Chapter 1
Master Stone made me carve out half my Sword Heart to save my junior sister, Sylvia Summers, after she'd fallen to darkness.
Everyone in the Evercrest Sect urged me to be generous. "You're the eldest disciple. Only you can save her. Don't be so selfish."
I stared at the man who once swore he'd protect me for a lifetime—now pressing his sword against my chest.
Suddenly, I felt that this long, immortal journey just made me sick to my stomach.
"You want my Sword Heart? How is half of it enough?"
I tore open my own chest with my bare hands. The crowd screamed. I ripped out my still-beating Sword Heart.
Blood drenched my white robes as I hurled the mangled, bloody thing straight at Master Stone's face.
"Take it! Take every last scrap! I'm done with this damn immortal world!"
*****
"Cut out half your Sword Heart and give it to Sylvia."
The tip of Julian Stone's sword pressed through my thin robes, cold enough to make my bones ache.
Evercrest Sect's grand hall was packed wall to wall with elders and disciples. Their stares alone were suffocating.
They all fixed their gaze on me, silently pressuring me to act.
"Sylvia only fell to darkness because she took the Dark Lord's blow for Master Stone!" a disciple called out. "She did it for the whole sect!"
"You're the eldest disciple. Act like it," another one piled on.
"It's just half a Sword Heart. We're not asking for your life. You'll heal. Stop being so selfish."
I looked at Sylvia. She gazed up at me, all wide-eyed innocence and trembling lips.
But the second no one else was looking, she flashed me a smug little smirk.
A voice slithered into my mind.
"I'm taking your man and your life, Claire."
On the surface, though, Sylvia was still the picture of selflessness—pale skin, dark energy coiling around her, voice thin and shaking. "Claire, if this is too much... I'd rather fall to the demonic path than let you suffer even a little."
She got a real talent for twisting words.
The more pitiful she played it, the worse I looked.
My gaze swept past everyone else, locking onto Julian.
The man I'd followed since I was ten. The one I'd called "Master" for a hundred years.
He was the one who'd held me after my cultivation failed and my spiritual veins shattered. Who'd told me, "Don't be afraid, Claire. I'll protect you. Always."
Now, for another woman, he had his sword aimed right at my chest.
I laughed. Tears ran down my face.
"Master Stone, have you forgotten?
"You told me this Sword Heart was forged by your own hands—the purest in the world. You told me to cherish it above everything."
Julian's face remained calm.
"That was then.
"Sylvia was hurt because of me. I can't just leave her alone.
"Claire, don't make me do this.
How laughable.
He couldn't abandon Sylvia—so hurting me was perfectly fine.
Turns out, a hundred years of loyalty meant nothing. In his eyes, I was just collateral damage—expendable whenever he needed.
"Fine."
I nodded. As the crowd stared, my smile stretched wider.
"You want my Sword Heart?
"How is half of it enough?"
As soon as Julian's brow furrowed, I lifted my hand, spiritual energy crackling at my fingertips, forming a razor-sharp blade.
Without hesitation, right in front of everyone, I plunged it viciously into my own chest.
Screams broke out everywhere.
I tore open her own flesh with my bare hands, ignoring the agony ripping through me.
My fingers found it.
The Sword Heart that had been beating for him for a hundred years.
Amid the crowd's horrified screams, I yanked it out, my hand clutching the still-beating sword heart.