22 - The Red Haired Little Girl
As Itachi moved across through the Cyan Wood Forest he decided to take a break. He thought about the last few days and remembered that he hasn't cultivated in the past few days.
Itachi did the procedure of connecting his chakra coils and profound veins and also took out the profound opening powder. He wanted to test if there was any effect if he ate it. It was said to have properties of healing a person's profound veins but would it work if someone's veins were crippled?
'Let's test the theory' Itachi thought as he used the profound powder. From Xiao Kuangyun's spatial ring Itachi gained 15 sets of profound opening powder. Once he used it he suddenly felt his profound veins heat up a little, but other than that there weren't any other effect.
'It seems, it can't huh' Itachi sighed to himself. He knew healing a person's profound veins are harder than ascending the heavens, but he wanted to try everything that had at least a chance of working.
Shaking his head, Itachi went back to cultivating. But as he was about to start cultivating he suddenly felt a throb on his hand and saw the Sky Profound Pearl began flashing green. The next second the same little girl with red hair appeared, still wearing the robe he wrapped her in.
Itachi suddenly jumped up, on guard, and activated his sharingan as he remembered her abnormal strength the night he found her. But his eyes widened when he looked at the girl, last time he was too focused on saver her that he didn't pay attention to anything else. But looking at the little girl in front of him now he was shocked. Her body was different from other people.
"This hateful Absolute God Slaying Poison... How could this princess… experience such a…. rebound... that hateful witch!" The little girl said. She seemed arrogant, not like the arrogance of Xiao Kuangyun but that of noble aloofness. But as she talked she looked to be in pain.
"...Little girl... you woke up" Itachi spoke getting the girl's attention. When she looked at him, Itachi for some reason felt a chill down his spine. Although he didn't show it he felt the little girl in front of him as terrifying.
Hearing Itachi she turned around to look at him. Her face was even more beautiful than Xia Qingyue even though she was but 12-13 years of age. Her pained face looked at Itachi as she spoke in a cold voice "How unbelievable, the Sky Poison Pearl would actually choose a useless common person like you as its master! Don't tell me that this Heavenly Profound Treasure's spirituality had already become distorted?"
Hearing the girl, Itachi suddenly turned cold. After all, those who knew of the Sky Poison Pearl must not be simple. If word got out that he was in possession with it he would be hunted down like Yun Che. Although he felt that this girl might have answers to restoring his veins he shook his head in misfortune. She needed to forget she ever saw him.
Quickly Itachi flickered toward her using his profound energy to activate his sharingan instead of his chakra since he still had them connected with his profound veins.
"What?! I sensed you to be a cripple, how could you be this fast and use profound energy?!" the little girl said as she locked eyes with Itachi. But the next moment she disappeared and appeared behind him as she clutched his neck with her hand.
"You... you dared to try attack this princess!?" She said as she looked at Itachi. But suddenly Itachi's body burst into a flock of crows.
*Caw!* * Caw!* *Caw!*
"What? What profound technique is this?!" She said but suddenly saw the sky turned to the same shade as he hair. "This is... an illusion!" She said as she suddenly broke her illusion.
{a/n: She broke his illusion because of her strong will for vengeance. Brocon loli was also at the divine master level before so she should have had good mental fortitude}
Feeling his Illusion broken, Itachi felt cold sweat form on his forehead as he stared at the little girl in front of him. 'Looks like I'll have to kill her' Itachi thought with a pained expression. He didn't want to kill a little girl but it seemed to be no other way it seemed she was immune to his genjutsu. She knows of the Sky Profound Pearl, which could bring him misfortune.
After a green glow a dagger appeared in his hand as he threw it toward the little girl. But the next second it passed through her. 'What?' Itachi questioned before he suddenly had a realization 'The reason her body is so strange.... she is ethereal and not physical'
"To dare trap this princess in an illusion... hmph never mind, mortal tell me. Where did you obtain the Sky Poison Pearl!" She said as she looked at Itachi.
"I have no obligation to tell you" Itachi spoke as he realized that the girl in front of him had a higher cultivation than him meaning she could kill him anytime she wanted. His sharingan's genjutsu also was unaffected as she seemed to have high mental fortitude and her will seemed to be tempered.
The girl stared into his eyes for three whole seconds, then finally fluctuated a little. Using a icy cold tone that shouldn't belong to a twelve or thirteen year old girl, she plainly said: "Sky Poison Pearl, ranked fifth in the seven Heavenly Profound Treasures; limitless inner space, can counteract all poisons, refine all ingredients. When appeared for an instant one thousand and three hundred years ago, the whole world turmoiled to obtain it, then it disappeared without a trace. I didn't expect, that it actually landed into a wastrel with forever broken Profound Veins' hands! And even fused with your body! What ridiculousness. I don't know whether this Sky Poison Pearl had lost its spirituality, or its spirit had thoroughly become insane!"
'Seven Heavenly Profound Treasures…. Ranked fifth? Is she talking about the Sky Poison Pearl? There are another six that are on par and even 4 that are better?' Itachi thought but he remembered the pendant his grandfather said was from his birth parents. 'Is that also a heavenly profound treasure?'
{a/n: I made an error, he should have had no knowledge of the profound treasures so Ima have to edit some earlier chapters}
The girl's brow that was like a waning moon suddenly sunk, a wave of ice cold murdering intent solidified and tightly caged Itach's body: "If the Sky Poison Pearl would even fuse with a wastrel like you, there is no reason it wouldn't fuse with this princess!"
A flood of cold gale flew toward Itachi and his back violently crashed into the tree trunk behind him before he could even react. The girl's charming face full of murderous intent was now only a foot away, and her left hand tightly gripped on his throat.
"I'll give you two choices." The girl's absolute stunning features were now full of dreadfulness, and every word from her tender voice is chilling: "Your first choice, obediently turn over the Sky Poison Pearl to this princess. The other is that this princess will take the Sky Poison Pearl from your dead body after I take your life!"
" I choose the second option" Itachi spoke as he locked eyes with the girl
The girl's lovely eyes narrowed, and sneered: "You think I wouldn't dare to?"
As she was speaking, her fingers abruptly tightened. Five lines of frightening blood prints immediately appeared Itachi's neck, and his complexion turning pale but he still had an expressionless face as he spoke " I realized... that you are considerably higher than me in cultivation... you could have killed me without all that talking and risking your poison to rebound... yet you still not killed me" Itachi spoke
The little girl looked at him in silence as she was shocked that he analyzed he so thoroughly. Looking at her Itachi continued. " You are poisoned with something only the Sky Poison Pearl can cure. It not only poisons the body but the soul as well. You only have a semi-physical body right now because of my blood you sucked that night, if my guess were to be correct as you borrowed power from the Sky Poison pearl that was fused with me." He said looking at the girl " My death will only lead to yours as well"
"You... you aren't as useless as you look" She said as she loosened her hold of his neck. As soon as she did so Itachi flickered a few meters away from her.
"You... how could you do that even when I sense your profound veins are crippled?" The girl asked "No matter, it is your blessing to have encountered me. If you promise this princess three conditions, I shall give you a new set of profound veins!" She said
" What conditions are those?" Itachi said a little suspicious.
Jasmine knew he definitely couldn't reject her offer so she just cut to the chase and directly answered: "The first condition, you must promise to help this princess find three items… They are: A stalk of Netherworld Udumbara Flower, three Profound Beast Cores no lower than that of the Tyrant Profound Realm as well as… At least thirty-five kilos of Purple Veined God Crystal!"
Hearing those Itachi looked at her before he said " I refuse. Most of those are impossible for me to obtain"
"Wait! You don't have to get it now" The red haired girl spoke "The poison has invaded my soul; even with the Sky Poison Pearl, it would take a number of years before it would detoxify completely. After the poison on me had detoxified, I would have to rebuild my body. And these three items are necessary for me to rebuild my body, not a single one is dispensable!"
"Then how long should that take?" Itachi said
"Thirty years!"
'Thirty years...' Itachi thought before he looked at the girl. " Very well then, I will try to retrieve these items for you in thirty years. The next condition?"
"The second condition; you must, within thirty years, reach the Sovereign Profound Realm!" The girl said clearly as she looked at Itachi who merely stayed silent and asked why must he reach that level.
A human's vitality is related to their own Profound Strength. This princess' weak body currently originates from your vitality. This princess wants to rebuild her body and retain her previous strength, so I must at least have the vitality of the Sovereign Profound Realm!" The girl said calmly.
' Sovereign Profound Realm... so it seems she was at least in a realm even greater than Sovereign Profound..' Itachi thought inwardly before asking for the next condition.
The girl's gaze once again landed on his body, becoming strict and proud: "The third condition… Kneel down and worship me as your master!"
Without hesitation Itachi replied " I refuse!"
"Reason." Jasmine said plainly
" I will never accept a master driven by revenge. You will only lead me to the path of darkness " Itachi spoke calmly.
"This! How do you know of such a thing?!" She spoke coldly
"I have seen the look in your eyes, no matter how you hide it my eyes can see through them, it is also something I myself amfamiliar with" Itach said " I can do the first two but not the third"
"You!"
" How about a deal?" Itachi said calmly as he gazed at the girl.
" A deal? Very well then, this princess shall hear you out" She said.
" I will fulfill the first two conditions if you restore my profound veins. Although I cannot take you as my master how about we be partners" Itachi spoke.
"Partners?" She asked
"Yes, this is only for our own interests and benefits. So I will be your business partner and in thirty years pay you back by doing the first two conditions." He spoke
"Hmm, very well. This princess will give you a chance" She said. Usually she wouldn't do such a thing, but looking at the mortal in front of her she felt that she should take the risk.
"Very well then. How will you fix my profound veins?" He asked.
"Do you know for what reason I was chased, and infected by this terrifying poison afterwards?" She asked as she walked towards him.
"..." Itachi only remained silent at her question. They have only just met, how should he know her affairs.
Seeing as he wasn't answering the girl continued "Because of….. this drop of blood! She said as she lifted her right hand. Her thin and delicate index finger erected toward the sky, and from the area of her fingertips, a drop of a dark-red water droplet-like object slowly rose accompanied by a shimmering ball of eerie light, until it hovered over her fingertips.
"..." Itachi looked at the drop of blood and with his sharingan he analyzed it. It seemed that the profound energy in the air seemed to gravitate to the drop of blood
"Three hundred years ago, someone found an ancient book while exploring an dangerous ruin from the Ancient Era. There recorded a message: "In the Primordial Era, there existed a true god also known as the "Evil God". He was the last god who remained after the downfall of the Era of the Gods. His downfall marked the true end of Era of the Gods. And during the Heretic God's downfall, he left a droplet of indestructible blood that embodied his source of power…."
"If one could acquire this drop of indestructible blood and infuse it into their body, their Profound Veins would be able generate the power of the Evil God!"
"Many people quickly gained knowledge about this record; the words 'Power of the True God' was irresistibly alluring to everyone. Thus, many people started to madly search for the blood of the Evil God. But for centuries, no one had any success, and it was not until one month ago that someone found the location of the Evil God's downfall. Hence, innumerous people rushed to that place in order to find the remnants of the Evil God. Inadvertently, the legendary 'Indestructible Blood of the Evil God' was actually found, and caused everyone to scramble for it….. But in the end, it fell into my hands.
" So they chased you for possessing the blood of the Evil God " Itachi said as he slightly widened his eyes. He had no knowledge of the 'Evil God' and was surprised that gods even existed in this world.