Chapter 601: Seven Broken Bans, Fragrant Hometown

The man in white held a seven-lobed begonia in his left hand. Its pale pink-white petals shimmered with a subtle sheen, and the stamens trembled, releasing faint, delicate tendrils of fragrance.

“Excuse me, are you two looking for this person?” he asked, pointing to Yu Lingdi’s chest.

Yu Lingdi’s eyes were fixed on the seven-lobed begonia in the man’s hand; he remained silent.

“A P-object?” the tall man, referred to as Number Thirty-Three, questioned, and Yu Lingdi’s pupils instantly contracted.

“No.”

“It doesn’t look like it…” Yu Lingdi replied, also via telepathy. “Although there’s a shadow of those guys from the Dog-Moon Gray Palace, we can’t rule out that some people just like carrying a flower.”

“What’s more, the most important thing is…”

“He has no ghostly aura,” Number Thirty-Three interjected.

“Yes.”

Yu Lingdi nodded, staring intently at the seven-lobed begonia. Though he had never seen it before, he felt as if he should have a memory of this object, but he couldn't recall it at the moment.

“Who are you looking for?” Yu Lingdi asked aloud.

The man in white remained silent, lowered his finger, glanced at Yu Lingdi’s chest, then shifted his gaze to the tall man beside him.

Number Thirty-Three was exceptionally tall. Even the man in white only reached his chest. Looking up at him like that, it felt like gazing at a giant.

Yu Lingdi frowned and fumbled around his chest, indeed finding something.

“Oiled paper?” Pulling it out, he suddenly realized it was the item he’d casually put in his pocket earlier after failing to get information from the woman. This meant the man in white had been there the whole time? Had he been observing everything?

“Do you know him?” Yu Lingdi unfolded the paper, revealing the image of an old man with a straw hat.

The man in white glanced at it and nodded slightly. “Are you from the Holy Divine Palace?” he asked.

At this, the two men paused, their thoughts momentarily shaken. Before they could even question him, the man in white looked at Number Thirty-Three and asked, “A Heaven’s Will Puppet?”

A thud. Yu Lingdi’s heart suddenly constricted. “He’s hostile!” Although the person before him showed no animosity, Yu Lingdi’s pores bristled, as if he had been targeted by a hunter.

“Who are you?” Number Thirty-Three rumbled.

He knew he was easily recognizable. However, only those who knew about the existence of Heaven’s Will Puppets, and had encountered them, could instantly discern his difference from a true human. As for ordinary Path-Slicers, how could they have seen a Heaven’s Will Puppet unless they had faced the frantic pursuit of the man in white? In other words, how many people in the world, having witnessed a Heaven’s Will Puppet, had actually survived? This alone was enough to confirm the extraordinary nature of the man in white before them.

Yu Lingdi instantly deduced all this as well. He took a small step back, half his body hidden behind Number Thirty-Three.

As the Palace Lord had said, there were always stronger individuals and higher heavens. Even though he had once sliced or even captured many Path-Slicers, a King’s Seat was still a King’s Seat. The inherent limitation of his realm, as long as he hadn't broken through, remained the biggest obstacle. If a Path-Slicer gained the initiative, there was still a one-in-ten-thousand chance he could be instantly killed.

The tall and short figures both looked at the man in white with a degree of solemnity. They knew the newcomer was not simple. The only fortunate thing was that the man seemed to bear no hostility and had presented himself openly before the Holy Divine Palace. Subjectively, it was possible he belonged to the same faction.

The man in white gently twirled the stem of the seven-lobed begonia, pondering for a long time. Beneath his veil, a faint smile finally formed. “People from the Holy Divine Palace…” he murmured softly, then his eyes narrowed, showing a hint of confusion. “Don’t the Holy Divine Palace recognize me?”

Should they recognize him? Yu Lingdi was startled, his gaze dropping to the seven-lobed begonia in the man’s hand once more, as he racked his brain. Number Thirty-Three, meanwhile, scratched his head. He was helpless in this regard. As a Heaven’s Will Puppet reloaded after being scrapped, he had lost many memories, and some unrecorded data could only be obtained through contact. With a quick thought, Number Thirty-Three was certain that his database contained no record of this individual.

“Begonia…”

“Begonia?” Yu Lingdi repeated, as if possessed, seemingly recalling something.

A hint of a smile appeared in the man in white’s eyes. “Northern Region,” he said.

These two soft words struck Yu Lingdi like a thunderclap from the heavens. Extending his thoughts from the Eastern and Central Regions, his main operational areas, to all five regions, a figure immediately sprang to mind. “First-Grade Begonia…” Yu Lingdi exclaimed in surprise, “You’re Begonia Child?!”

“Indeed, that would be me.” The man in white nodded slowly, saying, “Holy Servant Seat Nine, Begonia Child, responsible for the Northern Region, specifically the Seven-Severance Restriction that your Holy Divine Palace couldn’t conquer—‘Fragrant Homeland of Flowers’.”

He pointed at the crumpled paper in Yu Lingdi’s hand and continued, “The person you’re looking for is my senior. May I ask, what is your purpose?”

Yu Lingdi’s mouth twitched; he nearly collapsed. A Holy Servant?! He had just thought this guy, daring to step forward so openly, would be an ally, perhaps even a helper invited by Senior Wuyue. Who would have thought… a Holy Servant!

“Begonia Child? A Holy Servant?” Number Thirty-Three, after a moment of stunned silence, reacted completely. He stepped forward, bent his fingers, and grabbed.

Boom! Space was instantly crushed by his five fingers. The head of the man in white, caught in the grip, exploded on the spot. However, after Begonia Child exploded, no blood splattered. Instead, as his head and body dissipated, he transformed into a wisp of faint, ethereal fragrance, vanishing into the space.

“An escape technique.” Number Thirty-Three warned, immediately retreating to Yu Lingdi’s side.

“Let’s leave this place first!” Yu Lingdi commanded decisively.

Once he realized the man in white was the Ninth Seat of the Holy Servants, a flood of information appeared in his mind. Fighting this guy, the biggest fear was being caught off guard. Because Begonia Child’s domain was comprehended within the Seven-Severance Restriction, it was practically a mobile version of the Restriction itself: whoever was trapped, died!

“Oh.” Number Thirty-Three was combative, but the Palace Lord had instructed him to follow Yu Lingdi’s orders completely on this mission, so he naturally wouldn’t resist. But just as he flexed his calves, preparing to spring away, Number Thirty-Three’s expression hardened.

“Too late.”

It was indeed too late. Along the path leading to the village entrance, flower buds clustered by the roadside, house sides, rooftops, and puddles had quietly bloomed. A faint, ethereal fragrance hung in the air, and both men might have already fallen victim to it.

The scene before them blurred. When Yu Lingdi and Number Thirty-Three regained their senses, the setting was entirely different. The small village had vanished. The overflowing thatched cottage behind them had also disappeared. In its place was a vast sea of blooming flowers, stretching for miles. The rich, fragrant scent, like an all-pervading poison, seeped into their bodies through every pore. Looking up, the sky had changed too. Everything seemed to have its rules disrupted. The flower sea, connecting heaven and earth, even enveloped the entire firmament. The only space left blank was the ethereal mid-air.

Gravity, dust, elements… all had vanished! Yu Lingdi floated upwards. Suspended within the flower sea, he felt his body flip upside down, and the sky from moments ago became the ground beneath him. Everything he had seen before now appeared as crystalline dewdrops on individual petals, each droplet a miniature world, profoundly mysterious.

“The flower fragrance is poisonous,” Number Thirty-Three warned, then suddenly realized, “Oh, you have an Elemental Body. This flower toxin is useless against you.”

Yu Lingdi’s expression, however, was grim: “But we’re trapped.” He knew this was Begonia Child’s ‘Fragrant Homeland of Flowers’. To name a King’s Seat domain after one of the Seven-Severance Restrictions, it was clear just how terrifying this domain truly was.

“Yes, the rules have been disrupted, and I didn’t detect it in advance; that’s my dereliction of duty,” Number Thirty-Three said, clearly distressed. As a Heaven’s Will Puppet, he should have been the most sensitive to the rules of the Heavenly Dao. Yet, he had no idea when Begonia Child had made his move.

“It’s not your fault. This is a technique from the Seven-Severance Restriction, which is known as an invisible blade,” Yu Lingdi said, not taking it to heart. “Even a Grand Void might not realize when they’ve become lost if they enter it.”

He waved his hand. “Pitter-patter…” The sound of rain suddenly appeared. But strangely, this rain seemed to fall from all directions. It wasn’t just dripping from above; raindrops also began to shoot up from beneath their feet. Coming from all four directions, the rain originated from nameless places and fell towards nameless places, making it impossible to use this phenomenon for spatial orientation.

“Lost…” Yu Lingdi’s face turned grim. His worst fear had, after all, come true. A Path-Slicer had gained the initiative and trapped them within his domain. Within it, the enemy was akin to a god; even if he deployed his own domain, it would be useless.

“I can try to break it open by force,” Number Thirty-Three said, taking a deep breath and puffing out his stomach.

“Wait a moment,” Yu Lingdi stopped him, telepathically saying, “Begonia Child abandoning his Northern Region duties to come here indicates that the Holy Servants’ situation is also very critical… Let’s wait a little longer.”

“Wait for what?” Number Thirty-Three asked, puzzled. If they remained trapped in this flower realm, they would likely become completely lost. By then, even if they could forcibly break through space, the opponent would probably have more than just this one trick. Under multiple layers of domain exile, they might not even find a way out, let alone escape.

“We’re waiting for Senior Wuyue,” Yu Lingdi said, without panicking, analyzing the situation. “My spirit-splitting technique is already gathering information in White Cave. When the small world opens, all that intelligence should directly converge here.”

“But if my split spirit can’t sense me, it will detect that something is wrong, and Senior Wuyue will also get a premonition, knowing that we’ve encountered an accident.”

“And the only ones who could ambush us en route would be the Holy Servants’ reinforcements.”

“After all, this trip of ours was a secret one.”

Number Thirty-Three nodded, somewhat bewildered, and asked, “But what if… what if Senior Wuyue can’t spare the time for us?” After a pause, Number Thirty-Three added, “He called us here to help *him*, not for *him* to help us.”

Yu Lingdi chuckled. “Of course, we’re not relying solely on Senior Wuyue.” He bounced in the void, but with no gravity, he shot straight up, about to touch the flower sea above. A demonic red rose suddenly bloomed, its sharp petals transforming into razor-like blades, piercing directly towards him. Yu Lingdi turned sideways, curled his palm, and all the moisture was extracted from the rose, causing it to wither and die instantly. A mass of light green water, tinged with red mist, condensed in his palm. Yu Lingdi frowned. “It’s alive. These flowers aren’t inanimate objects; they’re real.” After a pause, he looked around, a realization dawning on him. “In that case, it’s likely that all these spiritual flowers and exotic plants in this ‘Fragrant Homeland of Flowers’ were truly dug out from the Seven-Severance Restriction. That power would be quite terrifying…” Yu Lingdi flicked his hand, scattering the water orb. However, the nearby flowers and plants, instead of being harmed, seemed to have been nourished, and straightened up again.

A carnivorous plant opened its maw and bit Yu Lingdi’s body with a *thump*, causing him to explode. However, he transformed into a liquid form, re-coalescing his shape from the flower branch.

“We can experiment a bit here,” Yu Lingdi continued his previous topic. “Begonia Child can trap us, but I have an Elemental Body, and you’re a Heaven’s Will Puppet. He can’t defeat us quickly.”

“So, we can use this trapped time to gather first-hand information about the ‘Fragrant Homeland of Flowers’.”

“Then, even if Senior Wuyue can’t spare the time to help us, we can get out ourselves.”

“How do we get out?” Number Thirty-Three wondered. He couldn’t think of a second way besides brute force.

“Fool!” Yu Lingdi’s body sprang from the carnivorous plant, which, having learned its lesson, withered and died. “There really is a lot of water…” He burped and said, “Don’t forget, my Elemental Body is closest to the Five Elements Water Dao. I’ve long since thoroughly understood the rules of the Holy Divine Continent.”

“The reason I haven’t sliced my Path isn’t because I can’t, but because my Dao is as solid as bedrock. If I can further comprehend the Heavenly Dao of the Seven-Severance Restriction, perhaps I can successfully slice my Path.”

“That’s impossible,” Number Thirty-Three analyzed seriously. “I can help you deduce it: the success rate is only 0.006279%.”

Yu Lingdi: “…” He suddenly didn’t want to talk to this guy anymore; it was too demoralizing! Such precise figures had indeed shattered his illusions with a comminuted fracture.

“It can be done.” Regaining his composure, Yu Lingdi sighed, “I still have Lord Cangsheng’s Feather Token…”

“But it can only be used once,” Number Thirty-Three countered, delivering another merciless blow. “Once it’s used, it’s gone. Besides, if you use the Feather Token for such a minor predicament, Lord Cangsheng will beat the shit out of you.”

Yu Lingdi: “…”

“It’s fine, I have another method…”

“Don’t say it,” Number Thirty-Three suddenly interrupted with a frown. “He might be listening.”

“Exactly!” Yu Lingdi, instead, smiled. “What’s the point if he can’t hear me? I *want* him to hear this.” He ended the telepathic conversation.

Yu Lingdi gestured with both hands. “Snap, crackle, pop…” Within a radius of several miles, the vibrant spiritual flowers and exotic plants in the flower sea shattered one by one, their moisture directly extracted. The next second. “Infuse.” Taking a deep breath, Yu Lingdi’s liquid body suddenly swelled to several hundred feet tall. Then, with a twist of his waist, he returned to his smaller form, floating freely.

“Burp.” A satisfied burp. Yu Lingdi looked up, smiling at the sky. “Annoyed? If you don’t let me out, I’ll suck your flowers dry. And I have one of Lord Cangsheng’s arrows, you know, the kind that can shoot you into berserk deviation. Scared?”

“If you’re scared, just let me go!”

Beside the thatched cottage. Begonia Child shook his head with a wry smile, shifting his gaze from one of the multi-colored, significantly balding petals of the begonia in his left hand to the puddles along the village path. “Yu Lingdi… the Head of the Spirit Department, is he only a King’s Seat?”

He frowned and waved his hand. Over each puddle, pale pink-white begonias bloomed, directly absorbing all the water, leaving not a drop. “A King’s Seat, capable of reaching this position?” A faint sense of unease settled in his heart. However, Begonia Child couldn’t fathom how Yu Lingdi could break out of the domain. ‘Fragrant Homeland of Flowers’ was a Seven-Severance Restriction, renowned for being able to bewilder Grand Voids and intoxicate Half-Saints. What capability could a mere King’s Seat have to break it open? Rely on Lord Cangsheng’s Sinister Evil Bow? Hardly. Just as the Heaven’s Will Puppet had said, to expend a Feather Token capable of slicing a Grand Void merely to break through a minor domain—Yu Lingdi would truly be condemned to countless deaths without reprieve.

With a *pop*, he pinched off the colored petal from the seven-lobed begonia. Begonia Child lightly swiped, and a rift appeared in the void. He tossed the petal into the spatial rift, watching the void repair itself, no longer dwelling on it.

His gaze swept over, looking towards the direction of White Cave. Begonia Child gently twirled the six-lobed begonia in his hand, a little lost in thought. “So, Second Brother has also arrived? That’s rare…”