“Envoy, please have mercy!”
On the reef, a Daoist trembled as he spoke. “We’ve searched everywhere, and even kept watch outside the Bear Tribe for a long time… but we still couldn’t find any trace of this Sea God!”
“Please, Envoy, spare us! We’re willing to offer a thousand years’ worth of mortal blood in exchange!”
“Mortal blood?” The woman’s eyes grew cold. “What good is mortal blood? It has no spiritual energy, and it damages one’s karmic merit.
You’ve followed me long enough to know that I’ve long since cleansed the karmic debt left over from my cultivation. I no longer slaughter mortals needlessly.
As for you two—hmph!
Since our sect is still in need of manpower, I’ll spare you the punishment for your incompetence… for now.”
The two Daoists breathed a sigh of relief and quickly bowed, shouting:
“Thank you, Envoy!”
“Thank you, Envoy!”
The woman glanced at them coldly, and the two True Immortal Daoists immediately shut their mouths and continued kneeling, not daring to even breathe too loudly.
‘These human cultivators are truly useless,’ she thought with a sneer.
Her phoenix-like eyes narrowed as she gazed out over the distant sea, thinking about the orders she had just received from her sect.
She was known as Daoist Wenjing. Originally the Blood-Winged Mosquito Queen, she wasn’t a demon or a spirit, but an ancient and fearsome fiend.
Technically speaking, she was a queen.
Before the Six Sages of Antiquity had even attained enlightenment, she led her swarm of blood-winged mosquitoes to plague the western lands. Eventually, two prospective sages from the Western Teachings subdued her, though they didn’t kill her.
—At the time, the two Western Sages had received the primordial Qi from the Dao Ancestor but hadn’t yet comprehended the path to enlightenment through merit.
A long time has passed since then, and now, Daoist Wenjing has cultivated in secret and achieved considerable strength. She became the Western Sect’s “Plague Envoy,” responsible for all the dirty work that would damage the sect’s reputation if exposed.
Cruel by nature, she slaughtered living beings without hesitation. Even her seductive human form was chosen to better carry out her sinister tasks.
Forced into the service of the Western Sect, she had since purified herself using incense offerings and merit, eventually cleansing all her karmic debt.
But the Heavenly Dao sensed her intentions and forbade her from receiving even a sliver of actual merit, which left her extremely bitter.
“I’d love to stab that partial-to-humans Heavenly Dao right in the gut.”
While she was deep in thought, the two subordinates started talking again…
“Envoy, that Southern Sea Sect only controls a fringe region anyway. Our incense offerings are mostly spread across the southwest of the Southern Continent…”
“So really… we didn’t lose too much…”
“Envoy, why don’t we just secretly destroy the Bear Tribe…”
Daoist Wenjing turned to glare at the subordinate. He shuddered and instantly fell silent.
Stupid mouth!
“Killing mortals only adds karmic debt and brings no benefit.
What I need to find is the one who orchestrated this incense offering scheme—drain his essence and his karmic merit.
The fact that he’s set up so many worship shrines in such a short time shows just how deeply he’s planned this. Far beyond anything you worthless fools could manage.”
The woman, dressed in a blood-red robe, rebuked them coldly as she took a few steps aside. Her graceful figure swayed with each step, alluring beyond words—but the two subordinates didn’t dare lift their eyes.
After thinking for a moment, Wenjing added:
“The Southern Sea is already far from the Western Sect. A loss of incense from a region with only tens of thousands of lives isn’t much to worry about.
Right now, I have a more pressing task for you.
Over in the Eastern Continent, there’s a sect called the Sect of Ascension, barely considered a true inheritor of the Human Dao. They recently fought a group of mediocre Heavenly Immortals from Jin’ao Island.
Go to the Eastern Continent immediately and investigate this. See if there’s anything we can exploit.
If you handle this properly, you’ll have a chance to redeem yourselves—and I’ll reward you as well.”
The two looked at each other with relief in their eyes.
Then, with renewed vigor, they shouted:
“We obey!”
“Go. If you botch this or expose yourselves, you already know the consequences.”
Wenjing gave a lazy flick of her finger.
The two immediately bowed and dove into the sea, vanishing from the formation-covered area.
“Trash is still just trash… only good for gathering intel,” she muttered.
Her eyes turned cold. She flicked her fingers again, and two black mosquitoes shot out silently, landing on the necks of the departing True Immortals—completely unnoticed.
‘If they act suspiciously, drain them dry. Leave no trace.’
The mental command was quickly answered:
‘As you wish, my queen.’
The order had originally come from a high-ranking disciple of the Western Sect’s vice leader—someone close to a Saint. They wanted her to stir trouble between the Sect of Ascension and Jin’ao Island cultivators.
It sounded like a minor matter on the surface, but Wenjing knew better. This involved the three Daoist sects and their face as representatives of the Dao.
She had to be extremely careful, not to expose herself.
If she accidentally revealed the Western Sect’s long-standing plans to divide the three Daoist factions, even the Western Saints themselves would strike her down before anyone from the Daoist side could.
At that point, she’d become the scapegoat—the monster responsible for sowing discord between the sacred branches.
Though she’d long done the Western Sect’s dirty work, that didn’t mean she had submitted willingly.
Submit?
She was a queen!
If the two Western Saints hadn’t taken her entire blood-winged mosquito clan hostage, she would’ve long since drained those self-righteous vice leaders dry!
“Hmph!”
With a cold snort, Wenjing flicked her sleeve. Her seductive figure dissolved into a wisp of blood mist, vanishing along with the formation.
The sea was now empty—only the faint hum of a mosquito remained in the air.
It left only its sound behind, with no trace to be found.
A secret technique passed down through the mosquito clan…
“Stupid Senior Brother!”
On Little Qiong Peak, under a willow tree by the lake, Lan Ling’e sat kneeling beside the water. She dipped a handkerchief in the lake and scrubbed at the makeup she’d worked so hard to put on.
“Bad Senior Brother!
You didn’t even explain that painting—just let me embarrass myself in front of everyone!
And now you’re saying my Dao heart is unstable, that I’m always doing these ridiculous things…
Well, excuse me! Everything I do is just to make you happy!
Fine! I’ll copy that ‘Stability Sutra’ a hundred times. Big deal!”
Inside the thatched hut on Little Qiong Peak, Li Changshou couldn’t help but raise his hand and rub his forehead as he listened to Lan Ling’e muttering by the lakeside.
This girl…
Seated in a bamboo chair, Elder Qi Yuan gestured for Li Changshou to sit beside him and asked,
“Changshou, what did you want to discuss with me?”
“Master, could you activate the surrounding formations first? I’m worried someone might be eavesdropping.”
“Hmm.” Elder Qi Yuan nodded, activating the defensive array around the hut. He then studied Li Changshou carefully.
Before Ling’e had mentioned her senior brother was “not ordinary,” Elder Qi Yuan had always thought his eldest disciple was cautious, overly afraid of death, but highly talented with steady progress in cultivation.
But after that incident where he got trapped in the alchemy room’s formation, Elder Qi Yuan had reflected on his interactions with his disciple…
Still, he couldn’t detect anything out of the ordinary.
And yet, there was that intricate formation around the alchemy room…
That mysterious “Turtle Breath and Calm Qi Technique”…
Not to mention that paper-cutting transformation spell he couldn’t even begin to understand…
“Changshou,” Elder Qi Yuan leaned in and lowered his voice, “be straight with your master.
What cultivation realm are you truly in right now?”
Li Changshou smiled and said,
“When I returned from my recent trip, it was because I was undergoing my tribulation.”
And during that tribulation, I accidentally ascended just a little bit… That part, of course, he didn’t say out loud.
Elder Qi Yuan nodded slowly, feeling a bit more at ease.
At least now, he had some clarity on his disciple’s real strength.
After crossing the tribulation, he’d be at the Primordial Immortal stage.
To reach immortality in just over 130 years—that was the mark of a top-tier talent!
But he then frowned and asked,
“Why are you hiding your cultivation?
If you openly reveal it, the sect will protect and support you. Isn’t that a good thing?”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152