But right at that moment, a flash of light appeared in front of the Divine Sunflower. A figure raised his long sword, slash through the sky, and cut the Third Sword Intern’s sword light into two—which dissipated into thin air.
Jiang Liu turned his gaze at the Palm Sword Cliff man. His facial expression gave them no doubt as to what he was feeling at that very moment.
“Lord Memorial Spirit! And…and…what happened to everyone?” stuttered Dia as she looked around. There was deep sorrow in her voice and she started sobbing uncontrollably. The Rainbow Butterfly Clan which had been transformed to their original butterfly forms was flying around Dia.
The Third Sword Intern’s gaze fell on the sword Jiang Liu was holding and suddenly laughed. “Today must be our lucky day! Someone just delivered what we’ve been searching for right to our doorstep!
“Hahaha, he walked right into our trap. This makes our job so much easier.”
“His swordsmanship isn’t bad. No wonder Eighth was defeated.”
“Let’s quickly get the sword from him.”
The Third Sword Intern wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible. His face was as cold as the arctic wind as he pointed his finger at Jiang Liu. Immediately, endless Sword Qi began to gush out, coloring the sky red as thick, terrifying sword light swept across the thin air.
The Eighth Sword Intern’s heaven-defying sword formation consisted only of eight swords whereas his formation consisted of 16 swords. This was not all there was, for Sixth and Seventh Sword Intern started to laugh coldly while summoning their own swords by pointing their fingers. 10 swords appeared out of thin air.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sky screamed as the 20 swords swept across the air as if it was cut by the blades. The violent roar was a sign of a massacre about to happen.
The attack power would drastically increase with every longsword added into the heaven-defying sword formation. After all, that was how they had managed to take out the high-level member of the Heavenly Realm.
The three Sword Interns’ combat powers were magnificent and could overturn the powers of heaven and earth! The 20 swords possessed the power to suppress everything and confuse the Laws. In the blink of an eye, they had already surrounded Jiang Liu.
Jiang Liu gripped his sword tighter and felt hopeless for a moment. It was as if he had brought a wooden sword into a battle against the best sword in the whole world. The difference in the level of attack power was absolutely out of this world.
He started to feel pain on his skin from the coercive power from their Sword Qi alone. His Sword Intent was swallowed up by their overpowering Sword Intent.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The endless phantom longswords flashed brilliantly, cutting the space into long strips as they circled Jiang Liu. His body was slashed again and again and he found himself unable to defend against the attack as his aura was rapidly draining away.
“Strike down!” Under the Second Sword Intern’s command, the 20 swords transformed into a cage and imprisoned Jiang Liu’s right hand.
In an instant, his right hand was turned into minced meat. The pain made him scream and the Sword of Slaughter fell out of his hand.
“I got it!” said the Second Sword Intern happily as he snatched the sword from thin air. Then, he turned his attention back to Jiang Liu and uttered one word, “Die!” Immediately, a beam of light rushed toward Jiang Liu, aiming for his heart.
“Look out, Mister Jiang!” Dia was stricken with panic and she activated her protective barrier around herself as she put herself between Jiang Liu and the impending attack. However, she was unable to block the attack as it pierced through the barrier and right through her chest. Her blood gushed out and hit Jiang Liu in the eye.
“Kill the Root and Crush the Stars!” The cruel Second Sword Intern was surrounded by murderous intent as he ordered the 20 longswords which were circling the air to transform into a sword storm. The sword storm engulfed everyone, including the Divine Sunflower, and started to grind them down to dust.
Suddenly, in the depths of despair, a sigh could be heard.
The Divine Sunflower began to glow with a golden light until it became as bright as a sun, all the while rising as it became brighter. Space and time became frozen wherever the golden light passed and a crack was formed in the air. The Divine Sunflower caressed everyone into her rhizome and entered the crack, escaping with them all.
The Old Ginseng stared at the now empty space and became furious. “No! That was the Divine Sunflower’s magical power, Divine Light of Sun. I didn’t expect she’d still be able to use it!”
“Don’t worry. Their struggle’s futile. They can never escape us!” said the Second Sword Intern while rubbing the Sword of Slaughter. “We’ve already got what we wanted. I’m going to bring this sword back to the Palm Sword Cliff first. The rest of you search every nook and cranny for them!”
Some 3,000 miles away in the Chaos, Jiang Liu held Dia in his arms as he rested his head against the Divine Sunflower. He was surrounded by countless butterflies and there were bleeding wounds all over his body.
After using her magical power, the Divine Power became smaller and even more wilted. That was the price she had to pay.
“Young man, you have the potential to become an Elite Being,” said the Divine Sunflower weakly. She was getting dimmer and dimmer. “I’m a Memorial Spirit and I’m dying. Before that, I’ll infuse my essence into your body. Train hard and gain the ultimate Wisdom. Don’t let my essence go to waste.”
“Don’t say that, Memorial Spirit. I know someone who’s able to save you!” said Jiang Liu as he rushed towards the Area of the Gods at an incredible speed.
The Divine Sunflower rustled her leaves. “Don’t be naive. No such person exists.”
“There is! The expert who lives in the Area of The Gods will be able to save you, Dia, and everyone else!” said Jiang Liu, panicking, wanting so badly to convince her. “Nothing’s impossible to the expert! It’s time to tell you the truth. The reason I followed Dia was that I wanted to see if I can offer you to the expert.”
The Divine Sunflower fell silent. After a long while, she said with deep sorrow in her voice, “You poor thing. You must’ve gotten your brain damaged during the fight.”
She was aware of her condition. The fact that she was contaminated by The Unknown meant she would inevitably become weaker and weaker as time went on. On top of that, her Origins had been greatly damaged and she was greatly injured during the fight. Death was the only answer for her and no one in the whole Chaos would be able to save her.
‘He keeps talking about the expert and how he wants to offer me to the expert. Poor thing must be out of his mind,’ thought the Divine Sunflower.
“Young man, do you desire power?” The Divine Sunflower had no choice but to pass on her power to Jiang Liu. “Be a good boy and open your mouth so I can pass on my essence to you.” The Divine Sunflower’s rhizome slowly became larger and longer as it got closer to Jiang Liu’s lips.
Jiang Liu was shocked. “Memorial Spirit, please calm down. What I’ve told you is all true. You don’t have to do this.”
“The one who needs to calm down is you, young man. Wake up! No such expert exists in the world. Open your mouth now!” The Divine Sunflower tried to part his lips with her rhizome.
Jiang Liu stubbornly set his mouth in a hard line. “I’m going to become angry if you don’t stop doing that. I’d never let you give me your essence!” said he with divine consciousness.
“Young man, I don’t have much time left. The same goes for you. You’ll die too if you don’t take in my essence. Open your mouth now!” shouted the Divine Sunflower, who was starting to panic.
“I’m not scared! The expert has my back!”
“You fool!”
The conversation between Jiang Liu and the Divine Sunflower continued in the same vein, both not giving in to each other.
Finally, by the time they had arrived at the Area of the Gods, the Divine Sunflower was too exhausted to move and Jiang Liu’s lips were swollen by the poking.
Jiang Liu’s eyes lit up when he saw the Fallen Immortal Mountain in the distance. “Memorial Spirit, we’re nearly there! Soon, you’ll be as good as new!”
“Silly boy,” said the Divine Sunflower with a sigh.
Jiang Liu landed at the foot of the mountain. His breath was ragged and his face was pale. He started to ascend the mountain with difficulty as the hundred cuts ranging in sizes made it hard for him to move. It was a miracle he was still alive when his blood never stopped gushing out from the wounds and with the endless Sword Intent ravishing his insides.
As soon as he saw the four-part architecture, he dropped down to the ground and threw up blood. He could not go on any further. He took a deep breath and shouted, “Lord Saint, are you home? It’s me, Jiang Liu, hoping for a visit!”
The main door opened with a creak and Li Nianfan’s head popped out. His expression changed to shock when he saw the state Jiang Liu was in.
“What happened to you, Jiang Liu?” Li Nianfan became sick with worry and his heart jumped out when he noticed the beautiful girl in his arms. They were both badly injured and had lost a lot of blood. They would surely die if he did not act fast enough.
Li Nianfan correctly guessed that the person who did this to Jiang Liu must be the ‘problem’ he was trying to solve. It seemed like Jiang Liu not only did not solve the problem but was heavily beaten by it until he was at death’s door.
“Lord Saint, please, save Dia,” begged Jiang Liu.
Li Nianfan did not dare to waste any more time and nodded. “No problem. Let’s carry her to my room and put her on the bed.”
Then he turned to Xiao Bai and said, “Xiao Bai, prepare some Golden Salve and use that to treat Jiang Liu’s wound.”
To Daji, he said, “Little Daji, bring me the scalpels.”
To Fire Phoenix, he said, “Fire Phoenix, bring me some hot water.”
After he had given his instructions, he turned his full attention to Dia. He ripped apart her clothes to reveal the pale flesh underneath them. The bloody wounds provided a stark contrast to the white skin, staining some parts red.
“Keep your eyes on the wounds. She might be Jiang Liu’s girlfriend. I should only keep my eyes on the wounds,” muttered Li Nianfan to himself. He composed himself and started to stitch up her wounds.
After two hours, Li Nianfan walked out of his room with relief washing over his face. The operation was a success!
At the same time, Xiao Bai had also finished tending to all the various wounds on Jiang Liu’s body. The sight of Jiang Liu wrapped up like a mummy with his swollen lips was a pitiful sight. He turned his eyes to look at Li Nianfan with great concern.
“Don’t worry. She’ll be fine,” said Li Nianfan reassuringly with a smile.
It was only then he turned his attention to the rest of the things Jiang Liu brought back with him.
“A sunflower and…butterflies? And Rainbow Butterflies at that. They’ll be a perfect addition to my backyard.” Li Nianfan’s eyes lit up and he stole a glance at Jiang Liu. He was truly touched by his thoughtful gesture.
‘Trust him to still bring back a sunflower and butterflies for me even when he’s badly injured.’ thought Li Nianfan.
“Lord Saint, is it still possible to save this sunflower?” asked Jiang Liu in a small voice.
“Of course, it’s only a little malnourished. Not a big problem at all,” answered Li Nianfan with a smile. “Jiang Liu, this flower’s really something. Thanks to you, we’ll have an abundance of sunflower seeds to munch on in the future.”
Then, he lifted the flower pot and went to the backyard with the butterflies following behind him.
The sunflower had not moved from her drooping position at all. It was as if she had become a statue. It was true she had no energy left but the main reason was that she had become paralyzed with shock, for her mind had gone blank ever since stepping into the four-part architecture.
She could not comprehend all the things happening around her. Every item in the four-part architecture was of great existence and yet, pretended to be normal. She started to question her own sanity. ‘Has the world changed? Or have I gone crazy?’
Jiang Liu, who had been eroded by endless Sword Qi and was on the brink of death, was recovering rapidly under the treatment administered by a curious being called Xiao Bai. Then, there was Dia, who should have been dead by now, and yet, did Li Nianfan just say she was going to be fine?
‘Is he the expert Jiang Liu was talking about? He seems to be preparing to plant me in his backyard. Can he really save me? I, the great Memorial Spirit, is being planted by a mere mortal?’
As the thoughts swirled around in her mind, she could feel herself getting weaker and weaker. She was about to close her metaphorical eyes for good when she felt her rhizome being planted in the ground.
Suddenly, a blanket of wellbeing spread all over her and she could not help but tremble with pleasure. The feeling was like entering a hot spring during the coldest winter or gulping down ice-cold water after walking in the desert for hours, or finally connecting one’s mobile phone to the charger when there was only one percent battery power left.
“This power feels like…” A sudden warmth surged up within her, putting her in a trance.
It was as if she had returned to the day she was born. The sun had only started to rise and she was bathed in its light. She had forgotten when was the last time she ever felt this contented.
“Even The Unknown inside of me is gone!” Waves of emotions washed over her, making her leaves greener. She quickly surveyed her environment.
“This soil…is Chaos Soil! How is it possible that a backyard as big as this is completely covered in Chaos Soil? I think I’m about to go crazy. What kind of divine place is this? Is this a dream?
“Huh, the weed beside me is a Memorial Spirit, too. So are those flowers over there, and those trees…every plant in this backyard’s a Memorial Spirit!”
The sunflower’s rhizome started to shake and dewdrops poured out of her leaves and flower. She was crying tears of happiness.
Before the Eternal Years, the Memorial Spirits in the Chaos were contaminated with the Eldritch’s Unknown. It became their destiny to waste away in the long river of time until they were no more. The Divine Sunflower never thought there would come a day when she would be able to see so many different Memorial Spirits in one place again.
‘The young man was telling the truth. There really is an expert who can do anything in this world!’
