Western Province.
Far Cold Lands, Xuandu Sect.
Inside a cave dwelling carved out amidst the endless snow and ice.
A strikingly beautiful young girl in vibrant red robes sat cross-legged on an ice bed, meditating. As her youthful features had matured, the corners of her eyes had tilted upward, revealing a breathtaking, vivid beauty beneath her lingering innocence. She was so stunning that one could not look away.
Yao Dai had just celebrated her fifteenth birthday, and the floor of her cave dwelling was filled with gifts that she had no space for.
However, she didn't care about any of them, for the person she cared about wasn't here.
“Pfft!”
Suddenly, Yao Dai’s willow-like brows furrowed as she violently spat out a mouthful of blackened blood, which splattered onto the ice bed and the hem of her robes.
She raised a hand to cover her chest, her body trembling slightly. After a moment of recovery, she raised her hand to check her own pulse.
The poison Yin Fengcong had originally afflicted her with had finally been cured with the help of the person who was her master in name at the Xuandu Sect. However, there was another poison still lingering in her body, one that would flare up at unpredictable times.
Yao Dai formed hand seals to stabilize her breathing; her spiritual energy fluctuations had surprisingly reached the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment realm. She swallowed a medicinal pill, cleaned up the bloodstains, and got off the bed to walk into a dark room at the back of the cave.
“Mmph! Urgh! Mmm!”
Two people were locked inside the dark room. Their tongues had been cut out, and their eyes had been gouged. Long iron chains bound their necks and limbs. Yao Dai took out the new poisons she had recently refined and fed them to each of the two captives.
As the toxins began to take effect, the two of them spat out blood and collapsed to the ground.
Yao Dai recorded the onset time, the symptoms, and the condition of their bodies. Finally, she fed them an antidote she had developed herself. Unexpectedly, the two began foaming at the mouth immediately.
When she checked their pulses, she found they were even more poisoned than before.
She tucked away the small notebook used to record the poisons and frowned. “Tsk, why did I increase the dosage again?”
Seeing that the two on the ground had been poisoned to death, Yao Dai—who had grown accustomed to using medicine humans over the past month—was dissatisfied. She burned the remains with a flick of fire. “Truly weak. They couldn’t even handle this much poison.”
“They aren't even as resistant to poison as I am.”
She raised her beautiful brows, and a thought suddenly struck her, causing her to let out a cold, mocking laugh. “If Xie Tinglan were to become my medicine human, he's so thick-skinned and tough that he should be very resistant to poison.”
Ever since she joined the Xuandu Sect, the poison in her body had attracted the curiosity of many senior brothers and sisters who wanted to study it, but they were all stumped. It wasn't until she took the high-ranking Seventh Elder as her master that things changed. He couldn't figure it out either, so he invited the Grand Elder to investigate. Only then was it confirmed that it was a demon poison—specifically, a snake poison.
Wow, a demon and a snake poison. Who could have possibly poisoned her? It was just so hard to guess.
Yao Dai remembered that when she woke up after being hunted by the Taixuan Sect, Wen Li had mentioned that Xie Tinglan had fed her his blood, which was why she hadn't died during those days.
At the time, she had even felt grateful and guilty toward him. If her master hadn't mentioned the two types of poisons in her body when she said her goodbyes, and if Xie Tinglan hadn't been standing nearby silently staring at the sky, she might not have been so certain it was him!
Yao Dai turned and left the dark room, intending to go out and capture a few more cultivators to serve as medicine humans.
Originally, her master had wanted her to study arrays. Unfortunately, after all this time, she didn't have much spiritual comprehension regarding arrays. Nowadays, she was quite interested in being a pill cultivator. Especially since Xie Tinglan had poisoned her, it made her want to refine the ultimate toxin to poison him to death!
Moreover, she had a natal artifact like the Blood Vine Whip that could secrete toxic substances, so she needed to use poison to nurture more poison.
Just as Yao Dai left her cave and flew on her sword to one of the Xuandu Sect’s mountain peaks, she suddenly spotted Mu Qingyu in a pavilion, wearing a dress adorned with vivid peonies.
She was waving a folding fan while a group of male Xuandu Sect cultivators stood before her, trying to gain her favor.
Mu Qingyu possessed decent talent and a flamboyant, seductive personality. She was a popular goddess whom countless male cultivators wanted to take as a Dao companion. She had always enjoyed teasing people and had a fiery temperament. Although it was only verbal flirting without any inappropriate physical contact, it was enough to make many male cultivators pursue her, willing to offer large amounts of treasures and spirit stones just to make her happy.
Back then, Yao Dai had used the favor she owed Mu Qingyu from when she had swapped the durian for her—following up on Mu Qingyu’s casual remark to “come find me if you need anything”—to join the Xuandu Sect and cultivate under a new identity. Mu Qingyu had indeed helped her arrange everything without a second thought.
Yao Dai had sought her out in the morning, and by the afternoon, she was officially a member of the Xuandu Sect.
Yao Dai felt a bit of gratitude and affinity toward her, but it was limited to that of ordinary acquaintances. It didn't reach the level of the friendship she had with Li Yangtian of the Cangling Kingdom.
After all, dead people remain infinitely beautiful in one's heart. Li Yangtian had been able to touch her heart because of his selfless, calculation-free devotion. Such sincerity was not something any ordinary cultivator could give.
As Mu Qingyu was chatting with the male cultivators, she suddenly caught sight of Yao Dai and waved her hand urgently.
“I’m done chatting for today. I need to go find my junior sister.”
“Wait!”
The group of male cultivators looked disappointed.
Yao Dai felt a presence behind her and turned to see Mu Qingyu placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Why are you running so fast? What, are you off to meet a lover?”
Yao Dai frowned slightly and dodged the hand on her shoulder. “I have no interest in men. I'm not like you, surrounded by flies every day. Don't you find it annoying?”
She didn't understand why Mu Qingyu, who clearly had good talent, bothered with those male cultivators. Their eyes were practically glued to her skin, and their gazes were utterly disgusting. If it were Yao Dai, she would have killed them all.
“Tsk, even a small fly is still meat. Since they’re willing to find various natural treasures for me, I can save time and effort just by saying a few words. It’s not like I have to give myself to them. Male cultivators can capture female cultivators to use as cauldrons, so why can’t I make them work for me? Besides, they’re all doing it willingly. I didn’t force them.”
Mu Qingyu knew Yao Dai didn't like being touched, so she wasn't angry about being dodged. She simply crossed her arms and flew alongside her.
Yao Dai was puzzled. “You’re just playing along. Aren't you afraid of actually falling in love?”
“My dear junior sister, you’re still too young.”
Mu Qingyu’s seductive eyes curved. “Men are just another kind of cultivation resource. As long as one can become strong, who cares how the resources were obtained? I didn’t use my body as a trade; it’s just a mutually agreeable game. Even if I do fall in love, so what? If it’s mutual, then we can enjoy carnal joys together. If he’s unwilling, then I’ll just find another. Human hearts are fickle; no one likes only one person for their entire life.”
“If he’s unwilling, can’t you just snatch him?” Yao Dai found Mu Qingyu’s attitude toward playing with romance quite novel.
Her master had taught her to stop at nothing to become strong, but she had never spoken of matters between men and women. However, this likely fell under what her master had said: regardless of who or what is involved, one must never place themselves beneath another and must always put themselves first.
Since she had to put herself first, if the person she liked didn't like her back, then she should just snatch the person.
She liked them, after all.
“Snatch him? I’ve tried. But even if you can snatch the person, you can’t snatch the heart. Even after I poisoned him to make him lose his memories, he still didn’t like me. He had a woman he loved.” Mu Qingyu suddenly smiled at her words. That flamboyant, charming smile held a hint of reminiscence, and deep within her eyes was a hidden trace of sorrow.
“Then kill that woman. Kill everyone he likes, until you are his only option left.”
Yao Dai’s words perfectly captured the essence of Wen Li’s overbearing methods, but when applied to matters of the heart, that dominance became a form of obsession.
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