Chapter 308

Chapter 308: Does Senior He Huan Want Me To Save It?
He Huan said, “Come with me.”

Hua Tu heard the voice and struggled to poke his head out from the pile of petals, but Yu Zhao and He Huan were already gone. He puckered his mouth in dejection. [Abandoned again.]

Under He Huan’s lead, Yu Zhao moved through the endless sea of flowers. Her face stayed calm, but she could not help thinking about why He Huan had come to find her.

He Huan lived in seclusion on Myriad Flowers Island. Her strength was so great that even the Vine King did not dare make her an enemy easily. What problem could there be that she could not solve herself and needed Yu Zhao to handle?

And she seemed very sure that Yu Zhao would be able to do it. Where did that confidence come from?

Yu Zhao thought for a while but still had no clue, so she simply stopped guessing. In any case, after a little more time, she would know why.

After about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, He Huan finally stopped.

In front of them was a flower wall sealed on all sides, bulging in the middle like a ball. It was very eye catching.

A barely audible sigh floated down from the air.

“This is the favor I want to ask of you. Once you go in, you will understand.”

Yu Zhao nodded and lifted her foot to walk toward the flower wall.

Sensing her approach, the flower wall’s branches shrank back, automatically opening a passage.

Yu Zhao’s eyes flashed very slightly, and in the next moment she stepped into the passage.

Inside the layer upon layer of brilliant blossoms was a patch of rich, moist soil. In the center of the soil grew a spirit plant that was not even as tall as Yu Zhao’s knee.

This spirit plant would be very unremarkable in the outside world, because it was extremely thin and small. There were no leaves at all, only one bare branch standing in the wind.

At the tip of the branch was a flower bud smaller than a fingernail. The bud drooped slightly, looking like it was on its last breath and could fall at any time.

Yu Zhao frowned slightly and asked, “Can I go closer and take a careful look?”

“Of course.”

Yu Zhao stepped forward again and studied it closely.

The stem of this spirit plant was emerald green, and it looked like it should be in its prime. However, the faint withered yellow at the base and in the flower bud exposed its true condition.

At the same time, Yu Zhao felt two completely different auras coming from it. One was full of vigorous life, and the other was heavy with death.

These two auras had likely fought many times already and were now barely balanced in a relatively stable state.

But this state would not last long, because the death aura was starting to stir again. No one could say for sure whether the two sides would be able to reach balance once more.

The only certain thing was that the struggle between these two auras would cause serious harm to this already fragile spirit plant.

It might not live long enough to see a final outcome before dying first.

“Does Senior He Huan want me to save it?”

This was the only possibility Yu Zhao could think of.

“Yes.”

He Huan answered softly.

The corner of Yu Zhao’s eye twitched.

She suddenly understood why, when she sent Xing Yu to stop the Seven Star Sect spirit vein from being stolen, Xing Yu had shown such an indescribable expression.

It was because the task she handed over was beyond the person’s actual ability. All they could do was give a bitter smile and doubt themselves.

Yu Zhao had taken care of spirit herbs before, so she could roughly guess the state of this spirit plant.

Either it had been hurt while it was growing, or some other factor had affected it, leaving a strand of domineering death aura in its body that stopped it from growing normally.

There were two main ways to solve this. One was to find a way to pull the death aura out of its body. The other was to increase the life force inside it and let the life force destroy the death aura.

These two methods looked simple, but they were actually very complicated.

The fact that death aura could remain inside the spirit plant meant that, to a certain degree, the two forces had already merged together. If one tried to pull out the death aura, the spirit plant would definitely be harmed as well.

The spirit plant before her was clearly too weak to withstand any damage at all.

The difficulty of the other method was no less than the first.

Life force was the very foundation of a spirit creature.

With too little, it died; with too much, it overflowed.

It also followed the path of balance.

Right now, if she poured more life force into the spirit plant, it would definitely break the current state and cause many unknown problems.

She could not move forward or back.

It was truly a problem with no easy solution.

“Senior He Huan, I…” Yu Zhao’s lips curved into a bitter smile. Just as she was about to explain, she heard He Huan say, “The reason I came to you is because I am sure you can handle this. In the past, you once took a special spirit herb that contained life force, didn’t you?”

Yu Zhao’s heart gave a little jump.

He Huan went on: “Your cultivation level is not high enough for you to have fully refined it. Because of that, there is still a lot of essence of flora stored in your body. I can help you absorb the rest of this power, but I will take a portion of it as payment for saving you.”

Yu Zhao was stunned for a moment, then her eyes filled with sudden understanding.

She had succeeded in Nascent Soul formation with the help of the Longevity Fruit, so she had subconsciously ignored the fact that the fruit’s medicinal power was far more than just that.

Back then, Cui Jue’s body had been completely destroyed by poison, yet he had still been able to gain a new life.

Compared to that, her own breakthrough seemed rather ordinary.

So the Longevity Fruit’s medicinal power had not been used up. It was still hidden inside her body, waiting for her to absorb it.

After a short moment of thought, Yu Zhao made up her mind at once.

“I agree, but I have one more request.”

“Oh? Tell me.” For some reason, He Huan’s voice dropped a shade lower.

Pretending not to hear the chill in her tone, Yu Zhao said calmly, “Senior He Huan can take the essence of flora you need from my body, but you do not need to help me absorb the rest. This junior just broke through not long ago. My state of mind has not yet settled. It is not good to rush things. Thank you for your kind intentions, Senior. This junior will remember it.”

Outsiders only saw how glorious she was, but they did not know how dangerous her process of reaching Nascent Soul formation had been. Layer after layer of illusory realms had almost driven her insane.

One wrong step would have meant complete failure.

After that, Yu Zhao decided that unless her state of mind went through another round of tempering, she would not easily try to break through her current realm again.

He Huan had not expected Yu Zhao’s request to be this, so she fell silent for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was even gentler and more steady.

“Since it is your body, you naturally have the final say.”

“Then Senior can begin.”

Yu Zhao sat down openly, cleared her mind, and stayed calm and relaxed.

“You… you are not worried that I might do something inside your body?”

“If Senior wanted to act against me, there would be no need to ask my opinion. I at least have that much self-awareness.”

Since He Huan could see that there was essence of flora inside Yu Zhao, she had countless ways to take it from her by force.

But she had chosen the most peaceful way, and also the one that showed the most respect to Yu Zhao.

Yu Zhao naturally would not judge a senior who treated her with kindness using malicious thoughts.

“You are very good.”

He Huan could not help praising her.

She had, in fact, thought about other ways to get the essence of flora from Yu Zhao.

However, after seeing Yu Zhao’s behavior since entering Myriad Flowers Island, she had finally chosen a trade that would benefit both sides.

Yu Zhao’s reaction had not disappointed her.

The process of drawing out the essence of flora was not as hard to endure as Yu Zhao had imagined. It might be that Senior He Huan had blocked the pain for her.

While she did not feel anything at all, Senior He Huan’s gentle voice sounded by her ear.

“It is done.”

“Thank you, Yu Zhao.”