Candlelight flickered in the Gilded Hall of the Mo Residence in Jia Yuan City, Lan Prefecture.
Venerable Golden Light reclined on a carved rosewood couch. Clouds embroidered in gold thread on his black Daoist robe rose and fell faintly with his breathing, yet frost seemed to coat his face, leaving him like a cold, unyielding stone statue.
At first, when Jing Wen brought him under his control, Venerable Golden Light had been filled with fear and unease.
As time passed, however, Jing Wen had rarely interfered in his life and had even gradually loosened his grip.
From collecting an antidote once a month, the interval had stretched to six months, then finally to five years.
Such lenient control allowed Venerable Golden Light to continue enjoying his luxurious life with an easy conscience.
After swallowing up the Wild Wolf Gang, the Seven Mysteries Sect had become the largest local gang, and Venerable Golden Light was its uncrowned emperor.
Within the Seven Mysteries Sect, countless mortals paid him tribute. With fine clothes, sumptuous meals, and servants in droves, his days were even more comfortable than before.
Under the wearing influence of fine wine, beautiful women, and power, his thoughts of escape had ultimately become flowers in a mirror and the moon upon water.
Even so, a trace of unease remained deep in Venerable Golden Light's heart.
He knew that Jing Wen still held control over the Poison Pill within him. If that control were lost, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Initially, he had tried to slip back into cultivator circles, but Jing Wen had stripped him of every magical artifact and talisman. With only his meager cultivation at qi refining, third layer, even entering a Market would be like a sheep walking into a tiger's jaws.
If he fled to mortal lands,