Volcanic Age

The Sword Demon, Wu Qu's whereabouts had been left to Li Yicai to investigate.

It hadn't taken long to find him.

The Sword Demon's previous nickname, the Money-Crazed Sword Ghost, was relatively well-known, making it easy to find him.

After all, there was nothing more reliable than money when it came to obtaining information.

Wu Qu had bought a mansion in a safe area for his daughter, and hired skilled warriors he had met on the battlefield for protection. He had also tried to conceal as much information about the mansion as possible to avoid being a target.

Because of this, it was only natural for the warriors to be wary when Zhou Xuchuan suddenly arrived, knowing the hidden identity of the mansion's owner.

The Harmony Realm.

Although Wu Qu didn't show it outwardly, he was incredibly nervous.

Moreover, there are a few Transcendent and Peak Realm experts mixed in, too…

If they're here to take my daughter hostage, I'm finished. It'll be hard to fight them all while protecting her.

Although Zhou Xuchuan's party wasn't large, it was still enough to cause him worry.

I haven't heard anything about such a beast within Mount Hua…

To think, such a young man was a master at the Harmony Realm. It was impossible for someone of this caliber not to attract any attention. Wu Qu found it strange that he had never heard of him.

"I'm not here to fight you, Money Crazed Sword Ghost. You don't have to be so wary of me," Zhou Xuchuan said, raising both hands to show he had no will to fight.

Wu Qu continued to glare down at him silently.

Zhou Xuchuan looked straight up at him in return.

"I'll get straight to the point. Your sick daughter should be inside."

Tang Hui's sleeves puffed out instantly before floating down. She had almost unconsciously reacted to the bloodlust flowing out of Wu Qu.

"I'll help you treat your daughter."

"You brat dare?!"

Wu Qu's voice echoed ominously. The warriors standing at the entrance flinched and stepped aside. As the seven-foot-tall warrior approached Zhou Xuchuan, the intimidating aura was no joke. Zhou Xuchuan's skin felt like it was being pricked by tiny needles, and his stomach churned as if someone was squeezing it tightly in their fist.

The Sword Demon's face was hidden in black shadows, making it difficult to see clearly. However, his fiercely piercing gaze was clearly visible.

It might have been a hallucination, but it seemed like the Sword Demon's eyes were glowing an eerie red.

"I don't know what you're thinking right now, but if you do something stupid, you won't be able to leave here alive."

"Tang Hui. Could you take off your veil?"

Tang Hui took off her veil without saying a word.

Gasp!

Gasps could be heard all around them.

Other than Wu Qu, the warriors guarding the entrance were all entranced by her beauty despite the tense atmosphere.

She wasn't called the most beautiful in Sichuan for nothing.

"Tang Hui..." Wu Qu muttered. At the same time, his bloodlust disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"The Tang Family's Poison Phoenix."

"It's nice to meet you. As you can see, we're not just random troublemakers," Tang Hui replied nonchalantly. However, her eyebrows trembled slightly.

He was called the Money Crazed Sword Ghost, right? Why haven't I heard of someone like him?

Coming from a prestigious family, Tang Hui had many opportunities to meet with masters. She had even met the Ten Empyrean Overlords briefly.

Moreover, she had encountered the masters of the Evil Faction and Demonic Path while on missions with the Elders of the Family.

Some of these masters had made her tremble in fear, and Wu Qu didn't seem inferior to them in any way.

"I'll even hand over my weapon if you want. So, why don't we talk?"

Zhou Xuchuan unsheathed his sword and placed it on the ground. Wu Qu looked at each member of the group one by one. His eyes were still like those of a ferocious beast.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Zhou Xuchuan, a fourth-generation disciple of the Mount Hua Sect. In the gangho, they call me the Phoenix Slayer."

Wu Qu remained silent, lost in thought.

Although it was a tense and quiet, no one moved or complained. Everyone waited for Wu Qu to speak, unaware of the passing time.

"...There were more than one or two physicians who had stopped by. Even the famous ones shook their heads, saying it was too difficult. So, how could a non-physician have the confidence to treat my daughter?"

"It's not me who's treating her, it's her."

Wu Qu turned and glanced at Tang Hui.

"I've never heard of a Poison Master treating illnesses."

"You've heard of the saying, medicine could be poison when used wrongly, and poison could be medicine when used correctly, right?"

Zhou Xuchuan spoke smoothly, as if his tongue was coated in oil.

"Indeed, it makes sense."

Wu Qu's stiff expression relaxed a little.

"Follow me."

A girl lay in a room, clearly not in good health. She didn't even notice when someone entered, her chest barely rising and falling as she breathed.

"If you show even the slightest sign of doing something foolish, I'll cut off your wrist."

"If you truly want to know how your daughter was doing, I'd advise you to put away your bloodlust-filled gaze. Or I won't even be able to read her pulse properly," Tang Hui said, ignoring Wu Qu's threats.

Wu Qu crossed his arms and sat still.

On the other side, Zhou Xuchuan sat next to him, waiting for Tang Hui to examine the girl.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Tang Hui let go of Wu Qu's daughter, Wu Zhenhua's wrist, and asked Wu Qu a question.

"When your daughter was still in the womb, did something happen to the mother?"

"She was stung by a scorpion. However, I brought a doctor over right away, and she recovered safely…"

Wu Qu's expression distorted in confusion.

"She was quite late in her term back then, right?"

"…Yes."

"It's more dangerous for a pregnant woman to be exposed to poison than you might imagine. Most likely, the physician at the time only checked the mother's health and assumed everything was okay because she didn't have a miscarriage… that's most likely the reason this problem occurred."

Tang Hui explained confidently.

Wu Qu's face was a mix of anxiety and hope.

Although he had met many physicians over the years, none of them had diagnosed his daughter so accurately.

"Do you know what's wrong with her?"

His voice softened, even trembling with anxiety, possibly because it was a matter of life or death for his daughter.

"Do you know what Fetal Poison is?"

"Fetal Poison?"

It was such an ominous name.

"As the name suggests, it refers to a vicious method of making a fetus resistant to poison or even obtaining innate poison within their dantian. According to the theory, the newborn baby would be immune to poison and have a constitution suitable for Poison Arts the moment it left its mother's womb."

Wu Qu frowned.

That was an act that defied humanity!

"It was occasionally used in the Demon Cult. Even there, I heard that they eventually gave up on it and discarded the practice as the chances of survival for both the mother and the fetus were extremely low. But the method isn't difficult. The mother would either be bitten by a venomous animal or inhale some poison, get properly treated, and then be exposed again. That process would then be repeated."

"Wait, you're not saying…"

"Yes. It seems that when her mother was stung by the scorpion, the poison was transmitted to the fetus. It's a miracle she even survived."

"Ha…"

Wu Qu's expression was one of disbelief. He had never imagined that could have been a problem.

He had focused on his daughter being born weak and assumed she had an incurable disease. Unfortunately, he had not known that the poison had been transmitted to the fetus, since she had been born safely.

The only silver lining was that Wu Qu's wife, the mother, had fortunately not been affected by the poison at all. This was partly because the physician had focused on her health. Sadly, the other reason was that the remaining poison had been passed on to her child.

Still, because she hadn't been in good health to begin with, she had become weak after giving birth and eventually passed away from illness.

Wu Qu had mistakenly thought his daughter, Wu Zhenhua, had simply taken after her mother and was naturally weak.

"How old is her daughter?"

"Fourteen."

"Considering how weak the poison was and the fact that it had been attached to her body since she was a fetus, only a Poison Master or the Divine Physician of the Benevolence Clinic would notice it while reading her pulse. It's only natural that ordinary physicians couldn't detect it."

Although the poison might have even been beneficial to her if she had practiced Poison Arts, it was already too late. The poison had been left alone in her meridians for fourteen years.

This had caused impurities to accumulate within her meridians, gradually filling up with poison and eventually weakening her body.

Just like Zhou Xuchuan remembered, Wu Zhenhua wasn't sick because of an illness; she had been poisoned.

"I'll do anything!"

Boom!

Wu Qu banged his head on the floor.

"I'll do anything, just please, save my daughter!"

His voice was filled with earnestness and desperation.

"What do you think?" Zhou Xuchuan asked Tang Hui, wondering if she could manage it.

"The title Poison Phoenix isn't just for show. It's just…"

"Just?"

"I need the help of an artifact."

"An artifact?"

Zhou Xuchuan groaned, looking troubled.

Artifacts weren't common, and most of them had owners, making them hard to obtain.

"Which one?"

"The Mind Qi Separator."

The Mind Qi Separator was a ring that, as its name suggested, could separate one's qi and mind. While its effects may not have made sense just by its name, with careful consideration, it could be used quite effectively.

Let's take martial arts as an example.

Imagine a practitioner using a sword technique and a fist technique at the same time.

Not only was there a difference between holding a weapon and not, but their initial stances and even their qi management were different.

Even if the techniques were from the same sects and, thus, the origin of their qi was the same, the methods of using the qi itself were different. Thus, if one tried to use them simultaneously, eventually, one's qi flow would get distorted and possibly even reverse.

However, if one was wearing the Mind Qi Separator, they would be able to use the two techniques simultaneously while completely defying common sense.

Since one would be able to completely separate one's qi flow and thoughts, it would be as if there were two people using one body to perform martial arts.

It was truly a mysterious weapon that transcended common sense and power!

There was a martial art that actually had the same power as the Mind Qi Separator. Of the Three Great Divine Arts of the Wudang Sect, the Duality Divine Art.

So that's what happened to it, then. While the Mind Qi Separator was supposedly lost during the Era of War and Chaos at the War of Righteousness and Evil, the Dark Heavens Association must have had it then. Hmm. He must have gotten to it first in order to cure Wu Zhenhua.

Zhou Xuchuan felt a sense of satisfaction at finally uncovering the truth behind history.

"Ha… why did it have to be in the hands of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao…"

The Evil Valley was actually a union of the Evil Faction's forces, similar to the Righteous Faction's Martial Alliance.

Of course, there were sects and families within it, just like the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Great Ancient Families, called the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao.

The famed Mind Qi Separator was in the possession of one of those forces.

"The Mind Qi Separator is with the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao?" Tang Hui asked in surprise.

Zhou Xuchuan answered with silence instead of affirmation.

"Ugh…"

Wu Qu, who seemed willing to do anything for his daughter, groaned in frustration.

"I… can't make a move."

"Didn't you say earlier that you would do anything for your daughter?"

"That's exactly why he can't," Zhou Xuchuan said, answering Tang Hui's question in Wu Qu's stead.

"I heard that you've been going around a lot lately to make money, especially focusing on the battlefields, right?"

"...Yes. And I've made quite a few enemies, too."

"Did they find out about this house?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.

Wu Qu shook his head.

"They don't know the exact location. However, the problem is that they know it's in Jiangxi. Since you've been able to find me, it's only a matter of time before they do, too."

"Indeed."

Tang Hui realized the situation.

Because of his sick daughter, Wu Qu couldn't move rashly or leave the vicinity of his mansion in order to protect her.

If it weren't for these circumstances, he might have continued going into the battlefield and wielding his sword to make more money.

"Well, I spent quite a bit of money to find you, so it won't be easy for the others to do the same right away. Don't worry about that part. I'll take care of getting the Mind Qi Separator, as well."

"I don't know why the Mind Qi Separator is in the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao, but you can't think of it as just some neighborhood martial force," Tang Hui warned.

"I know."

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