"Even broken swords remember their first oath."
— Unknown founder, Black Blade Oath Sect
☽ Nightfall over the Southern Ravine
The stars hung low, veiled behind a curtain of mist and smoke.
Jin Mu-Won sat cross-legged beneath the shattered shrine, surrounded by fractured stone lanterns and ancient sword memorials.
The wind whispered through the courtyard, gently tousling his hair and fluttering the ashes left behind by time.
Beside him, Su Ren knelt with quiet reverence, hands resting over her lap. She had changed into a dark gray robe once used for inner meditation rituals—its sleeves stitched with faint vow-sutra thread.
The shrine no longer vibrated with spiritual suppression. Since Jin had found the inscription beneath the mural, the memory-bound weight of the Oath Sect's oath had begun to lift.
But something was still buried.
Beneath the shrine.
Beneath the stone.
Beneath the forgotten vow.
"There's one more sword," Su Ren whispered.
"One we never could move. One that refused all masters after our Grandmaster fell."
🗡️ The Sword of Vow-Severance
Behind the shrine's inner altar stood a wall of names—faded calligraphy etched in gold. Many were scratched out. Some, simply missing.
In the center was a cracked black blade, stabbed into the stone itself.
No hilt.
No inscription.
Just a void where qi refused to form.
Jin stepped forward.
Even before he touched it, he felt it:
The blade did not accept reality.
It had cut through memory itself.
"This blade belonged to our Grandmaster," Su Ren said.
"They say he sealed his final oath inside it before his death."
"And no one's drawn it since?"
"Those who tried… lost their cultivation."
"Two lost their minds."
Jin nodded once.
"Then let's see if it remembers me."
🔮 Resonance Trigger: Hollow Echo
As Jin placed his fingers against the broken blade, a pulse radiated through the ground.
Not a shockwave.
Not power.
A tone.
His Hollow Pulse aligned instinctively. The core of his body dimmed, quieted—then rang.
DUM… DUM…
Faster now. Louder.
The black blade vibrated—dust peeling off the metal. Not with aggression, but with hunger.
It recognized something in him.
Or someone.
[Fragment Echo Unlocked – "The Blade That Refused All Vows"]
Initiating Memory Descent…
🌌 Memory State — The Oath That Died Twice
He stood in a battlefield of scorched banners and floating embers.
Tens of thousands of bodies lined the valley floor—many wearing the robes of the Oath Sect.
In the center, a lone figure held the black blade. Their face was hidden by an iron mask.
A general of great cultivation. A master of vow-severing swordplay. But something was off.
"My final oath," the masked figure whispered, voice full of sorrow, "is that no one shall carry my guilt. Not even memory."
They lifted the sword—and stabbed the sky.
The heavens trembled.
And the blade cut through its own name.
Reality rippled.
Then: darkness.
🧠 Return to the Present
Jin collapsed forward, sweating, eyes wide.
"You saw it," Su Ren whispered. "Didn't you?"
"He didn't want to be remembered," Jin muttered. "He didn't want to be followed."
"But the sword remembered anyway."
Jin reached forward once more—and this time, the sword shifted.
Dust cracked. The air turned cold.
The shrine's murals breathed.
And slowly, deliberately…
The blade dislodged itself from the stone.
⚔️ Artifact Awakened
You have drawn the Nameless Oathbreaker Blade
[Artifact Class: Cursed Rejection Sword – "Vowless"]
Cannot be claimed by vow-bound cultivators.
Resonates only with Hollow-based or broken-path users.
Each strike severs oath, contract, or spiritual tether.
Improves with memory of loss.
Compatibility: 94%
Echo Memory Sync: 2nd Life Confirmed
Jin stared at the weapon.
It was ice-cold to the touch, yet warm in his Hollow Core.
A paradox of spirit.
A sword that refused loyalty—but not purpose.
"He severed his own name to protect his people's legacy," Jin said.
"He wanted no one to worship him. Only to walk forward."
Su Ren wiped her eyes.
"Then I was wrong to keep kneeling."
🧭 New Direction
That night, Jin and Su Ren rebuilt the outer memorial together—stone by stone.
She refused to be the last of her sect.
He refused to be forgotten again.
📜 Regional Update – Rumors and Ripples
In the Eastern Skywaters, a serpent clan has begun stirring beneath the lakes.
The Coalition of Nine Pacts has dispatched relic hunters to recover vow-sealed blades.
A murdered swordmaster has returned to life in the North—his first kill is the sect that buried him.
The word "Hollow" has begun appearing in flame-scorched scripts across three continents.
The world is beginning to remember what it once chose to forget.
🧠 Growth Summary
Artifact Acquired: Vowless — Nameless Oathbreaker Blade
Memory Fragment Resonance: Increased (2nd Life Memories Recovered: 3)
Technique Path Unlocked: Form 3 – Oathless Step (Early Development)
Companion Gained: Su Ren – Last Blade of the Black Blade Oath Sect
As the sun rose over the Black Blade ruins, Jin Mu-Won tied the broken sword onto his back, now crossed by a second weapon: the blade that refused all masters.
"I remember now," he whispered.
"My path isn't bound by flame. It's carved by silence."