The Rise of a Family: Starting from Daily Intelligence - Chapter 401 (Patreon)

Chapter 401: Yincha Profound Body, Nether Weakwater, Drunken Dragon Pill

The Seventh Commandery Prince’s brows knit slightly. His gaze flicked between the Left Protector and Fu Changsheng for a heartbeat before he gave a small shake of the head and sent back a voice transmission.

“Absolutely not. This matter was our mistake to begin with. If we silence him now, it will only make things worse. Fu Changsheng is the patriarch of the Fu Clan—if he disappears for no reason, the Fu Clan will investigate to the end, and our prince’s residence will be dragged into even greater trouble. That is the first point. Second, once Kang’er inherits the commandery prince’s residence, if he uncovers the truth, you will carry a hidden danger.”

There was one more thing the Seventh Commandery Prince did not say.

To act like that—he could not get past himself.

The Left Protector’s eyes flashed with unwillingness, but he quickly gathered his emotions and said in a low voice, “Your Highness, if Fu Changsheng spreads word of this, the Imperial Court may…”

The Seventh Commandery Prince cut him off, firm in tone. “Saving her comes first. When Kang’er inherits in the future, if Fu Changsheng has any sense, he won’t trumpet today’s matter everywhere. Break the shamanic array immediately and rescue Ningning. Do not err.”

By the end, his tone brooked no argument—it was an order, not a discussion.

The Left Protector, who had always taken the Seventh Commandery Prince’s word as law, nodded and said no more. He turned toward the ice coffin.

His hands flew, forming seals as he chanted. One after another, golden runes shot from his fingertips and slowly merged into the witchlight around the ice coffin. Witchlight met golden runes with faint sizzling sounds, as if the two powers were resisting one another.

Fu Changsheng stood to the side, his gaze outwardly calm, though his heart churned.

His spiritual sense had long since surpassed the Purple Mansion, reaching a level comparable to mid-stage Golden Core. He had heard the voice transmissions between the Seventh Commandery Prince and the Left Protector clearly. Anger at the residence’s scheming surged in his chest, but he did not show it—only heightened his vigilance.

Today’s events also served as a warning.

Before his cultivation reached a certain height, he must not spend too much time in the presence of those a great realm above him.

Had the Seventh Commandery Prince not been a man with one foot in the grave, hedged by many concerns, then today, Fu Changsheng feared, would have been a great calamity for him.

He reined in his emotions and fixed his attention on Ningning.

By now, the Left Protector’s array-breaking had reached the critical point.

His hands traced out profound trajectories in the air. The golden runes multiplied, gradually suppressing the witchlight. The yin fiend qi around the ice coffin began to thin, and the witchlight on the Soul-Locking Nails also dimmed.

“Break!” the Left Protector barked. He brought his hands together—golden runes erupted into a dazzling pillar of light that speared for the coffin. Light and witchlight collided with a dull boom. The witchlight scattered entirely, and the runes on the Soul-Locking Nails lost their luster.

The Left Protector exhaled long, his face a shade paler—obviously tugging at the wounds from his battle with the skeleton earlier. He turned to Fu Changsheng. “The shamanic array is undone. Patriarch Fu may safely remove the Soul-Locking Nails.”

The Soul-Locking Nails were rare treasures.

A glint of greed flickered in the Left Protector’s eyes.

Fu Changsheng nodded, strode to the coffin, and carefully gripped one nail, slowly pulling it free. The instant the nail left Ningning’s body, a faint breath of life seeped out of her, as if responding to his touch.

“Ningning…” he called softly, hope flashing in his eyes. He quickly removed the remaining nails, then produced a green pill and placed it at Ningning’s lips. It melted at once, blooming into a gentle medicinal power that slowly nourished her body.

The Seventh Commandery Prince watched Fu Changsheng’s focused expression and could not help a pang of guilt. “Fellow Daoist Fu, this calamity was due to the negligence of the residence. Rest assured, we will fully cooperate to help Ningning recover as before.”

Fu Changsheng lifted his gaze, regarding the prince deeply. “My thanks, Your Highness. However, the origins of that set of bones and these Soul-Locking Nails must be traced to the bottom.”

Those bones had been sealed in the same coffin as Ningning for ten years.

No one knew whether something had been done to her.

Also, where had the Soul-Locking Nails come from?

The commandery princess could not possibly understand Northern Border shamanism.

There might be a hidden danger later.

The Seventh Commandery Prince nodded. “You speak truly. For Ningning’s sake and for the residence’s sake, I will investigate to the end.”

Seeing that the prince had not brought up binding Fu Changsheng to secrecy, the Left Protector could not hold back and spoke on his own, “Patriarch Fu, the investiture of Kang’er as heir-apparent is at hand. As for the matter of the Seventh Young Madam, we hope Patriarch Fu will—”

“Rest easy.”

Fu Changsheng cut him off before he could finish.

The Left Protector’s displeasure showed for a moment, but with the prince present, he said nothing more.

Fu Changsheng lifted the ice coffin and looked to the Seventh Commandery Prince. “Your Highness, to reach Heavenly Secrets Valley we must pass Huizhou Prefecture in any case. I will return to my fief first. Have Kang’er meet me on the road.”

He had to settle Ningning safely.

And have Yao Yao take a look, to see if she could be healed.

The Seventh Commandery Prince, seeing Fu Changsheng still keeping Kang’er’s search for the Xuantian Token in mind, felt a surge of respect and nodded repeatedly. “Please return home first, Fellow Daoist Fu.”

He turned and instructed the Left Protector, “Escort Fellow Daoist Fu to the Teleportation Hall.”

After a pause, he drew a jade pendant from his sleeve and handed it to Fu Changsheng. “The Kunlun Secret Realm opens soon. This is a map of the realm compiled by our residence—I hope it aids you.”

“Your Highness!”

The Left Protector nearly blurted a protest.

The jade map in the prince’s hand had cost the residence a great deal of manpower and resources.

It was, in effect, a treasure map.

To hand it over so easily—what a loss.

His heart ached; he almost wanted to snatch it back.

But the prince shot him a glare.

Though the Seventh Commandery Prince had lost his cultivation for over a decade, and the Left Protector remained deferential, over the years he had begun to meddle in the residence’s affairs in ways unthinkable before.

The prince was still alive.

When he sat and passed away one day, and the still-young Kang’er took the seat…

He feared that the two Protectors, left to “guard the house,” would end up usurping Kang’er’s authority.

This was also why he intended to support the Fu Clan.

If the Fu Clan produced a Golden Core cultivator, Kang’er would have outside backing.

“My thanks, Your Highness!”

Fu Changsheng did pause in surprise.

But accounts were accounts.

For the harm done to Ningning—if the mastermind was not only the commandery princess—no matter who it was, he, Fu Changsheng, would not forgive.

Before leaving the residence, the Seventh Commandery Prince gave the Left Protector a meaningful look. The latter understood and stepped forward. “Patriarch Fu, the contents of the ice coffin should not be exposed.”

His hands moved; he murmured an obscure spell. A faint grey mist welled from his palms and settled over the coffin. Runes flickered within, an invisible screen that completely sealed off the aura inside.

Clearly, even if Ningning was healed, she would only be able to live under another identity from now on.

Fu Changsheng did not object.

He did not want Ningning to remember anything of the commandery prince’s residence.

Riding the Left Protector’s flight treasure, he reached the Jingzhou Teleportation Hall at great speed.

Master Qiu, in charge of the teleportation array to Wuzhou, hurried up to greet the Left Protector. On hearing the purpose of their visit, he cast an envious glance at Fu Changsheng. “It seems the investiture of Zhou Kang as heir-apparent is all but certain.”

Otherwise they would never send a Golden Core Protector to escort him.

He pressed a hand lightly to the gate. Runes brightened; the door swung open.

“Please, Patriarch Fu.” Master Qiu’s tone was especially courteous.

Fu Changsheng carried the ice coffin into the stone hall. The chamber was not large. A circular stone dais stood at the center, carved all over with intricate formation lines. A fist-sized spirit stone was set at its heart, shedding a gentle glow.

As he set the coffin upon the dais, Master Qiu laid a hand on its rim and slowly poured true essence into the patterns. Lines lit up one after another, brighter and brighter, until light wrapped Fu Changsheng and the coffin completely.

A moment later, Fu Changsheng’s vision blurred. The scene around him had changed.

He looked around.

He was in a hall much like the Jingzhou Teleportation Hall, only smaller and with an air of desolation.

“So this is Wuzhou City.”

Leaving the hall, he had no mind to sightsee—only to hurry back to Huizhou Prefecture and have Yao Yao treat Ningning as soon as possible.

Because the hidden danger within the azure flood dragon had yet to be resolved, he could only use Thunder-Guiding Talismans to travel. He flashed across the land like a bolt of lightning; his speed rivaled an ordinary Golden Core. By the time he reached Demon-Subduing City in Huizhou Prefecture, Yao Yao had already received his message and was waiting.

“Father!”

She had never seen her father so heavy and grief-stricken. Her heart lurched. Her gaze fell to the ice coffin, but the grey mist blocked divine sense.

“Father… who is in the coffin?”

He had just returned from the Seventh Commandery Prince’s residence.

Only her eldest brother remained at the residence now—had something happened to him?

Her voice floated.

Seeing this, Fu Changsheng realized what she feared. His voice was hoarse. “Let’s return to the patriarch’s manor first.”

Back at the manor, he saw that Liu Meizhen’s alchemy room was shut tight—likely because she was refining Drunken Dragon Pills—so he brought Yao Yao into a secret chamber. After sealing the formation, he sent a hand seal into the coffin. The grey mist dissipated; the lid opened, revealing Ningning’s face, pale as a ghost.

After the Soul-Locking Nails were removed, Ningning’s condition had plummeted, as if her spine had been pulled out.

Yao Yao stared, stunned. “Ninth Sister?”

But hadn’t the residence said Ningning had been killed by the commandery princess? What was going on?

Fu Changsheng spoke quickly. “Ningning had a soul and three spirits forcibly extracted by five Soul-Locking Nails using Northern Border shamanism. Yao Yao, see if your Healing Spirit Body can rouse her first.”

She had once awakened Uncle Feng, who had been a vegetable for decades.

So he still held a measure of hope.

“Yes, Father.”

Now was no time for questions.

Yao Yao calmed her breath and laid both hands lightly upon Ningning’s forehead. The Healing Spirit Body within her slowly stirred; a gentle power flowed from her palms into Ningning. As it sank deeper, Yao Yao’s brows knit tighter and her face grew grave.

After a moment, she drew back her hands, a complex light in her eyes.

Fu Changsheng’s heart clenched. “Yao Yao, how is it?”

“Father, Ninth Sister’s condition is worse than we imagined. Her soul was ripped out by the nails. And when you broke the Northern Border shamanic array, you missed the Tianqian position’s soul-locking point. The disruption inflicted secondary damage. If we don’t treat her in time, even her last thread of life will disperse.”

Fu Changsheng’s eyes turned cold.

So that was why Ningning worsened after the nails were removed—the Left Protector had made a move in secret.

Clearly, he had no wish for Ningning to live.

If Ningning died, the proof of Northern Border shamanism at the residence would vanish with her. Nor would they fear the Court’s Spirit Directorate learning that Kang’er’s birth mother yet lived. Viewed from one angle, the Seventh Commandery Prince claiming Ningning dead could amount to deceiving the monarch.

“Left Protector!”

This debt—he would remember it.

But the urgent matter now was to save Ningning. “Yao Yao, is there a cure?”

“Yes.”

She nodded, but looked troubled. “In the formation inheritance I obtained, there’s an ancient method called the Ninefold Nether Soul-Returning Reversion Array. It suits Ninth Sister’s situation, but the setup is extremely complex and requires vast precious materials.”

As long as a way existed.

No matter the cost, he would save Ningning.

“Tell me what we need.”

Yao Yao patted her storage pouch and produced a simple jade slip. She sent a seal into it; a strange formation diagram unfolded in midair.

“The core principle is to use the Soul-Locking Nails as a guide, wash away the restraints with Nether Weakwater, and use the bloodline of a Yincha Profound Body as the bridge, reversing cause and effect to reunite the soul.”

She paused and sighed. “A Yincha Profound Body appears once in ten thousand. Even if such a person exists, more than half would hide it. I fear…”

That single requirement alone might ruin the attempt.

Let alone the Nether Weakwater.

In short, it looked feasible, but could not be done.

She was about to advise her father to steel himself, when Fu Changsheng murmured, “Yincha Profound Body?”

He frowned—the name sounded familiar.

He thought a moment, then his eyes lit.

Intelligence had mentioned that the widow Wang whom Liu Meizhen brought back was a hidden Yincha Profound Body, who needed a medicinal bath prepared with Tianyin Grass and a capstone infusion to awaken. Such a body was born to commune with ghosts and gods.

Truly—searching broke iron shoes, only to find it without effort!

Excitement stirred in him. “Yao Yao, I will find you the Yincha Profound Body you need. As for the Nether Weakwater…”

He hesitated, then willed.

He appeared to take out a jade flask from his storage pouch—but in truth, it held a scoop of the Yellow Springs water he had taken from the Heavenly Dragon Temple.

“See if this is the Nether Weakwater you spoke of.”

Yao Yao glanced at the flask, thinking it likely was not.

Nether Weakwater came from the Nether River. In the Great Zhou’s cultivation world, the Nether had become almost a legend. The weakwater had long since vanished.

Still, she cooperated—she sent a seal into the bottle. As the lid popped, a chill surged out. The water was like countless ghosts drowned within; resentments writhed skyward. Yao Yao shivered.

“This…”

Shock and delight mingled in her eyes. She pinched a spell with her right hand and drew a single drop into the air. After careful examination, she exclaimed, “It matches! Father, this Nether Weakwater is even purer than the records describe!”

Respect for her father’s abilities flooded anew.

Fu Changsheng exhaled a fraction. “Aside from those two requirements, what else?”

With a sweep of her sleeve, a writing desk appeared.

She seized a brush and wrote swiftly. “Father, for the Ninefold Nether Soul-Returning Reversion Array we’ll need a three-zhang square dais carved from Nine-Yin Profound Jade, with the full text of the ‘Yellow Springs Crossing Sutra’ etched across its face. The four Soul-Locking Nails in Ninth Sister’s limbs must remain in place—wrap the nailheads with ‘Soul-Guiding Silkworm Thread’ and erect a soul-locking altar.”

“Also—”

“Raise ‘Four-Symbols Soul-Suppressing Pillars’ at the four corners, inlaid respectively with Donghua yi-wood, Xiji geng-metal, Nanming li-fire, and Beiming profound ice.”

“Draw nine measures of ‘Nether River water’ from a drowned soul who perished on a yin year, yin month, and yin day, mix in three drops of Ninth Sister’s fingertip blood, and run it counterclockwise through the altar’s channels to form twelve ‘Soul-Returning Vortices.’”

“Then use Three-Talents Soul-Guiding Banners and the Profound Yin Maiden Incantation, burn yin-locust wood engraved with the ‘Fengdu Writ,’ and summon twelve Foundation Establishment ghost soldiers to serve as guardians.”

Fu Changsheng skimmed the list, pulled out his private inventory, and compared.

Most of it he could handle.

Only Donghua yi-wood and Beiming profound ice were missing.

“Father,” Yao Yao said, “those with ice-attribute spiritual roots can substitute for the Beiming profound ice.”

Fu Changsheng thought of someone—Mo Lan, who had entered Autumn Moon Manor. But recalling her at once would not be easy.

There was also the widow Wang’s Yincha Profound Body, which required Tianyin Grass as the guide. He lacked that too, and his headache grew.

Seeing this, Yao Yao added, “If you have enough Nether Weakwater to wash away the shamanic residue in Ninth Sister, then for three to five years at least her life will not be in danger. But if her three souls and seven spirits do not return for too long, the outcome is uncertain.”

Fu Changsheng’s heart eased.

Three to five years would be enough.

Soon, they would enter the Kunlun Secret Realm. He was certain he could find the two items there. What’s more, after all that had happened, he no longer wished to place clan members under other powers.

So he would send word recalling Mo Lan from Autumn Moon Manor.

As he spoke, his sleeve rolled.

Dozens of bottles of Nether Yellow Springs water rose into the air. “Yao Yao, will this suffice?”

Yao Yao blinked.

Others would fight for a single bottle; her father had produced dozens in one go. She was so shocked she could barely speak. She nodded quickly. “Enough, more than enough!”

She drew a steadying breath and moved to the coffin, gaze softening at Ningning’s pallid face. A faint azure halo kindled in her right palm—the power of the Healing Spirit Body stirring.

At the same time, she flicked her left hand. A flask of Nether Weakwater floated above Ningning’s brow. The mouth tilted; a crystalline drop fell, tracing a dark arc through the air.

“With my spirit body as the guide, by Nether’s power, scour the malign and return you to clarity.”

Her voice was like a clear spring, soothing to the heart. The drop hovered at Ningning’s brow, unraveling into hair-fine black mist that seeped into her skin.

Yao Yao’s hands rested on Ningning’s forehead. The warmth of the Healing Spirit Body twined with the chill of the weakwater, forming a strange pulse of power.

Her brows pinched; within Ningning, the lingering shamanic residue felt like an unseen web, binding her soul tight. Under the washing of the weakwater, black array-lines emerged, sinister as serpents slithering through her meridians.

“Break!”

Yao Yao’s whisper snapped into steel. Her hands pressed down; the Healing Spirit Body surged like a tide.

At the same time, the black mist of weakwater became countless tiny blades that sliced cleanly through the array-lines. Each severed line hissed faintly, as if scorched, then faded to smoke.

Beads of sweat dotted Yao Yao’s brow—this was draining. Still she did not stop, only poured more power. Ningning’s body trembled under the pain, yet color crept back to her cheeks, and her breathing steadied.

“Not enough…”

Yao Yao murmured. Another drop fell.

This time it speared straight into Ningning’s dantian—the core of the witchcraft. Yao Yao shaped a green barrier to shield the dantian, warding the weakwater’s chill from harming her foundation.

With the deeper wash, the core of the shamanic array finally surfaced—a pitch-black talisman seal, exuding a baleful aura. Yao Yao’s eyes sharpened. Her fingers flew; the Healing Spirit Body focused into a green beam that struck the seal. The weakwater surged in tandem, engulfing it.

“Break for me!”

Her shout rang. Under the twin assault, the seal shrieked and shattered, dissolving into nothing.

With that, the shamanic residue within Ningning was purged. Yao Yao let out a long breath and drew back, a shade pale.

Compared to before, Ningning’s face had clearly improved.

No longer like someone a step from the grave. Fu Changsheng finally exhaled. “Yao Yao, well done.”

She shook her head, hesitated, then said, “Father, after hearing of Ninth Sister’s death, Aunt Yu withered overnight. She barely speaks now and often stares toward the residence. Should we tell her about Ninth Sister?”

Yu Qingru was Ningning’s birth mother.

If Ningning lived, the news should be told.

Fu Changsheng shook his head and looked to the coffin. “Yao Yao, remember—do not speak of this to a third person.”

Since the Left Protector had already tampered with Ningning, his aim was clearly to see her dead. If word got out that she might be cured, who knew what tricks they would try.

The Seventh Commandery Prince was a good man.

But what remained to him was only the weight of old prestige.

Thus, even if Ningning was saved, they could not let others know—not until… until the Fu Clan rose to a Golden Core lineage and had no need to fear the residence.

Hearing her father’s reasoning, Yao Yao’s heart sank. “Then Aunt Yu will suffer.”

She still regretted sending Ningning back to the Fu Clan.

Had she stayed with the Yu Clan, she might still be that carefree little princess.

Fu Changsheng instructed Yao Yao to set formations sealing Ningning and the ice coffin from any prying eyes.

…

At the same time.

In the patriarch’s manor alchemy room.

Liu Meizhen raised a pale hand. Nine Hundred-Bell Flowers floated from a cold-jade coffer. Faint gold filigree along their petals rippled under moonlight, like a hundred flood dragons coiling. At her fingertips, the “Spirit-Gathering Twelve Seals” from the Seven-Apertures Alchemy Canon danced. Nine wisps of cyan smoke darted from the flowers’ hearts—the “Soul-Devouring Spirits” that feasted on an alchemist’s divine sense.

“How dare you, wretches!”

Her red lips parted; a bead of blood shot from her tongue and burst midair into a “Soul-Binding Net,” yanking the spirits into the furnace’s base fire. Within, “Profound Yin Coldflame” flared blue; at its heart, nine ghostly faces condensed—the Nine-Ghosts Furnace-Suppression, a secret unique to the Seven-Apertures Alchemy Canon. This step demanded not only perfect fire control, but also one’s own lifeblood as the guide—err by a hair, and backlash followed.

Suddenly, the furnace flames split into seven hues.

Liu Meizhen’s left pupil turned scarlet, her right ice-blue—“Yin-Yang Alchemy Eyes,” a sign of reaching the canon’s fourth tier.

She refined different herbs within the seven flames.

When the Hundred-Bell Flowers melted fully into amber liquor, she bit her middle finger. A blood bead traced the “Awakening Dragon Sigil” from chapter three of the canon. The instant the sigil sank into the liquor, a world-shaking dragon’s roar boomed through the chamber.

“If the dragon is not drunk, how shall we bind the gray heavens!”

With a cry, the lid flew open.

Three hundred and sixty-five streams of medicinal vapor coiled into mist-dragons—only to be lashed and bound by the “Lock-Dragon Brocade” she had ready. Soul-suppressing script hidden in the brocade glowed, forcing the dragons back into the furnace to condense as pill embryos. When dragon-scale patterns surfaced on the embryos, Liu Meizhen’s hand seals shifted. The seven flames merged into a chaotic gray blaze—the “Return-to-Void Fire” from the canon’s forbidden chapter. The nine ghosts at the furnace’s base shrieked, then were refined into nine pill-marks seared upon the embryos.

“Pills—complete!”

Her palms clapped together. The furnace boomed.

Five Drunken Dragon Pills, each the size of a dragon’s eye, floated into view. Within every pill, a struggling flood-dragon silhouette writhed. As the fragrance spread, the reared two-headed, green-eyed giant python keeled over in a drunken heap, its scales flushing rosy.

Thanks for reading! This chapter got dark but ended with a hard-won glimmer of hope—my favorite kind of whiplash. If you’re enjoying the ride, I’d be incredibly grateful if you could support the translation on Patreon—every pledge keeps the chapters flowing and means the world to me. And if you have a moment, please drop a rating or short review on NovelUpdates; those little stars help more readers find this story.

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