You're Strong But Now You're Mine-Chapter 559 - 557: The Holy Sword Falls

Phew.

The Holy Sword emitted a soft sound of wind, the sound of blood splattering from the neck, as lonely as the sound of the wind.

Cha Shiyin, who witnessed everything beside, did not show any surprise. In the long years, he had seen too many illogical mutations. The unknown truths in history are often more absurd than the plots of novels, wilder than unofficial history. Whether Qin Leyin self-slain or Qin Leyin killed Ming Shuiyun, it would only make him sigh, how these young people truly know how to play.

Moreover, he could see that Qin Leyin was not dead at all. There was no trace of pain on Qin Leyin's face, not even a disruption in breathing, the former due to his cold-blooded constitution, and the latter...

"Is it the undead state of the Book of the Dead...wait, not just undead!"

Cha Shiyin noticed that 'Qin Leyin' suddenly looked at him, then at 'Ming Shuiyun', his expression changed from confusion to panic, from panic to sadness, with a deep plea in his eyes.

However, 'Ming Shuiyun' suddenly became arrogant and indifferent, calmly gazing at 'Qin Leyin', with uncompromising resolve in those deep pupils.

As if between one sword, 'Ming Shuiyun' became the Sword Master of supreme dominance, while 'Qin Leyin' transformed into a meek sword sheath...

Or, it seemed...

...that they swapped identities.

"So that's how it is...I see..." Cha Shiyin trembled, even though he usually faced everything with neither sadness nor joy, at this moment, he couldn't control his emotions, behaving like a normal person and losing composure: "…It's so..."

"Wonderful!"

He stared at 'Ming Shuiyun', his mouth curling upwards uncontrollably, displaying genuine joy in his eyes, but the smile was full of dark malice, the voice carrying a hint of shared misery:

"...I'll wait for you in the future."

A gentle breeze blew by, Cha Shiyin's body scattered like dust and sand, leaving only the robes on the altar.

On the Ascension Platform, only 'Ming Shuiyun' and 'Qin Leyin' remained.

"Your Scenic Battle Technique learned quite well, truly splendid." Le Yu squatted down, her palm emitting gentle light, healing the sword scar on the other's neck: "I don't know Scenic Battle Technique."

"You… I…" Shuiyun trembled her lips unable to say a complete sentence, she lowered her head to look at her own hands, unable to resist looking at the close-by empress, with a blank mind.

She had become Qin Leyin!

Qin Leyin had become her!

Such absurdity happening to oneself, an ordinary person couldn't really react. Shuiyun not pinching her own face to check if she was dreaming already showed her good mental state.

Until Le Yu healed the sword scar, Shuiyun finally regained her composure. She seemingly found the answer through observation, or perhaps found the truth from Qin Leyin's memory, she didn't ask those redundant questions but instead asked: "Why do this?"

"This was my plan from the start."

Le Yu softly said, "Don't go searching for my memory, listen carefully to me... You know, at the beginning, I didn't want to participate in the Sword Seeking Contest. I had a lover named Qing Lan, my dream was to search for the Divine Demon Well, I didn't want to pay attention to the internal struggles in Huiyao. Power, achievements, glory, wealth, delicious food, although I liked them, I didn't like them to the extent of willing to put effort unless fed right to my mouth."

"Even later, when I joined the Sword Seeking Contest, it was with a sightseeing mentality, intending just to play around, until I met the Assassin, met Bai Yu. Not because Bai Yu saved me, hence I wanted to fulfill his dream... But, how to put it..."

Le Yu rubbed away the blood on Shuiyun's neck, saying: "For their ideals to which they went through fire and water, their goals completed even in death, the future towards which they pressed forward even breathing their last breath, to me, it was a piece of cake."

"If I want to, I can fulfill their dreams."

"If I want to, I can end the wars in the world."

"If I want to, I can make everyone stop crying."

"If I want to."

"Not just because I have the ability but because I know the answer to the future. I know how to save Huiyao, I know how to let Huiyao enter the next historical stage, I even know the direction of the world's future."

"I don't have great ideals, nor am I keen on being a world-saving hero, but if Huiyao really needs a savior saint, then I would feel..."

"Who else but me is qualified for this?"

"If destiny hopes for me to live this way, then, I must live well." Le Yu said: "So, I voluntarily stepped into the turbid flow called destiny, and made a contract with you."

"You should feel, from the start I intended to distance myself from you, even hoping you would dislike me, hate me, despise me."

"Only then, could I carry out my plan with a clear conscience; only then, could I lay the groundwork for my final step."

"My initial plan was to support Shuiyun you ascended to the throne, pacify the realm, then..."

Le Yu grasped Shuiyun's neck, coldly said: "Die and Substitute, replace you, become the new emperor!"

"Although Huiyao is already decayed, it is ultimately the belief of ten thousand people, and possesses the Holy Sword Huiyao, overthrowing to redo would result in too much killing, and endless wars would cause anguish to all living beings. If it were to cause chaos throughout the martial world, what is the difference between Backlight Organization like White Night and the likes of Blue Flame?"

"Of course, if there were no Die and Substitute, I would probably support White Night, overturn everything to recreate the world. But Die and Substitute offered me a better choice - help the new emperor to suppress the realm, then replace the new emperor, from the top down, to revolutionize politics! Become the sole ruler of this continent and even the overlord of the entire world!"

"In the initial plan, you were the steps for my ascent to the throne, the medium for controlling supreme power!"

"All my kindness to you would be returned thousands of times over because, ultimately, I would become you!"

Listening to Le Yu's candid admission of his darkest thoughts, yet Shuiyun felt no anger, nor fear, instead she tearfully smilingly rebutted: "Is it because I'm cute that you changed your mind?"

"Perhaps it's because of the Holy Sword's seal." Le Yu calmly said: "However, even if my feelings for you were really brainwashed by the Holy Sword, I don't mind... As long as your kindness to me is genuine, your words are sincere, then I must repay you. I came to this world alone, never intending to leave with regrets."

"When the matter is over, I'll use the Holy Sword Huiyao to completely undo your seal." Shuiyun grabbed Le Yu's arms earnestly: "Then we return to the first day, without the Holy Sword, without the contract, to start anew."

"Aren't you already aware I have a fiancée?"

"I'm an emperor, after all, and just having a fiancée isn't married yet. If I saw a formidable opponent and wished to surrender, how would I have joined the Sword Seeking Contest to compete against Sister Shuangli?" Shuiyun wiped the tears from her eyes, revealing a sweet smile: "Then it's settled like this?"

Le Yu stared at her in a daze, nodded: "It's settled like this."

Slash!

The Holy Sword pierced through the pure white golden imperial robe, Le Yu looked down at her right hand, discovering her right hand's Holy Sword had disappeared, the Holy Sword Huiyao appeared in Shuiyun's hand, used by her to pierce through her chest.

"Therefore, give me back my body!" Shuiyun's voice was like a nail driven into wood, more resolute, more powerful than ever before: "The person who will create our future can only be me, it must be me!"

"Even if I change bodies, I still have the right to wield the Holy Sword... Once everything is settled, the Holy Sword can be yours, but at this moment, the master of the sword can only be me, it must be me!"

"I will not let you... pay any more price!"

"Choose, teacher!" She reached out her left hand to caress Le Yin's face, the cold iron bracelet gently pressing against his skin: "Use undead energy to keep me alive, or let me die as a Substitute because of your death?"

Blood trickled from Le Yin's mouth as he smiled: "Now you finally look like a master, you even want to tame me... You're certain that you can't be a loser at our gambling table."

"I will definitely win," Shuiyun said, "but until the end of my life, you will be the winner."

Swipe!

As the Holy Sword was withdrawn, their souls exchanged once more. Le Yin returned to Qin Le Yin, Shuiyun returned to Ming Shuiyun.

Ming Shuiyun instantly distanced herself from Le Yin, her left hand glowing slightly to heal her chest's wound, her right hand reaching into the void to summon the Holy Sword: "Teacher, everything will end!"

"Yes, everything will end," Le Yin chuckled lightly.

Ming Shuiyun was stunned, her right hand couldn't grasp the sword hilt of the Holy Sword, the sword refused to heed the call of the legitimate Sword Master!

"If you'd had more time to read my memory, you would have seen my conversation with Cha Huan, and would have known this was also part of my plan." Le Yin's iron bracelet on his left hand began transforming into a magnificent golden sword sheath: "You willingly 'killed' me, saving me some effort. I had planned to make a round in your body and return... I wasn't prepared to become a woman."

From the blade sheath, transformed from Saint's Relic, emerged a divine, scorching pure white light sword. No matter how Ming Shuiyun called, the Holy Sword firmly stayed within Le Yin's sheath, seemingly savoring a moment of vanity.

"This... can't be!" Ming Shuiyun was bewildered: "I'm the emperor, I'm the Sword Master!"

"I knew long ago, the Divine Weapon acknowledges the soul, not the body," Le Yin said. "So just by moving around in your body, I naturally also possess the rights to the Holy Sword."

"But this means that two Holy Sword Masters exist in this world, who has higher authority? Cha Huan told me, the Saint's Relic is the sheath of the Holy Sword, is the emperor's sheath... Though this seems useless, as the Holy Sword has no physical form, so what's the use of a sheath? However, I keenly realized if two Sword Masters exist simultaneously, the Saint's Relic might give me an advantage... like now."

Le Yin stood lightly on the sword hilt of the Holy Sword: "As long as I still possess the Saint's Relic, you will never retake the Holy Sword. Thank you for letting me return to this body."

"Give it back to me!"

Ming Shuiyun was desperate, she rushed over to try to reclaim the Holy Sword. Le Yin dodged lightly, hooking his left foot to trip Ming Shuiyun to the ground.

With a thud, Ming Shuiyun fell completely to the ground. She looked at the jade floor in disbelief, tears instantly welled up in her eyes, her small mouth puckered, feeling wronged, she lay on the ground crying bitterly, even pounding the floor in anger, almost rolling around.

"Why, why do you want to stop me like this... I only wanted, only wanted to do something for you... I also want you to be happy! I also want you not to cry! This is obviously the only thing I can do for you!"

"There are many, many more things you can do for me," Le Yin drew out the Holy Sword: "But sacrificing a teenage student's future to fulfill my path to power is absolutely not one of them."

"I am Le Yin, the unique Le Yin in this world, I can't bear such grievances."

"Besides, I think..." Le Yin looked at the brilliant Holy Sword made of radiant light: "I might be the most suitable person in this world to wield the Holy Sword."

When he gained the authority to the Holy Sword, he understood why wielding the sword would harm longevity.

The harm to longevity isn't physical. In fact, past emperors wielding the Holy Sword never showed rapid physical aging, often passing away in their most glorious years. Because they died rather beautifully, without pain, the body appeared handsome, thus their remains were honored as 'Saint's Relics', rarely subjected to cremation in the Imperial Family and preserved instead, still lifelike centuries later, could be used as relics directly in the future.

What is harmed by wielding the Holy Sword is the soul. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

As emperors wield the Holy Sword, the spiritual power of millions is applied to them, like a balloon filled with excessive air, expanding enormously. Though due to the sword's empowerment it doesn't burst immediately, the material is already damaged from excessive expansion. Those who wield the sword, their souls gradually become fragile like glass, unable to survive much longer.

Le Yin didn't simply have a conscience to sacrifice Shuiyun's life span for her, rather he believed 'death as Substitute' would protect his soul.

Consider it, how could soul transfer not damage the soul? Changing into new underwear might injure you, let alone changing bodies? Yet, Le Yin, through many deaths as Substitute, felt not a shred of soul abnormality, proving his soul was as strong as a rock under the protection of 'death as Substitute.'

Even if Le Yin's soul were truly damaged by the sword, he could transfer bodies to repair the soul using 'death as Substitute.' Though unverifiable, the continuous growth of young people confirms the spirit continually strengthens young people, suggesting Le Yin could restore his soul to optimal condition by nurturing souls in bodies of several young death-row prisoners.

Of course, it's all speculation. Actually, why Le Yin dared ascend the celestial platform to seize the sword is because he believed the Holy Sword would harm the body's lifespan, then he could recklessly use it— Qin Le Yin's lifespan depletion doesn't concern Le Yin.

If all of Le Yin's guesses are wrong and wielding the sword demands the most painful sacrifice, Le Yin... can accept it.

He struggled to survive in this world until now, keeping his life wasn't to live as Cha Huan, but to live like himself.

When not desperately needed, survive by any means; when desperately needed, throw caution to the wind.

"Perhaps, I can't change this world."

Le Yin raised the Holy Sword high: "But I absolutely cannot let this world change me."

The sacred light pierced through the clouds, resplendent over the vast lands!

Yanjing's citizens kneeled, praying repeatedly;

Bloody defenders on the city walls couldn't hold back their embraces and cheers;

Qin Yueyang, seated atop Niruo to hold him down, not letting him go berserk, sat expressionlessly and looked to the sky;

In Yao Bell Tower, Ning Xinyuan and Yan Yi embraced, gazing at the dawn;

Outside East Gate's street, Qing Lan, Qian Yuya, Qin Yueshi, Li Ying, Lin Xue sat within the Qin Family's convoy, gazing at the horizon with complex emotions;

The foreign army continued their unrest, Lan Yan pulling Yin Guyue's back neck and jumping directly from the city wall, other foreign soldiers retreated urgently, but nobody pursued them. Cha Huan, Xie Chenyuan, Yu Ke, Hundred Rain Gold... all pillar generals silently gazed at that light shining for a millennium, ready to witness a moment of epic.

"It's said, a lord orders the minister to die, the minister must obey."

Le Yin said: "Earlier, I was the minister, so I died."

"Now I am the lord, thus..."

"All rebellious ministers must perish."

The Holy Sword fell.

(End of Volume)