Li Fuchan's body, already eroded by Turbid Water until only half remained, suddenly gave off a strange fragrance.
The fragrance was neither heavy nor overpowering, but delicate and refined.
Quan Yong's gaze sharpened. He saw a white blossom quietly appear on Li Fuchan's shoulder, creamy as jade, thin as though it had been cut from moonlight.
It was unmistakably—a gardenia.
The gardenia settled gently onto his broken body, as though falling onto soil.
The next moment, buds of flesh sprouted from every mutilated part of him that Turbid Water had swallowed.
Brimming with an irrepressible vitality that brooked no argument, they swiftly put forth branches and unfurled leaves.
Flesh grew beneath the flower's shadow, and bones reformed amid its fragrance. In the space of an instant, his utterly ravaged body was restored to its original state.
Qu Chengong's sword essence tore through the air, swift as lightning, only to stop abruptly upon touching the white flower.
The gardenia petals swayed gently, as though merely stirred by a breeze. Just like that, the incomparably fierce sword essence was casually halted, suspended three inches before the petals, unable to advance another fraction.
Gu Tong's expression changed drastically. He raised a hand to recall the white-gold Talisman Register hovering above Li Fuchan's head.
Its radiance blazed like fire, brightening even the Azure Rain throughout the room. Yet halfway through its flight, it swayed twice, as though something invisible had stripped away its sinews and bones. Its brilliance dimmed inch by inch, and it fluttered down into the Turbid Water on the ground, where it was instantly fouled beyond recognition.
The gardenia bloomed, and in a single breath, Li Fuchan passed from peril to safety.
In a haze, he seemed to see a monk with compassionate features and robes whiter than snow, who said: