Time Travel: I'm a Flower Thief

Zhang Ruoxu hid inside the protective shield of the Immortal-Shielding Umbrella, desperately defending himself by channeling his spiritual power.

Xie Xiaoyi attacked the protective barrier like a madman, causing the spiritual energy to tremble and the barrier's light to flicker.

Zhang Ruoxu felt a sharp pain in his eardrums from the vibration.

He's now kicking himself for it. If he'd known he'd messed with this jinx, he would never have sent anyone to touch Qinghe Town.

I never expected this kid to be so strong. The defense of the Immortal-Shielding Umbrella was weakened by his punches.

If this continues, the spiritual energy will eventually be worn away.

Xie Xiaoyi fought even harder, a cold smile playing on his lips: "Let's see how long you can keep this up."

Zhang Ruoxu's eyes flashed with ruthlessness as he mobilized a powerful spiritual force and poured it all into the Immortal-Shielding Umbrella.

"Go, take him in—"

The protective umbrella suddenly expanded violently and slammed down on Xie Xiaoyi.

Xie Xiaoyi was instantly covered by the Immortal-Shielding Umbrella. The thick umbrella tightly wrapped around him, and the spiritual energy bound him so tightly that he could not move.

As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn!

Taking advantage of the moment when Xie Xiaoyi was trapped by the umbrella, Zhang Ruoxu turned and fled, soaring into the sky with all his might, wanting only to save his life.

Xie Xiaoyi was unable to see because he was covered by the umbrella, but he could sense Zhang Ruoxu's departure by sensing his presence.

In desperation, he hurriedly mobilized enough Qilin power into his arms.

With a furious shout, he braced his two massive arms against the sides of the umbrella and pushed it outwards.

"break!"

With a loud "bang," the Immortal-Shielding Umbrella was shattered by his forceful thrust, and fragments of the umbrella ribs flew everywhere.

Looking up, Zhang Ruoxu had already flown far away and was about to disappear from sight.

"Trying to run away?"

Xie Xiaoyi raised his hand and pointed, and the Heaven-Opening Sword, which was suspended in mid-air, began to tremble and hum. Immediately afterwards, a cold light burst forth and shot towards Zhang Ruoxu.

puff--

The next second, the Heaven-Opening Heavy Sword pierced through Zhang Ruoxu's back and emerged from his heart, delivering a chilling blow.

"ah--"

Zhang Ruoxu's body froze in mid-air, blood gushed out, and he died on the spot, falling straight down from mid-air.

But before he died, he desperately abandoned his physical body. A wisp of his soul, wrapped in his natal elixir, burst out of his body and fled into the distance like a madman.

This is his last chance to survive. As long as his soul and primordial core remain, he can always find someone to possess and rebuild his cultivation in the future.

Seeing this, Xie Xiaoyi stepped into the void and chased after him. With a wave of his hand, the Heaven-Opening Heavy Sword flew back into his hand.

With a swift movement, the sword instantly condensed with immense Ancestral Dragon True Qi. He swung the sword fiercely, sending a thick sword aura straight towards Zhang Ruoxu's soul.

With a loud thud.

"Ugh—"

Zhang Ruoxu's soul was directly pulverized by the sword energy, and he was completely annihilated.

Only that perfectly round natal essence pill fell out of the dissipated soul and hovered in mid-air.

Xie Xiaoyi was very curious, so he stomped his foot and flew over.

With a swift reach, Zhang Ruoxu's natal core landed steadily in his hand. The core was brimming with spiritual energy and contained the culmination of Zhang Ruoxu's lifelong cultivation.

The disciples of the Xuanqi Orthodox Sect below, who were watching the battle, had long seen Qi Venerable Zhang Ruoxu's body pierced by the sword and his soul destroyed by the sword energy.

They truly never expected that the Xuanqi Orthodox Sect, which had been entrenched for hundreds of years, would be defeated by a single person and a sword.

They were so frightened that they ran away in all directions, abandoning their sect foundations and prioritizing survival above all else.

Xie Xiaoyi held the life essence pill in his hand, casually put it into his pocket, and with a flick of his true energy, slowly descended towards the entrance of the Xuanqi Orthodox Qi Mansion.

He didn't even glance at the fleeing disciples, having no interest in bothering with these lowly minions.

After standing still, he gripped the Heaven-Opening Sword tightly in his right hand, and the air around him surged wildly, gathering power for the time it takes to brew two cups of tea.

Once the true energy had condensed to its maximum, he suddenly swung his sword down towards the direction of the Xuanqi Zhengzong Qi Mansion.

"Kenpachi - Laughing at the Mortal World!"

boom!!!

An indescribable, powerful sword aura, carrying an overwhelming momentum, burst forth.

bang——

With a deafening roar, the walls and palaces of the Qi Mansion collapsed instantly.

Dust billowed up, and the vast sect's energy palace was blasted into ruins by this single sword strike.

Xie Xiaoyi loosened his grip on the Heaven-Opening Sword slightly, and the powerful true energy around him gradually dissipated.

He turned and looked in the direction of the medicine hut where he had once studied medicine.

He braced himself on the ground with the sword, then suddenly knelt on one knee, letting out a long roar to the sky: "Master, your disciple has avenged you!"

After a long while, Xie Xiaoyi slowly stood up, sheathed his sword, turned around, and flew straight away into the distance.

The battle seemed easy to win, but in reality, it consumed a great deal of his true energy. He found a quiet mountaintop, sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and circulated his true energy to regulate his breathing.

A moment later, he was refreshed.

He had already reached the Earth Immortal Dao Inquiry Realm, but he was still a long way from the realm Xie Daoyun had mentioned.

The move "Sword Eight Laughs at the Mortal World" that Xie Xiaoyi just used gave him inspiration.

If one pushes the cultivation and accumulation of sword power to the extreme, one might be able to unleash a sword strike with the power to break through realms.

And there's that Yuan Dan I just acquired...

Thinking of this, Xie Xiaoyi reached into his pocket and took out Zhang Ruoxu's natal essence pill, which was warm and full of spiritual energy.

He stared at it for a moment, and a thought quietly took shape in his mind—

The spiritual power of a Qi cultivator is fundamentally different from the true qi of a martial arts practitioner; they are different in nature and cannot be directly merged.

However, the Ancestral Dragon True Qi within his body was exceptionally domineering.

He could subdue and convert even exotic energies such as dragon essence, phoenix blood, qilin marrow, and tortoise spirit into his own.

Then... it's not necessarily impossible to refine this natal essence pill.

Why not take the risk and give it a try?

If it succeeds, one's cultivation level will definitely increase greatly, and the path to breaking through realms will be several times faster.

Even if it fails, at most one will suffer a serious injury or lose some of their power.

You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub.

If you don't enter a tiger's den, you can't get a tiger's son.

Rather than getting stuck at an unattainable level and making no progress, it's better to take a chance.

With this thought in mind, Xie Xiaoyi clasped his hands together, held the Yuan Dan in his palms, and used the Azure Dragon Absorbing Water technique to absorb it.

In the end... I only got nothing.

Because the spiritual energy was encased in the Yuan Dan, not a single trace of it leaked out.

Or... how about we try crushing it?

Immediately, Xie Xiaoyi exerted force with both arms at the same time, and his palms suddenly clasped together.

"Bang—!!"

The Yuan Dan shattered instantly, and a surge of powerful spiritual energy exploded outwards from his palms.

Xie Xiaoyi didn't give the spiritual energy a chance to escape. He immediately used the inner force of the Azure Dragon Absorbing Water to desperately absorb the leaking spiritual energy into his body.

at the same time,

The Ancestral Dragon True Qi within his meridians, like a ferocious beast unleashed from its cage, frantically devoured the spiritual power surging into his body, forcibly suppressing and refining it.

Two completely different energies clashed and fought in his dantian and qi sea, causing him to bulge veins all over his body, crack his bones, and bleed slightly from the corner of his lips.

The more fiercely the spiritual energy surged, the more fiercely the ancestral dragon's true energy devoured it. A fierce wind raged across the entire mountain, with sand and stones flying everywhere, and the sky flickering between light and darkness.

Xie Xiaoyi's physical pain at this moment was indescribable, but whenever he thought of his aunt, he gritted his teeth and endured it.

This process of swallowing and refining continued for three days and three nights.

Until the spiritual energy in the Yuan Dan in his palm became thin, the last trace of spiritual power was completely absorbed into his body and refined.

He suddenly opened his eyes: "It's done!"