The world was chaotic, but Yiyun Valley and Yiyun Palace were a rare haven of peace.

  Jieyou felt a warm glow in her heart. Her elders had all ascended to immortality overnight, and she had no other siblings in her generation—she’d always been lonely. Only this elder sister, who later became her national teacher, had always protected her like this.

  "Hmph! What do you mean by that?" Qiu Ling stuck out his chin and roared, "Can’t you see how confident I am? I dared to break into Yiyun Palace alone—do you think I came without a backup? And I’ve got a backup for my backup! Could it be… you’re scared of that Immortal Meeting Mansion you keep talking about?"

  Jieyou leaped forward in a big bound, landing "thud" in front of Qiu Ling, as agile as a sharp young man. Staring at his shabby state—charred, bloodstained, and disheveled—she raised an eyebrow: "If the Immortal Meeting Mansion really made a move, would they be this crass?"

  Qiu Ling seemed to have his sore spot poked, yet also found a gap to fight back. He suddenly burst into loud laughter: "Let me tell you the truth! Before I entered the palace, I already poisoned the water source of Yiyun Palace! Poison from the Immortal Meeting Mansion—want to know more about it? Hahaha!"

  "Poisoning? Such a cheap trick… Are we doomed then?" Jieyou asked, feigning panic.

  But the National Teacher remained calm. She rummaged through the messy desk and pulled out an intact teapot, sniffing it lightly. Then she found a teacup, lifted the teapot, and a clear stream of water poured into the cup. The tea was emerald green and clear, but a few strands of white foam floated on the surface—it was definitely poisoned.

  Jieyou took the teacup, copied the National Teacher’s gesture, and sniffed it. She breathed a silent sigh of relief: Luckily, I didn’t touch this tea today. This pot was probably specially prepared for "guests."

  "What a scumbag!" She frowned and muttered under her breath.

  Qiu Ling watched every little change in her expression, laughing even more wildly: "How’s that? Scared now?"

  "Slap!"

  Suddenly, the National Teacher raised her hand and poured all the poisoned tea in the cup into Qiu Ling’s mouth.

  Caught off guard, Qiu Ling coughed violently, but sneered in his heart: Childish! The person who poisoned it—how could I be afraid of my own poison?

  He swallowed the liquid, wiped his mouth, and laughed loudly: "Good tea! What great tea!"

  With that, he even struggled to stand up, looking triumphant as if he had all the cards in his hand. He waited to see the two "naive sisters" beg him humbly.

  "You might still be able to walk out that door," the National Teacher said slowly, her tone eerily calm, "but you’ll never make it down the mountain."

  "As soon as you step out of Yiyun Palace, you’ll be reincarnated, little girl." Qiu Ling still insisted on being tough.

  Hahaha——

  Before his laughter faded, he suddenly clutched his stomach and spat out a mouthful of blood!

  "Wha… what’s happening?"

  Qiu Ling looked completely stunned. The emptiness in his chest, mixed with piercing abdominal pain, made him fall to the ground without any dignity. He struggled to crawl forward a few times, his fingers digging hard into the cold floor tiles.

  "Two things," the National Teacher squatted down, stared down at him, and said word by word: "First, your spirit is now locked, and you have no cultivation left. Are you sure you can control your body? Can you resist the poison you made yourself? Even if you can resist your own poison, can you guarantee you can resist Yiyun Palace’s poison?"

  "What?! Yiyun Palace’s poison?"

  In a flash, a scene flashed through Qiu Ling’s mind——

  The National Teacher checked the teapot and handed the cup to the princess;

  The princess pretended to inspect it, even letting out a few arrogant laughs.

  So that girl sneaked an extra ingredient into the tea while pretending!

  He could have spit out the tea just now, but he had to show off and swallowed it!

  Soul-locking cuffs outside, double poison inside…

  Qiu Ling’s heart sank: I’m done for. I’m going to die!

  "Don’t rush to write yourself off," the National Teacher’s voice was as cold as ice, "Trading your life for the lives of everyone in the Immortal Meeting Mansion—you’re not that stupid. Besides, you might not even have to die. If we wanted you dead, we wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble."

  "I said two things earlier! It was a comma, not a period! Listen up!" Jieyou squatted down, patted Qiu Ling’s cheek lightly, her clear voice filled with a hint of cunning, "Second, can’t you see? Do either of us look the least bit anxious, flustered, or anything like that? Don’t you find that suspicious?"

  "Wha… what?"

  Qiu Ling was completely dumbfounded, his eyes even turning a little red as if he was about to cry.

  All this time, he thought he was the one pulling the strings, toying with the two of them. How did it end up like this? Are all women in the world this difficult to deal with? No wonder my senior brothers all hate women—they’re terrifying! You never know what they’re plotting in their heads!

  "No one in Yiyun Palace, or even the entire Yiyun Valley, drinks tea from outside or water from beyond the palace walls," the National Teacher stood up slowly, her tone tinged with a hint of pity, "Isn’t that how you guard yourselves in the outside world? Even if someone accidentally drinks it, or gets poisoned while washing, there will never be a large-scale mass poisoning."

  She looked down at Qiu Ling, curled up on the ground, and said coldly: "Why not hand over the formulas for both antidotes? Be nice, and save everyone the trouble."

  Qiu Ling quickly forced himself to calm down, enduring the weakness all over his body and the abdominal pain, trying to look arrogant. If he had a mirror right now, and saw his current state—pale face, bloodstains on his lips, hair messy like withered grass—he would probably want to cry but have no tears.

  "There’s a skill called bringing the dead back to life, you know? It can revive the dead," the National Teacher said slowly, a creepy smile in her voice.

  Qiu Ling’s heart skipped a beat: "You want to use it to revive those who were poisoned?"

  "Nope, nope," the National Teacher shook her head, her gaze falling on his pale face, "I want to use it to revive you."

  "Revive me? What do you mean?" Qiu Ling’s voice trembled a little.

  "We’ll kill you, then revive you; kill you again, revive you again… over and over," the National Teacher’s voice was light, but it felt like an ice pick stabbing into Qiu Ling’s heart, "Thank you so much for contributing so much to training our Palace Master to be ruthless."

  "Don’t worry, you’ll come back to life soon after you die. Die and come back, cycle after cycle—this is called torture first, kill later. How fun is that?"

  "Torture first, kill later! I love it!"

  Palace Master Jieyou’s eyes lit up, and she danced with joy. Her eager look made Qiu Ling fall into complete despair.

  These weren’t famous palace masters—they were a pair of she-devils! Just thinking about those scenes and hearing those words made them sound completely demonic.

  "I’ll hand over the antidote! Just give me a quick death!" Qiu Ling finally broke down, his voice choking with tears.

  "A quick death?" The National Teacher scoffed, "If you die, who’s going to repair our side palace? Listen carefully, the order is: first detoxify, then repair the palace, then practice martial arts with the Palace Master."

  "Fine, fine! Let’s get moving!" Palace Master Jieyou waved her hand impatiently.

  Qiu Ling struggled to get up: "I have to go alone? Only I know where I poisoned the water—don’t you need me to lead the way? Also, detoxify me first, or I won’t have the strength to work!"

  "Stop being so fussy! Lazy people always have the most excuses!" The National Teacher rolled her eyes, "Figure out how to detoxify yourself. As long as even one person in Yiyun Palace gets poisoned by your poison, you die once. If you don’t want to die, or die too many times, hurry up—you know where the water source is. Good luck."

  Palace Master Jieyou waved her plump, lotus root-like forearms at him, then turned around and left, holding the little fat bird in her arms. She was in a great mood today—not only did she see the little fat bird’s true form, but she also got such a fun "training partner."

  She leaned close to the little fat bird’s ear and cooed softly: "Jiujiu, your true form is so beautiful. Can you show it to me from now on?"

  But the little fat bird turned its head arrogantly and snuggled deeper into her arms.

  ——Sleeping in Palace Master Jieyou’s arms is so nice. No need to fly, no need to flap my wings, and no need to walk. It’s so comfortable.

  The National Teacher followed closely behind.