A sharp sword pierced through the forehead, destroying the brain before exiting the other side of the skull.
The right foot was severed at the ankle.
The tendons in both hands were ruined.
All the internal organs were destroyed.
The heart was cut to such an extent that its original shape was unrecognizable.
Pain. A pain beyond what words could describe. Ryn couldn't even scream, as a blade had already sliced open his neck, destroying his vocal cords.
But what hurt more than the excruciating physical pain was the ache in Ryn's heart.
In the single moment Ryn had turned around, the Seven Swords of Taixu had revealed their killing intent. Be it the vicious, resentful looks in Jiang Wanxi and Jiang Wanru's eyes, Qin Suyi's frightened scream, or Lin Chaoyu's hesitation, a chill ran down Ryn's spine.
Ryn wanted to fight back, but this day was Fu Hua's moment of weakness, a time the Seven Swords of Taixu had conspired for and chosen long ago. Because of Lin Chaoyu's hesitation, Fu Hua made a move. And because of that move, Cheng Lingshuang, who had not acted, also intervened to protect Lin Chaoyu.
The Sword God pierced Fu Hua's skull. Ryn died, or rather, Fu Hua died. A death of incomparable misery.
——————————————
The illusion ended. Ryn, his face contorted in a ferocious expression, climbed up from the ground.
Boom—
Shaking all over, Ryn couldn't contain his rage and punched the side of the mountain, blasting open a bottomless cave.
"You shouldn't be so agitated..." Fu Hua grabbed Ryn's fist as he was about to strike again, and held his face, making him look at her.
"Ryn, calm down first. That is my memory, not yours. Don't let them affect you!"
"Screw you, I am Fu Hua!"
Ryn threw off Fu Hua's hand and shouted as he stood up, but after shouting, he froze on the spot.
"No, that's not right... I'm Ryn..." Ryn patted his own face to clear his head, then tossed the memory feather in his hand aside.
"This memory feather of yours is too wicked... What do you mean 'search for your past'? It's clearly about becoming you and experiencing everything you went through..."
"That's why I strictly require you to only view three or four a day, and to stop immediately if any problems arise... What did you see this time? To make you so furious."
Fu Hua picked up the memory feather Ryn had thrown away and put it back in its place. Fu Hua wouldn't check these memory feathers herself, because she was the one who had personally stripped them from her own mind.
So, apart from a few important memory feathers that were stored separately, the rest were casually tossed aside by Fu Hua.
"F***, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. Those seven b******, s****, they actually killed me the moment I turned my back! Fu Hua, you weren't kidding. you really have died before. But next time, remember to tell me in advance how you died so I can be mentally prepared..."
Ryn patted his chest in lingering fear. He never wanted to go through such an experience a second time. The feeling of being conscious while his entire body was being ###### was too....
"Ugh—" The closer he felt to death, the more Ryn thought about it, the more disgusted and frightened he became.
Although Ryn was said to have died so many times, in reality, he had only reached a near-death state before being pulled directly into the Sea of Quanta. Ryn had never truly reached or experienced real death.
"..."
Fu Hua's eyes dimmed for a moment, but she quickly composed herself and forced a smile at Ryn.
"It's all in the past... I don't care about it anymore."
Ryn placed his fingers on the corners of Fu Hua's mouth and gently pushed them upwards, forcing her into a normal-looking smile.
"Stop lying. You're terrible at it, and you can't even fake a smile... Don't force yourself."
"Sorry... I'll try to learn how to lie from now on." Fu Hua turned around, leaving Ryn with her receding back.
"Sigh, the Seven Swords of Taixu... they'd better all be dead."
Ryn now desperately wanted to tear those seven apart with his own hands. Since coming to this world, Ryn had never been this angry.
After learning the Heart State and Form State, Ryn had no clue how to cultivate the Soul State and Divine State, and Fu Hua couldn't offer much help either.
So, out of boredom, Ryn had pulled Fu Hua along, wanting to experience her memory feathers. He never expected to fall into a trap on the first try....
The memories in the feathers were not complete; they only recorded matters that Fu Hua considered important.
In the illusion of the memory feather, Ryn became Fu Hua, but in reality, he was just watching Fu Hua's life from a first-person perspective.
In the memory, Ryn watched Fu Hua defeat the Jiuyou Remnants, thwarting their plot to resurrect Chiyou. It was then that she killed Lin Chaoyu's parents and took the six-year-old Lin Chaoyu with her.
Afterward, in Oirat, she took in the 3-year-old Su Mei and established the Taixu Sword School, having both Su Mei and the now eighteen-year-old Lin Chaoyu join.
In the following nine years, she successively took in Jiang Wanxi, Jiang Wanru, Cheng Lingshuang, Ma Yanqing, Qin Suyi, and others.
The seven disciples made a resounding name for themselves and were known to the world as the Seven Swords of Taixu.
Ryn didn't experience much with them in the memory space. Perhaps Fu Hua didn't preserve those memories, or perhaps she truly didn't spend much time with them....
Lin Chaoyu was said to be the senior disciple, but she was more like a mother. All six children were raised by her alone...
Lin Chaoyu never complained and was very sensible. But the more sensible she was, the guiltier Fu Hua felt. Although Lin Chaoyu had been with Fu Hua the longest and had taken care of her the longest, Fu Hua hadn't taught her anything before establishing the Taixu Sword School. By the time Lin Chaoyu had missed the optimal time for cultivation... Fu Hua finally began to impart her martial arts.
Watching her junior disciples surpass her one by one, perhaps this was the grievance in Lin Chaoyu's heart...
But Ryn couldn't figure it out... there were too few related memories....
The memories that followed were of the disciples making names for themselves one by one, gaining the recognition of the Xuanyuan Sword, and mastering the Intent State. What made Fu Hua happiest was that Cheng Lingshuang reached the "Taixu" realm of the Heart State at the age of thirteen and shortly after, grasped the Divine State.
But they were, after all, only mortals, without high Honkai energy adaptability or natural Stigmata.
In 1476, Jiang Wanru of the Seven Swords of Taixu "succumbed to her inner demons." To prevent Fu Hua from killing Jiang Wanru, Su Mei took charge and planned to kill Fu Hua.
The sisters Jiang Wanxi and Jiang Wanru immediately joined in. Ma Yanqing, who liked Su Mei, chose to follow her. Urged on by Su Mei, the hesitant Lin Chaoyu also joined. Qin Suyi struggled constantly between choosing her brothers and sisters or Fu Hua.
Qin Suyi had the most conscience, constantly trying to dissuade them, but was still forced to join. After Fu Hua's death, she hid Fu Hua's body from Su Mei; otherwise, Fu Hua might have truly died in the great fire they set afterward.
F***, Ryn didn't know what the Seven Swords of Taixu and Fu Hua were thinking at the time, but he knew he had hit the jackpot.
Because the memories weren't continuous, one second Ryn was laughing and having a good time with the Seven Swords, and the next second, he turned around and was brutally murdered.
"No, no, I need to take a few days off before looking at the others. This is too real. I'm starting to lose track of whether I'm Ryn or Fu Hua."