Li Shuang once again entered the inheritance space, anticipation flickering in her eyes.
Senior Su had promised that on her next visit, he would teach her the first form of the legendary Ruthless Sword Technique.
What kind of technique could it be—the very one once practiced by the sect's founder?
This time, however, she was met not by the endless whiteness she had grown used to, but by a biting chill. She stood atop a snow-covered mountain, the wind howling around her.
Li Shuang's breath caught. This place… she recognized it instantly.
Su Mu's calm voice echoed in her ears.
"This is a scene drawn from the depths of your memory. It was here that you experienced the greatest turning point of your life. Through that pain, you stepped into the Way of Mercy. Today, here as well, you will learn the first form of the Ruthless Sword Technique.
"This is both the place of your downfall and your rebirth. With your ice spirit roots, this land of snow and frost is Heaven's chosen ground for your cultivation."
Li Shuang nodded quietly.
Her heart was calm, her Supreme Forgetfulness Technique circulating gently. The snow bit at her skin, yet warmth spread steadily from her dantian.
If not for the Forgetfulness Technique, the sight of this mountain would have ripped open her wounds.
Here, she had fought the snow monsters to protect Ye Zhaozhao.Here, she had held the rear, blocking enemies to cover her retreat.Here, she had entrusted her last hope to the one she thought she could rely on—only to be betrayed and stabbed.Here, her own sword spirit had turned against her.
But those emotions no longer ruled her.
She remembered only this: here, the Crucible of Heaven and Earth had appeared.Here, she had been reborn.
Her end, and her beginning.
That this inheritance space could draw out such vivid memories and manifest them with such accuracy left her in awe. Even her master likely never realized the jade slip's true power.
After all, in a thousand years, she was the only one to enter the Ruthless Path, the only one capable of unlocking this dimension.
"I am here to teach you the Ruthless Sword Technique," Su Mu said with a smile.
Every cultivator who stepped onto the Ruthless Path had their own place of enlightenment. For Li Shuang, it was this snowy mountain.
And five days was more than enough for her to transform.
With a wave of Su Mu's hand, countless snow monsters appeared across the mountain.
A sword materialized in his grasp.
Li Shuang blinked in surprise. It was not the iron sword she had seen him wield before, but a wooden one.
By nature, an iron sword was far sharper. Yet now, as his aura flared, she sensed the unmistakable pressure of the sword realm.
The Way… is simple.
Li Shuang didn't voice the thought, but Su Mu's eyes gleamed with admiration. As expected, this girl is a natural at the sword. She grasps the truth without needing to be told.
The snow monsters charged. Su Mu stepped forward, wooden sword in hand, and said softly, "Watch carefully."
"The Supreme Forgetfulness is not heartlessness. The Supreme Desirelessness is not severance of desire."
Though it was wood, the sword in his hand shone with unparalleled sharpness. With a sweep, snow monsters fell like wheat before the scythe.
"Forgetfulness is not heartlessness—it is selflessness. Look at the mountains: every snowflake, every gust of wind has its own momentum. Only by forgetting the self can one merge with Heaven and Earth, moving with the flow of the Dao."
His figure blurred, becoming snow, wind, and mountain all at once.
Li Shuang's eyes widened. She had never seen such swordsmanship. There was no rigid technique, no theory—only Dao itself expressed through the sword.
This was not swordplay.
This was enlightenment.
The true Ruthless Sword.
Su Mu's voice rose in chant:
"The Taiyi Three Pure Ones begin as mortals, their spirit clear, their body light. Casting aside the tribulations of the mortal world, they soar into the realm of emptiness…"
With each line, another monster fell.
By the time his chant ended, the snowy peak was still, the monsters gone as if they had never been.
Su Mu sheathed his sword and looked at her steadily. "Do you understand?"
Li Shuang thought for a moment. "The Ruthless Sword Technique… it has no fixed forms, does it?"
Admiration shone even brighter in Su Mu's eyes.
"Indeed. Throughout the ages, every cultivator of the Ruthless Path has forged their own technique, born from sudden enlightenment in times of crisis. Since you have entered the Ruthless Dao, you too will one day create your own sword art. For now, you lack only the final formula—the means to crystallize your understanding into a technique."
"Now, I will pass you the formula. Comprehend it here, in the snowy mountains. With your current realm, you should be able to grasp the first form."
Li Shuang sat cross-legged, her eyes closed.
Su Mu intoned slowly, "Focus your mind on your dantian. Let the memories of the mortal world pass before your eyes. Gather your spirit at the Mysterious Gate and transform it into Qi…"
Li Shuang listened in silence.
The key to this sword art was not in imitation, but in fusing comprehension with the Dao itself to forge one's own path.
The founder of the sect had created his own art.
And she—what would hers be?
Her memories surfaced, one by one.
Her father's disappearance on the day she was born.Her mother raising her alone, entrusting her with the jade carving.The hardships of childhood, struggling to survive in a ruthless world.Her first aid from Lingxu Zhenren.Fifteen years of hard cultivation.Ten years of betrayal and pain.
All of it tempered her Dao heart, purifying it.
The Supreme Forgetfulness was not true heartlessness.
To be human was to feel. To sever all ties would be inhuman.
The good emotions nurtured her growth.The evil emotions could no longer stain her spirit.
Snow fell endlessly.
Li Shuang sat unmoving, buried until she looked like a snow sculpture—yet she remained still, her heart and spirit deep in enlightenment.