"Junior brother, step back quickly!"
"Swish."
With a cold and stern gaze, Ming Xuan gasped heavily. He raised his right hand through the air, his longsword finally intercepting the incoming flying sword. With a forceful counterattack, the empty sword instantly multiplied into dozens of sword afterimages, hanging starkly right before their eyes.
"What on earth is this?"
Xuanjing was already running low on stamina. Seeing more than a dozen ethereal swords suddenly materialize out of thin air, he cried out in dismay and anger.
"Is she trying to test us, or is she trying to kill us?"
Gritting his teeth, his face flushed red, he loudly voiced his grievance and dissatisfaction with Chen Liushang.
Ming Xuan's gaze remained cold. He clenched his jaw. A single formidable sword had already been difficult enough to handle, and now more than a dozen had appeared out of nowhere. Just moments ago, he had held a high opinion of Chen Liushang, but now he had no idea what her true intentions were.
"Take a look at my clothes! She's genuinely trying to kill us!"
Xuanjing clutched his sword with a furious expression. His plain white robes were already tattered, fluttering in ragged strips. Glaring with deep resentment at the dozen or so ethereal swords hanging before them, he shouted his demand for answers at Ming Xuan.
"I intend to find out exactly what she is playing at."
A trace of disdain flickered across Ming Xuan's brow. His gaze cold, he assumed an attacking posture, bracing himself for the next wave of onslaught from the floating swords. If anything, he found himself growing even more intrigued by Chen Liushang.
"It seems my disciple Ming Xuan truly possesses the deepest destiny. Not only does he have profound swordsmanship, but he is also steadfast in loyalty. Hahahahaha!"
Outside the mirror, Chen Liushang watched the two progressing disciples, particularly the exceptionally skilled Ming Xuan, and suddenly burst into laughter.
Her voice carried a tipsiness and a free-spirited detachment.
Her delicate face was flushed, her joy written plainly across her features. In her lazy, intoxicated state beneath the bright moonlight, her fluttering robes emanated an otherworldly, ethereal charm.
"Fine wine, truly fine wine," she mumbled to herself, her vision blurring and hazy.
"Thud!"
Stumbling from her intoxication, her glazed fairy robes fluttering, she dropped straight down from the pavilion onto the Liúlí Spring Barrier, sending ripples spreading across its surface.
"My good wine, fine wine... My good apprentice."
A bright smile graced her lips, still wet with a gleaming droplet of Liúlí wine. Cradling the wine flask in her arms, she lay down in a lazy, casual posture and drifted soundly off to sleep, plunging into deep dreams.
"Junior sister, this is the earth position."
Biluo took Fendai's little hand, and the two half-crouched together on the Liúlí ground, searching for the string positions of the hundred flowers. They were both utterly focused, terrified of missing a single floral pattern.
"This woman is truly extraordinary. Seeing her reeking of alcohol, I thought she was just some unreliable person casually picked up by Master. But now it seems she's definitely not from our Xiuxian Continent."
"Senior sister, didn't senior brother say she was found by Xuan'er's cousin? She must be quite profound."
Fendai asked with a face full of envy as she looked at Biluo, who was diligently tuning the zither beside her. Her eyes darted to the rows of Flower Spirits before them, her mouth half-open in a mix of wonder and faint amusement.
"Senior sister, say something!"
Fendai shook Biluo's left arm, speaking in a cheerful tone.
"I have always trusted her, junior sister. Come on, let's move to the next one."
Holding Fendai's small hand, Biluo walked deeper into the Liúlí palace.
By now, they had gradually figured out the zither string positions for over a hundred varieties of flowers and plants. All that remained was to practice playing them so that the flora combined to form various offensive techniques.
"Mm, let's go."
"How beautiful! Is this door also made of Liúlí Light? The Hundred Flowers Palace?"
"Senior sister, it says 'Hundred Flowers Palace' right above the door."
A look of wonder crossed Fendai's delicate face as she tugged on Biluo's hand and spoke inquiringly.
"Let's go inside and take a look."
Biluo was currently memorizing the zither string positions for every flower and plant from the Hundred Flowers Musical Codex, committing them to heart one by one as she practiced playing them in her mind.
"Exquisite Flower, earth position, the 5th zither string. Combined with the Gold position's Drifting Leaf, it can calm the mind."
"Oleander, wood position, the 2nd zither string. Combined with the Gold position's Bewitching Grass and the Wood position's Albizia flower, it can induce hallucinations."
"Bamboo sap, Guangbai, Snow-in-summer."
Biluo kept recalling the chapters of the Hundred Flowers Musical Codex in her mind as she and Fendai walked into the main hall of the Hundred Flowers Palace.
"Senior sister, look, this table is also made of Liúlí Light! It's so pretty, it'll be the perfect place for your zither."
"This is so much fun!"
Before Biluo could even react, Fendai snatched the zither from her hands and placed it on the table.
Fendai then ran over to play in the Liúlí Spring springhead in front of the table, sending water splashing everywhere.
"This is so hard to memorize."
With a small pout, Biluo put on the expression of an eager student. At that moment, she could only sigh that while flowers were easy to remember, the zither positions corresponding to them certainly were not.
Sitting cross-legged on the Liúlí table to steady her mind, she carefully studied the Hundred Flowers Musical Codex and began to play the score.
"Master Spirit of the Hundred Flowers, Lianyi... this woman is truly breathtaking."
Biluo turned to the very first page of the chapter on the Hundred Flowers Immortals and Spirits. What met her eyes was a strange and wondrous woman whose entire body was enveloped by layer upon layer of delicate, flowing Liúlí water. A gentle smile graced her lips, her eyes were as clear as spring water, and her hair, like shimmering Liúlí water, drifted in wisps behind her.
"Is this the Master Spirit of the Hundred Flowers? Lianyi?"
Biluo carefully read the following chapter.
"The Music of Summation."
"Jade Hibiscus, Gold position. Ink-black Eclipta, earth position. Snow-meeting, wood position. The 3rd zither string. Followed by a Thousand Mountains Transforming Butterflies: play the Gold position twice, the earth position's 5th zither string once, and the Water position twice. Play in sequence to summon."
"That means the 1st string once, the 5th string once, the 2nd string once, the 1st string twice, then the 5th string twice, and the 3rd string twice."
Cautiously, Biluo attempted to pluck the strings lightly, her mind filled with the image of the Flower Spirit.
Suddenly, a strange and wondrous woman flashed out from the zither, materializing before their very eyes.
"What is this?"
With an expression of absolute disbelief, Fendai let out a loud cry as she stared at Biluo, who was sitting upright with a look of astonishment.
"Master."
A clear, ethereal voice drifted through the Liúlí hall, sounding like a slow-flowing spring.
Half-closing her eyes, she looked at the two masters who had summoned her. She had long foreseen that she would eventually meet her true match in Biluo. This volume of the Hundred Flowers Musical Codex had been stored away in the library pavilion of Wanzhong Heaven for tens of thousands of years, and had simply been taken along by Chen Liushang when she casually helped herself to it.
"Who are you?"
Looking at the wondrous woman surrounded by clear spring water, Biluo felt an odd sense of familiarity.
"Master, I am Lianyi of Wanzhong Heaven. I have waited in this book for a predestined person for a hundred years."
A hundred years inside the book equated to ten thousand years in the mortal time of the Xiuxian Continent. By now, Lianyi was already an ancient spirit within the pages, highly proficient in all manner of arts and spells.
Lianyi spoke in her pure, clear voice, tiny droplets of water gleaming like Liúlí light at the corners of her eyes. Utterly charming, her petite figure was roughly the same size as Fendai's.
Seeing two lovely maidens suddenly appear before Biluo, she felt a profound sense of comfort in her heart.
"This Book Spirit has finally found her master. It can be considered a happy ending."
Watching the deepening bond between Biluo and Fendai inside the Hundred Flowers Palace, Chen Liushang felt a surge of boundless joy and warmth in her heart.
Her delicate face glowed with a faint Liúlí radiance. She continued to greedily sip her wine, yet a deep sorrow lingered in her eyes.
Waking from her intoxication to witness this scene, she was once more overcome with melancholy and reached for her flask. But this time, the wine felt bone-chillingly cold, stirring up an extraordinary wave of sadness.
"Liuxian, could it really be you?"
A complex emotion flickered in her eyes as she thought to herself in silence.
A long time had passed—it felt as though a millennium had gone by.
She gathered up her sorrow.
It was now the third day of the trial. Moonlight spilled down, yet she had not slept a wink, remaining alone in the pavilion to quietly watch over her beloved grand-disciples.
"Good wine, truly good wine! Haha!"
With a leap from the pavilion, she landed steadily by the edge of Qianxuan Lake. Plagued by restlessness, she drifted madly along the lakeshore, chasing after butterflies flitting among the hundred flowers.
"Don't run, don't run away!"
Holding her small flask of Liúlí wine, she frolicked wildly and recklessly along the bank.
"Hahahaha!"
Her steps were unsteady, her slender waist swaying as if she were about to topple over at any second.
Yet the Liúlí light surrounding her seemed to protect her, always catching her just before a fall and ensuring every step she took remained remarkably steady.
"Butterflies, my Liúlí butterflies! Don't run, don't run away!"