Wen Zhao was born with a Heavenly-Grade Sword Bone, making her the finest of her generation.
Her master warned her to devote herself wholeheartedly to cultivation and keep her distance from disciples of the other peaks.
Wen Zhao obeyed, though not entirely. She secretly kept a potted flower that could talk.
Wen Zhao: "They all say Master treats me well, but he’s actually very coldhearted."
Flower: "If even you don’t think he treats you well, then he doesn’t. Why should you care what other people say?"
Wen Zhao: "Senior Brother gave me another red robe, even though I already told him I don’t like them."
Flower: "He knows you don’t like it and gave it to you anyway. That’s basically dumping trash on you. Throw the trash away."
Wen Zhao: "Second Senior Brother..."
The flower ran out of patience. "Shut up. You’re so noisy."
On the day she turned twenty, her master took Wen Zhao’s Sword Bone from her. Trapped in her room, she could only wait to die.
Looking back on her brief and dull life, Wen Zhao had little to regret. She was just a little reluctant to leave her flower behind.
"I might not be able to talk to you anymore. You’ll be dependent on others from now on, so remember to be a little nicer."
Flower: "Eat me! Then get out there and butcher your beast of a master and those senior brothers!"
But Wen Zhao refused. "You’re my only friend. How could I eat you?"
*
A fragment of Shen Lichuan, Sword Venerable, accidentally became trapped inside a flower. From then on, he never knew another moment of peace.
The little girl named Wen Zhao chattered all day long, driving him up the wall.
Just as he finally got used to her incessant chatter, she was about to be killed by a pack of beasts.
The youngsters these days were stubborn and wouldn’t listen to reason. She would rather die than eat the flower.
With no other choice, Shen Lichuan, who could have ascended after finishing his seclusion, came out early and charged into Tianyan Sect alone, sword in hand.
He blasted open the tightly shut door. The dying girl’s eyes widened, stung by the light, and she weakly asked why he was getting involved when they weren’t even related.
Shen Lichuan scooped her up. "What? You raised me, and you won’t even let me repay the favor?"
Core theme: Love someone the way you tend a flower.
