The corridor behind the Gate of Whispers seemed to stretch into eternity, a cathedral of black marble where time felt suspended. As Qin Feng and Ye Chen delved deeper into the heart of the ruins, the temperature plummeted further. This was no longer the natural cold of the high altitudes; it was a spiritual frost, an absolute absence of life that gnawed at the very edges of their Foundation Establishment Qi shields.
Suddenly, the corridor opened into a vast circular chamber. In the center, resting upon a pedestal of pure starlight silver, floated a sword. It was a weapon of terrifying beauty: a slender blade, translucent like ancient ice, surrounded by a swirling halo of violet mist that seemed to devour the surrounding light.
"My sword..." Ye Chen breathed, her violet eyes widening with a mixture of agony and longing. "The Moon-Severing Blade."
But as she took a tentative step forward, the violet mist erupted into a violent vortex. It didn't dissipate; instead, it coalesced, taking on a solid, human shape. Within seconds, a figure identical to Ye Chen stood before the pedestal. It was Ye Chen as she had been three years ago: dressed in pristine imperial silks, her gaze haughty and cold, radiating a soul-crushing aura of absolute power that made the very walls of the ruins tremble.
[WARNING: Soul Guardian Encounter!] [Target: Shadow Clone of Ye Chen (Peak Foundation Establishment).] [Victory Condition: The Empress must reclaim her weapon through sheer will. The Host must prevent the Clone from interrupting the ritual.]
The shadow clone did not speak, but a massive psychic pressure slammed into the room. "You are weak," the clone's silence seemed to scream. "You have debased yourself by marrying a gutter rat. You no longer deserve this blade."
Ye Chen faltered, her face turning deathly pale. The invisible nails of her past trauma, the betrayal, the public shaming, the loss of her sect, seemed to reactivate all at once. She fell back into that state of agonizing vulnerability that Qin Feng had seen for the first time in their shack in the slums.
"Ye Chen! Don't listen to that phantom!" Qin Feng roared. He lunged forward, his ebony pickaxe raised, the violet crystal blade humming with defiance.
The shadow clone simply raised a hand, and a shockwave of pure lunar Qi struck Qin Feng in the chest. He was sent flying across the room, crashing against the marble wall with enough force to turn a normal man into pulp.
[WARNING: Internal damage detected. Physical integrity at 75%.]
Qin Feng spat out a mouthful of golden blood and forced himself up, his eyes glowing with a violet fury. "I don't give a damn about who she was before!" he shouted, his voice echoing off the high ceiling, addressed as much to the clone as to his wife. "Today, she is my wife, and nobody, not even her own damn ghost, will show her disrespect!"
He activated his Primordial Eclipse Body to its maximum capacity. Silver runes erupted beneath his skin, glowing so brightly they shone through his tattered tunic. He charged again. This time, he didn't seek to win through technique; he sought to win through the raw force of his endurance. Every time the clone unleashed a devastating energy blast, Qin Feng threw himself in the way, using his own body as a living shield for Ye Chen, who had fallen to her knees, her hands covering her ears.
BANG! CRACK!
Qin Feng's left arm cracked under a direct impact, but he didn't retreat. He slammed his pickaxe into the floor to anchor himself and took another blast of dark energy head-on, his feet skidding back across the marble.
"Look at me, Ye Chen!" he panted, his face bloodied but his gaze fixed on her. "This ghost is only what they made of you! A cold, lonely icon! But today, you aren't alone! Take that sword and show them that the Empress didn't die, she just found a reason to get even!"
Qin Feng's words, carried through the 'Soul Link' of the Eclipse, pierced the mental fog surrounding Ye Chen. She looked up and saw the back of this man, this "commoner," this "miner", who was literally breaking his bones to protect her honor. A new warmth, different from her icy Qi, began to burn in her dantian.
Ye Chen stood up slowly. Her aura changed. It was no longer the pride of a fallen ruler, but the determination of a woman who had found something worth fighting for beyond a throne.
"Thank you, Husband," she whispered, her voice resonating with a divine clarity. "I will take it from here."
She walked toward the shadow clone, ignoring the attacks that now simply evaporated as they touched her skin. She stepped through the shadow figure as if it were nothing but smoke and grasped the hilt of the Moon-Severing Blade.
A silent scream tore through the chamber as the sword recognized its true mistress. The violet mist was sucked into the blade, and a shockwave of absolute purity swept through the room, instantly mending Qin Feng's broken bones and healing his wounds.
[DING! Quest Accomplished: The Empress's Blade Reclaimed!] [Reward: Divine Weapon unlocked for Allie.] [Link Evolution: 'Entwined Souls' (Resonance 100%).]
Ye Chen turned to Qin Feng, sword in hand. She no longer needed silk or crowns; the raw power emanating from her was enough to mark her as the sovereign of these ruins. She walked to him and gently placed her hand on his blood-stained cheek.
"You are a fool, Qin Feng," she said with a tenderness she had never shown before. "But you are my fool."
Qin Feng smiled through the blood. "As long as I'm yours, I'm good with that."
But the moment was short-lived. The System sent an emergency notification that made Qin Feng's heart skip a beat.
[WARNING: The Azure Sky Sect army has breached the upper perimeter.] [Sect Leader Ling is less than 20 minutes from the Grand Altar.]
"They're here," Qin Feng said, picking up his pickaxe. "And this time, they won't find a prisoner and a slave."
Ye Chen pointed her new blade toward the entrance. "No. They will find their end."