"I originally promised Yanling that I would use a spell to bewitch Chen Shan and make him accept this Dao companion bond..."
Elder Ziling sighed softly, yet there was not the slightest hesitation in her eyes. With a bitter smile of resignation, she said, "But now that the Venerable One has issued a death order, I cannot defy it. I can only obey."
Between poisoning him and bewitching him, she could only choose one.
For if she poisoned him and then bewitched him, Luan Yanling would become deeply rooted in love with Chen Shan. Once Chen Shan died within ten years, the damage to Luan Yanling's Dao heart would only be worse.
"Better a short pain than a long one. It would be better to cut off Yanling's hopes right now."
Elder Ziling had already made up her mind.
What she needed to do was not only poison Chen Shan to death, but also alter Luan Yanling's memories—completely erase the memory of Chen Shan publicly rejecting her, restoring her former state of single-minded focus.
Yet there was still one point where the truth could easily leak.
The other female disciples might mention the matter of her "public rejection" to Luan Yanling in person. If Luan Yanling remembered nothing of it, it would easily arouse suspicion.
"It seems I can only have Yanling enter secluded cultivation."
Elder Ziling muttered to herself, a calculating glint flashing through her eyes.
She said to herself, "I can use 'breaking through to the tenth level of the Nascent Soul Realm' as the reason to have her remain in seclusion for a hundred years. A century will be enough for the other disciples to forget this matter—and of course, enough time for Chen Shan's poison to flare up and kill him..."
After a pause, she smiled