Free Web NovelChapter 303: Soul Wither Poison
Sending letters was one thing. Sending the sealed vase for analysis was another. Thanks to this errand, Hong Nian Niang had to personally step away from Chang’an to make a special delivery to the Mystical Qilin Sect. In that time, Anji and Yihao played guests in the imperial palace with Noble Consort Liu while Anji worked on creating a spell to break the brainwashing hairpin curse.
Yihao’s Extreme Yang Energy helped Noble Consort Liu recover and even improved her cultivation circulation. They often spent time helping each other increase cultivation level while on night watch duty. The Emperor and Empress had never slept more soundly with two experts on guard.
Anji inspected the ancient array with tours in the capital and repaired the seal on four gates. The miasma in the capital city did not seem to decrease on her outings, but with the strengthened seal, they did not seem to increase either. She spent the week strengthening security seals and even placed a few new ones for good measure while Mingshen hunted down the brainwashing hairpin supply lead.
After ten days, Hong Nian Niang sent word to Liu Guiya. Yan Ping had replied, and Anji followed the Noble Consort through the secret underground passageway from the Imperial Palace to the Red Palace to receive the reply. Her third brother was on night duty, and the royal couple had grown very used to having a martial arts expert around. Although his cultivation was still shaky, his frequent destructions proved his superior strength. No assassin can beat him in a fair fight. Any poison would be burned away with his Extreme Yang Energy if it could even get through his iron skin.
If there was one thing Anji learned living with royalty, it was their constant boredom. Yihao’s martial skill demonstration and stunts were pure entertainment for them. They enjoyed seeing his small tricks like becoming a human steam sauna, breaking bricks over his head and chewing metal knives to torment and scare the chefs who served a soup without meat in his portion. Compared to the Emperor, whom most people feared and revered, Anji noticed in private that it was the Empress whom most people should be more wary of. She was quick-witted and sharp-tongued, tolerated no nonsense, unlike her pushover of a husband.
In many ways, they reminded Anji of her own parents. Her father, although a war hero, was overly generous, and it was always Zhao Wanting who spoke the voice of reason with the ledger at hand. All the Celestial Dragon Sect’s internal affairs were managed by her mother while her father exists as a leader in name to unite the Rainbow Alliance.
Reaching the basement level of the Red Palace, Anji lit up when she saw the pretty lady in red.
"Godmother!" she grinned and jogged to throw herself in Hong Nian Niang’s open arms.
"Good child," the Vermillion Bird Sect Leader grinned. "Was the Imperial Palace fun? I believe Sister Liu here must have treated you very well. You look like you’ve put on some weight."
Pinching those cheeks, Hong Nian Niang wished she had more time to play the fun aunt. Unfortunately, they had official work.
"Mingshen told me he was leaving for the west to chase the lead in Luoyang. He will be gone for at least a week, but told me to pass you this."
Handing Anji a pack of dried persimmons, Hong Nian Niang watched as nostalgia washed over Anji’s young face. At the same time, she held out the letter from Yan Ping. freewebnoveℓ.com
"Your shifu replied. I checked it, but I don’t know what you’d need. I’ve never heard of Soul Wither Poison, but it seems like another Elder of the Mystical Qilin Sect found some information about it. They are working on a physical cure for this poison in case it is a common thing, so you don’t have to do that. Instead, you should let me know what you need in order to contain the poison. Your shifu wrote that she would come personally to purify it with you, so you should not act alone."
Soul Wither Poison? Even Anji had no idea what that was from her memories as Zhong Kui. Was it something new Song Min developed? Or was this knowledge from Pu Jianming at his time working in the forbidden archives?
Reading Yan Ping’s reply, transcribed by Elder Shen, Anji inhaled deeply. In the letter, she learned the gist of what Soul Wither Poison was and what it did. Although a cure would be difficult and it was very dangerous for high-level cultivators, there was a workaround that Anji could do.
"There is a thing that you could help me with," Anji explained after she finished reading the letter. "Shifu wants me to contain and cordon the area with a seal. However, I intend to remove the corrupted object from the ancestral hall so we can deal with it discreetly before returning it. I need as many Yang Energy sealing gems as possible to store a large reservoir of Yang Energy. Could you spare me a few?" frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
If there was one cultivator with a surplus of Yang Energy sealing gems, it would be Hong Nian Niang. Everyone knew how the Vermillion Bird Leader kept a harem of men with strong yang energy. Unlike the Heavenly Phoenix Sect, which cultivated by tampering with their yang energy in a natural source near an active volcano, the Vermillion Bird Sect practised dual cultivation. However, as one progresses, one’s cultivation partner must become increasingly powerful. As a powerful cultivator, Hong Nian Niang needed greater amounts of Yang energy to make progress. However, her cautious nature made her reject the idea of choosing a single partner. Hence, the harem was created, along with a system of yang energy banking.
At first, Hong Nian Niang thought she had to part with her hard-earned Yang Energy bank when Anji asked. However, after learning that Anji only wanted depleted stones to store newly charged yang energy, it piqued her interest.
"Is it your third brother? I promised not to make a move on minors and those within the Rainbow Alliance, but do you think your third brother will mind charging all the other depleted gems that you’re not using as well?"
Oh, yes. How could Anji forget that her godmother, while kind and flamboyant, was also an excellent businesswoman?
"I’ll ask him," Anji smiled cordially, not wanting to make promises she could not keep. "Thank you for helping! I’ll be back with great news!"
