Chapter 226 (Part 1): It’s Ice!

“Let’s remove this memory. Let me think about how to rewrite this part… How about I say I descended from the sky on flower petals at the final moment, like a god, rescuing her from the boundless Void? How does that sound?”

“Whatever you prefer, but I think doing that could easily throw her memories into chaos.” Xia Hui, who was carefully mixing some potion nearby, replied softly.

After responding to Hua Jian, she looked up at Huaxin. “Xinrui, what should we do next?”

Huaxin was currently crouching in front of a large cauldron, tossing various materials into it.

The liquid inside no longer resembled water; it had turned into a sticky, gooey green mass.

The smell emanating from the cauldron could only be described as foul.

Even though the strongest incense Wanhuagu had was already burning in the room, it couldn’t suppress this lethal odor.

It forced Hua Jian to reluctantly have Huaxin use Ling Xin to seal off the airflow in that area, keeping the terrible smell from spreading.

“Add the Silver Flower Leaf from the third plate on your right. After putting it in, inject your Spiritual Power and stir thirty times. If the potion turns a transparent pale cyan, it means the potion was made successfully.”

“The third one on the right…”

Xia Hui found the plate Huaxin had mentioned, dropped the thin fragments resembling silver foil into her small medicine bottle, and after fiddling around, managed to create a silver-cyan potion that wasn’t quite transparent.

“Ugh, it failed.” Looking at the somewhat murky potion, Xia Hui felt a bit deflated.

She didn’t seem to have much talent in this area. Every time she made potions, she failed several times, wasting tons of materials.

“Being able to make a potion like this on your third try is already really good. Xia Hui, you definitely have potential.” Huaxin didn’t agree with her assessment.

During the time Hua Jian had been away, she and Xia Hui had gotten to know each other.

Their relationship had gone from unfamiliar colleagues to decent friends.

Originally, they had stuck together only because they followed the same person. Besides that, Xia Hui actually hated everything related to Wanhuagu.

But recently, because of the little gadgets Hua Jian had made to link the three of their heads together, communication between Xia Hui and Huaxin had inevitably increased.

As they talked more, Xia Hui realized Huaxin wasn’t all that bad.

Add in the extended cooperation and working side by side, and their relationship naturally improved.

As for what Xia Hui was doing now, it had nothing to do with her personally.

It was entirely because Hua Jian had decided to deal with Youye personally, not letting any other Wanhuagu members interfere.

Xia Hui and Huaxin were her only two subordinates, so of course, they had to be called in to help.

When it came to crooked arts like tampering with memories and implanting false thoughts, Wanhuagu had quite extensive experience.

Although Hua Jian had declined Huaxinhu’s support, she had no qualms about directly taking their theoretical knowledge to study.

After all, she had no experience in this field, so she had to see how others before her had done it.

Building a carriage behind closed doors wouldn’t work. She needed to absorb the experience of others, embrace all rivers, and integrate everything!

“I think it should work. Youye’s pretty tough anyway. If I purify the potion a bit more, it should be usable.”

Seeing Xia Hui about to throw the potion away, Hua Jian quickly stopped her.

No need to be so wasteful. Youye’s constitution was pretty sturdy. Using slightly subpar potion probably wouldn’t cause too many problems.

The potion in Xia Hui’s hand only had a little sediment. Maybe it was just that too many raw materials were added and they hadn’t fully reacted, right?

“Miss Hua Jian, this isn’t a joke. Even the slightest mistake can turn a life-saving Spiritual Medicine into the most terrifying Poison. Especially since this is…” Xia Hui quickly shook her head in refusal.

Making potions was actually a branch of Alchemy Pills. The only difference was changing what was refined from pills to potions. The principles were the same.

Naturally, many things that applied to Alchemy Pills also applied to potion-making.

For example, once a pill was botched, you should never think about recycling it. You should dispose of it promptly.

Otherwise, if someone died from eating it, no one would sympathize with you.

The higher the grade of the pill, the more this applied. Low-grade pills used common materials, and failed batches wouldn’t be all that harmful.

At worst, they’d leave a Cultivator bedridden and weak for a few days.

But the materials used in high-grade pills were incredibly dangerous.

One mistake could send the Cultivator who consumed them straight to their grave.

Some pills even required a specific Ceremony at a specific time and place before they could be taken.

If even one step went wrong, a divine pill could become lethal poison.

The potion Xia Hui made wasn’t that high in grade, but it was already a poison to begin with.

Now that it was made so poorly, wouldn’t it become even more toxic?

She wasn’t pitying Youye. Anyone who got captured by Miss Hua Jian was definitely no good.

She was just worried that if Hua Jian injected the potion into Youye, Youye would die on the spot.

Wouldn’t that ruin Miss Hua Jian’s plan?

“Good point. Xinrui, are those Demonic Cultivators that escaped from the Secret Realm still locked up? Let’s test it on them.”

Hua Jian thought Xia Hui made a valid point. Youye was too precious; nothing could go wrong.

In that case, she’d settle for testing on someone else.

Wanhuagu’s Secret Realm exploration event had produced five survivors in total. All of them had fled within the first few days of the Secret Realm opening, badly wounded when they escaped.

Naturally, Wanhuagu had to see things through to the end, so they took in these five injured individuals and cared for them.

Unfortunately, their attackers’ methods were too vicious. Despite Wanhuagu’s efforts for over half a month, the five victims showed no signs of improvement.

The three most severely injured had even been in a coma for days. Wanhuagu was at a loss.

“Them? They should be locked up in the basement. Miss Hua Jian, you’ll have to fetch them yourself. I’m at a critical stage here, so I can’t move.”

Huaxin answered while stirring the green substance in the cauldron with a smooth wooden stick that had a metallic sheen.

She would have liked to run this errand for Hua Jian, but she couldn’t use the Doppelganger Technique, and her work here was at its most critical point.

She couldn’t just abandon it halfway.

That meant Hua Jian would have to make the trip herself.

Sigh, at the end of the day, Miss Hua Jian just had too few subordinates.

If she had more, they wouldn’t be in such a tight spot.

Even running errands required Miss Hua Jian to do it personally. That was just wrong!

“Alright, wait for me then. I’ll go fetch them.” Hua Jian didn’t mind.

She had a good temper and wouldn’t get angry over such small issues.

After all, she knew exactly what her two Little Followers were doing. They really couldn’t spare any time right now.

Only she, the boss, was still trying to craft a good story for Youye, one that would make Youye weep with gratitude and turn into Hua Jian’s devoted little puppy.

Unfortunately, a Cultivator’s Soulforce was too complex and difficult.

Hua Jian’s specialty was violent destruction. She really needed to practice these delicate tasks.

Sure, she could now play tricks like remotely controlling someone’s body from a thousand miles away, but the principle was actually simple.

Hua Jian just shoved the original person’s Soulforce out of the control seat and took over the body herself.

But implanting false memories involved far more techniques and methods than body control.

Even though Hua Jian herself was the Illusory Dream Flower, which specialized in Soulforce attacks, she had to learn it bit by bit.

Theoretically speaking, the Illusory Dream Flower should have this ability, but Hua Jian hadn’t awakened it yet.

All she could do right now was briefly plunge a Cultivator’s Soulforce into chaos.

Compared to controlling bodies and implanting false memories, well, you couldn’t say they were roughly the same. You could say they were worlds apart.

The two weren’t based on the same principle at all.

If she could combine the two, then Hua Jian would truly have taken her first step down this dangerous path.

The place where those five unlucky bastards were held was upstairs from Hua Jian’s lab.

Yes, actually, Hua Jian was also in the basement now, even deeper than the ordinary basement.

Apart from the above-ground structures of the Red Flower Building, the underground was also quite something. Its scale was moderate, split into three levels.

The second underground level was for doing things that couldn’t see the light of day.

For example, if a Cultivator from the Red Flower Building made a mistake, they’d be punished here.

This level also held ordinary prisoners, and depending on the situation, they’d either be released or killed.

As for the third underground level, that held important people. Generally speaking, those locked up here shouldn’t ever expect to see the light of day again.

The third underground level was even more impressive—it was where highly valuable people like Youye were kept.

All sorts of Red Flower Building secrets were also hidden here.

At first, even Hua Jian didn’t know the Red Flower Building had such a place.

She only learned about it after the Secret Realm ended, when Huaxinhu mentioned it to her.

The reason, naturally, was that Hua Jian hadn’t been fully trusted by Wanhuagu before the Secret Realm.

Now that Hua Jian had shown her skills in the Secret Realm, Wanhuagu felt she truly deserved to be the Saintess.

So, the things a Saintess should know were presented to her.

However, Hua Jian was only aware of their existence. She still didn’t have the authority to actually go and look.

This wasn’t Wanhuagu targeting her. Even Huaxinhu had to get permission from Wanhuagu’s High Echelon to access those secrets, let alone Hua Jian.

In terms of trust, Hua Jian could never compete with Huaxinhu, a fox raised by Wanhuagu since she was young.

Her current clearance was about the same as Huaxinhu’s, which was already a sign that Wanhuagu trusted her quite a bit.

As for the second underground level, Hua Jian could wander around freely.

After all, the only prisoners there right now were the five Demonic Cultivators she had ordered locked up.

Unfortunately, this was the Qian Family’s territory.

Even though Wanhuagu had a good relationship with the Qian Family, they couldn’t pull off anything big right under their noses.

Wanhuagu and the Qian Family had always minded their own business, occasionally helping each other out.

So this place for holding important prisoners was rarely used.

The Wanhuagu Cultivators in Frozen Winter City, besides handling practical affairs, mainly gathered intelligence so Wanhuagu could anticipate the Qian Family’s various moves.

“Saintess Daren!”

There weren’t many Wanhuagu Cultivators on duty in the second underground level.

Hearing footsteps from the stairs, the three on duty rushed over to greet her.

Calling it guard duty was generous—the defense here could only be described as hollow.

Then again, not a single one of their prisoners was even awake. Managing them like dangerous criminals would be pointless and a waste of manpower.

“I’m taking one with me.” Hua Jian nodded at the ones who approached, scanning the cells before settling on the most severely injured Demonic Cultivator.

“Him. Open the cell.”

“Understood, but…” The Wanhuagu Cultivators didn’t ask why.

These people were arrested by the Saintess in the first place. It was only natural she’d want to take one away.

They’d be thrilled if Hua Jian took them all. Then they wouldn’t have to stand watch in this godforsaken, sunless place.

“Saintess Daren, we don’t have the authority to open the cells. I’m afraid you’ll have to…”

They might think that way, but they didn’t have the power to open the doors.

These cells required a Token with sufficient clearance to unlock. Little grunts like them certainly didn’t qualify.

“Oh, I forgot.” Hua Jian waved her hand at the sealed cell door, sending a surge of Spiritual Power into it.

With a soft click, the cell door successfully unlocked.

“We’ll bring him out for you right away!”

The Wanhuagu Cultivators were just about to show off their service attitude when they saw Hua Jian curl her finger at the cultivator who had been comatose for over ten days.

Then, that cultivator actually stood up—stiffly, bit by bit, like a puppet being controlled—pushed open the cell door, and walked over to stand beside Hua Jian.

This scene in the dim prison was so eerie that all three Wanhuagu Cultivators felt a chill run down their spines.

What kind of technique was this?!

Looking at the Demonic Cultivator, head tilted with no sign of consciousness, then at the stiff, inhuman movements, one thought bubbled up in their minds simultaneously: offending people in the past was definitely a bad idea.

The Saintess might look gentle and generous, but her methods were far more sinister and terrifying than they ever imagined!

They never saw the Saintess make contact with the comatose Demonic Cultivator, yet she could control him from a distance like a puppet on strings.

This was a technique they had never heard of.

The thought that maybe one day they could be controlled by the Saintess just like this comatose cultivator sent a wave of fear rising from the depths of their hearts.

“I’m heading back now. You just keep guarding.” Hua Jian had no idea her little display had made those three Wanhuagu Cultivators think so much.

She was simply controlling the Vines inside that Demonic Cultivator’s body.

The shrapnel that had pierced into the cultivator’s body had all sprouted by now.

Using them as strings to control his movements was ridiculously easy.

If she hadn’t deliberately controlled the growth rate of those Vines, these five Demonic Cultivators would have been devoured clean long ago.

After all, eating people wasn’t Hua Jian’s hobby.

She thought keeping them alive would create more value. And sure enough, that value just showed up.

Hua Jian wasn’t a psychopath who delighted in eating people, as everyone knew well.

Her methods were all normal combat techniques.

It wasn’t that she enjoyed doing things that way, but that they effectively intimidated enemies and helped her maintain her full-strength form for extended periods.