Chapter 164: The Spacetime Code in the Sword Sect's Secret Texts

Shen Yan gripped the blood-stained bronze mask, his knuckles turning white. The wind swirled with the ashes of talisman paper as Yu Xiaotang leaned against Ye Zhao’s shoulder, her breathing so shallow it seemed it might stop at any moment. He glanced down at his phone—the screen still frozen on that fragment of memory: two infants, one wearing a jade pendant, the other tied with a copper coin cord.

Twins.

He and Ye Shi’er were actually brothers?

“Let’s go,” Shen Yan suddenly spoke, his voice low. “To the Sword Sect’s Forbidden Land.”

No one asked why. Ye Zhao wiped her face with her hand, a strand of silver hair falling across her forehead, her gaze sharp enough to cut. “I’ll lead the way. But you need to understand—outsiders entering the Forbidden Land are to be executed according to the law. If I’m discovered… I’ll never set foot inside the mountain gates again.”

Yu Xiaotang shook the bamboo skewer that once held her candied hawthorn and laughed. “You’re the chief disciple and still afraid of this? At worst, I’ll draw an ‘I’m innocent’ talisman and stick it on your back.”

Pei Yue silently drew a silver needle from her medicine pouch, twirling it lightly between her fingertips. “I can use the needle to seal the fluctuations of your sect’s brand.”

Luo Li flicked her tail. “If it comes to a fight, I’m ready. They’ve long considered me a traitor anyway.”

Shen Yan adjusted his glasses as a popup window flashed on his terminal: 【High-dimensional coordinate fluctuations detected. Source: Sword Sect Ancestral Monument】. His heart skipped a beat—this was related to Yu Xiaotang’s mother.

Before the Sword Sect’s mountain gates, the mountain-protecting array hummed loudly, golden light descending like a net. The moment Shen Yan took a step forward, three cracks instantly split the stone slab beneath his feet.

“Non-sect disciples are not permitted to enter,” the array spirit declared coldly.

Ye Zhao frowned, about to force her way through, but Shen Yan stopped her. “Wait.”

He pulled out his phone, called up the memory fragment he had just analyzed, and zoomed in on the frame of Yu Xiaotang’s mother holding the infant. Then, he flipped to a scanned image of a torn page from the “Heavenly Secrets Record.” Placing the two images side by side, the rune trajectories aligned perfectly, even matching the curvature of the corners.

“Her mother is a descendant of the hidden bloodline,” Shen Yan pointed at the screen. “According to your ancestral rules, bloodline descendants can be granted an exception to pass.”

Ye Zhao narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the images, then suddenly reached out and took the phone. Before the stone monument, she formed an ancient hand seal. The monument’s surface trembled slightly, revealing a line of hidden patterns.

“Activate the array with blood,” she said, biting her fingertip and letting a drop of blood fall onto the monument’s center.

No response.

Shen Yan slapped his forehead. “I forgot—she still has the Devil Clan’s script seed inside her! That thing conflicts with your orthodox spiritual power.”

Yu Xiaotang grinned. “Isn’t that simple?” She raised her hand, a crimson-gold talisman flame igniting at her fingertip. “If I burn it, will that work?”

“No!” Pei Yue exclaimed urgently. “That’s the life-preserving script seed your mother left you. If you burn it, you’ll…”

“But I can still draw new ones,” Yu Xiaotang blinked. “New talismans, old encoding—they’ll still work just fine.”

She immediately crouched down, using cinnabar to draw a talisman on her palm while muttering, “Old rules, three rotations, nine folds, add an anti-shake module… Done!”

The moment the talisman was completed, she pressed her hand firmly against the stone monument.

Boom!

The golden light recoiled, and the stone gate slowly opened, releasing a wave of ancient sword qi.

“Let’s go!” Shen Yan put away his phone and took the lead.

Deep within the Forbidden Land, a black stone monument stood at the center, its surface covered in broken carvings as if forcibly interrupted by some power. Shen Yan’s terminal refreshed frantically: 【Spacetime encoding detected. Match rate: ninety-eight percent】.

“This stele… recognizes the Sword Sect’s direct bloodline,” Ye Zhao said gravely. “Touch it once, and you lose ten years of life.”

“Then why are you still going?” Shen Yan frowned.

“What else?” she sneered. “Wait for it to speak on its own?”

Before her words faded, she had already drawn her sword and pricked her finger, letting blood drip onto the stele’s surface.

In an instant, the inscriptions lit up, countless runes scrolling like flowing water. Shen Yan immediately started recording, his fingers flying across his phone: “Quick, export the Data Stream!”

Yu Xiaotang flung out three silencing talismans, forming a Barrier; Pei Yue’s silver needles flashed continuously, inserting seven needles around Ye Zhao to slow the loss of vital energy; Luo Li’s Demonic Fire surged, transforming into a barrier to block the backlash impact.

“Hold on!” Shen Yan stared at the screen. “Just three hundred milliseconds left!”

Just as the runes were about to finish scrolling—

Ssssh!

An invisible Sword Qi materialized out of thin air, directly shattering the projection. The stone stele cracked with fine fissures, and a chilling wind suddenly rose, whipping everyone’s robes.

“Who?!” Ye Zhao brandished her sword angrily.

But Shen Yan ignored her, staring intently at his phone. “The data was captured… but the Sword Qi waveform that severed the image…” He paused. “Shares the same origin as your Sword Intent.”

“Impossible!” Ye Zhao’s expression changed.

She looked down at her sword hilt and suddenly froze.

On it, a dark golden pattern had appeared at some unknown time, winding like a dragon—identical to the border pattern at the bottom of Shen Yan’s phone Interface.

“This is…” Pei Yue’s pupils contracted.

“The mark of the ‘Heavenly Mechanism Covenant’ from a thousand years ago,” Luo Li whispered. “Legend says only those who have forged a fateful Contract can manifest this pattern together.”

The air seemed to freeze.

Before Shen Yan could react, Ye Zhao suddenly stepped forward, one hand gripping the back of his neck, the other crushing the heart-protecting jade pendant on her own wrist.

Her lips met his.

Not a light touch, but with a resolute force, as if trying to forcibly transfer something into him.

Shen Yan’s mind went blank instantly.

The Terminal chimed with a Popup Window: 【Detected high-dimensional Emotional Resonance. New Space-Time Coordinates locked: Northern seven li of Western Wastes Soul-Severing Cliff, hidden cave at cliff base.】

The wind stopped.

The stele fell silent.

Ye Zhao released him, staggering back two steps, leaning against the wall to catch her breath, her face as pale as paper.

“You… what was that?” Shen Yan’s lips felt numb.

“Shut up.” She wiped the corner of her mouth with her hand, her fingertips stained with blood. “That Sword Qi just now… was left by my master. She said if anyone could awaken the covenant pattern, they must complete the Contract with a ‘Heart’s Bond Kiss,’ or the Forbidden Land would collapse.”

Shen Yan looked down at his phone. The new coordinates were clearly displayed, with an additional line of small text beside them: 【Bound Partner: Ye Zhao. Permission Level: Co-Master Control.】

He looked up, meeting her weary yet determined gaze.

“So you did it on purpose?”

“What else?” She tugged at the corner of her mouth. “You think I wanted to kiss you?”

“But your heart rate accelerated.” The Terminal suddenly bubbled up, 【Note: Female party’s heart rate peaked at 180 bpm, suspected emotional instability.】

“Shut—” Shen Yan quickly covered the phone’s speaker. “I mean, ahem, system misreport.”

Yu Xiaotang picked up the burnt Talisman Paper from the ground, grinning. “Oh, so we’ve known each other all along. No wonder I wanted to draw you a peach blossom charm the first time I saw you.”

Pei Yue put away her silver needles, the tips retaining a trace of black energy, which she discreetly hid in her sleeve. “This Forbidden Land isn’t right. The resentment is too heavy. We need to investigate.”

Luo Li’s ears twitched as she gazed into the depths. “Over there… there’s an echo of the Demon Clan’s ceremonial drums.”

Shen Yan tightened his grip on his phone, where new coordinates flickered on the screen. He knew the next destination was the bottom of Duanhun Cliff.

But just then, another notice popped up on the Terminal:

【Warning: Detected dual Key resonance—Pei Yue and Yu Xiaotang’s Bloodline Frequencies are synchronizing】

He abruptly looked up at the two of them.

Pei Yue was rubbing her Medicine Pouch, while Yu Xiaotang had just finished re-tying her twin ponytails, the coin hair tie swaying slightly.

At that very moment, they both raised their heads, their gazes meeting.

In the air, it felt as if something had snapped with a crisp crack.

(End of Chapter)