Poison Immortal's Allegiance

Chapter 15: Poison Immortal's Allegiance

After obtaining the Seven-Star Pill, Chen Tiannan said nothing more and immediately entered seclusion to heal his wounds. He understood that his grievous injuries were no small loss to the entire clan.

As for Chen Xiao awakening an Immortal Spirit Root, although it caused a tremendous uproar throughout Moon-Gazing City, it did not stir up much of a ripple. Chen Tiannan had promptly activated the City Lord's Mansion's Guardian Array, making it impossible for outsiders to spy on anything.

The only ones who knew were Chen Tiannan and his wife, Chen Xiao's two older brothers, Mengmeng, and Poison Immortal Cai Di. No one else—not even the servants of the City Lord's Mansion, nor some of the Chen Clan's elders—knew who had awakened the Immortal Spirit Root.

But everyone was waiting, waiting for the people of Glazed Heaven Palace to arrive so that the truth could finally come to light.

By comparison, no one paid much attention to Chen Tiannan taking the Seven-Star Pill and entering seclusion to recover.

After Chen Xiao fabricated a master for himself, Chen Tiannan and Su Mulan eased their restrictions on him somewhat. Otherwise, Chen Tiannan would likely have confined him outright to ensure his safety, and Chen Xiao would have been unable to do many things.

"True Person Cai Di, have you made your decision?"

After seeing off his parents and brothers, Chen Xiao went to the room where Poison Immortal Cai Di was staying and spoke to him with a smile.

Although Cai Di had verbally said that day that he could submit to Chen Xiao, Chen Xiao was unwilling to trust him lightly. In the Immortal World, there were far too many cases of people going back on their word and scheming against one another.

Cai Di gave Chen Xiao a very serious look, and a trace of struggle flashed through his eyes.

"That day, you were the one who awakened the Immortal Spirit Root, weren't you?" Poison Immortal did not answer directly, instead posing a question of his own.

"What do you think?" Chen Xiao raised his right hand. A flash of emerald-green light flickered at his fingertips.

"It truly is an Immortal Spirit Root, a Wood Attribute Immortal Spirit Root..."

Cai Di let out a breath. "You possess an Immortal Spirit Root. So long as you do not perish midway, you are destined to become an immortal Golden Immortal. Following you would not be humiliating."

In truth, after Cai Di killed that Immortal a hundred years ago, he had lived as a fugitive throughout the Immortal World. The moment his name was mentioned, he became like a rat crossing the street, cursed by everyone. Who would be willing to live such a life?

Now, following the son of a city lord—one who had a chance of becoming an unparalleled powerhouse and a Golden Immortal—was the best possible choice for him.

Moreover, Chen Xiao possessed the cultivation method he desperately desired, one that could resolve the hidden dangers in his cultivation. Cai Di had his pride, but that depended on whom he faced. If Chen Xiao had merely been a greenhorn at the third level of Qi Refining, then even if he had truly given Cai Di the Ten Thousand Poisons Ascension Art, Cai Di would only have played along while waiting for an opportunity to bite back.

But now things were different. Chen Xiao had a chance to become a Golden Immortal. In the Immortal World, a Golden Immortal was the overlord of a region. By following a potential Golden Immortal, Cai Di's status would naturally rise with the tide.

"Good. You know the times."

A smile appeared on Chen Xiao's face. "Swear an oath to the Heavenly Tribulation. I have the means to make you submit, so shouldn't you give me something that lets me trust you?"

Cultivation was the act of seizing longevity from heaven and earth, an undertaking that defied the heavens. Oaths had originally been nothing more than words, a mere formality. No one took them seriously, and even when they were broken, no one had ever seen any consequence come to pass.

But swearing an oath to the Heavenly Tribulation was different. The Heavenly Tribulation was a great hurdle for cultivators. Once one swore an oath to it, breaking that oath would give rise to a heart demon during tribulation, leaving ten deaths and no life—unless one never underwent tribulation and never became an Immortal.

Of course, the Heavenly Tribulation was now under Chen Xiao's control. Although he had yet to cultivate the Nine Heavens Thunder Virtue Universal Transformation Art to the Orange Cloud Realm and could not yet govern the tribulations of cultivators ascending to heaven, swearing to the Heavenly Tribulation was equivalent to swearing to Chen Xiao's very soul. Should Cai Di harbor any betrayal, Chen Xiao would sense it and immediately bring down Heavenly Tribulation to strike him dead.

This was also the main reason Chen Xiao had urgently cultivated the Nine Heavens Thunder Virtue Universal Transformation Art to the fifth transformation of the Red Cloud Realm before coming to find Cai Di. Only upon reaching the fifth transformation of the Red Cloud Realm did he possess such an ability.

Cai Di was straightforward as well, showing no unusual reaction. He was an old hand in the world and knew that he would not betray Chen Xiao, but he still had to let the other party know it. Thus, he immediately swore a solemn oath to the Heavenly Tribulation: should he betray Chen Xiao, he would be reduced to ashes beneath it, never to exist again for all eternity.

The moment Cai Di's oath fell, the Thunder Virtue Heavenly Book floating within Chen Xiao's dantian immediately reacted, and a mark appeared upon the first page of the heavenly book.

In truth, this oath imposed no real restraint upon Cai Di himself. If he did not undergo the Heavenly Tribulation, then even if he betrayed Chen Xiao, nothing would happen to him.

But Chen Xiao was now the master of the Heavenly Tribulation. This tribulation born from the oath was imprinted upon Chen Xiao's soul at every moment. Even the slightest thought of betrayal in Cai Di's heart would be known to Chen Xiao, who could bring down Heavenly Tribulation at any time and destroy him.

Chen Xiao finally relaxed as well. His strength was still far too weak, and Poison Immortal Cai Di was undoubtedly an enormous aid to him.

Then Chen Xiao waved one hand and handed Cai Di a booklet and a jade bottle.

"This is the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect's true cultivation method, the Ten Thousand Poisons Return to Sect, along with Ten Thousand Poisons Pills. With the two used together, your cultivation will recover in three days, and all future troubles will be eradicated."

After giving Cai Di these two items, Chen Xiao did not disturb him further and left the room.

In truth, it was no coincidence that these two items were in Talisman Treasure Immortal's Golden Immortal Kingdom, nor that the Flowing Light Flying Moon Talisman had appeared on Cai Di's person.

Back when the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect had flourished at the height of its power in Glazed Heaven, it had been crushed beneath a single foot of Talisman Treasure Golden Immortal. Not only had he slain the Immortal-level powerhouses of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, he had also seized their foundational cultivation method, the Ten Thousand Poisons Return to Sect.

That was why the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect had fallen from a flourishing Immortal World great sect into an ordinary cultivation sect. It had even lost the cultivation method for breaking through the Heavenly Tribulation, eventually vanishing into the long river of Immortal World history.

In truth, Poison Immortal Cai Di's Ten Thousand Poisons Ascension Art, including that Flowing Light Flying Moon Talisman, had not been found in the ruins of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect. They had been discovered in what was once the cave abode of Talisman Treasure Golden Immortal.

If Cai Di learned that a heaven-shaking opportunity had been tucked against his chest for hundreds of years, only to benefit someone else for nothing in the end—and that his own belongings had been used to subdue him—one wondered whether he would vomit blood and die on the spot.

But Chen Xiao naturally would not tell him any of this. Keeping quiet and making a fortune was the true way.