Chapter 1009: The Diligent Gardener

Xiao Jiu had thought that Tang Yaocao was just a paper tiger, appearing to have 'revived' on the surface, but actually she was just holding on, trying to bluff herself, and then reseal this place and go into closed-door cultivation.

But Xiao Jiu never expected that Tang Yaocao wasn't even a paper tiger; she simply had not 'revived' at all!

Who has a body consisting only of skin and bones, plus a beating heart?

No flesh, no organs—just an empty shell.

Yet the more this was the case, the more Xiao Jiu couldn't fathom how Tang Yaocao could possibly have gotten hold of the Seven Halls Yama's inner core.

Could it really be that the contract took effect?

The more she couldn't figure it out, the more anxious Xiao Jiu felt; she wished she could rush back to Hu Shan right away to get to the bottom of things.

Thinking this through, Xiao Jiu stopped probing further and directly activated the Soul-guiding Lamp.

Four ghostly faces held Tang Yaocao immobile; as Xiao Jiu kept activating the Soul-guiding Lamp, it spun continuously, and the golden Merit Light flashed, making Tang Yaocao panic.

Tang Yaocao struggled desperately, her pupils fluttering like a spirit butterfly's wings, filled with despair.

"Don't move me, or I'll drag the Seven Halls Yama down with me!"

"If I die, neither Dong Zhengqin nor Tang Xun will get to live."

"Feng Wu Jiu, let me go!"

Whoosh~

Tang Yaocao's roar cut off abruptly.

An arrow pierced straight through her heart.

Xiao Jiu gripped her longbow, watching the heart that had been beating continuously burst open in Tang Yaocao's chest, yet no blood flowed out.

At the moment the heart burst, it vanished outright.

Just a second ago Tang Yaocao had been shouting loudly, but now she was like a paused recording, staring with empty eyes, completely still.

But in the next instant, Xiao Jiu saw a speck of red 'grow' out where Tang Yaocao's heart had been, quickly swelling and enlarging until it became a heart identical to the previous one.

It began to beat strongly with a thump-thump.

Once the heart had fully regrown, Tang Yaocao's eyes regained their luster, and she laughed: "I told you, I bear the Empress's Destiny Pattern—I can turn skeletal remains into flesh and am immortal; Feng Wu Jiu, even if you kill me ten or a hundred times, it's all in vain—I will always come back to life in the shortest time."

"Is that so?"

Xiao Jiu narrowed her eyes, her gaze sweeping over Tang Yaocao's face and finally locking onto the Soul-locking Nail atop her head.

When Tang Yaocao realized what Xiao Jiu was looking at, she blinked slightly, then said: "How so—do you think pulling out this Soul-locking Nail would completely kill me? It's not like it hasn't been pulled out before; if you want to…"

"I don't want to." Xiao Jiu cut Tang Yaocao off, saying firmly, "I believe you did indeed obtain the Seven Halls Yama's inner core, and your body emanates its mana, but from start to finish I have never seen where that inner core resides in your body."

Logically, you could activate the Seven Halls Yama's inner core for your own use, but you wouldn't be able to absorb all of its power in such a short time—something I've never been able to figure out.

But now I think I've figured it out: the contract you made back then with the Seven Halls Yama must have been about this inner core; you had already considered whether you could control and absorb its power, so to maximize your benefit you forced the Seven Halls Yama to hand over the inner core and transmute its power into the Soul-locking Nail, and it is by absorbing the Seven Halls Yama's inner core power from that nail that you can quickly 'revive' again.

Tang Yaocao, do you say my analysis is correct?

"Even if your analysis is right, what good does it do?!" Tang Yaocao shouted hysterically, "Exactly! The Seven Halls Yama's inner core power is in the Soul-locking Nail, so what makes you think you, with your abilities, could pull that nail out of my skull? Hah, it's not that I'm underestimating you—you simply can't pull it out!"

Xiao Jiu countered: "Why would I need to pull it out?"

"Not pull it out?" Tang Yaocao gave a grim smile, "Do you really intend to keep shooting through my heart over and over to drain the inner core power from the Soul-locking Nail? That's pure fantasy."

Xiao Jiu, however, put away her longbow and shook her head: "Why would I even need to consume the inner core power that rightfully belongs to the Seven Halls Yama?"

Tang Yaocao stared, stunned: "Then what do you want?!"

Xiao Jiu gave no further answer.

Tang Yaocao inexplicably felt a bit panicked.

Actually, from the moment she rushed to Hu Shan and successfully obtained the Seven Halls Yama's inner core, she had inexplicably felt uneasy.

Although everything was being carried out according to the old contract—the Seven Halls Yama, at the brink of death, would hand over the inner core to her and directly infuse its power into the Soul-locking Nail so she could quickly 'revive'—

But when all this actually happened, Tang Yaocao felt an uneasy 'Why is this going so smoothly?'

She even began to suspect that, from the very start of this transaction, she might have already fallen into the Seven Halls Yama's trap.

Would the Seven Halls Yama really sacrifice his life—and even his inner core—for a woman?

His feelings for Tang Xun run so deep—wouldn't he realize that if he were annihilated, Tang Xun would certainly not survive in hiding?

That's the renowned Seven Halls Yama!

He was once famed throughout the Nether Realm as the 'Ice-Faced Yama'.

And what is Tang Yaocao, that she dares to make a deal with someone like him!

But back then, Tang Yaocao had no other options and couldn't think that much; the Seven Halls Yama's condition was indeed so decrepit as to evoke pity…

What Tang Yaocao suspected was exactly what Xiao Jiu thought.

The Seven Halls Yama's love for his younger aunt was genuine—he would give everything for her.

But he would never do so while his younger aunt's situation was still unstable, even if he could be certain she was completely safe, just to give up his life and even his inner core.

The Seven Halls Yama has never acted with so many loopholes.

When Xiao Jiu confirmed that the Seven Halls Yama's inner core power had been injected into Tang Yaocao's Soul-locking Nail, and that Tang Yaocao was using that power to accomplish her 'revival', she thought of a possibility… the Seven Halls Yama was treating Tang Yaocao's body as a kind of 'petri dish'.

Tang Yaocao's Empress's Destiny Pattern is real, and such a pattern requires abundant mana to be watered in order to take root, sprout, blossom, and bear fruit.

The Seven Halls Yama willingly became that 'gardener', using his inner core power to water this ancient divine herb, nurturing its growth…

Pat—

Tang Yaocao felt something liquid-like land on the top of her head, right at the center of her skull.

When it first landed it was cool, quickly seeping into her skull; as it penetrated the Soul-locking Nail, she instantly felt her whole body grow warm, and the heart in her chest began to beat more strongly.

Pat—

Right after, another drop fell.

Drop after drop…