[Word Count 1818]

***

“What? Do I look unqualified or are you thinking along the lines that a woman can't be a poison master?” Yun Yao cocked her head with an elegant smile on her cherry lips. 

She was clearly enjoying the moment. Ever since she had met the young man, she had thought that apart from his top-notch looks, there had been something enticing and otherworldly about him. 

Even though he didn't make any effort to hide, Yun Yao had perceived the subtle indifference hidden behind his beautiful silvery gray eyes which were accentuated with attractive dark eyelashes. 

He looked like the type to be unresponsive towards his surroundings as if everything was stale and uninspiring before his gaze. 

Seeing him genuinely surprised by the notion of her secret profession made her feel somehow weirdly accomplished. 

“Who said anything about you being unqualified as a woman?” Zhao Wei grinned while shaking his head in disbelief. 

Did she think he was someone with a stringent patriarchal outlook on certain matters? 

She may have misunderstood the reason behind my loop of surprise, Zhao Wei thought. 

“The reason why I am surprised is because those who dabble in the arts of Poison are very rare as it is treated by many as an unorthodox path.” Zhao Wei clarified and it seemed as if he had a lot to say but restrained himself. 

He just wanted Yun Yao to show him the ropes of the way of Alchemy as soon as possible. He could have opted to pursue the individual practice of pill refinement by himself but Zhao Wei understood that pride sometimes had to be put down. 

The guidance and teaching of an expert - an already established master in the world of Alchemy - was highly indispensable and a shortcut to skip through the unnecessary beginner mistakes. 

Of course, his efforts, hard work, and seemingly good affinity with the craft were going to determine his future progression. 

“Hmm,” Yun Yao hummed softly before squarely looking at Zhao Wei as if she had met a kindred spirit. 

She realized that Zhao Wei had more to say and was only acting on self-preservation. Pursed lips, eyes that would momentarily dart to her Serenity Purple, and the herbs placed before her, even though he tried to hide it, Yun Yao was intelligent enough to read his body language. 

“You have more to say, right?” Yun Yao urged with a knowing, soul-stirring smile. 

She simply couldn't leave him when the topic of interest was all about “Poison”. She felt that Zhao Wei might be harboring a totally different school of thought. 

Seeing her shimmering, almost crazed eyes, Zhao Wei slightly furrowed his brows. 

He knew if he insisted on keeping his opinion at bay, then this pushy woman wasn't going to stop soon. 

“Okay, it's just some generic perspective towards cultivation in general.” Zhao Wei gave in to her inquisitive yet curious hazel-green eyes. 

Yun Yao had a victorious grin, full of smugness. She had won in making Zhao Wei talk about his standpoint on the matter. 

Zhao Wei wondered if the Aphrodite of a woman treated everything as a competition. 

Disengaging his clenched hand from his cheek, Zhao Wei leaned back and assumed a straight, confident posture. 

“What is orthodox? What is unorthodox? What is righteous? What is demonic? Who stipulated that all paths should be categorized under these loose concepts of morality?” He began, his charismatic voice, impactful, full of vehemence and indifference. 

Zhao Wei radiated an air of wildness and abandon like a reckless youth who wasn't constrained by that generalized thought process. 

Yun Yao was captivated, infected by his manly confidence and his unfetteredness. It even affected her breathing rate as she struggled to contain herself due to the joy bubbling inside her heart. 

She understood Zhao Wei as she had once had the same thoughts back in the days when she had bravely pursued triple paths, two admired by many while one was shunned as devilry. 

It was during her youth when she had been around 25 years of age, that she had introduced herself to the rarely charted Dao of Poisons. 

Her late master had once squabbled with her when she had learned about her eventual interest in the so-called unorthodox path. 

But who was she? She was Yun Yao, someone hard-headed, strong-willed, determined, and like the clouds. As much as the clouds might get dispersed by the turbulent cold winds, their indelible mark on the vaults of the heavens would never get erased. 

“You know what? I didn't expect you to be deep but that subtle wildness around you is something that I was never wrong about.” Yun Yao wildly laughed. Her laughter was like that of a carefree child, pure, worriless, and orgasmic to the ears. She seemed unburdened by worldly matters and radiated pure happiness. 

Zhao Wei watched her free-spiritedness at that moment, reveling in that picturesque scene. He decided to save that moment - that image - somewhere in his mind so that when he was free, he would partake in trying to capture the essence of her ethereal beauty inside a painting. 

Even though he still hadn't actively begun to invest in the Path of Painting and Artistry, Zhao Wei made that memory among his task lists.

“Do you want to know the reason behind my interest in Dao of Poison?” Yun Yao vaguely smiled as she turned her attention to the purple-colored cauldron in front of her. 

She then swiftly performed a series of mysterious hand seals that levitated the medicinal herbs above the opened lid of the Serenity Purple. 

Multi-tasking? 

Zhao Wei observed her set of actions carefully. 

“Do you think there's a difference between the Dao of Poison and the Dao of Alchemy?” Yun Yao nonchalantly asked as she used one of her hands to revive the flames of the special fire-attributed combustibles below the cauldron. 

She then used her hand to extract the medicinal essences from each herb. Her usage of the True Force was certainly calculated and kept at a minimum. She seemed to be an advocate of efficiency over quantity. 

In a matter of seconds, several medicinal essences could be seen floating in the air before Yun Yao effortlessly guided them into the cauldron to undergo refinement. 

Zhao Wei didn't answer her question fearing that he might distract her beautiful fluid actions. 

“You needn't worry about me. I can make these types of pills even while my eyes are closed.” Yun Yao smirked. She could already guess what Zhao Wei was thinking. 

“Nothing short of impressive. Alright then, I won't be considerate anymore.” Zhao Wei spoke in slight admiration as he mulled over Yun Yao's question. 

Yun Yao continued whatever she was doing but a small prideful smile lingered on her divine face. It was refreshing. 

“I think…the Dao of Alchemy and the Dao of Poison are of the same essence. Poison can originate from both plants or special beasts and this applies to Alchemy.” Zhao Wei explained after a short moment of drawing inspiration from the esoteric book: 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗮. 

“They both dance on the precipice of life and death; creation and destruction.” 

PAH! 

Yun Yao gently slapped the sides of the cauldron, an action that caused the lid to topple off and what followed was a fresh, rich medicinal aroma of pills. 

Almost immediately, six blood-red pills flew from the cauldron and settled in Yun Yao's small fair hand. 

Under the light of the room, the six blood-red pills exuded a red sheen from their smooth surfaces. 

These 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 were surely of the highest quality! 

Zhao Wei, who had watched every little ministration done by Yun Yao, couldn't help but feel excited about beginning his own practice almost immediately. 

“Your answer is good. Pills can kill. If by an unlucky chance or cruel fate, I was ever born sinister, then killing a huge population will be just as easy as stepping on an ant!” Yun Yao casually stored the fresh steaming pills in a jade bottle, her actions and eerie tone making her terrifying and seemingly insidious like a 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘀.

Zhao Wei loudly gulped. 

“You had once taken different mixtures of poison, right?” Yun Yao then turned her head towards Zhao Wei, giving him a kind smile. 

Her current smile was anything but kind and Zhao Wei was extremely shocked by her powerful intuition or was it something else? 

“How did you know?” Zhao Wei neither denied nor accepted her claim. 

“I have a special gift. I am…” Yun Yao answered before stopping midway. 

“...a Poison Master!” She shamelessly continued. 

Zhao Wei rolled his eyes and almost clicked his tongue. 

“I didn't know you liked making jokes.” He blandly stated. 

Yun Yao smiled vibrantly before her expression turned serious. The shift in expression was so sudden that it slightly alarmed Zhao Wei. 

“You know you could have died when you did what you did. I am extremely surprised that you are even alive and still breathing!” She currently had the demeanor of a strict but caring mother as she openly admonished Zhao Wei's past dangerous actions. 

“Were you trying to build up a stupid poison resistance or were you trying to suicide?!” 

Zhao Wei remained silent as Yun Yao continued to vent about his carelessness and inexperienced bum. 

'Why do you care about my past actions? Didn't I live to tell the tale? Why do you care about me when we barely know each other?’ 

If there was one thing that Zhao Wei was still trying to decipher thoroughly, then it would be women. They were always full of surprises; both predictable and unpredictable at the same time. 

A few minutes later, Yun Yao exhaled silently before looking at Zhao Wei. Her cheeks were flushed in embarrassment after recalling she had acted and talked like she deeply cared about Zhao Wei. 

“Why are you still sitting there? Get your *ss over here!” Yun Yao didn't care about her language. She wanted to mask that weird feeling within her. 

“You have pills to make. And it starts at this very moment!” 

Zhao Wei grinned like a fox which further intensified her shyness. 

“Is purple your favorite color? You seem to like it very much.” 

“Did you watch Barney the Dinosaur when you were a kid, Miss Yun?” 

Zhao Wei eased her situation by asking random questions. 

“Who is Barney the Dinosaur?” 

In the following days, the two followed a repetitive routine of practicing alchemy, secluded cultivation, meditation, and having deep discussions about the Dao of Alchemy and Poison. 

Yun Yao had never felt more alive. As for Zhao Wei, there was one thing that he had been anticipating even as his skills in the creation of pills became better and better each day - he had finally reached the much-needed equilibrium in terms of True Force and the [𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗘𝘆𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁] was about to evolve! 

What are the changes and boons that it was going to bring with it? 

***

Enjoy!

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Author's Note: It's been a very busy week and I had something important IRL to cater for, which I am not gonna explain obviously. But to make up for that, I will be dropping two chapters today. That's all I can do.