"This takes me back to the days of wandering with Kiana..."
Ryn couldn't help but feel emotional as he looked at the dilapidated house in front of him.
Mount Taixu was not uninhabited, but as for living on a mountaintop that pierced the clouds like Fu Hua, she was truly the only one.
Oh, no, Fu Hua had long stopped living in this place of sorrow.
"Stop getting sentimental and come help clean up. We'll be living here for a while."
Fu Hua took out two feather dusters from her backpack, handed one to Ryn, and gestured for him to wipe one side while she took the other.
"With so many little brothers, why should I do it myself... Purple Flame Mystic Phoenix, go get 'em!"
Ryn commanded his Phoenix servants, sending them towards the house. Such beautiful feathers on an Azure Empyrea Bird, it would be a shame not to use them for dusting.
"Wait, don't all charge in! Two is enough!"
Seeing hundreds of Purple Flame Mystic Phoenixes rushing in all at once, Ryn quickly shouted to stop them, but...
The ones at the back couldn't stop, and the ones at the front couldn't hear...
And so, Ryn tearfully had an extra course for dinner that night, slaughtering the few Purple Flame Mystic Phoenixes that had flattened the house and making a whole chicken banquet.
That night, Ryn endured a scolding while furiously devouring a chicken leg.
"As expected of Class Rep Fu Hua, your cooking skills are amazing. This chicken is cooked to perfection, soft yet firm, and amidst the rich aroma of the soup, it doesn't lose the fresh taste of the chicken."
"It's just practice makes perfect, nothing worth mentioning. Compared to that, I'm more concerned about when you plan to rebuild my house!"
"Hahaha, tomorrow, definitely tomorrow!"
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The next day, Fu Hua woke up early and went to a place she didn't particularly want to go.
Much later, Fu Hua appeared in a hidden stone chamber at the foot of Mount Taixu.
There were still bloodstains on the stone chamber from hundreds of years ago. Fu Hua glanced at the bloodstains and left without a word.
This was her blood.
Qin Suyi had carried Su Mei's body behind her back and hidden it here. It was here that the deceased Fu Hua, relying on Ganesha's super-variable factor, spent 20 years to resurrect.
Fu Hua spoke a code word, and a hidden door quietly appeared in the basement.
Beneath the stone chamber was Fu Hua's collection room, where she stored artifacts from the Previous Era.
"It's quite laughable, really. To think I died right at my own doorstep..." Fu Hua laughed silently, then walked through the hidden door.
After a brief search, she took out a Xuanyuan Sword from inside. This was prepared for Ryn. The Xuanyuan Sword was necessary for cultivating Taixu Sword Ki, unless Ryn didn't want to learn the Intent and Soul states and wanted to jump directly from the Heart state to the Spirit state.
But how could that be possible! If one after another they all skipped the Form, Intent, and Soul states to learn the Spirit state, wouldn't I have created these three states for nothing!
(Kiana: Ahem, I also went from the Heart state directly to comprehending the Spirit state.)
Fu Hua shook her head. She could no longer use Taixu Sword Ki herself. She could only hope that Ryn had good comprehension and could master all five states, and then pass down the Taixu Sword Ki.
——————————————
At noon, Fu Hua returned to the summit of Mount Taixu. Ryn was grilling a Phoenix while commanding the others to rebuild the house.
"I didn't raise these Azure Empyrea Birds for you to waste like this." Fu Hua threw the Xuanyuan Sword in front of Ryn.
The sharp edge of the sword cut through the earth and stuck straight into the ground.
"Hehe, I was just thinking of making the best use of things!" Ryn pulled the Xuanyuan Sword from the ground and gently wiped the blade.
"Xuanyuan Sword... is it real or a fake?"
"It's real. The Xuanyuan Sword is just its sword form. Once it acknowledges you, it will transform into a shape that suits you."
After that, Fu Hua kicked the bewildered Ryn and his little brothers out, telling Ryn to get familiar with the Xuanyuan Sword before she taught him the True Chant of Taixu.
Holding the sword, Ryn pondered how to make the Xuanyuan Sword acknowledge him.
But after a few minutes of contemplation, Ryn couldn't be bothered to think about it anymore.
Ryn already had a Herrscher Core-Driven Anti-Honkai God-Slaying Armament. Judah's versatility was no less than that of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Whatever Ryn needed, Judah could transform into it at any time.
"Does an armament driven by a Herrscher core still need to acknowledge a Herrscher? Shouldn't it be my weapon by birthright! If not, then... it should be now!"
Ryn held the Xuanyuan Sword between his fingers and, with a gentle bend, snapped it in two. He cupped one hand, forming a miniature pseudo-black hole, and reforged the broken Xuanyuan Sword.
"Follow my heart, as I will."
The pseudo-black hole collapsed again, shrinking from the size of a basketball to a grain of rice, and then from a grain of rice, it transformed into a two-handed greatsword.
"As the heart imagines, the vessel forms itself."
Ryn gripped the hilt, and purple flames erupted from the blade.
The greatsword was a mix of blue and black, constantly burning with purple flames. The blade was 1.2 meters long, with no sharp edge, and at the junction of the blade and hilt was a distorted black hole.
It had no domineering appearance, no luxurious decorations. It was just an ordinary greatsword, yet at full power, it could unleash a blow that could tear a planet apart.
The sword was forged. This was the sword most suited for Ryn. It was much stronger than the Phased Weapon Array he condensed with Honkai energy, even if they looked similar...
"Does this count as getting the Xuanyuan Sword to acknowledge me?"
"But... what should I call it? I can't just keep calling it the Phased Weapon Array like before!"
"I can't think of anything good, so I'll just call it Stars."
As he thought, Ryn swung Stars with one hand, executing Yamato Combo A, Royal Rhythm, Judgment Cut, and other stances one after another.
"As expected, a weapon forged with my own power is the most suitable for me."
The original Key of Domination in the Xuanyuan Sword was just a Honkai energy drive core. Now, Ryn had completely melted it down. It no longer needed the Herrscher of Domination's core as an energy source. He had obliterated the Herrscher core and compressed it with Soulium in a black hole to form a new substance.
Stars has no weight. It can be lighter than a feather or heavier than a star. Due to the existence of the black hole, the laws of physics can no longer describe Stars.
"Fu Hua! I've made the Xuanyuan Sword acknowledge me. We can proceed to the next step!"
Ryn swaggered off to find Fu Hua, carrying Stars on his shoulder to show off.
Seeing that the Xuanyuan Sword had changed its appearance, Fu Hua naturally assumed that it had acknowledged Ryn.
But when Ryn got closer and handed Stars to her, Fu Hua was dumbfounded.
"You you... this... this... Where's my Xuanyuan Sword?!"
"I'm a Herrscher, it's not quite right for me to use the Divine Keys you all made. Besides, I felt it was too fragile. So I melted it down and reforged it. Now it's called Stars, and it's really powerful!"
"..." Fu Hua was silent for a moment, then took Stars and examined it carefully.
This purple flame... it wasn't the burning of an ordinary flame, but the pressure of an invisible force. And like Amaterasu, once it touched something, it couldn't be shaken off, burning for eternity.
Damn it, this sword is useless. The Inextinguishable Flame is no joke! Doesn't this mean this thing can't kill people!