Chapter Forty-Nine: The Qin Family’s Astonishing Scheme

Everyone paused and looked toward Yan Qingye, only to see him moving in slow motion, scooping out an unknown substance and laying it in his palm.

“Is that... a pill?” Ming Chenyu frowned in puzzlement.

Ye Linyi leaned in and sniffed it. “It really does smell like a Reviving Violet Pill, but the shape... well, it does have the right scent...”

“You can eat that? Others swallow pills whole, but that lump—won’t you choke to death? It even looks like a pile of dung...” Jun Yang was so disgusted he almost pinched his nose. “How did you even make that? In all my hundreds of thousands of years, I’ve never heard of an alchemist who could produce something shaped like that.”

Yan Qingye muttered his defense in a small, aggrieved voice, “I told you, it’s the furnace’s fault.”

Ming Chenyu couldn’t stay silent any longer. “Even my seventh uncle has never made anything in that shape.”

You Xiyue beckoned with a hand, and the lump in Yan Qingye’s palm floated to the center of the group. Jun Yang looked to You Xiyue in curiosity. “Did you notice anything special, little ancestor?”

“One of those is worth five regular ones—not bad,” You Xiyue said, waving her hand again so the pill floated back to Yan Qingye’s palm.

Yan Qingye’s eyes brightened as he looked at You Xiyue. “Little master, do you think I did well?”

“Yes,” You Xiyue curved her lips in a slight smile. “Though it looks unattractive and lacks any pill markings, it’s as effective as five ordinary ones.”

“See? Even little master praised me!” Yan Qingye cheered, grabbing Ming Chenyu’s arm. “I told you I’m a genius.”

With You Xiyue praising him like that, what else could Ming Chenyu say to bring him down? He could only reply, “Yes, you’re a genius.”

“Seriously?” Ye Linyi could hardly believe it.

“What, are you jealous?” Yan Qingye was now thoroughly proud—had he met little master’s expectations? He looked at You Xiyue hopefully.

But You Xiyue didn’t look up to meet Yan Qingye’s gaze. Resting her chin on her hand, she stared blankly at the guest courtyard’s entrance.

Puzzled, Yan Qingye looked in that direction as well, and to his surprise, sensed a sneaky figure lurking about.

“Little master!” Yan Qingye turned to call You Xiyue, but realized that except for Ye Linyi, everyone else seemed to have noticed too. He cursed himself for being so focused on the pill that he hadn’t sensed a thing. “What’s with their behavior?”

“Their behavior?” Ye Linyi was confused.

Yan Qingye rolled his eyes at Ye Linyi, not bothering to explain. “Should I go check it out?”

“No need,” Jun Yang said indifferently. “It’s just an Immortal-grade trapping formation—nothing out of the ordinary.”

“What? Someone set up an Immortal-grade trapping formation around us?” Ye Linyi leapt up in outrage. “Who has the nerve? Could it be those people from the Purple Cliff Hall?”

“Who else? Is there anyone in the Phoenix clan besides them who’d treat us so unfriendly?” Ming Chenyu’s expression turned cold.

After all, they were all candidates for the Phoenix clan leader’s position in a fair competition. For a sect as large as theirs to stoop to such tricks was truly contemptible.

“It’s just...”

“Just what?” Ye Linyi asked.

“It’s just that the one outside seems to be from a branch of the Ye family.”

“My family’s branch?” Ye Linyi was even more shocked. “Don’t they know I’m inside? And they still dare make a move?”

“That’s what puzzles me most.”

Ye Linyi scratched his forehead, thinking it over, then turned to Ming Chenyu with a serious look. “How did you know it was a branch from my family?”

Before Ming Chenyu could explain, Jun Yang spoke up. “There’s also a lightning array within the trapping formation. Anyone entering would trigger it, and your family has many with the lightning spiritual root.”

After Jun Yang’s explanation, Ye Linyi realized Ming Chenyu’s words were not off the mark.

“How could this be? It doesn’t make sense.” Ye Linyi still found it hard to believe. The branch family would never act against the main house; even if ordered by their own sect, they’d put family interests first.

Suddenly, You Xiyue spoke. “I’ve heard of a forbidden art in the cultivation world called the Soul Control Technique.”

“Soul Control Technique? What’s that?” The three of them were baffled.

Jun Yang searched his mind for a long time but came up empty. The older he got, the more forgetful he became—after hundreds of thousands of years, anything unimportant was likely forgotten.

“Have you heard of the demon clan’s puppet art?” You Xiyue asked.

“Of course we’ve heard of that,” Yan Qingye replied.

You Xiyue continued, “It’s similar, but while puppet art controls corpses, the Soul Control Technique manipulates the living.”

“Controlling the living?” Yan Qingye was shocked. “Isn’t that even worse than the demon clan?”

“That’s why it’s forbidden,” You Xiyue said, taking a bite of orange spirit fruit, seemingly unconcerned. “The Soul Control Technique requires borrowing the clan spirit to perform. The clan spirit launches the forbidden art, invades the target’s soul, and alters their faith.”

“Alter their faith?” Ye Linyi interjected. “You mean that branch family member no longer believes in our Ye clan spirit, but in the Qin family now?”

“That’s not it,” You Xiyue shook her head.

Ye Linyi was even more confused. “Not it?”

“That branch believes, in their heart, that they still worship the Ye clan spirit, that the orders come from it—but in reality, it’s only the will of the one who cast the forbidden art.”

“It can do that?” The group was stunned. Ming Chenyu frowned and asked, “Would the power of their faith also go to the Qin clan spirit?”

“Of course,” You Xiyue replied.

“So the one casting the spell gets all the benefits? But aren’t forbidden arts supposed to have a cost?” Yan Qingye said indignantly.

You Xiyue took another bite of fruit and said softly, “The records of this forbidden art are incomplete. Its consequences aren’t fully documented.”

After pondering for a while, Jun Yang finally recalled a fragment of memory. “Didn’t this forbidden art eventually turn the entire clan into demons?”

You Xiyue looked at Jun Yang in surprise. “You remember?”

Jun Yang rubbed his temples. “Just a vague impression. Isn’t that right?”

“It is,” You Xiyue confirmed.

“Turn them into demons? What about those under control?” Yan Qingye asked with concern.

“If they’ve only been controlled briefly, they can still be saved—have the clan spirit awaken them. But if it’s been too long...”

“What happens then?” Ye Linyi asked anxiously.

You Xiyue curled her lips. “Better to kill them early—they can still reincarnate.”

“What?” Ming Chenyu’s voice was heavy. “Is there really no other way?”

You Xiyue shook her head regretfully. “If you don’t kill them in time and the caster discovers their soul breaking free, the caster’s clan spirit will instantly drain all their faith, destroy their soul, and they’ll never enter the cycle of reincarnation. Or, if the caster’s clan spirit fully demonizes, those under control will fall into demonhood too—also lost to reincarnation.”

“That Qin family! Despicable!” Ye Linyi slammed the stone table with such force it would have shattered if Jun Yang hadn’t discreetly cast a protective spell.

Ming Chenyu, the calmest of them, analyzed, “If we want to save these clansmen without alerting the caster, it’s nearly impossible. Those clansmen have always lived in the Purple Cliff Hall—if we suddenly call them all back, it would easily draw attention. Besides, it isn’t just one family involved; likely all five major families are implicated.”