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

The setting sun cast its light on the broken walls of the Chen family's ancestral land, where a spiritual light still flickered among the shattered tombstones. Chen Xuan and Su Chang'an walked outwards along the ruins, the sound of shovels striking the rubble gradually fading into the distance.

Chen Xuan remained silent the entire way.

The heavy sword "Chang'an" rested at his waist, his right hand always covering the hilt. Every now and then, he would glance to make sure the figure in white was still beside him.

Once or twice.

Su Chang'an didn't point it out.

As she walked out of the ancestral land, the evening breeze blew through the collapsed gatehouse, lifting her sleeves. Chen Xuan looked over again, his gaze lingering on the hem of her dress that had been lifted by the wind, until the white fabric settled back to her side, at which point his tense fingers relaxed slightly.

Su Chang'an glanced at him.

"The sword has just been forged; are you afraid someone will steal it?"

"Um."

Chen Xuan should remain calm.

Su Chang'an didn't expose him, but simply raised his chin towards the remaining quiet room outside the ancestral land.

"Go inside and rest for a while."

The quiet room was half-embedded in the mountain wall, and the doors and windows were still relatively intact. Inside, there was only a stone couch and a low table. A thin layer of dust had accumulated in the corners of the walls, and outside the window, withered bamboo was bent low by the wind, and the bamboo leaves brushed against the window paper, making a rustling sound.

As soon as Su Chang'an sat down by the stone couch, a faint blue line flashed across his brow.

Despite reshaping her three bodies and forcefully utilizing the Nine-Tailed Ancestral Source and the Taiyin Moon Amber, her divine soul was ultimately not completely stable. That fluctuation came suddenly, and her shoulders and fingertips even slightly blurred before Chen Xuan's eyes.

Clang!

The heavy sword "Chang'an" was suddenly drawn.

Chen Xuan's expression changed instantly.

The black sword intent spread out with a roar, and dense sword patterns simultaneously appeared on the four walls of the quiet room. The door was sealed shut by the sword energy, the windows creaked, and even the thinnest cracks were pinned down by the black sword light.

The sound of the wind stopped abruptly.

Su Chang'an's figure solidified again, and when he looked up, he saw the veins on the back of Chen Xuan's hand bulging.

"Just an aftershock of the reshaping of the three bodies."

Chen Xuan did not sheathe his sword.

"I will help you stabilize your soul."

As soon as he finished speaking, the restrictions in his mind were activated.

A familiar pull coiled around Su Chang'an's soul. Black sword patterns rapidly spread across the floor of the quiet room, and the heavy sword "Chang'an" emitted a deep, resonant hum. The old lock marks on the sword, which had been severed long ago, now cast blurry illusions.

The Sea of ​​Swords, now sealed off.

A sea of ​​consciousness with no way out.

And there was that red-clad figure who vanished before him three years ago.

Su Chang'an did not break free.

She raised her hand and pressed down on the back of Chen Xuan's hand that was holding the sword.

My palms were icy cold, and my knuckles were as hard as stone.

"Chen Xuan".

He looked up at her.

Are you afraid I'll leave, or afraid you won't be able to keep me?

Darkness surged in Chen Xuan's eyes, but his voice remained steady.

"I'm just trying to calm your soul."

"Does 'stabilizing the soul' require nailing all doors and windows shut?"

Su Chang'an glanced around.

"What's the difference between this kind of protection and locking someone in a prison cell?"

Chen Xuan did not answer.

Three years ago, when she vanished, he couldn't even hold onto a scrap of her clothing. Later, they met again and again, only to lose each other once more. Those memories were like shards of a sword that hadn't been completely removed; the slightest touch would cause them to resurface from the depths of his flesh.

The rift in the sea of ​​consciousness quietly opened.

A figure in red appeared halfway through the crack.

It had Su Chang'an's face, gentle eyes and a soft voice.

"Ah Xuan, let her stay."

"Lock her into your sea of ​​consciousness, hide her in the deepest part of the sea of ​​swords. As long as the exit is sealed, she will never disappear again."

The red-clad inner demon slowly reached out.

"You've lost her too many times already. If you have to go through it again, you'll go crazy."

For the first time, Chen Xuan hesitated in the hand holding the sword.

That face was exactly the same as the illusion he had repeatedly conjured up in his desperate moments. He had relied on this false image to get through countless days and nights, and he had even personally dragged the real Su Chang'an into his sea of ​​consciousness, just to prove that he could still hold onto something.

Su Chang'an looked at his inner demons without getting angry.

The next moment, she deliberately dispersed her spiritual defenses.

"Since you're so scared, I'll go in and take a look."

Chen Xuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

"etc--"

Su Chang'an's soul had transformed into a beam of red light, which went straight into his sea of ​​consciousness through the crack.

They were neither dragged nor imprisoned.

She went in by herself.

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, the black sword sea was desolate and ruined. Broken walls stood on the shore, chains sank underwater, and the sky was devoid of any light.

Su Chang'an landed in the center of the ruins, without touching the restrictions.

She simply raised her hand and touched it with her fingertips.

Buzz— The sea of ​​swords, nurtured by the reforged Dao foundation, suddenly lit up.

A ripple spread out from beneath her feet, and the once-silent sea began to flow again. Steady sword patterns emerged from the broken walls, no longer representing only slaughter, but echoing the heavy sword "Chang'an".

Chen Xuan's soul then manifested behind her.

He stared at the sea of ​​swords before him, remaining motionless for a long time.

Su Chang'an raised his hand and pointed to the end of the coastline.

There, a dark gray obsession was surrounded by phoenix fire, quietly huddled among broken chains. It no longer had a complete human form, only occasionally revealing the outline of a red-clad figure.

"Did you see clearly?"

Su Chang'an said, "Inner demons aren't that scary."

"What's scary is that you feed it all your fear of losing it and then let it make the decisions for you."

Chen Xuan looked around.

Su Chang'an had clearly left this place, yet the Sword Sea did not collapse. On the contrary, the reforged Dao Foundation had established order amidst the ruins. Those steady sword patterns pierced through the sea surface, protecting every crack.

It turns out that he could stand firmly even when she wasn't in his sea of ​​consciousness.

The Phoenix True Fire suddenly shook violently.

The dark, obsessive energy burst through the flames and transformed once more into Su Chang'an. Dressed in red, he stepped onto the sea, tears welling in his eyes.

"What if you open the exit and she really leaves?"

"Chen Xuan, have you forgotten how many years you've waited?"

"How did you survive when she disappeared?"

The inner demon pointed towards the sky above the sea of ​​swords.

There were a few more black chains binding it, sealing the exit of the sea of ​​consciousness tightly.

"Breaking the chains is easy. But if she leaves, how will you bring her back?"

Chen Xuan gripped the heavy sword "Chang'an".

The sword slowly rose, but did not strike at the inner demon.

He looked at Su Chang'an in silence.

Su Chang'an stood above the sea of ​​swords, his white robes reflected in the black water.

"If I want to leave, you can't stop me."

"If I want to stay, I don't need you to lock it."

Chen Xuan tightened his five fingers.

A moment later, he turned the sword and aimed it at the sky above the sea of ​​consciousness.

He slashed down with his sword.

Click!

The first black chain broke.

Then came the second and third chains. The chains fell into the sea of ​​swords, turning into black smoke and dissipating. The sea of ​​consciousness, sealed for many years, then cracked open, and a beam of light pierced through the darkness, illuminating the surface of the sea.

In the light, a door leading to the outside world slowly opened.

There are no restrictions.

There was no lock.

Chen Xuan put down his heavy sword and looked at Su Chang'an.

"You can leave if you want, or stay if you want."

His voice was low, but without hesitation.

"I will protect you, I will not confine you."

The red-clad inner demon stood frozen in place.

Deprived of the nourishment of fear and possession, its face rapidly blurred, eventually turning into a wisp of gray smoke and sinking into the sea of ​​swords. The steady protective sword patterns then closed, completely suppressing it at the bottom of the sea.

Su Chang'an glanced at the open door of light, then turned and walked out.

In the quiet room, she opened her eyes.

The black sword energy that had blocked all directions dissipated, the window paper trembled slightly, and the sound of the wind returned to the room. A withered bamboo swayed past the window, bringing a touch of night coolness.

Chen Xuan sheathed his sword.

He stopped gripping Su Chang'an's wrist, took a half step back, and stood beside her.

That step wasn't far, but it was enough for her to come and go freely.

Su Chang'an looked at the still open exit in his sea of ​​consciousness and flicked his forehead.

"You did a decent job this time."

Chen Xuan did not refute.

The heavy sword "Chang'an" hung quietly at her waist, its sword intent crossing the one-step distance between them, silently guarding her behind her.