Chapter 85: The Seed of Calamity

A faint rustle.

A paper crane, black as night, silently pierced through the outer sect’s sparse restrictions, drifting gently to settle on her shoulder. It carried a subtle, cloying sweetness in its scent.

It was a message from the Joyful Union Sect.

Li Wuxia’s eyes flickered. She reached out and took the paper crane.

The moment her fingertips brushed the paper crane, a line of delicate, minuscule script was seared directly into her divine consciousness.

[The Sect Master’s patience has worn thin. Qingzhou shall burn.]

Li Wuxia let out a soft laugh. ‘It seems the Joyful Union Sect Master, Pure Heart Heavenly Fox, can no longer wait,’ she mused.

Evidently, she was no longer content with mere petty provocations. She intended to unleash a catastrophe that would engulf all of Qingzhou, one so immense even the Qingyun Sect couldn’t resolve it. This would be her leverage, forcing the righteous path to surrender Shen Zhaoqing.

‘A bunch of spineless cowards,’ Li Wuxia scoffed disdainfully.

Suddenly, her breathing quickened.

A wild, explosive thought, like rampant weeds, erupted in her mind.

‘A disaster.’

‘A disaster that only my Senior Sister can resolve.’

‘If the Qingyun Sect plunges into despair, if everyone is helpless, if even the lofty Holy Maiden of Penglai proves powerless…’

‘Then, as the sole antidote, Senior Sister will inevitably have to step out of Bai Zhileng’s cage.’

‘At that point, everyone will realize who truly matters most to Senior Sister.’

‘Only I, only I, have stood firmly by Senior Sister’s side from the very beginning, willing to sacrifice everything for her.’

‘When the entire world transforms into a purgatory, and I, with my own hands, pave the path to the highest altar for my goddess, a staircase built from countless corpses…’

‘How magnificent that scene shall be!’

‘Senior Sister will understand.’

‘She will understand my painstaking efforts, understand this love so profound it could crush the entire world.’

Slowly, a morbidly satisfied curve graced Li Wuxia’s lips.

She opened her palm, and the black paper crane dissolved into a wisp of green smoke, leaving behind a small, powder-filled packet wrapped in oil paper.

‘Soul Devourer Lure.’

This was a unique, potent poison specially crafted by the Joyful Union Sect.

Colorless and odorless, it dissolved instantly in water, specifically targeting a cultivator’s divine soul. It wouldn’t cause immediate death; instead, it would slowly corrode their Dao foundation like a maggot gnawing at bone, leaving their divine soul to wither in endless weakness and hallucinations, ultimately reducing them to a cripple.

The pure vitality of a Dao Source Body was the only antidote to this ‘Soul Devourer Lure.’

‘What a perfect script.’

Li Wuxia clutched the small paper packet tightly in her palm, then turned and merged into the deeper shadows of the night without hesitation.

****

Qingyun Sect, Verdant Water Cold Pool.

This was a spiritual eye located at the junction of the outer and inner sects, and one of the critical nodes for the flow and convergence of spiritual energy throughout the Qingyun Sect mountain range.

The pool water was crystal clear to the bottom, emanating an biting chill. It was perpetually shrouded in a faint spiritual mist, like an ethereal wonderland.

Ordinarily, it served as a treasured cultivation ground for inner sect disciples practicing water-elemental techniques. Outer sect disciples were strictly forbidden from approaching unless they had a specific mission.

But tonight, an unusual quiet settled over the area.

Li Wuxia’s figure appeared like a phantom, silently emerging from behind a large rock beside the pool.

She had disturbed no one.

Her mastery of aura control, honed by the Qinghe Yinsha Scripture, combined with the concealment provided by her Mirage Silk Magic Tool, allowed her to become a mere shadow, a gust of wind, a wisp of non-existent air whenever she wished.

She waited silently.

Soon, two outer sect disciples, carrying lanterns and responsible for night patrols, approached along a nearby path, chatting and laughing.

“An immortal descending to the mortal realm! I caught a glimpse today, from afar. That figure, that demeanor… tsk tsk,” a round-faced disciple exclaimed with admiration.

The woman referred to as Senior Sister, Liu Yan, had quite a few information channels among the outer sect disciples. Hearing this, she curled her lips, her expression conveying, “You’re too young.”

“Immortal? That’s because you haven’t seen the way she looks at our Senior Sister,” Liu Yan whispered mysteriously, lowering her voice. “I’m telling you, yesterday I went to deliver something to Tingxue Residence and happened to see Holy Maiden Bai feeding medicine to Senior Sister Shen. The tenderness, the attentiveness—her gaze was so sweet, it looked like honey about to drip.”

“Really? Senior Sister Shen isn’t… isn’t with Senior Sister Gu…?” The round-faced disciple looked utterly shocked.

“What Senior Sister Gu? Keep your voice down, keep it down! If the Sect Master hears us, we’re finished!” Liu Yan adopted an “I’ve seen through everything” demeanor. “If you ask me, Senior Sister Shen truly has a blessed life. First, the Qingyun Sect’s number one immortal is infatuated with her, then the Demonic Venerable and Demon Emperor fight over her, and now a Medical Saintess has appeared. If this were a novel, she’d be the undisputed Daughter of Destiny!”

“But I heard Senior Sister Shen was just a junior disciple with a four-element spiritual root…”

“That’s precisely why it’s destiny! That’s how it’s always written in the storybooks!”

Their voices faded into the distance.

Once the patrolling disciples had completely departed and Li Wuxia confirmed no one else was nearby, she slowly emerged from the shadows.

‘Senior Sister truly is the Daughter of Destiny, surrounded by so many pesky insects.’

She walked step by step to the edge of the Verdant Water Cold Pool.

The chilling aura emanating from the icy pool made her feel immensely comfortable. The pool’s surface reflected the crescent moon, shimmering with tranquil, sacred light.

It was hard to imagine that in mere moments, this sacred place would become the source of calamity and death.

Li Wuxia did not hesitate in the slightest.

She slowly unfurled her palm, where the packet of ‘Soul Devourer Lure,’ wrapped in oil paper, lay quietly.

Her movements were light and slow, imbued with an almost reverent ritualism.

She gently tore open the oil paper.

Inside were white powders, finer than the most delicate falling snow. Without a breath of wind, the powder remained still on the paper.

Li Wuxia tilted her wrist, pouring all the powder into the Verdant Water Cold Pool.

There was no sound, no ripple.

The white powder completely dissolved the instant it touched the water’s surface, as if it had never existed.

The pool water remained clear, still bitingly cold, still reflecting the crescent moon.

Everything remained unchanged.

Yet Li Wuxia knew that everything was different now.

The ‘Soul Devourer Lure’ had already merged with the Qingyun Sect’s vast, spiderweb-like spiritual vein system through this spiritual eye.

Soon, it would flow like blood to every corner covered by this spiritual vein, flowing to every peak, every cave abode of the Qingyun Sect, flowing out of the mountain-protecting array, flowing to the towns below the mountain, flowing to… the entire Qingzhou.

Li Wuxia stood silently by the pool, gazing at the terrifyingly calm water.

The cold, clear light of the crescent moon reflected in her ink-blue eyes, and finally, she could no longer suppress a faint, almost imperceptible curve of her lips.

‘Senior Sister.’

‘I’m sorry, you must have had a very hard time these past few days.’

‘That desolate place in the Northern Region has nothing. Senior Sister must miss the pastries I make, right?’

‘It’s alright. Soon, very soon, you will need me.’

‘Soon, the entire world will have only me left.’