Chapter 28 – The Name of the Sword
In the heart of the Sanctuary of the Broken Abyss, Shen Mu stood motionless.
His gaze seemed lost in the empty vastness, yet his thoughts traveled elsewhere.
The silence within his inner world was not that of rest, nor even of solitude.
It was an ancient silence.
A silence… inhabited.
[Connection to a Memory Fragment: in progress]
[Karmic link identified – Unknown origin]
[Association: Sword Technique – Silent Edge]
A dull beat echoed beneath his feet.
Not a heartbeat.
A beat… of space.
Something was forming.
Something new.
Or perhaps… very old.
Shen Mu stretched out his hand.
Instantly, his mind was drawn into a black mist.
When he opened his eyes again, he stood in an endless armory.
Thousands of swords floated in the void, suspended like unanswered prayers.
But only one vibrated.
It was invisible.
And yet, it cut through light itself.
Shen Mu approached, without fear, without words.
The name engraved itself in his mind without passing through language.
— Nihila.
A blade without weight.
Without sound.
Without reflection.
Without memory.
[Spiritual Sword Awakened: Nihila – Blade of the Nonexistent Void]
[Quality: Celestial Transcendence]
[Property: Erases cause, effect… and memory with a single strike]
[Activation: 12]
[Manifestation: visible only to the wielder]
When he opened his eyes, Shen Mu was back in the sanctuary.
But his breath had changed.
An imperceptible vibration rippled around him, as if the air itself now refused to approach.
He slowly raised his right hand.
A thin black trace waved in the air.
A moment later, a crack opened in the sanctuary's space, as if reality itself had just been sliced.
The system emitted a strange sound.
Almost… hesitant.
[Warning: Blade bearer of a forbidden code]
[Higher karmic connection detected]
[External observation: active – identities unidentified]
And elsewhere, in a very distant world…
A young woman in a jade robe startled.
Yun Xue looked up to the sky.
Her heart, which she believed frozen long ago, quickened.
— This shiver… this sensation…
She slowly placed her hand on the guard of her own sword.
But it was not her who had been reached by the call.
Someone…
Or something…
had just awakened a blade even she could not conceive