The so-called Hundred Flower Garden was, in fact, rely an abandoned garden overgrown with weeds. Within the Tao Court, there were many more desolate places like this. With the arrival of the End of Dharma era and the depletion of spiritual energy, nurous locations lost their original value. Furthermore, with cultivators powerless, maintaining such a vast garden by manual labor was utterly impractical.
Abandonnt was the best choice.
Li Yi and Xiang Xiangzi ascended on clouds, quickly following the coordinates to locate a half-collapsed pavilion.
The pavilion stood amidst the weeds, although abandoned for years. Yet, from its carvings and outline, one could still discern its forr beauty and elegance. One could even imagine that during its pri, the garden was bursting with flowers, and cultivators would climb high to overlook the sea of blossoms, akin to a celestial paradise.
"This is the place," Li Yi said.
Xiang Xiangzi, unable to contain her urgency, flew directly toward the collapsed pavilion. She recognized this place imdiately—it was Baihua Pavilion. She once admired flowers here with several other immortals, discussing the Dao in unbridled joy. Yet now, revisiting, all that remained were wild grasses and fractured ruins.
With a sweep of her Daoist robe, the doors and windows flew open. She followed a familiar scent.
Entering the pavilion, she was imdiately hit with the acrid sll of blood mixed with the stench of decay.
A brief glance revealed several of her junior sisters’ corpses in a corner of the pavilion. Arrows were embedded in their bodies; they had already decomposed. Evidently, they had fled here, gravely injured and unable to recover, ultimately succumbing where they rested. Their corpses lay untouched, without even being given a burial—the Hundred Flower Garden was right nearby, yet they couldn’t even receive solace in death. This was a testant to how dire circumstances had beco.
Xiang Xiangzi’s eyes filled with sorrow. Ignoring her grief, her figure snaked upward like a serpent, ascending the stairs to higher levels. On the second floor, she detected the sll of nurous herbs and saw several clay jars, indicating that soone had once attempted to brew dicine here to heal wounds.
On the third floor, she noticed several grass mats, the bloodstains atop them dry and crusted. In addition, in the corner lay two corpses, both seated cross-legged with heads slumped—their deaths clearly long past.
Finally, on the fourth floor.
Xiang Xiangzi found a frail, skeletal woman by the window. The woman was missing an arm, her complexion was pallid, her breathing was faint like drifting threads, and her body was flushed with fever. Beside her stood a high-powered sniper rifle, seemingly ready to fire at anything outside the window.
The user, however—Xuan Yuezi—was already delirious from fever. She mumbled incoherently, her words unintelligible.
"Xuan Yuezi!" Xiang Xiangzi rushed forward anxiously.
But Xuan Yuezi’s condition was dire. She could no longer discern Xiang Xiangzi’s voice. Only instinctively sensing soone approaching, her unyielding will drove her to reach for the high-powered sniper rifle by her side, prepared to fight one more battle, unwilling to bow down.
"Stop fighting, Xuan Yuezi. It’s , Xiang Xiangzi. I’ve returned." Xiang Xiangzi grasped her icy, pale hand, hastening to pour a sliver of mana into her.
"Cough, cough!"
Feeling the surge of mana, Xuan Yuezi’s body seed to recover a shred of strength. She managed to regain clarity, forcing her eyes open. Upon seeing Xiang Xiangzi, a faint smile erged on her lips: "Xiang... Xiang Xiangzi, it’s good that you’re safe... The Heavenly Dao Sect has fallen. You, go with Taiyi, leave the Tao Court, find another path."
"I won’t leave without you. If we go, we go together. I won’t abandon you," Xiang Xiangzi said sorrowfully.
"I... I fear I will not make it out of the Tao Court, Xiang Xiangzi. Don’t waste your mana on ; my life span is at its end. Even if spiritual energy were to be revived, it would be of no use." Xuan Yuezi then lifted her gaze toward the window, staring at Tao Court Mountain.
But soon, a towering figure strode in, blocking her view. His silver eyes shimred like stars as he examined Xuan Yuezi’s injuries.
"Indeed, the situation is grim. She has infected wounds, her Qi-Blood is depleted, and her life span is near its end... The fact that she’s survived until now is a miracle. It must be because of the spirit stones I gave her earlier, which helped her maintain so foundational abilities of a Tri-Floral Realm master. Otherwise, she unquestionably couldn’t have lasted this long." Li Yi stated.
"Taiyi, can she be saved?" Xiang Xiangzi’s heart trembled, lifting her gaze to Li Yi with an expression of helplessness and pleading.
Even as soone who once reached the Tri-Floral Realm herself, hearing the words "life span is near its end" filled her with despair. Items capable of extending life were exceedingly rare—even during the Tao Court’s golden age, they were hard to co by, let alone in the End of Dharma era.
"She can be saved," Li Yi responded firmly.
Imdiately, he flipped his palm, revealing a white bead enveloped in swirling, ethereal energy—extraordinary beyond asure.
"A Life Extending Pill."
Xiang Xiangzi imdiately recognized the object. When she had nearly perished during the Transplanting Flower and Wood technique, it was this very pill that forcibly granted her extended life, pulling her back from the brink of death.
Without hesitation, Li Yi pushed the Life Extending Pill into Xuan Yuezi’s mouth, channeling his Jin Qi to shatter it.
A surge of vital essence burst forth, temporarily reigniting Xuan Yuezi’s fading life force. Yet it was evident this alone wouldn’t suffice—her injuries were too severe. Her infected wounds and rotting amputation would claim her life anyway if left untreated, even with her life span restored.
Subsequently, Li Yi retrieved a Life Repair Cabin from his storage magical artifact.
"Xiang Xiangzi, carry her inside and set her properly," Li Yi instructed.
"Alright," Xiang Xiangzi replied promptly.
Though unfamiliar with Li Yi’s strange devices, she knew they were life-saving tools. Carefully, she lifted the gravely injured Xuan Yuezi and placed her in the Life Repair Cabin.
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