Flowers Bloom and Fade, Part Four
The sky is an endless expanse of azure. The ground is an endless expanse of golden yellow.
Lee Na-kyung pushed He Zi-an far away, turned around swiftly, and held her long sword diagonally in front of her chest.
"Don't be so nervous." Liu Mengde stood where he had just collapsed. His head was tilted back slightly because he was covering his neck with one hand.
"How could that be? My blood ring clearly severed your trachea."
“That’s right, you almost killed me. I almost forgot what death felt like.” Liu Mengde closed his eyes, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings, a look of reminiscence on his face. Opening his eyes, he raised his other hand, pointing at Li Najing and saying, “I want to thank you for reminding me of my younger self. In return, I will crush you head-on, kill you, and give you the chance to witness firsthand the heights that Xuanyuan Sword Heart can reach.”
The mark between Liu Mengde's brows flickered. He slowly lowered his left hand from his neck, and at the same time, a blood-red shadow grew on his back, eventually detaching from him. That blood-red shadow was none other than the figure of a girl. On the shadow's neck was a cross-shaped brand.
Looking at Liu Mengde, whose hands were hanging down, the brand on his neck had vanished without a trace. It was as if it had never existed. This gave Lee Na-kyung a strange sense of disorientation.
"It took me ten years to devour this fragmented sword heart and obtain the Blood Palace's extraordinary technique, 'Glassy Shadow,' from within." Liu Mengde bent down to pick up the longsword and continued, "No matter what effort you make, all the damage will be transferred to this Blood Shadow. This is a unique and invincible miracle. I have brought it back to life, and you will be fortunate enough to be the first witness to it."
A crimson shadow stood side by side with Liu Mengde. The shadow held a sword in his left hand, while Liu Mengde held his sword in his right. A brief silence fell over the desert.
On the vast desert, a different color appeared. At first, it was just a thin, slightly transparent pale pink. Beneath the pink, the golden hue of the desert was faintly visible. This pink stretched straight forward, spreading out behind it like ripples on the stern of a ship.
In another direction, the crimson hue and the emerald green of the lake were separated, moving towards that pale pink.
The three colors collided, and then a crisp, ringing sound was heard. Dust billowed.
The clash of swords, even under the blazing sun, made the sparks shine brightly. The aftershocks reverberated, and rugged crystal hills rose again and again from the ground. The pink crystal hills were stained crimson, shattered, and scattered. Each fragment of the crystal reflected the sun's rays.
Shadow stood to the left, Liu Mengde to the right. The resounding clang of swords, louder than the shattering of crystals and the crimson waves beneath their feet, continued unabated. The pressure was so intense that Lee Na-kyung almost forgot to breathe.
The crimson sword shadow gradually seeped into the emerald green on her right. All the colors surged towards Lee Na-kyung's left. Lee Na-kyung's defenses began to crumble bit by bit. Wounds continued to multiply on her body. The speed at which she wielded her longsword grew slower and slower.
Behind Liu Mengde, a crimson wave followed like a shadow. Its scale was far less imposing than Li Najiong had imagined, but it was enough to cause the crystal hill, several meters high, to collapse. Crystal fragments either flew into the sky or plunged into the waves.
Those falling fragments, swirling in the sky, each shimmered with the sun's rays. They were dazzling. The light passed over Liu Mengde, past that gaunt, blood-red shadow. Li Najiong closed her eyes.
Clang—that was a broken note. Lee Na-kyung's longsword flew into the sky.
The longsword spun and rose. Her heterochromatic eyes were reflected in the scarred blade.
"Ah, so this is what I've become," she thought to herself.
Liu Mengde and Shadow raised their arms simultaneously, making a stabbing motion. One aimed straight for the throat, the other for the heart.
Lee Na-kyung's hands were empty, and she felt only a strange sense of relief. "Father, it seems like this is the end for your daughter. I thought I could hold on until the day you come back."
Opening her right eye, she decided to accept the last moment of her life with equanimity.
The sword's edge sliced through the heatwave, emitting a sharp whistling sound. But this sound abruptly stopped just as the shadowy sword was about to pierce Lee Na-kyung's clothes.
A hand covered in yellow sand pressed down on half of Liu Mengde's face from behind. Through the gaps between the fingers, Liu Mengde could still see Li Najiong, but the longsword did not advance even an inch further.
Another hand pierced Liu Mengde's chest first.
"Sorry I'm late," Li Letian said.
*
The shadow changed its attack direction and slashed at Li Letian. Li Letian withdrew his hand and struck from both sides of the longsword simultaneously, breaking it into three pieces.
Taking this opportunity, Liu Mengde quickly retreated to the side, widening the distance between himself and Li Letian. Upon closer inspection, his chest was completely unharmed. A popping sound came from the shadow's chest, revealing a hole of the same size.
The sudden explosion startled Shadow, momentarily disorienting her. Her carefully prepared stance was momentarily broken. Li Letian delivered another punch, slamming Shadow into the sand.
Liu Mengde touched the spot on his chest where he had been pierced earlier and said, "You are no match for me and Shadow."
"You seemed to have said that no matter what harm you suffer, in the end, your shadow will bear it for you," Li Letian raised his fist, looked at Liu Mengde, and asked, "What if the shadow disappears?"
"Shadow is life, and life is shadow. Life is a part of this world, a force of nature, and cannot be destroyed. You cannot do it."
"I'll see what happens." Li Letian clenched his fists, his gaze no longer lingering on Liu Mengde.
"Listening to the Wind." Li Letian delivered punch after punch. From the heart of the shadow as the origin, not only the shadow's body, but also the desert began to collapse. A strong wind lifted Li Najiong into the air, keeping the surging waves at bay.
Huge sand pits appeared on the ground. The strong winds that Li Letian generated not only blocked the waves, but also pushed the previously unstoppable waves backward.
A continuous, cool breeze rose from the bottom of the sandpit. The unexpected chill rekindled Li Najiong's spirits, which had been about to give up. As long as Li Letian didn't stop, she would continue to rise higher. The change in position altered the world she saw.
The sea of blood was far less turbulent than she had imagined. Just as the sea of blood was devouring the crystals, the sunlight was also swallowing it up.
Each remaining crystal hill became the perfect amplification of the sunlight, the translucent crystals shimmering with golden light, their original pink color completely obscured. The distant sea of blood evaporated at a visible speed, the rising vapor vanishing without a trace. Nearby, waves repeatedly crashed against the wind wall constructed by Li Letian.
Now it seems that the roaring waves were not a display of power to the prey, but more like the final lament of a desperate beast.
Is there really no chance for her to win?
Li Letian's fists rained down relentlessly, each time hitting the same spot. Everything around them collapsed towards the point where the fists landed. Only Li Nagyeong rose in the opposite direction. The shadow's body was continuously hammered, twisted, and compressed until it was only the size of a pill.
Li Letian threw his final punch at the round, full sphere.
Above the crater, before the sun could devour the last remnants of the tide, the crimson shattered, crashing like broken ceramic.
They have vanished without a trace.
"What kind of boxing technique is this?" Liu Mengde spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turned pale, and the mark between his eyebrows faded.
“This isn’t boxing,” Li Letian said, catching Li Najiong as she wobbled to the ground. He looked up at Liu Mengde at the edge of the pit and said, “It’s Shigulin’s hammer technique.”
“Impossible,” Liu Mengde exclaimed, his eyes wide. “How could such an outdated martial art possibly break through the natural power that I have cultivated for so many years?”
The hands that were holding Lee Na-kyung were a bloody mess, dripping blood. The blood fell to the ground and dried quickly, but this time it left behind an indelible color. "The power of nature is infinite, but you, as its bearer, are finite. I don't need to defeat nature; I only need to reach your limit."
Lee Na-kyung nestled in Lee Letian's arms, looking at the bloodstains on the ground and whispering, "Calling it hammer technique is too chaotic."
Liu Mengde was about to say something when flames erupted behind him, engulfing him completely. Then, a tremor shook the air, forcing the flames back. In the end, the flames still occupied half of Liu Mengde's body.
“He was attacked by the backlash,” Lee Na-kyung said.
"What?"
“That flame wanted to devour him.” Lee Na-kyung was still lying in Lee Letian’s arms, her eyes fixed on Liu Mengde’s distorted face above her. “He just crushed the Xuanyuan Sword Heart, I could feel it. He sacrificed the sword heart to fight against that flame.”
Liu Mengde drew the burning longsword from behind him—the malevolent sword, Volcano. Holding Volcano, Liu Mengde jumped into the pit.
Li Letian put Li Najiong down, looked at Liu Mengde who was charging towards him, and asked, "Are you alright?"
"If only we could get to that location," Lee Na-kyung murmured.
"What?"
“The key is position.” Lee Na-kyung tilted her head back. “As long as we can get to that position, we can find a way to completely defeat him.”
Li Letian pondered for a moment, then took a step forward without hesitation. "I will pave the way for you."
"Wait a minute." Lee Na-kyung grabbed his wrist and said, "Are you still going to use those fists to cause trouble?"
Lee Na-kyung raised her right hand, palm down, to shoulder height. Right in front of them, sand and gravel began to surge, flow, and rise like a spring.
"Are you ready?" Lee Na-kyung put her hand into the quicksand in front of her, without looking at Lee Letian.
Li Letian also put his hand in, and he felt the sand and gravel gathering towards his palm.
Flames erupted behind Liu Mengde, and the powerful impact propelled him forward at an accelerated pace.
The quicksand lost its vitality and fell straight down. Looking again at Li Letian's hand, there was a long-handled, top-heavy object—a short-handled hammer shaped from sand and gravel.
The short-handled hammer was made of stacked sand and gravel, resembling a bouquet of flowers. Li Letian felt it looked somewhat familiar, but couldn't quite place what it was.
"What's this?"
“It’s the weapon you’ve always wanted.” Lee Na-kyung held the longsword made of sand and stones, tilting her head. “It won’t be very sturdy, but it will stay with you until either of us breathes our last.”
The heatwave was already hitting their faces.
Li Letian focused his gaze ahead, clearing his mind of all distractions, and said, "I will pave the way for you."
*
Flames and longswords clashed repeatedly. Li Letian felt as if he had returned to the time when he was forging swords in the Sword Forging City, his sand hammer striking the flames and longswords again and again.
Location is important.
As long as he strikes the right spot, the flames will dissipate. He can also control the trajectory of the longsword.
Lee Na-kyung was right; the hammerheads weren't sturdy enough. Each strike broke a sand hammer. Fortunately, a new sand hammer would instantly materialize, and Lee Letian would use the brand-new one to continue striking.
Standing in the heart of the desert and the flames, the primal heat reminded him once again of his time by the sword furnace and the morning Meng Jizhen left.
Master, I think I can understand your approach a little better now.
If only we could have gotten here sooner.
Another clash of hammer and sword. Li Letian didn't create distance again; instead, he pressed down with all his might.
"Go!" Li Letian forced Liu Mengde aside, making way for Li Najiong to move forward.
Lee Na-kyung traversed the flames and climbed up the slope of the sandpit.
With each step she took, a gust of wind seemed to lift her feet. Liu Mengde's sword also left a mark on Li Letian's body.
Li Letian let the wind and fire rage over his body, meticulously striking out the steps that Li Nagyeong needed.
Lee Na-kyung climbed to the top of the sandpit, and she never looked back.
Blood blurred his vision. Li Letian finally held the sand hammer horizontally in front of his chest, trying to block an attack for himself.
The longsword slashed upwards, and the sand hammer exploded. Li Letian completely lost his balance. He instinctively gripped his hand, trying to grab the next sand hammer. But he grasped nothing.
He flew straight toward the towering side wall of the sandpit and disappeared into it.
Liu Mengde turned his head to look in the direction Li Najiong had fled.
At the top of the sandpit, a huge "sun" slowly rose. It was a "sun" with half of its body blood-red.
The light became clearly visible. The light, passing through the "sun" held up by Lee Na-kyung, bent in different directions, converging towards a single point. Liu Mengde could no longer open his eyes; the remaining half of his body began to burn with pain. He felt the "volcano" responding joyfully.
He reached out his hand toward the "sun".
Starting from the fingertips, the flames coiled like snakes. Skin and muscle vanished in an instant, and even the stark white bones would soon disappear from this world.
Scattered on the ground are blocks of sand and gravel, which originally formed Li Letian's sand hammer. Now, the sand hammer has fulfilled its purpose, and the stones have come to rest.
The stones are shaped like roses, scattered one by one in the sea of fire.
*
"Let's rest for a bit," Qu You said. She led her mother-in-law around, stopping frequently, but they still hadn't seen the peach grove her mother-in-law had mentioned.
Qu You helped her mother-in-law sit down on a relatively smooth rock, then ran to the river to fetch water, and returned to her mother-in-law's side to take out some dry food from her bundle.
"Do you think someone might throw a sword down and it might hit me?"
"Please don't say such terrible things," Qu You said reproachfully, her eyes wide.
"After the sword-testing tournament ends, many people will throw their swords into this valley."
Qu You stopped halfway through taking the dry rations.
Grandma chuckled.
"Grandma, you're teasing me again."
"You, and your mother, are not like me. They are always so rigid and proper, I don't know who they take after."
Qu You took out a pancake, broke off a piece, and fed it to her mother-in-law, asking, "Grandma, were you like this when you were young?"
“When I was young,” the old woman looked up at the top of the canyon, “I told a lot of lies when I was young too.”
Qu You took a bite of the pancake herself and replied with a vague "Mmm." She trailed off the last syllable, seemingly lost in thought.
After giving her mother-in-law some water, Qu You packed up her bundle.
"Are you leaving already?" the mother-in-law asked.
"Let's go somewhere else," Qu You said, pulling her mother-in-law to her feet and pointing to a spot with a stone eaves sheltering the cliff face.
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