: Anchoring Thoughts on the River of Oblivion, A Glimpse of Bygone Traces

The wind in the Forgotten River Forest is silent, yet carries a bone-chilling cold.

The bluestone path beneath my feet seemed to stretch forward, but the cave behind me remained forever three zhang away, like a shadow I could never shake off.

Even more terrifying was that the memories in his mind were fading away at a visible speed. Xiao Yun Sheng gripped the twin swords at his chest tightly, his fingertips turning white—

He had almost forgotten what his father, Xiao Jingchen, looked like!

Shen Lingxi, who was beside him, trembled slightly, her face as pale as paper.

She instinctively grabbed Xiao Yunsheng's sleeve: "Xiao Yunsheng... I can hardly remember why I came to Yanyu Mountain?"

She was born with a sword-marked body, making her most sensitive to restrictions on the soul. The memory-corroding power of the Forgotten River Forest affected her even more than Xiao Yunsheng!

In just a few dozen steps, she had almost forgotten her original purpose for entering the mountain, forgotten the way her mother was tormented by the curse, and forgotten the sacrifice of her two senior brothers who gave their lives to break the deadlock.

This is what makes the Forest of Oblivion so terrifying.

Xiao Yunsheng pressed his hand down on her wrist, the warmth of his palm seeping through her clothes. "Don't panic, stay with me, don't let go! Remember who you are, remember what you're supposed to do!"

His voice was like a stabilizing force, instantly calming Shen Lingxi's wavering mind.

She gripped Xiao Yunsheng's hand tightly, her fingertips turning white from the force, forcing herself to repeat in her heart over and over again: I am Shen Lingxi, I will find out the truth about my mother's curse, I will avenge Senior Brother Qin and Senior Brother Li!

Xiao Yunsheng's gaze swept over the dense, impenetrable black forest around him, his mind racing.

The Forest of Oblivion can erase memories, but it cannot erase the obsessions etched deepest in one's soul!

Qin Feng and Li Yan were willing to sacrifice their lives to protect Shen Lingxi, and Chan Tong could use his mother's illusion to shatter Shen Lingxi's Dao heart; the root of all this was obsession.

The core of the restrictions in this forest is "severing attachments and forgetting the past."

Conversely, as long as they anchor their deepest obsessions, this restriction will not harm them in the slightest.

Xiao Yunsheng instantly understood the key point. He raised his hand and pressed the mother-and-child sword pendant on his chest. The meteorite iron sword pendant left by his father was slightly warm at the moment, as if it was echoing the obsession in his heart!

Three years of forbearance, three years of sword training, and tireless efforts to find out the cause of his father's death were an obsession etched into his soul that he could never erase.

"Shen Lingxi, concentrate!" Xiao Yunsheng said in a deep voice, "Use your innate sword imprint to anchor your deepest obsession. The restrictions in this forest cannot hold us back."

Shen Lingxi was startled.

She knew from a young age that she was born with a sword mark, but her grandfather, Shen Qingzhu, only said that it was the root of all evil and never taught her how to use it.

But at this moment, reminded by Xiao Yunsheng, she subconsciously activated the warm sword imprint deep in her dantian. Instantly, a barely perceptible golden sword pattern flashed across her eyes.

The innate sword seal is specifically designed to break through the world's illusory restrictions!

The moment the golden sword pattern lit up, the surrounding black mist surged violently, and the previously blurry path ahead revealed a clear outline.

"It works!" A glint of light flashed in Shen Lingxi's eyes.

At the same time, Xiao Yunsheng gripped the Flowing Cloud Iron Sword at his waist, using the mother-and-child sword pendant as an anchor and his obsession with the cause of his father's death as a root, to completely stabilize the sword heart he had honed over three years of sword practice.

He kept walking, holding Shen Lingxi's hand, and walked step by step into the depths of the dark forest.

Shen Lingxi used her sword seal to shatter illusions, while Xiao Yunsheng used his obsession to calm his mind. The two worked together seamlessly, and the Black Forest, which they had been unable to approach before, was now being entered step by step by them.

The cave behind us finally faded into the distance and disappeared into the black mist.

Half an hour later, the two finally stepped out of the Forgotten River Forest.

What lay before them was no longer a dense, dark forest, but an abandoned camp surrounded by mountain streams.

The stone houses in the camp had long since collapsed, leaving only broken walls and ruins. The stone walls were covered with mottled sword marks, and a faint trace of meteorite iron, which originated from the same source as the mother and child sword pendants, still lingered in the air.

Xiao Yunsheng's heart clenched, and he stopped in his tracks instantly.

This scent is my father's!

He strode forward, his fingertips tracing the sword marks on the stone wall. The marks were left by the most basic Flowing Cloud Sword Technique, yet they carried a power and rhythm he knew all too well—the handwriting of his father, Xiao Jingchen!

In the corner of the stone wall, there is a small character "惊" (jing, meaning "surprise"), which is exactly the same as the character on the mother-and-child sword pendant.

This is the campsite where my father, Xiao Jingchen, stayed when he entered Yanyu Mountain!

Shen Lingxi stood behind him, not making a sound to disturb him, but quietly watching his back as he stroked the stone wall.

Xiao Yunsheng searched through the ruins and finally found an iron box wrapped in oilcloth under a loose stone slab.

The iron box was engraved with flowing cloud sword patterns and fit perfectly with the mother-and-child sword pendant. He inserted the child pendant from his chest into it, and with a click, the iron box opened.

There were no martial arts techniques or secret manuals inside, only half a yellowed animal hide map and a piece of hemp paper covered with writing.

The handwriting on the hemp paper was that of her father, Xiao Jingchen; the strokes were sharp, yet the ending carried a hint of despair.

"The Sword Pivot Academy colluded with the Witchcraft Clan, using disciples in blue robes as sacrifices to refine the Burning Cycle Seal! The Qilin Altar deep within Yan Yu Mountain is not a place of opportunity, but a sacrificial ground. Disciples who enter the mountain face certain death!"

The last line of text was blurred and illegible, the ink already soaked through with blood.

Xiao Yunsheng's fingertips trembled slightly, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his eyes surged with overwhelming anger and grief.

My father did not die from the jaws of a ferocious beast, but from a conspiracy orchestrated by the higher-ups of the Heavenly Palace Sect!

Kenshuin is one of the masterminds behind this!

He gripped the piece of hemp paper tightly, his knuckles turning white, and the twin sword pendant on his chest was burning hot.

Just then, hushed voices came from the dense forest on the other side of the mountain stream.

"The Vice Sect Master has ordered that the protective barriers around the altar must be reinforced again before midnight, and absolutely no mistakes can be made!"

"Don't worry, the Commander has already made arrangements. That old bastard Bai Xuan is being kept out of Xuanlin Ferry, and Lord Wuheng is guarding the ferry crossing. Even if those two brats break through the Forgotten River Forest, they definitely won't reach the altar!"

"It's a pity about those two red-clad guards; otherwise, four sacrifices would have been enough to make up the four pillars for the sacrifice!"

They're from the Jade Toad Sect!

Xiao Yunsheng instantly suppressed his aura and gestured for Shen Lingxi to be quiet. The two of them silently pressed themselves against the broken wall and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

Three disciples dressed in Jade Toad Sect attire walked by quickly, each with a poisoned bone blade hanging from their waist. They looked hurried and were clearly heading towards the Qilin Altar.

Shen Lingxi's face instantly turned icy cold.

Sure enough, the high-ranking members of the Sword Pivot Academy around Grandpa were the traitors colluding with the Jade Toad Sect! They captured me and Xiao Yunsheng not to blackmail the Heavenly Palace Sect, but for the sacrifice at midnight!

A cold glint flashed in Xiao Yunsheng's eyes.

The animal hide map left by my father clearly marked the location of the Qilin Altar, which was only twenty miles away by mountain road. And now, it was already dusk, and at midnight, there were less than four hours left.

He turned to look at Shen Lingxi, their eyes met, and without saying a word, he understood her feelings.

The revenge for Qin Feng and Li Yan must be taken, the injustice done to their father must be redressed, and this sacrificial conspiracy must be stopped.

"Let's go," Xiao Yunsheng said in a deep voice, carefully putting the iron box and map away from his body and gripping the Flowing Cloud Iron Sword tightly.

Shen Lingxi nodded. The innate sword imprint in her dantian was slightly warm. There was no longer any confusion in her eyes, only determination.

The two figures moved swiftly, like two gentle breezes, silently following behind the three Jade Toad Sect disciples towards the Qilin Altar.

Unbeknownst to them, after they left, an aged figure dressed in the blue robes of the Tianque Sect slowly emerged from the shadows of the broken wall.

He gazed in the direction Xiao Yunsheng had left, then at the character "惊" (jing, meaning shock/surprise) on the stone wall. A complex emotion flickered in his cloudy eyes, his fingertips trembled slightly, and he murmured softly, "Jingchen, your son, has grown up..."

With a flash, the figure disappeared into the shadows again, as if it had never existed.

Meanwhile, at the Qilin Altar twenty miles away, a net had already been laid, waiting for midnight to begin this bloody sacrifice with sword and curse marks as offerings.