Burial Flower Falls from Sky

Hua Jiu'er sat cross-legged on the bluestone of the Sword Intent Passage, fine strands of sword qi winding around her body.

The silvery-white gleams were like lively drifting threads, sometimes curling around her fingertips, sometimes skimming past the ends of her hair, giving off a faint hum within the silent passage.

Her eyes remained tightly shut as her divine sense spread out like a spiderweb, trying to catch the paths along which the sword intent flowed.

Suddenly, her lashes trembled, and a flicker of delight leaped into her brow.

The instant her divine sense touched the stone wall of the passage, she seemed to glimpse a sliver of the true essence of the Sword Dao. It was an elusive realization, like the shadow of blossoms in mist—hazy, yet real.

Holding her breath, she focused with all her might, attempting to grasp that sword intent, so close yet so distant, in her hand.

Yet just as she was about to touch the core of that strand of sword intent, every realization slipped through her fingers like grains of sand. The sword qi in the passage suddenly became chaotic, bursting into tiny explosions of light at her side.

Hua Jiu'er abruptly opened her eyes, which brimmed with unwillingness and helplessness.

She clenched her fists until her knuckles whitened, then let out a long sigh and slowly rose.

Turning to look at Li Qingshui not far away, she saw that Li Qingshui was still immersed in her enlightenment, enveloped by an aura condensed from sword intent like a tranquil statue of the Sword Dao.

She quietly withdrew from the Sword Intent Passage and stepped into the open space outside.

Her gaze anxiously searched the surroundings, but Hua Qiang was nowhere to be seen.

The mountain wind swept past, lifting the hair at her