When Luofu's icy edge collided with the molten fire of Zhu Ming, the trembling hum of flying swords drowned out even the beating of their hearts. His hand had lost its warmth to the blade. Only when he clasped hers as she gripped the sword's edge and bled did he realize that the most painful part of tempering a weapon was not the quenching. It was when the young man bowed his head and his tears fell into her wound, scorching through a hundred-forged steel and revealing a tenderness soft enough to coil around a finger.
The resonance of the "Sword of Destiny" burst across the sea of stars. The reincarnated sword spirit and the sword-obsessed youth affirmed each other's Dao hearts: "This body can burn into embers to shield you, and this sword can shatter into frost to guard you. All I ask is that when we meet again, the strand of my hair around your wrist will still be wound tight around this ever-trembling world."
1. Disturbance in the Star Skiff Haven
