The days kept on going, slowly but surely, I managed to fully remove the ice from around the sect master's body.
"Now, try and move," I asked the Sect Master as I moved a few steps back.
And the sect master did, she first started by wiggling her fingers and then her hand. Then she slowly increased the range of motion until her whole arm was moving freely.
"You'll probably feel slight pains over the following days, but don't worry they are normal. I'll treat the rest of the poison in the following sessions and then you'll be able to regain your full cultivation." I said as I rubbed my cold hands.
"Thank you, Shen Bao, as I have promised before, if I were to regain my mobility, I'll award you with whatever you wish, so speak your mind's desires." The sect master replied in a smile so bright that it took me a few seconds before I could regain my bearings.
"Ahem...Frankly speaking, I don't need anything more than what I'm already given. I'll excuse myself; I still need to cultivate the start technique." I said before I'd start flushing.
"Right then, you're an honest and greedless man, your kind are really rare in this world. Xue'er, take your junior disciple to his new home." Said the sect master and threw a token to the signior sister.
The woman caught it, looked at the token and said, "But this place…"
"Only Shen Bao will benefit from it. It would be a good opportunity for him. Shen Bao, I'll be going out into the public right now it has been a long time since the sect had seen me, and it's a good chance to prove to them that the Purple Cloud Sect can still set foot back in its rightful place. And that's all thanks to you," The sect master proudly stated.
"I didn't do much, and remember, you're still not as powerful as before, you just have regained mobility," I said in warning.
"Yes, I know, but the rest of the sect doesn't know that, and they wouldn't dare question it. Now, Xue Er, take Shen Bao to where he needs to be." The Sect master waved me away.
"Right sect master," disciple Xue replied and nodded for me to follow.
Once we left the sect, the disciple took to the skies and carried me with her using that same translucent force that everyone around me had been using lately. This seems to be a part of power gained when one reaches the Nascent Soul level. It's a faraway realm for me right now as I'm still stuck in the peak of Qi condensation. Apparently, the poison I've consumed from the sect master was powerful, but not enough to cause a breakthrough. I have consumed so much of it that my body doesn't even want to digest it anymore and it's barely taking in a fraction of the poison Qi from it.
It's like I grew completely immune to it in a sense.
Sister Xue took me to a small hill just beyond the sect's perimeter. It was an inconspicuous hill that didn't seem to have anything special but the fact that it was too far away from the sect. it also had a small cave entrance that was difficult to notice if one was not purposefully going toward it. This was probably the cave entrance to the home gifted to me by the sect master.
"Wouldn't this make it too far for me to reach the sect master, It'll take ma half a day just to walk to her and begin treatment."
"Don't worry about it, I'll come and get you when the sect master needs her treatment. Also, Grand Elder Lao and elder Yun have been informed of your whereabouts. They'll come to keep you company when they have time."
Right, grand Elder Lao is helping me with Alchemy and elder Yun wants to play Go. Those are both good practices I can use to further enhance my cognitive ability and alchemy.
"Right then," I replied as sister Xue gently dropped me at the cave's entrance.
This token will close and open the doorway to you and only you. Go inside and check what's in there you'll be surprised." Sister Xue said and bade me farewell.
I walked through the cave and found that it had a spiral stone set of stairs that led down.
There were small globes that lit the way as I walked in and once I was at the base of the cave, I was welcomed with a nice view of a library filled with books and an alchemy study at the side. There was also a section that was held by a doorway. And the moment I set foot near it I understood why this place was inhabited.
There was poison in the air. So much of it that it covered the whole cave and contaminated the books, the alchemy material, and whatever that was behind the locked door.
There was a corpse of a person laying on the ground.
The Poison God's book spoke to me.
***
Braided Mourning Petal.
It's a plant that grows in humid places filled with Yin energy. It has parasitic properties and can latch onto anything that has a spiritual link. The Braided Mourning Petal has healing properties if processed by a high-grade alchemist, or can be used as a poisonous substance that can paralyze anyone at the nascent soul level and outright kill anyone below it.
The primary danger of this Braided Mourning Petal is that it is hard to detect by smell or taste. It can still be noticed by the fumes its victims will start emitting once they come in contact with it.
You as a disciple of my teachings can consume this petal without gaining greatly as it is still far too advanced for your body. Still, beware of high rates of consumption as it will slow down your reaction time. Until you gain full resistance from the Braided Mourning Petal, do not wander the world.
***
Right, so it seems that my early hunch was correct. The locked door is probably keeping the braided Mourning Petal from accessing the outer world. It's a parasitic plant that will probably try and latch onto a cultivator, so that's why they sealed the place and only I, who is a poison cultivator is given access to all of this free material.
I began rummaging through the library, finding a lot of books with a great deal of information regarding the world, the sects, cultivation manuals, weapon craft, and more.
The premise of these books was rather circumstantial, it didn't hold great value besides educational, and there was not a single book that was specific towards a certain occupation. But it was knowledge none the less and I found myself engrossed in it.
Time went by as I read through the book, and I didn't feel it going. I actually spent days and days inside the cave until I realized that something was amiss.
Sister Xue Er should have come to get me days ago. But she never came, could the sect master no longer need me? I thought, but I quickly shook the idea away. There was no way she could move freely with all of that poison Qi still inside her body. I'll need to check things out.
I walked out of the cave and looked around only to notice that the purple cloud sect has been razed to the ground, while I never even took notice.
****
Surprising isn't it? Now, how many of you could even guess or anticipate things to turn out this way? I'm sure no one, and that's why you're all reading Biako. Cuz no matter what happens, something always comes up, something strange, surprising and utterly unexpected always comes out when you least expect it.
Right, anyway, today's chapter is in dedication to a new patron, who had decided to pay for a whole year's worth of patron. 100$ of his own pocket which is I'm super grateful for.
Say your thanks for the Accidental_King, because thanks to people like him, this story is free.
also for the Accidental_King, you gained a new title, True King of Kings the Accidental_King.
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