[Northlands – Celestial Sword Pavilion]On a frozen cliff, three hundred sword cultivators stood in formation.Pavilion Master Leng Qianshan gripped his ancestral spirit sword, then hurled it to the ground in fury:"What nonsense is this 'Ninefold Mirror Realm'? Mere heresy to bewitch the masses!
Without spiritual energy, where is sword intent? Without a Golden Core, how dare you speak of the Dao?"But before his words faded, a young disciple stepped forward—azure light swirling around him."Master… last night I dreamed my mother was dying. I swore I'd become a healer. But later… I forgot."
Tears filled his eyes. "Today, after cultivating the Guardian of the Dust-Heart, I remembered everything.
I hold a sword—not to win glory… but to protect."Leng Qianshan froze.This boy was the orphan he'd rescued from a plague-stricken village ten years ago.After a long silence, he bent down, picked up his sword—and slowly snapped it in two."…Issue the decree: Celestial Sword Pavilion will enter seclusion for a hundred years… to reforge our hearts."[Nanhuan – Hundred Herbs Valley]The medicinal fields lay barren; every spirit herb had turned to dust.Matriarch Willow, leaning on her cane before the ancestral shrine, clutched a well-worn copy of the Record of the Burning Lamp, its pages frayed from reading."Grandma… can I cultivate it?" her granddaughter asked timidly. "I just want to heal Ah Huang's leg…"
(Ah Huang was the lame puppy she'd saved.)Willow stroked her hair, tears streaming down her wrinkled cheeks:"Foolish child… you've been cultivating it all along."She turned to her disciples and declared:"From this day forth, Hundred Herbs Valley shall be renamed Hall of the Dust-Heart—open to all who lack spirit veins but possess true hearts!"That night, the first blue lotus in decades bloomed quietly… beside a dog's straw bed.[Western Regions – Mara Sect]Blood pools churned; demonic qi blotted out the sky.Sect Master Li Wushe sneered:"Xie Wuchen? Ha! Replacing spiritual energy with 'collective will'? Naïve!
In this world, the strong take, the weak feed—that is truth!"He raised a hand—and summoned three thousand blood thralls, their karma drained, eyes hollow as glass."Behold! This is true control!"But suddenly, one thrall lifted his head. Azure light flickered in his pupils."I… remember," he whispered. "My daughter… is still waiting for me to come home."In that instant, his buried will erupted!The blood pool exploded. Demonic sigils shattered like glass.Li Wushe staggered back:"Impossible! They were soulless puppets!"From the void, Bai Ying's voice echoed:"As long as the Heart-Lamp burns… no being shall ever be enslaved."—The Lamp-Bearing Covenant had reached the Western Borders.🌊 East Sea – Thirty-Six IslesXie Wuchen stood at the prow of a small boat, wooden sword pointed toward the waves.Ahead, black smoke coiled above an island. Thousands of commoners knelt before a thousand-armed idol, chanting in unison:"Take my karma, spare my child…
Take my memories, grant my father life…""Another cauldron manifesting as a deity," Bai Ying frowned. "But this time… they're using false karma."The Shepherd's cult had forged counterfeit "karmic contracts":
People believed sacrificing their memories would save loved ones—
but those loved ones had already died.
Their "wishes" were siphoned straight into the idol… feeding Heaven's machine."Crueler than soul extraction," Xie Wuchen said, ice in his voice.
"It makes people thankfully burn themselves as fuel."When they landed, the islanders saw their white robes and azure glow—and shouted in rage:"Begone! Don't ruin our prayers!"
"Without the idol, my son would've died!"Xie Wuchen said nothing. He walked to an old woman tossing her grandson's birth chart into the incense burner."Grandmother… how old is your grandson?"
"Seven! He broke his fever just yesterday!" she wept with joy.Xie Wuchen sighed softly. A blue lotus bloomed from his sleeve.Threads of will gently entered her mind—and revealed the truth:
Her grandson had died at five. Unable to bear it, she'd been implanted with false memories by cultists whispering:"Believe, and he lives.""Look," Xie Wuchen said, pointing to a phantom Heart-Lamp.Within its light, the real scene appeared:
A child gasping his last breath. An old woman collapsing in grief.The woman screamed as if struck by lightning—then crumpled, wailing:"My treasure… my precious boy!"Her sorrow spread like wildfire.One by one, the islanders remembered. Their faith collapsed.The thousand-armed idol shrieked, lashing out to devour their final sparks of will!"Too late," Xie Wuchen rose into the air, wooden sword raised.
"Today, I shatter illusion with true tears, and expose falsehood with true hearts—
Burn!"Blue lotuses fell like rain across the isle.Clarity returned to every eye. The people cried as one:"We follow the Lord of the Burning Lamp! Teach us to guard our hearts!"The idol crumbled. The cauldron-phantom wailed—and vanished.🏯 Zhongzhou – Platform of Inquiring the DaoNews spread like wildfire. Ten thousand sects trembled.The Seven Sacred Grounds, Thirty-Six Great Clans, and hundreds of wandering alliances gathered amid Zhongzhou's ruins.Some cried:"Xie Wuchen is the savior of this age! He must lead us!"Others roared:"His path defies cosmic order! Execute him before Heaven strikes us all!"For three days, debate turned to bloodshed.On the fourth dawn, Xie Wuchen sat alone beneath the Heart-Lamp, brewing tea.Sect Master Xuanwei stepped forward first—and bowed deeply:"Qingming Sect pledges allegiance to the Lamp-Bearing Covenant."Leng Qianshan arrived, cradling his broken sword:"Celestial Sword Pavilion enters seclusion… to walk the Dust-Heart Path."Matriarch Willow led her granddaughter forward:"Hall of the Dust-Heart opens its doors to all who have no spirit veins—but have love."Even the leader of the rogue cultivator alliance knelt:"We are outcasts… but we seek one thing: a path where conscience need not die."The dissenters, seeing the tide turn, stormed off in fury.
One turned back, screaming:"You'll regret this! Heaven will never allow it!"Xie Wuchen said nothing.
He simply slid a cup of clear tea onto the empty seat before him.Its surface reflected the Heart-Lamp's glow."If Heaven will not allow it," he murmured, "then I shall forge a new Dao.
What you truly seek is not Heaven's blessing…
but peace within your own heart."Silence fell. Then, one by one, they bowed—not to a master, but to a truth.From that day forth, the Nine Continents split in two:The old order, clinging to fading灵气, withered in the Age of Dharma's End.The new path, walking the Nine Realms, kept the Heart-Lamp burning bright.And far beneath the East Sea,
a stone stele that had lain submerged for ten thousand years
slowly rose to the surface.Carved upon it were only eight characters:"The Great Dao resides in humanity—
not in Heaven."(End of Chapter Thirteen)