At this moment, Wanyan Meng felt quite helpless. Since childhood, she had been considered an unlucky person, often called the "star of misfortune." Everyone who got close to her ended up extremely unlucky, either meeting a tragic death or suffering a miserable fate. Wherever she went, misfortune followed. As a result, she had no family or friends; no one dared to get close to her.
"I wonder how that girl Jiuzi is doing?"
Wanyan Meng thought as she sped towards the outskirts of the marketplace, worried about the young woman from the Wu tribe. Jiuzi had told her she came from the Wu tribe and had a way to lift the strange curse on her.
Wanyan Meng had been very hopeful, as she wanted to break free from being known as the "star of misfortune." However, Jiuzi had underestimated the terror of the curse.
When Jiuzi tried to lift the curse, it triggered an explosion of the curse's power. At the same time, a beast in Tiannan Market broke through to a higher level, attracting a thunder tribulation.
Because the beast was near her, it got contaminated with her bad luck, causing the ordinary thunder tribulation to turn into a terrifying purple lightning tribulation.
The purple lightning decimated an area of several tens of miles, turning it into a huge crater. However, the Jade-Blooded Toad King successfully advanced and fled into the depths of the Tianxia Mountains.
Three days after Qin Wang rescued Jiuzi, the Wu tribe's heavenly maiden finally woke up. She felt intense pain all over her body. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw Qin Wang meditating nearby and weakly said, "Thank you... for saving me!"
"You're welcome," Qin Wang replied with a smile and a wave of his hand.
"What is your name, kind sir?" Jiuzi asked, looking at Qin Wang.
"I am Li Xiaoye," Qin Wang said after a brief pause, using an alias. "And you?"
After all, he was being hunted by the Tianchu Immortal Dynasty, with a bounty on his head. If his real name were known, someone might turn him in for the reward, which would be disastrous.
"I... I am called Jiuzi," she replied, looking at Qin Wang. "How long was I unconscious?"
"This is eighty miles outside of Tiannan Market. Three nights ago, you were found near a large rock, almost eaten by three tiger beasts. I heard the commotion and saved you," Qin Wang explained, eyeing Jiuzi. "What happened to you? How did you get so badly injured?"
Qin Wang already knew from his intelligence panel that Jiuzi had tried to gain insights from the ancient curse on Wanyan Meng, leading to her current state. Of course, he couldn't reveal that he already knew her background.
"I..." Jiuzi took out a red pill from her storage bag and swallowed it. A red glow enveloped her, and her spirits lifted. She glanced deeply at Qin Wang and said, "It's a long story. I am not a native of the Southern Region but come from the Wu tribe. I am a heavenly maiden of the Wu tribe, here for training."
Seeing Qin Wang's puzzled expression, she continued, "The Wu tribe is located in the Wu Domain. We also practice immortal arts but focus more on witchcraft. I came to the Southern Region and found a woman cursed with an ancient curse, named Wanyan Meng. Overjoyed, I tried to help her break the curse, hoping to gain deeper insights into my witchcraft. But I underestimated the curse's power."
"As I attempted to break the curse, it exploded like a primordial beast. A gray curse power spread from Wanyan Meng, covering the southern part of Tiannan Market. I knew that anyone contaminated by this curse would suffer extreme bad luck, like choking on water while drinking. With my current level of witchcraft, I couldn't seal the curse and could only watch it spread.
"At the same time, a Jade-Blooded Toad King imprisoned by the Sima family in the market broke through to the seventh level, equivalent to the Nascent Soul stage. The curse caused its ordinary thunder tribulation to become a purple lightning tribulation. I activated a small teleportation charm to escape, but still got struck by the lightning, scattering my Golden Core stage cultivation.
"I fled frantically and collapsed near a large rock, where you found me and saved me."
Jiuzi's beautiful eyes still held a trace of fear. She had used a Wu tribe treasure to resist the three strikes of the purple lightning tribulation, but her cultivation was still scattered, leaving her at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. She would need to cultivate again to reach the Golden Core stage.
"No wonder I heard thunder from the market direction while in seclusion. I thought it was a thunderstorm, but it was the Jade-Blooded Toad King undergoing tribulation," Qin Wang said, recalling the thunder he had heard three days ago.
"Benefactor, I need to cultivate to recover from my injuries," Jiuzi said apologetically.
"Go ahead," Qin Wang nodded, sitting down to meditate as well. With Jiuzi nearby, he didn't practice the Star Body Refining Method. According to his intelligence, there was an ancient barbarian god's left hand buried 420 miles away under the Eagle Cliff. Qin Wang planned to go there later, letting his stone soul, Mu Soul, and others dig underground to find it.
As for Zhao Hunyi, Lin Shengbing, Ye Qian, and other soul seeds, they had been used up when Qin Wang exposed the Tianchu Immortal Dynasty's news. He didn't dare to retrieve those puppet soul seeds, fearing the dynasty might track them back to him.
At the same time, in the royal capital of the Tianchu Immortal Dynasty, Chu Wuyia sat in his study, looking at Chu Hanchen. "Hanchen, any news of Qin Tiedan?"
"Your Majesty, not yet," Chu Hanchen replied respectfully.
"That Qin Tiedan has managed to evade our pursuit! Even with the bounty in the entire Southern Region, there's no sign of him!" Chu Wuyia said, narrowing his eyes. "Hanchen, bring me everything Qin Tiedan has come into contact with. We have recently invited a Wu King from the Wu tribe who can use Wu Soul Tracking. It might help us find something!"
Chu Hanchen's eyes lit up at the mention of Wu Soul Tracking. He had heard of the Wu tribe's mysterious and unpredictable witchcraft, which might indeed help track down Qin Tiedan.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will bring everything Qin Tiedan has touched," Chu Hanchen said, bowing and leaving.
"Hopefully, this will help us find Qin Tiedan!" Chu Wuyia thought, looking into the distance. The loss of an ancestral deity's divine sense avatar had delayed the old ancestor's breakthrough to the Transformation stage by thirty years.
Worse, the destruction of the avatar might mean the old ancestor could never reach the Transformation stage. The old ancestor's hatred for Qin Tiedan was immense. Without capturing and brutally torturing him, the old ancestor's fury would not be appeased!