Chapter 309: Chapter 309

Upon hearing this, Su Yan spat his drink out, feeling a surge of psychological discomfort. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩

What the hell...! This flower tea was actually brewed with the pistil of An Shihua! I just can’t drink it anymore!

Seeing Su Yan’s disdain for her flower tea, An Shihua frowned slightly, feeling somewhat displeased. She didn’t say much more, but quietly picked up the teacup in front of her and took a sip with her tender, pale lips.

In an instant, a familiar taste exploded on her taste buds, quickly filling her entire mouth and bringing an extreme delight.

"It’s really delicious."

An Shihua licked the remaining flower tea from her thin lips, her pretty face expressing satisfaction and enjoyment, a faint, hot blush rising on her cheeks. The tea was a bit too hot, making her face turn red.

"You’re here, I’ve had the tea," Su Yan said, looking at An Shihua sitting opposite him. "It’s time for you to tell me about you being the Flower God. I don’t want to waste any more time just sitting around."

Seeing Su Yan getting impatient, An Shihua knew she couldn’t keep stalling. She took another sip of tea, then put down the cup and said, "You’re asking me so suddenly; I really don’t know what to say for a moment."

"How about this: you ask me questions, and I’ll answer whatever I can."

As she spoke, An Shihua looked straight into Su Yan’s eyes without a hint of a young girl’s coyness.

This was actually understandable. After all, if she really was the legendary Flower God, she’d be at least several hundred, if not thousands, of years old. How could she still possess a young girl’s heart? Perhaps the only thing she had in common with young girls was a fondness for seventeen or eighteen-year-old youths—a case of an old cow grazing on young grass.

With these thoughts, Su Yan was suddenly compelled to ask An Shihua, "How old are you?"

She was immediately stunned by the question.

What the hell? Instead of asking if I’m the Flower God, he suddenly asks my age? What a peculiar train of thought.

After grumbling internally, An Shihua responded with some annoyance, "I’m eighteen."

"I don’t believe you."

Su Yan’s typically blunt nature showed as he continued, "It’s meaningless if you always claim to be eighteen. Please, show a little more sincerity."

Even the usually stoic An Shihua couldn’t help but twitch the corners of her mouth slightly upon hearing Su Yan’s words.

This blunt guy really needs to learn some tact, she thought. Does he have to be so direct? Would it kill him to be a little less abrasive?

After composing herself, An Shihua said, somewhat exasperated, "I really am only eighteen this year. I’m not lying to you."

Su Yan felt a wave of embarrassment. He hadn’t expected An Shihua to be so shameless, insisting she was only eighteen.

The Flower God is only eighteen? Only an idiot would believe that.

"You claim to be eighteen, and you also claim to be the Flower God. But as far as I know, the Flower God has existed for a long time, at least two or three hundred years." Su Yan looked directly into An Shihua’s eyes, waiting to see how she would explain this. "So, which is it? Are you more the Flower God, or more ’eighteen this year’?"

An Shihua replied, unfazed, "I am both the Flower God and eighteen this year."

"As for your point about the Flower God having existed for a long time, that refers to past Flower Gods. What does that have to do with me, the current Flower God?" she continued, her voice devoid of emotion. "Regardless, I am the eighteen-year-old Flower God. That is certain." It was as if she were stating a fact, not just spouting nonsense.

Su Yan pondered for a moment. "Are you saying ’Flower God’ is just a title, with different generations, like a first, second, third, and so on?"

An Shihua immediately denied it without a second thought. "No. From ancient times until now, there has only been one Flower God: me, An Shihua."

Su Yan felt his head spin. Is there something wrong with this woman? Why is everything she says so self-contradictory?

Knowing Su Yan would be utterly confused, An Shihua continued, "Like Old Shu, I shed my old form and am reborn after a certain period, living a new life. And in this life, I am eighteen years old."

"You might argue that shedding a form isn’t true rebirth, and that age can’t be counted separately like that. But I want to tell you, for Old Shu and me, shedding our forms *is* rebirth. Because once we do, all memories of the previous life are completely erased. So, the ’me’ of this life cannot be equated with the Flower Gods of the past. This is my biggest secret, and I’ve only told you."

As she finished, An Shihua gazed at Su Yan, her beautiful eyes somewhat hazy, as if she were aroused.

Su Yan, however, ignored the unusual look in her eyes and asked, puzzled, "You say you’re eighteen, the new incarnation of the Flower God. Then what about the Flower God’s discarded form that attacked me outside Jingdou City?"

"I can’t answer that," she responded. "Once a form is shed, it no longer has any connection to me. It’s just a puppet."

"A puppet?" Su Yan was somewhat perplexed.

An Shihua patiently explained, "You can think of my shed forms as weapons. Anyone can use them; anyone can control them."

"I see..." Su Yan mused for a moment, then continued, "Then do you know who the mastermind was, the one controlling your discarded form that attacked me that day?"

An Shihua slowly shook her head, her tone calm. "I don’t know. My memories only span these eighteen years."

"Then tell me, is this shedding process controllable or not?" Su Yan suddenly thought of this question and asked immediately.

Without hesitation, An Shihua blurted out, "It’s controllable."

"Then why do you do it?" Su Yan pressed on, one question leading to another. Since she didn’t seem to mind his probing, he felt no need to hold back, asking whatever came to mind.

Faced with this question, An Shihua paused briefly before speaking. "To pursue a higher limit."

"Pursuing a higher limit?" Su Yan didn’t quite understand and pressed further.

An Shihua patiently elaborated, "In my previous life, my physical form was inadequate. Evolving to the Half-step Mythical Level was its limit; it couldn’t break through to the Mythical Level Category. To evolve to the Mythical Level, the only way is to shed the old form, grow a new one, and start the evolution over. If one life isn’t enough, then I’ll begin another, and another, until my Creature Level successfully breaks through to the Mythical Level Category."

"Thus, since ancient times, I’ve left countless discarded forms in this world. There are Legendary Level ones, Half-step Epic Level, Epic Level, and Half-step Mythical Level ones, but never a Mythical Level one. To pursue the Mythical realm, I have been reborn life after life, until this lifetime, where I became a student at Jing University. Old Shu is the same, but I don’t know his identity in this current life."

An Shihua had said a great deal, preemptively answering many of the questions Su Yan might have had, leaving him with almost nothing more to ask.

Su Yan took a moment to digest her words, then asked again, "Are you saying that the Flower God and Old Shu who attacked the human race on previous occasions weren’t the originals, but were actually discarded forms controlled by other beings?"

An Shihua stated affirmatively, "I’m not sure about Old Shu’s situation, but for myself, I can definitively say that was not me."

Su Yan nodded thoughtfully and then continued, "In this life, what is your purpose in disguising yourself as a human?"

"I thought that since I’ve never successfully evolved into a Mythical creature in any previous life, perhaps I could try the human path. Who knows, it might work," An Shihua stated with sound reasoning.

This explanation felt somewhat far-fetched, yet it also seemed quite reasonable.

Su Yan didn’t dwell on these points. Instead, he voiced the question that had been bothering him for a long time: "So, what does all of this have to do with me? Why did you approach me? You’ve shared so many of your deepest secrets with me; aren’t you afraid I’ll expose you?"

Having spoken, Su Yan stared sharply into An Shihua’s beautiful eyes, silently awaiting her answer.

Confronted with these three rather pointed questions, An Shihua didn’t rush to reply. Instead, she met Su Yan’s gaze for a few seconds, her eyes gleaming, and said with a meaningful tone, "These questions... I can only tell you the answers later."

Then, she gracefully rose from the sofa, walked over with light steps to sit beside Su Yan, a faint purple pollen diffusing from her body.