Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

After settling Gu Xiang and Bai Yin's Taiyin Ice Crystals, Su Chang'an walked alone to the deepest part of the cave.

It's colder here than outside.

The grayish-white power of time flowed slowly along the ice wall, like a frozen river. Three Taiyin ice crystals stood side by side in the cave, where Gu Xiang and Bai Yin slept. Although their auras were weak, they were no longer decaying.

The innermost section is sealed off, containing Chen Xuan.

He was frozen deep within the crystal layer, his body still in a state of near-death from severe injuries. His black clothes were torn, bloodstains had congealed, and the wounds on his collarbone and limb joints were clearly visible. His right hand was still tightly gripping a small fragment of a broken sword, his knuckles white from the force.

Su Chang'an stood in front of the ice crystal and stared at it for a long time.

"When people wake up, they know to look at people first."

She raised her hand, and the essence of the Heavenly Fox fell onto the ice surface along her fingertips.

"You're something else, clinging to a piece of scrap metal and refusing to let go."

There was no response from deep within the ice crystals.

Su Chang'an raised an eyebrow, and the Origin in his palm grew even heavier. Fine cracks appeared on the ice surface, slowly spreading along the crystal layers, like a spider web silently unfolding in the winter night.

The next moment, Chen Xuan's soul opened its eyes.

There was no surprise, no hesitation.

His first reaction was to draw his sword.

The broken sword fragments bounced from his palm, carrying the stagnant laws of time and a wisp of lingering killing intent, aiming straight for Su Chang'an's brow. The speed was slow, but the blade was still ruthless.

Su Chang'an stepped aside to avoid it.

The tip of the sword grazed her hair, and a few strands of black hair fell onto the ice.

She looked at Chen Xuan and said coldly, "I taught you this move. Your right shoulder should sink half an inch before you start. Even a fake dares to try and fool me with my sword techniques?"

Chen Xuan did not sheathe his sword.

His face was half-buried in his hair and bloodstains, his eyes cold as he stared intently at her.

"What gives you the right to call yourself Su Chang'an?"

Su Chang'an glanced down at the sword tassel that had fallen to the ground, bent down to pick it up, and brushed away the ice shards on it.

"I remember when you were a child, you stole some spirit fruit and got a stomachache, but then you blamed it on the spirit pig in your cave."

Chen Xuan's pupils twitched slightly.

Su Chang'an handed the sword tassel to him.

"They even said that the pig ate too much and deserved to take the blame for you. As a result, you hid in the back and cried all night, and refused to take your medicine the next day."

"Even your inner demons can rummage through your memories."

Chen Xuan's voice was hoarse, and the sword was still held between the two of them.

As soon as he finished speaking, he violently shattered part of the ice layer.

A burst of cold light erupted from the cracked crystal wall, and his body fell from within, landing heavily on the ice. The backlash of time and the injuries from having his sword bones stripped away erupted simultaneously, and black blood gushed from the corner of his lips.

But he did not fall.

The broken sword was placed between the two, its tip slightly raised, still preventing Su Chang'an from getting close.

"You've already died in the Chen family's ancestral land." Chen Xuan stared at her. "This is my sea of ​​consciousness, a deception concocted by my inner demons to make me fall into ruin."

Su Chang'an offered no explanation.

She simply shoved the sword tassel back into his hand.

"Then you hold on tight."

Chen Xuan clenched his fists, a fleeting look of pain in his eyes.

At that very moment, a soft laugh came from the depths of his consciousness.

The woman in red slowly emerged from the sea of ​​shattered swords, her features identical to Su Chang'an's. She stood behind the broken wall, her tone gentle, even carrying a familiar coaxing quality that Chen Xuan recognized.

"Ah Xuan, give up the resistance."

"I will stay by your side forever, as long as you are willing."

Chen Xuan stared at the two "Su Chang'an" before him, his soul trembling violently.

The next moment, the sea of ​​swords in his mind collapsed with a roar. Countless black sword shadows rose from the ruins, and the broken walls and rubble reflected his experiences over the past three years.

During the Chen family's trials, he was used as a whetstone.

Inside the Nine Netherworld Refining God Array, the sword bone was peeled away inch by inch.

In his dazed state, he heard Su Chang'an's voice countless times, but he couldn't believe that she would really come back.

The red-clad inner demon stood in the center of the ruins, smiling as he looked at Su Chang'an.

"You see, he'd rather believe in an illusion that will hurt him than believe in you again."

Su Chang'an did not argue.

She raised her hand and stepped into Chen Xuan's desolate and shattered sea of ​​consciousness.

"You've been lying to him with my face for so long, and you actually think you're the real one?"

Snapped!

The slap landed, and half of the red-clad demon's body shattered on the spot.

The sea of ​​consciousness was briefly quiet.

The inner demon let out a shriek, urging its remaining killing intent to retaliate. Countless black sword shadows pierced from all directions, trapping Su Chang'an and Chen Xuan in the center.

Su Chang'an did not release any pressure.

She let the sword shadows pierce her shoulders and arms, and the light of her soul flowed from the wounds, illuminating a desolate wasteland.

Then, she walked step by step to Chen Xuan.

Chen Xuan's hand holding the sword was trembling.

"What you're really afraid of isn't my disappearance," Su Chang'an pressed down on the back of his hand, "but waking up again to find that you can't even hold a sword properly."

A black sword flashed across her shoulder.

She didn't even frown.

"You're afraid of becoming a useless person, afraid that no one will come back, afraid that all the suffering of these three years will be meaningless. But don't push this fear onto something that has my face on it."

Chen Xuan looked up at her.

Illusions don't hurt.

I won't scold him when he's at his most vulnerable.

She would never knowingly force him to hold the sword firmly when she knew he couldn't lift his hand.

Su Chang'an grasped his hand and slowly pulled away the black energy clinging to the broken sword.

"Grasp the sword firmly first, then we can talk about whether you believe me or not."

The inner demon screamed and pounced.

Chen Xuan's five fingers slowly tightened at that moment.

The broken sword did not reject him.

Where the sword was damaged, familiar black sword patterns lit up. Those were the sword intent he had never given up in the Great Emperor's Palace, the Fallen God Abyss, and the Nine Nether Refining God Array.

Chen Xuan used the broken sword to stand up.

The inner demon in red is still manifesting in Su Chang'an's face.

"Ah Xuan, have you forgotten? She's the one who hurt you time and time again, she's the one who threw you into a dead end."

Chen Xuan looked at it, his voice low.

"You are not her."

The inner demon still wanted to speak.

Su Chang'an stood behind him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"It won't scold you first when you're hurt."

"I won't remember you secretly hiding the dregs of your medicine when you took it."

"And they won't chase after you after you get an upset stomach, asking what the spirit pig did to offend you."

The last trace of hesitation in Chen Xuan's eyes disappeared.

He raised his sword, its blade pointing directly at his inner demons.

"You don't deserve to stay by my side in her place."

The black sword intent suddenly slashed down.

The sword light pierced through the sea of ​​consciousness, severing the black chain between the inner demon and the ruins. The red-clad figure split open from between the eyebrows, and a large amount of black energy collapsed like a tide.

Su Chang'an raised his hand, and Phoenix True Fire ignited from his palm, compressing the remaining shadow into a gray-black light spot.

She did not immediately erase her obsession.

The part belonging to Chen Xuan was sent back to his sea of ​​consciousness by her.

The control aura left behind by Li Changgeng was gradually burned away by the Phoenix True Fire.

Sword intent resurfaced in the desolate sea of ​​consciousness.

The shattered foundation slowly came together, and the bloodline connection forcibly imprinted by the Chen family was severed.

On the broken sword, a sword pattern belonging to Chen Xuan reappeared.

From this day forward, the Chen family, Li Changgeng, and that inner demon can no longer manipulate him through his sword bones and obsessions.

Su Chang'an's soul withdrew from his sea of ​​consciousness.

Before the ice crystals, Chen Xuan still gripped the broken sword tightly. He looked at Su Chang'an, remaining silent for a long time.

Will you disappear again?

Su Chang'an raised his hand and flicked his forehead hard.

"I don't know if you'll disappear, but if you point your sword at me again, I'll make you disappear right now."

Chen Xuan did not dodge.

He stared into her eyes, watching the slight upward inflection at the end of her voice, the real warmth of her palms, and the lingering glow of her soul on her shoulder.

He retrieved the broken sword into his hand.

"This time it's not a dream."

"nonsense."

Su Chang'an supported him, stabilizing the reshaped sword bone for him.

Chen Xuan did not refute.

He placed the broken sword horizontally between the two of them and gripped the hilt tightly with his five fingers again.

Su Chang'an looked down at the broken sword that had regained its master, and reached out to press down on the back of his hand.

Deep within the ice crystals, the dormant sword patterns slowly lit up.

Chen Xuan finally confirmed that she had indeed returned.