Chapter 650 - Fragrant Talent (Patreon)

Anda sensed the dramatic change in Sect Master Bagon very clearly. In fact, it was the fastest and largest emotional flip she had ever detected since receiving the Heavenly Fragrant Harmony Body.

Besides blessing her with a constitution that was extremely compatible with Qi cultivation and allowing her to mimic various scents, this unique physique from the Fragrant talent also let her perceive someone’s emotions as distinct scents.

At first she had assumed those scents were something her body simply created on its own, a kind of internal translation of feelings into smell. It had taken time before she understood otherwise.

During her stay in Arivu City a decade ago, she finally realized the truth. All emotions truly possessed their own unique scent. The scents she perceived were not imaginary at all. They simply existed beyond the reach of ordinary smell.

The Unique Heavenly Body she possessed allowed her to sense these emotional scents far more clearly than anyone else and far better than any spirit artifact. As her cultivation rose, the sensitivity and clarity of this ability continued to grow with her.

Another innate ability granted by the Heavenly Fragrant Harmony Body worked in a similar way, yet drew from a different source. Instead of emotions, she could smell an individual’s karmic scent, what she preferred to call the scent of one’s existence itself.

If someone had taken many lives, the karmic weight of those acts would leave a stronger, more persistent trace. The same was true of other significant deeds. Heinous actions, in particular, tended to carry a far more noticeable and lingering stench.

Yet this ability remained limited in important ways. Being able to sense that a person had killed many others did not tell her why those deaths had occurred. Some killed for pleasure or cruelty. Others killed to protect, to survive, or under orders they could not refuse.

The scent revealed the presence and scale of certain actions, but not the heart behind them. Because of that, she had learned never to judge a person’s character by the karmic scent alone.

The last one was the fate scent, which so far she had only ever experienced once, with Lin Wei.

Back then, Anda had sensed a scent of greatness coming from him that carried the weight of the world itself. The moment she caught it, she immediately associated it with him being the protagonist of that world.

This was later proven true when Lin Wei saved everyone from the threat of the Colossal Tree by summoning a Divine Lord.

The Colossal Tree, which had been meant to grow into a cosmic predator and devour the entire planetary system, was sent to its demise under that intervention.

Surprisingly, even after the world was saved, the same scent of fate on Lin Wei did not fade in the slightest. Since it was tied to destiny, she had expected it to diminish once the role was fulfilled.

Instead, it grew even stronger, which left her puzzled for a time. Only later, after Lin Wei departed for the Galactic Center, did she begin to understand. He might still have more saving left to do, and the weight of that future path had only deepened the scent.

Compared to the emotional scent, this ability to smell one’s existence was far more mysterious and could not be explained easily. To uncover the full truth of it, she would most likely need to reach a much higher cultivation level.

During Anda’s vacation with Leyvi and the children in Ultima City the last time, she had found the theatrical performances they watched there especially interesting. The way the actors shaped tension, guided the audience’s emotions, and delivered sudden turns left a strong impression on her.

It made her want to create a live performance of her own.

And she did.

Everything that had happened here tonight was a performance she had put together very quickly, with Jade’s distant help. 

The timing of Envoy Diana’s arrival had not been random at all.

Jade had carefully considered the logistics of everything in this region, along with the location of the nearest Envoy, in order to determine the best moment to launch the attack. The goal was to ensure the Envoy could respond to the distress signal as quickly as possible.

This created the illusion of being blessed by the goddess of luck, an illusion Sect Master Bagon had clearly experienced in full.

Anda had also requested Jade to ask Gandolf to monitor the area around the Gold Digger Sect in secret. She had predicted that the sect would not stop after a single despicable act and would almost certainly repeat it.

Having the Protector himself witness their heinous actions would serve as the peak of the live performance she had planned.

Not only would her intention to wipe the Gold Digger Sect from the face of the world become fully justified, she would also set the stage for the sect master to experience the greatest despair of his life.

Facing a Protector, he would instantly realize there was no way out at all and fall into the deepest despair without delay.

On the airship’s deck, Anda witnessed the extreme change of emotion from Sect Master Bagon. From the bright, almost intoxicating scent of heavenly joy to the heavy, choking stench of hellish despair. The contrast between the two was overwhelming, sharp enough that it nearly made her pause.

A quiet satisfaction settled in her chest as she observed it.

It was not only him. All the other Gold Digger Sect members also sank into hopeless despair. The higher echelons, those most deeply involved in the sect’s criminal activities, carried the strongest and most bitter scent of all. There was no longer any path left for them. It was over for every last one of them.

The despair that Sect Master Bagon felt did not stop there.

As if unable to accept reality, his body began convulsing violently in midair. The spasms lasted for several long seconds before his body finally went limp and fell, striking the ground with a heavy, lifeless impact.

Something remained hovering in the air where he had been.

A flickering wisp of a weak Nascent Soul, so faint it seemed ready to scatter at any moment. With each passing second it shrank further, its light growing dimmer. It was clear the sect master was already on the verge of complete death.

“What a great show.” Anda praised herself, a satisfied smile spreading across her face as she watched the scene unfold. Everything had played out even more cleanly than she had expected.

“Hmm? What’s this?” Her eyebrows rose. A subtle shift had stirred within her, something she could not immediately name. The sensation was faint yet unmistakable, as if a quiet door had opened somewhere inside.

From his slightly higher elevation, all the scenes happening below did not escape Gandolf’s notice, including Anda’s reaction.

“This girl is really terrifying. As expected of the Heavenly Fragrant Harmony Body’s holder.” He muttered to himself.

The previous owner of the Heavenly Fragrant Harmony Body had been called the Devilish Fragrant Empress. She was recorded as an absolute villainess during her time over fifteen thousand years ago.

Unlike Demoness Cocolia, who was eventually defeated by the Protectors, the Devilish Fragrant Empress had actually conquered the entire continent on her own and enslaved everyone under her rule for a long time.

It was described that before she climbed to the top, her methods had been extremely manipulative and ruthless.

Gandolf was not sure how to feel about Anda after seeing her exhibit the same tendency as the Devilish Fragrant Empress of the past.

She had even been bold enough to include him as part of her plan. If he had not secretly saved the lives of the women who were protecting the mortals from the crazed beasts, had she truly intended to let them die?

Or had she already calculated that he would be unable to stand by and would step in to save them?

Both possibilities left a cold weight in his chest.

On top of that, he remained deeply unsettled by Anda’s closeness with Jade. He could not tell whether it had been carefully arranged from the beginning or whether it was pure coincidence. Either answer felt dangerous in its own way.

If she had deliberately drawn Jade into her circle, then the depth of her planning was far greater than he had first assumed. But if the connection had formed by chance, then the luck surrounding her was almost unnatural.

In either case, the result was the same. She now had access to one of the most capable administrative minds on the continent.

And that combination had produced the unbelievable scene unfolding before him.

She had toyed with the emotions of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, the leader of a sect, until his Nascent Soul rejected his physical body and now hovered on the verge of death by soul dissipation.

This was something Gandolf had never witnessed in his long life. Such a collapse usually only occurred after prolonged and severe physical or mental torture.

Yet Anda had somehow achieved it in a single night through nothing more than this elaborate performance. It was truly beyond belief.

She was currently only at the Core Formation Realm. He could scarcely imagine how dangerous she might become once her cultivation rose higher.

Young Leyvi, this old man sincerely hopes you can keep your wife on the right path. Because if she ever strays, she may one day become an uncontrollable menace that no one on this continent can handle. Gandolf thought to himself, a quiet worry settling deeper into his heart.

Leyvi had already contributed greatly to the continent. It would be a true shame if his wife ended up walking the same road as the Devilish Fragrant Empress.

Meanwhile, Anda finished assessing the change that had occurred within her. Her smile grew even more pronounced.

Hehehe. I didn’t expect my decision to stage this show to bear fruit like this. What a wonderful day. She rejoiced inwardly.

After causing Sect Master Bagon to suffer such a complete mental collapse, her Fragrant talent had actually leveled up.

She had tried many different approaches to raise her Fragrant talent after her Alchemy talent leveled up in the past, but everything had failed. No matter what she attempted, the talent remained stubbornly still. Until tonight, she had never been able to grasp the true requirement. Watching Bagon’s mind break under the weight of absolute despair had finally given her the answer she had been searching for.

“What a lucky day.” Anda muttered, still smiling, before turning to Layla.

“Layla, let’s wrap up tonight’s show. Senior Gandolf is only a cameo. His role was simply to appear. We will raze the Gold Digger Sect with our own forces to set an example. Tell Lilian and Lady Coryl to act.” She spoke with the easy satisfaction of someone who had already seen the ending she wanted.

“Yes, Big Madam.” Layla replied.

…

In the following days, shocking news spread throughout Bara Territory and its neighboring territories.

The Gold Digger Sect, long considered one of the most powerful sects among these lands, had been completely razed by the Leyan Family, leaving many to speculate what had happened.