Returning to Cold Mountain to Find a Way to Break the Curse

After an unknown amount of time, Abbess Purple Bamboo groggily opened her eyes.

A sudden gust of wind brought her fully awake.

It seemed to remind her that everything that had happened before was no dream...

At that moment, her Dao Heart crumbled.

As a Buddhist, as an elder of the Pure Heaven Convent, she had actually...

Gifted with exceptional talent, she had surged ahead triumphantly ever since her youth, sailing smoothly through life.

At just nine hundred years old, she had already reached the Dawn Light Realm, becoming the youngest elder in the history of the Pure Heaven Convent.

In recent years, her cultivation had continued to rise. She had even broken through to the late Dawn Light Realm, becoming one of the strongest among the elders.

The abbess had placed great hopes in her, even teaching her the Pure Heaven Convent's supreme art ahead of time.

In a panic, she snatched her plain robes from the ground. After dressing, she stumbled away, heedless of everything else.

Her thoughts were tangled like hemp. All she wanted was to find somewhere deserted, sit in quiet meditation, and repent before Buddha.

As for Fang Ling beside her, she looked right through him, ignoring him completely.

At that moment, she had no attention to spare for anything else. She only wanted to steady her crumbling Dao Heart...

Not long after she left, Fang Ling's eyes snapped open.

The Death-Seeking Curse clung to him like a festering sore on the bone, still making his divine soul feel as though it would split apart.

It was precisely that agony that jolted him awake.

He recalled what had happened before he fell unconscious, and the mere thought of it struck him as unbelievable.

"She's gone... She actually didn't take the chance to kill me."

He glanced around several times but saw no sign of Abbess Purple Bamboo, leaving him rather surprised.

"She might double back to attack me any moment. I shouldn't linger here." He rose and hurried away.

Without stopping anywhere along the way, he soon returned to the Southern Sun Kingdom, then made his way back to Willow City.

After returning to Willow City, he followed his memories back to Cold Mountain.

He looked up at the silent mountain, feeling as though a lifetime had passed.

Not much time had actually elapsed since he left the mountain.

Yet so much had happened in that short span...

He slowly climbed the stone steps, one at a time, until he reached the temple gate.

When he had first left the mountain, the peach trees outside the temple had been in glorious bloom.

Now, their blossoms had long since withered, and plenty of little peaches had formed on their branches.

He pushed open the temple gate and stepped over the threshold.

In the courtyard, Sword Demon was playing a board game with the White-Browed Old Monk.

Seeing Fang Ling return, both men turned to look at him at the same time.

Sword Demon nodded in satisfaction. He could sense Fang Ling's Life-Bound Blood Sword.

It had grown so much stronger in such a short time, far beyond his expectations.

The White-Browed Old Monk, however, frowned, studying Fang Ling closely with a grave expression.

"A Primordial Witch Curse... Unless my eyes deceive me, it's the Death-Seeking Curse!" he murmured.

Beside him, Sword Demon raised an eyebrow. "The Death-Seeking Curse?! A friend of mine was once afflicted with it. In the end, he could no longer endure the torment and drew his sword to slit his own throat..."

Just then, Fang Ling's other three masters suddenly appeared and gathered around him.

"I've failed you, masters. I was struck by this curse and had no way to break it, so I could only come back..." Fang Ling said, feeling rather ashamed.

Flower Thief spread his hands. "Your Master Hua knows nothing about curses. You certainly can't count on me."

"But you should be able to break it, shouldn't you, master?" He turned to the White-Browed Old Monk beside him.

The White-Browed Old Monk quietly drew a deep breath and stepped forward. "In principle, a curse can only be broken by another curse. Still, I shall give it a try."

Vast Buddhist light shone from his body as he pressed two fingers against Fang Ling.

Fang Ling's brow, tightly furrowed throughout his journey, finally relaxed. The pain that had threatened to tear his divine soul apart vanished!

He smiled and was just about to thank his First Master.

But the Old Monk's expression was far from pleased. He shook his head and sighed. "A pity! I couldn't dispel it completely."

"It's only because the person who cast it had shallow cultivation that I could suppress it somewhat. Otherwise..."

"To break a curse, we must still rely on curses themselves."

"My method can only suppress it temporarily, not eradicate it."

"How long can you suppress it?" Fang Ling asked, his smile abruptly fading.

"A hundred thousand years at most! After that, I won't be able to suppress it anymore..." he said.

"A hundred thousand years? I might not even live that long..." Fang Ling smiled again.

The Old Monk said gravely, "You mustn't take this Death-Seeking Curse lightly."

"You still need to break it as soon as possible. Otherwise, once it recovers... you'll die from the pain on the spot!"

"Although I've suppressed it, it's still operating."

"I'm sure you've already noticed that the Death-Seeking Curse grows more powerful as time passes."

"If an accident allows it to break free of the suppression years from now, you'll suddenly face pain thousands, or even tens of thousands, of times stronger..."

Thinking it over carefully, Fang Ling felt a chill run down his spine.

This thing was indeed a terrible hidden danger. He had to eradicate it now!

"I do know one curse, but it can't break this Death-Seeking Curse..." his fat master said just then.

"As I understand it, what can break the Death-Seeking Curse should be the Carefree Curse or the Rebirth Curse."

"I do know a place where someone might possess those two curses."

"Where?" Fang Ling asked at once.

"The Miao Frontier!" his fat master replied.

"As it happens, the Miao Frontier is also in the Southern Dipper Domain, only at its southernmost end."

"Starting from the Southern Sun Kingdom, you'll have to cross a stretch of wild, desolate land to reach it."

"The humans in the Miao Frontier live in tribes. They're fierce and deeply hostile to outsiders, so you'll need to be careful when dealing with them."

"Thank you for your guidance, Fat Master!" Fang Ling nodded.

Since he rarely had a chance to return, he did not leave the mountain immediately, instead planning to stay at Cold Mountain Temple for a few more days.

He also happened to have some questions about cultivation that he wanted to ask them.

"Fat Master, let me show you something!"

Fang Ling summoned the Heavenly Pestilence Cauldron and opened its lid.

The fat man's expression shifted between surprise and uncertainty as he examined the pupa inside.

"I've never seen this kind of poison..."

"Its body gleams with seven-colored light, and its pupa resembles that of a moth or silkworm. It must be the Seven-Colored Heavenly Butterfly!" He lifted the Heavenly Pestilence Cauldron, gazing excitedly at the pupa within.

"Back then, I searched the whole world for it. To think that one day, my disciple would be the one to find it!" He laughed so hard that the folds of flesh on his face quivered.

It was the first time Fang Ling had ever seen his fat master so happy. He immediately said, "Then let me offer it to you as a token of my respect!"

"You really are a filial lad, but there's no need for that." He smiled and shook his head.

"Though this Seven-Colored Heavenly Butterfly is quite good, your master isn't short of these few melons and dates anymore."

"Besides, using an ancient venomous insect like this for cultivation would be a waste. If you can raise it, it'll become a tremendous source of help."

"You can leave it here. I'll raise it for you, which should help it transform into a butterfly sooner."

"But before that, you must form a Master-Servant Contract with it."

"That way, once it grows up, it'll be easier to control and won't betray you."

"I taught you how to form a Master-Servant Contract before. Have you forgotten?"

"No, I haven't. After leaving the mountain, I even used that method to acquire a mount," Fang Ling replied.

"Then begin! The sooner you form the contract, the better," his fat master said.

Fang Ling then cast the technique and formed a Master-Servant Contract with the Seven-Colored Heavenly Butterfly's pupa.