After settling Chen Juenian, Mu Qiu Ying returned to her room.
She hadn’t rested for long before Elder Li came looking for her again.
“Sect Master—”
“What is it?”
After inviting Elder Li in from outside, Mu Qiu Ying learned of a very sudden event.
A demonic sect from the Ninth Heaven Beyond the Sky had been completely eradicated by that Wandering Great Emperor with an extremely elusive whereabouts.
However, the Demonic Cult Leader, before his death, had actually used a soul-seizing technique to possess an innocent cultivator and fled to the vicinity of her Thousand Arms Sect.
That Wandering Great Emperor did not pursue further, which naturally meant she now needed to take action to completely eradicate that demonic cult.
“I’ll leave the care of that child to you, Elder Li. I’ll be back soon.”
“…”
Armed with her weapon, Mu Qiu Ying flew out of the Thousand Arms Sect and, based on the information, arrived at the mountainous forest where the Demonic Cult Leader was hiding.
Holding her sword, she hovered in mid-air, finally locking her gaze on a small hillock.
Because the Demonic Cult Leader had only just performed the soul seizure and the seized cultivator was weak, he naturally no longer possessed Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivation.
Now, he couldn’t possibly deceive Mu Qiu Ying’s eyes.
“Die!”
With the Hundred Arms Art unleashed, the blade in Mu Qiu Ying’s hand instantly erupted with immense power.
With just one slash, she leveled the entire hillock to the ground.
Amidst the billowing dust, Mu Qiu Ying’s slightly murderous eyes saw the skeletal remains of the Demonic Cult Leader and, flying towards her, a curse seal.
‘There’s a death curse too?’
Mu Qiu Ying realized it, but just as she mobilized all her spiritual energy to resist the curse seal, it had already been driven into her body.
The methods of demonic cultists were just this despicable.
Even in death, they wouldn’t die cleanly.
This act of releasing a curse seal after death was a common tactic among demonic cultists.
These curse seals usually involved one’s Spiritual Consciousness.
While their effects varied, their ultimate goal was always to gradually drive the person eroded by the curse seal to madness.
‘He was a Tribulation Transcendence Stage demonic cultivator before, after all… I was careless.’
—
“Sect Master! You’re back!”
“Mm.”
Mu Qiu Ying returned to the main hall and began silently sensing the changes the curse seal brought to her.
There were no changes, which was what Mu Qiu Ying didn’t want to see.
If the curse seal lay dormant within her Spiritual Consciousness, then she currently had no means to deal with it at all.
“Sect Master? Did something happen?”
Logically, since her sect master had returned so early, that demonic cultivator was most likely killed by her sect master in one move.
If it was already dealt with in one move, why would it leave her sect master looking so troubled?
“I was hit with a curse seal by that demonic cultivator. Despicable fellow… only knows how to play these kinds of tricks.”
“Sect Master…”
“Don’t worry, Elder Li. I will find a way to resolve this curse seal myself. You may attend to your own duties.”
Not long after Elder Li, her face full of worry, left, Mu Qiu Ying began to feel something was off.
She suddenly felt a twinge of jealousy, jealousy towards her older sister.
Her sister only had an Ice Spirit Root, while she possessed the rare four-element combination of Metal, Thunder, Fire, and Wind Spirit Roots—a talent seen once in a millennium!
Yet, the one who became that Immortal’s disciple was not her, but her sister.
“…”
‘Too terrifying.’
Realizing what she was actually thinking, Mu Qiu Ying hurriedly pulled her thoughts back.
She could no longer let her Spiritual Consciousness relax now.
Confirming that this curse seal was not something she could resolve on her own, Mu Qiu Ying immediately realized she might need to seek help.
From whom? Of course, from her sister.
Her sister definitely had a way to remove a curse seal set by a Tribulation Transcendence Stage demonic cultivator.
As soon as the thought arose, Mu Qiu Ying immediately walked to the door of the main hall.
But just as she was about to push the door open and leave, she suddenly abandoned the idea again.
“Sister—”
“Senior Mu?”
Chen Juenian, who wanted to go out for a look, happened to run into Mu Qiu Ying leaning against the back of the door.
The moment she saw Chen Juenian’s face clearly, the image of that White-Haired Immortal from back then involuntarily surfaced in her mind.
“Are you going out for a stroll? Go ahead… go ahead—”
Mu Qiu Ying opened the door for Chen Juenian, precisely to get him out as quickly as possible.
What she needed now was to temporarily set aside the jealousy in her heart.
Yet now, ‘Xuanyuan Nian,’ who looked almost exactly like that Immortal, was standing right in front of her, making the jealousy in her heart grow even stronger.
One could only say it was fortunate this was just baseless jealousy; otherwise, she might not be able to stop herself from harming this child.
“Oh… okay.”
Chen Juenian hesitated for a moment, then quickly walked out the door.
After Chen Juenian left, Mu Qiu Ying, who tried hard to follow him out, found her legs simply wouldn’t move.
She clearly knew that only by finding her sister would she have a chance.
But due to her jealousy towards her sister, she was bound here by this feeling of envy.
This kind of curse seal, capable of affecting one’s Spiritual Consciousness and dredging up the worst in a person’s heart, was utterly despicable!
How could she possibly be jealous of her own sister over such a thing?
“…”
Sensing something was wrong, Chen Juenian, guided by a Thousand Arms Sect disciple, found Elder Li, who had just been in the main hall.
“Senior Li, what’s wrong with Senior Mu?”
“Huh? What’s wrong with the Sect Master?”
“?”
After a brief moment of confusion, Chen Juenian described Mu Qiu Ying’s unusual behavior.
“Could it be… the curse seal has already successfully affected the Sect Master…”
Glancing at Chen Juenian before her, Elder Li, assuming he didn’t know what a curse seal was, continued:
“The Sect Master should be fine for now, Xuanyuan Nian. Take a good stroll around our Thousand Arms Sect. There might be many things here that interest you.”
After saying this, Elder Li left without changing her expression.
Elder Li thought Chen Juenian didn’t know, but Chen Juenian knew all too well.
A curse seal?
That despicable technique used by demonic cultists still existed?
One had to admit, that thing was truly disgusting.
Only something sufficiently disgusting would remain in use to this day.
While cultivators had methods to isolate and eliminate this vile thing, the probability of successfully isolating it was clearly not one hundred percent.
Once hit, there were basically only two ways to resolve it.
First, someone with a powerful Spiritual Consciousness or unwavering conviction could rely on themselves to break the curse seal.
Second, seek help from a Great Emperor-level powerhouse to eliminate it with absolute force.
Mu Qiu Ying’s hesitation at the door earlier clearly indicated she wanted to go out and seek help from her sister, Mu Chunxiang, to remove the curse seal.
But, already affected, she seemed to have abandoned the idea of leaving due to one of the seven poisons—greed, hatred, ignorance, anger, sorrow, resentment, or jealousy—brought on by the curse seal.
This was the most vicious aspect of curse seals.
They often dredged up the thoughts a cultivator should least entertain, then left them torn between clarity and confusion, finally driving them to madness as their weakened Spiritual Consciousness became completely influenced.
But it should be fine now.
Elder Li knew about Mu Qiu Ying’s condition, so she would surely help Mu Qiu Ying find Mu Chunxiang later.
So, what Chen Juenian should worry about was himself.
He needed to ensure that things like being discovered by Mu Chunxiang and then being abducted to some never-see-the-light-of-day dungeon wouldn’t happen.
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