"Just an ordinary stone, huh?"
This was the question Jiang Zuo heard from the doorway. The voice belonged to a man—a young one, by the sound of it.
The young man continued, "But the person who gave it to me said he saw black smoke when he found it. Is it possible the appraisal was wrong?"
"Theoretically, it can’t be wrong, unless it’s far beyond my ability to comprehend," a female Appraiser replied. "If you don’t believe me, you can take it to Room Three for another appraisal."
The man sighed. "Forget it. The appraisal fee for Room Three starts at the Fifth-Grade level. That’s outrageous."
Just then, Jiang Zuo walked in. He saw two people inside: a young female Appraiser whose Cultivation was over Tier Three.
And a young man at Tier Two.
Jiang Zuo looked at the stone and said, "An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to see anything special about a stone like this. And even if they could, it would be useless. Only someone who specializes in this field can make use of it.
"Otherwise, you’ll only bring trouble upon yourself."
The young man was surprised. He quickly said, "My Daoist name is Po Du. May I ask how much you know, Fellow Daoist? Oh, I have a Second-Grade Spirit Stone here. I’m a Loose Cultivator, so I don’t have many."
The Appraiser was not pleased. "Fellow Daoist, this is my room. Isn’t it a bit much to come in here and steal my business?"
Jiang Zuo paid her no mind, instead looking at Po Du. "I don’t need your Spirit Stone. I just want to know where this stone came from."
Po Du immediately said, "It’s from—"
But before Po Du could finish, the Appraiser stood up and said in a grave tone, "Fellow Daoist, if you want to know where this stone came from, shouldn’t you show us something convincing first?
"For instance, is this stone really as dangerous as you say? If you’re just making things up, I won’t be so courteous."
Jiang Zuo held out his hand. "Give it to me."
Po Du handed the stone to Jiang Zuo.
Holding the stone in one palm, Jiang Zuo lightly tapped it with a finger from his other hand.
The moment his finger made contact, a plume of black smoke erupted from the stone.
The smoke carried an endless malevolence, like vengeful souls from the depths of the netherworld. It was both frenzied and wicked, as if it wanted to devour everything.
Everything the black smoke touched was tainted by its malevolence.
After the Spirit Plant on the Appraiser’s desk was enveloped by the black smoke, it swiftly turned black, twisted, and then dissolved into the smoky mass. It was as if it had become a malevolent entity, lunging out from the cloud.
Both the Appraiser and the young man jumped in fright.
They scrambled back, but to their horror, they discovered that their hands had, at some point, been tainted by the black smoke.
Then, they felt something gnawing at them from within their bodies, as if trying to tear them apart and take their place.
This change filled them with terror.
Their bodies began to ache with immense, unstoppable pain.
Just as they were about to scream, the pain vanished as suddenly as it had come.
The pain vanished so abruptly that they barely had time to register it.
The black smoke had vanished as well. Huddled in the corner, they glanced over at Jiang Zuo.
The stone was still in his hand, resting there quietly, looking utterly ordinary.
It was as if the whole thing had been an illusion.
If not for the fact that the Spirit Plant on the desk had been reduced to dust, they would have believed it was.
"This is a Cursed Stone. It contains a vast amount of Curse Power, but that power doesn’t belong to the stone. It belongs to something... or someone.
"The moment that thing or person awakens, all the Curse Power bound to them will erupt instantly.
"You’ve already seen the consequences. The curse starts from within, and once you’re tainted, it’s nearly impossible to escape." Jiang Zuo’s voice drifted into their ears.
Jiang Zuo then tossed the Cursed Stone back to Po Du. However, the moment Po Du saw the Cursed Stone flying toward him, he jumped back in terror.
There was no way he would dare touch the Cursed Stone again.
That thing was a death sentence.
"F-Fellow Daoist," Po Du stammered, "the stone... it’s... it’s yours."
Jiang Zuo shook his head. "This is of little use to me. It’s not easy to control something that doesn’t belong to you. I only want to know where the stone came from."
Keeping his distance from the Cursed Stone, Po Du said, "It... it was mailed to me by a good friend from the Sword Cultivation Lineage."
Jiang Zuo frowned. ’The Sword Cultivation Lineage?’
’How could the Sword Cultivation Lineage possibly have a stone like this?’
"Where did he find it? Or who gave it to him?" Jiang Zuo asked.
Po Du shook his head. "No, it was discovered by the Sword Cultivation Lineage. My friend said a new Secret Realm appeared in their territory, and this stone was found near it."
Jiang Zuo’s brow furrowed. "Are you sure this thing is from the Sword Cultivation Lineage’s territory?"
Po Du thought for a moment. "I suppose so. But with all those vast mountains, it might not be strictly considered part of the Sword Cultivation Lineage’s lands."
Hearing Po Du’s words, Jiang Zuo froze.
’All those vast mountains?’
He remembered the Sword Cultivation Lineage being located on an island. Each of the Celestial Permanence Seven Veins resided on a different island.
’So, where did things go wrong?’
’Did I remember it wrong?’
’How could that be? I wasn’t crazy back then.’
At that, Jiang Zuo asked, "Where is the Sword Cultivation Lineage located?"
The question stunned Po Du. ’This person doesn’t even know where the Sword Cultivation Lineage is?’
He didn’t dwell on it, however, and simply answered, "The Sword Cultivation Lineage is in the Hengyue Mountain Range."
Jiang Zuo’s frown never eased. ’Hengyue Mountain Range?’
’I’ve never even heard of it, much less believe the Sword Cultivation Lineage would be located there.’
’Besides, it’s a mountain range, so it’s even less likely to be overseas.’
’So where was the discrepancy?’
Jiang Zuo didn’t have an answer. ’Either the worlds are different, or the Celestial Permanence Seven Veins relocated.’
’But why would the Celestial Permanence Seven Veins need to relocate?’
’A Feng Shui issue?’
’That’s a possibility. The Feng Shui Lineage might just do something like that.’
’But the Feng Shui over there clearly wasn’t good, since only the Celestial Secret Lineage was left in the end.’
’As for it being a different world, that’s impossible. The Celestial Tribulation remembers me, which means the world itself hasn’t changed.’
’From my connection with the Celestial Tribulation, I know it keeps data records. I just don’t know if it only has a record of me, or if it does for others as well.’
Jiang Zuo didn’t have a final answer, but he filed the matter away. He needed to investigate this thoroughly.
He knew just how terrifying curses were, and the Cursed Stone reminded him of a certain place.
But right now, his main concern was Su Qi.
If the stone truly came from the Sword Cultivation Lineage, then he needed to be careful—careful that Su Qi didn’t become tainted.
Curses were disgusting and vicious things that often left one feeling utterly helpless.
With his current Cultivation, Jiang Zuo could probably break the curse if he put in enough effort, but the process would involve immense suffering. The thought of letting Su Qi endure that kind of agony made him want to explode with rage.
So, he needed to handle this matter with caution.
A trip to the Sword Cultivation Lineage was now imperative for Jiang Zuo. He had to find out exactly what was going on.
Not long after, Jiang Zuo left Room Seven.
As for the Cursed Stone, he truly had no interest in keeping it.
The Appraiser stared blankly as Jiang Zuo left. She had been convinced he was trying to trick them, all for the sake of getting the stone.
But he hadn’t even given the stone a second glance.
’So, could what he said actually be true?’