Time Travel: I'm a Flower Thief

Xie Lingyun repeatedly recited the words Xie Xiaoyi had uttered—

Longing is useless; only separation remains...

What does a thousand torments matter...?

These words and phrases are exactly the same as the eighteen years she spent waiting for Mei Xingyao by the East Sea!

She turned to look at Xie Xiaoyi, her voice trembling slightly, "Where did you hear that?"

Where does it come from?

Of course, it's Huang Xiaoming's version of The Return of the Condor Heroes.

Xie Xiaoyi scratched his head and smiled: "It's a love story from my hometown, but I wanted to tell it to my aunt before, but you said you didn't want to hear it."

Xie Lingyun's throat tightened, her deepest obsession struck. Forgetting all pretense of modesty, she stared intently at him and said, "Then, tell me."

Xie Xiaoyi then sat next to her and, facing the sea breeze, briefly told her the story.

From Yang Guo's break with Chongyang Palace to his companionship with Xiaolongnu in the ancient tomb and their sixteen-year separation at Broken Heart Cliff.

Then Yang Guo kept his promise and waited patiently, later practicing his sword in the ocean tide, finally meeting her after enduring endless longing.

Xie Lingyun listened quietly, looking down at the surging seawater at his feet. The hem of his black robe fluttered lightly in the sea breeze, and a layer of tears quietly welled up in his eyes.

Yang Guo waited for sixteen years, and she waited for eighteen years. It turns out that all longing in this world is such a tormenting experience.

She remembered Mei Xingyao's laughter under the maple tree eighteen years ago, and the departing figure of that person.

Thinking of the cool warmth of the dragon scale jade pendant over the past eighteen years, my heart aches, but I can't even utter a sigh.

I was originally a female Yang Guo!

Xie Lingyun's eyes welled up with tears, and after a long while, he spoke in a hoarse voice, "Sixteen years... He actually managed to wait."

Xie Xiaoyi didn't catch the melancholy in her words and grinned, "That's right! Anyone else would have given up long ago. This is true love!"

True love?

Xie Lingyun felt a sudden pang in her heart. She looked up at him, her gaze frighteningly bright: "Then tell me, is waiting for someone for eighteen years considered foolish?"

Xie Xiaoyi was taken aback—

correct!

Wasn't there a rumor that she was waiting for someone in the East China Sea?

She said she had been all alone for eighteen years, but then she suddenly took me as her apprentice...

Could the person she's waiting for be me?

Seeing the tears still glistening in her eyes, Xie Xiaoyi's roguish air vanished, and he said seriously:

"What are you being silly about! If it's worth it, I wouldn't be silly to wait a lifetime. Auntie, are you waiting for someone too?"

These words hit the nail on the head. Xie Lingyun's throat tightened, and he turned his face away to look at the surging waves: "No."

He denied it verbally, but his fingertips were clenched so tightly they turned white.

The person she was waiting for was different from Yang Guo. Yang Guo was waiting for the living, breathing Little Dragon Girl, but she...

Xie Xiaoyi glanced at her tense profile and thought to himself: She clearly has it, but she's still being stubborn.

He didn't press further, but continued the conversation:

"Actually, Yang Guo was also foolish. He actually believed the message left by Xiaolongnu after she jumped off the cliff and endured sixteen years of waiting. But fortunately, he finally saw her, so it wasn't a wasted wait."

"It wasn't a wasted wait..." Xie Lingyun repeated these three words, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes before quickly fading away.

Will her waiting yield any results?

The sea breeze, carrying a salty, fishy smell, swept over, and Xie Xiaoyi suddenly remembered something, slapping his thigh:

"By the way! Yang Guo even created the Ecstasy Palm in the end. The more heartbroken he was, the stronger the palm strike became!"

"Auntie, look, I'm practicing swordsmanship in the sea now. Maybe I'll even be able to develop my own signature moves someday!"

"What sword techniques did you learn before?"

"Me? I only learned eight sword techniques before, and I've mastered those eight moves."

"What eight moves? Show me."

"Alright!" Xie Xiaoyi responded, stood up, gripped his sword, and leaped off the boulder, landing on the open ground by the beach.

From Sword One to Sword Eight, it was all done in one go, and finally, "Viewing the Sea" was swift and decisive.

Xie Lingyun stood on the stone, his whole body trembling—

Is this the Eight Sword Styles of the Drunken Sword Immortal?

Mei Xingyao practiced this very set of techniques back then; he was originally Hua Youwu's personal disciple!

Her voice trembled as she raised her voice and asked, "Where did you learn Kenpachi?"

"Qingjiang City, where I learned martial arts from my grand-uncle Hua You!"

Hua Youwu!

Mei Xingyao's master!

Xie Lingyun was deeply shaken—

After going around in circles, he ended up learning this sword technique again.

Why not pass on to him the internal energy cultivation method he created in his previous life?

She suppressed the turmoil in her heart and focused her gaze on Xie Xiaoyi:

"Your internal energy is abundant, and your bones and muscles are exceptional. Your future is limitless. What internal cultivation method are you currently practicing?"

Xie Xiaoyi felt a sudden panic, realizing something was wrong.

The Qi-Harmony Technique he learned was a dual cultivation technique, and he absolutely could not tell the truth, otherwise his identity as a flower thief would be exposed on the spot.

"Uh—I only learned a basic dantian breathing exercise, which is passable."

"Dantian breathing exercises can't support your Vajra-level physique. I'll teach you a set of internal energy cultivation techniques to help you stabilize your true energy and clear your meridians."

"Thank you very much, Auntie! What's the name of this cultivation method?"

"All streams flow to their source!"

"All streams converge?" Xie Xiaoyi raised an eyebrow and repeated, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Yes! This is an internal energy cultivation method that someone I knew back then figured out on his own."

"Auntie, that person must be really amazing, right? What's his name?"

Xie Lingyun gazed at the sea tide, his voice softening, yet each word was clear: "Mei Xingyao."

Mei Xingyao?

Xie Xiaoyi kept repeating the name to himself, feeling a strange sense of familiarity, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it before.

"Auntie, how do you know this person?"

Xie Lingyun paused, but did not respond. He simply raised his hand and said in a deep voice, "Listen attentively. Make sure you remember the mental cultivation technique and its incantations."

Xie Xiaoyi immediately suppressed his curiosity, calmed himself down, and stared intently at her figure.

Xie Lingyun's voice, accompanied by the sound of the tide, slowly recited:

"When the Qi first starts to circulate in the Dantian, it penetrates through the Guanyuan point and travels through the Mingmen point."

The Du meridian ascends to the Yang point and connects to the Jiaji point, the Yuzhen point opens the Xuan point, the Qi flows through the Baihui point, and the Niwan point condenses into the Taiqing point.

The Ren meridian passes through the Tian Tu point, calms the Tan Zhong point, and soothes the Zhong Wan point.

The belt meridian encircles the waist to regulate energy, the Zhangmen point focuses power, the blood sea overflows, and the Chong meridian guides the qi to be balanced.

The Yinwei and Yangwei meridians converge, the three Yin meridians meet, and the Yongquan point (KI1) is formed.

The Yin and Yang Qiao meridians connect to all the orifices, the eight extraordinary meridians converge, circulating through twelve meridians, and all streams ultimately return to their source.

As the incantation ended, the sound of the tide crashed against the rocks. Xie Lingyun glanced at him sideways: "Got it?"

Xie Xiaoyi shook his head slightly, as if he still hadn't memorized everything.

Xie Lingyun was not annoyed. He recited it twice more, each word clear and the rhythm steady.

Xie Xiaoyi had an excellent memory. After listening to it three times, he had memorized it perfectly and immediately recited the entire formula without missing a single word.

Xie Lingyun nodded slightly after hearing this:

"Good, you have a good memory. This method is based on the dantian. Follow the incantation to open the meridians and circulate qi. Try meditating and circulating your qi once."

Xie Xiaoyi immediately sat cross-legged and guided his qi according to the incantation. His true qi circulated along the eight extraordinary meridians and twelve extraordinary channels, completing a full cycle in just a short while.

At the moment his vital energy returned to his body, he let out a long roar, the sound waves causing ripples on the sea surface and echoing throughout the East China Sea.

Xie Lingyun stood on the rock, his brows slightly furrowed.

She knew, of course, that when a person's internal strength reaches a certain level, they will often unconsciously make strange noises.

However, what was unexpected was that at such a young age, his internal energy was so vast.