Li Xuanxiao gazed through the window at the sword-practicing youth.

The boy flashed him a grin.

For a moment, Li Xuanxiao's vision blurred.

"......"

As dusk fell, the cicadas' chorus suddenly swelled like a rising tide.

"When I first held a sword as a boy, I believed I could right all the world's injustices."

Sweat trickled down the youth's spine into his waistband as he regarded the kindly old man rambling before him.

"Grandpa," the boy's clear voice rang out, "can you teach me swordsmanship?"

"What do you want to learn for?"

The youth raised his wooden sword. "To slay demons and monsters!"

"Lower your voice," Li Xuanxiao cautioned. "Speaking such things nowadays could get you killed."

The boy puffed out his chest proudly. "One day, I'll personally exterminate every demon in this world!"

After a brief hesitation, Li Xuanxiao flicked his wrist. Three inches of silvery light erupted from the wooden blade's edge.

The boy's jaw dropped.

"......"

At dawn the next day, sunlight pierced through fish-belly-white clouds.

The merchant caravan departed the town.

In the morning light, the youth swung his sword with surprising proficiency, executing the moves Li Xuanxiao had taught him.

Li Xuanxiao observed the boy's slender frame expanding and contracting with each sword stance, like a newly forged blade revealing its grain during tempering.

After completing the set, the youth bowed deeply toward Li Xuanxiao's direction.

Li Xuanxiao smiled faintly, hesitated, then flicked his wrist again.

An unnamed sword manual slid from his sleeve.

Decades earlier, an old man had similarly tossed an ordinary manual to a boy lying in the snow.

The sword's whistle had startled snowflakes into swirling dance, two eras colliding with resonant force.

Li Xuanxiao looked up.

He remembered his master's parting words:

"The past cannot be undone, but the future can be changed."

"Now Mount Shushan has fallen. As for what comes next... that's in your hands."

"......"

Within a magnificent temple's solemn halls,

Dim candlelight flickered against shadowed walls.

Rows of black-robed monks sat upon meditation cushions,

Their wooden fish percussion blending with sutra chants.

"So boooring~" Di Nü Feng lay sprawled before the Buddha statue, popping sweets into her mouth.

When had her gang recruited so many monks?

She glanced around. According to Zhang Tianxin, these monks had fled persecution from Western Buddhist sects due to doctrinal differences,

Now finding refuge within Tian Sha Hall.

"Di Nü Feng! Di Nü Feng!"

*Munch munch*

(｀ﾍ´)

"Hmm, so bored I'm hallucinating Li Xuanxiao calling me."

"Di Nü Feng!"

She scrambled upright—no hallucination.

"......"

Guards blocked Li Xuanxiao at the temple steps.

"State your business!"

Instead of answering, Li Xuanxiao's gaze fixed elsewhere.

Yin Lingzi stood fanning himself nearby, smirking.

As one of Tian Sha Hall's Four Guardian Vajras, Yin Lingzi declared:

"This man intends to assassinate our leader! Seize him!"

"Yes!"

Blades flashed as guards moved to apprehend Li Xuanxiao.

Frowning slightly, Li Xuanxiao produced a token.

"The Leader's Seal. To behold it is to behold the leader herself."

The guards hesitated, then knelt as one.

"All hail the leader!!"

Li Xuanxiao shot Yin Lingzi a look.

"Just joking, Brother Li," Yin Lingzi chuckled awkwardly.

At the temple entrance, a familiar presence emerged.

Di Nü Feng's initial grin faltered as past events resurfaced.

Hands on hips, she stared down from the high steps.

When their eyes met, Di Nü Feng felt the old familiarity return.

"Dismissed," she waved.

"Yes!"

Yin Lingzi's fanning grew stiff.

This Li Xuanxiao was like a haunting ghost—

Elimination seemed the only solution.

He whispered to an underling:

"Leak word that Mount Shushan disciples hide within Tian Sha Hall."

The subordinate wavered. "Vajra, this... this seems unwise?"

A icy glare silenced his protest.

"......"

Inside the temple,

Li Xuanxiao sat on a cushion amid chanting monks.

Di Nü Feng's face suddenly pressed close.

(*^▽^*)

"What?"

"Nothing. You just feel different again."

Straightening, Li Xuanxiao said gravely:

"I've urgent news. Clear the room."

As Zhang Tianxin ushered others out, Li Xuanxiao slipped him a note.

"Finished your Jiangnan business?" Di Nü Feng asked.

Li Xuanxiao cut to the chase:

"The me you met earlier wasn't me."

Di Nü Feng cocked her head, baffled.

"My Three Corpses Doppelganger. The Self Corpse."

"Self Corpse?!" Her eyes widened.

Even at Tribulation Transcension stage, she hadn't severed her doppelgangers—yet Li Xuanxiao already had?

"Severing them is my next breakthrough," he explained. "Before assisting you fully, I must complete this..."

Di Nü Feng frowned. "How can I help?"

Exactly what he'd hoped for.

"Capture it. It's slipped my control."

Nodding comprehension, she agreed.

"One more thing—my presence must stay secret, lest it endanger Tian Sha Hall.

My Self Corpse has already exposed the Mount Shushan disciples. Worse would be revealing I'm here."

Another nod.

Li Xuanxiao added: "Your subordinate Yin Lingzi is dangerous. He's likely spreading word of my presence now."

Di Nü Feng shook her head, thumping her chest confidently:

"Don't worry! He's my man—obeys my orders. I've warned him already."

Calmly, Li Xuanxiao predicted:

"Zhang Tianxin should return with Yin Lingzi's agents shortly."