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

The dust from the shattered ancestral tablet has not yet settled.

Chen Xuan sheathed his sword and returned to Su Chang'an's side, his black clothes stained with blood, a few fragments of stone tablets weighing on his shoulder. The surrounding walls were crumbling, and the broken spiritual veins groaned from the ground. Chen Fan and the collateral descendants stood before the broken tablets, no one uttering a sound.

Su Chang'an's gaze moved from his face to his waist.

The broken sword had been returned to its sheath, but the sword patterns within it flickered on and off. With each surge of sword energy, Chen Xuan's knuckles tightened as if he were pressing down on something.

She raised her hand and tapped the scabbard.

With a whoosh, a sharp sword cry immediately rang out from within the sheath.

"The Chen family's broken tombstone has been chopped down."

Su Chang'an frowned. "Your broken sword should be forged again."

Chen Xuan looked down at the broken sword.

This sword accompanied him through the snowstorms of the Northern Regions, slashed through the Palace of White Bones, and fell with him into the Abyss of Fallen Gods. The blade was stained with the blood from when his bones were ripped out, and the spine of the sword still held the aura of Su Chang'an who had repeatedly extended his life.

"It still works."

"You can still breathe, do you want to lie back in the Nine Netherworld Refining God Array?"

Chen Xuan remained silent.

Su Chang'an was too lazy to waste words with him, so he grabbed his wrist and dragged him toward the remaining earth fire platform in the ancestral land.

Chen Xuan was pulled along by her, his gaze lingering for a moment on their clasped hands, but he did not pull away.

Chen Fan was the first to react. He led the collateral descendants to clear away the rubble around the fire platform and then retreated to a distance, not daring to disturb them.

The earthen fire platform was buried behind the half-collapsed ancestral hall, with only dark red embers remaining in the fire pit.

Chen Xuan pulled out the broken sword and placed it flat on the fire pit.

The moment the sword touched the stone platform, it trembled violently.

boom!

Thick black mist surged out from the crack, transforming into countless phantom images of broken swords, their tips all pointing towards Su Chang'an.

That was the killing intent left behind by the Nine Netherworld Refining God Array, and also the control remnants that Li Changgeng hid in the sword bone. It still regarded Su Chang'an as Chen Xuan's most fatal weakness.

Chen Xuan's eyes turned cold, and he reached for the hilt of his sword.

The black mist swirled back, and the sword energy instantly sliced ​​through his palm.

Fresh blood dripped from between his fingers.

"It only recognizes murderous intent."

Chen Xuan pressed down on his wound, and the sword bones within his body resonated, attempting to forcefully suppress the sword with his own killing intent.

Su Chang'an slapped his hand away.

"Having just crawled out of the Chen family's rotten rules, you want to feed yourself with swords again?"

She glared at Chen Xuan. "Besides bloodletting, can't you do anything else?"

Chen Xuan looked down at her hand that was holding his wrist.

"I can cook porridge."

"Shut up. Your bowl of salty medicinal porridge doesn't count."

Su Chang'an raised his palm, and the Phoenix True Fire crashed into the fire pit.

Crimson flames burned along the sword's blade, while black mist emitted a piercing shriek as it violently struck the earthen fire platform. Several cracks appeared in the broken platform, and rubble tumbled down one after another.

The distant collateral relatives all changed color.

The first time they saw Chen Xuan's invincible broken sword turn against its master.

The Phoenix Fire burned away the surface filth, gradually revealing the old patterns inside the broken sword.

The sword intent that severs emotions in the Northern Region.

The imprint of the Chen family bloodline.

The Nine Netherworld Refining God Array Lock Mark.

There was also the broken sword bone that Chen Xuan had nurtured with his heart's blood.

Layers of old patterns intertwined, etching all the hatred forced out into the sword.

Su Chang'an looked at it for a moment, then lowered his voice.

"You weren't born knowing only how to kill."

"It's because it has remembered too much hatred for you."

Chen Xuan remained silent.

The black mist seized the opportunity to wrap around his arm, seeping into his meridians through the wound. A dark glint appeared in Chen Xuan's eyes, and the madness he had once felt under the control of the formation surged once more.

He instinctively unleashed his killing intent with his sword.

Su Chang'an raised his hand and pressed it against the back of his hand.

"Look at the sword."

The moon amber appeared between her brows.

The pale moonlight fell, precisely freezing the lock marks deep within the black mist. Extreme cold and phoenix true fire, positioned on either side of the sword, collided with a deafening roar. The broken sword, about to explode, was forcibly held in mid-air, its blade trembling incessantly.

"The Chen family's bloodstain is there."

Su Chang'an pointed to the depths of the sword's spine, "Sever it yourself."

"Stop risking your life. Your life isn't worthless."

Chen Xuan gripped the broken sword.

He saw the eyes of the collateral disciples who had broken free of the restrictions in front of the ancestral stele, and he also saw the black marks on Chen Fan's wrist that had not yet healed when he smashed the waist token.

In the past, his sword would only fall on his enemies.

This time, the sword was aimed at the very hatred that had sustained him until now.

Chen Xuan slashed down with his sword.

Click!

The Chen family blood seal and the remnants of Li Changgeng's control shattered simultaneously.

The black mist, having lost its anchor, transformed into countless tiny sword energies that surged in all directions. The Yin Cold Light then converged, freezing all the sword energies into black ice shards.

Ice shards fell on the ruins, but no one was injured.

Chen Fan gazed at the gradually clear sword embryo on the fire platform and slowly put down the weapon in his hand.

Other disciples from other branches also sheathed their swords.

At this moment, their gazes toward Chen Xuan no longer held only awe for the imperial bloodline.

Chen Xuan destroyed the ancestral stele, but did not lose his foundation.

He simply reclaimed his own path.

Su Chang'an raised his hand, separating a wisp of the Heavenly Fox's essence from the Nine-Tailed Ancestral Source and merging it into the sword's spine. Phoenix True Fire then covered the sword's edge, re-tempering the broken section.

She did not imbue Chen Xuan with sword intent.

He only brought out those old thoughts that had been buried by murderous intent, little by little.

In the snow and wind of the northern lands, the boy held the fox fur ball protectively in his arms.

Inside the White Bone Palace, he dragged his broken sword, refusing to put her down.

Even with all his meridians severed amidst the ruins of Guiyuan Palace, he still stood in front of her.

Those images that Chen Xuan once regarded as weakness have transformed into steady sword patterns, covering the pitch-black sword body.

The fire gradually died down.

A black heavy sword hung in the moonlight.

The sword was still deep black, but it no longer exuded a murderous aura that devoured everything. Chen Xuan reached out and grasped the hilt. The sword's hum rang out from deep within its spine, no longer sharp and piercing, but like a long river slowly flowing beneath the ice.

Su Chang'an crossed his arms and looked at him.

"Give it a name."

Chen Xuan had originally considered many names that carried murderous intent.

But when he looked up, his gaze fell on Su Chang'an's face and he didn't look away.

"This sword is named Chang'an."

Su Chang'an frowned immediately and raised his hand to knock him.

"It's as nauseating as your bowl of salty medicinal porridge."

Chen Xuan did not dodge.

Her knuckles finally landed lightly on his forehead.

"No changes."

Chen Xuan gripped the sword hilt tightly, his voice steady.

"From now on, this sword will not be used to imprison anyone, nor to prove anything to anyone."

I will only protect those I want to protect.

The heavy sword resonated.

A steady Daoist aura spread across the ruins, sweeping away the remaining malevolent energy of the ancestral land. The severed spiritual veins were drawn back into the earth, and the chaotic spiritual light gradually calmed down.

Su Chang'an didn't respond verbally, but his fingertip touched the hilt of the sword.

A very faint celestial fox mark fell into it.

Chen Xuan saw it but didn't expose it; he simply put "Chang'an" into his sword sheath.

The sword energy around him subsided, no longer sharply repelling everyone, but instead calmly protecting Su Chang'an's side.

Chen Fan and his collateral relatives gazed at the heavy sword sheathed in the center of the ruins and whispered the news.

Chen Xuan abandoned his position as the emperor's son, destroyed the ancestral stele, and reforged the guardian sword.

Chen Xuan turned his head to look at Su Chang'an, pressing his fingertip against the Heavenly Fox mark on the sword sheath.

"This time, the sword will not only kill."