Mastermind

Qiaolian's expression turned cold and her eyes widened. "Master Huan, you've made my cultivation cripple. Be sure to take responsibility. Otherwise, the entire ancestors of Zhou Clan would send the wrath of lightning and burn you!"

Coincidentally, the sound of thunder and sparks of lightning followed to burst outside, seemingly cooperating with Qiaolian's words.

"Why are you so calm? Losing an elixir field is a serious matter, Qiaolian!" said Huan Xue as he furrowed his brows while feeling the bubbles of guilt on his chest. For some reason, he had firmly believed that the lady had not managed to refine her primal essence, destroying her elixir field.

"Only you be worried if you'll discard me. Heh! My ancestors will hunt you down," Qiaolian spoke and curled her body on the side. In fact, the one that was destroyed was not her elixir field but the seal of her parent's elixir field. With the presence of three elixir fields within her, all of its existence seemed to have been harmonized and concealed.

But, she seemed to enjoy the expression on Huan Xue's face. She even plastered a weak expression as if she really made the mistake of refining his primal essence.

In fact, once practitioners lost their elixir field, they would be considered useless. Since their cultivation is crippled, they could no longer continue to dual cultivate.

"I'm not going to discard you," Huan Xue murmured and hugged her from the side.

Another sound of thunder exploded wildly in the sky, perhaps, giving a sign of divinity to the Taoists and Priests from different corners of the world.

"Did you hear that fierce sound of thunder? That's my Zhou Clan ancestors giving you a warning!" Qiaolian spoke casually before she closed her eyes.

"There is no need for the Zhou ancestors to warn me. But, I would need to go back to the Scarlet Islands for closed-door cultivation. My territory is the safest place you can stay. Go with me?" Huan Xue suggested and stretched his body comfortably. He could not wait to enhance his elixir field while feeling the compressed energy inside his inner core. He had to return to start practicing the cultivation of space and time!

"Hmm." Wrapped firmly in his arms, Qiaolian hummed her response and went to sleep.

While Huan Xue was hugging her, another thunder sounded outside her room. Another flash of lightning followed. The sky was in complete chaos. But the lady in her arms was breathing softly in complete peace.

Meanwhile, back in the middle area of the Green Mountains, a sudden rift of space opened and a figure slowly emerged.

If Huan Xue was still there, he would have recognized this figure at one glance.

It was Elder Xia!

The man was looking at the ground as if trying to search for something. Then, after a few seconds he picked an object on the grass and looked at it with a subtle smile on his lips.

If Qiaolian saw the object in the elder's hand, she would quickly realize what it was too!

The one that the elder was holding was, in fact, the very same herb that caused the desire of her primal yin to awaken!

"Heh..." After examining the herb, a full-bloom smile appeared on the elder's face, revealing two pointed fangs on the side of his full-row teeth. Despite the silver hair on his head, this old man had not lost any of his teeth. Old age was not too cruel to his face.

The elder took out a purple pouch from his pocket and carefully place the herb inside. He then went back to the opened dimension and vanished from the darkness.

The space only trembled but its tremor was masked by the sound of thunder in the sky.

Moments passed and the elder's figure emerged in front of the Si Apothecary building in the Scarlet Islands territory. It was a place where pills of different kinds were being produced for consumption and for auction.

"Esteemed Elder Xia, welcome!" an old physician called from the side.

The elder smiled at him and threw the herb in his direction.

"E-Esteemed Elder... h-how is this precious herb came in your hands? Yesterday, it was reported to be lost!" said the old physician after checking the content of the purple pouch.

"I borrowed it. Now, I am returning the herb."

"AHHH... but... but... this herb has lost its core! It's not glowing!" The tone of the old physician was extremely helpless. He wanted to add, 'Esteemed Elder, you did not borrow it. You have taken its potency! Even if you return this, it had gone useless now!'

"It's for Huan Xue, Grand Physician Wang Si. No need to feel gloomy. It's not our loss." Elder Xia grinned. He turned around and walked out of the building without waiting for the old physician to speak his response.

The old physician casually put the purple pouch on his desk and watched the retreating figure of elder Xia until he lost sight of him. He then sighed and muttered, "No matter what, our Great Herbalist will scold me!"

"Why would I scold you, Grand Physician?" a crisp feminine voice sounded behind him.

The old physician only shook his head and his index finger pointed to the purple pouch. "Great Herbalist Wang Aija, this thousand-year-old herb was taken by the esteemed elder without asking me. Now that he returned it back, its herb core is no longer there."

Wang Aija slowly stepped forward and took the purple pouch. After checking, her face instantly turned dark. "This is... why would the elder trigger someone to a doom? Hysteria de Euphoria has no cure! What did elder Xia say?"

"Ohh... he mentioned that it's for Master Huan Xue. And it's not our loss."

"Grand Physician, did you know why Hysteria de Euphoria cannot be cured? It is because cultivators had endless desires for power. As long as they had a desire, the herb core from this root will elevate and create a different personality in them. A cultivator will lose its fundamental control over her body. She would become a puppet of her desires."