And as the Miasma departed, the Bad Venerable’s eyes grew vacant.
Countless white branches and leaves sprouted from the Good Venerable behind her, binding her tightly.
With a tug, the Bad Venerable’s body shattered into a cluster of white petals, which the Good Venerable absorbed into herself.
With her Divine Soul reunited, the Venerable coughed a couple of times, looking a bit pale.
Having her godsoul pierced like that would hurt anyone, even her.
Shiqi quickly let go of the sword hilt, completely at a loss for what to do.
“At least pull the sword out.” The Venerable sighed softly, drew the sword from her chest, and held it in her hand.
She didn’t look like she intended to return the sword to Shiqi, instead silently gazing at it as if reminiscing about an old lover.
Hua Jian glanced over and decided she’d better go to deal with the Miasma, leaving this ‘mother and daughter’ to settle their business.
“Hey, you monster! Now that Hua Jian is here, surrender at once!” Pointing at the Miasma beast in the sky, Hua Jian cursed, gathering colored light into the shape of a butterfly.
“A Meng! Go! Tear it apart!”
“Huh? Now?!” A Meng, summoned to action, glanced up at the monster, then at Hua Jian, and couldn’t help but slap Hua Jian’s face with a wing. “I just finished recovering from my injuries!”
After absorbing Miasma, the first thing Hua Jian did was funnel energy to A Meng, restoring her to full health.
After all, A Meng, as her Spirit Beast, was now her most reliable source of combat power.
A Lingwang Realm peak Spirit Beast—super powerful, okay?
“Isn’t this exactly your specialty?” Hua Jian covered her face, aggrieved.
She was an Illusory Dream Flower, and a Dream Butterfly hunting to feed her was only natural, wasn’t it?
A Meng was annoyed, but couldn’t refute her—because Hua Jian made perfect sense.
She was a Dream Butterfly, and the Illusory Dream Flower was her ancestor, her one and only in life. Even if Hua Jian wanted to start a forbidden romance between plant and animal, she’d have no choice but to accept.
With a strong flap of her wings, A Meng transformed into the girl form Hua Jian had seen before, clutching two sharp clawed blades—her favorite battle stance.
With a kick, she shot toward the Miasma monster above. The beast spat a breath of blood-red energy at her, but she didn’t flinch, charging straight into it.
As the red mist approached, an ethereal ribbon appeared in front of her, absorbing the attack completely.
A Meng looked down at Hua Jian; that ribbon had been Hua Jian’s doing.
Standing on the ground, Hua Jian winked at A Meng as if to say, ‘Don’t worry, just charge in. Leave the rest to me.’
That’s more like it. A Meng hummed inwardly, flapped her butterfly wings, and shot toward the Miasma beast even faster.
In Hua Jian’s eyes, A Meng was like a streaking rainbow meteor. The Miasma monster swiped at her, but in an instant, A Meng tore its arm to shreds.
Bloody fragments rained from the sky, and Hua Jian quickly summoned Illusory Dream Flower vines to catch and absorb them.
Since she was to help the Venerable cleanse the Miasma from her Divine Soul, not a trace could be left behind in the Godsoul Space.
This evil Miasma, born from the deaths of living beings, was something best avoided by everyone but herself.
A Meng’s battle with the monster was a one-sided slaughter. The Miasma’s strength lay in its ability to warp minds, turning people into its puppets.
Once separated, though, destroying it was not difficult—at least not for Hua Jian.
For anyone else, it would have been a nightmare.
The colorful butterfly danced in the air. The monster howled in resistance, but could only watch helplessly as its body was sliced apart, the pieces falling into the net woven by the ethereal vines below.
The monster was actually lucky. If not for this being the Venerable’s Godsoul Space, Hua Jian would’ve shown her true form and devoured it whole long ago, not letting it struggle on for so long.
About a quarter of an hour later, the Miasma beast was utterly overwhelmed by A Meng, sliced to bits, and completely erased from existence.
A Meng put away her blades and landed beside Hua Jian, giving her a look that clearly begged for praise.
“A Meng, you’re amazing!” Hua Jian tapped her palms together twice, then patted A Meng’s head. “Here’s your reward—head pats~”
Even Hua Jian herself felt a bit embarrassed, ready to be swatted again, but was surprised when A Meng squinted in enjoyment, then glared as if asking why she’d stopped.
Was this normal? You weren’t like this just now!
Luckily, A Meng soon realized she was acting a bit like a fawning puppy, blushed, turned back into butterfly form, and perched in Hua Jian’s hair, pretending to be an emotionless hair ornament.
Probably the Dream Butterfly’s innate dependence on the Illusory Dream Flower at work.
Having found an excuse for A Meng’s odd behavior, Hua Jian looked at the awkwardly silent Shiqi and Bai Hua Zun Zhe, and couldn’t help but cough lightly, fist to her lips.
If you two have something to say, say it already. Don’t just stand there—she was clearly signaling this.
Shiqi caught the hint and shot a pleading look at Hua Jian. She didn’t know how to start the conversation at all.
Seeing the Venerable clutching the sword tightly, she wondered if she’d misunderstood something. Maybe the Venerable really had her reasons for leaving her father?
With Shiqi staring at her, Hua Jian stared right back, as if saying: Bring out the resolve you had when avenging your father! What’s the problem?
You’ve already stabbed her once—what’s so hard about asking a few questions?
Encouraged by Hua Jian, Shiqi took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and asked, “Senior, what was the relationship between you and my father?”
Hua Jian crept over quietly, eager for gossip.
The Venerable sighed, placing the Black Sword by her feet. “He helped me greatly. Even the secret method I used just now was something he found for me after we parted ways…”
Wow, now that was juicy gossip. Hua Jian’s eyes lit up; she knelt down beside them, ears pricked.
This Soul-Forging Secret Method seemed powerful, and after having used it, Hua Jian realized just how terrifying it was.
If she could use it to create a usable flesh body for the Venerable, she could do the same for herself, making a Soul-Controlled Body nearly indistinguishable from a normal one.
She could use these expendable bodies for anything—even dying wouldn’t matter. After all, the raw materials were just Flesh-and-Blood.
If she wanted, she could hide somewhere and churn out countless doppelgangers, sending them all over the world…
“But the secret method was too profound. I spent a lot of time and only grasped part of it, which led to what you saw just now.”
“You kept in contact with my father?” Shiqi’s eyes widened. She thought they’d never spoken after their separation.
“I even know he adopted a little girl—you, but after that, I don’t know any more.”
Shiqi wasn’t her father’s biological daughter—not exactly shocking. After all, he couldn’t carve a child out of wood.
A man couldn’t have a child by himself, so adoption was the only possible origin. Both Hua Jian and Shiqi understood that.
Then, the Venerable spoke at length about Shiqi’s father, making Shiqi’s face grow ever gloomier, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Seeing this, the Venerable reached out and hugged Shiqi, comforting her gently.
It was like a mother and daughter separated for years, reminiscing about a dead husband (father)—though the ‘mother and daughter’ had never met.
What made the scene even stranger was the Venerable’s current body.
Don’t forget, the Venerable’s body was not fully developed—her apparent age was twelve or thirteen, while Shiqi was already a seventeen-year-old young woman.
So now, it looked more like a younger sister comforting her older sister, not a Mother consoling a Daughter.
For this reason, Hua Jian didn’t find the scene touching at all—in fact, it seemed a bit odd.
When Shiqi’s emotions finally calmed, Hua Jian seized the chance to ask, “So, Venerable, Shiqi, what are your plans now?”
“As for me, I’ll first restore Huahai to its original state, then go see the outside world.” The Venerable had long planned what to do after gaining a usable body.
After finishing, she turned to Shiqi. “Would you like to join me, Shiqi? I want… to do what I should have done.”
Not long ago, what the Bad Venerable said wasn’t a lie—the Venerable did wish to make up for the motherly love Shiqi never received.
Perhaps it was just loving the house for the sake of the crow, but she wanted to ease her own heart in this way.
Shiqi blinked—she heard the implication.
But remembering how she’d just yelled “You’re not fit to be my mother!” at the Bad Venerable, she now felt awkward agreeing.
Wouldn’t that be embarrassing? Maybe she should ask Hua Jian for advice?
“Why are you looking at me?” Hua Jian, munching on her melon seeds, was exasperated. Don’t look at me whenever you have a problem! Your brain’s in your head, not mine!
Your family issues have nothing to do with me, thank you.
“Come to think of it, since the Venerable’s current body was nurtured by me, according to the secret method, this is just like how humans are born,” Hua Jian muttered, stroking her chin. “So the Venerable should call me Mother.”
“If you acknowledge her as Mother, you’ll have to call me Grandma…”
“Oh, then I’d rather not.” Shiqi’s face changed immediately.