She’d have to come in person.
“Wait for me, I’m coming right now!” she decided instantly.
Whether for Hua Jian or for the Illusory Dream Flower, she had to come.
With that, she cut off the transmission, presumably already on her way.
“Alright, it’ll take her about a day to fly here from Wanling Sect, so let’s wait.” Fenghua Venerable yawned, looking melancholy as she said to Hua Jian, “Little Hua Jian, you won’t let that wicked woman trick you away, will you?”
Hua Jian gave an awkward laugh and, after a moment’s hesitation, shook her head.
“Probably not. Lingcaifeng Master is nice, but I think I like you a bit more, Venerable.”
No matter whether Hua Jian was sincere or not, at least she gave enough emotional value.
Fenghua Venerable was delighted, almost wanting to hug Hua Jian and shout, “my precious!”
Yingxue Venerable, watching Fenghua Venerable clinging to Hua Jian, looked on with a mix of disdain and exasperation.
When did her friend become this shameless?
Was this disciple really that important?
As someone who hadn’t considered taking a disciple yet, the sword cultivator Venerable couldn’t understand.
Fenghua Venerable thought: that’s because you haven’t tasted defeat yet. Once you meet a disciple that matches your heart, you’ll understand.
*
“Elder sister, wait up!”
“You’ve only been traveling for half a day—why do you look like you can’t go on?”
“We’ve been on the road forever! Look at my face—my dark circles are so heavy!”
Outside Tianbei City, two young and beautiful girls mingled with the crowd entering the city, chatting about ordinary things.
If Hua Jian were here, she’d surely recognize one of the girls as her acquaintance, Huan Rui from Huiyue City.
As for Huan Rui’s companion, that was Huaxinyuan, an elite disciple from Wanhuagu.
The two were disguised as sisters, planning to do something in Tianbei City and then head to Fanghuagu in the north.
Then, Huan Rui would officially be entered into Fanghuagu.
“Something feels off about the atmosphere in Tianbei City—I’m not imagining it, right?” Huan Rui glanced at the sky, murmuring quietly.
Though the sun was shining, she felt several dark clouds pressing down, making it hard to breathe.
There was a sense of imminent crisis, as if a storm was about to break.
“The Chai Clan, the city’s largest family, has suddenly encountered disaster. The whole clan is in chaos, and Tianbei City is inevitably affected.”
Unlike the cities at the heart of the Central Continent, Tianbei City’s Lord is elected by major families.
The Chai Clan, being the strongest, wields great influence.
Now, the Chai Family Patriarch had perished in the Secret Realm, leaving no clear successor.
All the ambitious members were rising up, fighting for the position.
Huaxinyuan and Huan Rui had come for this—they needed to ensure someone friendly to Wanhuagu took power, to ease their sect’s future dealings in the Central Continent.
“Such a pity it happened so suddenly. If only I’d had more time…” Huaxinyuan sighed softly.
Wanhuagu was best at long-term infiltration, but now she had to choose and support a candidate in a short time—a real challenge.
But the order came straight from her elders—she had no choice.
“You’re lucky, though. If you pull this off, you might truly become my junior sister.”
“Yes, I’ll do my best…” Huan Rui was about to make a promise when a thunderous roar echoed from the sky.
To the shock of the crowd outside the city, a giant blue bird appeared overhead, arriving from thousands of miles away in an instant before slowly beating its wings and descending.
A fearsome spiritual pressure flooded out—this blue bird had the strength of a Spirit Lord. Huaxinyuan quickly sifted through her knowledge and soon recognized the creature.
Even more terrifying, a shadowy figure stood steadily on the bird’s back.
“Wanling Sect Leader?!” Huaxinyuan gasped. Suddenly, she realized this task would be far harder than she’d expected.
What could possibly have happened to draw such a powerful figure to Tianbei City?
*
Huaxinyuan could never have guessed that the one on the bird’s back was not the Wanling Sect Leader, but Lingcaifeng Master.
And the Master had come for a single girl.
“Where is she? Bring her out for me!” Lingcaifeng Master leapt from the blue bird, directly demanding of Yingxue Venerable, who had come to greet her.
Yingxue Venerable was momentarily stunned—she wanted to ask how Lingcaifeng Master had managed to ride that bird here.
If she wasn’t mistaken, that bird was the Qingguang Divine Eagle, Wanling Sect’s famed speed-type spirit beast.
Its power was at the early Spirit Lord level—wasn’t it the Wanling Sect Leader’s prized companion? How did Lingcaifeng Master end up riding it?
“Isn’t that the Sect Leader’s eagle?”
“He wasn’t using it, so why can’t I? Where’s the girl?” Lingcaifeng Master pressed.
The Qingguang Divine Eagle was blazingly fast, leaving ordinary Spirit Lords in the dust.
Borrowing the bird from the Wanling Sect Leader, Lingcaifeng Master had arrived sooner than anyone could have expected.
“She’s inside. Come with me. And the bird…”
“Have someone else look after it, it’s not that fussy.”
Lingcaifeng Master was impatient—this involved Hua Jian and the Illusory Dream Flower.
The fact that she hadn’t grabbed Yingxue Venerable by the collar was restraint enough.
Even Fenghua Venerable, coming out after hearing the commotion, was surprised by the urgency.
She thought Lingcaifeng Master would need half a day, but she’d ridden the Wanling Sect’s treasured eagle straight here.
“You got here fast…” Outside Hua Jian’s room, Fenghua Venerable greeted Lingcaifeng Master.
“You have no idea how much potential she has. Otherwise, you’d have taken her to Jade Pool overnight.” Lingcaifeng Master replied coldly, showing no courtesy to Fenghua Venerable, the sneak.
Fenghua Venerable bristled—she valued Hua Jian’s potential plenty, thank you very much, but she simply wasn’t as knowledgeable about spirit flowers.
What could she do? Everyone had their specialty.
“So you’re the expert, are you? But as far as I recall, even in your Hundred Flowers List, you didn’t properly explain the Illusory Dream Flower.”
“A flower of this caliber isn’t something I’d come across casually! Would you give one to me?”
“Honestly, you two are old enough—can you not be so petty? There are juniors present,” Yingxue Venerable could stand it no longer and interrupted.
If these two kept bickering at Hua Jian’s door, the poor Hudaosi disciples on guard might have to stuff their ears to survive.
“You all can leave, I’ve got this.” Yingxue Venerable waved away the sweating Hudaosi disciples, then opened Hua Jian’s door.
At that moment, Hua Jian was cultivating, surrounded by a flurry of falling petals.
Fenghua Venerable was used to this after spending so much time with Hua Jian.
But for Lingcaifeng Master and Yingxue Venerable, it was their first time witnessing such a phenomenon.
After a moment of silence, their reactions couldn’t have been more different.
Lingcaifeng Master immediately reached out to grab Fenghua Venerable by the neck. “You knew all along, didn’t you? I’m going to strangle you, you shameless thing!”
Yingxue Venerable, shedding her peacemaker persona, thought Fenghua Venerable deserved it. Trying to secretly recruit such a genius—she needed to be taught a lesson.
Even Yingxue Venerable herself was tempted to bring Hua Jian over to Jian Sect.
True, Hua Jian’s fighting style wasn’t a perfect match, but fighting styles could be changed!
Jian Sect gathered all the world’s sword techniques, surely there was one to suit her.
Anyway, everything else could be discussed, but with that talent on display, who wouldn’t be tempted?
“Hey, how am I shameless? You, with all your disciples, are still trying to steal Hua Jian from me? You’re the shameless one! Have you ever cared for Hua Jian the way I have?”
“And you haven’t even taken a disciple—what do you know about caring for one?”
The two Venerables bickered like children, loud enough to snap Hua Jian out of her cultivation.
Opening her eyes, Hua Jian saw two familiar Venerables tugging at each other in an unseemly way, making her swallow nervously. Was she seeing something she shouldn’t?
Should she maybe close her eyes again?
Noticing that Hua Jian was awake, both Lingcaifeng Master and Fenghua Venerable instantly returned to their usual dignified selves—especially Lingcaifeng Master, who put on a smile and strode over to take Hua Jian’s hands.
Lingcaifeng Master carried the fragrance of a hundred flowers—though it couldn’t quite match Hua Jian’s own natural scent, it was still delightful.
Just that scent made Hua Jian’s impression of Lingcaifeng Master rise a few points.
From the fragrance alone, Hua Jian could tell she was truly devoted to the Dao of flowers.
“Good child, can you tell me in detail about your encounter with the Illusory Dream Flower?”
“Mm… okay.”
As Hua Jian recounted her experience in the Secret Realm, Yingxue Venerable nudged Fenghua Venerable and whispered, “Looks like Hua Jian’s quite fond of Lingcai too.”
Fenghua Venerable stiffened—of course she could see the goodwill in Hua Jian’s eyes.
How odd. Lingcai and Hua Jian were meeting for the first time—how did she earn such favor? It was embarrassing.
While she was silent, Hua Jian finished telling her story and showed the flower pattern on her chest.
Lingcaifeng Master studied it, stroked her chin, and nodded. “You’ve already been examined several times, and the Illusory Dream Flower is definitely not in your physical body. There’s only one place it could be.”
She raised her finger and pointed at Hua Jian’s forehead. “The soul!”
Everything about the Illusory Dream Flower is connected to the soul. After it fused with Hua Jian, that must be where it went.
“You just mentioned changes to your form in the Dreamscape—perhaps that’s the reason.”
After thinking for a bit longer, Lingcaifeng Master made a surprising proposal.
She wanted to enter Hua Jian’s Dreamscape to see her soul directly.
If the Illusory Dream Flower resided in Hua Jian’s soul, the Dreamscape would be the best way to study it.
After all, while called the Dreamscape, it was in essence an area constructed from Hua Jian’s own soul force—if the Dreamscape were destroyed, Hua Jian’s soul would be severely damaged.
“I’m not sure I can bring you into my Dreamscape,” Hua Jian hesitated. Lingcaifeng Master was a peak Spirit Lord; her soul’s strength was far beyond anything Hua Jian had ever encountered.
She worried the Master would burst her Dreamscape just by entering.
Lingcaifeng Master chuckled softly. “Don’t worry, I won’t make that mistake. Fenghua, Yingxue, you two should come as well.”
Her invitation was almost unnecessary; even if she hadn’t invited them, Fenghua Venerable would insist on coming, and Yingxue Venerable, as the sole Hudaosi Venerable here, couldn’t be left out.
And so, Hua Jian was about to face the biggest challenge of her life.
She would have to draw three Venerables into her Dreamscape.
Holding her hands in a particular way, Hua Jian followed her instincts and activated her spirit power.
Wisps of colorful mist began to spread from her.
“I can’t control the range of this mist yet…”
Before she finished, Yingxue Venerable waved her hand at the door, sealing the room with a barrier.
What was hard for Hua Jian was just a wave of the hand for a Venerable.
“This definitely affects the soul. At this strength, an ordinary Ling King couldn’t resist,” Lingcaifeng Master observed, quickly judging the mist’s potency.
Anyone who inhaled Hua Jian’s mist would fall asleep on the spot.
“Venerables, please hurry! I can’t keep this up!” Hua Jian, sweating heavily, warned.
She’d only recently had her Dreamscape torn apart by the Chai Family Patriarch, and though Linglong’s Soulforce Pill had helped her recover somewhat, she wasn’t fully healed.
The mist consumed not only her spirit power but also her soul’s strength—she wouldn’t last much longer.
“Alright, let’s begin.” Lingcaifeng Master sat down, closed her eyes, and let her soul follow the guidance of the mist.
As she did, Hua Jian felt her head grow faint.
When the other two Venerables entered her Dreamscape in succession, she could barely think at all.
In a hazy daze, she closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, she was in a blank Dreamscape, face-to-face with the three Venerables’ souls.
Fenghua Venerable and Yingxue Venerable looked much as they did outside, but Lingcaifeng Master looked completely different.
Here, she wore a beautiful dress adorned with hundreds of flowers, her hair and arms decorated with petal-shaped ornaments—clearly, she truly loved flowers.
But compared to the shock Hua Jian felt at the three Venerables, the shock the Venerables felt upon seeing Hua Jian was even greater.
“Are you sure this little one really has nothing to do with Wanhuagu?” Yingxue Venerable stared at Hua Jian for a while and couldn’t help asking the other two.
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