'Phantasm, be ready for Little Purple's signal.'
Rihanna was currently hidden inside the loft created by the roots over the Blood-pool. She had some Venomous Glass-glow Grass, some of the blood and saliva of the Blood-Venom Snake, and a handful of Stings of the Ice-Sting Wasps. Under the tutelage of the Seed, she learned how to extract the poison from each, then mixed it with some Illusion Dust, binding the entire mixture with refined frost energy.
Though this elixir was less potent than something made in an elixir cauldron, with Little Purple's added energy, its power was pretty strong.
On the side she had also concocted aura hiding potions, invisibility potions and disguise potions. The sack full of energy-blasting balls were all filled up with Rihanna and Little Purple's combined energy before being dipped in aura hiding and invisibility liquid to make sure no one would be able to find them out before time.
Being able to use the energy stored inside her made a lot of things easier. Rihanna pursed her lips. The poison liquid had been liberally coated on the bleeding wounds of all the fresh corpses up in the root-web.
Before coming here she had taken a trip to the room where Phantasm was being held captive. Avoiding the beast in the waters, she had left an invisible Fluffy to stay with Phantasm and keep a lookout. She had also poured a large amount of the Illusion Dust into the tiny spring coming out through the walls at the back. The water would merge with the water of the pool.
As soon as Little Purple sensed that the teams of people coming to eliminate the Dormions were nearby, he would send a signal to Phantasm. He needed to let go of the Illusion Array on the outside, and start merging his illusion powers with that of the Illusion Dust. The High Grade beast was most probably contracted to the Leader, and they needed to make sure he was unable to come to the rescue of its master.
Rihanna took a deep breath, and as she was wondering if the woman would come to take a bath or not, she heard the sound of something heavy making a lot of noise and moving. Cautiously she peeked through the roots. A large gaping hole had appeared in the wall, just above the flight of steps.
The Leader of the Dormions walked in leisurely, removing the slip of robe as she stepped down the stairs, leaving the back trailing behind her as the front came undone. Rihanna quietly wrapped up whatever aura might be leaking from her, sitting as quiet as a mouse above the loft.
Freeing herself from all constraints of clothes and accessories, she drew a ripple in the Blood-pool, and a part of the water crystallized, forming a shining blood-mirror. The woman stared at her naked self, appreciating her own form and figure.
"Tsk! These righteous sects are so predictable...as if they can catch me by surprise by coming in large groups! Well.....if they want to provide me with free business....then why should I disagree. Anyway, the others will be coming back in two days. I just need to keep them occupied in the illusion for two days. Then we can send them off to the base just like the others. These lone cultivators just don't learn that they are just free pawns in this game between us and the government....Hmph!"
Rihanna was startled initially, but quickly realized this woman was speaking to herself. Pretty and vain.....hopefully this vanity would be the end for her.
But there were others coming to back her up?...if she ran off with so many people towards the desert, it would slow her down a lot....a very easy target to chase and capture. Would she need to change her plans then?!
The woman had already entered the pool, and was blissfully swimming around and diving down, absorbing all the blood around the pillar. Rihanna tensed, wondering if the poison was starting to take effect. She waited for a long while, her anxiety building up bit by bit. She had never really poisoned a person...she couldn't help feeling a bit panicked.
'Don't panic. Your breathing and aura will give away the whole set-up! The poison is in the liquid form, so it will be more diluted. Don't worry.....with my added energy, it should start taking effect by now.'
Rihanna peeked out. The woman had dived into the pool, but had yet to come to the surface. Where was she?! Could she have sensed something wrong already?! She was having a bad feeling! Should she instruct Phantasm to start off with the illusion array on the high level beast.....what if the woman contacted him before they were ready?!
As she was thinking, the surface of the pool broke out in large ripples, and the head of the woman surfaced. Her eyebrows were drawn into a tight line, and the grim tautness around her lips already answered Rihanna.
"Ha-ha-ha....you sure are bold! You dared to enter my lair and poison me! You must be one of those lousy righteous sect people...did they send you to infiltrate my group and kill me. Hmph! Do you really think just this bit of poison will kill me! If you have the guts, show me your face! And if you don't, then you better find a really good place to hide. For if I catch you, I will repay this favour a hundred times over!"
'Phantasm. Let go of the outer illusion, and immediately start the inner illusion. Do whatever it takes to distract the beast there, but don't put yourselves into trouble!'
The woman was looking around. She sure had understood that the blood-pool had been poisoned. And the poison was spreading inside her body at an alarming speed. Even though she was only a few meters from the bank, her limbs were already refusing to cooperate. Even floating on the surface was taking all her energy.
She had to swim to the bank. There were all types of antidotes in her space ring, so she was sure one of them would work. But she felt that whoever had poisoned the pool would definitely be in the vicinity.....to keep a check on her. And she needed to stall for time till her little lizard came.
'Stupid Girl. This beast has been contacted through the spirit link, and it is trying to fight against the illusion. I-I'm having difficulty holding him back!'
'How long can you hold him?'
Maybe a few minutes. If you can kill the master of this beast, then the beast will also suffer from contract backlash, and then it will not be able to get out of this illusion.'
Kill?!....How could she kill a live person?!
'If you have to kill.....then you will have to kill. Remember....there are a lot of people's lives depending upon what decision you make! If this woman is not killed and the beast is not stopped.....we might not be able to leave this place alive! If you have decided to take on the responsibility of so many people on your shoulders.....then learn how to fulfil your duties for the sake of these responsibilities! You did not decide to save them just to have them die a more miserable death!'
Rihanna shuddered, taking a huge gulp to choke back the panic and anxiety rising within...I might have to kill to keep all the rest alive?!.....Could she do it? But what if she had to do it?!...she gulped again, then looked down at the woman who was fast losing her ability to even float on the bloody waters swirling in the pool.
This woman...if left alive, she would definitely become a great threat in the future. Moreover she was not like Su Matsao.....she would use every mean available to catch, humiliate, even suck up all her energy and essence, probably forcing her to live a life worse than death. A life worse than those men who were being tormented by her every day! Rihanna gritted her teeth, trying to come to a decision.
This decision would probably change her life. But she could not afford to hesitate nor regret making this decision.
'Fine! Phantasm.....a few minutes are enough. I will deal with her in the meantime. Ancient Seed.....lend me some of your refined frost energy.'
Probably because she was caught in a corner at the moment, but the Seed did not shun her as usual. A steady stream of dense white energy poured out of her fingers, merging into the blood still dripping from the carcasses.
As the frost-blood drops merged into the blood-pool, Little Purple also sent out a string of his own energy, speeding up the process of combing poison with frost, making the poison more viscous and potent, and at the same time, freezing off the water of the pool, successfully restraining the woman in the middle of the pond.
One of the effects of the poison was attacking the nerves of the body making the person unable to move their limbs and also unable to use their spiritual power. Though the time span was not very large, but at this moment, it had the woman completely in their grasp. Rihanna tied a black cloth around her head and face, and jumped down from the root-loft.
Though she was still invisible, but after having used some of her own energy, the woman was able to faintly make out the aura of another person inside the cave, and looked around viciously, trying to see the person who had caught her so unprepared!
"You have the guts, young man! No, this aura! Hmph! So you thought you could get in by using disguise and catch me off-guard! You still have a lot to learn, young man! You had better kill me now.....or else, once I come out of this alive, I will show you the eighteenth level of hell!"
Rihanna shuddered inwardly at the domineeringly vicious aura of the woman. She had truly pissed this woman off. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her mind as she strode towards the space ring the woman had kept on her cloak at the side of the pool.
Picking up the green jade thumb rings, she walked over the frozen blood-pool, kneeling beside the woman. All the while she had completely closed off her hearing senses. This woman was trying to bide her time till her beast came. She did not know if there more beasts here contracted to this woman, nor how strong they were. She had to get the things as fast as possible and then disappear before anyone came.
'If you kill her, the spiritual barrier on the ring will automatically vanish, and then you can make it your own.'
Rihanna blanked out for a second, a shudder coursing through her spine. Kill?....She could feel her breath getting trapped in her chest. Even as she took out the dagger she always carried on her body, she couldn't make up her mind.
'Little Purple.....is there truly no other way?...I don't want to kill.....at least not now. Even after knowing all the things she has done, even though I don't wish for her to be able to live the easy life anymore.....I still don't want to kill her. Not because of her....but because I can't agree with this method. Please tell me some other way.'
Little Purple hesitated, then sighed. He should have known she would not agree. This was what made her different. She was still the same in so many ways...could she really change what had happened so many, many years ago?
'Fine. Then the only other way is to cripple her meridians and dig out her spirit root. But you have to be fast and precise. We don't have too much time. Wait....I'll help you.'
Little Purple infused his energy into Rihanna's energy, as she let out a steady string of energy into her dagger. The woman's eyes opened in disbelief, and she started screaming. Unfortunately for her, Rihanna still could not hear a single word she was screaming.
Under Little Purple's guidance, Rihanna slashed through all the main nerves and meridians in the woman's body. She stilled a bit after that, wondering how to dig out the spirit root.
'Rihanna.....i can't keep him anymore. He has probably sensed his master is in grave danger and is thrashing all around with great strength. I can't control him anymore!'
Rihanna frowned, knowing her time was almost up. Decisively she plunged her dagger into the dantian, inserting more spirit energy to trap the spirit seedling inside. Using the tip of the dagger, she started hacking at it till most of the plant fell off, then dragged it out of the body.
Stashing away the spirit root into her own space ring, she poured the blood of the woman onto the thumb rings, allowing Little Purple to mix his energy into the blood. His spirit energy surged and forcefully opened the barrier of the ring. With no time to waste, Rihanna directly poured all the contents of the two thumb rings into her Spirit Space. The Seed would definitely be fuming fire through its roots, but she could only try to cajole it later on.
Now...she needed to run!