"I won't enter seclusion anymore. Call me once you start creating the next part, Sect Master!"
I waved goodbye to the overwhelmingly enthusiastic Li Sushang. After the discussions, we agreed to develop the next level of Blade Mantra together, the [Blade Mantra 3.0] suitable for sixth level Tao Hearts.
"So you are also taking in disciples now?"
"???"
After seeing off Li Sushang, only Hei Xuanyuan remained. Her confused looks made me want to laugh.
"No. I don't have time for those things."
"Got it, respected Martial Instructor."
"..?!"
For a moment, she was flustered. A strange sense of satisfaction came to my mind.
First, it was Fu Hua. Then came Hei Xuanyuan. I don't have a hobby of teasing the Shenzhou girls, am I..?
"I still have a lot of things to do…"
"Wait."
Hei Xuanyuan's attempt to escape has been halted.
"I want to ask something."
She turned around and faced me again.
"...Go ahead."
"Why did you agree to using the breakthrough materials?"
Call it literal divine intuition, but I felt I should resolve something with Hei Xuanyuan. She is bottling up something inside of her. I did not peer further using my Hexagram Spirit and decided to talk to her personally.
Hei Xuanyuan's embarrassed look turned serious. She pursed her lips for a while before she spoke.
"In our first meeting, you showed us a sword. You persuaded that fool to keep on living… and that I have a lot of things left to prove."
Despite our height difference, Hei Xuanyuan seemed just as tall as I.
This kind of determination…
I saw it on Kiana, Seele, Veliona, and Sirin.
"I wanted to become your sword. That is the answer I came to. I waited for a long time, hoping you would wield our body… the Xuanyuan Sword. I am the stupid one for thinking like that."
…
This is my fault.
Had I properly talked with her, she wouldn't have bottled this up for decades. A proper talk. It's not that difficult to fulfill.
"So I decided. It wouldn't matter if I have a physical body. As long as I become strong enough…"
As if making up her mind, her eyes gazed directly at mine.
"I can become your sword."
Hei Xuanyuan said no more. She looked forward to my answer. She did not ask for anything difficult. To become my sword meant being my most loyal warrior. This is the purpose Hei Xuanyuan found.
I walked up in front of her and began pinching her cheeks. Caught off guard, the seriousness in her eyes turned into bafflement, and then fluster.
"How lucky am I to find such an adorable sword?"
"...!"
"But if it is what you want, I will give it."
I already have a position in mind. The Wushi Dao Sect's disciples are meticulously screened based on talent and character. However, there are always people who cannot stand the allure of power and the status it gives.
Inevitably, there will be corrupt people within the sect—the Federation as well. The others hadn't established this necessary faction yet. They chose to wait for me due to its sensitivity. After all, this is a faction designed to deal with the corrupt—both in the sect and in the Federation.
"The Law Enforcement Hall. You will be its leader."
This moment is interrupted by a huge cosmic explosion in the night sky. The Hexagram Spirit ran simultaneous divinations. I arrived at one conclusion.
Mars is in a huge mess.
*****
Somewhere in the Imaginary Space, two figures rested on a recently converted spirit vein.
"This failure is a foregone conclusion."
"It's not a failure!"
Though Sin Mal strongly retorted, her current state said otherwise. Her physical body had just returned from being turned into mush. The quantum energy from the Sea struck her with a heavy blow. That was the result of her attempt in meddling with Sa's arrangements in Mars, something that should have never happened in the original story.
Originally, Sa hid herself within the Oort Cloud, far from Earth where the Cocoon of Finality resided. By exploiting what is left from Venus' civilization, she managed to create a Bubble World. Its denizens contributed their dreams and fed it back to Sa, their creator. These dreams turned into the energy needed by her.
However, this peace did not last for long.
When Kiana did her Embrace, Sa was scared off to hiding;
When Shi Tian struck Nihility with the World Rendering Sword, she was pushed to the depths of despair.
She could not exist without worrying about the two Swords of Damocles hanging onto her neck. This led to her doing something she wouldn't have done: to put her hands on Mars' inheritance.
Earth was aware of Sa's existence within the Oort Cloud. Sin Mal had plans to deal with Sa herself. Hence when she found Sa's traces not on the Oort Cloud but on Mars, she was forced to take action pre-maturely. The previous controller of Project STIGMA, Hare, came with her. Their history made them good partners.
Sin Mal majored in the Dao of Dreams. Coincidentally, Sa relies on turning dreams into wishes to serve as her sustenance. It was a battle on who controlled dreams better.
In the end, Sin Mal and Hare were forced to retreat after a huge battle. Mars' Cocoon of Unwoven remained safe temporarily. Sa remained within Mars' vicinity due to Sin Mal's imaginary barrier.
"Earth's planetary formation can wipe her out."
Hare's suggestion silenced Sin Mal. Earth's sixth-grade formation, [Myriad Stellar Transformations Diagram], was recently set up by Bronya and Kiana. It is capable of erecting a barrier that withstands Divine Transformation level attacks. It is also capable of offense as well as connecting Earth's spirit veins together.
Its greatest function is to merge every individuals' power to unleash a fatal strike.
"There is a reason she left Sa alone."
"I know. I am not dumb." Sin Mal replied. "They want to use her as a common enemy."
With the knowledge of Aeons and the likes outside the solar system, their views are more future-oriented.
To prevent Earth from being lax and complacent, they planned to stage a 'public fight' against Sa. It gives a sense of crisis while ensuring Earth's safety (i.e., Kiana).
Nobody expected for Sin Mal to actually strike first—and to cause huge losses to Sa atop that.
Sou-!
After several stops, they finally returned back to Earth.
"..!"
Sin Mal looked around and saw someone waiting for them. He immediately tossed a pill bottle in her direction. She could not look at him straight in the eyes knowing she was in the wrong.
"How was courting death?"
Shi Tian's words echoed in the mountainpeak.