.
He knew better than anyone that the foundation of cultivation determined how far a person could ultimately walk.
If his meridians truly possessed a secret, he would uncover it step by step.
He took a slow breath.
His expression became calm.
"First, I need to understand this body."
"Then I'll open the first meridian."
His eyes sharpened.
"And from there..."
"I'll begin again."
The golden scripture floated silently within his sea of consciousness.
For a thousand years, Jian Chen had been dead.
Now, he had another chance.
His cultivation was gone.
His enemies were somewhere in the vast world.
The truth behind his death remained buried beneath a thousand years of silence.
But Jian Chen was no longer standing at the end of his path.
He was standing at its beginning.
And every legend had to begin with a single step.
Jian Chen closed his eyes.
The faint strand of spiritual energy moved once more through his body.
This time, it advanced a little farther.
The path of the sword had begun again.