Chapter 40: A swordsman’s past [3] True ending.

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: A swordsman’s past [3] True ending.

Chen Yuan looked at him for a few breaths. The faint smile on his face remained, but he did not immediately answer Chen Feng’s question.

Instead, he slowly rose from the cold stone floor and dusted off the lower part of his robe. "When I first summoned you into this world, I noticed something strange."

Chen Feng’s eyes followed him as he noticed Chen Yuan turning his gaze toward the dark passage behind them, his eyes becoming distant as he recalled that moment.

"There were several changes within the family residence."

"Changes?"

Chen Yan also looked at him curiously. After all, even he himself didn’t seem to notice what Chen Yuan was mentioning.

To the two curious pairs of eyes, Chen Yuan nodded. "Small changes. Nothing that could immediately be called extraordinary, but they were there."

He placed his hands behind his back and continued speaking.

"At the time, I didn’t have the luxury to investigate them properly. I scanned the entire family residence with my divine sense and confirmed that something had changed, but we were already dealing with the situation in Blue Cloud Mist City."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"So I left with the two of you to deal with the demon first. I thought I could investigate it after returning."

Chen Yuan’s expression became more thoughtful. "But when I came back, I sensed those changes again. And I began to have doubts about you."

His eyes slowly moved toward Chen Feng.

"And after hearing your story..." Chen Yuan paused. "I’ve begun to understand what they might be and how they are related to you."

Chen Feng’s fingers tightened slightly.

"Is this related to my path, Chen Yuan?"

"Partially yes, and partially no."

Seemingly noticing Chen Feng’s growing confusion, Chen Yuan began choosing his words more carefully.

"From the beginning, I suspected that the story I created about you had somehow developed beyond what I originally intended."

"I created the framework, and I let the rest fill on its own as time passed. But who would’ve thought those fillings would have their own... uniqueness."

He looked toward the ancient sword resting beside Chen Feng. "And now, after hearing everything you have told us, I believe my conjecture was correct."

"Your existence is real, and somehow, you’ve left descendants behind in the Chen Family."

The words struck him harder than any sword. Chen Feng lowered his head, his thoughts becoming tangled.

Descendants?

The word itself felt oddly strange, foreign even, and he had a hard time believing it.

He had already accepted that he wasn’t real. His memories, his cultivation, his life, his relationships, all of them had been created when Chen Yuan summoned him into existence.

At least, that was what he had believed from the start. But if what Chen Yuan was saying was true, then there was something in this world that had continued after the story he was supposed to have come from.

’Something that should not have existed.’

Chen Yan’s eyes gleamed on the side as he seemed to understand what was happening. On the other hand, Chen Yuan noticed Chen Feng’s troubled expression, but he did not press him further.

"Come."

"Perhaps by having you take a look yourself, then you would understand."

He turned toward the other two.

"Relax your bodies. I will take you two somewhere..."

Chen Yan and Chen Feng exchanged a confused glance. Neither understood what Chen Yuan intended, but they followed his instructions.

Chen Yuan raised one hand, and the spiritual energy within the cavern suddenly shifted. With a gentle wave of his hand, the three figures disappeared from the stone platform.

The cavern returned to silence. A moment later, they reappeared somewhere within the Chen Family residence.

It was a simple courtyard surrounded by a few wooden houses and patches of carefully maintained grass.

Unlike the ancestral grounds, there was nothing particularly grand about the place. A small stone table sat beneath a tree, while several wooden stools had been placed nearby.

A pair of young children sat on the ground in front of their parents. The husband was crouched beside them, holding a wooden sword in his hand.

"Again. Hold it like this."

He gently adjusted his son’s hands around the wooden sword.

"Don’t grip it too tightly. Let your wrists stay loose."

The little boy nodded seriously.

"Like this, Father?"

"That’s right."

Beside them, the mother smiled as she watched her husband teach their children. Their daughter was sitting nearby with another wooden sword, carefully copying the movements her father had demonstrated.

"Slowly," the woman reminded her. "Don’t rush."

The girl nodded and raised her wooden sword.

She swung.

The blade cut through the air with a soft whoosh. The family continued their peaceful practice without noticing the three figures standing several meters away, concealed.

Chen Feng stared at them, his expression remaining confused. On his side, Chen Yan was equally puzzled.

"Why did you bring us here?"

Chen Yuan didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he pointed toward the family. "Didn’t I say you’ve left some descendants behind?"

Chen Yan hesitated before extending his divine sense toward the courtyard. The moment his perception passed through the entire family, his expression changed.

His eyes widened, and his breathing stopped for a brief instant. Chen Feng noticed the reaction immediately.

"What did you find?"

Chen Yan didn’t answer. He simply stared at the family in shock.

Chen Feng’s confusion deepened. He immediately released his own divine sense. The moment his perception touched the family, his entire body stiffened.

His eyes widened, and his face lost all color in a second.

There was something inside their bodies. Something incredibly familiar that he couldn’t put into words to describe. Chen Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, watching their reactions with a faint smile.

"Do you two feel it?"

Neither answered, and Chen Yuan continued casually. "That familiar sword intent on Chen Feng’s body. This family somehow possessed it inside their bodies."

Chen Feng’s pupils trembled. The sword intent was incredibly faint. It wasn’t strong enough to be noticed by an ordinary cultivator, and it wasn’t actively circulating through their bodies.

It simply existed within them.

Chen Yuan’s voice was calm.

"You are real, Chen Feng."

Chen Feng slowly turned toward him.

"The moment I brought you into this world, the world changed accordingly to your existence."

Chen Yuan looked back toward the peaceful family. "Your memories didn’t simply become memories. Your existence created consequences."

He paused.

"Those consequences continued even after you were summoned."

Chen Feng stared at the children.

"You..."

His voice trembled.

"They carried my sword intent?"

"Indeed."

Chen Yuan nodded.

"Even I am perplexed by it."

His gaze remained on the family.

"A group of mortals living within the Chen Family grounds somehow possesses sword intent within their bodies."

He smiled faintly.

"It is almost as though their bodies are connected to a certain someone among the three of us."

Chen Yan’s expression became complicated as he understood what Chen Yuan was implying. Chen Feng’s path had begun with sword intent before spiritual energy. And now, generations later, these mortals carried traces of that same sword intent despite never having cultivated.

The meaning was obvious. His existence had become a part of this world’s reality, in the past, in the present, and in the future.

Chen Feng’s lips trembled.

"I have..."

He swallowed.

"I have descendants..."

His gaze remained fixed on the family.

"My bloodline actually survived..."

His breathing became increasingly unsteady.

"My..."

His voice stopped, and a woman’s face suddenly appeared in his mind.

Long hair, a gentle smile, and the familiar voice. They flashed across his mind briefly as the name echoed inside his head, Bai Ruyan.

His fingers slowly curled into fists.

"My wife..."

Chen Feng stood there without moving. His expression became lost as he silently looked at the children again.

Then toward their parents.

His lips parted, but no words came out. Suddenly, his figure vanished on the spot, leaving the two behind.

Chen Yan looked toward the spot where Chen Feng had been standing. "Should we follow him?"

Chen Yuan remained where he was and shook his head.

"No."

His gaze stayed on the direction Chen Feng had disappeared.

"He needs some time to think. Let him be."

The peaceful sounds of the family continued behind them. The little boy raised his wooden sword once more, carefully copying the movements his father had taught him.

"Father, like this?"

"That’s right. Again."

The wooden sword was raised once more, and a faint trace of sword intent stirred within the child’s body before fading away.

Chen Yuan watched the scene quietly.

Chen Yan remained beside him, but neither spoke. Their attention stayed on the family for several breaths, allowing the simple scene to continue without interruption.

Elsewhere within the family residence, however, Chen Feng was no longer able to remain still.

His figure hurriedly crossed over the rooftops and courtyards, moving deeper into the Chen Family grounds without any clear destination.

His divine sense had already spread throughout the entire residence.

It swept across the houses and courtyards before sinking beneath the ground, searching through the soil and every place his memories told him someone might have lived.

"Bai Ruyan..."

His lips moved as he searched.

"Bai Ruyan..."

Again.

And again.

The name escaped him almost like a prayer.

Chen Feng’s expression had completely changed from the calmness he had shown in the cavern. His brows were tightly furrowed, his breathing uneven, and his eyes constantly shifted as his divine sense searched through the vast family grounds.

He didn’t know what he was looking for. He simply needed to find something that could tell him that she had truly existed.

"Bai Ruyan..."

Chen Feng suddenly descended from the sky. His feet touched the ground inside a small spiritual herb garden.

The garden was tucked between several residential courtyards, far quieter than the main areas of the family residence.

Rows of medicinal herbs grew neatly from the dark soil, their leaves carrying faint traces of spiritual energy as they swayed gently in the night breeze.

Chen Feng stood among them. His divine sense continued to spread beneath his feet.

Searching through the soil, the surrounding buildings, and every corner of the garden. Yet he found nothing. His breathing gradually became heavier.

"Bai Ruyan..."

This time, her name came out as little more than a whisper. Chen Feng lowered his head, his hands slowly tightening at his sides.

The memories he had always believed were fabricated suddenly felt unbearably real.

And now, somewhere within the family, his descendants were alive. If they were real, then she had been real too.

The memories he carried of her, the days they had spent together, the conversations they had shared, even the sword he remembered leaving in her hands before he departed... none of those memories were merely words anymore.

They had happened.

Chen Feng slowly raised his head, his eyes trembling as he looked across the quiet spiritual garden.

"Bai Ruyan..."

He whispered her name once more.

"Were you here?"

His gaze moved across the garden, lingering on the small paths between the herbs as though he might somehow find an answer hidden among them.

"How long... has it been since I left?"

His hand slowly moved to the sword at his waist as his fingers wrapped around the hilt and tightened.

For a swordsman, the sword was often the one thing that remained unchanged. It remembered the weight of every battle, every journey, every promise made before it was drawn.

Chen Feng lowered his gaze toward the blade.

"I-I’m sorry for leaving..."

His voice was quiet, but it carried a weight that even he could barely contain.

"I shouldn’t have left."

His grip tightened around the sword until his knuckles turned pale.

"I should have stayed."

He stood there silently for several breaths.

For him, there was no crying and no shouting. Only a man standing alone in a quiet garden, holding the sword he had once carried through an entire lifetime.

An entire real lifetime.

Then Chen Feng slowly closed his eyes.

"I don’t know how many years have passed..."

His voice became softer.

"But if you really waited for me..."

He opened his eyes again.

"...then I am sorry."

His gaze became firm, though the sadness within it had not disappeared.

"I was too late."