"There's nothing wrong with my path," the elf simply said, "Because between the two of us, I will be the one to live. As for you? You can be my heartless puppet." Then the elf proceeded to attack Azrael.

Saber met sword, two forces collided and clashed, and the two cultivators were repelled by each of their attacks.

The elf narrowed his eyes, "Why do you still have this power? As if your exhaustion is nothing but an illusion."

Azrael chuckled. "Illusion? Yes, you are right. You see, I met this eccentric old man a few years ago who taught me about illusion. With my proficiency in it and my control of my Qi, it is simple for me to create an illusion that I have exhausted my Qi. Although I was injured, my Qi and law are still enough to beat you."

Azrael and the elf clashed a few times, and suddenly, the elf saw a small opening. He wanted to exploit it and make it bigger.

"Heart-Severance Embrace," the elf uttered, and a black ray of saber light traveled towards Azrael. Azrael immediately dodged it, but his left arm was grazed by it.

Although there was no visible injury, in seconds, his left arm became limp. He tried to control it and inject his qi, but the moment the qi entered his arm, it became stagnant.

"Don't bother," the elf said as he proceeded to attack.

Azrael found himself at a disadvantage, unable to use his left arm and inspecting it while still in the midst of the fight. He sustained several cuts and injuries, barely managing to repel the elf in the end.

 

"I see," Azrael suddenly muttered. "That attack earlier does not cut through bone and flesh itself, but rather it cuts through the 'heart.' When I say the heart, I mean the idea of the heart, like emotions, senses, sensation. If my whole body had been hit by that saber light, I bet I would have become a heartless man without the ability to think, move, feel, or even experience emotions. However, because I only  graze by it in my left arm, my left arm's 'heart' is the only thing it cut, therefore it removed its own sensation and even its connection to my body, resulting in it being paralyzed. Even the qi that tried to enter it was affected by the heartless law. Pretty dangerous indeed," Azrael explained his assessment.

Meanwhile, the elf had a serious expression. 'What a monster's comprehension. As expected, he needs to die,' he thought internally. "So what's the use of knowing? You are still at a disadvantage. You can't use your other arm, and I have to inform you that even if you try to cut your arms and regenerate them, the heartless law would prevent that."

Azrael chuckled, and in an instant, he was able to move his left arm.

"How?" the elf said, completely puzzled.

"To be honest, I can get rid of that effect in the first place using my sword law. However, I wanted to completely understand what was happening."

"You risked your life just to understand it?"

"Risk? There's no risk involved in it because I am pretty sure that even with just one arm, you won't be able to defeat me, let alone end my life."

The elf's face contorted with anger.

"So you show an emotion after all, although not a pleasant one," Azrael's eyes glinted with cruelty as he disappeared and reappeared near the Elf's left arm.

The elf tried to retreat; however, Azrael was just too fast—slash! The elf's arm was severed. He tried to counter-attack, but Azrael had already retreated.

"Now, our situation is reversed," Azrael said.

 

The elf tried to expel the traces of sword laws in his wound so he could regenerate; however, his face showed horror. 'Traces of Great Dao!' The elf was pretty sure that the sword laws Azrael was using had traces of Sword Great Dao because there was no way for a Sword law to prevent him in his regeneration. He looked at Azrael with a horrified expression.

"Why are you only showing unpleasant emotion?" Azrael provocatively said, and he proceeded to attack. Soon, the elf was at a disadvantage, and their situation was truly reversed this time. Cuts upon cuts were revealed, some could be healed in an instant, while others could not be healed immediately, especially not in this kind of situation. The elf barely repelled Azrael with another Heart-Severance Embrace, and Azrael was forced to retreat.

The elf looked at Azrael from a distance while subtly panting. He used this moment to heal his minor injuries and cuts, while he still could regenerate his left arm. He needed more time and focus to completely repel the traces of the sword law.

Seeing that he had no chance in this situation, he decided to use one of his trump cards.

In an instant, 12 figures appeared. These figures had different races, including humans, dragons, and elves. They seemed emotionless, and their aura was at least at the Early Divine Emperor level, with the dragon even at Peak Divine Emperor.

Seeing these figures, Azrael's eyes constricted, and soon fury emerged from his gaze. Not because of their aura, but because of the elf, to be precise, the female elf. Her face bore striking similarities to Cecilia, as they shared an 80% identical appearance. Azrael managed to identify this elf in an instant.

"My heartless puppets, attack him!" the elf commanded. Soon, these puppets started to attack Azrael. He tried to defend against their assaults, and injuries piled up. However, he didn't retreat; on the contrary, he attacked more furiously. One of the puppets was destroyed while Azrael paid special attention to the female elf, being careful.

Azrael then unleashed another attack, [Night Sword Art]. A curtain of night descended, and a few seconds later, it lifted. Three more puppets were destroyed. Seeing this, the elf couldn't contain himself anymore.

He stopped healing his left arm and took the chance to look for openings from Azrael. Soon, he realized that Azrael was careful towards the female elf.

"My beautiful Eliona, attack him ruthlessly!" the elf commanded.

Then, the female elf, Eliona, attacked Azrael more ruthlessly. Azrael soon found himself locked in combat with Eliona, his rage and fury rising even more.

The elf saw this as an opening.

"Requiem Echo," the elf attacked again.

Black saber light flew towards Azrael. Again, there were no visible injuries; however,

"Argggghhhhh!" Azrael screamed, veins visible as blood flowed from his mouth, eyes, and ears.

The elf looked at Azrael's current state while panting. That attack had caused him more.

"There's no need for you to investigate this attack," the elf said. "I will gladly explain this to you. You see, every time I killed, my heartless law would harvest their emotions, memories, experiences, and sensations, and I can store those in this attack. And when this attack hits my enemy, it will flood you with emotions, sensations, experiences, and memories of those I have slain in my entire life. This influx of information will paralyze you, damage you internally, and slowly kill you. And this will happen until you die-" The elf's words were cut off as he felt a terrifying force converging towards Azrael. 'Sword laws!'

Boom!

A powerful blast destroyed every puppet, except for Eliona, due to Azrael's control. This blast severely injured the elf, flinging him into the distance.

Azrael once more regained his consciousness and coughed blood. Meanwhile, Eliona, though unharmed, was still blasted into the distance. Azrael soon followed her and appeared near her.

"Divine Sword Seal," Azrael conjured a sealing technique. Three golden ethereal swords materialized and stabbed Eliona, immobilizing and sealing her. He then stored her in his space ring.

Azrael looked at the elf in the distance, who managed to regain his balance. Azrael did not waste any more time. He gripped his sword, [Swift Erasure]. A giant sword light soon flew towards the elf at an almost immeasurable speed. The elf, before knowing what was happening, was annihilated by this giant sword. Even if a Divine Emperor's speed is fast enough to travel through a whole dimension with several universes, it is not fast enough to match a speed that almost reaches immeasurable levels.

Azrael believed that once he reached Perfected Sword Great Dao, the speed of Swift Erasure would truly become immeasurable.

"Coughed! Coughed!" Azrael coughed even more blood. He traveled towards the Gale Storm Dimension, then used his Dimensional Slash to open it, and he entered. He chose a random universe and a random planet, landing in a secluded place.

He planned to recuperate and heal there. This battle had severely injured him, especially the last attack from that elf, which was one of the most dangerous attacks he had faced. That's why he resolutely finished the fight. Not to mention Swift Erasure; it had almost drained him of all his qi. If he had stayed in the Chaos Field for another hour, he doubted he would have been able to protect himself from the pressure there.

 

Few months later, Cecilia found herself on the verge of despair inside the pagoda. Though she couldn't tell time within its confines, she could sense that a considerable amount had passed. Regret crept in multiple times, wondering if she should have insisted on joining Azrael in the fight. Yet, amidst the turmoil of conflicting emotions, she chose to believe in Azrael's actions, taking deep breaths to steady herself.

Then, on a particular day, her surroundings shifted, and then her surroundings became a serene forest and a crystal-clear lake.

The words, "I am sorry, I am late," reached her ears, causing Cecilia's body to tremble. Tears welled up as she turned around to see Azrael, handsome and confident.

"I-I am sorry because of me," she stammered.

"Shhh," Azrael comforted, tightly hugging her. "I should be the one saying sorry for confining you for several months."

"Several months?" Cecilia was shocked, her mind racing with images of Azrael enduring constant danger within those months.

Azrael chuckled, sensing her thoughts. "Actually, the fight didn't last long."

"Huh?" Cecilia was puzzled.

Azrael briefly explained the events, avoiding the detailed descriptions of the actual fights. "The reason I wasn't able to retrieve you immediately was that I needed time to recuperate. I didn't want you to see my pathetic state. I'm sorry for confining you for several months because of my selfish desires."

Cecilia, however, interrupted with sincerity, "That is not pathetic. Those wounds were because you were protecting me. So, I am sorry, and thank you for freeing me from my trauma." 

Cecilia, with gratitude in her heart, thanked Azrael as tears flowed uncontrollably down her cheeks. Azrael gently wiped away her tears and uttered, "Don't thank me just yet." He motioned for her to follow, leading her to a particular location where a bed-shaped rock stood. Confused, Cecilia watched as Azrael approached and, in an instant, a lifeless body appeared in his arms, laying it gently on the rock.

Cecilia, trembling, approached the body, her heart pounding. As she reached out, her trembling hands touched the face of the body. Tears streamed down her face as she muttered, "Mother," gently lifting her mother's lifeless upper body and embracing it tightly.

"It's cold, her body is cold. M-My mother is really no longer with me," she whispered through sobs. Despite her hope that her mother might have survived, the cold reality of her mother's lifeless form shattered that hope. There was no warmth, only an icy chill. Her mother, once so warm and comforting, could no longer return her embrace.

Azrael could only watch, his heart heavy with sorrow. Taking a deep breath, he silently left, walking to a distance. He knew Cecilia needed this time to grieve and find closure for her mother's passing. 

 

After spending a few hours in solitude, Cecilia returned to Azrael and embraced him tightly. "Thank you," she expressed with deep gratitude.

"mmh," Azrael replied.

Suddenly, Cecilia looked into his eyes and initiated a passionate kiss. The two shared a moment of intense connection, and after a few minutes, Cecilia broke away, leaving a glistening trail of saliva. "I love you," she confessed.

"I love you too," Azrael responded, and Cecilia felt a warmth and sweetness enveloping them.

Breaking away from their embrace, Cecilia shared her wish. "I want my mother to be buried in her birth home."

"I'll follow you," Azrael instantly agreed.

Cecilia couldn't help but smile sweetly, feeling a mix of emotions but comforted by the support and love of the man beside her.

[A/N: Thoughts with this Backstory? It took longer than I estimated.

Some may be confused about why her mother is dead. In cultivation novels, puppets are usually made from people's corpses, and Azrael knew this fact. Now, why did Azrael go through all that trouble to avoid harming her if he knew she was dead? Well, it stems from respect. He treated Cecilia as a precious companion, even though they started off on bad terms. Despite their initial difficulties, their journey together over several months allowed them to open up to each other. As a result, he took care to avoid destroying or harming her mother's corpse. Additionally, he sealed her mother so that Cecilia could find closure.

]