Seizing the Pill-What Would Become of My Parents?

"Qiu Yun, Chang Hao's body is still there, isn't it?"

"It is~"

After leaving the village, Luo Fanchen formed the hand seal for the Hai Water Art and used Baleful Spirit Command to guide Chang Hao's Nether Spirit back into his corpse and take control of it.

He also had Qiu Yun's Soul Body descend and use Human Face to assume Ling Leng's appearance.

Only when everything was ready did he cautiously use the Soul Banner to breach the Illusion Formation around the second village. This was an auxiliary array used to refine the Demonic Treasure that maintained the Seven Baleful Souls-Locking Array; any cultivator in Late Qi Refining could normally see through it.

Fortunately, the Soul Banner was the natural bane of all three Illusion Formations.

Luo Fanchen breached the array without destroying it, exposing Ling Leng's and Chang Hao's faces to whoever had set it up.

He also made Chang Hao take the blame, deepening the rift between the traitor and the Water Marsh Gang.

"Chang Hao, the Baleful Pill is nearly ready. Why aren't you collecting it? What are you doing here?"

The moment they stepped into the Illusion Formation, a disciple in cloud-blue robes came out to meet them. Only when he saw Chang Hao did he lower his guard.

Cooking smoke curled through the array. Children played along the paths, while adults walked together. It looked no different from an ordinary mortal village.

In truth, every mortal there had sunk into the Illusion Formation, their awareness trapped. The disciples in cloud-blue robes had long since been ambushed by the senior brother they revered. Bandit cultivators now occupied their bodies, and their souls had scattered to the winds.

"Phew—I can do this. I can do this."

Luo Fanchen concealed himself within the Illusion Array, hiding his form completely as he slowly replaced the original Illusion Formation with his own. At the same time, he gathered the only offensive killing move he knew besides the Purple River Chariot Art.

"Flame Curse Art!"

Yi Wood True Essence roared through his Meridians. A wisp of flame sprang from his fingertip and swelled rapidly.

In just a few breaths, the fireball expanded to half a person's height, far beyond Luo Fanchen's expectations. The sudden surge in heat alerted several bandit cultivators who had seized other bodies, and they immediately sent out their magical implements and scattered.

"Damn it. This thing's hard to use."

Luo Fanchen clicked his tongue. This wretched fireball truly lived up to its status as an unranked spell; controlling it was a nightmare.

He aimed for a moment but still could not lock on. So he gave up aiming, fired the fireball, and detonated it early. The blast cut off two bandit cultivators' escape routes while he gathered another fireball without pause.

He could not aim, but he could fire fast.

The Flame Curse Art was a trifling spell. His Yi Wood True Essence needed only two breaths to form each fireball, and the True Essence it consumed was almost negligible.

Luo Fanchen tried to overwhelm them with sheer numbers. It worked remarkably well: the explosions left the two bandit cultivators reeling and scrambling to flee.

"Flame Curse Art?"

Both bandit cultivators were at the Fifth Level of Qi Refining. When they recognized the spell, disdain crossed their faces.

They meant to send their magical implements through the fireball and rush him. But after taking one hit head-on, they nearly vomited up their innards. Their bodies were scorched black, and both suffered minor injuries.

Fortunately, they were Body Cultivators. Otherwise, that reckless blow could have injured them badly.

"What tremendous True Essence! Who is this brute?"

"Chang Hao, this brute is vicious! Help us surround and kill him!"

The two cried out. Knowing their opponent was a Spell Cultivator, they had hoped Chang Hao would handle the Flame Curse Art while they closed in and subdued him by force. Instead, the fireballs came without end, arriving in an instant, one after another.

For now, all they could do was dodge. Danger pressed in from every side, leaving them no spare attention to wield their magical implements.

"Chang Hao!"

"I'm here."

They kept calling for him. When they next saw Chang Hao, he flashed behind them with a vicious grin. His arm turned into an iron-blue ghost claw and punched through one man's chest from behind, taking his life.

Terror filled the surviving bandit cultivator's eyes. Qiu Yun suddenly appeared and blocked his escape with Soul Power. In his moment of hesitation, the Soul Banner engulfed him. His mind clouded at once, and he collapsed to the ground.

"All cleaned up, Uncle Luo."

"Have bandit cultivators really become this feeble?"

Luo Fanchen's brows drew tight. It still felt unreal.

He had simply stood there and fired a little over twenty shots of Flame Curse Art, yet two cultivators at his own level had been unable to raise their heads.

With a little more accuracy, he would not even have needed Qiu Yun and the Nether Spirit to finish them off.

"Why didn't they use their magical implements? What kind of Body Cultivators don't even know how to ignite their blood or cover themselves in True Essence?"

Doubt stirred in Luo Fanchen's heart, but the two bandit cultivators were dead. They could not be feigning surrender.

For the first time, he wondered whether he had set his estimate of cultivators at his level too high. Before encountering the Water Marsh Gang, the only Demonic Cultivators whose fighting ability he knew were Ling Leng and Ling Youdao, who had suffered a severe backlash.

Both could easily defeat Rogue Cultivators at the same level.

That can't be right.

Luo Fanchen sensed something wrong with his understanding, but he did not linger or release the mortals from the Illusion Formation.

After collecting the Demonic Treasure materials and the corpses and souls of the two bandit cultivators, he called forth the Soul Banner and headed straight for the third Bandit Stronghold.

That fight proved just as easy. After several dozen shots of Flame Curse Art, his proficiency had reached mastery, and his aim had improved considerably.

This time he faced a Talisman Cultivator and a Spell Cultivator. He dispatched them easily without even calling on Qiu Yun or the Nether Spirit.

Neither had time to use a Magic Treasure. The Talisman Cultivator managed only three lines of an incantation and activated just two First-Rank Low-Grade Talismans before going to meet the King of Hell.

"Fourth Level of Qi Refining, Fifth Level of Qi Refining... They didn't even try to run."

Luo Fanchen narrowed his eyes. All it had taken was a few dozen shots of the unranked Flame Curse Art.

"Uncle Luo, it's all taken care of. Leave the rest to me. You can focus on breathing exercises and restoring your True Essence."

"No need."

A little while later, Qiu Yun returned from extracting the souls and offered him a Spirit Stone. Luo Fanchen shook his head.

He had used only about half his True Essence, and he could recover quickly by taking a Meridian-Opening Pill.

"Qiu Yun, were you harassing them with the Illusion Array's illusions from the sidelines?"

"No, Uncle Luo. It was your True Essence."

Qiu Yun's dewdrop eyes shone. She slipped her pale arm through Luo Fanchen's and spoke softly.

"Flame Curse Art may be a lowly unranked spell, but your True Essence is far more abundant than that of others at your level. You chant and cast extremely quickly. After dozens of fireballs, the surrounding spiritual energy was disturbed, and fire became its dominant attribute."

"Those four cultivators probably lacked fire-attribute Spirit Roots. They couldn't adapt to the change in spiritual energy quickly enough to cast their spells."

"You're observant, Qiu Yun."

Luo Fanchen murmured the words. He had not considered that possibility at all. After all, affecting the attributes of nearby spiritual energy ordinarily required a cultivator in Late Qi Refining at minimum. Besides, the Body Cultivator and the Talisman Cultivator had also fallen without putting up a fight.

Only after extracting their souls and searching their memories did he learn the reason.

Those men had seized bodies in haste, leaving hidden damage to their souls. The Soul Banner naturally tugged at them and unsettled their minds, costing them the initiative.

I can't get blindly confident in myself.

Luo Fanchen sighed. So that's what it was. He muttered, "The Soul Banner draws too much attention. Unless I'm certain of a kill, I can't use it lightly. I still need to learn a couple of techniques for fighting."

Flame Curse Art was not enough in the end. Against a stubborn opponent at his own level, his fireballs would be little more than fireworks.

Luo Fanchen wasted no time. After taking the Demonic Treasure and the cultivators' Storage Bags, he controlled Chang Hao and had him destroy the array's central nexus. Before its core broke, he appeared before Chang Hao in Ling Leng's guise, giving the array one last glimpse of them together.

"Done. Time to collect the Baleful Pill."

As Luo Fanchen muttered, he belatedly counted on his fingers. Including Chang Hao, he had collected six bandit cultivators' corpses.

"Five bodies of cultivators steeped in wickedness, the organs of ten pairs of innocent children, eight eyeballs from people with Spirit Roots, First-Rank High-Grade Mystic Crystal and Spirit Sand as supplementary materials, all tempered in the flames of Heart Offering..."

Luo Fanchen gripped the Soul Banner tighter, his breathing quickening.

Without realizing it, he seemed to have gathered everything needed to elevate the Soul Banner once more.

Late the following night, dark clouds blotted out the sky. As the last wisp of a Spirit Puppet's soul entered the Souls-Locking Array with its blood essence, the seven baleful positions reversed and became seven stars. An immense mass of blood energy gathered at the altar's center.

An evil wind howled. Children's murmurs filled the air.

Luo Fanchen's face darkened, and his mind felt clouded, but he quickly suppressed it through sheer will. Mo Xue, meanwhile, was wholly unaffected—or perhaps she had long since grown used to intense negative emotions. A trace of delight hid beneath her calm, lovely expression.

"This pill is vicious. Let me help you, Uncle Luo."

Qiu Yun spoke softly. Her spotless toes hovered above the ground as she glided through the air to Luo Fanchen.

She slipped an arm through Uncle Luo's as naturally as could be, then glanced toward Mo Xue. Their eyes met. One look from her elder sister sent her hastily withdrawing her arm like a kitten caught stealing fish, and she lowered her head timidly.

She formed a hand seal. Two Nether Spirits emerged from the Soul Banner, roaring hoarsely as they drew in moonlight and pulled the resentment from the Baleful Pill toward the banner.

The formation of a Baleful Pill brought sinister manifestations. It had to be wrapped in the Soul Banner, then concealed with the Illusion Array's illusions.

"Come—"

Qiu Yun's lovely face paled slightly. Her entire Soul Body churned like boiling water; the effort was clearly draining her Soul Essence.

"Uncle Luo, don't touch the Baleful Pill. Be careful its murderous aura doesn't seize your mind."

Qiu Yun gave a soft huff and blew a clear breeze to stop Uncle Luo from helping. She gritted her teeth and held on. Two quarter-hours later, hundreds of hideous-looking children appeared from thin air around them.

Spiked iron chains bound each child's neck. They wailed like ghosts, and every chain led back to the Soul Banner, which danced like a grimacing face.

The children were drawn into the Soul Banner one by one. When the final three, whose forms were as solid as living people, were dragged inside, an irregular, dark-black pill finally took shape.

Countless tiny ghostly infant faces covered its surface. Their cries would not cease, and Baleful Intent rose from it to the heavens.

"The pill is ready!"

Qiu Yun panted lightly. Only after the Soul Banner wrapped the pill in layer upon layer did the chilling cries finally stop.

"Uncle Luo, I've done what you asked. We've secured the three hundred Spirit Stones."

Qiu Yun's voice was weak, her lovely face drawn. After a brief explanation, she turned into a streak of light and entered Luo Fanchen's body, apparently to rest and recover. Beside him, Mo Xue's little face scrunched up with worry for her younger sister.

She was about to go over and check on Qiu Yun when she saw her slip inside Master Luo. Her softened expression tightened at once, and she unconsciously rubbed her canine tooth.

"What is it, Mo Xue? It's all right. Qiu Yun is safe. She's just exhausted too much Soul Power."

"I was worried about that silly girl."

Luo Fanchen noticed nothing amiss. The Baleful Pill occupied the Soul Banner, so Qiu Yun could only enter his body and recuperate within his Yi Wood True Essence.

Mo Xue pouted with a little huff. I need to find a chance to speak frankly with that silly sister of mine.

When it comes to Master Luo, I won't yield—not even to the sister I love most.

I have to be first in Master Luo's heart. He can't love anyone more than me!

"My Baleful Pill! My chance at Foundation Establishment!"

At the same time, on the third floor of the stewards' quarters in Flying Cloud Market, Qing Zheng sat cross-legged, drawing in spiritual energy.

Cloud and mist coiled around him, but frustration and rage knotted in his chest. As if struck by lightning, he vomited several mouthfuls of blood. His Dao heart trembled; a vast, invisible resentment seemed to cling to his body, heralding the sudden rise of an inner demon.

He hurriedly took several Heart-Cleansing Pills, but blood kept pouring from his mouth, preventing him from swallowing them.

Left with no choice, he cut open his wrist and forced the pills into a blood vessel to refine them.

After a long while, the agitation eased. Bloodshot eyes burned in Qing Zheng's face, his handsome features twisted with pain.

The inner demon had already taken shape. The Heart-Cleansing Pills had merely suppressed it for now. It hung above his head like a sharp sword, ready to fall at any moment.

"Backlash from the Seven Baleful Souls-Locking Array? The three Illusion Formations I set up were breached almost at the same time."

Qing Zheng's lips trembled. His Meridians spasmed in agony, and blood mixed with chunks of his organs gushed uncontrollably from his mouth, soon soaking his meditation cushion.

He paid no heed to the pain. The final images from all three breached Illusion Formations were flooding his mind.

Chang Hao had personally killed the bandit cultivators he had planted on guard, then readily found the array cores and destroyed them. In the last image, Qing Zheng saw delicate features that Junior Brother Qing Yuan hated to the bone. Who could it be but Ling Leng?

As for the Baleful Pill, how could it have survived the destruction of the Seven Baleful Souls-Locking Array?

"Good. Very good, Ling Leng. Water Marsh Gang. Taking the Water Dragonwood wasn't enough for you? You had to take my Baleful Pill too?"

Qing Zheng's heart turned to ashes. His karmic burden had deepened, an inner demon hung over him, and someone else would reap the fruits of his Baleful Pill.

He feared he would never reach Core Formation in this life.

He had drawn water in a bamboo basket. After betraying the faith he had held for half his life, was this all he had to show for it?

"Even if I die, I'll drag the Water Marsh Gang down with me. Ling Leng, I'll eat your flesh raw!"

Qing Zheng staggered to his feet. Every part of his body cried out beneath the riot of True Essence within him. He hastily swallowed several First-Rank Mid-Grade Rejuvenation Pills, used a few Cleansing Talismans to wash away the blood, then steered a Spirit Boat straight toward the Water Marsh Gang's lair.

With the Baleful Pill gone, he had no mind left to avoid suspicion.

If he did not get the Baleful Pill back today, he would slaughter his way through the Water Marsh Gang.

I'll have all your miserable lives!

"You're saying Ling Leng took your Baleful Pill?"

Three hundred li north of Sky-Piercing Market, in an unremarkable mortal village, a frail young man dressed as a scholar sipped his tea.

He was handsome and looked barely over twenty, yet his hair was entirely white. No True Essence leaked from him, but his presence faintly overawed the somewhat uneasy Qing Zheng. He had clearly reached the peak of Qi Refining.

They sat in a wooden hut on bamboo stools. The place was so simple that no one would guess it was the true heart of the Water Marsh Gang.

"He Chun, stop putting on an act. Your Water Marsh Gang and that bastard Ling Leng worked together from inside and out. Quite a performance!"

"Your Foundation Establishment failed, so you set your sights on the chance at Foundation Establishment belonging to Junior Brother Qing Yuan and me. Heh. I've recorded your filthy dealings in a Puppet. If you don't return my Baleful Pill today, we'll both go down like fish caught in the same net."

Qing Zheng snorted angrily. He was no fool; the moment he saw He Chun, most of his killing intent faded.

In the half year since they had last met, He Chun's cultivation had advanced again. Qing Zheng, meanwhile, suffered from backlash and could use only seventy percent of his strength. He was probably no match for him.

A wise man doesn't pick a fight he can't win.

"To be honest, brother, if you can tell me exactly where Ling Leng is, the Withered Wood Ancestor will give you a Foundation Establishment Treasure, never mind the Baleful Pill."

"Bullshit! Your Yi Wood Sect has already allocated its Foundation Establishment slots ten years ahead. Where would you get a Foundation Establishment Treasure?"

Qing Zheng flew into a rage. The Dao Sect was no fool either; it allotted advancement quotas to its subordinate sects.

The Yi Wood Sect and the Clear River Sect could each exchange for two Foundation Establishment Treasures every ten years. For Core Formation, they had to wait a hundred years to exchange for even an inferior treasure. Even at their height, each sect had boasted no more than two Core Formation cultivators.

"We don't have one now. Once we take the Clear River Sect, won't we both be able to reach Foundation Establishment?"

Smiling, He Chun refilled Qing Zheng's cup with strong tea. "Well? Why not join the Yi Wood Sect outright? If our sect's grand plan succeeds—"

"Shut up. I won't betray my sect."

"How interesting. Fellow Daoist, you truly are interesting."

He Chun gently waved his folding fan, mockery glinting in his foxlike eyes. "Weren't you the one who tipped us off that day?"

"I... I only took what should have been mine."

"I see. Then do you still want to reach Foundation Establishment? The Clear River Sect has no place for you now. Only by joining the Yi Wood Sect will the great path open before you."

"Hand Ling Leng over to me! Return my Baleful Pill. Once I reach Foundation Establishment, I'll have a place in the Clear River Sect."

He Chun shook his head, looking rather helpless.

"I'd like to catch Ling Leng myself, but the bastard is cunning. He plans carefully, and he must have had a reason for showing himself this time. You're useful to me, Fellow Daoist, so I'll offer you some advice."

"Don't let that man entangle you. The brute is bold and ruthless enough to covet even the Withered Wood Ancestor's possessions."

He Chun gave a bitter smile and tossed over a scroll. Qing Zheng opened it cautiously, and his expression changed.

It was a secret wanted order personally written by the Withered Wood Ancestor. Ling Leng was to be captured alive at all costs. Anyone who provided a lead would receive fifty Spirit Stones; whoever captured him would receive a Foundation Establishment Treasure.

"I know my own temperament and methods are no match for his. I've kept well away from him."

"If that fiend took your Baleful Pill, I'm afraid you'll never get it back."

"Damn it! Isn't he your second-in-command?"

Qing Zheng seethed. That last glimmer of hope died with the news, leaving his hatred to curdle into helplessness and resentment.

Would he truly never establish his Dao foundation and become a real cultivator? All he wanted was to reach Foundation Establishment, reclaim everything he had lost, gain the strength to protect his Lineage, and let his mother enter the family register with her rightful place.

"I misjudged him. I truly am sorry."

He Chun was frank. If he settled the matters at Flying Cloud Market and Sky-Piercing Market, he would surely gain an opportunity to reach Foundation Establishment. There was no need to risk his life for a Foundation Establishment Treasure.

Ling Leng was the most cunning Demonic Cultivator he had ever met. Even now, recalling the man's sheer audacity made his scalp prickle.

While the ancestor refined the Baleful Pill, that bastard had lured several Clear River Sect elders over right under his nose, causing heavy casualties among the Yi Wood Sect disciples. Then, amid the chaos, he erased several array lines, inadvertently splitting the Immortal Longevity Pill into five portions.

After taking one portion of Essence, the fiend had stolen the Water Dragonwood for good measure, bringing Qing Yuan's furious retaliation down on them.

They had suffered bitterly for months. If they had not held something over Qing Yuan, the Clear River Sect might already have wiped them out.

"Fellow Daoist, there's only one path left for either of us to reach Foundation Establishment."

He Chun gave a rueful chuckle and held out his hand to Qing Zheng. "Work with me, fellow Daoist. For the sake of our Dao Paths."

"No. If I betray them, my Lineage will be implicated. What will become of my parents?"

"Fellow Daoist, a Qi Refining cultivator has only a few decades to live. Reach Foundation Establishment, and you can live two hundred years. You'll be honored as a true cultivator, no longer a mere mortal."

He Chun gently took Qing Zheng's hand and continued in a soothing voice.

"To seek the Great Dao and eternal life, you must lose some precious things."

"But... my parents..."

"Two hundred years from now, if you attain the Dao and reach Core Formation, they'll be nothing but passing clouds, dry bones in their graves."

He Chun's gaze was sincere. Of course he could urge Qing Zheng to abandon his clan and parents. His own parents, after all, were far away in the heartland of the Yi Wood Sect.