Chapter Seventy-Nine: Thornflower Buds

Cold Sky stood naked in his strong, well-built body, looking up at Luan Jade Butterfly as she slowly rose into the void. Her lovely face was serene as she gazed back at him, and for a moment his mind went blank. Was this truly the same alluring, coquettish mistress of Azure Peak Mountain?

As Luan Jade Butterfly prepared to leave, she looked down at Cold Sky staring up at her in a daze, and warmth stirred in her heart. Her red lips parted softly as she sent him a voice transmission. “You wooden block. Big sister will be waiting for the day you command the winds and clouds. By then, I’m willing to lower myself to the smaller position. Just don’t forget me.”

Though her beautiful face wore a smile as gentle as spring sunshine, the two glistening tears hidden deep in the corners of her eyes betrayed the truth of her heart.

“Don’t worry, Butterfly. If Cold Sky should ever wrong you, may heaven strike me down so I can never again be born as a man!” Cold Sky raised his arm hard, his voice ringing with steel as he spoke to the fading silhouette of Luan Jade Butterfly.

At last, the two tears could no longer be held back and fell. Those words were not sweet or flowery, yet the sincerity and affection behind them sank deeply into her heart, a bond so firm that time itself could not measure it.

A ribbon of rainbow light carried Luan Jade Butterfly away, until she vanished at last into the boundless void. Watching the one who had only moments ago been warm jade in his arms depart, her fragrance lingering while her soft body was gone, Cold Sky was left with nothing but a vast emptiness and a lingering ache in his chest.

“Boss, boss, they’re all gone!”

“Shut up!”

Hearing Judas call out to him, Cold Sky suddenly remembered the two of them in the throes of passion. His expression turned terrifyingly dark. Judas only felt a chill rush through his whole body, and he could clearly sense a fierce killing intent spreading.

“Tell me, did you see everything? Speak honestly. If there’s a single lie, I’ll destroy your formless true body and throw your soul into lightning to be roasted alive!”

“Boss, no!” Frightened out of his wits, Judas dropped to his knees before Cold Sky, tears and snot streaming down his face as he begged, “I was originally going to watch…”

“I’ll destroy you!”

The moment Cold Sky heard Judas begin to speak, cold light burst from his eyes. With the murderous air around him, he really did seem ready to obliterate Judas’s true body on the spot.

“Boss, listen to me!” Judas was nearly driven to wet himself. Clinging tightly to Cold Sky’s leg, he cried, “But that giant blade inside your body actually came out of your dantian while you were doing that thing. The moment it released that power, it forced me straight back into my natal rune, so I didn’t see anything at all!”

Cold Sky’s expression eased slightly. He kicked Judas flying away and said in a frigid voice, “Without my permission, not a word of this may be spoken to anyone. Otherwise, hmph…”

“Boss, rest assured. This little brother will keep everything that happened today locked in his stomach and never mention it to a soul.” Though he said this aloud, Judas was sneering inwardly with contempt. Just a little sneakiness and you’re afraid people will know? I won’t do what you want. I’ll make sure your harem catches fire and leaves you in utter chaos!

“You say that blade came out of my body? What did it come out for?” Cold Sky probed inwardly and discovered that the azure giant blade was still suspended above the sea of true energy, with no sign of anything unusual.

Judas’s heart tightened. Realizing Cold Sky suspected his words, he straightened his back and said solemnly, “Boss, your blade is truly terrifying. It only released a trace of its aura, and my formless true body already showed signs of collapsing. Luckily, it bore no malice toward me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have needed you to move at all—I would have had to throw myself into the embrace of heaven and earth.”

Cold Sky’s brows remained tightly furrowed. After hearing Judas’s explanation, he still did not quite believe him, but he could find no flaw in the story and could only let it go.

In truth, Cold Sky was not afraid that his intimacy with Luan Jade Butterfly would be spread around. What he feared was that Judas, that lecherous bastard, would profit from it. It did not matter if he himself were seen, but if Luan Jade Butterfly were violated by those filthy eyes, that would be absolutely unforgivable.

Cold Sky was a very traditional man. Once he possessed a woman, he would never allow another to stain her. Even a verbal offense was like touching one of his reverse scales. Whoever dared offend it would be destroyed.

As for how suddenly he and Luan Jade Butterfly had become one, there was still a trace of awkwardness in Cold Sky’s heart. Fire Dance’s delicate face kept flashing through his mind. He had already shared the reality of husband and wife with the former, yet he felt deep guilt toward the latter.

All along, he had seen Fire Dance’s feelings for him and hidden them in his heart, always fearing that he could not give her a stable life. For a long time he had pretended not to know, concealing the conflict within himself.

Yet before he had even shown any sign of affection toward Fire Dance, he had ended up accomplishing such a thing with Luan Jade Butterfly. At once, the lovely faces of both women kept rising in his mind. He wanted to have one and could not bear to lose the other. It was truly a difficult choice.

After thinking it over again and again, he finally steeled himself. In the worst case, he would simply take them both. Was Cold Sky really incapable of subduing two women? Since such a blessing sat right before him, what was there to remain torn over?

Having made up his mind, his heart suddenly cleared. He glanced at the small lake nearby, let out a long cry that rang across the sky, and leaped into the water to wash the sweat from his body.

Seeing Cold Sky’s mood shift from stormy skies to clear weather, then happily jump into the lake for a bath, Judas rolled his eyes and said with utter contempt, “This guy is really putting on a show.”

“What is that?”

Judas suddenly felt something soft pass through his formless body, writhing back and forth as though trying to tug at him, yet with nothing tangible to grasp. It seemed extremely restless.

Wondering which bold fool it was, he turned around and looked back.

A giant mouth packed with fierce teeth was right in front of him, and dark green slime poured from the corners of it like a stream.

“Holy—”

Judas stared for a moment and muttered under his breath, then let out a shriek of despair. “Mother of God!”

In an instant, his formless body turned into a wisp of smoke and vanished without a trace.

“What are you screaming for?”

Cold Sky had just finished washing and was about to come out when he heard Judas’s terrified cry. He had thought the fellow had been kicked by a donkey or something.

Looking toward the shore, he too froze in place. The magnificent scene before his eyes struck him with a wave of astonishment.

At a glance, there seemed to be tens of thousands of thornflowers packed densely along the shore. Every one of them bowed low, their huge flower heads lowered and their stems bent at a right angle, as though the whole field were paying homage together.

At the very front of the massed flowers stood the same towering thornflower from before, several zhang high, also bent forward in reverence.

And before this sea of flowers, aside from the small lake, there was only Cold Sky standing in the water.

Could they be bowing to me? he could not help thinking.

“Respected strong one, I am the Thornflower Queen. I hereby offer my sincerest apologies for the rash offense committed by my subjects earlier.”

A sweet female voice entered his mind. From the tone, it seemed to be the towering thornflower at the front speaking to him. Looking at the great flower bowing before him, Cold Sky tried tentatively, “You are a demon flower?”

“Respected strong one, to be precise, I am a flower on the verge of becoming a demon flower. At present, however, I am still not yet a demon.”

The sweet voice reached his ears again. This time Cold Sky was certain that the speaker was indeed the enormous flower before him. Curiosity stirred in his heart. He had never seen a plant capable of sending thoughts by voice transmission, and today he was truly broadened in vision.

“You and I were born under the same heavens and earth. There is no such thing as high or low among us. As for your so-called offense earlier, I have not taken it to heart. You should withdraw.”

Facing so many thornflowers, Cold Sky still felt a chill in his chest, so he told them to leave.

“Respected strong one, forgive me for daring to ask one favor. I hope you can lend me a hand.”

Cold Sky lifted a brow. His words carried confusion as he asked, “What could I possibly help you with? Given your strength, do you still have some difficulty?”

“Yes. I am about to advance into a demon, but I lack sufficient life force for the transformation. I have waited five hundred years, and only with your arrival today have I finally found hope of breaking through. I beg you to fulfill my wish.”

Her voice carried a trace of weakness, yet the words themselves were filled with longing.

Cold Sky did not answer immediately. He simply studied the giant flower for a long time before asking, “By life force, you do not mean you want to take my life force, do you?”

“Well... if you possess some treasure containing life force, that could also help me advance. If you are willing to help me, I am willing to become your demon servant and attend you for the rest of my life.”

“Heh...” Hearing the Thornflower Queen’s words, Cold Sky could not help but smile. He thought to himself that on this journey through the Ancient Realm, there were already no fewer than thirty demon beasts in the Purgatory, including the two fox sisters, and yet now even a thornflower wanted to become his demon servant.

After thinking it over, he finally decided to help it advance into a demon. Rising into the air, he landed on the shore, circulated his inner art to dry his wet body, then took clean clothes from his storage ring and put them on. As he looked up, a warm smile appeared in his eyes.

Smelling the faint orchid fragrance on the clothes, Cold Sky knew Fire Dance had washed them with orchid-scented powder, which was why they carried such a fresh, delicate aroma.

“By the way, what is your name?” In a splendid mood, Cold Sky asked the Thornflower Queen’s name.

“A name? Since the day I was born, I have never had one. Why don’t you give me a name?”

There was a touch of loneliness in her voice, followed by eager hope as she pleaded for Cold Sky to grant her one.

Looking at the tall flower body, with its huge blossom lowered toward him, and although the mouth full of sharp teeth was somewhat fearsome, Cold Sky knew that once it successfully became a demon, it might be able to take human form. In that case, its appearance would probably not be too ugly. After a brief thought, he said, “Then I’ll call you Blossom Bud.”

“Thank you... I finally have a name! Blossom Bud... Blossom Bud... What a lovely name. Thank you for giving me this name!”

After receiving her name, the Thornflower Queen Blossom Bud was overjoyed, like a little girl next door who had just gotten candy she had longed for. She was visibly delighted and full of excitement.

Cold Sky merely smiled without speaking. With a flash of light in his hand, a small white jade bottle appeared in his palm. Hearing Blossom Bud’s happy voice, he said, “All right. Open your mouth and drink the spirit milk in this bottle. I guarantee you’ll advance into a demon in one step.”

Blossom Bud happily agreed at once, opening the great mouth hidden within her huge blossom. In a flash, the white jade bottle in Cold Sky’s hand flew straight into it, and the bottle together with the spirit milk inside was swallowed in a single gulp by Blossom Bud.

The Supreme Edge of Martial Arts, Chapter Seventy-Nine. Blossom Bud the Thornflower. Finished.