Chapter 49: The Life and Death Sigil Plus (Patreon)

【The Ninth Lifetime.】

【Although you inherited the astonishing medical skills of your past life, you did not reveal them, merely pretending to be an ordinary genius.】

【With the help of your past life's memories, you grew rapidly.】

【After coming of age, you entered the Alchemy Commission as you wished and prepared to use the intelligence gathered in your previous life to clear a path for your own promotion.】

【As the first step, you planned to secretly seize control of the Luofu's Vidyadhara Elders.】

【The first target you selected was Vidyadhara Elder Taoran.】

【This man was ambitious, held a high and influential position, and craved power.】

【Through your secret investigation, you discovered that this man was a Vidyadhara veteran who had already been one of the Vidyadhara Elders during Dan Feng's era. A millennium had passed, yet he remained one of the Elders. He must have either risked retaining his memories through reincarnation or struck some kind of deal with the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.】

Victor remembered this man making constant underhanded moves in a series of subsequent major events, such as secretly collaborating with the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and assisting the Borisin in releasing Hoolay.

Because of the Sedition of the Imbibitor Lunae caused by Dan Feng, the status of the Luofu's Vidyadhara lineage had plummeted.

Using 'the continuation of the Vidyadhara race' as a pretext and the 'Secret Art of Dragon Transformation' as bait, he attempted to get the Alliance high command to agree to transform soldiers of other races into Vidyadhara, thereby completely eliminating the other denizens of Abundance.

This would solve the Vidyadhara's inability to reproduce while also elevating their status within the Alliance.

Of course, the unspoken benefit was that the status of Vidyadhara Elders like him would also rise accordingly.

In the end, it was all just a power grab under the guise of a righteous cause.

How unsightly!

【You simply let slip a piece of unverifiable information: that you had developed a secret art to restore the Vidyadhara's ability to reproduce.】

【Vidyadhara Elder Taoran took the bait, just as expected.】

【He led six Pearlkeepers and barged directly into your residence late at night, attempting to force you to hand over the secret art.】

【The Pearlkeepers are an elite force that guards the Vidyadhara eggs, and these six were the best of the best, personally selected by Taoran. Each one was a master who had embarked upon a Path.】

【Perhaps thinking he could easily handle a junior like you with no background, Vidyadhara Elder Taoran stood with his hands behind his back, an arrogant look on his face as he commanded, "Junior, hand over the secret art you just developed. In consideration of your contribution to my race, I shall grant you a lifetime of wealth and splendor."】

【The corners of your mouth curled up into a clever, sarcastic smile.】

【It is a virtue to know one's place, but clearly, this old fossil who had lived for too long and whose thinking had completely ossified did not possess it.】

【Your expression made Vidyadhara Elder Taoran frown. He said angrily, "Junior, what is this attitude!?"】

【You couldn't be bothered with him. With a casual snap of your fingers, a poison powder silently dispersed into the air with your movement.】

【Vidyadhara Elder Taoran was old and cunning. Noticing your unusual action, he immediately gave an order.】

【"Seize him!"】

【The moment his voice fell, an intense wave of weakness washed over them, and he and the six Pearlkeepers collapsed to the ground.】

【Your poison arts had already reached a state of perfection, and you had developed various toxins targeting the denizens of Abundance and the Vidyadhara race in your previous lives.】

【This poison, which dispersed easily in the air, could penetrate the skin, and took effect rapidly, was merely one of them.】

【Be they Xianzhou natives, Foxians, or Vidyadhara—even the Borisin or Wingweavers—no matter how strong they were, even as powerful as an Emanator, as long as they came within ten paces of you, their lives were yours to control.】

Wow, Victor could only exclaim, "Wow."

He hadn't even started fighting the powerhouses of the Xianzhou Alliance, yet he was already researching ways to deal with them. Was this the self-discipline of a final boss?

Victor felt that, compared to this version of himself, he was as pure as a little white flower.

【After poisoning them, you took out another type of poison and force-fed it to them.】

【Having done all this, you casually sat back down in your original seat.】

【Vidyadhara Elder Taoran furiously demanded, "Junior! What did you make us eat!?"】

【You answered slowly and deliberately, "Nothing much. Just a poison to make you all obedient."】

【Upon hearing this, their faces instantly changed.】

【"You brat, you!" Just as Vidyadhara Elder Taoran was about to curse, the poison began to take effect.】

【This was a peculiar poison you developed, inspired by a certain wuxia classic. Each time it flared up, it felt as if ants were burrowing into the body, starting an itch from the internal organs. The itch would grow worse day by day. After eighty-one days, it would reach its peak, feeling like ten thousand ants devouring the heart. Then, the effect would slowly subside over another eighty-one days, and the cycle would repeat until an antidote was taken or death occurred.】

【However, through your repeated experiments, you found that no one could endure the peak on the eighty-first day. Usually, before that, the victim would have already clawed their entire body into a bloody mess, literally scratching themselves to death.】

【In your experimental data, the current record is fifty-four days, held by a Borisin.】

Victor couldn't help but marvel.

The script just jumped from Batman to Tianshan Tonglao. That's quite a leap.

As for the effects of this Life and Death Talisman, it's a bit like an enhanced version of a potent control toxin.

This perfectly validated the saying: Only humans are best at tormenting their own kind.

【You explained the poison's effects to them. By now, the seven of them were in a wretched state from the poison's torment, their faces smeared with snot and tears.】

【"From now on, you must take the antidote I provide on time to temporarily suppress the poison's effects," you told them, looking down from a position of superiority.】

【"What do you really want!?" Vidyadhara Elder Taoran demanded hastily, scratching all over his body like a monkey.】

【You gave a slight smile.】

【"Don't worry. As long as you are obedient, I will give you the antidote on time."】

【You knew well that the human heart is uncontrollable, so you concealed several key pieces of information.】

【For instance, while the antidote seemed to temporarily nullify the poison's effects, in reality, each dose also served to reinforce the toxin's power.】

【The more antidote they consumed, the more the toxin would accumulate, until, after a long time, it would become impossible to ever remove.】

Victor couldn't help but gasp. This method was far more insidious than Tianshan Tonglao's Life and Death Talisman.

At least the Life and Death Talisman could be easily undone if one knew the correct method.

But this version of himself had no intention of ever letting them be free.

This must be the bearing of a ruthless tyrant.

Vicious enough!

【You casually tossed the antidote onto the floor. A look of indignation appeared on Vidyadhara Elder Taoran's face. While he hesitated to scramble for it, trying to maintain his status, the six Pearlkeepers pounced on the floor like dogs, fighting over the rolling pills.】

【One of the Pearlkeepers, seeking to curry favor with Vidyadhara Elder Taoran, offered the antidote he had just snatched. Vidyadhara Elder Taoran accepted it without any qualms and swallowed it in one gulp.】