Though the Sword Qi Storm stopped the first wave, the treant swarm kept coming like last night’s tide of rabbits, a green flood pounding rock.

More than twenty treants meant more than twenty mid‑stage Sacred Realm fighters, a grove of war‑trees against one blade.

Even if my strength sat at half‑step Divine Realm, a lightning win was a dream in fog.

Damn it. Frustration rose like smoke before a storm. I didn’t have time to waste; noon crept in like a burning brand, and I still had no clue where Ruyu hid.

Swish, swish, swish...

They gave me no time to think; barbed vines whipped out like a poison‑laced net, a dark web falling like night.

So annoying. Irritation throbbed like a drum. I cast Sword Qi Storm again, because against this kind of cloudburst, nothing worked better.

I need new sword arts, I thought, like a thirsty traveler needing a new well.

No surprise—the tornado of sword aura punched through the vine‑woven sky like a spear through a paper lantern.

I dipped low, set the Shattered Light Sword at my waist like a moon on the horizon, gathered sword aura, and swung.

An arcing blade of energy flew out like a crescent wave, kept spreading like ripples on a lake, and drove the treants back several meters like startled deer.

I steadied my breath like a dawn lake and thought up a plan, one to end this fight with the least time and strength.

Unless I opened the Sword Domain and used my strongest finisher, the Destruction Invisible Sword—a sun that burns its wielder—the cost was too brutal. Denied.

Wait. A spark flared like flint. Treants were wood‑attribute beasts; counter them with their bane, and the effect would double, like rain on ember‑seed.

Fire‑attribute sword arts. Fire. That was the path, a torch in fog.

I saw it. Enlightened, I raised the Shattered Light Sword like a mast to the wind and drew fire elements from the air, gathering fiery sword aura like coals in a brazier.

“Netherflow Rage Flame Slash!”

Bang!

A fire‑energy blade more than ten meters long bloomed around the sword like a comet tail, and heat warped the air like a desert mirage.

“Yaa—!”

I spun with full force, swinging the energy blade sheathing the Shattered Light Sword in a burning ring like a sunrise halo.

Sizzle...

“Urgh...”

The treants cried in pain like winter trunks in a gale, but the flames showed no mercy, gnawing their bodies like hungry wolves.

After a short while, time dripping like resin, I completed a full turn, and the treants were ash on the wind like gray snow.

Even the nearby plants lay charred, a blackened carpet like midnight earth.

“Phew. That should do.”

I wiped sweat from my brow like rain off a visor, stowed the Shattered Light Sword, and shut my eyes.

I pushed my Sword Intent to sense Ruyu’s aura, like casting a net on dark water.

So faint. Helplessness pricked like cold needles; I couldn’t tell a direction at all.

If only my Sword Intent could rise a level, like a sprout breaking soil. What a mess.

Don’t drift. I shook my head hard, scattering stray thoughts like birds, and sank into sensing with Sword Intent, a deep well.

Minutes later...

“Eh!”

Relief bloomed first, like sun through clouds. I finally caught a stronger trace of Ruyu, still thin as mist, yet clearer than before.

“Yeah. Move. Time’s running out.”

I cheered myself in silence like a whispering wind and headed toward the sensed direction, hoping no more beast hordes barred the road.

Finding Ruyu would be best, like a star for sailors.

At the same time, in a hollow tree somewhere in the Enchanted Forest.

“Ah. I’m so bored. Please let today end fast,” she murmured, like a cat in sunlight. “Then Amamiya‑kun can stay with Ruyu forever.”

She munched on fruit growing inside the tree hole, cheeks puffed like a sulking sparrow.

Sitting still all day was torture, a slow drip on stone; she should’ve picked a place to pass the time, like a lakeside where she could fish.

But that would be too conspicuous, like a lantern in night grass.

“Amamiya‑kun, Ruyu really wants you by her side, like a shadow at noon, but Ruyu also wants you to find her,” she whispered.

“Ruyu even held back, you know; otherwise she wouldn’t leave any aura for you at all.”

Gazing at the lovely view outside the hollow like a painted scroll, Ruyu spoke softly, loneliness dusting her face like first snow.

Sleep tugged at her, drowsy as a tide; last night’s excitement had stolen her rest.

“Mm, a short nap first.”

Murmuring, Ruyu closed her eyes and drifted off like a leaf on water, soon breathing tiny, adorable snores like a flute’s purr.

Time flew like migrating birds. While I searched for Ruyu, afternoon slipped by unnoticed, and the sun nearly sank like a coin behind mountains.

“Sigh. I still can’t sync with time inside the Enchanted Forest,” I said with a wry smile, leaning against a big tree like a weary traveler.

I’d chased Ruyu’s aura to this spot, yet her hiding place stayed a sealed box, and all I had left were instinct and luck like twin dice.

Sword Intent could sense Ruyu’s aura, but not pin the exact spot, like smelling rain without finding the cloud.

Maybe I hadn’t reached even the first layer of Sword Intent. When I got back, Xinuo had to train me hard. No excuses.

“Hmm. Rest’s enough. Let’s try a new way to use Sword Intent.”

I’d used the Sword Domain many times, and found that whenever I unfolded it, my Sword Intent surged like a tide.

I didn’t know if sensing improved too, but in this pinch I had to try, like betting the last arrow.

I took a deep breath like mountain air and, ignoring the cost, tossed the Shattered Light Sword into the sky like a silver fish.

“Sword Domain!”

In an instant, the world turned to a realm of blades, a forest of swords sprouting everywhere like bamboo after rain.

Ground and sky washed in beautiful gold like a dawn flood.

“Mm...”

My Sword Intent did grow, more than doubled, like a river in spate.

I focused at once, driving Sword Intent hard, and felt for Ruyu’s aura across the Enchanted Forest like a hunter reading wind.

Oh. This near‑omniscient clarity felt like lifting a veil; it was wonderful.

If not for the brutal drain, I’d keep this state forever, like holding a sunrise.

Before opening the Sword Domain, I could barely sense Ruyu’s ghost‑thin aura; now it was clear, like ink on snow.

I still didn’t know the exact spot, but I was sure I could find her. I had a hunch like a compass tug.

A few minutes later, I pulled out of that sensing, my head swimming like a boat in chop.

I knew where she hid, roughly: northwest, a bit far.

“Gotta hurry. Time’s tight.”

I couldn’t let the Sword Domain disperse; the reason was obvious, like breath to life.

So I had to find Ruyu’s hideaway before my strength ran dry like a well.

Smack, smack.

I slapped my cheeks hard, snapping my foggy head clear like frost cracking.

“Alright. Move out. This time, I will find Ruyu.”

I clenched my fist to stoke resolve like bellows and sprinted full speed toward her location. I hoped I wasn’t wrong.

Confidence rose like fire, but unease nipped like cold wind.

Ruyu was great at hiding and twisting her aura, like a fox in reeds.

I couldn’t be sure the aura I sensed was truly hers.

“Forget it. Don’t overthink.”

I shook my head hard, and my steps quickened like arrows loosed.