The Second Step of the Plan

When the news that Lin Mo had successfully cultivated the poison art reached Yan Yun, it left her quite surprised.

“Well, I didn’t expect that. That bastard actually managed to endure it with his own willpower. It seems the direct lineage of the Lin family isn’t entirely useless after all,” Yan Yun mused, her expression strange, a mix between a smile and a grimace.

Just as Yan Yun was muttering to herself, a hand suddenly reached out and pinched her ear.

“You wretched girl, come with me. I have something to discuss with you.”

Somehow, Su Muyu had appeared beside her. She grabbed her ear and pulled her into a deserted corner.

“Ouch! Mother, gently, gently! Why do you always like pulling my ear? This is the Yunhua Sect, not home! I’m the Acting Pavilion Master of the Purple Abyss Pavilion, don’t I have a reputation to maintain?” Yan Yun quickly complained in a low voice.

After pulling her aside, Su Muyu immediately put her hands on her hips, her expression severe.

“You girl, are you planning some unspeakable scheme again? Let me tell you right now, before you do anything, you must tell me in advance so I can be mentally prepared,” Su Muyu said in a deep voice.

Yan Yun rubbed her ear. From her expression, it was clear that she was indeed plotting something.

“Mother, hehe, Mother, we truly are mother and child, connected at the heart. You could even tell.”

These words were a roundabout way of telling Su Muyu that she did, in fact, have a plan.

“You really do have another plan! Speak quickly, what’s the next step?” Su Muyu pressed.

Yan Yun stroked her chin, then leaned close to Su Muyu’s ear and roughly outlined her initial plan.

After listening, Su Muyu’s expression stiffened.

“This? Is this appropriate? Are you sure doing this won’t cause any trouble? You’ve worked so hard to establish a new identity. I don’t want you to become the target of public criticism again,” Su Muyu said with great concern.

Evidently, what Yan Yun planned to do next was risky, the kind of risk that would attract a lot of attention.

With her current identity, the more attention she drew, the greater the risk of her identity being exposed.

“Hehe, well, Mother, don’t you worry. This is an open conspiracy. For those who want to take their poison art to the next level, it has both advantages and disadvantages.”

Her next plan was to concoct her own poisons and sell poison pills.

The version of the poison art that Yan Yun had disseminated did not include the art of poison refining, nor did it tell them how to further increase the power of the poison art.

This was the second failsafe Yan Yun had left. She wanted to firmly control the lifeline of these poison cultivators.

Because of this incomplete poison art, every time one advanced a major realm, they would need to concoct a more advanced poison and undergo another tempering with lethal toxins to transform their own poison.

Mastering the basics only required herbs from the secular world, but to reach the Cavern Heaven Realm, one would need first-tier spirit herbs to brew the medicinal soup. Otherwise, no matter how much these people cultivated their poison art, they could only stop at the perfection stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm, making a breakthrough absolutely impossible.

“You girl, are you still my sweet and lovely treasure? After changing your gender, how did your mind become so terrifying?”

Su Muyu felt as if she hardly recognized Yan Yun anymore.

Yan Yun gave a sheepish smile.

“Mother! At a time like this, you’re still saying such things? After experiencing so much, I’ve come to understand one thing: only by holding one’s destiny completely in one’s own hands can one truly rule,” Yan Yun said, a ruthless look appearing on her face.

Seeing Yan Yun like this, Su Muyu could only sigh helplessly.

“Ai! Alright, alright, you’ve grown up, and I can’t control you anymore. But I’ll say it again, don’t put yourself in danger.”

Yan Yun hastily nodded and promised.

After Su Muyu left, Yan Yun began her preparations. But she certainly wouldn’t start right away. Research and development required time; doing it too quickly would arouse suspicion.

During this period, Yan Yun went about her daily tasks during the day, and at night, while cultivating, she would also spend time in the Heavenly Tome world, further developing the poison art and the art of poison refining.

This not only made her poison art increasingly different from others’ but also made the advancement and strengthening of the art inseparable.

Three months later, the number of disciples in the Purple Abyss Pavilion had grown from a dozen to nearly forty.

Among these forty-plus people, thirty-two were of menial disciple origin, and a few others were former official outer sect disciples.

The dynamics within the Purple Abyss Pavilion also began to grow subtle, because these people were essentially spies sent by other factions into the Pavilion.

Some of those who came from an official disciple background were not of one mind with Yan Yun.

Their purpose was to help their respective factions monitor the movements of the Purple Abyss Pavilion.

Even though Yan Yun had helped them master the poison art, their purpose in coming to the Purple Abyss Pavilion was very much to seize territory.

At the entrance of the Purple Abyss Pavilion’s pharmacy, Yan Yun, Wen Meng, and the others watched from afar as several people stood together, not working, looking idle, their eyes filled with displeasure.

“Little Sister Ziyun, these few are not on our side,” Wen Meng said with a grave expression.

“That’s right. They’ve been in our Purple Abyss Pavilion for a month, doing nothing, not following orders. They just act like lords every day, coming to the pharmacy on time to get their poison,” the young man named Duan Ming also said with a look of dissatisfaction.

He was the same youth surnamed Duan that Yan Yun had used for her demonstration to Fairy Yunshuang and the others a few months ago.

He, along with Wen Meng and a few others, were definitely loyal followers of Yan Yun.

Yan Yun, however, chuckled.

“Don’t be anxious. They will come begging me sooner or later. I might as well tell you all, I’ve already found a way for the poison art to advance.”

These words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, shocking Wen Meng and the others into speechlessness.

“What? Little Sister Ziyun, you already know the reason?” Wen Meng asked in disbelief.

Yan Yun nodded.

“Did you think the person who spread the poison art was truly kind-hearted? I’m sure you’ve all discovered that this poison art is obviously incomplete. To advance, one needs to temper the body with better poisonous liquid to improve it.”

Wen Meng and the others nodded.

“So that’s how it is. We noticed it at the time, but as we continuously refined the poison, our strength also kept increasing. I thought we had to cultivate the poison art to its peak before we could break through. I never thought that wasn’t the case.”

“Acting Pavilion Master, how did you discover this?” Duan Ming also asked.

Yan Yun shrugged.

“I asked the sect to collect a large amount of information and materials about poisons for our Purple Abyss Pavilion. Among them was information about the founder of this cultivation method from a thousand years ago, in some ancient records. You know, she reached the Divine Venerable Realm back then. That means there must be a way to break through. So, I slowly pondered it, slowly experimented, and I really found a way.”

In reality, Yan Yun was just laying the groundwork. She had specifically asked Fairy Yunshuang for all the information on the Heavenly Poison Maiden.

This included the characteristics of her poison art and some records. People had been studying Yan Lingyun’s poison art for a long time.

So, combining this with her own claims of having found a way to advance the poison art made perfect sense.

“So that’s it! Haha, Acting Pavilion Master, you truly are a genius! Our future is all in your hands,” Duan Ming and the others laughed heartily.

Yan Yun gave a faint smile and turned to walk into the pharmacy.

The next day, Yan Yun went to Fairy Yunshuang with a thick stack of documents.

One had to put on a full show. These were the fruits of Yan Yun’s “research” into the poison art.

Fairy Yunshuang and the six great elders of the Yunhua Sect were currently reviewing this information.

“Little girl Zi, does this poison art not require one to cultivate it to its peak before breaking through?” Yunhong asked.

Yan Yun immediately replied, “Grand Elder, it’s not necessary. I combined the information on the Heavenly Poison Maiden that the Sect Master found for me, and after repeated trials, I’ve confirmed that this poison art, like conventional cultivation methods, can break through after reaching the minor accomplishment stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm. It just requires an upgraded version of the poison soup.”

Looking at the materials, the elders all felt it made sense.

The logic in the documents was complete and very persuasive; they couldn’t find any flaws.

“Is this advancement dangerous?” Fairy Yunshuang also asked.

Yan Yun first shook her head, then nodded.

“What do you mean by shaking and then nodding your head?” Yun Yan asked, his beard bristling.

Yan Yun immediately explained, “Breaking through a realm always carries risks. But this kind of breakthrough is not about tempering the Poison Body, but about advancing the toxins within the body. It requires corresponding poisonous ingredients to be concocted, all of which must be first-tier spirit herbs.”

This also made perfect sense.

But the crowd still wanted to see it to believe it.