> "You are not holding me. I am allowing you to hold me."
—Sword Soul, Nameless
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[1] At the Foot of Broken Mountain
By the time the fog had mostly cleared, the team had passed through the wetland; beneath their boots, the ground turned to loose stone and withered grass.
Broken Mountain loomed ahead like a slumbering black wall, a deep gray fissure splitting its waist as though some massive force had torn it apart.
Ashheart Grass grew in the cracks along the cliff face outside the fissure—its leaves long and narrow, veins traced in silvery gray, able to be boiled into a blood-staunching salve.
The apothecary clutched his basket, hands trembling slightly. "Half an hour. Gather fast and get out."
Lin Yuan stayed on the flank, watching the fissure for movement. The feeling in his right hand had fully returned, but the memory of gripping the sword was like a taut thread in his mind—pull on it too hard, and that cold would climb up his finger bones.
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[2] An Unexpected Guest
They hadn't been collecting long when a faint scraping came from deep inside the fissure.
The leader frowned. "Quick—"
He didn't finish before a gray blur shot from the depths like an arrow, landing on the rocky slope.
It was a lizard-like beast, its whole body a pallid gray-white, strange sinews swelling beneath its skin, two rows of sharp bone spines rising from its back. Its eyes had no pupils—only milky white orbs that reflected cold light in the sun.
The apothecary's face drained of color. "…Rift Bone Lizard."
Fast as the wind, bone spines laced with venom—one scratch could be fatal.
Its tongue lashed like a whip, tail slamming down—stone chips flew, and one man's faceplate was scored with a long gouge, nearly knocking him flat.
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[3] Engaging the Enemy
"Blade formation! Block it!" the leader barked.
Three Blade Dao practitioners moved quickly into position, their arcs of steel sealing the front. But the lizard's body was unnaturally supple—three consecutive dodges, and it suddenly ran straight up the rock wall, springing down from the flank.
Lin Yuan looked up, locking eyes with those milky whites in midair—pure predator's eyes, cold and devoid of emotion, holding only kill.
He drew his sword—the familiar heartbeat thrummed up the hilt at once, like still water in a deep well suddenly stirred, rippling outward.
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[4] A Moment Between Life and Death
The Bone Lizard's speed was incredible—one blink, and it was in his face, bone spines stabbing for his eyes.
Lin Yuan twisted aside, slashing diagonally; the strike only sheared off half a spine. The lizard's tail swept across, carrying a howling gust.
Bang—
Blade met tailbone, the impact numbing his entire arm.
The numbness crawled from shoulder to chest, stealing his breath for a heartbeat. A cold thought flickered—half a beat slower, and his chest would have been pierced through.
The lizard twisted, all four claws driving it forward, lunging for his throat. Lin Yuan gritted his teeth and swung horizontally with all his strength—the edge skimmed along its lower jaw, spraying a cloud of dark red mist.
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[5] The Sword Soul's Whisper and Takeover
And then—
The ancient patterns began to pulse rapidly, no longer the steady heartbeat from before, but a hungry urging, as if saying more.
A cold, mocking voice exploded in his mind:
> "Clumsy. You hold me like some dying old man."
Lin Yuan almost froze—it wasn't an illusion. The voice carried the pressure of a drawn blade.
"You're…"
> "Your sword soul. Or rather… your master."
The lizard lunged again, its shadow dropping over him like a gray shroud. The voice chuckled coldly:
> "Give me your hand, or you'll die."
"This is my—"
> "Shut up."
In that instant, a cold force surged from the hilt into his arm. Lin Yuan's muscles were pulled taut like marionette strings, his joints snapping into sharp, decisive motion—he could feel himself moving, but it was not his will.
His vision trembled. His eyes still saw, but his body had been shifted behind a curtain, a stranger's consciousness at the helm. The wrongness of it tightened his throat—he was watching himself kill, as an outsider.
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[6] The First Bite of a Parasite
The blade whipped upward, its path so precise and bizarre that even he had never seen it—driving from beneath the jaw straight into the Bone Lizard's skull.
The beast convulsed, the milky eyes dimming to nothing.
The next moment, scalding heat surged into the hilt—not just blood, but something deeper, mist-like essence being pulled away.
A low, resonant swallowing filled his ears, each gulp sending a faint tremor through his bones.
At the same time, a strange sense of loss hollowed his chest—like someone had quietly carved away a piece of his core. For a heartbeat, his mind went blank—he even forgot where he was.
> "Now that's better. Feed me, and I'll let you live longer."
The sword soul's voice was tinged with satisfaction, savoring the taste.
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[7] Aftermath and Foreshadowing
The heat receded. Lin Yuan jerked the blade free, chest heaving. The numbness in his right hand hadn't eased; it had spread deeper, making it hard even to clench a fist.
The leader hurried over, glanced at the corpse of the Bone Lizard, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "You killed it?"
Lin Yuan didn't answer, only slung the sword onto his back. The glow in the ancient carvings had dimmed, but the slow pulse still throbbed in his palm—like a wild beast resting after a full meal, waiting for the next.
The team moved on. The Ashheart Grass was collected without further incident.
Before sunset, they began the journey back. Lin Yuan walked at the rear, a thought hooked in his mind—
If this sword takes control of my body in every fight, what does it intend to turn me into?
Behind them, the fog slowly closed in again, like the mouth of something enormous, shutting slowly.