She and the Longyin Sword had been together for ten years.
Li Shuang had poured all her effort into nurturing this blade. In order to ensure Long Yan, the sword spirit, didn't feel enslaved, she had never bound him with a strict contract.
She had believed—The trust between them was stronger than any binding spell.
But now...
The sword spirit she trusted the most had turned on her and pierced her dantian.
Blood trickled from the corner of her lips. She stared blankly at Long Yan. "Why…?"
Long Yan, knowing she was on the brink of death, gritted his teeth. "As long as you die, I'll be free to choose a new master! The only master I ever wanted was Ye Zhaozhao! Li Shuang, just die in peace."
Li Shuang coughed, blood surging from her wound—
Then she laughed.
Long Yan wanted Zhao Zhao.
Her master wanted Zhao Zhao.
Her junior brothers only saw Zhao Zhao.
She, Li Shuang, was nothing but an unwanted remnant.
She had treated everyone with sincerity, yet no one returned it.
She had always been proud of being Lingxu Zhenren's disciple. She worked tirelessly to fulfill her duties as senior sister. The bond between master and sect had meant everything to her.
And yet... that bond shattered so easily after Zhao Zhao appeared.
No one trusted her. Not even a little.
Fine, then. She no longer cared for those bonds.
Suddenly, a faint glow emerged from the jade furnace-shaped pendant hanging over her chest.
Li Shuang didn't notice the change.
As her life slipped away, her mind grew crystal clear.
These people...
Had abandoned her.
Even Long Yan, the sword spirit she'd raised with care, was waiting for her to die.
She gritted her teeth.
She wouldn't let things end the way they all wanted!
At that moment, a long-forgotten mantra surfaced in her mind—"The Supreme Forgetting Love Technique."
According to legend, this was the foundational technique of the Sword Sect, left behind by its founder. But after his ascension, no one had been able to master it for centuries.
Most disciples considered it nothing more than myth.
The Sword Sect had already shifted to modern techniques. Only the leader of Wuqing Peak, Lin Qingling, still clung to the founder's teachings, studying the method day and night.
To spread the knowledge, Lin Qingling would randomly assign disciples to memorize the mantra—Li Shuang had been one of them.
She had never paid attention to the technique before.
But now, every word echoed clearly in her mind.
Li Shuang murmured:
"The Dao grants vision.""The heavens shape the form.""Let neither joy nor sorrow harm the body."
What once had been incomprehensible was now crystal clear.
As she chanted, a soft white light emerged from her wounded dantian.
The wound—previously fatal—began healing before her very eyes.
Long Yan's expression shifted in alarm.
What's going on?
Zhao Zhao had told him to finish Li Shuang at her lowest point. He had struck her at her most vulnerable...
She should've been dying!
But now—she was healing.
Panicked, Long Yan guided the Longyin Sword for another strike toward her dantian.
But just as the blade reached her, the jade furnace on Li Shuang's chest flared with radiant light. The sword was knocked away, and Long Yan was forcibly sucked back into the sword, unable to move.
Li Shuang, however, had already drifted into a strange, ethereal realm.
She looked up at the sky.
The world was vast—why had she ever let herself be confined?
In that instant, something inside her unshackled completely.
"Heaven and I were born together. All things and I are one."
A refined, pure energy surged from her dantian.
A faint smile touched her lips.
She had truly entered the Supreme Forgetting Love Technique.
Only now did she realize just how profound this ancient technique was—it far surpassed the Mirror Heart Technique she'd previously practiced.
Her former cultivation and even her Nascent Soul—once the core of her power—were shed without hesitation.
Her level dropped back to the Qi Training stage.
But from within, a refined, pristine spiritual power began to grow.
The wound in her dantian was completely healed without her noticing.
Li Shuang sat cross-legged, circulating the technique. Her mind became calm, her body light and transparent.
Though she was back at the Qi Training stage, she could now control every part of her body with perfect clarity. Even the air she breathed felt clean and distinct.
Then, something unusual happened.
In the sea of her consciousness, a slowly spinning furnace appeared.
Her eyes widened, and she instinctively touched her chest.
That jade pendant—her mother's final gift before her death—had vanished.
Now, the exact same furnace had appeared within her consciousness.
Hesitating only slightly, she extended her spiritual sense toward the furnace.
A message surfaced in her mind:
"Furnace of Heaven and Earth (Unopened): Destroy and Rebuild. The furnace awakens."
Destroy and rebuild?
Did she awaken the furnace by narrowly escaping death?
She recalled the moment Long Yan struck. Her spiritual power had been too weak to resist—but the jade pendant had glowed and repelled the attack.
It must've been the furnace protecting her.
...Was it her mother protecting her?
Just then, new text appeared in her mind:
"Opening Progress: 0%. Feed the furnace heavenly treasures to unlock."
So, she needed rare materials to fully activate it.
Even if the furnace had no power, it was still her mother's keepsake.
She would open it—no matter what.
But how? She had no resources. All her earnings over the years had gone into the Longyin Sword or were gifted to her fellow disciples.
She had nothing now.
Still, that was fine.
From today on, she would no longer be burdened by shallow emotions.
The sky is wide. The sea is vast.
Let her roam freely.
She was no longer the Senior Sister of Lingxu Peak.
She was simply—Li Shuang.