Holding the Sword to Carry Away Senior Sister (Transmigration) - Chapter 22

The Giant Man-Eating Flower before them was exceptionally massive, standing about four or five meters tall. Its stalk and leaves were thick enough that it would take two people joining hands to encircle them. Its bloody maw resembled a bottomless black hole, looking particularly terrifying.

Tong Zhen had already been swallowed whole into its belly.

Outside, however, Fu Yan wasn’t overly worried about her. This Man-Eating Flower was likely only a Level 2 magical beast; with Tong Zhen’s formidable physical body, she had absolutely nothing to fear.

The flower, however, thought differently. It stared at Fu Yan and her drawn sword, seemingly enraged—it was this person who had just severed all of its vines.

Without a second thought, the flower lunged forward to bite Fu Yan.

As the flower dragged its heavy, clumsy body along, its speed was no match for Fu Yan’s. With a swift backflip, she easily evaded the creature’s snapping jaws.

Seeing that it had missed its mark, the flower became even more manic. It let out a frustrated, primal roar toward the sky, and another flurry of vines shot out from its back, attempting to bind Fu Yan in a death grip.

Having already comprehended the second form of the Illusionless Sword and possessing Wind-Shadow Steps at the peak of the “Small Success” stage, Fu Yan naturally had no fear of these vines. She blurred through the green thicket, her blade a flash of silver.

With every rise and fall of her hand, she severed the vines so cleanly that they couldn’t even touch her.

Knowing she couldn’t drag this out forever, Fu Yan was just hesitating over whether to attack the flower’s stomach when the creature suddenly began to writhe in agony, as if suffering from immense internal pain.

Fu Yan paused, quickly realizing that Tong Zhen had made her move. Without hesitation, she leaped back to create some distance.

As expected, in the next second, Fu Yan watched as the flower’s stomach was forcibly torn open from the inside. A figure slowly stepped out from the wound.

Seeing the Man-Eating Flower collapse in pain, Fu Yan stepped forward and decapitated it with a single swift strike. Finally, its aura vanished completely.

“Are you alright?” Fu Yan sheathed her Ling Long broken sword and walked toward Tong Zhen, asking with concern.

Tong Zhen shook her head innocently, appearing a bit dazed. After a long moment, she looked up at Fu Yan and said, “That scared me to death just now. I thought I was going to die; I almost crushed the bead the Elder gave me.”

Fu Yan: “…”

Just how little confidence does this girl have in her own strength?

Fu Yan could guess that Tong Zhen’s background was likely far from ordinary, and she had clearly grown up in a wealthy environment. Though her strength was immense, she lacked any real experience in life-and-death combat.

However, on the path of cultivation, a flower in a greenhouse is useless. Only by truly tempering oneself can one achieve a better breakthrough.

“What is that?” Fu Yan noticed Tong Zhen was holding a red fruit, roughly the size of an apple. Just looking at it, Fu Yan could feel the abundant spiritual energy radiating from within.

Tong Zhen blinked, looked down at her hand, and said slowly, “I don’t know. I just found it inside the flower’s stomach. It looks like a Scarlet Sun Fruit.”

The Scarlet Sun Fruit was a relatively rare spiritual fruit that helped cultivators increase their physical strength. Not only could it consolidate one’s cultivation, but it also aided in achieving breakthroughs.

Normally, opportunities like this don’t appear in a sect-sanctioned training ground. One had to admit Tong Zhen’s luck was quite good; the flower must have eaten it somewhere and hadn’t had time to absorb it yet.

“Do you want it, Senior Sister Fu?” Tong Zhen asked.

Fu Yan found it funny, feeling that the girl was a bit too naive. She replied helplessly, “This is your own lucky find; keep it. Besides, this fruit is very useful for you, but it’s of little use to me.”

Tong Zhen nodded blankly. She didn’t actually feel like eating it—considering it came out of the flower’s stomach, the food-loving girl felt a bit of a psychological hurdle. Regardless, she could sell it later to buy chicken legs.

Soon, the two tidied themselves up and continued.

The C-grade trial consisted of four stages. The final two were fairly standard, especially since Fu Yan’s strength had surged again and she was accompanied by the terrifyingly powerful Tong Zhen. Thus, the two cleared the C-grade trial very smoothly.

By the time they emerged, it was already late afternoon. The crowd outside had thinned out. Fu Yan didn’t mind and went straight to the registration elder to claim the clearance rewards: five hundred low-grade spirit stones and one True Qi Pill.

It wasn’t much, but even “mosquito legs are still meat.” For the current Fu Yan, it was a welcome addition.

“Well done.” The registration elder seemed quite pleased, offering a smile and a word of praise to both. However, his final gaze lingered on Tong Zhen, his thoughts unreadable.

Leaving the training ground, Fu Yan prepared to head back and continue her cultivation. Her second form of the Illusionless Sword still needed to be thoroughly consolidated; otherwise, it would be full of openings.

“Thank you for today, Senior Sister Fu.” Tong Zhen pulled out another chicken leg from somewhere and thanked Fu Yan with a beaming smile while eating.

Fu Yan looked at the chicken leg and felt her lip twitch uncontrollably. After a pause, she said, “I didn’t really help you with anything.”

Having recognized Tong Zhen’s strength, Fu Yan wasn’t even sure she could win if they fought, though Tong Zhen’s mindset definitely needed more tempering.

“Can I come find you to play again in the future?” Tong Zhen asked, her big, watery eyes fixed on Fu Yan. “I just got to the inner sect and don’t know anyone.”

Fu Yan wanted to say they weren’t exactly close, but in the end, she didn’t say anything to discourage her.

In the following days, Fu Yan remained in her cottage, cultivating. As time passed, she became proficient in the first two forms of the Illusionless Sword. Tong Zhen came to find her twice, but seeing Fu Yan so focused, she didn’t disturb her. In fact, she was so inspired by Fu Yan’s diligence that she actually put down her chicken legs and went back to cultivate herself.

Time flew, and soon, a month had passed.

For the last two days, Fu Yan had been trying to break through to the Middle Opening Light stage. Although there were signs of progress, she didn’t succeed and eventually chose to let nature take its course.

Early that morning, just as Fu Yan put on her inner disciple uniform and stepped out the door, the clear, crisp sound of a bell echoed from the Shui Ling Sect’s Main Peak.

As the bell rang, countless streaks of light flew toward the arena on the Main Peak. Today was the annual Inner Sect Ranking Tournament.

Fu Yan felt a momentary daze. She hadn’t realized time had passed so quickly.

“Fu Yan, hurry up! The Ranking Tournament is about to start!” Tong Zhen suddenly popped up from outside the courtyard, calling out with excitement.

Since Tong Zhen and Fu Yan were about the same age—Fu Yan had only joined the inner sect a few days before her—the title “Senior Sister” felt a bit awkward. Fu Yan had suggested they just call each other by their names.

Fu Yan snapped out of her daze and replied, “Let’s go.”

As they flew on their swords, Fu Yan was still thinking about the details of the tournament when she heard Tong Zhen’s delighted voice beside her:

“Look, I think that’s Great Senior Sister Bai Yueli up ahead!”

Fu Yan paused and looked up. A familiar figure entered her vision.