Time Travel: I'm a Flower Thief

Everyone saw that Xie Xiaoyi's clothes were torn to shreds and he was in a terrible state, yet he still had a smile on his lips.

What is this?

Is it a last gasp before death, a sign of extreme weakness?

"Brother Xie, are you alright?" Shen Xinyu ran towards Xie Xiaoyi, but stopped after taking only a few steps.

Because she noticed that the air around Xie Xiaoyi's body began to vibrate, and the gravel on the ground buzzed.

He closed his eyes, and the true energy flowing through his body not only did not dissipate, but instead grew stronger.

Cui Juqing frowned, sensing that something was wrong.

"This is... about to break through to a higher realm?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a visible shockwave suddenly erupted from Xie Xiaoyi's body!

Before the shockwave had subsided, five streams of true energy suddenly burst forth from his body—

One transformed into a dragon, another into a phoenix, another into a qilin, and another into a condensed xuan tortoise. In the very center, there was an even more powerful and domineering ancestral dragon true energy.

The four streams of true energy—dragon, phoenix, qilin, and tortoise—swirled and collided wildly above his head, finally being twisted into a single ball by the ancestral dragon's true energy.

After a violent fusion, it suddenly transformed into a beam of intense light and plunged back into his body.

"Ugh—!!"

Xie Xiaoyi roared, stirring up the clouds in the sky, and the sound of wind and thunder could be faintly heard.

"Earth Immortal Dao Inquiry Realm! He broke through?" Shen Beiluo exclaimed in disbelief, his face filled with horror.

Everyone around, whether from Kunlun, Dajue Temple, or Zhenwu Daozong, was dumbfounded.

While fighting... he broke through the realm?

Or should we proceed directly from the Sun's Illumination to the Earthly Immortal's Inquiry?

Tiger was overjoyed, never expecting that his sworn brother would overcome adversity.

Three or four years ago, he was only at the sixth rank of cultivation. Today, seeing him, he is actually at the Sun-Radiant Profound Realm, which is simply astonishing.

Even more unexpectedly, after asking Cui Juqing about swordsmanship, he directly reached the realm of Earth Immortal seeking enlightenment.

Lu Fang sighed inwardly, "It seems that the future number one in the world will be decided among my third brother, Cui Juqing, and Grandmaster Ning Hua."

Xie Xiaoyi slowly stood up. His injuries were still there, and his aura was still weak, but the pressure from the Earth Immortal was now very real.

He let out a long sigh of relief—

I've finally broken through this threshold. My previous defeat to Wang Shaobo had created a mental block, causing my cultivation level to stagnate.

I originally planned to challenge Wang Shaobo directly after watching the battle between good and evil, determined to resolve that inner conflict no matter what...

Unexpectedly, seeing Cui Juqing reminded him of his aunt's revenge, he challenged him without hesitation, disregarding life and death, and broke through his cultivation level.

Xie Xiaoyi looked at Cui Juqing, his fighting spirit intensifying: "Senior Cui, can you still fight?"

Cui Juqing was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed loudly, "Good! Well done, Xie Xiaoyi! I don't want to fight you again."

The entire room fell silent.

The Kunlun disciples could hardly believe their ears—

Don't want to play anymore?

Could it be that Master... has admitted defeat?

Li Yi'an was not about to let it go. It was clearly Xie Xiaoyi who was in a sorry state, with not even a piece of cloth on his body, while his senior brother had only ruined his sleeve.

Anyone with eyes can see who won and who lost. So what if that flower thief broke through his cultivation level? That doesn't prove he can win.

She knew in her heart that a sect with the number one expert in the world in charge was the backbone of the righteous path and was revered by all.

Without this halo, no matter how many disciples or how grand the entourage, they will ultimately be inferior in the eyes of others.

Today, my senior brother personally admitted defeat, which is tantamount to him pushing away the throne of "number one in the world" in front of everyone.

Li Yi'an rushed forward and grabbed Cui Juqing's hand: "Senior Brother, what are you doing...?"

Cui Juqing knew exactly what his junior sister was thinking. He gently patted the back of her hand and turned to look at Xie Xiaoyi:

"In the last sword strike, we were evenly matched! But you broke through your limits during the battle, and your momentum, state of mind, and understanding of 'power' were all at their peak."

However, you should know that our cultivation levels are now roughly equal. If we continue fighting, you will die, but I will also lose all my cultivation.

I don't care about life or death, but you're different. You still have to save Xie Lingyun, so how about we end up with a draw?

Only then did everyone realize that this was Cui Juqing's good intention.

Xie Xiaoyi knew that what he said was true, and he had originally planned to fight him to the death.

But when he said he still needed to save Xie Lingyun, Xie Xiaoyi instantly suppressed his impulse...

Perhaps Cui Juqing wasn't as hateful as he thought.

Putting myself in Cui Juqing's shoes, if I were to take on a female disciple in the future and she were bullied, I might react even more ruthlessly.

Thinking of this, Xie Xiaoyi took a deep breath and clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Senior, you flatter me!"

Cui Juqing shook his head: "It's not that I'm being modest, thank you Xiaoyi. If you continue to work hard after today, you will surely become the new leader of swordsmanship in the future."

These words struck like a thunderclap, resounding in everyone's ears.

Li Yi'an's expression was complex, but it eventually turned into a soft sigh, which also carried a sense of relief.

......

Nanling Mountains, an isolated city.

This city has no sect or faction, yet it commands respect in the southern borderlands, all because one person resides within its walls—

Meng Dongye, the swordsman of Nanling.

After Meng Dongye lost to Cui Juqing with a sword, he knew that no one could break Cui Juqing's Sun-Radiant Realm.

If I want to defeat him, I must reach the Earth Immortal Dao Inquiry Realm.

Therefore, he vowed that if he did not enter the realm of the Earthly Immortals, he would never leave this city for the rest of his life, guarding the city alone and suppressing the Southern Ridge with his sword.

The wind on the city wall was like a knife. Meng Dongye stood with his hands behind his back, his blue robe fluttering in the wind.

He was nearing middle age, with a touch of frost at his temples, his expression as indifferent as an ancient stone, yet his gaze was fixed on the northwest Kunlun Mountains.

Suddenly, his brows furrowed slightly, and he murmured to himself:

"In broad daylight, under a clear blue sky without a single cloud, how could there suddenly be an aura of an earth immortal shooting into the heavens... and even enveloped in the true energy of the Four Symbols?"

Light footsteps sounded behind him. He was dressed in an elegant brocade dress and had a gentle and quiet demeanor. It was his wife, Zheng Zhiwei.

Although she was no longer young, she still had beautiful features and clear eyes, and was clearly a woman with a sharp mind and keen insight.

Zheng Zhiwei walked to his side and asked softly, "Dongye, what's wrong?"

Meng Dongye gazed at the sky and slowly began to speak:

"From the northwest direction, an extremely powerful aura just exploded out, seemingly the kind of aura only a terrestrial immortal would possess."

Zheng Zhiwei focused his mind briefly, did a little calculation, and immediately understood. He said softly:

"In this world today, there are only two people who have stepped into the realm of Earth Immortal: Cui Juqing of Kunlun and Ning Hua of Zhenwu Daozong."

Master Ninghua never ventured into the martial world, which is why she was excluded from the Heavenly Dragon Ranking. And her relationship with Cui Juqing—

One sword intent is pure and upright, the other lofty and solitary; neither possesses the domineering aura of the four elements converging.

Meng Dongye looked at his wife and slowly put his arm around her shoulder: "Zhiwei, what do you mean?"

Zheng Zhiwei looked up at Meng Dongye, her tone resolute:

"There is only one possibility that could trigger such a celestial phenomenon: in addition to Cui Juqing and Ning Hua, there is another newly promoted Earth Immortal in the martial arts world."

A slight ripple finally crossed Meng Dongye's eyes, and he gazed into the distance in silence for a long time.

Who could be the newly ascended Earth Immortal?

I really want to step out of this city and test my sword outside, to see if I still deserve to be called: the Sword Master of Nanling.