IWYTBW - Chapter 37

 Chapter 37

Children Are the Karmic Debts of Their Parents from Past Lives.

At the Rong residence, the old housekeeper hadn’t expected Yi Zhen back so soon. Caught off guard, he couldn’t prepare a welcoming feast, so he personally went into the kitchen to make him noodles.

Yi Zhen slurped down a large bowl of steaming hot plain noodles, broth and all. Besides vibrant green scallions, the noodles were topped with a snowy white soft-boiled egg with a runny yolk and ringed with plump, succulent shrimp.

Sweat beaded on Yi Zhen’s forehead, every pore on his body opened in satisfaction. He thanked the old housekeeper, then dashed to the kitchen. Ignoring the surprised stares of the servants, he grabbed a whole roasted lamb leg and sprinted off to check on his Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion.

The system had previously rewarded Yi Zhen with eighty-eight Flower-Winged Crickets. With so many crickets, he naturally couldn’t let the scorpion devour them all at once. Yi Zhen had consulted the Starnet on “how to raise crickets,” then built a makeshift shed in the corner of the training room. He ordered numerous small ceramic jars from a Starnet vendor – the vendor assumed he was a wholesaler for a tourist attraction. After all, no one used ceramic jars at home anymore; only scenic spots still sold these gaudily painted little pots, touted as “authentic local flavor.”

Now, those crickets, housed in their ceramic jars, were kept in the same training room as the Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion. The thought alone made Yi Zhen’s scalp tingle. It was like putting a flock of tender lambs in the same room as a fully grown, ravenous wolf.

He could only hope the scorpion was sensible enough to resist its hunger for a while and understand his painstaking efforts…

The door opened, and Yi Zhen stood there, lamb leg in hand.

Before leaving, he’d specifically asked Tai’a to change the training room’s password. The password itself was easy to crack; the change was more of a warning than a genuine security measure. Would Rong Hongxue send someone to investigate his training room? And if so, would they break in after the password change?

Rong Hongxue was testing him, and he was testing Rong Hongxue’s attitude in return.

It turned out Rong Hongxue hadn’t sent anyone in.

Yi Zhen stared blankly at the scene of utter chaos before him. A deep, sonorous voice, like that of a broadcast announcer, echoed in his mind:

– We are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the demise of the small ceramic jars. We express our deepest condolences and extend our heartfelt sympathies to the crickets who met their untimely end in the scorpion’s belly…

The glass enclosure was empty. The Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion was nowhere to be seen. The raw meat he’d left remained untouched, now rotten and stinking. The shed in the corner had completely collapsed, like a bombed-out ruin. On the fragments of shattered ceramic jars, the bright painted designs remained, making the scene resemble a gruesome archaeological dig of sacrificial burial objects.

That damned scorpion had used the remnants of the ceramic jars and mud to build a nest! A nest!

Yi Zhen almost coughed up blood. He nearly screamed to the heavens, “You unfilial wretch! You wretch!” and then personally carried out an execution.

Click, click. The Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion cautiously poked its head out from between the broken pottery shards, gazing at Yi Zhen with innocent eyes.

Yi Zhen picked up a stone and flicked it with pinpoint accuracy into the gap. “You, don’t you dare give me that look! Instead of staring at me, why don’t you take a look at the mess you’ve made!”

The stone hit the scorpion squarely on the head. Enraged, it lunged out, pincers snapping, ready for a real showdown with its keeper. However, it stopped midway.

Something suddenly flew out of the mustard seed pouch at Yi Zhen’s waist.

At first glance, the object was pitch black. But as it tumbled and danced in the air, it shimmered with a dazzling iridescent light, extraordinarily eye-catching.

A poignant, cold fragrance filled the air... Only when it drew closer could its true form be discerned.

It was a palm-sized, jet-black butterfly with uniquely shaped swallowtails.

– Ranked forty-seventh on the Poison List: the Night Snow Butterfly’s Three Smiles.

Even on the diverse and bizarre Poison List, the Three Smiles Butterfly was utterly unique.

Its name was elegant, its form graceful. More importantly, its poison possessed a breathtakingly beautiful, resolute tranquility, like falling cherry blossoms.

The Three Smiles Butterfly was also known as the Beauty’s Three Smiles.

The first smile was the beauty’s gasp of astonishment upon seeing its pitch-black body. Although a butterfly, it lacked the vibrant, beautiful colors characteristic of its kind.

The second smile was the beauty’s delighted gasp as it witnessed the dazzling iridescent shimmer of its wings in flight. Though dark in color, it reflected a captivating brilliance.

The third smile was the beauty’s terrified gasp as the chillingly beautiful fragrance reached her. Though delicate and fragile, seemingly crushable with a single finger, it could kill without a trace. After these three fleeting smiles, the beauty’s soul would depart, ascending to the heavens.

The Book of Poisons recorded that thousands of years ago, a renowned poison master, Young Master Tan Xue , was plagued by rumors. It was said his family possessed a great treasure. After a devastating fire, he lost his parents and spent half his life wandering. He thought that assuming a new identity would rid him of his pursuers, but he subsequently lost his wife and children as well.

Consumed by vengeance, he planted an entire valley with Night Snow You Tan flowers and spent six years cultivating an entire valley of Beauty’s Three Smiles butterflies. Then, he spread rumors to lure his enemies. The result was predictable: everyone who came died in the valley, becoming fertilizer for the flowers. Young Master Tan Xue eventually died there as well, taking the final antidote and its formula to his grave.

Even twenty years later, greedy individuals continued to search for Young Master Tan Xue’s supposed martial arts treasure. When friends and family realized that none who went returned alive, the valley became infamous. Even from a distance, one could see the river of bones overflowing from the valley. No one dared to set foot inside. Finally, from three hundred paces away, two thousand fire arrows were launched from crossbows, destroying the entire valley. The Beauty’s Three Smiles and the Night Snow You Tan vanished, becoming forbidden objects in the martial world.

– A poisonous creature with such a history, even alone, could rank forty-seventh among countless ferocious killers, only five places below the Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion.

And if they were in a swarm, they would claim the twenty-fifth spot on the Poison List.

The Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion: Frozen.jpg

Its keeper had been gone for four days and three nights, surrounding its food with a pile of junk in a futile attempt to prevent it from eating. And now he brought back a... a butterfly!

“Wait...!” Yi Zhen couldn’t stop it in time. Heaven knew how the Three Smiles Butterfly had escaped on its own. Wasn’t this asking for trouble?! The scorpion’s territorial instincts were as strong as a balding man’s obsession with hair follicles. A fight was inevitable!

But how could he stop them?

The scorpion’s tail stinger flashed with menacing points of light. With all eight legs propelling it, its speed was almost too fast for the naked eye to follow. Ji Qing’s Spirit Animal, the Sand Scorpion’s, already had ferocious attacks, as Yi Zhen had recently experienced. But compared to this little venomous scorpion, the Sand Scorpion was as clumsy as a pregnant woman.

It leaped high, pouncing on the Beauty’s Three Smiles.

The remaining Flower-Winged Crickets had all ended up in the scorpion’s belly. It had just finished digesting them and was at the peak of its energy, the lazy post-feast sluggishness replaced by vibrant power. Its attack was swift and brutal, like a bolt of lightning striking from the ground up.

The Three Smiles Butterfly danced erratically yet with a seeming grace, showing no panic. It was like a light, soft piece of paper. Lightning striking a forest would ignite a firestorm, reducing living creatures to ashes. But what if it struck a piece of paper, a soft tuft of cotton?

It was hard to say what would happen. As far as Yi Zhen could see, before the lightning struck, the wind it generated blew the paper, or the cotton, away.

Yi Zhen was so engrossed in watching that he forgot to stop the two little devils. He had never imagined that the overused concept of “overcoming hardness with softness” in traditional martial arts would be so perfectly demonstrated by two venomous creatures.

The Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion moved like lightning. As the saying went, “like owner, like pet.” Its attack method mirrored Yi Zhen’s – first, overwhelm the opponent with speed, then concentrate immense power on a single point, breaking through the surface to swiftly defeat the opponent.

The Beauty’s Three Smiles, however, was the complete opposite. It was patient, infinitely patient. Like a drunken dancer swaying beneath flowering trees, each movement was so casual and graceful, as if it would burst into song at any moment, accompanied by the dance and the moonlight. But it was this casual grace that allowed it to evade every deadly attack.

It adjusted its movements in response to the scorpion’s. The scorpion aimed for a fatal blow; the butterfly’s intention was to perform a flawlessly close dance.

A realization dawned on Yi Zhen. He stared at the Three Smiles Butterfly’s flight path, unconsciously mimicking it in his mind. If this battle were translated to human movements, what form would it take?

He thought of the Illusory Body of Mo Luo.

The Illusory Body of Mo Luo was the ultimate lightness skill, allowing one to not only transform into mist but also conceal one’s presence. Its four levels were profoundly subtle, imbued with Buddhist philosophy.

Body Perception Arises, signifying the sudden emergence of worldly troubles. When one realizes that external things like wealth, fame, beauty, and ugliness can disturb the mind, Body Perception arises, like an omnipresent fog, lingering in the heart.

Body Perception Gathers, as one ages and experiences more, worldly troubles accumulate. One becomes entangled in delusional thoughts and desires. At this stage of the Mara Illusion Body, one can transform any part of the body into invisible mist.

At Body Perception Shifts, one sees through worldly affairs. The color of the mist changes from black to pale white, enhancing concealment. Finally, at No Body Perception Seen, Yi Zhen could become completely transparent in mid-air, leaving no trace for anyone to detect.

Having reached Body Perception Arises, Yi Zhen had already experienced the many benefits of this lightness skill. But how could he advance from Body Perception Arises to Body Perception Gathers?

He found the answer in the Three Smiles Butterfly.

“Mo Luo” in Sanskrit also meant “vine,” symbolizing entanglement and encirclement. However, the progression from Body Perception Arises to No Body Perception Seen required detachment and evasion.

How could one comprehend evasion and detachment from entanglement and encirclement?

– Not through a life-or-death struggle, but by relinquishing the obsession with victory and the intent to kill, by effortlessly engaging in a whirling dance with the opponent. That was enough.

Enlightenment struck. Yi Zhen lunged forward, his fingertips tracing a perfect semicircle from his wrist to his palm, his body spinning, his outer robe billowing like a blooming flower.

Black mist surged. The Three Smiles Butterfly was suddenly blown two meters away by a gust of wind. The Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion felt a sudden darkness, then light. It hadn’t seen a thing before it crashed into a ceramic shard with a thud, tumbling head over heels inside.

“Stop fighting, you two little brats!” Yi Zhen exhaled a mouthful of stale air. “Fight again and you’ll both be sent outside to stand in the corner!”

The breakthrough in his mental state had finally allowed his Illusory Body of Mo Luo to advance. Previously, Yi Zhen could only transform one arm into mist; now, he could try transforming a quarter of his body into flowing smoke.

His mood was excellent, so good that he was willing to overlook the scorpion’s destructive behavior.

The scorpion reluctantly hissed, bouncing out of the broken pottery. It scurried onto Yi Zhen’s shoulder, curling its tail in front of it, and glared at the Three Smiles Butterfly.

Yi Zhen extended his index finger. The butterfly gracefully fluttered over and landed lightly on his fingertip.

His mental tendrils brushed against the butterfly. The room filled with a cold fragrance like fresh snow. Yi Zhen could sense the butterfly’s confusion. It didn’t understand why this human hadn’t collapsed motionless like so many others before him.

Yi Zhen carefully observed its body. Similar to the Soul-Stealing Jade Bee, the Three Smiles Butterfly had fluffy hairs on its thorax, making it look cuddly and soft. Its abdomen housed its scent glands. Its symbiotic flower, the Night Snow You Tan, was both a potent antidote and a culmination of all poisons in the world.

In the past, Young Master Tan Xue cultivated the Night Snow You Tan with poisonous miasma, poisonous water, and poisonous soil. Its nectar was intensely toxic, but its petals were a panacea for a thousand poisons. The Three Smiles Butterfly, nourished by the You Tan’s nectar, naturally absorbed the refined toxins.

The problem was... without the Night Snow You Tan, how could he raise the Three Smiles Butterfly?

The Night Snow You Tan, ranked eighteenth in the Book of Poisons, was an incredibly rare treasure. How could it be so easily found? Yi Zhen was overjoyed to have stumbled upon a Three Smiles Butterfly, feeling like he’d struck gold. But without the flower, what would he feed it?

Yi Zhen’s worries returned.

Providing for a family, even a venomous one, was truly no easy task.

The Bone-Eroding Spirit Scorpion perched vigilantly on Yi Zhen’s shoulder, seemingly sensing his distress, and blew two smug bubbles.

“Who allowed you to spit bubbles on my clothes?” Yi Zhen flicked it with his finger. “I haven’t settled the score with you yet.”

As he was fretting, his optical computer beeped. Tai’a’s timely interruption broke his train of thought: [Player, you have a friend request.]

Yi Zhen was surprised. “Who? A stranger? Or someone I know?”

[Neither a stranger nor a close acquaintance.] Tai’a replied. [The person who added you is Ji Qing, the Ringing Scorpion.]

The Three Smiles Butterfly was still resting on his hand. Yi Zhen, maintaining his raised hand, watched the notification pop up on his wrist computer.

Ji Qing: [Accept my friend request.]

Ji Qing: [I have an invitation from Azoth University. Interested?]

What was going on?

[Ji Qing is a distinguished graduate of the class of 3675 from Azoth University,] Tai’a promptly opened another news page. [After the preliminary selections, major universities are inviting outstanding contestants to visit their campuses, hoping to recruit them as honorary lecturers or professors after the tournament.]

Yi Zhen: “So he’s inviting me?”

[Yes.] Tai’a confirmed. [Will you accept?]

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