(I made a mistake today. I discovered that Theresa didn't establish St. Freya High School until 2009. I thought it was established shortly after the Second Honkai War. I was wrong, my apologies to the readers. But for now, let's stick with what I've written!)
Time passed quickly, and soon it was winter break. Theresa gave the students a long vacation so they could go home and have a good New Year.
How tragic. Among the five of them—Ryn, Kiana, Mei, Bronya, and Kika—four had no home to return to.
To prevent Mei from sneaking away behind her back, Kika righteously stayed behind as well, proclaiming, "The five of us are a family too, why would I sneak away!"
And then that was that. Ryn was taken away by Fu Hua.
After three months of Ryn's pestering, Fu Hua couldn't refuse him any longer and finally decided to teach him Taixu Sword Ki.
However, she was unwilling to take Ryn as a disciple. Fu Hua said she would not take any more disciples.
As for Taixu Sword Ki, in truth, all of Schicksal's Valkyries were cultivating it. Because after Fu Hua joined Schicksal, she gave the Heart State to Otto. Otto improved upon the Heart State and passed it down to train the Valkyries.
To this day, the Heart State is still the psychological training for Valkyries, but over so many years, the number of those who have satisfied Fu Hua is less than five.
Taixu Sword Ki has five states: Heart, Form, Intent, Soul, and Spirit. Among them, the Heart and Form states are internal cultivation methods, the Form and Soul states are sword techniques, and the Spirit state varies from person to person.
However, Fu Hua currently has no memory of how to cultivate the later forms. After her sword heart shattered over 500 years ago, Fu Hua lost the right to use Taixu Sword Ki. During the Second Honkai War, she could only rely on Fenghuang Down to mimic the Edge of Taixuan...
And that single strike completely burned away what little memory Fu Hua had left.
Fortunately, Fu Hua had long ago used Fenghuang Down to strip away her past training insights and placed them on Mount Taixu for her disciples to learn on their own.
So, if Ryn wanted to learn Taixu Sword Ki, he would have to return to Mount Taixu and find those memory feathers that Fu Hua left behind.
Besides the memory feathers, there was one other thing that required a trip back to Mount Taixu: obtaining the Key of Domination—the Xuanyuan Sword.
To master the five states of Taixu Sword Ki, before reaching the Spirit state, the Intent and Soul states require the Xuanyuan Sword. And the first step to mastering the Intent state is to gain the recognition of the Xuanyuan Sword, transforming it into a weapon that is in sync with one's own heart and mind.
Losing the Xuanyuan Sword also meant that those below the Spirit state realm lost the qualification to use Taixu Sword Ki.
So, 500 years ago, Fu Hua did not cripple the martial arts of her seven disciples; she only took back the Xuanyuan Sword. No matter what, she had watched them grow up. Fu Hua couldn't bear to kill them, but in the end, having lost the Xuanyuan Sword, they also lost the Taixu Sword Ki they were so proud of.
Except... for Cheng Lingshuang.
Cheng Lingshuang, who had comprehended the Spirit state, didn't have the Xuanyuan Sword and completely lost the opportunity to comprehend the Intent state of Taixu Sword Ki, but she didn't care in the slightest, because she wasn't very good at the other states either.
Her Heart State was second only to Azure Empyrea's, and perhaps even surpassed it. At the tender age of thirteen, she forged her spirit with her heart and comprehended the Spirit state at only the fourth level of the Heart State's sword heart. She became the number one martial artist in the world under Azure Empyrea at that time, and in the end, Azure Empyrea also died at the hands of Cheng Lingshuang.
Kiana had received the recognition of the Xuanyuan Sword, so she could also cultivate the Intent state of Taixu Sword Ki, but her cultivation of the Heart State was too poor. Without a complete Heart State, without forging a sword heart, one cannot control a large amount of Honkai energy at will, and thus cannot cultivate the later forms.
Frustrated that she wasn't living up to her potential, Fu Hua could only give her a sound thrashing every time Kiana challenged her.
Four in the morning, the wonderful winter vacation had just begun. Ryn, who was fast asleep, was kicked out of his room by Kallen, who then dragged him out.
Kallen brought Ryn to Fu Hua, who was waiting at the door, and then slammed the door shut with a bang.
Four in the morning! Kallen was extremely grumpy from being woken up. She had just closed her eyes a short while ago! Only to be woken up by the incessant ringing of the doorbell by Fu Hua.
Sleepy-eyed Ryn rubbed his eyes and finally saw Fu Hua standing before him with bags of all sizes.
"Huh? Fu Hua, why are you here so early!"
"There's been a change of plans. Our flight schedule has been moved up."
Fu Hua grabbed Ryn's hand and started running towards the hangar.
"No time to explain, get in the car!"
"Huh?! I'm still in my pajamas! My luggage is still in the room! Judah! Judah, can you hear me? Throw my suitcase out for me!"
Ryn shouted desperately towards the house for Judah. Judah, ever-responsive, dutifully threw the suitcase out. Then Ryn reached out and summoned the suitcase to him. Seeing that Ryn had his luggage, Fu Hua stepped on the gas, starting the car and heading for the airport.
"Strange, why is it so light..."
On the way, Ryn felt something was off as he was placing his suitcase. It was quite heavy when he packed it yesterday.
"Huh? Why is it empty! Aaaah, you idiot Judah!! I told you to throw out my suitcase, why did you only throw out the suitcase!!! Where are the clothes I put inside?!!"
But Fu Hua had the pedal to the metal and was already far away.
"We can buy some at the foot of Mount Taixu. We need to buy some daily necessities anyway."
"Achoo— But it's the middle of winter, and I'm only wearing pajamas!"
"A Herrscher is afraid of the cold?"
"You're all wearing thick coats and down jackets, and I'm in my pajamas... I'm psychologically cold."
"You're quite interesting..."
———————————————
The Far East Branch is located at sea, far from Japan, and even farther from Shenzhou, where Mount Taixu is located.
After Ryn took a nap for a few hours, they finally arrived at Mount Taixu.
The sky was already beginning to brighten, and vendors at the foot of Mount Taixu were setting up their stalls. The sun was just rising, a gentle breeze was blowing, and it was the coldest time of the day.
But there were too many ordinary people here, so Ryn couldn't use Honkai energy freely. He could only look at Fu Hua with pleading eyes.
"I was inconsiderate. I forgot that Herrschers also rely on Honkai energy to stay warm."
Fu Hua took off her own shawl, draped it over Ryn, and buttoned it up for him.
"You wait for me here. I'm going to buy the daily necessities we'll need later. It'll be fine once we get up Mount Taixu. There's a formation I set up there long ago."
"Okay, hurry back. I'll wait for you over there."
After Fu Hua left, Ryn immediately ran to a place far from the market and used Honkai energy to ward off the cold.
After waiting quietly for a while, a few plump, snow-white Azure Empyrea Birds with red beaks, crests, and tails were attracted by Ryn's Honkai energy and gathered around, chirping.
"Hey, are these the legendary Azure Empyrea Birds? So cute?!"
Ryn curiously reached out, trying to pet them.
The Azure Empyrea Birds' eyes immediately sharpened. Damn, Ryn could actually feel that they wanted to attack him.
After a brief staring contest, the Azure Empyrea Birds shrieked and charged forward, pecking at Ryn relentlessly.
Ryn didn't even bother to dodge, directly setting up a Honkai energy defense shield.
These chickens are quite interesting. They're drawn to Honkai energy, yet they dare to attack me, and they can even eat Honkai energy...
"Wait, how can it eat Honkai energy?! Are the chickens on Mount Taixu this fierce?!"
Before he could finish his sentence, an Azure Empyrea Bird swallowed Ryn's Honkai energy shield and pecked hard at his leg.
Huh huh huh ahhhhh—