Ridiculous to the Extreme

Just as Ye Wan had expected, Chen Fan was indeed living carefree in his room. Lying on his bed, he flipped through the more advanced poison-making techniques in the Treasure Record. With the materials he had brought back this time, he should have been able to refine some more powerful pills. Thinking of those wicked experiments, with two snakes crawling all over him, Chen Fan felt that he truly looked like a great demon lord.

A great demon lord and a Little Witch? No wonder the two of them always stirred up trouble whenever they were together. He wondered how things were going on the inner court's side now. Chen Fan was somewhat worried too, but dawn had already broken, and no one had come looking for him. It seemed this matter had passed safely after all?

Two days later, Chen Fan had used the materials he obtained this time to refine several pellets. According to the Treasure Record, these pills were all highly poisonous. However, it was Chen Fan's first time using such advanced materials to make poison, and his control over the heat was still lacking. He had no idea how effective they would be.

He held a pellet in his hand and sniffed it. It smelled somewhat foul, so it seemed he had failed a little after all. A truly brilliant poison would keep its scent contained after being made, without letting it leak out. Just imagine it—if the intended victim noticed such a foul smell, could the poison still succeed?

But he could not simply waste poison pellets that had been so hard to make. Just then, Eastern Evil and Western Poison slithered over as well, their two little noses pressed closely against the pellet. Then they suddenly looked at Chen Fan with extreme excitement, hissing incessantly.

Their meaning was obvious: if you did not want it, give it to us. The two of them were quite obedient and would not snatch it by force. They would only take a bite once Chen Fan permitted it. After thinking it over, Chen Fan tossed the pellet away, and the two snakes rushed forward and gnawed it all down.

After that, Chen Fan inspected the other refined pellets one by one. Some that he judged to be rather poorly made, he fed to Eastern Evil and Western Poison as well. Yet he did not dare feed them too much. On one hand, it would make their tastes too picky; on the other, the ingredients used for these poison pellets were of extremely high quality, and he feared they might burst from being overstuffed.

Then Chen Fan took out several pills, intending to test them on himself. Yet he had reservations. After all, these poisons were far stronger than the ones he had taken before, while his cultivation had instead regressed. This was far too risky. After some consideration, he ultimately decided against it. He would first find some ordinary ingredients and make a few low-grade poisons instead.

Another two days passed, and Chen Fan had finished consuming the poison he made from ordinary ingredients. Naturally, he had coordinated it with circulating his cultivation, just as he did when breaking through a realm. Yet to his surprise, this time it did not cause his cultivation to soar. Its effect was merely equivalent to ordinary seated meditation and cultivation. This left him utterly baffled. Could it be that his peculiar talent was starting to fail?

He had actually faintly sensed it for some time. Ever since returning from his travels down the mountain, he had felt as though something was missing inside his body. Before, he had always believed it was because his Internal Qi realm had fallen. But now it seemed there might be a deeper change. Could it be related to that night with Wan'er? Or perhaps an aftereffect of bloodletting? Or perhaps it truly was as the rumors said—after one's cultivation fell, a knot formed in the heart, and the more desperately one wanted to cultivate it back, the less one could make progress.

Forget it. He would stop thinking about it for now. Chen Fan simply gave up cultivating Internal Qi. Now that he had the Soul Reaper Sword in hand, he might as well diligently cultivate External Force. In a year, he should be able to reach around the third level. As long as his swordsmanship was refined enough, entering the inner court would not be a problem.

Ever since Eastern Evil and Western Poison had eaten several pellets two days ago, the two snakes had fallen into deep sleep. They presumably needed time to digest the energy within those poisons. Once they awakened, their strength should increase dramatically as well.

Since he did not feel like doing anything else right now, Chen Fan planned to find Murong Zhu and the others. Although it was not yet the monthly outer court sparring day, it should be fine to practice swordsmanship with them, right? Little did he know that Murong Zhu's group had long since stopped wanting to fight him. Every time they said it was only a spar, they ended up breaking into a cold sweat.

He wandered through the various outer court areas. He first went to Murong Zhu's residence and found him absent, and he did not see any of the other people he knew either. They had probably formed a group to travel down the mountain or returned to their Lineages. The matter of the missing children had been spreading like wildfire. The nobles and great Aristocratic Clans from their mortal world were all prominent local households, so it was perfectly normal for them to return and check on the situation. When he passed the martial arts grounds, they were empty as well. The outer court disciples truly trained by skimming along and muddling through. Not a single outer court elder was around either. Who knew where the teachers had run off to? Who had time to manage disciples?

Then he would practice by himself. He took out the Soul Reaper Sword but did not draw it from its sheath. It had indeed been a long time since he had used swordsmanship. As the saying went, practice made perfect—he still needed to go through the motions.

At this moment, within the vast outer court martial arts grounds, a young disciple held an unsheathed treasure sword. His body moved like a swimming dragon, his footwork light as he swung through sword forms. At times he bent low at the waist, at times he half-squatted and arched his upper body back, at times he spun through a rotation before flipping backward through the air. Meanwhile, streak after streak of sword light continuously shot forth from his hand.

Suddenly, a figure entered the martial arts grounds while Chen Fan was practicing his sword. This person arrived swiftly and without any warning. Chen Fan was wholly immersed in the sword forms and had not spared any attention to sensing his surroundings. He had no idea that someone was already approaching him.

With a clang, just as Chen Fan thrust out his sword, he discovered that a streak of Sword Qi was slashing toward him head-on, striking directly against his sword. Following the direction of his thrust, he looked over and saw that it was also an unsheathed treasure sword. But clearly, the material used for that person's scabbard might have been better than his entire sword. The other sword's scabbard gleamed all over, its carved patterns exquisite and meticulous. Red glazed gemstones were set into it as embellishments, while what seemed to be tiny spirit-infused ores had also been fused into the scabbard.

My heavens! This scabbard was far too luxurious. Those materials were probably things he could not even use when forging a sword. Looking at the hilt again, he could only tell that it was red. It seemed to shimmer with treasure light too, and with Chen Fan's knowledge, he could not judge what material it was made of at all.

Then he saw clearly the jade-like hand gripping the hilt. It belonged to a woman.

At this moment, Chen Fan withdrew his cultivation form, and his treasure sword drew back lightly with it. He held the scabbard in his hand and no longer pointed it ahead. He also saw the woman's appearance clearly. She was dignified and elegant, steeped in noble grace, and her features were flawless. Calling her a beauty capable of toppling a nation would not have been an exaggeration. Only, she looked rather older, perhaps close to forty.

Chen Fan was deeply puzzled and slightly stunned. Who was this person? He had never seen her in the outer court before, and she appeared quite strong. Yet she probably bore him no ill will. Otherwise, he would likely have been dead long ago.

Seeing Chen Fan staring blankly, the woman smiled. "What is it? Continue. How can one practice swordsmanship without an opponent?"

Chen Fan was even more confused. Had this woman seen him practicing alone and come to accompany him? She was clearly far stronger than he was, so why would she practice swordsmanship with him? They did not know each other at all, and there was nothing in it for her. Had she eaten too much and become bored out of her mind?

"This junior would not dare practice swordsmanship with Senior. Senior's sword appears extraordinary at a glance, though I wonder what exactly lies within it?" Chen Fan casually laughed it off.

"Hehe, you are not yet qualified to behold this sword." The woman spoke coldly and arrogantly. Then she suddenly flicked her wrist, and the treasure sword attacked Chen Fan again, still sheathed. "Watch the sword!"

Chen Fan was startled. What sort of person was this? She had not even finished speaking before she wanted to fight again? There was no time to think any further. Left with no choice, Chen Fan swung out sword light to resist. But he found that the power of her sword momentum was far too fierce for him to contend with. He could only retreat again and again, barely managing to evade it.

"I do not draw my sword, and you do not draw yours? Who do you think you are?" the woman mocked.

"I did not want to fight you in the first place. Why should I draw my sword?" Chen Fan was somewhat angered now and no longer cared about etiquette between senior and junior. "My sword does not leave its sheath in ordinary times. Once it does, it reaps souls."

Seeing Chen Fan say this with such solemn sincerity, the woman suddenly burst into laughter. "Do you really think you are a Heaven-Shattering Realm expert? It does not leave the sheath, but once it does, it reaps souls? Utterly ridiculous."

She immediately thrust out another sword. This time, the sword move was incomparably swift, and Chen Fan had no time to react. Yet the woman seemed to have done it deliberately. Her Sword Qi did not strike any part of Chen Fan's body. Instead, it accurately hit the scabbard of Chen Fan's Soul Reaper Sword. With a crash, the already battered scabbard shattered apart, turning to ashes in an instant and revealing the blade within.

"Well? Now the sword has left its sheath. Weren't you going to reap souls? Come on!" The woman wore the expression of someone whose crafty scheme had succeeded.

Chen Fan merely frowned slightly. Then he lifted his sword, ignored the woman, and headed back toward his residence without looking back. He only felt that he had been humiliated, but he was not overly angry. After all, he truly was not strong enough.

"Wait, don't go!" The woman seemed to feel that she had indeed acted out of line just now and hurriedly called out.

"What? Does Senior have any further instructions?" Chen Fan turned back and asked, his tone cold and sharp, without the slightest fear.

The woman was slightly stunned at first, then gave a soft laugh. "Young people these days truly have more personality with each passing generation."

Chen Fan pondered inwardly upon hearing this. This woman's words definitely carried another meaning. Looking at her, he seemed to think of something, and his attitude could not help becoming more respectful. "What does Senior mean by that?"

"You are Chen Fan, right? You really are rather interesting." The woman looked at Chen Fan with a hint of amusement on her face.

Chen Fan was even more puzzled. "How does Senior know this junior? Did Senior come here specifically to find this junior?"

The woman lightly waved a hand, signaling him not to be anxious. "This is not the place to talk. Come with me." Before her words had even faded, she did not care whether Chen Fan agreed. She simply waved her hand, and a powerful gust of wind swept him up.

In the next instant, Chen Fan found himself in the sky, the woman beside him. The two of them advanced as though riding clouds and mist, seemingly heading deeper toward a mountain peak.

After a moment, Chen Fan landed. He was so shocked that no words could describe it. Along the way, he had not used even a trace of Internal Qi. Although they had moved at tremendous speed, he had not needed to worry in the slightest about falling from the sky.

Before he could make another move, the woman headed directly toward a palace, leaving behind a single sentence: "Come with me."

What choice did Chen Fan have now? He obediently followed.

The two entered the palace. As Chen Fan stepped inside, he saw three words written on the plaque: Cloudsea Pavilion. He scratched his head. It seemed he did not recognize this place either, though it looked extremely high-class.

After entering the palace, the woman showed no intention of giving Chen Fan a tour. She simply turned around, shut the doors from afar with a wave of her hand, and looked toward him.

Chen Fan now did not dare speak or move carelessly at all. He stood ramrod straight, eyes on his nose, nose on his heart.

"What is it? Weren't you quite proud just now?" Seeing Chen Fan's appearance, the woman found it amusing.

"I would not dare. I did not know Senior's identity earlier and committed many offenses. Please forgive me!" Chen Fan bowed respectfully.

"You did not offend me. Clearly, I was the one who offended you and ruined your things. I still prefer your earlier attitude." The woman did not care much. "It seems you already know my identity?"

"This junior only knows that Senior is a person of exalted status." Having realized this, Chen Fan was beginning to worry. "May I ask what instructions Senior specifically has for this junior?"

"I see you are not stupid. Why not take a guess?" This woman seemed too lonely in her daily life; she was becoming addicted to teasing people.

Chen Fan's heart beat like a drum. He guessed it was related to the Hundred Herbs Garden incident from several days ago, but he did not dare say it outright. What should he do?

"This junior accidentally trespassed into the sect's forbidden grounds several days ago. I hope Senior will forgive my offense. If Senior wishes to punish this junior, this junior will have no complaints." Chen Fan took a roundabout route to save the kingdom. If she had truly come over that matter, she probably already knew everything about him. If it was for something else, she likely would not care about that incident, which meant it was probably something even more important.

"You brat, you really are cunning as a fox! No wonder..." The woman suddenly realized midway that something was wrong, gave two dry coughs, and said, "Enough, I will stop beating around the bush. I heard people from the inner court mention you before. I became a little curious and came to take a look. Sure enough, you do have some skill."

Chen Fan understood now. She truly had come because of the Hundred Herbs Garden matter.

The woman narrowed her eyes and examined Chen Fan once more. "Oh? I did not expect you were previously at the third level. Then it is even less surprising." Yet she was not overly shocked. Since he was someone those two had taken a liking to, it would have been strange if he had not possessed anything special.

Chen Fan inwardly sighed again at the woman's vast abilities. Before her, he had no secrets at all.