Chapter 0632: The Flower King

This sword technique... was simply too beautiful.

So beautiful that no one was willing to disrupt the atmosphere it created. One would rather be buried amidst the endless blossoms, drunk on wine, asleep among flowers. The moment one laid eyes upon it, it felt like beholding an ocean of flowers.

A hundred flowers blooming.

It was as if one had entered a celestial realm of blossoms, a dreamscape made real.

Sword Technique — Hundred Flower Sword Canon (百花剑典)!!

This sword technique embodied the Sword Intent of Blossoms. With a single strike, flowers bloomed as though from springtime itself. Within the dazzling display hid a deadly intent—an exquisitely beautiful lethality. One could die without realizing it, falling amidst the flowers, eternally asleep in intoxication.

Both the sword technique and the sword intent were dazzling beyond compare.

There's a saying in the world: The more beautiful something is, the more terrifying it becomes; the greater the beauty, the more lethal the danger it conceals.

This holds true for women—and for this sword technique as well.

Especially when paired with a soft sword, which in this wielder's hand danced unpredictably. Yet it could erupt into a lethal strike in a split second—like a venomous serpent, its sudden strike lightning-fast and unstoppable.

"The Flower King!!"

Yi Tianxing's eyes gleamed with intrigue. Anyone capable of wielding such a sword technique and known by that title wasn't hard to identify.

With cultivation at the Life Aperture Realm, this execution of the Hundred Flower Sword Canon revealed the wielder's might. In this realm, they were undoubtedly a formidable powerhouse. Furthermore, their Dao Foundation, formed during the Divine Sea Realm, had to be of the highest quality. Their combat experience was clearly vast—this swordsmanship was near divine, as fluid and elusive as a deer vanishing into the woods.

The sword light surrounded Hua Mulan completely.

The scene was so engulfing it seemed she might be completely submerged.

But Hua Mulan was no ordinary woman. She too had reached the Life Aperture Realm, and had her own fateful encounter. She cultivated a powerful technique known as:

Cultivation Technique — Ancient Scripture of the Flower Immortal (花仙古经).

Its divine power was immense—one of the highest-tiered scriptures.

From it, she cultivated a fearsome blade art called:

Blade Technique — Fleeting Blossom Blade Canon (刹那刀经).

Blossoms that bloom in an instant, flourish in an instant, and perish in the same instant.

This blade technique was incomparably dazzling—bringing forth the utmost beauty in a single moment, and then destruction in the next. It embodied the very concept of life and death intertwined, birth and decay in a fleeting second.

The term "Fleeting" referred to time itself—it was a blade art that seemed to touch upon the essence of time.

It too held limitless killing intent beneath boundless beauty.

In Hua Mulan's hands, stunning blossoms appeared and withered in the blink of an eye. In the instant between bloom and decay, the blade flashed—almost like tearing through time and space, cutting through the border between life and death. The surrounding flowers shattered under her strikes—none could enter her immediate range.

The duel reached an intense crescendo.

"General Hua, if you don't want those innocent girls to suffer a tragic fate, you'd best surrender now," said the Flower King as he flitted about, raining down sword light. "Even if the Demon Tuberose Fragrance doesn't affect you, think about those helpless women. Their fate lies in your hands. You and I are the perfect match—we were meant to be Dao Companions."

"Hmph. Do you take me for a naïve noble lady?" Hua Mulan snapped coldly. "You abduct innocent women to force me into submission. I left the General's Valley not to surrender to you—but to eradicate you and your desert bandit scum. Giving in to you would only fuel your arrogance. If those women truly perish, I'll bear the guilt—but even then, I will destroy you. You and your Desert Marauder Band—it's a war to the death."

Her eyes burned with resolve.

To give in would solve nothing—only make things worse. Saving the women was important, but the true solution was to annihilate the Marauders at their root. Only then could this poisonous weed be uprooted from the sands of the desert. While such crimes could never be fully prevented, they could at least be deterred.

"You're truly willing to exchange your life for thousands of others?" the Flower King continued. "Once they die, you will be the indirect executioner. How heartless. You snake-hearted, cold-blooded woman."

"I'll avenge them."

Her reply was swift—and carried by an even sharper, more ruthless blade strike. Like a silken ribbon, her blade swept toward the Flower King, each arc bursting with divine brilliance.

"Damn it, they found me already. And two more Life Aperture Realm powerhouses! Even the ground's shattered from the force!"

The Flower King looked up—above, the desert floor had collapsed. Sand poured down like rain.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

From the falling sands, he saw a dazzling streak of light. A massive spinning wheel descended from the sky, its rotating edge emitting fearsome blade energy. The surrounding sands were shredded to fine dust, obliterated by the blade light—it was terrifying.

The wheel was like a meteor from beyond the sky, slicing toward him.

Taking the hit was not an option.

The Flower King's steps shifted—his body floated like a falling flower petal, seemingly aimless, effortlessly riding the slightest breeze to dodge the attack.

Boom!

Unmatched Ghost (无双鬼) landed, catching the wheel as it returned. With a flick of his arm, he hurled it again—this time, the wheel split into three identical spinning wheels, each flying toward a different direction, their paths unpredictably overlapping.

They locked onto the Flower King's energy—tracking him like wild predators.

"Hundred Flowers in Full Bloom!! (百花竟放)"

The Flower King's face turned cold. Sword light poured out like rain. Instantly, countless blossoms burst into bloom across the void. In moments, the surroundings turned into a vast sea of flowers. The sight was so breathtaking, so stunning, that the heart trembled in awe.

But amidst this surreal beauty crashed the three terrifying wheels.

Where they passed, flowers were cut down. Yet as the petals scattered, they wrapped around the wheels, slowly draining their energy.

Softness against hardness. Hundred Flowers vs. Steel Wheels.

The clash of extremes gave birth to a shower of petals, dazzling and serene—utterly mesmerizing.

Eventually, the sea of blossoms was shredded, the wheels spent—forced to return, having exhausted their might.

"Chief! We have to leave—sounds of battle are drawing the army back. If we don't go now, we may never escape!"

A thief emerged from below, calling urgently.

"Fine. We go."

The Flower King glanced at Hua Mulan, Unmatched Ghost, and then Yi Tianxing. He knew his mission had failed—staying longer would only bring ruin. He made the quick decision to flee.

"You think it'll be that easy? You came—now stay."

Yi Tianxing's lips curled into a cold smile. His eyes shone with interweaving black and white divine light. In front of him appeared an ancient mirror of black and white—

The Yin-Yang Mirror (阴阳镜).

Its aura was profound and terrifying—instantly imparting a sense of being judged by life and death itself. It gripped one's soul with the shadow of mortality.

Flash!!

The Yin-Yang Mirror, now enhanced to a Mystic-Grade Divine Power, unleashed a beam of pitch-black divine light. Like lightning, it swept toward the Flower King.

"Not good—this mirror is dangerous. If that light touches me, I'll die!"

He sensed the danger through sheer instinct—a premonition of death itself.

The divine light was too fast. There was no time to react.

But the Flower King moved on pure reflex.

Flash!!

The black beam engulfed a figure.

"Yin-Yang Mirror—Fate Decided. Under the Yin-Yang Mirror, life and death are no longer yours to choose."

Yi Tianxing's voice echoed as the beam struck.

Thud!

A body collapsed to the ground. Stiff, lifeless.

But—it wasn't the Flower King.

It was the thief who had just warned him.

At the last moment, the Flower King had used a body-substitution divine ability to switch places—letting the thief take the fatal blow.

What seemed like a long sequence took place in a mere flash of time.

The Flower King had narrowly escaped death.

"What a bizarre substitution technique," Yi Tianxing muttered in surprise.