Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

60: Chapter 60: The Lingering Soul’s Obsession and the Trial of the Sword HeartTwo clusters of dark red Soul fire ignited within the hollow eye sockets of the skeleton. They were neither violent nor cold, but instead exuded a heart-palpitating obsession that had endured through the ages.

It slowly ”looked” toward the prepared Su Muxue and the dimly glowing Lin Mo in her arms. There was no attack, no words, only a heavy, mountain-like sorrowful Sword Intent spreading out, echoing through the deathly silent passage like a wordless sigh.

Frost gathered at Su Muxue’s fingertips, her ice-blue eyes locked onto the skeleton, ready to strike at any moment. Lin Mo’s chaos dao seed also struggled to rotate, attempting to analyze the essence of that Soul fire.

However, the expected hostility did not appear.

The Soul fire flickered slightly, and a fragmented but ancient intent—countless times clearer than that of the Skeleton Puppet—was transmitted directly into their Seas of Consciousness:

”Latecomers... finally... waited...”

”Bearing... Chaos... and... Taiyin...”

”Perhaps... it is... as destiny points...”

The intent was filled with exhaustion, yet it carried an almost imperceptible glimmer of hope.

”Who are you?” Su Muxue’s voice remained cold and wary. ”Did you guide us here?”

”Guide...?” The Soul fire wavered, a ripple appearing in the intent as if it were reminiscing. ”Yes... and no...”

”That Skeleton Puppet... wandering the abyss floor... was a fragment of my... unwilling obsession... attached to remains... instinctively... seeking... a chance to break the deadlock...”

”And I... am the last remnant Soul... left here... Fellow Daoist... Ling Xiao...”

Ling Xiao?!

Those two words were like a clap of thunder, exploding in the hearts of Su Muxue and Lin Mo!

It truly was that ancient Sword Cultivator who had left behind the Vast Righteous Sword Heart Art and the Star Lake Mystic Realm—Ling Xiao! Although they had guessed as much, having it confirmed was still incredibly shocking!

”Senior Ling Xiao?!” For the first time, a violent emotional fluctuation appeared on Su Muxue’s frozen face. ”You... haven’t you already...”

”Perished... yes...” Ling Xiao’s remnant Soul’s intent carried endless vicissitudes. ”This place... is my final... Sword Fall Land...”

”Then outside...” Lin Mo’s intent hurriedly questioned.

”The dragon skeleton outside... is the Abyss Guardian of the Burial Ancient Abyss... and also... the watcher... of the Seal...” Ling Xiao’s intent grew heavy. ”Back then... I wished to use a Clear Sword Heart... to slash through this endless silence... to open a sliver of life... for future generations... but in the end... my strength failed here... I could only use this remnant body... to suppress the entrance of this ’Guiji Passage’...”

Guiji Passage? Seal? Watcher?

The massive amount of information caused Su Muxue and Lin Mo’s minds to tremble violently. The secrets of the Burial Ancient Abyss were far deeper than they had imagined!

”Guarding... the entrance?” Su Muxue caught the key point. ”Where does this passage... lead?”

”To the... Abyss Core... or... the only... path... to leave this abyss...” Ling Xiao’s intent became extremely solemn. ”It is also... a key node... for sealing... one of the sources of ’External Silence’... that the ’Mother Tree’ fears!”

The source of External Silence that the Mother Tree fears? Could it be that it didn’t refer to the Bone-Corroding Demon Spiders and the dragon skeleton? Was there something even more terrifying?

”Senior, what is your purpose in guiding us here?” Lin Mo went straight to the core.

”Trial...” Ling Xiao’s intent suddenly became sharp, and the broken stone sword hummed loudly, its Sword Intent surging! ”And... an entrustment!”

”My remnant Soul is about to dissipate... the sealing power is fading day by day... the dragon skeleton’s awakening this time... is no accident... a great catastrophe is coming... this land of silence... needs a new guardian... someone who can inherit the true meaning of the Vast Righteous Sword Heart Art... and can harness the powers of Chaos and Taiyin... a variable!”

”Pass through this passage... reach the core of the ’Sword Fall Land’... obtain the final Sword Seed... I left behind... strengthen the Seal... or... slash open a new path!”

”But this path... only those who pass my ’Sword Heart Trial’... may tread upon it!”

Before the words finished, the skeletal hand holding the broken sword suddenly tightened!

Buzz—!

A majestic and vast Sword Intent, like a bursting flood, instantly filled the entire passage! But this Sword Intent was not an attack; instead, it transformed into countless illusory sword shadows, like flowers in a mirror or the moon in water, pulling Su Muxue and Lin Mo’s consciousness into a strange illusion!

It was not a battlefield of slaughter, but an endless, vast, and lonely void.

Ahead, the figure of Ling Xiao’s remnant Soul condensed. Though blurred, he stood straight as a sword, holding the phantom of a divine sword that shone through the ages.

”Sword Heart Trial, First Question—” Ling Xiao’s figure emitted a grand Dao sound, like a great bell striking deep into their Divine Souls. ”Where the Dao lies, though ten thousand people oppose, will you go?”

As the Dao sound fell, endless silence and pressure surged from all directions, as if to completely erase and assimilate their will, returning them to nothingness. This was the most fundamental interrogation of the Dao Heart! Could they still hold fast to their original heart and move forward with their swords in the face of absolute emptiness and despair?

Su Muxue seemed to see the back of Nangong Xuan resolutely turning away again, feeling that bone-deep coldness and sorrow. But this time, that extreme cold did not make her sink; instead, it transformed into an unprecedented determination. Her Profound Yin Immortal Body operated spontaneously, and the clear light of the ice moon flowed from her brow. She slowly raised her head, her ice-blue eyes containing only pure, unquestionable resolve:

”Where the Dao points, I shall not regret even nine deaths.”

Lin Mo’s chaos light cluster flickered slightly in the illusion. His consciousness seemed to return to that Chaos that nurtured all things—no good or evil, no beginning or end. But at the core of this Chaos, there was a point of eternal spiritual light; it was the self belonging to ’Lin Mo’, the obsession to protect his mother and explore the Great Dao. The chaos dao seed rotated slowly, embracing silence while also giving rise to life. His intent was calm yet powerful:

”I guard my own Dao, and I move forward by myself.”

Boom!

The illusion shook slightly, and the endless pressure of silence receded like a tide.

Ling Xiao’s figure seemed to nod slightly.

”Good.”

”Sword Heart Trial, Second Question—” The divine sword phantom was raised, its tip pointing at them. ”What is a sword?”

In an instant, countless understandings, insights, and scenes regarding the sword flooded into their consciousness! There were swords of slaughter, swords of protection, swords of kingship, swords of grass and trees, swords within the heart... varied and complex, as vast as the sea!

This was questioning their fundamental understanding of the ’sword’, as well as verifying their Dao Hearts!

Su Muxue gazed at the divine sword phantom. Before her eyes flashed the Sect’s sword scriptures, her own insights of turning Profound Yin ice into swords, and even more, the brilliant light of Nangong Xuan’s final, resolute strike. She spoke slowly, her voice cold as ice yet containing a certain profound truth:

”The sword is a tool, and it is also the heart. Externally it slashes through delusions; internally it slashes through Heart Demons. My sword is for decisiveness, for protection, and for... not failing others.”

Lin Mo’s intent was immersed in the state of the chaos dao seed deducing the Origin of all things: ”A sword is sharpness, it is oneness. When gathered, it is indestructible; when dispersed, it evolves into all directions. In the heart, it is a thought; in the Dao, it is the edge. Chaos can be a sword, and nirvana can be the edge.”

The two’s answers were completely different, yet both pointed directly to their hearts and aligned with their own Daos.

The divine sword phantom in Ling Xiao’s hand emitted a joyful, light hum.

”Good!”

”Sword Heart Trial, Final Question—” Ling Xiao’s figure became incredibly solemn, and the divine sword phantom shone with ten thousand rays of light, as if it were about to split this endless void. ”If the path ahead is certain death, what is the use of holding the sword?”

This was the most cruel question! It negated all previous persistence and meaning, pointing directly to the ultimate nothingness!

Su Muxue’s body trembled slightly, ripples appearing in her frozen heart lake. Lin Mo’s chaos light cluster also stagnated.

Certain death? What use is holding the sword?

Indeed, if one knows death is certain and all efforts will eventually vanish like bubbles, what meaning is there in the sword in one’s hand or the Dao in one’s heart?

Silence.

A deathly silence.

But in this extreme silence, something even more burning was being nurtured.

Su Muxue slowly closed her eyes. Nangong Xuan’s final figure, the frost of the Sect’s destruction, the hardships along the way... finally, it settled on those resolute yet slightly relieved eyes when Nangong Xuan pushed her away under the Mother Tree.

She snapped her eyes open, the ice-blue light more brilliant than ever, even overshadowing the moon mark on her brow:

”Death is not the end; the Dao persists from beginning to end. Though the sword breaks, the intent remains, illuminating the ages!”

Lin Mo’s chaos light cluster erupted with unprecedented light, and the embryonic form of that dormant ’nirvana star core’ throbbed slightly:

”Chaos knows no life or death; the Dao Seed evolves through Reincarnation. Holding the sword is not for the outcome, but for a clear conscience! A path of death can also be a way home, but it is never a reason to stop!”

The two’s intents were like two sharpened divine swords, boldly slashing through the interrogation of ultimate nothingness!

Rumble—!

The entire illusion shook violently and then shattered like a mirror!

Their consciousnesses returned to reality, still standing in that ancient passage before the skeleton.

The dark red Soul fire in the skeleton’s eye sockets burned intensely, filled with gratification and relief.

The broken stone sword emitted a crisp sword cry, and the cracks upon it seemed to fade slightly.

”Good! Excellent!”

Ling Xiao’s remnant Soul’s intent became incredibly clear and stirring.

”Latecomers... you have passed the trial... you possess the qualification to enter the ’Sword Fall Land’...”

”Take up this ’zhenyuan’ remnant sword... it will guide your way...”

”The road ahead... you must slash open yourselves...”

”Remember... the Seal... or... the way out...”

”The true meaning of Vast Righteousness... is... protection... and also... unyielding... pioneering...”

The remnant Soul’s intent grew weaker and weaker, and the dark red Soul fire began to gradually dim, as if its final mission had been completed.

”Go...”

”Do not... fail... the Sword Heart...”

The last trace of intent dissipated, and the Soul fire in the skeleton’s eye sockets was completely extinguished.

The skeleton seemed to lose its last bit of strength; it trembled slightly, and the skeletal hand holding the sword hilt slowly loosened and dropped down.

The entire passage returned to a deathly silence once more.

Only that inverted, broken stone sword named ’zhenyuan’ remained, its surface flowing with a faint but incredibly firm light, its tip vibrating slightly, pointing deeper into the passage.

There lay a deeper darkness that even the chaos dao seed and the Profound Yin Immortal Body found difficult to perceive.

Su Muxue and Lin Mo exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock, realization, and heavy responsibility in each other’s eyes.

She took a deep breath, slowly stepped forward, and reached out her slender hand to grasp the zhenyuan remnant sword—the vessel of an ancient Sword Cultivator’s final obsession and hope.

The moment her fingertips touched that cold hilt, a vast and tragic flood of Sword Intent instantly surged into her body!