My Shijie Seems Intent on Destroying the World – Chapter 10
by Little PandaWhen the Spirit Flowers Bloom
Her Spiritual Flower Bloomed.
Another year of Major Cold1, and white snow blanketed the mountains.
The wind at winter’s end was always piercing, setting the bamboo wind chime in the courtyard clattering all through the night.
Qi Zhi poked her head out from under the covers, squinted, let out a big yawn, and began to space out.
Her heart had not palpitated today. She had dreamed a beautiful dream.
In her dream, her spiritual flower had bloomed, and the winter snow across the mountains melted away for it.
Master, after a long absence, had summoned her. Before everyone in the sect, he had waved his hand and spread an array of magical artifacts before her, letting her choose as she pleased.
There were so many magical artifacts. She did not recognize most of them, but after looking through them all, she chose a small cyan jade bottle.
This little jade bottle was quite wondrous—no matter if it were tea, water, or wine, just pour a single drop inside, and it would multiply over time. As long as you drew from it, the supply would never run dry.
She had seen such a magical artifact at Ninth Senior Sister’s place before and had secretly envied it for centuries. Now she could finally have one of her own!
Also, Mu-shijie had accepted the flower she gave, become her Daoist partner, and moved into the little courtyard that Qi Zhi had tidied up so neatly.
From then on, there were no more long mountain paths to walk. Mu-shijie would help her style pretty hair buns every day, feed her delicious things, and hold her hand as she guided her through every sword form until it was mastered.
And Ah Yun, when idle, liked to perch on the tree branch outside the window, dangling one little foot down and repeatedly flicking the bamboo wind chime hanging from the tree.
Her spiritual root grew larger and larger, gradually becoming a great tree covered in pure white spiritual flowers.
Her fellow disciples in the sect never came to trouble her again. Those who had once ordered her about now treated her with courtesy, and even the most insufferable Fourth Senior Brother would greet her with a smile.
Most importantly, she could leave the mountain whenever she wanted!
—How wonderful!
It would have been even better if it were not just a dream.
Such a beautiful dream, yet it broke off right on the road as she and Mu-shijie were leaving the mountain together.
Qi Zhi felt more than a little wistful.
After spacing out for a good while, she slowly came back to her senses. Then her eyes lit up, and with a single thought, she entered her Sea of Divine Sense.
Five hundred years ago, she had first gained spiritual awareness. Because she had taken human form early, the Daoist Venerable had picked her out at a glance and made an exception to take her in as a disciple.
That day had been Major Cold.
Today was Qi Zhi’s five-hundredth coming-of-age day. The moment she roused from her sweet slumber, she had rushed excitedly to her spiritual root.
She thought she would see a blooming spiritual flower, but that limp, scruffy little weed was still half-dead, drooping on the ground!
Qi Zhi squatted beside it with a huff, her brow tightly knit. “What is wrong with you?”
Was it not supposed to bloom today?
Qi Zhi stared at the little grass and felt a small wave of sadness, then told herself inwardly—No rush, do not be afraid, just wait a little longer!
Maybe it was too cold right now. When spring came, it would bloom, would it not?
Thinking thus, she gently stroked its tattered leaves.
In that moment, a wisp of soft green spiritual light flashed from her fingertips, flowing along the leaf veins into the roots, then gently wreathing around them.
The tattered little grass slowly stood upright. Its leaves, like tiny hands, gently cradled a small bud.
Qi Zhi only paused for a moment before the bud had already swelled into a full flower bud.
The flower’s outline began to emerge. Suddenly a gentle breeze brushed past, and the flower bud swayed lightly in the wind, its petals trembling open within the spiritual light.
The gentle breeze turned a swath of pure white void green.
All things quietly awakened in an instant.
Green mountains and flowing waters, flowers and birds and singing insects—all breathed freely in this flourishing world, centered around her.
Newborn grasses and flowers swayed gently before her eyes, their leaves and petals all tilting toward that single newly bloomed pure white blossom.
Qi Zhi stared blankly at everything before her. It took a good while before she came back to her senses, and she leapt to her feet in excitement, shouting and jumping across this vibrant world.
That little grass still looked as tattered as ever, but it had truly bloomed a most beautiful spiritual flower, giving rise to a landscape of heaven and earth in this place.
Was her spiritual root… repaired?
Qi Zhi could not understand all this. She silently withdrew from her Sea of Divine Sense and gazed at the room full of flowers, unable to stop anticipating Mu Qingshi’s arrival.
This time, if shijie was willing, she wanted to be bold enough to ask shijie to take a look for her.
Qi Zhi opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and bounced up from the bed. She threw on her outer robe, stepped into the courtyard, and carefully tidied herself up using her reflection in the large water vat.
Finally, she walked over to the bare old tree, stood on her tiptoes to flick the bamboo wind chime a few times, then skipped in circles out to the edge of the yard, leaned against the wooden fence, and gazed out at the distant mountains veiled in winter snow.
She was no cold-hardy little grass, yet she still wanted to stand here and wait.
When Mu-shijie came, she would be the first to welcome her.
Qi Zhi did not know when Mu Qingshi would come.
The Facing Mirror was tucked under her pillow. She could have asked, but she simply wanted to keep waiting here.
Being urged to come and coming of one’s own longing were, after all, not quite the same thing.
Perhaps because that spiritual flower had bloomed, today’s wind did not feel as cold as before.
Qi Zhi waited for a long time. She did not wait for Mu Qingshi—instead, she waited for Fourth Senior Brother and Ninth Senior Sister.
When she saw who was approaching from afar, Qi Zhi felt her vision go dark. She turned and darted back inside, locked the door, shut the windows, and silently prayed that these two were just passing by.
But before long, the two came knocking.
Ninth Senior Sister saw the door was tightly locked and even ran to the window, prying open the window crack to peek inside.
“Eleventh Junior Sister! So you are here!”
She called out shimei so sweetly. Qi Zhi sighed and got up to open the door.
The door had barely cracked open when Ninth Senior Sister eagerly squeezed her way in. Seeing flowers of different seasons blooming throughout the room, a flicker of an unreadable emotion crossed her face before vanishing in an instant.
“How beautiful! shimei is truly clever and skillful. In this freezing cold weather, you still managed to keep so many flowers alive.” She sighed in admiration and stepped forward to take Qi Zhi’s icy hands.
Qi Zhi instinctively pulled her hand back, but Ninth Senior Sister only laughed and pulled it toward her again.
“Why are your hands so cold? Let shijie warm them up for you!” Ninth Senior Sister said, gathering spiritual power in her palms and gently covering Qi Zhi’s hands.
“I am actually not cold…”
“We have many days ahead of us to get along, shimei, why be so formal?” Ninth Senior Sister smiled, her brows curving, and released Qi Zhi’s hands. “Today is your coming-of-age ceremony. Fourth Senior Brother and I specially picked out a gift for you!”
Qi Zhi blinked in surprise and glanced timidly toward Fourth Senior Brother at the door.
It seemed—it should—not be an illusion.
Fourth Senior Brother’s eyes rarely held any annoyance when looking at her. He even seemed to be in a good mood at the moment, looking entirely ready to make peace with her at any time.
But the more this was so, the more Qi Zhi felt something was off, and she instinctively took a half step back.
“Fourth Senior Brother, Ninth Senior Sister, the wind is strong today. Why do you not come in and sit for a bit?” Qi Zhi said, waving her hands. “There is no rush for gifts. Second Senior Sister will be coming later too, so I was thinking of saving them to open together…”
Ninth Senior Sister cut off Qi Zhi’s words. “What does it matter when you look at them?”
As she spoke, a jade bracelet materialized in her palm, and she took Qi Zhi’s left hand once more. “You did not like the bracelet I gave you last time. I suppose you thought it was just an ordinary trinket. But this one—this is a magical implement.”
“A magical implement?” Before Qi Zhi could even process it, the bracelet had already been slipped onto her wrist by Ninth Senior Sister.
“Yes, look!”
Ninth Senior Sister tapped the jade bracelet lightly with her fingertip, and a ring of dark golden formation runes appeared, slowly circling around Qi Zhi’s wrist.
Qi Zhi did not understand. “What is this?”
Ninth Senior Sister said, “It is a little formation. Inside is Fourth Senior Brother’s and my spiritual power.”
Qi Zhi asked, “What does it do?”
Hearing this, Ninth Senior Sister smiled radiantly. “To protect you, of course!”
Qi Zhi blinked, looking at the jade bracelet on her hand, her mind full of Mu Qingshi’s warning—”Avoid touching her things if you can help it.”
But Ninth Senior Sister was right in front of her, and Fourth Senior Brother was beside her. Even if she wanted to take it off, she did not quite dare to move. She could only think to herself that after she sent these two off, she would remove the bracelet and give it to Mu-shijie to examine.
While Qi Zhi was thinking earnestly, Fourth Senior Brother, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up.
“All right, all right, let us get to the point.”
“Ah, I almost forgot!” Ninth Senior Sister said, concealing the formation on the jade bracelet. She patted Qi Zhi’s shoulder and said to her, “Eleventh Junior Sister, congratulations! Master wants to see you!”
“Eh?” Qi Zhi’s eyes widened at once. “Master… Master has summoned me?”
“Yes!” Ninth Senior Sister nodded quite seriously. “We came here today under orders to bring you to see Master. Come with us quickly now, we cannot keep Master waiting!”
Qi Zhi’s heart leapt with joy, and she instinctively moved to follow the two out the door.
A breeze blew past, and the wind chime on the old tree swayed gently. She suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be waiting here for someone.
Qi Zhi suddenly stopped in her tracks. Fourth Senior Brother and Ninth Senior Sister both turned to look at her.
After a brief awkward pause, Qi Zhi said loudly, “Give me a moment!”
“Wait for what?” Fourth Senior Brother grew impatient.
“I made plans with Second Senior Sister. If she comes and cannot find me, she will worry…” Qi Zhi said, pointing toward the room. “I have a Facing Mirror. Let me go tell Second Senior Sister first!”
With that, Qi Zhi turned and ran toward the bed, taking out the Facing Mirror.
What she did not see was Fourth Senior Brother’s expression shifting as he flashed behind her in a single stride.
The next second, she felt a chill throughout her body, and then she lost consciousness.
“How troublesome.” Ye Wuju frowned at Qi Zhi, who had slumped by the bed, his eyes full of exasperation.
Qingyao skipped over to the bed in small steps, leaned down to check the Facing Mirror, and breathed a sigh of relief. “Good thing she did not open this wretched mirror, or it would have caused more complications.”
“What Master wants to do—could a waste with a ruined spiritual root actually stop him?” Ye Wuju said with a cold snort. “Mu Qingshi will find out sooner or later. I would actually quite like to see what expression she makes then.”
Qingyao could not help but laugh. “She protects Eleventh Junior Sister so fiercely. Will she not fight Master to the death when the time comes?”
As she finished speaking, she released a thread of spiritual power from her fingertips, like silk, binding Qi Zhi’s hands and feet. With a slight crook of her finger, Qi Zhi stood up, following obediently behind her step by step.
Qingyao glanced at the jade bracelet on Qi Zhi’s wrist and could not resist asking Ye Wuju in a low voice, “Will this really not be discovered by Master?”
“What is there to fear? You and I are already tasked with guarding Master’s formation. It is perfectly normal for our spiritual power to be in the array. Even if he does discover it, we only siphoned off this little bit. Master will not pursue it.” Ye Wuju’s voice unconsciously dropped a few degrees. “He himself knows this matter is not honorable either. When those who left the mountain return, will they not still have to rely on us to cover for him?”
“True…” Qingyao nodded and led Qi Zhi out the door.
As they approached the courtyard gate, the wind chime in the courtyard suddenly rang with wild frenzy. She could not help feeling a surge of unease and glanced up at the tree.
With just that one glance, a chill ran through her entire body.
The spiritual power on the bamboo wind chime should have been clean and faint, but at this very moment, what hung from the treetop was a deep, dark blackness that seemed capable of devouring everything.
“Demonic qi?” Ye Wuju frowned, summoning his natal sword in his palm. “How could such a thing be in the mountain?”
The two had no time to think further. The demonic qi swirled like smoke and mist, and in an instant, it had silently enveloped the entire courtyard.
The daylight seemed to have been utterly swallowed, leaving only a dimness as if night were about to fall.
“shixiong!” Qingyao instinctively leaned back, seeking support, but when she turned around, there was no one behind her.
The spiritual threads at her fingertips had snapped at some unknown point. Qi Zhi, whom she had just been holding by the hand, was already lying back in bed, tucked tightly under the covers.
Suddenly, something dripped onto her face, carrying a trace of warmth, slowly sliding downward.
A drop fell at the corner of her eye.
In her peripheral vision, she caught a flash of crimson.
Qingyao could not help but shudder and looked up toward the roof.
A monstrous bird with a white head, grey wings, and a pair of tiger claws sat perched on top, tearing into half a bloody, mangled corpse without making the slightest sound.
Fresh blood splattered down from the roof. A broken sword was pinned beneath its tiger claws.
She could not stop herself from letting out a scream.
The giant bird’s eyes were blood-red. It tilted its head and gazed quietly at her.
The author has something to say:
First day of 2026—kill the others first, then dote on shimei.
Some little angels are worried about angst. How could there be angst? I will put it in writing—guaranteed sweet!
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