Darkness. Boundless darkness.
Yun Qingyu felt as though he were falling, plunging toward the deepest abyss of the netherworld. The spot on his chest where the black light had struck burned with a searing pain, and the demonic energy inside him churned like boiling water.
"We finally meet, my other half."
A raspy voice echoed through the darkness. Yun Qingyu snapped his eyes open and found himself standing upon a blood-red wasteland beneath a sky hung with nine black suns. Not far ahead, a man in black robes stood with his hands behind his back—his features bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Yun Qingyu's own, save for an added aura of wickedness about the brows.
"Tiansha..." Yun Qingyu realized instantly; this was a duel within the realm of consciousness.
The demon lord chuckled softly. "Why so distant? We are bound by blood, after all." With a wave of his hand, countless visions materialized across the wasteland. "Look at how the Jiuxiao lineage has suppressed me for the past three thousand years."
Within the visions, Yun Qingyu witnessed the tragic ends of successive Jiuxiao heirs—some driven to madness by deviation, some betrayed by loved ones and friends, and others who took their own lives with their own hands. And behind every single tragedy lay the faint, lingering influence of demonic energy.
"You... have been manipulating the Jiuxiao bloodline from the shadows all along?" Yun Qingyu clenched his fists.
"Mere subtle influences," the demon lord said, strolling leisurely among the visions. "Who else made your lineage the most suitable vessel for me?" He suddenly spun around, his eyes blazing with fierce black light, "Especially you, the re-born one."
Yun Qingyu was struck as if by lightning. "You knew about my rebirth?"
"More than just knowing," the demon lord laughed heartily. "Whose handiwork do you think the reversal of time and space was? It was I who split off a wisp of my primordial spirit at the moment of your death to send you back a hundred years!"
This truth struck like a bolt from the blue. Yun Qingyu staggered backward as memories of his past life rushed in like a tidal wave—when he was betrayed by Lu Mingxuan and Su Wanrou, a streak of black light had indeed embedded itself between his brows...
"Why?"
"For today, of course." The demon lord spread his arms wide. "The awakening of the Jiuxiao Cold Moon Palace and the chaos in the cultivation world—this is the prime opportunity for my complete resurrection! And you, my dear vessel, shall merge into one with me!"
Before his voice could fade, the wasteland split open, and countless black chains burst from the ground, instantly entangling Yun Qingyu's limbs! The demon lord walked toward him step by step, condensing a pitch-black rune at his fingertips.
"Stop resisting. A fragment of my spirit has been inside you long enough; the fusion was only a matter of time."
Yun Qingyu struggled with all his might, but he could not break free. Seeing the demon lord draw closer and closer, he suddenly remembered Chu Yao's parting words: "When you feel utterly desperate, think of the Fate Pact between us..."
He closed his eyes and called out Chu Yao's name in his heart. Miraculously, a faint warmth immediately radiated from his chest—it was the connection of the Fate Pact!
"Hmm?" The demon lord paused in his tracks. "The little girl from the Hanyue family still hasn't given up?"
Outside, in Tiansha Valley.
Chu Yao cradled the unconscious Yun Qingyu, tears streaming down her face. She kept channeling her spiritual power through the Fate Pact, but it was like throwing stones into the sea. High above them, Su Ningshuang and Lingxiaozi were jointly suppressing the bronze coffin, but one of the demon lord's arms had already fully emerged, and every wave of his hand carried the might to shatter mountains and split the earth!
"Girl! Step aside!" Su Ningshuang shouted anxiously. "The demon lord is about to awaken completely!"
Chu Yao stubbornly shook her head, pulling Yun Qingyu even tighter into her arms. "He's still fighting back... I can feel it!"
She took out a Soul-Condensing Bead and pressed it against Yun Qingyu's brow, then bit the tip of her tongue, spraying a mouthful of vital blood onto the bead. "By my blood, I summon your soul to return!"
The bead burst with blinding blue light, forming a bridge of light that plunged straight into Yun Qingyu's brow. This was the secret "Soul-Guiding Art" of Palace Master Hanyue, capable of temporarily connecting the divine consciousnesses of two people.
Inside the realm of consciousness, Yun Qingyu suddenly heard Chu Yao's call: "Senior Brother Yun! Take my hand!"
A blue bridge of light pierced the darkness, and Chu Yao's projection appeared before him. Yun Qingyu forcefully shattered the chains and grabbed her hand!
"Courting death!" The demon lord flew into a rage, and a black storm instantly swept across the wasteland. "A mere Hanyue bloodline dares to trespass in my sea of consciousness?"
Amidst the storm, Chu Yao's projection flickered unsteadily, yet she held onto Yun Qingyu with a death grip. "Let's cast... the Single-Heart Avatar together!"
Enlightened by a sudden flash of inspiration, Yun Qingyu interlaced his fingers with hers. In reality, golden-blue light erupted from both their bodies at the same time, slowly fusing into one!
Within the realm of consciousness, the transformation was even more astonishing. The divine consciousnesses of Yun Qingyu and Chu Yao merged, turning into a massive golden-blue sword. One side of the blade was carved with the image of the Jiuxiao clouds soaring high, while the other depicted the Cold Moon shining over a snowy landscape.
"This is... the Single-Heart Sword?" For the first time, astonishment flickered across the demon lord's face. "You two actually managed to achieve the realm of man and sword as one!"
The giant sword slashed down silently, and the hasty black shield the demon lord had gathered shattered like paper! He let out a miserable shriek as half of his body was vaporized by the sword qi.
"Impossible! I have plotted for three thousand years, how could I..."
A second sword stroke swept across horizontally, and the remainder of the demon lord's body turned to ashes. The wasteland began to collapse, and the black suns plunged from the sky one after another.
"No! This is only the beginning!" The demon lord's voice roared fiercely before dissipating. "As long as evil intent exists in this world, I will eventually return!"
In the real world, the bronze coffin shook violently, and the arm the demon lord had stretched out suddenly turned to flying ash! Seizing the opportunity, Lingxiaozi swung down with the full power of the Void Sword Talisman, splitting the coffin in two!
"Did we succeed?" The cultivators from various sects were both astonished and overjoyed.
The fused form of Yun Qingyu and Chu Yao slowly rose into the air, the giant sword in their hands pointing at the remnants of the coffin. "Jiuxiao Cold Moon, seal the heavens and sever the earth!"
The sword light fell like a waterfall, thoroughly purifying the fragments of the coffin. A wisp of black qi attempted to escape, but was enveloped head-on by Su Ningshuang's Cold Moon Mirror and frozen into ice.
Tiansha Valley returned to peace.
Three days later, Mount Taixu.
Yun Qingyu woke up from his unconsciousness and found himself lying in a spiritual spring, his meridians submerged in medicinal liquid. By the edge of the pool, Chu Yao was leaning against a stone, dozing off, with faint dark circles under her eyes.
"Chu Yao..." he called out softly, his throat painfully dry.
Chu Yao snapped awake instantly, her eyes bursting with joy. "You're awake!" She flurriedly fetched some spiritual liquid. "Drink slowly, you've been unconscious for a full three days."
As the spiritual liquid slid down his throat, Yun Qingyu felt as though he had truly come back to life. He tried to sit up, but Chu Yao pressed him back down. "Don't move! You forcibly drove the Fate Pact; your meridians were practically burned through."
Only then did Yun Qingyu notice that his internal spiritual power was exhausted, rendering him unable to execute even the simplest spells. Worse still, though the demonic energy in his Dantian had grown much weaker, it was still not entirely eradicated.
"Is the demon lord... truly dead?"
Chu Yao's expression was complicated. "His physical body is completely destroyed, and his primordial spirit is sealed by my grandmother within the Cold Moon Mirror. But he said... as long as evil intent is not extinguished, he will eventually return."
Yun Qingyu remained silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "When I was unconscious, I thought I heard someone crying very sorrowfully?"
The tips of Chu Yao's ears turned red, and she stammered, "It... it was Senior Brother Zhao Han, he thought you were going to die..."
"Is that so?" Yun Qingyu smiled faintly. "Then how come I remember someone constantly saying, 'You promised you would marry me'?"
"You!" Overwhelmed with embarrassment and anger, Chu Yao made a motion to hit him, but he gently caught her wrist.
"I remember." Yun Qingyu gazed into her eyes. "In the realm of consciousness, it was your call that pulled me back."
Chu Yao's eyes turned slightly red. "Who told you to be so reckless..."
"Chu Yao." Yun Qingyu suddenly turned serious. "Will you marry me?"
This sudden proposal left Chu Yao dumbstruck. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out; she could only nod desperately as tears streamed down her face.
Yun Qingyu gently wiped away her tears. "When my injuries heal, we will hold the Daoist wedding ceremony. And then..."
"Then we'll go together to the northernmost Cold Moon Palace." Chu Yao picked up his words. "Grandmother said there is a way in the palace to purify the demonic energy in your body."
A month later, the Xuantian Sect was adorned with lanterns and colored banners.
The Daoist wedding ceremony of Yun Qingyu and Chu Yao took place as scheduled. Grandmasters from various sects of the cultivation world gathered together, and even the normally reclusive Cold Moon Palace sent twelve elders to attend.
At the ceremony, Lingxiaozi personally officiated for the two of them. "Today is not only a joyous occasion for our two young friends, but also the first time in three thousand years that the lineages of the Jiuxiao Sword Master and the Palace Master Hanyue have intermarried. Truly a most auspicious event!"
Su Ningshuang wore a rare smile as she placed an ice-crystal ring onto Chu Yao's finger. "This was your mother's storage ring back then, and now it is returned to its rightful owner."
Elder Chu presented Yun Qingyu with an ancient, unadorned longsword. "The hidden sword within the Jiuxiao Sword Box has finally found its master."
After bowing to heaven and earth, Yun Qingyu placed a handmade jade hairpin onto Chu Yao's hair. The head of the hairpin was carved with a small twin lotus, and the stamens were inlaid with two intertwined spiritual beads—symbolizing their unbreakable Fate Pact.
"The ceremony is complete!" As the master of ceremonies shouted aloud, spiritual flowers fluttered all across the sky. Amidst the blessings of the crowd, Yun Qingyu gently kissed Chu Yao's lips.
At that exact moment, a sudden change occurred! A streak of black qi abruptly darted out from Yun Qingyu's chest, lunging straight for Chu Yao's brow!
"Careful!" Yun Qingyu reacted with lightning speed, shoving Chu Yao out of the way. The black qi missed its target, but instead of dissipating, it transformed into the phantom of the demon lord:
"Hahaha! Yun Qingyu, did you really think it would be that easy to shake me off?" The phantom sneered hideously. "As long as a shred of evil intent remains within you, I am immortal!"
Everyone present was shocked and hastily summoned their magical treasures. Just as Su Ningshuang's Cold Moon Mirror was about to strike, Yun Qingyu stopped her.
"Let me handle this."
He looked calmly at the demon lord's phantom. "You're right. As long as evil intent exists in this world, you will never be completely eradicated." He suddenly changed the subject, "But what is the opposite of evil intent?"
The demon lord was momentarily stunned. "What?"
"It is love."
Yun Qingyu grasped Chu Yao's hand, and the light of their Fate Pact flared brilliantly. Unlike the previous displays of crisscrossing sword qi, this light was warm and gentle, like a spring breeze bringing life to all things. Enveloped by this light, the demon lord's phantom began to melt away like snow under the blazing sun!
"No! This is impossible!" The demon lord struggled frantically. "Love is nothing more than an excuse for the weak, how could it—"
"You will never understand," Yun Qingyu said softly. "It is precisely because I have experienced hatred that I know how to cherish the person before me even more."
Before the final wisp of black qi dissipated, the demon lord uttered a resentful roar: "I will return... one day..."
The crisis was averted, and the ceremony continued. At the banquet, Chu Yao whispered to Yun Qingyu, "Is it really over this time?"
Yun Qingyu gazed into the distance. "The demon lord will never truly vanish, but as long as there are 'fools' like us in this world, he will never succeed."
Chu Yao smiled and leaned against his shoulder. "Then let's keep being 'fools' together."
Three years later, the northernmost Cold Moon Palace.
Yun Qingyu stood at the peak of an icy cliff, his sword qi surging like a rainbow around him. Cleansed by the secret arts of the Cold Moon Palace, the demonic energy within his body had been completely purified, and his cultivation had advanced to an even higher level, reaching the Nascent Soul Mid-stage.
"Senior Brother Yun!" Chu Yao walked over through the snow, cradling an infant wrapped in fox fur in her arms. "The little one is making a fuss to see you again."
Yun Qingyu gently took the child. This was the daughter they had given birth to a year ago, named "Yun Nianyao," who naturally possessed the bloodlines of both families, bearing a tiny golden-blue mark between her brows.
"Did you practice your sword today?" He teased the baby's little hands.
Chu Yao rolled her eyes at him playfully. "She's only so small, and already you're thinking about sword practice." As she spoke, she produced a jade flute. "Our little Nianyao is much better suited to learning this."
The sound of the flute rose melodiously, drifting across the boundless snowfields. Cradling his daughter, Yun Qingyu looked at his wife's focused profile, and his heart was filled with utter tranquility.
In his past hundred years of cultivation, he had pursued power and longevity; but reborn in this life, he finally understood that the true Dao perhaps lay hidden within this ordinary happiness.
The wind and snow gradually picked up, and the figures of the family of three slowly blurred. Only the sound of the flute and the gleaming sword qi intertwined, echoing long and lingering among the glaciers...