Evan Chu silently watched Elena Rainveil as she bathed, his mind utterly clear of distractions. Several places on Elena’s body had exposed bone, and even those bones were blackened—a horrifying testament to the terror of the Peerless Doom Poison.
She was a late-stage God-Venerable, one of the top figures in the God Realm, and yet she’d been tormented to such a miserable state. Still, she hadn’t uttered a single cry of pain. Evan knew she must be suffering terribly, but she simply refused to let him see her weakness.
Her once-perfect figure was now riddled with wounds, a devastating blow for any woman who cared about her beauty. Worse, she had to bare herself completely before the man she loved—a test of courage and willpower few could endure.
Neither Evan nor Elena spoke, but they both understood what the other was thinking. After a while, Elena finished scrubbing away the blood and rotting flesh. Removing the decayed meat was excruciating, yet she didn’t make a sound. Evan couldn’t help but feel both admiration and heartache.
Then Elena took clean clothes from her storage ring and changed. It was as if she’d transformed—still beautiful, still regal, though her pale face now held a sickly allure that made her seem untouchable.
“Old Goldwing, Shadow, come back!” Evan called loudly toward the sky.
The three quickly returned. Blue-Shade God-Venerable was unfazed—he’d long since seen Elena’s beauty. But Shadow and Old Goldwing were both stunned. “Big Brother, Sister-in-law is gorgeous! She could go toe-to-toe with Roxanne and Yvonne!”
Elena forced a smile. “Shadow, you’re flattering me. I don’t dare compare myself to them. I’ve never met them, but I know they’re far prettier. I’m old and faded—no contest.”
“Alright, enough with the jokes. Let’s get down to business. Shadow, can you clear out the poison in your sister-in-law? Her life is hanging by a thread—we can’t afford any mistakes!” Evan said solemnly.
“Don’t worry, Big Brother. Let me take a close look at her injuries and the poison first. This might be the most vicious toxin I’ve ever seen—I’m not fully confident,” Shadow replied.
Shadow’s words didn’t surprise Evan. His own Primordial Dragon Blood could neutralize all poisons, but now it was only one part of the antidote—proof of just how terrifying the Peerless Doom Poison was. What Evan really hoped was that Shadow could suppress Elena’s poison for a while, buying them time to find Roxanne Lin.
“Just do your best, don’t force it! Even if you can’t cure her, I won’t blame you. Go ahead and give it a try!” Evan encouraged.
Elena and Blue-Shade exchanged confused glances, not sure what special detoxification method Evan and Shadow had in mind. But since Evan insisted, they didn’t ask further.
Shadow stepped up to Elena. “Sister-in-law, I’ll need a sample of your blood!” His hand instantly morphed into a razor-sharp claw, gleaming coldly in the air. With a swift slash across Elena’s arm, a stream of black, foul-smelling blood gushed out.
Shadow hurriedly dipped his claw in the blood and retreated. Black smoke began curling off his claw, and the nails visibly disintegrated in seconds—within a few breaths, his long claws were gone.
He quickly restored his human hand, frowned, and said, “This poison really is tyrannical. Anyone else would’ve died instantly. Only Sister-in-law’s strength lets her hang on this long. But with my current cultivation, I can’t cure it.”
“So there’s really no way? Then we’ll just have to find Roxanne and hope for a miracle,” Evan sighed, a bit disappointed. He’d known Shadow probably couldn’t cure Elena, but still hoped for a miracle.
Everyone looked at Shadow. Elena gently said, “This poison is just too fierce. It’s normal that you can’t cure it. Don’t blame yourself.”
But then Shadow said, “It’s vicious, but I can still suppress it. If I had God-Venerable-level strength, I could clear it out in half a stick of incense. As I am now, I can only gradually force the toxin into one place and hold it down. In the end, we’ll still need Sister-in-law Roxanne’s blood to finish the job.”
Everyone had been disappointed, but now hope sparked—a miracle, after all. Elena had only ten or so days left to live, but if the poison could be suppressed, everyone could breathe easier.
“How long can you suppress it? A month, a year?” Evan asked immediately. Blue-Shade, Old Goldwing, and Elena all wanted to know too.
“Way longer than that, Big Brother. You know who I am. If I had enough strength, I could clear it out completely. So the suppression period is plenty long—I guarantee at least three to five hundred years.
But there’s a catch: while the poison is suppressed, Sister-in-law can’t use any Divine Power, and she should avoid walking around—basically bedridden. If she moves around too much, the suppression drops to a hundred years at most.
Of course, if there’s an extremely cold Mystic Ice to freeze her body, that adds another five hundred years. The problem is, this isn’t ordinary Mystic Ice—it’s the God Realm’s unique Spiritfrost God-Ice,” Shadow explained honestly.
“Spiritfrost God-Ice? I’ve lived in the God Realm for countless years and never even heard of it. How could we possibly get some?” Blue-Shade asked, stunned. It was his first time hearing of it, so he was naturally curious.
“Spiritfrost God-Ice almost never appears in the God Realm. It’s a product unique to cold-ice divine beasts, and the conditions for its formation are extremely harsh. It’s normal you haven’t heard of it—I only know about it from inherited memories,” Shadow said.
Evan fell into deep thought, then suddenly smiled. “Shadow, are you talking about cold-ice divine beasts? Does a mid-stage God-Venerable Ice Wolf count?”
“Ice Wolf? Big Brother, you know an Ice Wolf? And a mid-stage God-Venerable one at that? That’s impossible—Ice Wolves are ancient divine beasts, basically extinct, like the Divine Roc. Unless one evolved, meeting one is nearly impossible without extraordinary luck,” Shadow blurted in shock.
“Haha! You have no idea—there’s an Ice Wolf right inside the Timewheel Bracelet, and he’s my little brother too. I’ll call him over right now!” Evan laughed happily...