The Gengchen Immortal Mansion, aside from the lineage of the sect leader which had been led by the Fengshan Clan for generations, consisted of the Eight Palaces: Heaven, Earth, Yin, Yang, Sun, Moon, Stars, and the Four Seasons. Each palace had several main branches, along with dozens to hundreds of sub-branches and countless minor branches. Liao Tingyan was a disciple of the Clear Valley Heaven, a minor branch under the Red Maple main branch of the Four Seasons Palace.
The Red Maple branch had been controlled by the Xiao family for nearly a thousand years. The elder who had provoked Sima Jiao at Three Sage Mountain and was subsequently killed was one of the more senior elders of the Red Maple branch, also the biological son of the previous head of the Xiao family.
"Great-grandfather, you've finally emerged from seclusion! You must seek justice for Grandfather!" Xiao Huaying knelt beside the middle-aged man who was meditating, her face filled with sorrow.
The middle-aged man was Xiao Changlou, the former head of the Xiao family. Judging by appearance, he even looked younger than some of his sons and grandsons. He had been in seclusion for three hundred years attempting to break through to the Mahayana realm, yet he had not succeeded.
"Seek justice?" Xiao Changlou spoke in a calm tone to his direct descendant great-granddaughter. For someone like him, with such a vast family and countless descendants, it was impossible to care about each and every one. Xiao Huaying, who was now before him, had been just over ten years old when he entered seclusion three hundred years ago. She had served him for a while, which was why he had some impression of her.
"Yes!" Xiao Huaying looked up at him. "Although Taoist Lord Cizang is our grandmaster, he shouldn't bully our Red Maple branch like this. Grandfather merely went to Three Sage Mountain to investigate, yet he was casually killed by him. Isn't this a slap in the face to our Xiao family? Moreover, Grandfather had already used his soul transfer rebirth once before. Now that he's dead this time, he's truly gone from us forever!"
Xiao Changlou remained unmoved and said indifferently, "So what if it's a slap to the Xiao family? Just because he bears the surname Sima, no one will say much no matter who he kills." He glanced at this young child and inwardly scoffed.
The Sima Shi, the last remaining member of the Fengshan Clan, had truly fallen. From the master of Gengchen Immortal Mansion to now... a prisoner at the end of his rope.
Xiao Huaying seemed not to have expected him to say this. She froze, her expression slightly panicked as she said, "But Great-grandfather, are we just going to let Grandfather's death go like this?"
"I've long said that if he kept dwelling on the Xiao family members who were killed by Sima Jiao in his madness five hundred years ago, he would eventually die at his hands too." Xiao Changlou waved his hand. "Enough, leave now."
Though still filled with grief and unwillingness, Xiao Huaying dared not say more and left resentfully.
Once outside, her aggrieved expression immediately vanished, replaced by hatred. She had grown up hearing the legends of Gengchen Immortal Mansion's origins, where the Sima Shi had been synonymous with its rise. She had indeed felt awe and admiration for this once-powerful clan, but having never experienced the fear of being dominated by the Sima Shi like the previous generations, she couldn't understand the tolerance of her great-grandfather and others. In her view, no matter how formidable a grandmaster was, he was still alone against a large family and should naturally be at a disadvantage.
"Let's go to Clear Valley Heaven!" Xiao Huaying frowned fiercely and led her attendant disciples toward Clear Valley Heaven.Since she couldn't deal with that Taoist Lord Cizang, she could always vent her anger on someone else. For well-informed people like them, it had only taken half a day since the incident at Three Sage Mountain to learn what had happened there. Naturally, they had also identified the only disciple who had survived under their Patriarch's hands—Liao Tingyan.
By now, the sect leader and influential figures from several major palaces knew that their unpredictable and cruel Patriarch seemed to have taken a liking to a female disciple. This disciple had low cultivation and an even lower status, being merely an ordinary disciple from Clear Valley Heaven. Not daring to approach Sima Jiao, who had just unleashed his fury, they all converged on Clear Valley Heaven instead.
Xiao Huaying had barely arrived at Clear Valley Heaven when she noticed that this small branch, usually so quiet, was now bustling with activity. The place was crowded with people coming and going, and she even spotted Shi Zhenxu from the sect leader's lineage, standing there like an immovable pillar. In terms of seniority, he was a generation above her. Seeing him there, Xiao Huaying cursed inwardly, realizing she probably wouldn't be able to accomplish anything today.
The Shi family of the sect leader's lineage was truly laughable—such a massive clan, yet they willingly served the Sima Shi and still put on this loyal dog act. Xiao Huaying sneered inwardly. The current sect leader's lineage hadn't been in power for long. Initially, they had merely been attendants to the Sima Shi. But as the Sima Shi dwindled in numbers—due to their obsession with maintaining bloodline purity until only one remained—the leadership of the sect gradually shifted from the Sima Shi to the Shi Shi.
Shi Zhenxu's expression was amiable, but no one would believe that someone of his stature truly treated everyone this way. Dongyang Zhenren, the master of Clear Valley Heaven, had been sitting respectfully below Shi Zhenxu since early morning, his mind still reeling from the shock.
His sources weren't as well-informed, so it was Shi Zhenxu who had told him the current situation: the disciple he had taken in had caught the eye of Taoist Lord Cizang and was now by his side. As the saying goes, when one man attains enlightenment, even his pets ascend to heaven. In just half a day, countless gifts had been sent to their usually overlooked and tranquil place, which had suddenly become the center of attention.
Dongyang Zhenren wasn't particularly ambitious, and his joy was far outweighed by his unease.
"There's no need to worry, Dongyang," Shi Zhenxu said with a smile. "It's a good thing that a disciple you taught has such capability. If she continues to stay by the Patriarch's side in the future, Clear Valley Heaven will have nothing to fear. Who knows—it might even become a main branch." He added, "The Patriarch is still at Three Sage Mountain, and no one dares to disturb him these days. Perhaps in a while, the sect leader will take you to visit your disciple. You should prepare yourself."
His words carried the implicit message of support and recruitment from the sect leader's faction, which Dongyang Zhenren naturally understood. He replied respectfully, "Understood, Uncle-Master." But inwardly, he was deeply troubled.
Meanwhile, in a dimly lit room within the Plum Blossom Branch of the Four Seasons Palace, Yuan Shang, the eighteenth and most beloved son of the Yuan family head, sat with a complicated expression. Ever since hearing the news from Three Sage Mountain, he had been sitting there lost in thought. He never could have imagined that the spy he had planted there would have such a stroke of luck. Among all the factions in Gengchen Immortal Mansion, with so many people sent in, it was absurd that the only one left standing was the one he had arranged—Liao Tingyan.Yuan Shang heard about the movements of the Sect Leader's faction and some other palaces. He knew exactly what those people were thinking—whether they openly protected Sima Jiao or secretly sought to kill him, they all had the same goal: to seize the benefits from Sima Shi. But he was different. His sole purpose was the destruction of Gengchen Immortal Mansion.
The most direct way to destroy Gengchen Immortal Mansion was to destroy Sima Jiao. What he now held was an advantage no one else possessed—a woman whom Sima Jiao regarded differently.
As long as the Bone-Corroding Poison in Liao Tingyan's body remained unresolved, she would have no choice but to obey his control. Not even Sima Jiao could save her.
……
Liao Tingyan slept until dusk, essentially wasting the entire day. The schemes and vendettas outside had nothing to do with her. The only thing that concerned her was that ancestor Sima Jiao, who killed people as easily as cracking peanut shells.
He wasn’t in her hammock anymore, which made her relax considerably. She had told herself that everything would be resolved after another nap, and sure enough, it was fine now.
She sat up and felt the abundant spiritual energy coursing through her body, feeling so good she could practically float—like a salted fish soaking in water, slightly bloated. The current Three Sage Mountain was shrouded in an ethereal mist. Though many areas lay in ruins, there was an inexplicable beauty in the decay, likely due to the hazy filter created by the spiritual fog, lending everything a dreamlike allure.
Neither the big Black Snake nor Sima Jiao was in sight. Only the miraculously recovered flame was there, hands on its hips, cursing loudly: "Useless fools! Those worthless scum in Gengchen Immortal Mansion couldn’t even kill Sima Jiao when they had such a perfect opportunity yesterday!"
Liao Tingyan sometimes really couldn’t figure out the flame’s stance. One moment it claimed that if something happened to her, Sima Jiao wouldn’t fare well either—implying a symbiotic relationship—and the next, it seemed desperate for someone to come and finish off Sima Jiao immediately.
The Central Tower had collapsed halfway. Liao Tingyan walked to the gap and peered down, careful not to stand too close. In that brief glance, she spotted a dark figure standing beside a circular flowerbed below, along with a black snake laboriously pushing aside the rubble that had fallen near the flowers with its body.
Those were the Moonlit Ephemerals—the only plants on Three Sage Mountain. The flame-red lotus probably didn’t count as a plant, right? She thought of the treasured red lotus she kept in her brocade pouch and felt a flicker of curiosity about the Moonlit Ephemerals below. Back then, those girls had acted strangely upon seeing these flowers, and she still hadn’t uncovered the secret behind it.
Sima Jiao, standing by the flowerbed, suddenly turned his head toward the Central Tower. He moved his hand in a gesture that clearly meant "come here."
A cultivator’s eyesight was just that sharp. Liao Tingyan couldn’t pretend she hadn’t seen it, so she ducked her head and headed for the stairs. She descended over twenty flights, draped in pale purple twilight, and arrived at the flowerbed. But Sima Jiao, who had been standing there earlier, was now gone—only the Black Snake remained, still playing the role of a diligent laborer. She turned her head to look around when a voice suddenly sounded by her ear: "Why did you take so long to come?"
The ghostly ancestor appeared behind her, nearly scaring her into tumbling straight into the Moonlit Ephemerals. She remembered how those girls usually avoided getting too close to these flowers unless necessary—there was definitely something off about them. So she quickly dodged sideways—only to crash right into Sima Jiao’s arms.
Liao Tingyan: "......Uh, does this look a bit like throwing myself at him?"She pondered the question, then decided it wasn’t really a question at all. If the ancestor activated the Truth Buff and asked, "Woman, are you throwing yourself at me?" she could easily prove her innocence.
But Sima Jiao didn’t ask. Instead, he gave her a look that said, I’ve seen too many seduction attempts—save your effort.
Liao Tingyan: Damn you! Use the Truth Buff! Hurry up! Let me tell you the truth!
"Do you know what these are?" Sima Jiao asked, gesturing at the flowers. No Truth Buff.
Liao Tingyan: "...Moonlit Ephemerals." Ugh, so annoying.
Sima Jiao ran his fingers over the flowers, which were gradually changing color. During the day, they were white petals with black leaves, but as the sun set, they slowly turned into black petals with white leaves. To Liao Tingyan, it looked like every flower he touched instantly darkened. Manual dyeing—impressive.
"Do you know how these flowers came to be?"
Liao Tingyan: "No."
Sima Jiao seemed particularly fond of ruthlessly destroying flowers, especially plucking perfectly healthy petals. He tore off a black petal and tossed it aside, his tone flat. "Moonlit Ephemeral seeds are special. They’re beads left behind in the bodies of the Sima Shi clan after death. One bead grows into one flower."
Liao Tingyan glanced at the vast field of Moonlit Ephemerals and felt a chill down her spine. Then... isn’t this a graveyard? With so many flowers, how many people had to die here?
Sima Jiao: "The bodies of the Sima Shi clan don’t remain after death—only a single bead. There used to be many beads preserved, but I scattered them all here, and these flowers grew."
"Beautiful, isn’t it?"
Honestly, though eerie, it was somewhat romantic. Liao Tingyan nodded honestly. "Beautiful."
Sima Jiao: "Then I’ll give you one. Pick whichever you like." He gestured to the swaying sea of black flowers.
Liao Tingyan sensed something was off, but Sima Jiao was staring at her, his expression dark as he urged, "Pick one."
So she reached out and snapped one off.
Only then did Sima Jiao say, "The most peculiar thing about Moonlit Ephemerals is that they can either be Spirit Medicine capable of curing any poison—or a deadly toxin with no known antidote. It’s said that if the bead comes from an evil member of the Sima Shi clan, the flower is lethal. If from a virtuous one, it’s Spirit Medicine. But they look identical—no one can tell them apart."
Liao Tingyan: "... Yikes. " Sounds insane. So, the Spirit Medicine that can cure any poison—can it cure the incurable toxin?
Sima Jiao: "Since you’re still standing, you probably picked Spirit Medicine. Lucky you."
The moment he finished speaking, Liao Tingyan collapsed.
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