The blood instantly began to contract, and soon was gone. The seed was no longer withered, but rather, plump and nearly bursting. As it floated in the air, it slowly began to sprout.
Meng Hao watched with rapt attention as all of this happened, growing more and more nervous. He had spent a lot of Spirit Stones, all to attempt to dispel the poison.
The seed sprouted, forming into a long branch, upon which a single leaf grew. The leaf eventually grew into a flower. As soon as the flower appeared, the old man’s face went pale. Meng Hao’s eyes narrowed.
The petals of the flower were three different colors: yellow, blue and red, interlocking with each other. The flower itself had the appeared of a demonic face that was laughing and crying at the same time. The demonic-face-flower floated there in the air, seemingly alive. It was extremely bizarre.
“A three-colored Resurrection Lily…” said the old man in a hoarse voice 1. He stared at the flower, his eyes shining.
“When this poison flares up three times, it forms a complete cycle. After three cycles, the flower will bloom. After it blooms, a demonic face that seems to be both laughing and crying will appear in your right eye. It will come and go depending on your usage of your Cultivation base. If you circulate your Cultivation base for a long time, it will grow more clear. At this stage, the poison will not injure you, and in fact will protect you from all manner of other poisons. However, your desire to kill will grow stronger.
“After three more cycles, the flower will bloom again, and when the poison flares up, another demonic face will appear in your left eye. At this point, your desire to kill will be even stronger. You will become incredibly bloodthirsty. At this point, not only will you be immune to a vast array of poisons, you will begin to emanate a poisoned miasma. Your flesh will become incredibly tough, and you will be more resilient than the average Cultivator.
“However, you will find that your body is also becoming more and more stiff. Your agility will be reduced, and your life force will slowly become dim. You will often be surrounded by a death aura.
“After this, the flower will bloom a third time,” said the man, his voice filled with profundity. “Your… your mind will be lost, your life will be gone. Your body will transform into a three-colored Resurrection Lily. The person who planted the seed in you will come to pick the flower. Sometime after the transformation, you will turn into a four-colored Resurrection Lily.
“Mortal, Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Spirit Severing, Dao Seeking. Seven stages, seven colors, one for each stage. Eventually, the Resurrection Lily will bloom in seven colors, the flower descends, Immortal Ascension, one thousand years.
“In ancient times, Cultivators used this flower in order to achieve Immortal Ascension.” The old man gazed at Meng Hao.
Hearing the man’s word caused him to shiver, not from cold, but from fear. He frowned as he thought about everything the man had said regarding the poison.
“Fellow Daoist, please, don’t joke with me. I have ordinary latent talent, and no special treasures that people are pursuing. It wouldn’t be worth it for an enemy to plot against me with such a rare flower.”
The old man looked at him with a smile, but said nothing.
Meng Hao was silent for a moment, then produced another bag of holding which he placed down in front of the old man. The man nodded.
“Young friend, what you said is both correct and incorrect,” said the old man slowly. “This three-colored Resurrect Flower is not complete; it’s defective. It won’t bloom past three colors. Otherwise, no one in the world would be able to dispel it for you.
“How can I dispel it?” When the man didn’t respond, Meng Hao threw over another bag of holding.
Meanwhile outside the shop, the stars and moon had appeared in the evening sky and lanterns were being lit throughout the city. A woman appeared in the distance, dressed in a long, sleeveless white garment.
She was incredibly beautiful. Graceful and slender, her appearance underneath the moonlight was like that of a celestial being. She looked cool, calm and very refined. Her appearance was beyond ordinary in every aspect. As the lamplight filled the city, she walked up to the shop. When she saw the number 19 on the plaque on the door, a slight smile appeared on her face that caused Qiu Lin’s heart to race.
Meng Hao himself had seen this woman before, in the Reliance Sect. She had accompanied Wang Tengfei when he left the sect. This was … Wang Tengfei’s fiancé.
Chu Yuyan.