Chapter 217: Senior, Do You Need an Accessory?

The Poison Pill shot through the air like a bolt of doom.

Lu Liang, Grand Elder of the Profound Ice Sect, felt his expression twist in horror. From that pill alone, he sensed a dense aura of death.

His spiritual energy surged to its peak, and he unleashed his full Nascent Soul power in an attempt to shatter the immobilization spell cast upon him. But no matter how he struggled, it was futile.

Boom.

With a muffled explosion, the Poison Pill detonated in midair, unleashing tendrils of violet mist that rapidly spread toward the surrounding cultivators.

The Third Elder of the Profound Ice Sect, who was closest to the impact, brushed against the mist. In the blink of an eye, the purple haze consumed him. Within moments, his body was fully enveloped. His eyeballs bulged grotesquely from their sockets, his lips drained pale white, and the spiritual energy and Nascent Soul power that had once surged through him—vanished completely.

More horrifying still, even the spiritual sense of the onlookers could no longer detect a trace of life within him.

Crack!

Suddenly, the Third Elder's body swelled violently. His spiritual energy and Nascent Soul power converged in his dantian. With a faint sound, the mist stirred—then, in the next instant, the elder's entire body dissolved into vapor, fusing completely with the surrounding violet fog. Not even blood or bone remained.

Hum…

The violet mist drifted lazily. Where the Third Elder had once stood, a perfectly round violet pill now spun slowly in midair, radiating subtle waves of spiritual energy and Nascent Soul force.

"This… this is…!"

Lu Liang stared at the pill, his heart turning cold. The aura it emanated was unmistakably familiar. As the Grand Elder of the Profound Ice Sect, he had roamed the cultivation world for centuries and seen countless things.

Even dual cultivation cauldrons were nothing new to him.

But to refine a living person into a pill—this… chilled him to the marrow.

Everyone from the Profound Ice Sect stared at the violet pill in sheer horror. Though it released a tantalizing medicinal fragrance, none dared to give it any attention.

Even Ouyang Qian, standing quietly behind Chen Xiaoming, turned pale. Her head hung low, stomach churning, as she fought to suppress the urge to vomit.

"Raise your head. Open your eyes and look clearly."

The stern voice cut through the air—it was Chen Xiaoming's.

Ouyang Qian had no choice but to lift her gaze once more. The moment her eyes fell on the pill, she remembered—it had been a person. A living, breathing person.

"Remember this well: never show mercy to your enemies."

Chen Xiaoming cast her a sideways glance. After all, she was just a young girl. If she hadn't chosen to follow him, hadn't stepped into the cultivation world, perhaps she could've remained innocent.

Perhaps she would have died, ignorant and unaware, at the hands of someone from the Profound Ice Sect.

"To me, they're no more than ants. I could crush them with a single palm. Do you know why I didn't?"

His voice carried a weight that made Ouyang Qian pause. She looked up at him, puzzled.

At only twelve, she had lived a simple life with her father, untouched by the brutality of the cultivation world.

"The cultivation world is cruel. Now that you've entered it, you'll inevitably witness things like this again."

"What you just saw may seem monstrous, but for those who walk truly dark paths, this is nothing but a minor trick."

"If you can't even stomach this much… I'll grant you a lifetime of peace and prosperity."

His gaze bored into hers, unreadable. Chen Xiaoming waited for her answer.

Ouyang Qian lowered her head. Her tiny hands twisted at her clothes as she hesitated, caught in a storm of emotion. But after a moment, she calmed. Slowly, she looked back up and met his eyes.

"Sir, I choose the path of cultivation."

A faint, nearly imperceptible smile tugged at Chen Xiaoming's lips.

As expected.

With a wave of his right hand, the violet pill flew into his palm. A streak of silver light flashed across its surface. Then, without hesitation, he tossed it to Ouyang Qian.

"Swallow it. It will take you to the Nascent Soul stage."

With that, he looked away. Though she was only twelve, Chen Xiaoming had seen a glimmer of a future Ruthless Emperor in her.

She was far from the legendary Ruthless Emperor in power or presence, but even at her age, the decisiveness she showed was admirable.

Ouyang Qian caught the pill, her expression uncertain. Her stomach rolled again, but she remembered his words. Closing her eyes, she swallowed it whole.

Boom!

A surge of Nascent Soul energy burst forth from the pill, transforming into a wave of pure soul power that poured into her. Heaven and earth's spiritual energy flooded in, converging on her body. The Golden Core inside her cracked, releasing radiant spiritual power. Cracks snaked across its surface as a new power—Nascent Soul energy—emerged.

"She's breaking through! She's advancing to Nascent Soul!"

Lu Liang's eyes widened as he felt the transformation taking place in Ouyang Qian's body. But when he remembered that the pill fueling her breakthrough had been made from the Third Elder… a cold, bitter sorrow filled his heart.

"Ancestor… oh, Ancestor… if you don't come out of seclusion soon, the sect is finished!"

He had no idea when their sect had provoked such a terrifying enemy. But now, with blood already spilled and death looming, it was clear: the Profound Ice Sect might not see another sunrise.

In his heart, Lu Liang pinned all hope on the hidden ancestor of their sect.

Time ticked by. Ouyang Qian continued her breakthrough, and Chen Xiaoming made no move to strike down Lu Liang or the others.

To him, they were already meat on the chopping block—he could slice them up whenever he pleased.

Meanwhile, Ouyang Lie, who had long faded into the background, was overcome with emotion. Watching his daughter leap realms daily, he felt as if he were dreaming.

Just days ago, she was at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation. And now? She had stepped into the Nascent Soul stage.

All of this, every last bit, was thanks to the man before him.

He couldn't help but think: if becoming this man's maid brought such fortune, maybe… maybe he should ask if he could serve, too?

Of course, that was just a thought. He had his principles—he would never stoop that low.

Boom.

Spiritual energy from the heavens roared like a tidal wave. A boundless aura of Nascent Soul power spread out around them. Ouyang Qian's breakthrough was complete—she had leapt from the peak of the Core Formation stage directly to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.

Whoosh!

Just as she began to stabilize her breath, another pill flew through the air.

"Don't stop. Solidify your foundation at the peak of the Early Nascent Soul stage!"

Chen Xiaoming's calm words made her pause for a heartbeat—but without hesitation, she tossed the pill into her mouth. It melted the moment it touched her tongue, flooding her with potent medicinal energy.

Her cultivation, which had just paused at the peak of the Early Nascent Soul stage, broke through in an instant, ascending directly to the Mid Nascent Soul stage.

Yet the breakthrough didn't stop there.

In the blink of an eye, her cultivation soared again—straight into the Late Nascent Soul stage.

"What kind of cultivation does this man possess?"

Lü Liang stood frozen, his expression utterly blank—as if he were trapped in a dream. If, just moments ago, he had still clung to a sliver of hope in the ancestral elders of his sect, that hope had now been completely extinguished.

A few pills, and just like that—someone had advanced to the peak of the Nascent Soul realm?

Such power… there was no way this was something a Soul Formation cultivator could achieve.

Meanwhile, Ouyang Lie stood off to the side, feeling the terrifying fluctuations radiating from someone at the peak of the Nascent Soul realm. He gulped hard.

Could he still take back what he'd said earlier?

He suddenly felt that things like "principles" might be better off discarded.

"Senior... do you happen to need a handmaiden? No, what about a good-luck charm?"

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