Chapter 076

Chapter 76: Must Take It While Alive; Dead Is Useless

Ye Qian’s heart raced with wild excitement as she asked the black fog: “Where can I find a person like that?”

The black fog giggled as it answered: “You will have to search for one yourself. This kind of person is one in a million, even harder to find than a Heavenly Spiritual Root. But if you really find one, your path might succeed: Ascension to Immortality.”

Ye Qian grabbed the Metal Spiritual Root and said in a low voice: “I will find one.”

“The spirit bone must be taken while the person is alive. If they die, it becomes useless,” the black fog cackled. After that last line, it sank into the ground, carrying the skull with it, and vanished.

Only Ye Qian was left, fusing the spiritual root by herself.

“Ambition and action. Her talent is a bit poor, but she can still be used,” the black fog murmured in a tempting voice.

After a moment, a finger stretched out from within the black fog. It tapped lightly, and a surge of Heaven Spirit power poured into the skull’s forehead. A face began to form there, almost complete, but it lasted only a moment before fading away.

“Still not enough,” it whispered.

Far from enough.

Geniuses… the more, the better.

Heavenly One Sect.

Ye Wan Wan’s heart suddenly pounded hard. She pressed a hand to her chest, but it did not help. The others saw her face grow paler and paler, and they all changed color at once.

“Junior sister!” Shen Nan Zhou frowned as he looked at the top of her head. He reached into the air and grabbed at the empty space. The others were surprised by what he did.

Keeping a calm face, Shen Nan Zhou said: “I am waving away bad luck for her.”

The three of them stared: “…”

“Does that work?” one of them asked.

But Ye Wan Wan’s color really did improve. The three rushed over and started waving hard over her head while chanting: “Go go go, bad luck go away; come come come, good luck come!”

Ye Wan Wan stared at them: “…”

Shen Nan Zhou, however, lowered his head and smiled. He toyed with a thin black thread in his fingers, his eyes deep and dark.

“A curse,” he murmured.

Such a low thing, using only cheap tricks.

He rubbed the thread between two fingers, and the curse shattered at once. The youth looked calm as he raised his head. Seeing Ye Wan Wan watching him, he smiled and asked: “What is it, senior sister?”

“…I am junior sister,” she said.

“Alright, what orders does senior sister have?” Shen Nan Zhou replied with a smile.

“…” Ye Wan Wan stared at his hand. Shen Nan Zhou opened his palm and teased: “Senior sister, do you want to read my fortune from my palm? Then read it. Will I die young?”

Ye Wan Wan listened and studied his palm, then looked at his face as she answered: “No, you will not. Because I will go before you.”

Shen Nan Zhou’s smile vanished.

His palm closed tight. He said in a cold voice: “Shut up.”

Before he could finish, Fang He An jumped in and said: “Spit, quick! We will all live long, very long.”

Ye Wan Wan smiled and added: “Right. Fifth senior brother and I will both live very long.”

Shen Nan Zhou nodded and said: “Yes, all of you will.”

Fang He An caught the odd tone and demanded: “What do you mean, ‘you all’? Include you. It is us.”

Shen Nan Zhou laughed and said: “Yes, we will all live long and cause trouble for a thousand years.”

Li Wan Zhi chuckled and announced: “Then I will become the richest person in the Cultivation World.”

“Wishing you success,” someone said.

They joked for a while, and that little scare passed. When they saw Ye Wan Wan was alright, Fang He An led Li Wan Zhi, Bai Jian, and the others back.

“Junior sister, rest well. We will visit you in a few days,” Fang He An said.

“Okay. Fourth senior brother, remember what I asked,” Ye Wan Wan replied.

Li Wan Zhi patted his chest and said: “Relax, leave it to me.”

It was only getting a few Spirit Market Jade Tokens.

What did junior sister call them again?

Oh right, alt accounts.

Li Wan Zhi promised with full confidence.

After they left, Ye Wan Wan was alone. The discomfort had eased, but she still kept thinking about that strange feeling from before.

It did not feel like sickness. It felt more like something was wrapped around her.

“It is a curse,” a round bead rolled out from inside the Violet Cloud Ring, and the voice of the Illusory Dream Elder, who always hid in the Spirit Bead, sounded: “Someone used blood essence to curse you. The level is not high. That brat helped you deal with it.”

Ye Wan Wan frowned as she asked: “A curse?”

“This thing needs your birth date and hour, plus some item worn close to your body. Normally it would not affect a cultivator, but you are badly injured and weak right now, so it hit you for a short time,” the Elder explained.

“Harm not big, insult very strong?” Ye Wan Wan said.

“…Accurate,” the Illusory Dream Elder admitted.

“This is exactly the kind of thing Ye Qian would do,” Ye Wan Wan judged. “Boring.”

But since the person started it, Ye Wan Wan would not skip the return gift.

She flipped her hand to take out talisman paper. Using water as ink, she quickly drew three talismans. The Spirit Talismans floated in the air as Ye Wan Wan formed hand seals. The Fire Golden Core that had been dug back from the enemy floated up.

The talisman papers wrapped the Fire Golden Core, drawing out its aura bit by bit and locking on.

The Illusory Dream Elder stared and asked: “What are you doing?”

“Have you heard of locking onto a person’s qi pattern?” Ye Wan Wan asked.

“Qi that runs inside the body is called the qi mechanism,” the Elder replied at once. Then he glared and said: “Do you take me for a junior disciple?”

Every new disciple knew that much.

Ye Wan Wan lowered her head and smiled. She raised a finger and tapped in the air toward the Golden Core as she explained: “This Golden Core still holds the circulation pattern of her spiritual qi. It is hers.”

“I will use Spirit Talismans to interfere with that qi pattern. Tell me, what will happen to Ye Qian inside the Supreme Sect?”

The Elder shivered as he understood and blurted: “…Oh my.”

This was not only stronger than a curse, it was sneakier.

“She will not die,” Ye Wan Wan said in a mild tone. “But as long as she cultivates, everything will go twice the effort for half the result. Whatever she does, she will be blocked. The effect will not last very long, but it is enough to disgust her for one or two months.”

“This is my return gift.”

Courtesy needs to be returned. If they want to play this way, then do not blame her for playing meaner.

Hiding behind a pillar with Star Marsh and Dream Spirit, the Illusory Dream Elder watched from a distance and whispered: “This girl…”

Dream Spirit gulped and said: “…In the future, do not mess with her. Mess with anyone else, but not her!”

Star Marsh piped up in a childish voice: “We should definitely follow her!”

Then Star Marsh seemed to think of something, looked at the other two spirits, and said: “Wait, why am I hiding here with you? I already have a master!”

Proudly turning into a small stone, it rolled straight toward Ye Wan Wan and called out: “Master~”

Dream Spirit: “…”

Illusory Dream Elder: “…”

What a bootlicking spirit.

Ye Wan Wan did not limit their freedom, but Dream Spirit’s freedom was only within a tiny Five Elements Prison, and the Illusory Dream Elder was inside the Spirit Bead. Only Star Marsh could possess a little stone and move freely inside the cave abode, while also keeping an eye on the other two, one a Companion Spirit and the other a Remnant Soul memory body.

After Ye Wan Wan warned Star Marsh not to leave the cave abode, she began to circulate her qi and check her condition.

Her final conclusion was: a bit bad.

But not terrible.

She had forced herself to take Wu Zhen’s palm head on. All five Golden Cores were damaged, but at least they did not shatter. With repairs, they could still be used. That was much better than she expected. At the time, she thought all five would be lost.

But to repair them, she needed Origin Stabilizing Pills.

Before, Ji Chang Huai had given her one out of guilt, and she could use it now. But it was not enough. For Origin Stabilizing Pills, she would need five at least.

“The effect of the Origin Stabilizing Pill is still too low. I should look for something else,” she said.

She had been worrying over which herbs to use, but when her eyes fell on the Illusory Dream Elder, she remembered that Memory Inheritance. She sank her mind into it and searched for methods to repair a Golden Core.

She found two: Rain Dew Core Nourishing Pill and Mystic Crystal Essence Fixing Powder.

But both required two fourth-grade spirit herbs as main ingredients. This time in the Illusory Dream Secret Realm she had gotten some third-grade herbs, but no fourth-grade ones.

The Illusory Dream Elder sighed and said: “If this were the past, not to mention fourth-grade, there would be fifth, sixth, even Level Seven. The secret realm was full of them. Too bad…”

It had already been cleaned out by others.

Ye Wan Wan thought it over. She had to find a way. These injuries must be treated.

At least they were five Golden Cores.

Suddenly the Elder hissed: “Someone is coming.” In a flash, both the Illusory Dream Elder and Dream Spirit hid back inside the Violet Cloud Ring, and Ye Wan Wan gathered Star Marsh close.

She looked up and saw Pei Xuan standing at the door.