Honkai.
In a purely objective standpoint, it is a high-level power that suddenly came to the Solar System. Its origin, the Cocoon of Finality, existed hundreds of millions years ago at least.
The Cocoon of Finality searches numerous "worlds" within the imaginary tree and takes root onto them. That was what it did in Venus' civilization 250 million years ago. This is also what it did during the last 50,000 years on Earth.
It is a force worthy of respect, which is precisely why Shi Tian carefully treaded this path.
He once tried to feed the golden orb contents regarding the honkai, only to fail. The golden orb does NOT consider the honkai as a part of it, merely giving the cultivation equivalents of things.
This left him one last option—to deal with it himself.
Inarguably, the best reference for such things is to see honkai-related techniques. Anti-Entropy does not have that.
The best option lies with someone else.
"Hm? You are…"
Fu Hua exited the village. Part of her job is to look for things missed out by Schicksal's crew, thus bringing her to the site's opposite direction. She did not see any traces of that sword will… until now.
Amidst the dozens of trees, grass, and dirt, there stood a silhouette covered in hazy silver light.
Crack-!
Fu Hua's glasses made a crack. The sheer momentum from this light is enough to automatically affect the physical world.
Shiing-!
The silhouette raised its right arm. Fu Hua's combat instinct readied for a battle.
Swoosh-!
Bam-!
The attack landed on the ground in front of her. Dirt trembled as a cloud of dust arose.
She did not move. Her eyes are staring intently at the Chinese characters written on the ground. It was written with sword lights, giving it a familiar sharp flair.
[Greetings, Miss Fu Hua. Or should I say, Shenzhou's Empyrean?]
"Who are you?"
Hum-!
This time, the sword lights formed several characters mid-air. Their opacity turned darker, making it easier to read.
[A nameless swordsman. Does it suffice?]
"...Which sect did you come from?"
Fu Hua asked in hopes of finding a familiar name. The sword lights disappointed her, however.
[Would it help if I mention the name Hidden Sect?]
"..."
Shi Tian no longer spat bad jokes. The tropes from the xianxia he knew are akin to brainrot.
[That does not matter. I came here to make a trade. The Empyrean's sect-founding arts in exchange for your recovery. Do you agree?]
Fu Hua is confused. A lot of things happened in this encounter. The source of disturbance which even Schicksal could not find wants her [Blade Mantra].
She has a lot of questions destined to be unanswered for some time.
'Recovery… Can they do something about it? But why would…'
That's the point.
Her shattered Taixuan (Eminence) mental state is a huge problem. Otto helped her recover after her disciples' betrayal, but that's it. The shattered "mental state" due to her brain damage at that time could not be recovered.
Treating this condition would not work without sufficient knowledge about the [Blade Mantra].
This implies one thing: There is something that can treat Fu Hua's ailment WITHOUT knowing [Blade Mantra].
'Impossible.'
Fu Hua retracted her thoughts. Everything is but an impossibility in the face of Honkai.
She silently faced the silver silhouette. The sword will he gave off is very similar to [Blade Mantra].
Stigmatas are a form of will. It houses "memories" from its origins. [Blade Mantra] grants its user a pseudo-stigmata in its highest level.
"I agree."
[Very well. Recite its contents.]
For the third time, Fu Hua was surprised. She was expecting the silhouette to ask for a physical copy of sorts.
Nevertheless, she complied.
The silhouette gave her an unprecedented pressure. It was different from Herrschers. She has a feeling it would be a hard-fought battle had she clashed with him. In this regard, Fu Hua might as well buy more time to think about things.
Just as she was about to begin with the explanations, a line of characters appeared.
[I want to hear its mantra.]
Although confused, Fu Hua complied.
A bunch of intelligible sounds came from her mouth.
"..mou...talali...mou...ruokuluo…"
Shi Tian fell silent. He listened intently to the syllables.
Hum.
The first thing it did was to trigger a reaction from his Sword Nurturing Pagoda.
"Mou, mali."
His mind fell into calmness. He isn't unfamiliar with it. His Sword Heart does it.
"Mou, wuliete."
The mind turned into a still lake. It is in the state of Absolute Calm. Nothing could break it out of its serenity.
"Mou, kabayisiliu."
A foreign force was introduced. It stirred up waves, but to no avail. No matter what it does, the lake remains still.
What came next is the condensation of the lake into ice. Not a speck of dust could be found—it is Flawlessly Clean.
Then, lines of crack decorated its surface. Unfortunately, its existence disappeared as soon as it appeared.
The lake turned into a Clear Mirror.
Finally, everything turned into darkness. The clear mirror is swallowed by endless, unavoidable darkness. It is the true stillness of everything, the state of Great Void (lit. Taixuan).
Amidst the endless emptiness, only a tiny light speck could be seen. The moment Shi Tian glanced at it, the darkness was engulfed with blinding white light. A glimpse of it showed an invisible sword's silhouette.
Soon, the white light died down. It returned to the vast expense of nothingness.
'..!'
Shi Tian felt extremely uneasy at the sight of it. Before he could do anything, however, the Taixuan state he went to triggered external changes.
BUZZ-!
A pillar of silver light shot through the sky.
Under Fu Hua's shocked gaze, honkai energy began to appear out of nowhere. The leaves trembled, the ground cracked.
A fusion of two fundamentally different forces began to occur. The silver jian appeared on the silhouette's right hand. The honkai energy spawned from this 'crack' began to gather in this blade. Honkai energy threatened to enter his body.
The protection of his five-colored spiritual qi temporarily halted this process.
The surrounding honkai energy stained the hazy silver light with a tinge of purple before turning into pure black. With the sword intent as a carrier, honkai energy poured limitlessly.
"You..!"
A ridiculous assumption entered Fu Hua's mind.
Her [Blade Mantra]...
It is cultivated to the highest level within minutes!
The shaky silver light formed several characters mid-air.
[A sword is not a sword; it belongs within our hearts; and cuts all false and true.]
The honkai-stained jian was swung upwards. Its tip was pointed to the sky.
Nothing of significance happened next. It did not create a huge disturbance.
Yet…
Fu Hua saw the clouds above them. A huge rift appeared. A vast sharpness erupted within the skies.
'The blade is formless but needs form.'
'An edge is shapeless but it fills every space.'
'A sword within one's heart, cutting all false and true.'
A few thousand years of living.
Everything flashed inside her mind.
Everything.
Something inside her chest rang out. A strong goosebumps crept up to her spine.
All of her forgotten memories temporarily resurfaced. They are destined to sink once again. Although vague, they existed.
The brain is not able to carry huge amounts of memories. Fu Hua has her limits.
But her soul doesn't.
The Sword Heart originates from the soul, manifesting as a self-affirmation of a cultivator—of their will to grasp their destiny!
Her state of enlightenment ended. An intangible sword is present in her mind—the Sword Heart.
Traces of complicated emotions flashed on her eyes. The Sword Heart's awakening brought her to an emotional rollercoaster. Her mind is in a complete mess.
"I… can still…"
Fu Hua snapped out of it when she realized one thing:
"He is gone."
Adrift to the wind, the source of the sword will disappeared.
*****
A/N: It was confusing and funny to see everyone misunderstand the last chapter. She is Shenzhou's flattest board; this won't change. I wrote the two scenes (Himeko and Fu Hua) in almost identical manner, but with Tian commenting differently on them. I added a few sentences to make this one clear, so for those who got baffled, sorry 'bout that.
Anyways, honkai and immortal cultivation is about to mix with each other. All I can say is... combining two different power systems result to hacks. We'll see in the next few chapters how it will work out.