The silver sword landed steadily.
Yin Xuan and Lu Jiayao, seeing this, emerged from the vine-tree suit and worked together to move Xie Ziyin off Wen Shuangbai.
The path of sword flight was clearly impassable, so the five of them temporarily rested on the opposite side of the Sky-Piercing Mountain Range.
Wen Shuangbai sat alone in a corner, clutching the vine-tree suit and repeatedly examining the leg that had been crushed by that dog of a man.
The other four stood not far away.
Li Zhuohua confidently said to Xie Ziyin, who was distributing medicinal pills, "Junior Sister Shuangbai is definitely angry with you!"
Lu Jiayao nodded vigorously. "I think so too! Senior Brother Xie, how could you be so careless as to break her leg? You should go and comfort her!"
Yin Xuan merely shot him a glance, his eyes clearly spelling out you’re doomed.
Xie Ziyin glanced at the woman in the corner, who was deep in thought with a furrowed brow, and disagreed.
"It’s not that serious," he said.
After all, the vine-tree suit wasn’t something she had bought—it was all sourced from nature.
So even though he’d broken one of its legs, she’d probably just curse him silently in her heart, not actually hold a grudge.
After distributing pills to the three troublemakers, Xie Ziyin walked over to Wen Shuangbai.
Hearing his footsteps, she turned her head and, upon seeing who it was, shot him a glare sharp enough to cut.
"Thirty-six," Xie Ziyin remarked, raising an eyebrow.
Wen Shuangbai frowned. "What thirty-six?"
"The thirty-sixth time you’ve glared at me," he replied casually.
Her tone was icy. "...What, are you showing off your counting skills?"
Xie Ziyin deftly sidestepped the topic, crouching beside her and softening his voice. "Can it be fixed?"
"It can," Wen Shuangbai admitted, resting her chin on her hand as she gazed at the Sky-Piercing Mountain Range opposite them. "But I feel like fixing it would be pointless."
She had originally crafted the vine-tree suit to cross the Sky-Piercing Mountain Range.
But now, their goal was to reach the heavens.
Clearly, the vine-tree suit could no longer meet that need.
Xie Ziyin nodded slightly. "True."
Wen Shuangbai had a vague idea forming in her mind.
To reach the sky, they could either fly, climb, or rely on tools.
Those were the only three options.
Right now, flying was out, climbing was impossible—so only one path remained.
But how to use tools, and what tools to use?
Her thoughts stalled there.
She tilted her head closer to the man in front of her. "How about I give you a chance to redeem yourself? Go walk around over there so I can observe you. Deal?"
Xie Ziyin looked down at her, then raised a hand to rest lightly on the back of her head—before pushing her away with a bit of force. "No."
Tall as he was, his fingers were long enough to nearly engulf the back of her skull. The overwhelming sense of masculine presence made Wen Shuangbai’s mind buzz, leaving her momentarily dazed.
Before she could react, Xie Ziyin had already withdrawn his hand and stood up.
Despite his refusal, he strode swiftly toward the Sky-Piercing Mountain Range.
Wen Shuangbai absentmindedly ruffled her hair, muttering curses under her breath, then focused intently on his movements.
When Xie Ziyin first stepped into the forest, the vines didn’t react immediately.
Only after a pause did they begin rustling toward him.
Narrowing her eyes, Wen Shuangbai studied the vines’ paths.
They came from all directions, chaotic and tangled at first glance. But after careful observation, she noticed something new.
They seemed to descend from far above.
Wen Shuangbai looked up at the towering forest and smirked.
If that was the case… this just got very interesting.
Without hesitation, she sprang to her feet and ran back to her teammates. "Friends, I have a plan!"
---
They wasted no time.
Wen Shuangbai dismantled all the vine-tree suits, reassembling them into a single spherical vessel large enough to hold all five of them.
She took a vine segment and poked at the bark, then used Four Hundred to carve the smallest possible circle into the surface. She instructed Four Hundred to cover the upper half of the sphere with identical markings.
Four Hundred practically danced with excitement.
As the ancient texts said, an object’s worth lay in its utility.
After so long, Four Hundred finally had a purpose again!
Meanwhile, Xie Ziyin used a scalpel to hollow out each small circle, then carefully replaced the tiny bark plugs.
Wen Shuangbai dumped out a pile of beast bones and teeth from her storage ring, sifting through the debris until she found suitable pieces. She sharpened them into nail-like spikes, then had Li Zhuohua, Lu Santu, and the others hammer them beneath each circle.
Time was of the essence. The five of them worked tirelessly, day and night, their relentless hammering, digging, and grinding driving the local insect population to flee.
Finally, after two days and a night, the vine-tree sphere was complete.
Wen Shuangbai inspected it thoroughly—inside and out.
The circles were flawless, the spikes secure, the formations intact, and the safety handles sturdy.
"Perfect," declared Engineer Wen, standing proudly at the sphere’s entrance. "Everyone in! Let’s move!"
The five took their positions inside.
Wen Shuangbai and the others gripped the handles while Li Zhuohua stood alone at the center.
She glanced left and right, then asked solemnly, "Everyone holding on tight?"
Wen Shuangbai raised a fist, grinning. "Ready! Charge, Senior Sister!"
Li Zhuohua nodded, then strode forward with purpose.
The sphere lurched into motion, rolling toward the Sky-Piercing Forest with increasing speed.
Lu Jiayao squeezed his eyes shut. "Senior Sister, slow—ah—AH—AHHHHH!"
Li Zhuohua ignored him, picking up speed until she was outright sprinting inside the sphere.
The sphere hurtled downhill, faster and faster, before slamming into a pit with a thud—and stopping dead.
Standing triumphantly as the only one still upright, Li Zhuohua planted her hands on her hips. "This thing is fun!"
The other four: "..."
---
After catching their breath, Wen Shuangbai sat up. "Phase one complete. Ready for phase two?"
No objections. They each took a position, exchanging glances before simultaneously opening one of the small plugs.
Damp air rushed in through the holes. Moments later, a rustling sound descended from above—and a vine shot through one opening, lashing straight for Wen Shuangbai’s forehead.
Wen Shuangbai moved swiftly, grabbing the top of the vine with her bare hands as if seizing a snake. She wrapped the vine around the nearest spike a few times, then bent the spike to lock it firmly in place. No matter how much the vine writhed, it couldn’t break free.
The other four had been trained by Wen Shuangbai beforehand on how to use the beast-bone spikes, and soon, they had all secured their vines as well.
The vines continued to thrash, and with each forceful tug, the five of them could feel the vine-woven sphere being lifted slightly.
However, the combined weight of the sphere and the five of them was too much, preventing it from rising further.
But that was fine—this was only five spikes, and the fact that it had any effect at all proved her idea was sound!
Wen Shuangbai called out, "Again!"
Four hundred spikes had been meticulously carved with a thousand small holes.
As each hole was opened and each vine was pinned inside the sphere, the vine-woven structure gradually lifted off the ground. Then, pulled by a thousand vines from above, it rose higher and higher.
The five of them lounged leisurely inside, observing the outside world through moonstone windows.
Thanks to the relentless labor of the vines, within just a quarter of an hour, they had already ascended far beyond the ground, surpassing even the highest altitude they could reach by sword flight.
The rolling hills that once stretched beneath them were now beneath their feet.
A faint mist began to swirl around them—they were about to enter the clouds!
Li Zhuohua gave Wen Shuangbai a thumbs-up and praised, "Shimei, this sphere you made is amazing! Can I borrow it when we get back?"
She couldn’t even imagine how thrilling it would be to roll this vine sphere down from the highest peak of Qingling Mountain.
Just the thought made her blood race!
Wen Shuangbai, momentarily reminiscing about modern airplane rides, smiled and said, "Of course. This belongs to all of us—feel free to play with it, Shijie."
Lu Jiayao, still gripping the safety rail tightly, asked fearfully, "What if we suddenly fall? Would we die?"
Wen Shuangbai’s expression darkened instantly. "...Don’t jinx it!"
But it was too late. The moment Lu Jiayao finished speaking, the vine sphere, which had been steadily rising, abruptly stopped with a dull thud.
The group: "…………"
Zhuohua turned her thumb downward in Lu Jiayao’s direction and said flatly, "Shidi, you—just—ugh."
Lu Jiayao looked genuinely distraught. "I—I was just saying!"
Yin Xuan examined the vines locked in place by the beast-bone spikes and noticed that the once violently thrashing tendrils had gone completely still, as if lifeless.
After a moment of observation, Yin Xuan sighed sympathetically. "It seems the vines are exhausted."
Wen Shuangbai leaned in to inspect them as well, even tugging at a few experimentally. Sure enough, they had gone on strike—no longer pulling upward, but not dropping them either, seemingly stuck in a half-dead state of resignation.
Wen Shuangbai scoffed. "What kind of nonsense is this? They have no perseverance at all—quitting halfway through the job?"
Couldn’t they at least put in a little more effort and pull them all the way up before collapsing?
Xie Ziyin glanced at her a few times. Reason told him to stay silent, but he spoke up anyway. "Is it possible they have a weight limit?"
"Oh?" Wen Shuangbai narrowed her eyes and turned her gaze toward the traitorous dog of a man.
His features were refined, his complexion fair and unblemished. Despite working tirelessly day and night, he still looked as pristine as an immortal.
Wen Shuangbai’s eyes lingered on him for a moment before she suddenly smiled and stepped closer, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. "Or maybe there’s another possibility?"
Xie Ziyin: "Such as?"
"Such as..." Wen Shuangbai drew out the word, then reached out and grasped his right hand.
Xie Ziyin: "…………"
His first instinct was to pull away.
Reason warned him that this situation felt strange—something was off.
But he let it happen anyway.
"Such as, the payment wasn’t enough, so the motivation was lacking." Wen Shuangbai grinned sweetly, but her actions were merciless—she channeled spiritual energy to slice open his arm, splattering his blood onto the vines.
Xie Ziyin stared at her in disbelief. "？？？？？？"
Between the two of them, who was the real dog here?
The half-dead vines went berserk at the scent of blood.
They fought desperately to drag this sphere of provisions back to their nest, and the vine sphere immediately shot upward again!
Wen Shuangbai released Xie Ziyin’s hand and laughed. "See?"
When workers slack off or strike, it’s usually because they’re not being paid enough.
Li Zhuohua gasped in amazement. "It really works!"
Without hesitation, Zhuohua rolled up her sleeve and sliced her own arm, showering the vines with blood as if it were free.
With her contribution, the vine sphere ascended even faster, becoming a blur.
In the blink of an eye, they were hauled to the highest point of the Sky-Reaching Mountains.
Wen Shuangbai peered through the moonstone windows and saw an endless sea of clouds, the green vines rooted within the mist itself.
White and green intertwined in a mesmerizing expanse, stretching endlessly into the distance.
