Wait, How Did My Digital Girlfriend Become a Sword Immortal? Chapter 986: Making the person behind him stop wielding his sword

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Screech—!

Tens of thousands of sword cries simultaneously exploded within Chen Huaian's mind.

"To achieve sainthood through the Sword Dao, what is your sword's path!"

A vast voice boomed in his mind, causing Chen Huaian's entire body to shudder.

By the time he reacted, his consciousness had already been pulled into a sea of primordial chaos.

Here, there was no sky, no earth, only endless Sword Qi crisscrossing in all directions, each strand of Sword Qi carrying the ultimate expression of a single Sword Dao.

A sword light soared into the heavens, cleaving through the firmament.

That was the Heaven-Sundering Sword.

Those who achieve sainthood via this Sword Dao—the heavens dare not blind their eyes, the earth dare not bury their bones.

Another sword light was as deep and profound as an abyss, its killing intent condensed into a tangible substance.

That was the Slaughter Sword.

When the sword emerges, blood dyes a thousand miles; when the sword is sheathed, all beings fall silent.

This path is the easiest to achieve sainthood, because survival of the fittest is itself one of the Laws most recognized by the cosmos.

Chen Huaian saw a sword light as gentle as water, yet as tenacious as silk—that was the Sword of Sentiment and Righteousness.

Within the sword lay concern, promises, people and things one would rather die than betray.

Those who wield this sword have attachments in their hearts, thus their blade edge is unbreakable.

He also saw a dim, obscure sword light, within which was reflected not the jianghu's killings, but the lives of the common people over ten thousand years.

This sword light was the weakest, yet also the most stubborn.

It rose from the dust, ascending against the heavens inch by inch.

Every inch was stained with blood and mud, every inch wrote the same word—refusal to accept fate.

Tens of thousands of Sword Daos unfurled before his eyes, each one leading to the position of a Saint.

Just as Chen Huaian was pondering how to choose, an emotionless, indifferent voice sounded behind him:

"Choose one path, become a Saint. Abandon the rest, sever them."

Chen Huaian turned around.

He saw an identical version of himself standing not far away. His heart grew vigilant, thinking it was an invasion by something like the Heavenly Dao of the Canglan Realm or the White Sword. He reached back to feel for the Chaos Sword at his waist, but grasped only empty air.

"Who are you?" he asked coldly.

"I am your true heart."

That Chen Huaian said with an expressionless face, "Without facing your true heart, how can you achieve sainthood? Choose your path to Sainthood!"

"My heart..."

Chen Huaian met the gaze of his own true heart.

Choosing the Heaven-Sundering Sword, he would become a Sword Saint who rebels against the heavens and challenges the Dao, with no one in all heaven and earth able to restrain his blade.

Choosing the Slaughter Sword, he would prove his Dao through killing, becoming a Sword Sovereign who makes the Three Realms tremble.

Choosing the Sword of Mortals, he would become the first Sage in all of history to prove the Sword Dao with a mortal body, his name forever recorded in the annals.

His Sword Dao had already been Perfected to the Extreme, capable of infinite transformations. He could choose any one of these paths to Sainthood.

But, Chen Huaian did not move.

He merely looked at his own true heart.

In the 'true heart,' he saw a familiar silhouette.

That was Chen Huaian, who had just obtained the Electronic Girlfriend System.

He stood on the plaza of the Qingyun Sect, facing the late-stage Divine Transformation Qingxuan Daoist without retreating a single step, with the battered and bruised Li Qingran behind him.

He slew demonic ghosts, exterminated Emperor Jiang, with a single sword strike beheaded the Bone Porcelain Bodhisattva, saving the tens of millions of living beings of the entire Tianfu District...

All along the way, the times he had wielded his sword were, fundamentally, for the sake of protection.

Protecting his companions, protecting his home, protecting those closest to him.

Later, he became the Ancestral Dragon's heir, and saving Earth, this world trapped in an endless Cycle of Reincarnation, became a responsibility upon his shoulders.

Chen Huaian suddenly understood.

And at the very instant of his enlightenment.

The image of his true heart vanished from before him.

The tens of thousands of Sword Daos trembled simultaneously.

The radiance of the Heaven-Sundering Sword Dao flickered violently, the killing intent of the Slaughter Sword began to churn chaotically, the Sword of Mortals swayed unwillingly.

They were all waiting for Chen Huaian's choice.

They all hoped to be chosen by Chen Huaian.

Yet Chen Huaian closed his eyes.

He no longer looked at the radiance of those Sword Daos, but instead looked into his own heart.

In those countless cycles of reincarnation, he had also had countless names.

From a nobody to the Bodhi Daoist, he had experienced endless years.

He saw his sixteen-year-old self, leaving the ruins with that rusted sword on his back, embarking on the path of cultivation.

His master, on his deathbed, had said "survive," and so he truly had only wanted to survive.

He saw his eighteen-year-old self, holding a true spirit sword for the first time.

An Elder of the Lingxiao Sword Sect had asked him why he cultivated the sword. He said, "I only want to protect the people around me."

The Elder shook his head, saying that reason was too small, it couldn't support a Sword Dao.

He didn't believe it.

He saw his fifty-two-year-old self, holding the line alone atop the walls of Cangwu City for seven days.

The demonic Beast Tide pressed upon the city like black clouds. He stood before the city gate with sword in hand, neither sleeping nor resting for seven days and seven nights.

When the city fell, he had slain thirteen demon generals, seventy percent of the bones in his body broken, yet he had never taken a single step back.

Because behind him were a hundred thousand common people.

He saw his one hundred and twenty-five-year-old self, returning with sword in hand to aid his besieged sect.

In that battle, he fought until his blade edge was chipped, fought until his spiritual power was exhausted, fought until his body was covered in sword wounds deep enough to see bone.

His junior brother asked him why he didn't flee. He said, "The reason I learned the sword was precisely for this."

...

All along this journey, he had never actively drawn his sword against the heavens, never taken pleasure in slaughter, never considered himself some heaven-defying hero.

He just—

Didn't want to see everything he cherished vanish before his eyes again.

If the Sword Dao wasn't for protecting everything behind him, then... what was the use of cultivating this Sword Dao?

His thoughts became clear and unimpeded.

Chen Huaian opened his eyes.

The roaring of the tens of thousands of Sword Daos ceased abruptly at this moment.

He reached out his hand, not to take any of the sword lights, but to grasp towards his waist.

There, the Chaos Sword reappeared, but in the form of the Black Scales Sword, returning to its original simplicity.

The sword body trembled lightly, emitting a crisp sword cry, as if responding to Chen Huaian's choice.

And this single sword cry also drowned out all the roaring of the Sword Daos within the chaos.

"This Venerable One's Sword Dao," Chen Huaian's voice was as calm as water, "does not have so many grandiose titles."

"This Venerable One's Sword Dao to Sainthood has always been for only one thing—"

"So that those behind me no longer need to wield their swords!"

As his words fell, the chaotic space began to collapse.

The radiance of the tens of thousands of Sword Daos receded like a tide, leaving only a single sword light rising from within Chen Huaian's body.

That sword light was not dazzling, gentle as the dawn, yet it prevented the entire expanse of chaos from approaching even a fraction.

That was the sharp edge of the Sword Dao of Protection.

Not a Dao bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, but a Dao he had forged step by step himself.

Every inch of its radiance reflected every person he had ever protected.

The common people of Earth, the auspicious beast seniors who sacrificed themselves one after another to end the Cycle of Reincarnation, his comrades in the Sword Pavilion, Muscle Tyrant whose current fate was unknown, and his beloved little disciple...

Tens of thousands of faces flashed past within the radiance, transforming into the purest Sword Intent.

This was his Sword Dao.

From the moment he obtained the Electronic Girlfriend System, this path had already been destined.

The essence of the Heavenly Dao completely merged into his Sword Bone at this moment.

The barrier between Quasi-Saint and Saint shattered with a thunderous crash.

Within the Cosmos, heaven and earth phenomena abruptly manifested.

The Canglan Realm, the Cangyun Realm, and Earth...

Any place where Chen Huaian had left his footprints.

Ten thousand swords cried out in unison!

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