Eagle Wings? No, Rainbow Escape!

The Netherworld Poison Flame curled around Xiao Yan's fingertip. He blew it out with a casual puff.

"Pfft."

"Oh, right. Your body's running low on vital blood. Your cultivation may be advancing fast, but your body can barely keep up..." Xiao Yan glanced at the pretty girl. Her face was a little pale, sweat beaded on her fair forehead, and she kept fanning herself with one small hand.

In the original story, she had reached Dou Zong in just five years because the Poison Scripture had fully awakened her Woeful Poison Body. With its full power behind her, a shortage of vital blood was nothing.

But now... Xiao Yi Xian clearly had not given herself over to becoming a poison woman. She could still just about keep her condition under control.

Her Woeful Poison Body would erupt sooner or later, but Xiao Yan had no intention of telling her that.

Since she still clung to the dream of being a healer, he would let her find her own way.

"I happen to have a few Second-Rank Pills that can replenish your vital blood. Take these for now." Xiao Yan pulled several bottles from his Storage Ring and tossed them to Xiao Yi Xian, who sat on her knees in the grass, panting.

Indeed, both Second-Rank Pill Formulas he had obtained from the Mittel Family—the Qi Recovery Pill and the Blood-Melting Pill—served that purpose. The former was gentler, and it was the one he had given her.

"You're an Alchemist too?" She had guessed as much from the way he controlled fire earlier, but surprise still flashed through Xiao Yi Xian's beautiful eyes. Was he a Second-Rank Alchemist at that?

"Get some rest."

Xiao Yan flashed her a toothy grin, gave her hair a careless ruffle, and headed for the wooden cabin. The smell of food drifted out from inside, and his stomach had been growling for ages.

He had Marching Soldier Pills he had made in his Storage Ring, but those things tasted like wax and were only good for filling an empty stomach. Why eat them when a beauty had cooked dinner?

"..."

Xiao Yi Xian's breathing gradually steadied. She cast a conflicted glance at Xiao Yan inside and sighed softly.

With talent like his, he had to be a prodigy from one of the Jia Ma Empire's top sects, out in the world to gain experience. Someone brilliant, someone destined to shine. And she... she was merely a Heavenly Poison Woman.

The words in the Poison Scripture seemed carved into her bones, etched firmly into her memory.

The Woeful Poison Body was a strange constitution that strengthened its owner's cultivation by consuming poisons. Its telltale sign was a faint, seven-colored line on the lower abdomen. The line grew as the poison within her grew stronger. When it reached her heart, her Woeful Poison Body would be at its strongest—but she would also suffer the agony of ten thousand poisons devouring her heart.

Poisons held a deadly allure for her. Several times over the past few days, she had nearly given in and swallowed one.

Every sign suggested she might one day become a poison woman whose name was known far and wide. But people would likely loathe and despise her. Perhaps nothing living would be able to come within three feet of her. She was destined to be alone.

And he knew it too...

Perhaps he had seen how hard it was for her to resist. Perhaps that was why he had given her the poison flame.

The gulf between them was immense. Only a quiet twist of fate had brought them together for a while and let them share these lovely days.

Xiao Yi Xian pressed her lips together and wiped away her tears, trying to look strong. Clutching the pills Xiao Yan had given her, she walked into the cabin.

Inside.

Xiao Yan glanced at Xiao Yi Xian. She bustled about like a village girl, straightening the bedding. "Can the poison flame take the place of poison?" he asked evenly.

"Mm..." Xiao Yi Xian froze, then nodded. A trace of sadness crossed her beautiful eyes. The poison in the Netherworld Poison Flame was dozens of times more potent than the strongest poison she could normally find. At first it had tasted bitter, but the taste had gradually turned sweet, growing sweeter still.

That meant she had set foot on the path she least wanted to take.

She did not blame Xiao Yan. The pull of poison was stronger than anyone could imagine. Even if he had not given her the poison flame today, tomorrow... she might well have begged him for it.

"Don't worry. It's only the Woeful Poison Body. I know a way to deal with it." Xiao Yan went on eating as he spoke.

"..."

Xiao Yi Xian stared at him, stunned.

"The sky isn't going to fall," Xiao Yan said with a smile.

"...Mm." Xiao Yi Xian turned her head and secretly wiped her tears. She did not know why this mysterious man was so good to her, but she wanted to hold on to the simple bond between them.

Even if she truly became a poison woman someday, she could at least spare his life when they met again.

The night passed without incident.

The next day.

In the quiet valley.

Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on a boulder, watching Xiao Yi Xian walk deeper into the valley to gather herbs. A grin slowly spread across his face. "Teacher! My Flying Dou Technique!"

"Tsk. What's the hurry?"

Old Lord's figure drifted out of the Storage Ring. He tossed Xiao Yan a sheet of yellowed parchment. "Here. I made a few changes to that Cultivation Method. Give it a try."

"Heh."

Xiao Yan grinned and hurriedly opened the parchment. Instead of the pitch-black eagle wings from the original story, it depicted a pale-gold, three-legged divine bird. It was drawn with only a few simple lines, yet the bird's spirit seemed to leap from the page.

One glance nearly drew him in.

Scorching heat engulfed him, as though he had been thrown bodily into a furnace.

"Gulp." Xiao Yan swallowed. "Is this... a three-legged Golden Crow?!"

"At least you know what you're looking at." Old Lord smiled. "I used a version of the Rainbow Flight Art as the basis, followed the method used to make this scroll, and fused in a drop of an Ancient Golden Crow's blood essence."

"It'll grow stronger as your cultivation advances. Even when you become a Dou Di in this world, it won't be obsolete." Old Lord stroked his beard with a smile.

"Well, I'm going to look around the area. You practice this Cultivation Method." With that, Old Lord's figure slowly faded away.

Xiao Yan was left standing there in a daze.

All he had wanted was a Flying Dou Technique, something that could match a Dou Wang expert's Dou Wings. Who would have thought... he would get a divine technique from Old Lord instead?

Old Lord was incredible. In his eyes, the Eagle Wings Xiao Yan had wanted before were probably worse than trash.

And the medicinal materials that had made Xiao Yan so happy were likely no better than dregs.

He shook his head and looked back at the scroll.

Following Old Lord's written instructions, Xiao Yan dripped a drop of blood essence onto it. This was not to make the Golden Crow submit to him, but simply to form a contract. The next instant, the Golden Crow in the painting turned into a streak of golden light and rushed into the space between his brows.

"Hum..."

Xiao Yan was pulled up into the clouds, then suddenly plunged downward.

Reflected in his pupils was a colossal three-legged Golden Crow circling high in the sky, its wings blotting out the sun. Xiao Yan stared into its eyes. In them, he saw his own reflection. Then it let out a cry, ancient and wordless, that shook the entire world.

"Hah... hah..."

Xiao Yan jolted awake, gasping like a drowning man. Only when he recognized his surroundings did he gradually calm down.

"Wait. It worked!"

Xiao Yan's pupils contracted.

He took out a bronze mirror. There, between his brows, was a pale-gold marking. Though drawn in only a few strokes, it was unmistakably a three-legged golden bird.