The breath soil slid directly into her stomach.

A thought flashed through Su Zhuyi’s mind—that the breath soil was a divine object that had appeared during Pangu’s creation of heaven and earth in ancient times. It belonged to the same era as the Liuguang Mirror, Jianmu Tree, and the Pangu clan, so it possessed spiritual intelligence, and not low intelligence at that. It drilling into her mouth was most likely intentional!

Why? Because she carried the aura of the Pangu clan and even the Liuguang Mirror, the breath soil chose to hide in her body. This little mud ball only continuously produced soil and provided life force endlessly, skilled at burrowing underground to escape, but having no attack capabilities. So it chose her to avoid falling into the giant flower’s hands?

Su Zhuyi called out to the little mud ball twice in her heart, but unfortunately, her divine sense couldn’t detect its presence, just like when the Liuguang Mirror was in her body years ago—she couldn’t sense the Liuguang Mirror either. Now, she also couldn’t feel where exactly the little mud ball was.

Su Zhuyi only felt her abdomen was cool, like she had drunk a large gulp of cold water. Other than that, there were no other sensations.

Su Zhuyi had originally been able to barely move in front of that giant flower, but now that the giant flower had reacted, all its roots wrapped around her body, binding her tightly, then hanging her upside down and shaking her violently, apparently trying to shake out the breath soil she had swallowed.

Su Zhuyi dry-heaved twice, but except for spitting up some acid water, nothing came out. Continuing to shake, with all her internal organs displaced, what Su Zhuyi coughed up was fresh blood, not just water.

Most cultivators would directly begin fasting after breaking through the Qi Refining stage.

Su Zhuyi had long since stopped eating ordinary food, and things with spiritual energy, such as spirit pills, would dissolve and melt after entering the body, directly entering the meridians without going into the stomach and intestines at all.

Being violently shaken, even the jade hairpin on her head rolled out from her hair bun, falling to the ground with a clatter. Weak starlight flickered, and she too saw stars, becoming dizzy and lightheaded.

The giant flower extended countless roots, with many roots binding her body, wrapping her very tightly.

Many roots were already attempting to drill into her mouth. The spiritual energy barrier protecting her body was already precarious.

She bit the tip of her tongue, breaking the skin, before gathering her spirits to transmit her voice: “The breath soil is now in my body. If you act recklessly, I’ll immediately destroy it.”

But unexpectedly, that flower wasn’t frightened at all.

It even spoke directly.

Not divine sense communication, but making strange human sounds, like someone just learning to speak, with unclear pronunciation and very harsh tones. But it could still completely express its meaning.

“I can bury you underground.”

“I can root my stems into your body to absorb nutrients.”

That giant flower crown trembled slightly, then actually let out human-like laughter, still a woman’s voice, “Hahaha, thank you for helping me catch the breath soil.” Finally, it even turned its flower disk, “I, I can also use your body.”

That’s right, it could use her body.

She carried the aura of the Pangu clan from outside. When it was a spirit plant, to move, it had to sever its roots anchored in the soil, enduring tremendous pain each time. But what if it possessed a suitable body?

She was of the Pangu clan, with a body as hard as the rocks outside. If its body invaded hers, with careful control, she could still withstand it. Thinking of this, it became excited, the flower crown even beginning to sway slightly, appearing very pleased.

If it lived in her body, it would be equivalent to living together with the breath of soil.

Wouldn’t its ten-thousand-year goal be achieved?

That person would be the vase containing the breath soil, and it could grow in the vase from now on.

The more it thought about it, the more excited it became. Its body gradually shrank bit by bit, then used its roots to strike at the spiritual energy barrier on Su Zhuyi’s body. After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the spiritual energy barrier on Su Zhuyi’s body could no longer hold and directly shattered.

With the spiritual energy barrier gone, the roots could truly touch Su Zhuyi’s body. Countless roots extended to her mouth, planning to pry open Su Zhuyi’s mouth and invade bit by bit. Su Zhuyi’s entire body was rigid and unable to move. She desperately clenched her teeth, but it was completely useless.

Just then, Sword Ancestor automatically protected its master, blue sword light transforming into countless rays, slashing toward those densely packed roots.

Among the five elements, metal conquers wood.

After Su Zhuyi’s cultivation advanced, the Broken Sword had recovered somewhat. Now it was only missing an inch of sword tip. When it slashed at the roots, its power was considerable, severing many roots and causing a certain degree of damage to that spirit plant, completely enraging the giant flower.

Its flower crown pounced over, actually swallowing the Broken Sword directly into the flower crown. Su Zhuyi’s heart filled with great urgency as she transmitted her voice, shouting: “Sword Ancestor!”

Metal could indeed restrain wood, but the premise was that the strength gap wouldn’t be too great. Now, Sword Ancestor’s sword body hadn’t yet recovered, and it had no sword cultivator controlling it. How powerful could it be? It was no match for the giant flower at all.

After the flying sword was swallowed, Su Zhuyi heard a sword cry in her sea of consciousness. She heard that flying sword’s humming sound, and also a familiar light snort, as if a string in her mind had been plucked.

Su Zhuyi had only practiced the Tianxuan Nine Swords to the third level.

What she used most often was that single sword technique learned in the bamboo grove formation.

Only one sword.

One sword breaks ten thousand swords.

That sword let her break through sword formations.

That sword let her slay powerful enemies.

That sword let her break open the lotus coming out of the Rebirth Pond, allowing her to be reborn.

When executing that sword technique, she and the sword rushed out together, as if achieving the realm of unity between human and sword.

However, she hadn’t truly achieved unity between human and sword.

She couldn’t love the sword to the point of obsession, wasn’t the type of person who devoted herself wholeheartedly to the sword path. For her, any weapon was just a tool. A tool for fighting enemies, a tool for self-protection. She practiced swordsmanship because sword techniques were powerful, and once, she had also loved a man who loved swords.

She also nurtured her sword because swords were powerful.

She had developed some respect for Sword Ancestor, willing to spend effort improving her sword path strength so that Sword Ancestor could recover, but fundamentally, it was also because she wanted to become stronger.

She always felt that she only chose to practice swords day after day on Luoxue Peak, practicing that one move, because she wanted to become stronger, when Sword Ancestor was broken down to just a sword hilt.

But now, when that heartstring was plucked, she suddenly felt that Sword Ancestor wasn’t just a weapon.

It usually only knew how to snort coldly, most of the time aloof and very unwilling to pay attention to her.

But it would actively protect its master when she was harmed.

At the moment of being swallowed by the giant flower, that sword cry rang in her mind—a clear sound, an unyielding sound, and also a faintly comforting sound.

Su Zhuyi seemed to sense Sword Ancestor.

She felt its sharpness, felt its unyieldingness, felt its vicissitudes, and also felt its forbearance and tolerance toward her.

She wasn’t a good sword cultivator.

Whether it was Qin Jianglan, Qin Chuan, or even Hua Yining, they were all much more devoted to flying swords than she was. But Sword Ancestor had come out of the Sword Tomb with her, and after that, it hadn’t abandoned her either. When being swallowed by the giant flower, it was still comforting her.

As if a wisp of consciousness was attached to the flying sword.

In that instant, Su Zhuyi reached a realm that could only be achieved in the later stages of sword cultivation, a realm many sword cultivators could never achieve in their entire lives.

Unity between the human and the sword.

True divine sense connection, unity between human and sword. While worried about Sword Ancestor’s situation, Su Zhuyi’s body flashed, actually using the realm of unity between human and sword to break free from the root bindings and enter the flower crown.

The little white snake that had been buried by falling rocks and hiding in the stone pile nearby had originally been completely rigid and unable to move, suppressed by the pressure and also injured by the rocks, already covered in wounds. It had been watching the situation in the field, its small eyes wide as saucers, and now it was stunned again.

Where was Su Zhuyi?

Her swallowing the breath soil had already surprised it immensely, then the giant flower swallowed her sword, and then it swallowed her too?

What now? It struggled to turn its head, seeing the unconscious Qin Jianglan in the formation barrier nearby. Its serpent body struggled, trying to resist that pressure and drill out from the rock pile.

However, it seemed unable to do so. It could hardly imagine how Su Zhuyi, who had just reached the Nascent Soul stage, had managed to barely move under that giant flower’s pressure just moments ago.

…

Just then, it saw the giant flower’s petals shake violently, followed by the giant flower letting out a sharp scream. A gap was slashed in the space above the petals. Su Zhuyi’s sword could break through the rebirth lotus, and now, gripping Sword Ancestor with her spiritual energy circulated to the extreme, she swung another sword.

Sword after sword.

Each sword fell on the same point, as fast as wind and lightning. In just a brief moment, she had already slashed out thousands of swords.

The power of one sword meant nothing to the giant flower that had cultivated for ten thousand years, but constant dripping wears away stone, and a hundred colds make ice. That power continuously gathered in a short time, finally tearing open a crack in the giant flower.

At that very instant, the broken sword in her hand emitted ten thousand zhang of blue light, like the Milky Way descending from the nine heavens. Brilliant starlight flowed into the sword. Su Zhuyi gripped the flying sword, feeling her entire body filled with power. Those rays of light wrapped around her layer by layer, and she bathed in the overwhelming sword light, feeling herself as a sword, the sword like a meteor, the sword like startling wind, the sword like a wandering dragon…

The flying sword left her hand, crying out in the air, countless sword qi falling like scattered arrows, filling the sky.

“My name is Qingxia.”

Su Zhuyi: “…”

Su Zhuyi’s thoughts suddenly went off track. Sword Ancestor, you’re called the Qingxia Sword?

Sword Ancestor: “Hmph.”

Wasn’t that the name you gave me back then?