On the way back to the sect, Jian Dan's group took the last flying boat with Kong Xingkun aboard, traveling together with Wu Siyuan and Jian Wu.
While the others clustered together, still quietly discussing last night's trial dream, Jian Dan called Liuli and Jin Ai into the cabin.
"Zūnshàng, do you have instructions?"
The two bowed respectfully to Jian Jing and Jian Dan.
"Liuli, Jin Ai, do you have any medicine that can suppress a cultivator's breakthrough?" Jian Dan asked with a smile.
At those words, Jian Jing knew her good Junior Sister was about to stir up trouble again.
Liuli hesitated and glanced at her aunt. After thinking a moment, Jin Ai said, "Replying to Zūnshàng, there is a plant called 'E-Yin grass' that can choke a cultivator's realm, keeping them stuck at a stage for longer."
"It is quite obscure. You will not find it in the comprehensive herbals." Jian Jing remarked.
"Zūnshàng, strictly speaking it is not a spiritual plant. It is a toxin, a companion poison to a beast called the 'E-Shou', so very few know of it."
Jian Dan's eyes curved with a smile. She asked Jin Ai directly, "You have this poison plant, do you not?"
"I do. I used it when I advanced to Divine Transformation."
"Good." Jian Dan was very satisfied with this poison plant and continued,
"Is it colorless and odorless? How do we make a cultivator take it in?"
Now Jin Ai understood this was for Zūnshàng to use against someone. She could only answer, "I am a poison plant myself. As long as I stay near Zūnshàng for one quarter of an hour, this toxin can seep into a body through the skin."
"Not bad. Any flaws?"
"Yes. Because of my cultivation limit, everyone nearby is affected when I release it. My divine sense cannot precisely control the spread."
"That is fine. If you cannot control it, I can."
Jian Dan said magnanimously. She lifted a hand and the fan with the golden cup and pair of butterflies appeared in her palm. At once, Jin Liuli's brows arched in delighted recognition.
This was the very fan they had used during the Law Enforcement Hall selection, the one that sabotaged Senior Brother Jian Gui's squad in the last round.
Jian Dan then placed an isolation barrier over Jin Ai, instructing her to release the colorless, odorless vapor of this so-called 'E-Yin grass'. When he nodded, she pulled her back out.
Lightly tapping the fan's surface, she sent the two butterflies flitting off the fan face and into the barrier. After a short while they emerged again, wings dragging with weight, and settled back upon the golden cup.
Jian Dan gathered up the barrier together with the remaining vapor the butterflies had not absorbed under their wings. Then she smiled at the two.
"Liuli, when I was in the Law Enforcement Hall I looked into it. The sect stores a poison plant called 'Qian Ji'. It should let Jin Ai assault Divine Soul. When we return, remind Hall Master Jian Li."
"Yes. Thank you for thinking of us, Zūnshàng. Liuli will remember."
Jin Ai bowed, excited, and the two withdrew from the Zūnshàngs' cabin.
"Junior Sister, will Jian Li agree to this promise?"
"He will. To gain, one must give."
"You and your grand principles." Jian Jing laughed, then asked, "You plan to use this on the Kong clan?"
"Of course. If the child is not taught, blame the father. To produce such a thing and strut so arrogantly. If I do not humble them, how will they learn. If not for the war in a hundred years, I would use Kong Xingkun as the wedge to grind them down."
"Haha. I love your little grudges." Jian Jing could not resist teasing.
"Senior Sister, is that praise or mockery?"
"Praise, naturally."
While Jian Dan laughed lightly, the air around Kong Xingkun was sinking to rock bottom. The room was thick with gloom.
At this point Lu Qiao had no energy left to vie for favor. Once she learned from the young master which three female cultivators they had offended, she knew none of the maids would end well.
Kong Xingkun was direct bloodline. The clan would protect him. They would bear the clan's wrath. Now she felt that perhaps Lan Yi's fate had been best.
Two days later, Jian Jing, Jian Dan, and Jian Po took Kong Xingkun and his attendants, quietly disembarked from the flying boat, and arrived in Tianxuan City, the Kong clan's base.
Wu Siyuan and Jian Wu watched as the group vanished from the deck. Jian Wu sighed softly. "Of all people to offend, he chose Jian Lu Zūnshàng. The Kong clan can only pray for themselves."
Wu Siyuan glanced at Jian Wu, coughed lightly, and said, "The Kong clan has had its tail cocked these past years, and it happened to bump against Jian Lu Zūnshàng's sword. Bad luck for them."
Though their words were mild, a hint of schadenfreude still showed on their faces.
This time Jian Jing lifted a hand, and the group flickered to the entrance of the Kong clan's territory.
The gate guards, seeing their young master, stepped forward to salute, but Jian Po's raised hand stopped them. She handed over Jian Dan's calling card.
"Inform your Patriarch. Heavenly Sword Sect's Jian Lu has come to demand an explanation."
The guards' hearts trembled. They hurriedly took the visiting post from the seductive black-robed cultivator and rushed to pass the word along.
Jian Dan, meanwhile, instructed the droop-headed Kong Xingkun, "Kong Xiaoyou, lead the way. Let us admire your clan grounds."
Kong Xingkun felt no joy at returning home. One look at the guards' reactions told him his second uncle had not reported back. Otherwise the reception would be different. He did not know that at this very moment Kong Hui was in the mortal realm riding a flying boat toward the boundary. Just after crossing the barrier, without even showing his identity token to the wardens, he hastily condensed a flying-sword letter to the clan. Too late. One step behind.
Holding her fan, Jian Dan strolled after Kong Xingkun, unhurried as if wandering a garden. The party stepped into the Kong clan's domain.
The Kong clan's grounds were built into the mountain. At the foot lived low-ranked disciples and the clan's mortals who tended spirit rice and spiritual plants. Vast fields stretched from the base up the slope, tier upon tier of terraces filled with spiritual produce.
Mid-mountain came the rows of orderly courtyards, each protected by formations, clearly the cultivation quarters of clan disciples. The higher they climbed, the richer the spiritual energy. A sweep of Jian Dan's divine sense confirmed it. Beneath the whole mountain ran a mid-grade spirit vein.
Jian Dan's lips tilted. If the Kong clan knew their place, she would mete out a light punishment. If they dared to prance in front of her, she would strip their spirit vein.
Past the mid-slope and continuing toward the summit, they finally met the Kong Patriarch coming down to receive them.
"Greetings, Jian Lu Zūnzhǔ. Forgive us for not welcoming you sooner. I am Kong Kong."
The man who came out was the Kong clan's Patriarch, Kong Kong, a mid Divine Soul cultivator. He wore a peacock-blue robe over a general's belly and a round face. His tone was respectful and courteous. He did not mention Kong Xingkun behind the three women with a single word.
Jian Dan continued her leisurely pace, as if touring a flower garden, and still remembered to remind the Patriarch,
"This is my Senior Sister Jian Jing, and this is my subordinate Jian Po. They came with me."
The more cordial Jian Dan sounded, the more the Patriarch's heart pounded. This was nothing like the message that had accompanied the visiting post. It did not sound like someone come to demand an explanation, more like an old friend calling.
Kong Kong kept his courtesy, saluted Jian Jing and Jian Po, and led the three across the forecourt square into the clan audience hall.
Jian Dan still seated Jian Jing at the head, then flicked her fan and said to Kong Kong, "Please invite someone who can truly make decisions to come see us."