A young male immortal stood not far away. He wore an embroidered robe, his sleeves fluttering in the breeze. Handsome and composed, his phoenix-like eyes were soft and warm, making one feel at ease—yet somehow still not daring to be disrespectful.
He smiled as he looked at her. “Be careful. Come down.”
The camellia demon clung even tighter to the column. Her mind spun rapidly for a solution. Every immortal in this palace was someone she couldn’t afford to offend. Still, this one looked friendlier than Envoy Mei Xian—maybe he’d be reasonable…
The man studied her and asked, “From the Camellia clan?”
The little camellia demon, however, misunderstood his question entirely. She immediately fell to her knees, pleading, “Please don’t throw me out, my lord! It took me so long to cultivate five hundred years just to get in here. I only wanted to take a look inside…”
He rebuked her gently, “Since you know how hard it was to enter, you should have been more careful with your actions.”
Why is it that all immortals love lecturing others? the camellia demon thought bitterly. It looked like she was destined to be kicked out today. Since pleading didn’t work, she decided to give up. Fine, I’ll just wait another hundred years for the next one. At least today, she had gotten to smell the legendary scent of the Hundred Flowers Immortal Brew. But even so, her heart wasn’t fully resigned. She smacked the column with both palms and grumbled, “It’s just a pillar! I didn’t break anything. If you’re going to throw me out, then go ahead! It’s not like everyone’s dying to get into the palace. I don’t care anyway!”
He was stunned for a moment, then smiled even wider. “Come down. I’m not going to throw you out.”
The camellia demon was overjoyed, though she suddenly remembered that terrifying Xing Xian envoy from earlier and grew uneasy again. “Don’t tell anyone, okay?”
He nodded with a soft smile. “But if you don’t come down soon, someone might see and scold you.”
At once, she slid down the column and patted the dust from her clothes. Beaming, she knelt properly and offered a respectful bow. “Thank you, my lord, for your mercy!”
Her clan had nearly died out—it was rare for one like her to attain a chance at immortality. He gestured for her to rise and offered a few encouraging words: “If you cultivate diligently, one day you’ll enter the immortal register.”
This lord was so kind, the camellia demon no longer felt afraid. Recalling the etiquette the peony demon had taught her, she quickly lowered her head and said, “Replying to my lord—crossing the heavenly tribulation is really hard. I barely made it to five hundred years just so I could enter the Flower Palace and attend the inner banquet. Next time, I might not even make it—I could be beaten back into my original form…”
He answered gently, revealing just a little: “If you work hard, you will overcome it.”
But she replied without much concern, “Even if I don’t, it’s fine.”
He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
The camellia demon went on, speaking her thoughts aloud: “If I can’t, I’ll just stop cultivating. I’ll stay in the human world and play. Cultivation is so boring anyway.”
His brow furrowed. He rebuked, “How can you fear hardship if you wish to ascend?”
Not wanting to anger him, she quickly backtracked, “Of course I’ll try my best!”
He nodded and turned to leave.
Suddenly overcome with curiosity, she ran after him and stopped him with a bold question: “My lord, what’s your name?”
In over eight thousand years of coming to the Flower Palace, this was the first time anyone—let alone a mere little demon—had ever dared ask for her name. He paused briefly, then answered, “Jin Xiu.”
Jin Xiu—a name that meant splendid beauty. And indeed, his smile, light as it was, radiated with more brilliance than all the blossoms in the garden. He truly deserved that name.
The little camellia demon stood there in a daze, watching as he walked away into the distance.
When she returned to the meeting spot, the peony demon was already growing anxious. Seeing her, she immediately began scolding. The two then followed the other flower spirits and immortals into the hall.
. Part 3){kind=link}
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