It was the middle of the night.
The rest of Wuqing Peak was still.
But inside a secluded training chamber, Li Shuang sat cross-legged, the Black Abyss Sword resting silently in front of her.
Her breath was steady.
Calm.
Each inhalation flowed in perfect harmony with her spiritual energy, following the principles of the Supreme Forgetting Love Technique.
She had rebuilt her cultivation to the Qi Training ninth layer—just a single step away from forming her Foundation.
And now, the Heaven and Earth Furnace inside her soul had reached a special threshold.
"Awakening progress: 99% real, 1% virtual. Awaiting spiritual trigger."
She opened her eyes slowly and turned toward the Black Abyss Sword.
For days now, she had felt something within the blade—a faint, dormant consciousness.
Something ancient.
Something watching her.
It had not yet awakened.
Not fully.
But tonight… the feeling changed.
As she reached out and laid her fingers on the sword hilt, her surroundings suddenly melted away.
The chamber vanished.
She stood in a vast void of swirling stars—weightless, rootless, and silent.
Before her floated a massive, shadowy furnace.Its surface glowed with faint golden runes.
Suddenly—A deep voice echoed around her:
"You wish to awaken the Black Abyss."
Li Shuang faced the furnace without fear. "Yes."
"What are you willing to give?"
She didn't hesitate."Everything I once was."
Silence.
Then the furnace blazed to life.Pillars of spiritual fire surged upward, encasing the void in red and gold.
Amid the flames, a sword slowly emerged—its hilt black as obsidian, its blade cracked in strange patterns, as though it had once shattered and been reforged.
Then—A figure stepped out from the fire.
He was tall, draped in black robes, and his long hair shimmered with silver strands. His features were elegant, but sharp—like a blade honed for war.
His gaze locked with hers.
His voice was low, cold, and curious.
"You are… the one who cast away the Dragon Roar Sword?"
Li Shuang nodded.
"You fed me that blade. That spirit—Long Yan—tasted bitter. Full of betrayal. You swallowed his fate to feed your own."
"I don't regret it," she said plainly.
The sword spirit smiled.
Not warmly—but approvingly.
"Good. I am not a sword for the sentimental."
He walked toward her, stopping only a few steps away.
"I am Wuqian—the sword without mercy, forged in the Abyss. Once used by the founder of the Sword Sect himself."
Li Shuang's eyes flickered, but she didn't speak.
"When the founder ascended, he sealed me away. I have slept for hundreds of years—until you woke me."
His eyes narrowed.
"If you wish to claim me, you must pass one final trial: bury every lingering emotion in your heart. Guilt. Attachment. Pain. Desire. Pride."
Li Shuang met his gaze.
"Then do it," she said. "I've buried them already."
At her words, the space around her trembled.
Wuqian raised his hand—and the world collapsed.
She fell into a memory.
A boy, coughing under a tree.A girl, brewing medicine in the rain.His eyes filled with tears—hers filled with concern.
Sheng Yuan.
Li Shuang's first disciple. Her surrogate brother.
She watched herself from years ago—wrapping his medicine, cheering him on at his first sword contest, shielding him from a burst of energy during his first misstep.
Then—his cold eyes.
His sword slashing at her on the snowy mountain.
Her hand trembled.
But she said, "I no longer grieve for him."
The image vanished.
Another memory bloomed.
A gentle, dignified man placing a hand on her shoulder."You are my proudest disciple," he said.
Lingxu Zhenren.
The only master she had ever known.
He'd given her her first sword.
He had also crushed her with a single sentence:
"I no longer consider you my disciple."
Her fingers curled slightly.
But she said, "I owe him nothing now."
The image faded.
A final memory surged.
A girl in white robes, eyes bright with false innocence."Senior Sister, please don't be mad at me..."
Ye Zhaozhao.
The root of it all.
Her shadow loomed, weaving lies into truth, sweetening betrayal until no one could see the venom.
A surge of killing intent flared from Li Shuang's heart—but it passed.
She whispered:"I no longer hate her.What she stole, I will reclaim myself."
The fire around her dimmed.
Then vanished.
When she opened her eyes, she was back in the chamber—kneeling before the Black Abyss Sword.
The blade pulsed.
It shimmered.
And then—Wuqian's voice returned.
"Good. You are worthy."
The sword lifted on its own and hovered before her, its surface now etched with flowing silver runes.
The cracks in the blade were no longer flaws.
They were veins of power.
"From this day forth, I am yours.Feed me battle.Feed me fury.Feed me the world."
Li Shuang's lips curved upward, just slightly.
She reached out—and grasped the hilt.
The blade rang.
The Sword Sect would awaken soon.
But she had awakened first.