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Join the ServerThe internal strife within Wudang quickly subsided under the full suppression of Immortal Ziyang.
Unexpectedly, Baiyun gained Immortal Ziyang’s support and became the new master of Jade Purity Temple.
With the merging of Baiyun Temple and Jade Purity Temple, their disciples swelled in number, making their influence formidable.
Conventionally, a new official would ignite three fires upon assuming office. If Baiyun wished for the former disciples of Jade Purity Temple to submit to him, the best method would be to target the Demonic Sect and avenge Immortal Yuqing.
Upon receiving this news, the Demonic Sect responded as if facing a formidable enemy.
Their patrol personnel doubled daily, and even the slightest rustle of leaves was reported to the Sect Master.
Shui Jingxuan, however, dismissed their overly cautious attitude.
Baiyun had only just taken power; his position was not yet stable. Launching an attack on the Demonic Sect might not even guarantee successful revenge, but heavy casualties among his disciples were a certainty.
Bound by scruples, he was not so foolish. Moreover, he feared causing a commotion that might expose the secret of the Demonic Sect’s golden mountain.
Thus, Baiyun would never choose to retaliate against the Demonic Sect to win over his followers.
Reality aligned almost perfectly with Shui Jingxuan’s conjectures.
Baiyun indeed chose to make peace, and the Demonic Sect’s crisis was, thankfully, averted without major incident.
***
Having toiled for several consecutive days, Ji Wushuang’s back wound healed remarkably slowly.
The supply of wound medicine in his room quickly dwindled to nothing.
“Sect Master, this is the last bottle of medicine.” Shui Jingxuan tossed the empty bottle aside as he bandaged Ji Wushuang’s wound.
Ji Wushuang reached out, pinching Shui Jingxuan’s delicate jaw and nudging his head away. His voice was slightly hoarse.
“Don’t speak towards this Venerable One’s chest. Your breath tickles when it blows across.”
As he spoke, he secretly circulated his internal energy, suppressing a trace of heat in his groin.
‘So the Sect Master’s sensitive spot is on his chest.’
Shui Jingxuan’s mouth twitched. He obediently turned his head, avoiding Ji Wushuang’s sculpted chest muscles.
Facing such a perfect male physique every day left him feeling rather depressed, filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment.
“Are we out of medicine? Then go to the High Priest’s place this afternoon and fetch some back.”
Ji Wushuang’s twin sister slowly spoke, her voice laced with concern. “Tell them this Venerable One needs it, and they will naturally give you the best. Take a few extra bottles for yourself too.”
As for her younger brother’s momentary arousal, it had been too fleeting for her to notice.
“Thank you, Sect Master. Axi will go now.” Since there was nothing pressing, Shui Jingxuan bowed in farewell and headed towards the High Priest’s residence.
The High Priest’s abode was quite secluded, with poisonous flowers and herbs growing both inside and outside the courtyard, making it very dangerous.
Unless absolutely necessary, few people typically ventured there. Shui Jingxuan walked the entire way without encountering a single soul.
After knocking on the courtyard gate for a long time with no response, Shui Jingxuan looked left and right, then pushed open the slightly ajar door and entered.
He settled onto a stone chair in the courtyard to wait.
The more venomous the flowers and plants, the more dazzlingly beautiful they appeared. The small courtyard was a riot of vibrant colors, a breathtaking spectacle of blossoms.
Shui Jingxuan narrowed his eyes, propping his chin in his hand, and basked in the gentle autumn sunlight, relishing this moment of leisure.
A small, inconspicuous grey butterfly fluttered among the flowers. Perhaps sensing there were no more good things to collect there, it circled and drifted, swaying towards Shui Jingxuan.
As the butterfly flew into the brilliant sunlight, it instantly reflected a dozen vivid colors, which continuously shifted and shimmered with each beat of its wings, creating a dazzling display of iridescent light.
With a single, successful strike, the butterfly withdrew its sharp proboscis and fluttered away.
Shui Jingxuan frowned, immediately activating his ability to draw out the toxins that had invaded his bloodstream.
He expelled them entirely from the pinprick wound, forming a drop of pure black liquid, which he then elegantly flicked with his finger.
The black liquid shot out, striking the butterfly that had flown far away, causing it to fall.
“Indeed, the more beautiful a thing is, the more poisonous it tends to be.” Shui Jingxuan walked to where the butterfly had fallen, gazing at its scattered, incomplete wings.
He lifted his foot and crushed it into a pile of dust.
“You touched this Venerable One’s Soul-Reaping Butterfly?” A hoarse, unpleasant voice suddenly came from the courtyard entrance.
By the time Shui Jingxuan turned his head, the High Priest, his face etched with fury, had already leaped to his side with lightning speed.
“Eh? You were bitten by a Soul-Reaping Butterfly?” The High Priest exclaimed in astonishment, his anger instantly dissipating.
He grabbed Shui Jingxuan’s right hand to examine it closely. The High Priest possessed unparalleled martial arts, only slightly inferior to Ji Wushuang, and thus, he easily restrained Shui Jingxuan, making it impossible for him to break free.
“No, this wound was from a wooden splinter before I arrived.” Shui Jingxuan, knowing resistance was futile, calmly denied it.
“Hmph! Don’t lie to this Venerable One! No one is more familiar with what a Soul-Reaping Butterfly bite looks like than I am!” The High Priest tightened his grip, clamping down fiercely on Shui Jingxuan’s pulse point.
He demanded, “Anyone bitten by a Soul-Reaping Butterfly cannot survive more than two breaths. Why are you not poisoned?”
“I told you, I wasn’t bitten.” Shui Jingxuan denied it, his expression unreadable.
“Tsk, your mouth is quite stubborn!” The High Priest increased the pressure on Shui Jingxuan’s pulse point, but his expression suddenly changed.
He raised his left hand with lightning speed, clamping down on Shui Jingxuan’s wrist, rendering him immobile.
“If this Venerable One remembers correctly, a person whose meridians are shattered cannot be saved even by a Great Immortal. So how is it that your meridians are intact, and you’re not even poisoned?”
Once he confirmed Shui Jingxuan couldn’t move, the High Priest took his right hand, repeatedly examining it before asking, his tone urgent.
Shui Jingxuan felt a headache coming on. He had feigned disability for two years, and now his body had been exposed. He had truly been careless.
Unable to answer the High Priest’s words, he could only put on a bewildered expression, blinking his eyes as he said, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” The High Priest retorted, seeing that Shui Jingxuan’s perplexed expression didn’t seem feigned.
He circled Shui Jingxuan twice, then took his hand again, muttering to himself, “Meridians that can repair themselves, poisons that can be self-detoxified… I must investigate this body thoroughly once it’s in my hands!”
Clearly, the High Priest was a research fanatic. Upon encountering something that defied medical principles, his inner fervor was instantly ignited.
When he looked at Shui Jingxuan, strange green lights flickered in his eyes.
He picked up Shui Jingxuan and impatiently rushed into the medicine room, tossing him onto a blood-stained wooden bed.
Then, he laid out a large assortment of knives of various styles. Outside the window, a ray of incandescent sunlight streamed through the half-open casement, making the row of blades gleam with cold light.
Shui Jingxuan turned his phoenix eyes to the High Priest, who was diligently selecting knives, and calmly asked, “What are you going to do to me?”
“What am I going to do? Why, I’m going to cut you open and see what’s inside. Heheheh~” The High Priest selected an exquisitely crafted small knife, rubbing its blade with his thumb as he cackled in reply.
“The Sect Master sent me to get medicine from you. If I die, aren’t you afraid the Sect Master will investigate? My master, Elder Mu, won’t let you off either.”
The more critical the moment, the calmer Shui Jingxuan became. His eyes shifted as he tried to persuade the High Priest with words.
Of course, he would absolutely not call for help at this moment. Not only was this place secluded, making it uncertain if anyone would come to his rescue, but if the High Priest discovered the secret of his body, he couldn’t let the matter escalate.
It was best to resolve it privately.
“Who saw you come to this Venerable One’s place? This Venerable One can easily make up an excuse.” Perhaps finding the blade not sharp enough, the High Priest took out a sharpening stone and casually replied as he honed it.
Once the blade was sufficiently sharpened, he cackled again, then spoke in a sinister tone, “Moreover, I have bone-dissolving water here.”
“Once this Venerable One is done with his research, a single drop of bone-dissolving water, and even your corpse won’t be found. What will they question this Venerable One with then?”
From the High Priest’s familiar tone, it was clear this was not his first time committing such a murder to silence someone.
Shui Jingxuan’s heart sank. He knew that a research fanatic like this, with an unwavering mind, only believed his own judgment and would never be persuaded.
He immediately fell silent, giving up on persuasion. He relaxed his body, lying quietly on the wooden bed, his brain cells rapidly working to devise a countermeasure.
The High Priest was fully prepared, small knife in hand, about to cut open Shui Jingxuan’s clothes.
“Wait, even if you flay me and dismantle my bones, you won’t see anything.” Shui Jingxuan suddenly spoke. “Undo my acupoint restraints, and I’ll tell you.”
The High Priest threw his head back and laughed heartily. “Haha, boy, still playing tricks at death’s door? Do you think this Venerable One is easily fooled?”
“It’s not a trick. If you undo my acupoints, I’ll demonstrate it to you, and you’ll understand why I won’t be poisoned.”
“What? I’m just a child; are you afraid?” Shui Jingxuan glanced at him, his tone slightly mocking.
“Hmph, merely an ant, how could this Venerable One fear you?” The High Priest was indeed somewhat annoyed by Shui Jingxuan’s gaze.
After a brief thought, he quickly released the acupoint restraints.
“Alright, demonstrate it to this Venerable One. But be warned, don’t play any tricks, or this Venerable One has a thousand ways to make your life worse than death.”
The High Priest bared his teeth in a sinister grin, revealing a mouthful of uneven, yellowed fangs.
“Give me a bottle of your deadliest poison,” Shui Jingxuan said, narrowing his eyes and extending a hand towards the High Priest.
“What do you intend to do?” The High Priest gritted his teeth, his eyes gleaming with menace.
“I’m going to drink it myself. Didn’t you ask me to demonstrate it to you? How can I detoxify if I’m not poisoned?” Shui Jingxuan’s tone was flat.
“Haha! The boy truly has guts!” Shui Jingxuan had completely piqued the High Priest’s curiosity.
He turned and rummaged through the wooden shelves filled with bottles and jars, quickly finding a small, sleek black bottle, which he cautiously handed to Shui Jingxuan.
“This is the most potent poison this Venerable One has concocted, named ‘Soul Sever’. It can claim a life within half a breath of ingestion.”
The High Priest boasted, his eyes fixed on Shui Jingxuan’s movements to prevent any trickery.
Shui Jingxuan smiled as he took the bottle, pulled out the stopper, and unhesitatingly poured the black poison into his mouth.
Finally, he inverted the bottle and shook it, signaling to the High Priest that he had drunk every last drop of the toxic liquid.
“Lend me your small knife for a moment.” He looked at the High Priest, his gaze calm.
The High Priest was already dumbfounded by Shui Jingxuan’s audacious act. Hearing his request, he handed over the small knife without even thinking, his mind in a daze.
Shui Jingxuan smiled faintly, spread his right hand, and with the knife in his left, quickly made an incision in his palm.
Blood slowly seeped out. He looked at the High Priest, the smile at the corner of his lips deepening, and warned, word by word, “You must watch the following scene carefully. Don’t blink.”
The High Priest held his breath, staring unblinkingly at the wound. He had a premonition that what this child was doing was no act.
Shui Jingxuan slightly lowered his gaze, activating his ability to guide the toxins, which had already gathered in the meridians of his right hand, towards the wound in his palm.
Having found an outlet, the toxins, isolated by his ability, surged out, vying for release.
“This, this…” The High Priest pointed at Shui Jingxuan’s blackened palm, his words incoherent with shock.
“It’s not over yet. I told you not to blink.” Shui Jingxuan grinned eerily.
The toxic liquid in his palm was controlled by his ability, slowly hovering in mid-air and forming a sphere of water.
The High Priest’s eyes were fixed on the floating sphere, his expression as if he had seen a ghost.
“Hmph, seen enough? If you’ve seen enough, then die!” Seeing that the High Priest, overwhelmed by astonishment, had completely let down his guard, Shui Jingxuan suddenly spoke, his tone chilling.
The black toxic liquid hovering in his palm rapidly solidified into an ice needle, which shot like lightning towards the High Priest’s wide-open mouth.
The High Priest was still immersed in the previous wondrous scene and never imagined that Shui Jingxuan could not only force out the poison intact but also control it to attack freely.
Thus, he offered no resistance at all as the poison needle pierced his throat, and he slowly fell backward, indeed expiring in just half a breath.
Shui Jingxuan walked over to him, poked him with his foot, and, certain he was dead, unhurriedly began searching the wooden shelf where the medicine bottles were kept.
He was attempting to find the bone-dissolving water the High Priest had mentioned, to destroy the body and leave no trace.
However, the High Priest’s poison bottles were only distinguished by color and pattern, with no labels indicating their contents, making it extremely difficult to find the bone-dissolving water among hundreds of bottles.
To prevent anyone from visiting the small courtyard at any moment, Shui Jingxuan merely glanced through them before decisively giving up.
He quickly left the area, taking several small detours along the way to avoid people and quietly returned to his room.
He had no regrets about killing the High Priest. If he hadn’t struck first, he would be the cold corpse lying on the ground now.
No, perhaps there wouldn’t even be a corpse, just a puddle of corrosive liquid. He felt no tension either.
The High Priest possessed formidable martial arts; no one would have imagined he would die at the hands of a child with mediocre martial skills, neither fully grown nor small.
Therefore, Shui Jingxuan’s state of mind was perfectly stable. After practicing his sword for a while and tidying himself up, he went to bed early, showing no signs of anything amiss.
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