[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-nothing-is-taboo":3,"chapter-nothing-is-taboo-nothing-is-taboo-chapter-26":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Nothing Is Taboo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2310411,4514,"Chapter 26: The Battle of Plum Blossom Pool (Part 3)","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-26",26,"\u003Cp>The alchemist thrust both hands toward Xu Yuan, and a golden pill the size of a fist, shrieking through the air, shot like a silver thread straight for his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan gritted his teeth, frowned fiercely, and adopted a look of utter resignation—as if knowing he couldn’t dodge, he hurled his own golden pill with all his strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After launching his pill, Xu Yuan crouched low, twisted his body, and shot sideways with a swift hiss toward a massive boulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The alchemist smirked inwardly—he thought he was trying to block and buy himself time to escape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too bad—you’re wrong this time, destined to die here!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, the two golden pills collided in midair between them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pop!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The alchemist’s pill exploded, instantly transforming into a short sword—no hilt, just one foot long, with blades at both ends.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the Seventh Flow, an alchemist can shape their forged golden pill into any form!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hadn’t reached the Seventh Flow yet, but he’d touched the threshold—barely able to shape it, with sluggish control, so he could only use it as a surprise killing technique, never repeatedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost simultaneously, Xu Yuan’s pill also exploded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan’s pill was no bigger than a dragon’s eye, far lighter and inferior in quality to his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’d clashed several times before; this time, with his full power, it was only natural his little pill would shatter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then—BOOM!—Xu Yuan’s pill didn’t shatter, it detonated!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A massive cloud of smoke erupted on the spot!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blast’s force was terrifying—the shockwave slammed into the alchemist’s face, flinging his hair and beard straight backward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The alchemist was baffled: How could this be?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This feeling… it’s like the explosive shells used in the North Capital’s Divine Mechanism Camp’s artillery!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sudden explosion blasted the alchemist’s sword-shaped pill clean away, embedding it diagonally into the soil several zhang distant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It sank deep into the earth, leaving only a narrow, shallow hole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The alchemist snorted—even if you’ve got some strange trick, it’s only startled me. You’re still dead anyway!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He moved to draw his sword-shaped pill back to slit Xu Yuan’s throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as he moved his hands, searing pain surged through his chest and abdomen!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked down—seven or eight tiny wounds, densely packed, oozed blood across his chest and belly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wh-what…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked up again and saw Xu Yuan hiding behind the boulder—the stone was pockmarked with countless small craters!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boulder was even farther from the blast than he was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the boulder suffered this, and he wasn’t a Wu Xiu, his body was no harder than stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That boy… so it was…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He grasped it all—but he was too weak to act. His legs gave out, and he crashed backward with a thud, blood gushing from his eight wounds. The alchemist died in bitter defeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan had infused the “property” of the explosive pill into his golden pill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though small, the pill had been forged from vast quantities of metal ore; once infused with the explosive property, its power surpassed even the artillery shells of the craftsmen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tiny fragments after the explosion flew faster than any eye could follow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan stepped out from behind the boulder, secretly delighted by the explosive pill’s power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too bad his explosive pill was too small—he could only use this power three times, and now only two remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan looked up—the sisters and the Holy Mother and her maid were still locked in battle by the pool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Mother twisted her wrist, reversing the double-headed snake bell, and shook it again—this time emitting a strange clang-clang-clang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The previous side’s chime had cleared the mind, but this side made Xu Yuan’s soul grow dizzy, his legs stumbling as if he’d collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The water ghost sisters were hit harder—their forms swayed like candles in the wind, growing fainter, their souls seeming ready to be snuffed out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Mother rejoiced—after hiding so long, her strike finally landed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She raised the other hand’s Divine Mechanism Crossbow and fired two shots in rapid succession.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The golden-tipped bolts flew toward the water ghost sisters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too dazed to dodge, they screamed as they were struck, then plunged into the pool with a splash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Mother chased after them, replacing the crossbow with a red silk lantern, bringing it down to smother the sisters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Catch these two water ghosts, and I’ll forge them into yin soldiers…” she told the maid—but the maid suddenly sensed something, her face turning pale: “Holy Mother, retreat! These aren’t yin spirits…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too late—the water erupted with a splash, and two yellow shadows shot up, each fox-like muzzle clutching a golden crossbow bolt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A torrent of water surged forth—the Holy Mother felt searing pain, frantically pressed a spot on her arm, and with a pop, a hundred thousand fine needle-like darts shot from hidden tubes concealed in her shoulders!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fox yowl, and the two yellow shadows vanished back into the pool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid grabbed the Holy Mother’s sash from behind and dragged her back several zhang in a flash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Mother looked down—her chest garment torn, her pale skin carved with deep claw marks, flesh flayed, blood pouring uncontrollably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You beasts!” the Holy Mother roared, her qi surging violently, making the wounds bleed even more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, she felt dizzy and nauseous, barely steadying herself by gripping the maid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid gritted her teeth: “Their claws are poisoned!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She swiftly pulled out several pills for the Holy Mother to swallow, while her shadow writhed, hiding several yin soldiers within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough, a faint yellow shadow suddenly darted from the nearby bushes—several yin soldiers burst from the shadow and tangled with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After several sharp fox yowls, the yellow shadow realized it couldn’t win and shot back into the bushes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the yin soldiers moved to pursue, another figure rose from the bushes—mouth open, a dragon of fire surged out, swallowing one yin soldier whole, who let out a piercing wail before vanishing into ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan had quietly slipped over and hidden among the bushes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid looked at the boy with a complex gaze, her heart filled with mixed emotions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She couldn’t help thinking—if that night she hadn’t ignored it, if she’d checked the Holy Mother’s palanquin and found this fellow, they wouldn’t be suffering such heavy losses now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But who could have imagined—a lowly servant in a back courtyard of a remote village inn could drive her and the Holy Mother to the brink?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A servant—wasn’t he just something any petty nobody could command?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why not just die quietly? Why fight back so fiercely?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regret came too late—the maid supported the Holy Mother, then suddenly turned her gaze to the last two figures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were Zhao Yong’s final two companions, the “delicacy” the alchemist had reserved for the Holy Mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the start of the battle, they’d hidden at the very back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the Holy Mother and others never expected them to contribute anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid’s sudden stare made them flinch—they were terrified by her gaze, cold and sinister, like… a pair of ghostly eyes!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Requesting monthly votes!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1192,"2026-06-20T12:07:23.516Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","fbc17471cdfa1aa84e0f065bb788465c0501a052e921a5414dd8df27a60c60c2","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-27","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-25",413,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnothing-is-taboo-cover.jpg"]