The bubble was soft.

Softer and more comfortable than any bed Su Zhuyi had ever slept on.

She felt as if she were lying in warm water, with waves gently washing over her body, tempering her flesh most gently.

She also had a dream.

It was a dream, yet not a dream.

She felt she had experienced her entire life again—before rebirth, after rebirth… Fortunately, she was merely an observer, standing aside watching quietly without being affected by the dream realm. She could even mutter comments: “Was I this ugly as a child?”

“How did I almost die again?”

“So when I first killed someone, I was scared too. My eyes had a fierce glint, but my hands and feet trembled.”

“Exterminated the entire Su family? Hey, this little girl looks pretty good…” Her scumbag father was handsome-looking. No wonder an ordinary mortal could bewitch her mother, and later bewitch a pill refiner’s daughter. Su Zhuyi deeply detested him, but now felt even that hatred had faded. She even thought this scumbag had some redeeming qualities—her enviable beautiful appearance was somewhat related to him after all.

“Oh my, this person stabbed me once! I forgot to take revenge.” The little girl was struggling, sweating from pain all over her head. She stood watching from the side without much emotional turmoil.

“Oh, I didn’t forget—he died at someone else’s hands.”

…

“Did I kill so many dogs?” When slaughtering dogs before, she hadn’t felt there was any problem. Now she naturally wouldn’t feel ashamed either, but somehow felt a bit embarrassed. The nickname “The Dog’s Woe” wasn’t beautiful.

Time rushed by swiftly. In the blink of an eye, she was covered in wounds, on the verge of death. Just as her eyes were about to close completely and her consciousness was about to sink forever into darkness, a green light appeared before her. At that time, she had lost consciousness, but now she knew—Qin Jianglan had come.

The six hundred years on the Wangtian Tree were extremely boring every single day.

But in the dream realm, this period could make the observer smile knowingly.

“Tsk tsk, two naked people falling under the tree together—and he’s still supposed to be a righteous great power!”

Returning to Changning Village from childhood, the events she had experienced reappeared before her eyes. Su Zhuyi watched with laughter, discovering that coming back this time, her life had become rich and colorful, and she had met many different people.

Unlike her previous life, in that life, she was bullied by villagers as a child, then entered Xueluo Sect when slightly older. Xueluo Sect was filled with bloodshed everywhere, so the path she walked in her previous life was full of thorns, and the people she encountered early on were all the same type of villains…

She gradually grew up, took Luo Ying as her master, and entered the Gujian Sect.

She went to the Southern Border, acting chivalrously all the way, spreading Qin Jianglan’s heroic reputation.

She returned to the Gujian Sect and suffered severe trauma. The insect eggs in her body were catalyzed to grow, the Love Gu invaded her body, and her expression was agonized as she called Qin Jianglan’s name over and over again.

That voice was shrill and heart-wrenching.

Su Zhuyi watched the memories cheerfully, and at this moment, though she couldn’t experience the pain of that time or feel those emotions, she was moved by her expression and shocked by her hoarse voice.

She watched Su Zhuyi crying there, finding it somewhat incredible.

So…

There was a Love Gu.

The Giant Clan’s Rebirth Pond could replay one’s entire life. Such power was something a mere Love Gu couldn’t contend with. However, Su Zhuyi believed she had been afflicted with Love Gu. After all, she still trusted Qin Jianglan quite a bit. Regarding what Qin Jianglan said, she felt it had high credibility. Qin Jianglan had no reason to fabricate a Love Gu to deceive her, and she also knew that people afflicted with Love Gu would only lack memories of being cursed—everything else would be completely normal. Memories existed; only emotions were missing, and love was absent.

But she originally felt it didn’t matter. Love Gu was Love Gu—no big deal. Not loving was fine; not loving was normal. After all, she only loved herself.

She had always told herself this. She felt she had the most terrifying persistence in this regard and would never change. However, in these memories, the Su Zhuyi she saw was like this.

Because of the Love Gu’s appearance, because of her helplessness to resist, she was terrified and agonized, calling Qin Jianglan’s name over and over, blood trickling from the corners of her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

How much love this must have been!

She thought, how much love this must have been.

Was this her? She felt it didn’t even look like her anymore. Su Zhuyi was clearly in a dream, but she still subconsciously pressed lightly on her heart, feeling it was empty, as if she had lost many things.

The Love Gu was real.

The love was also real.

Miaoshe Shiqi’s cultivation wasn’t low Nascent Soul stage. The Love Gu he raised was also formidable. Su Zhuyi was currently at the late Golden Core stage. She thought to herself that once she broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, Love Gu probably couldn’t control her anymore. Even if Miaoshe Shiqi appeared before her and activated the Love Gu, it wouldn’t affect her consciousness—she wouldn’t become infatuated with Miaoshe Shiqi.

When her cultivation advanced further, removing the Love Gu wouldn’t be difficult either.

But she was a bit afraid of that version of herself. She had looked at her entire life—there were many times of suffering and hardship, many moments when her life hung by a thread, but in that lifetime, she had never been in such agony, never cried out so heart-wrenchingly, as if her heart had shattered and blood was coughed from her throat. Just one Love Gu had made her, who could calmly handle any predicament, lose all self-control.

Becoming like a fool.

It was hard to imagine she would truly fall in love with Qin Jianglan, and love so deeply. In that case, wouldn’t she have a weakness?

The magnificent Heart-Eating Demoness Su Zhuyi would place her heart with a former enemy?

She slept somewhat restlessly, but her life continued moving forward. Soon, she saw herself entering the ancient secret realm, being captured by the giant, and placed in the Rebirth Pond…

Gentle, soft light appeared around her.

Su Zhuyi opened her eyes and discovered the bubble around her was gone. She was wrapped in something. Touching it with her hand, it was somewhat soft with a very faint, pleasant fragrance. Sweeping with her divine consciousness, Su Zhuyi was stunned—she was actually inside a lotus flower?

She was in the flower bud of a lotus, with petals wrapping around her layer by layer. When she tried to push with her hands, it felt somewhat strenuous.

Just then, she heard voices from outside: “Oh my, why is this rebirth lotus so small?”

That voice was very loud, rumbling like thunder. Su Zhuyi immediately understood it was the giants outside speaking. But after soaking in the Rebirth Pond, she could understand the giants’ language?

“A rebirth lotus that formed a bud in just one year…” This speaker’s voice was gentler, not so deafening, but still sounded like whistling wind.

“So weak. Will she, will she be unable to even push open the rebirth lotus?” The previous person sighed. “Each rebirth causes part of the primordial spirit to scatter into heaven and earth. Each rebirth makes us weaker than before. Each time, some clansmen can never awaken again. We…”

They had thought of many solutions, but primordial spirits disappearing into heaven and earth after death was heavenly fate. Their primordial spirits were too strong and couldn’t be sealed at all. Most importantly, sealed primordial spirits couldn’t enter the Rebirth Pond.

By logic, rebirth giants like them surviving in heaven and earth for millions of years should be extremely powerful and wise.

However, each rebirth caused primordial spirit dissipation and memory loss. Having lived too long also made their memories somewhat confused, so while these remaining giants were still stronger than other living beings, they were no longer wise elders but had become somewhat dull.

“If she can’t push it open, she’ll truly perish, right? We, we only have so few left.”

All living beings in heaven and on earth could reproduce, but they couldn’t.

They had no way to bear offspring—this was a heavenly limitation, just like how every type of living being had specific life characteristics and habits within the Heavenly Dao.

Those tiny living beings maintained their species through massive reproduction.

Those powerful living beings found reproduction much more difficult.

Some lives had very long lifespans and could live hundreds or thousands of years without cultivation. One giant even kept a thousand-year-old turtle.

Some lives couldn’t survive even one day—born at dawn, dead at dusk.

Some flowers could only bloom for an instant, like the epiphyllum, which blooms briefly.

Others could stay green for ten thousand years.

These were all heavenly fates.

While their giant race couldn’t reproduce and could only rely on the Rebirth Pond, they now had eleven clansmen total. Finally sensing two sources of similar aura, but lotus buds had formed in just one year, and so small…

The giant with braids around his neck was the one who discovered them. He was called Pan Siji. Now he tremblingly extended his hand, comparing the lotus flower with his palm: “It’s not even as big as my palm.”

He carefully touched the bud with his finger, lowering his voice: “You must wake up. You must push open the petals. You must come out.”

Though he was speaking quietly, that voice was still deafening to Su Zhuyi. Her head buzzed loudly, and waves surged through her sea of consciousness.

However, Su Zhuyi now realized her primordial spirit seal had completely unlocked, her cultivation had strengthened, and she was just one step away from the Nascent Soul stage. Once she successfully weathered the tribulation, she could break through to the Nascent Soul stage and become a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Such a young Nascent Soul—she would be the cultivation world’s first cultivator to form a Nascent Soul within twenty years, right?

No wait, she had burned five hundred years of lifespan…

Also wrong—she had rolled around in the Rebirth Pond once. Though her body hadn’t reverted to infancy, her flesh had become much stronger, and her lifespan had recovered.

While Su Zhuyi was shocked, she suddenly felt somewhat stuffy.

She was now like being on an eggshell. Only by breaking out of the shell could she be reborn. If she couldn’t break free, would she perish in this lotus bud? Thinking of this, Su Zhuyi immediately felt urgency. She remembered what the giant outside said—push open these lotus petals!

Su Zhuyi pushed with her hands, but the lotus petals did not react.

“Use force, push harder! Too little strength—this won’t work! Grit your teeth and push!”

“Who are you? Having become so weak, do you not even remember who you are? I’m telling you, you must push open the lotus leaves and come out. If you can’t get out, you’ll never see blue skies and white clouds again…”

That rumbling voice made Su Zhuyi’s head hurt even more.

“Stop making noise,” she couldn’t help shouting.

But the person outside continued chattering endlessly.

Su Zhuyi: “…”

If she didn’t get out, it would be this verbose giant who nagged her to death.

Just then, another person said, “Siji, don’t make noise. He’s so weak now that his divine soul can’t withstand your voice.”

“Oh, oh.”

The outside world fell silent. Su Zhuyi took a deep breath and continued pushing the lotus petals. The petals were soft—when she exerted force, the petals bulged outward somewhat, but couldn’t break through at all. Even striking with Blazing Palm had no effect.

Su Zhuyi tried many methods but still couldn’t push through, and she felt her breathing was getting heavier, as if her hands and feet were becoming soft and weak.

What to do now?

Pushing with hands didn’t work…

Su Zhuyi thought of the Sword Ancestor and remembered the sword dao trial she encountered in the Southern Border. At that time, what she couldn’t cut through was soft green bamboo. Now, what she couldn’t push open were soft petals…

She raised her hand and summoned the Broken Sword.

Softness could overcome steel.

Explosive force could control softness. As long as her sword was fast enough, her sword momentum was strong enough.