C750 Junior Brother

Before him stood the Rahu Ghost King, none other than Luo Yue, the former leader of the Poison Cult and his mentor from a past life!

Yu Yuan's face contorted in confusion, his body rigid as he stood frozen, taking a long while to process the revelation.

"S-senior, do you recognize me?"

Rahu, the Ghost King, struggled to steady her violently shaking phantom, her gaze fixed on Yu Yuan in disbelief. "Could it be that you, Senior, were never actually in the Star River outside the Everlands?" Her eyes were clouded with bewilderment.

She had been under the impression that a Boulderdawn heavyweight was scrutinizing her through Yu Yuan, using him to unmask her true identity.

"S-senior Sister Luo..."

It took an eternity before Yu Yuan could muster a gravelly response. Gathering his thoughts, he stood within the Crucible of Evil and offered a respectful bow to Rahu, the Ghost King. "There's no one else, no Boulderdawn elder you suspect. It's just me, Yu Yuan!"

Upon realizing that the Rahu Ghost King was actually Luo Yue, he abandoned any notion of deceit or the pretense of a hidden master's oversight.

Based solely on the bond he shared with Luo Yue in his former life, he was certain he could persuade her.

"Senior Sister?"

Rahu's expression turned icy, a fierce aura of malice emanating from her slender phantom. She flashed a smile that sent shivers down Yu Yuan's spine. "I vividly recall how my dear junior brother treated me, leading to my rise as the current leader of the Poison Cult!"

"You're from the Poison Cult!"

In the midst of their conversation, Rahu, the Ghost King, effortlessly lifted her hand, and a dazzling orb of seven-colored light began to form in her palm. "Whether or not you're tied to the Poison Cult, I'll find out soon enough!"

Yu Yuan was at a loss for words.

He instantly understood that there must be a bitter feud between Luo Yue and the current Poison Cult leader.

As Luo Yue prepared to strike, Yu Yuan didn't hesitate, blurting out, "My lineage comes from the God of Medicine, Hong Qi!"

"God of Medicine! Mr. Hong!"

Luo Yue's body jolted, and the nascent seven-colored light in her palm burst apart. "Mr. Hong vanished three hundred years ago. After his reincarnation failed, his soul was scattered to the winds! Young man, Mr. Hong has been gone for so long, how could he possibly have taken you as his disciple to impart the art of leechcraft?"

Hong Qi's reputation clearly carried a lot of weight, prompting her to cease her actions immediately.

"Although my master has passed from this world, he made many secret preparations before his reincarnation," Yu Yuan said earnestly. "The art of leechcraft I've mastered originated from Gloomhollow in the Serpent Spine Mountains. It's there that he left a contingency. I learned of your connection to my master through a tome of memories."

"Master mentioned that even though you came from the Poison Cult with a mission to covertly learn his skills, he recognized your potential deep down."

"He truly regarded you as his disciple!"

This wasn't just empty talk.

Yu Yuan was aware that, deep down, he genuinely considered Luo Yue to be akin to a disciple.

Had he not been aware of his impending demise and uncertain of his reincarnation's success, he would have indeed taken Luo Yue from the Poison Cult to become his hand-chosen disciple, dedicating himself to teaching her the art of leechcraft.

"Is this really true?"

Luo Yue's emotions surged, and her spirited body's phantom quivered intensely. "Did Mr. Hong truly see me as his disciple in his heart? What merit do I, Luo Yue, possess to earn Mr. Hong's recognition? I was only beside Mr. Hong because the Sect Master commanded me to covertly learn his leechcraft."

"All these years, whenever I recall Mr. Hong's unreserved teaching, I'm wracked with guilt!"

"How could I, Luo Yue, ever be worthy of Mr. Hong's esteem?"

As Rahu, the newly ascended Ghost King of the Land of Terror, spoke of Hong Qi, she was overwhelmed with shame and remorse, her expression on the verge of tears as if releasing years of pent-up emotional weight.

"Zu Ann rescued me in Afnetalos not because I practiced Boulderdawn's Spirit Magic, but because I am his disciple!" Yu Yuan went on to clarify, "You're aware of the strong bond between Zu Ann and my master."

"Of course," Luo Yue acknowledged with a gentle nod.

With a whoosh, Yu Yuan, from within the cauldron, conjured the Serpentflame furnace from the Bracelet of Holding and lifted it for Luo Yue to see. "You must recognize this furnace, right, Senior Sister Luo?"

"Serpentflame!" Luo Yue exclaimed softly.

When she revealed her true form, Yu Yuan immediately recognized her and mentioned the Serpent Spine Mountains, Gloomhollow, and Zu Ann, Luo Yue was convinced of the great changes that had occurred.

Once the Serpentflame furnace materialized, Luo Yue cast aside all doubts and fully believed Yu Yuan's words.

Yu Yuan was a disciple of the God of Medicine, Hong Qi.

And to her astonishment, she too had been acknowledged by the God of Medicine and treated as his disciple!

All her efforts were not in vain. After ascending to the leadership of the Poison Cult and repeatedly clashing with Zhong Chichen, she found herself in this predicament, with her Lunar Spirit fleeing to the Land of Terror to pursue the path of Spirit Ghost necromancy.

"Senior Sister, how did you come to practice necromancy?" Yu Yuan asked softly.

Upon learning that Yu Yuan was actually a disciple of Hong Qi, Rahu, the Ghost King, immediately felt a sense of kinship and began to share her untold history with him.

After rising to the leadership of the Poison Cult, she had covertly investigated Hong Qi's disappearance.

She never believed Zhong Chichen's claims that Hong Qi had perished due to a failed medicine refinement.

Piecing together various clues, she concluded that Hong Qi's death must have been connected to Zhong Chichen.

Deep down, she had always regarded Hong Qi as her master.

As a result, the Poison Cult and the Order of Healing frequently clashed. At her behest, several elders of the Poison Cult secretly sabotaged many of Zhong Chichen's significant endeavors.

Even the advancement of Zhong Chichen to the middle period of the Unbound Stage was delayed by over a decade due to a shortage of medicinal ingredients.

Her actions ultimately infuriated Zhong Chichen, who meticulously orchestrated a counterattack.

Zhong Chichen's retaliation was intense and underhanded. He persuaded her junior brother to usurp her position as the cult leader, triggering the release of the toxins that had been dormant in her body for years.

She had delved deeply into the study of poisons, refining herself into a poison pill. Fortuitously, she advanced to the Unbound Stage using the poison pill, but her real body was already on the brink of collapse from the severe poisoning.

Without her junior brother's betrayal, she wouldn't have been able to make any further advancements in her realm.

The treachery of her junior brother led to the shattering of her Solar Spirit, and the toxins that had built up in her real body erupted completely. After fleeing thousands of miles to hide, her Lunar Spirit slipped into the Land of Terror.

She was well aware that the poison would cause her fleshly body to decay and perish, leaving her no choice but to switch her practice to necromancy.

Fearing discovery by her junior brother and recognition by Zhong Chichen, she altered her Lunar Spirit's appearance and name in the Land of Terror, adopting the name Rahu.

Her current plight was partly due to her impatience during cultivation, forcing too much poison into her body in an attempt to merge with the Dao and barely stepping into the Unbound Realm.

The result was a catastrophic release of the bodily toxins at a critical juncture.

Yet, as the leader of the Poison Cult, her constant opposition to Zhong Chichen eventually provoked the ire of the current head of the Order of Healing, who focused his efforts on undermining her, contributing to her downfall.

"Her flesh was ravaged by poison, her Solar Spirit shattered, and her Lunar Spirit fled to the Land of Terror. It was also the betrayal by her fellow disciples that led to her demise," Yu Yuan mused, his gaze flickering with a peculiar expression.

He hadn't expected this former half-disciple of his to share so many similarities with his own past.

Indeed, she was the half-protege he had shaped!

"My junior brother and Zhong Chichen now keep to their separate paths, harboring mutual disdain," Luo Yue murmured with a low chuckle, "Yet, when I led the cult, I covertly seized all the medicinal ingredients Zhong Chichen sought. Two of his disciples met their end due to poisoning during their travels."

Luo Yue recounted this with evident relish, "Without my interference, his cultivation level and combat prowess would be even greater than they are now."

But as she spoke, a shadow passed over her eyes, "Regrettably, Zhong Chichen's innate talent for cultivation still surpasses his skill in alchemy, allowing him to advance to the late period of the Unbound Realm."

"My junior brother didn't make the same mistakes I did. He took the lessons to heart and effortlessly ascended to the Unbound realm."

"One is the head of the Order of Healing, and the other, the current leader of the Poison Cult. Both are Unbound-level cultivators. Even as the Ghost King, if my spirit were to break free, I'd still be powerless against them."

"Unless, of course, I could become the mythical God of Ghosts!"

Her excitement surged.

"Senior Sister, I don't have the backing of the Boulderdawn Sect, nor can I speak for them," Yu Yuan said, inhaling deeply, his demeanor grave. "However, in the Land of Terror, I'll do everything within my power to support you."

Luo Yue's agitation subsided, a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth as she gazed down at the pile of bones at her feet. "Him?"

"He's bound by a pact with me, having come from the Moonfall Sanctuary." Yu Yuan paused briefly before continuing, "Senior Sister, is there a chance for him to survive?"

"He was never dead to begin with," Rahu snorted lightly, drawing a pale phantom from the rainbow light above her head and thrusting it into the pile of bones. "For my junior brother's sake, White Bone, I'll act as if none of this ever happened!"

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