Everyone had the same reaction the moment they saw Hua Jian’s soul form.
It couldn’t really be blamed on people judging by appearances—Hua Jian’s current image was simply too evocative.
Anyone with even the slightest understanding of Wanhuagu would instantly think of Wanhuagu upon seeing Hua Jian now.
The resemblance was uncanny, almost identical!
It wasn’t even some shoddy cosplay—it was a similarity that ran inside and out.
“If she really is from Wanhuagu, I’d accept it.” Fenghua Venerable muttered darkly.
As long as one swung the hoe skillfully, what wall couldn’t be dug up?
Even if Hua Jian truly hailed from Wanhuagu, she could still be poached.
Moreover, the Jade Pool had already investigated Hua Jian’s early life.
Except for a few minor doubts, everything was normal.
There didn’t seem to be much connection to Wanhuagu.
As for the Lingcaifeng Master, she couldn’t care less what Hua Jian looked like—what’s a person compared to a flower?
She walked straight up to Hua Jian, half-squatting down to study the flower on Hua Jian’s wrist.
As she examined it, she muttered, “It really does look just like the ones recorded in the ancient texts…”
While speaking, she reached out and gently stroked the petals of the Caiflower, making Hua Jian’s cheeks flush red.
This flower had already merged with her body. When the Lingcaifeng Master stroked that little flower, it was like she was touching Hua Jian herself—the sensation was indescribably strange.
When the Lingcaifeng Master’s fingers traced the flower’s stem upward, reaching toward Hua Jian’s chest, Hua Jian instinctively took a step back, dodging her touch.
“Shy, are you?” The Lingcaifeng Master let out a tinkling laugh.
Hua Jian’s gaze wavered as she covered her chest with both hands and nodded.
“It feels very odd.”
Her clothes weren’t actually that revealing; at the very least, her chest was fully covered.
The Illusory Dream Flower’s stems looked like mere decorations on her outfit, but only Hua Jian herself knew these stems sprouted straight from her chest.
But this wasn’t difficult to understand.
They were in the Godsoul Space—both clothes and body were part of the soul.
The clothing here was merely the outward projection of her soul.
In other words, wearing clothes or not in this place didn’t make a difference ()
“That little butterfly on your head should be the Dream Butterfly, right? Its aura is quite faint now.”
After observing the flower on Hua Jian’s hand, the Lingcaifeng Master’s gaze shifted to the butterfly-shaped hair ornament atop Hua Jian’s head.
It only took a glance for her to see through the hair ornament’s true nature.
Whose hair ornament ever emitted such a soulforce fluctuation?
There was no doubt—this was the Dream Butterfly, the companion spirit beast of the Illusory Dream Flower!
This type of spirit beast only appeared together with the Illusory Dream Flower. Even among spirit beasts, it was exceedingly rare.
But compared to the Illusory Dream Flower, which ranked at the top of the Hundred Flowers Register, the Dream Butterfly’s status among spirit beasts was much lower.
After all, the spirit beast rankings were dominated by many powerful ancient and sacred beasts.
A legendary spirit beast like the Dream Butterfly, famous only in stories with no real battle feats, simply couldn’t rank that high.
But regardless of its ranking, this was still a treasure that would send the entire Wanling Sect into a frenzy.
Those high-ranking spirit beasts were never something the Wanling Sect could raise or research.
If Hua Jian joined the Wanling Sect now, with both the Illusory Dream Flower and the Dream Butterfly in her possession, she would immediately become the precious darling of the entire sect.
Any peak master daring to monopolize Hua Jian would be beaten up by all the other peak masters, and even the Sect Leader.
“She seems badly injured. Who knows when she’ll recover?” Hua Jian reached up to touch A Meng, clearly sensing her current state.
That last self-destruction had cost A Meng dearly; so many days had passed and she still hadn’t shown any signs of recovery.
“It looks like the Illusory Dream Flower has fully merged with you now, so you are the Illusory Dream Flower. Perhaps she needs your help.”
The Lingcaifeng Master murmured gently.
Companion spirit beasts, once wounded, usually needed to be healed by their paired spiritual object.
Now that A Meng was bonded with Hua Jian, it was up to Hua Jian to treat her.
As for how to heal her… there were many ways.
The simplest was to use the Soul Nourishing Art to warm A Meng’s soulforce; gradual nurturing would allow her to recover.
Such nurturing arts were hardly rare in the Saint Sect.
Both the Lingcaifeng Master and Fenghua Venerable could casually teach Hua Jian several methods.
“Can a spiritual object really fully merge with a person? Lingcai, are you sure?”
Fenghua Venerable walked over to Hua Jian’s side, frowning as she questioned the Lingcaifeng Master.
There had been cases of such full integration before, but without exception, those cultivators became hosts for the spirit objects, slowly turning into something no longer human.
With the Lingcaifeng Master saying this now, Fenghua Venerable felt like she was cursing Hua Jian.
“Of course I’m sure. Just sense Hua Jian’s soulforce. It’s completely whole, without any trace of stitching. Her fusion with the Illusory Dream Flower is totally different from those previous cases.”
The Lingcaifeng Master was dismissive of Fenghua Venerable’s doubts.
Can’t you tell just by looking? Why do I even need to explain?
In those previous cases, the cultivator’s soulforce was never this seamlessly unified.
The two soulforces would be separate, or the cultivator’s soulforce would be devoured by the spirit object.
Hua Jian was different. Her soulforce was flawless, perfectly integrated with the Illusory Dream Flower, as if she was always meant to be this way.
If you thought about it negatively, it was more like Hua Jian had absorbed the Illusory Dream Flower, rather than the flower parasitizing her.
“Let’s go out first. We’ve figured out what we needed to know—it’s time to discuss her future.”
The Lingcaifeng Master shot a fierce glare at Fenghua Venerable.
She would never let go of Hua Jian. Even if she had to fight, she’d snatch her away!
……
After seeing off the two tension-filled Venerables, Hua Jian was finally free from house arrest.
The Lingcaifeng Master’s testimony was enough to clear her of suspicion.
Regaining her freedom, Hua Jian immediately went to ask the Saint Sect Disciples in the Hudaosi about Linglong’s current residence, then hurried over.
When Hua Jian found Linglong, Linglong was sparring in swordsmanship with a Shijie from the Jian Sect.
Neither of them was using any spiritual power; they were communicating with pure sword techniques.
Two flashes of silver glimmered and vanished between them, a sign of just how intense the match was—yet Linglong wasn’t at all falling behind.
Bear in mind, Linglong’s opponent was Shijie Linghuang Qiuyu, the same one who’d brought them both to the Hudaosi!
To be a sword cultivator at the rank of Linghuang, one’s swordsmanship had to be profound.
Even so, Linglong was able to fight Qiuyu to a draw.
Clearly, Linglong was no mere brute who only knew how to smash things with lightning.
She had skills too—it was just that she rarely had the chance to show them in a real fight.
Hua Jian’s arrival immediately caught Linglong’s attention.
She exchanged a couple more moves with Qiuyu, then used the momentum to withdraw and end the sparring session.
She cupped her hands to apologize to Qiuyu, then dashed over to Hua Jian in three big strides.
Without waiting for Hua Jian to speak, she wrapped her arms around her in a big hug.
Hua Jian hadn’t expected Linglong to react so strongly.
She’d wanted to crack a joke to lighten the mood, but with Linglong hugging her so suddenly, what could she say?
She couldn’t very well blurt out, “You’re hugging me—do you like me or something?”
Thinking back to their experience in the Secret Realm’s passage, Hua Jian realized that if she really asked that, the one who’d end up embarrassed wouldn’t be Linglong, but herself.
Linglong was a very straightforward person—she always said what she meant. If asked, she’d probably nod and admit it without hesitation.
And then the ball would be in Hua Jian’s court—how was she supposed to respond?
No matter what she said, Hua Jian felt like it would be awkward.
She’d probably have to just laugh it off, reframe that incident as an emergency measure.
“Stop hugging me, see? I’m fine!”
“Mm.” Linglong obediently let go, then took Hua Jian by the hand and led her to a small pavilion, asking about her experiences these past few days.
Qiuyu Shijie had already quietly retreated when the two hugged—after all, she didn’t want to spoil a long-awaited reunion.
“It’s just like that. The Venerables asked me about what happened in the Secret Realm, then the Lingcaifeng Master from Wanling Sect showed up and confirmed I really did obtain the Illusory Dream Flower.”
After quickly recounting her experiences, Hua Jian spread her hands to say that nothing could possibly happen to her, not with so many Venerables on her side.
Those days might have been called “house arrest,” but she actually had a pretty decent time.
The Hudaosi didn’t treat her like a real criminal.
“And you? Looks like you had a much better time than me?”
This time, Hua Jian guessed right. Linglong was cleared of suspicion the very first day she arrived at Hudaosi.
She was just too clean, and she answered all questions with total honesty—there was nothing suspicious about her at all.
The cultivator from Hudaosi who questioned her even sighed in admiration—truly worthy of being chosen as the Jade Pool’s Saintess; her appearance was remarkable.
If she hadn’t stayed to wait for Hua Jian, Linglong could have already continued her training elsewhere.
But, actually, their original destination was right here anyway.
After that, their plan was to return to the core region of the Central Continent to prepare for the upcoming Ascension Gathering.
As the Saintess of the Jade Pool, Linglong was expected to show her face at the Ascension Gathering to attract the disciples attending—that had become tradition over the years.
It was said that a long time ago, a Jade Pool Saintess discovered that this method was extremely effective in recruiting new disciples, so it became a habit passed down through the generations.
Hua Jian immediately understood—like a poster girl and mascot.
A beautiful Shijie was a huge draw for any young person hesitating among the Saint Sects.
Who wouldn’t like to see a beautiful Shijie?
If you don’t like pretty Shijies, then take the left door and join Jian Sect or Wanling Sect—one loves swords, the other loves spirit beasts.
The Jade Pool had the highest average beauty among the five great Saint Sects, and with only female disciples, it was paradise for any cultivator.
Young girls these days weren’t so bound by old gender roles.
Most believed that as long as you liked someone, you could be together.
And what did “liking” mean? Wasn’t it just about good looks?
“I heard you’re called the Zhèngdào First Fairy…”
“That’s all just gossip!” For once, the rarely expressive Linglong actually blushed.
She seemed to have very particular feelings about this title.
“Oh? There’s a story behind that?”
“It was made up by a Shijie who loves writing tabloids. She made a Xiānzǐ Ranking for the younger generation of Saint Sect disciples. By the time I found out, it was already everywhere.”
Linglong felt her cheeks burning at the mention.
Being called the “most beautiful maiden of the Right Path” was really not a great experience.
Her skin was actually pretty thin!
“She wasn’t lying, though. Of all the people I’ve met, you really are the most beautiful.”
Hua Jian actually thought that Shijie did a great job.
Without that Xiānzǐ Ranking, she might not have even noticed Linglong.
“And the ranking’s pretty objective, too. Even though Jade Pool girls always get the highest spots among those with similar looks, you’re number one for a reason.”
She’d heard there was even a bonus chapter where young female cultivators from the Magic Path were compared, but in the bootleg version of the ranking Hua Jian had seen, it didn’t include that.
So she didn’t know which Magic Path girls were the prettiest.
“When I join the Saint Sect, the Xiānzǐ Ranking will have to change. My looks aren’t any worse than yours.”
That was a rather provocative statement—almost like she was saying Linglong wasn’t as pretty.
But this time, Linglong didn’t get angry.
She just nodded seriously, saying that she’d be thrilled for Hua Jian to take over that title; she was tired of being publicly executed on it.
“Wow, what a humble Saintess. Aren’t you supposed to have an unbreakable pride, unable to stand anyone surpassing you?”
“Why would you think that?” Linglong tilted her head.