Chapter 677: Icy Heart Success - 677
Skymender's carriage soon arrived at the gates of the Imperial Palace. This was the first time that he had arrived without some sort of invitation, so before they even searched him, the guards asked what business he had there.
"I'm here to meet the Imperial Scholar." Skymender said.
The guards looked at each other. "You can't just meet the Imperial Scholar whenever you want. You need to have some sort of invitation or appointment scheduled."
"There are exceptions. Just send a message. He will agree."
The guards hesitated for a moment, but since Skymender was a noble, they took his word for it. It wouldn't be good for the guards or Skymender if he bothered the Imperial Scholar for no reason.
Surprisingly quickly, they received a response.
"You may enter after being searched." One of the guards said.
Skymender nodded, and after a brief search, he was allowed to enter. With a guard guiding him, he made his way to the Imperial Scholar's office.
"Here you are." The guard said before leaving.
Skymender knocked on the door and soon heard a voice.
"Come in."
Skymender opened the door and stepped inside. Behind a desk, he saw the familiar face of the Imperial Scholar.
"Hello again, Skymender. What can I do for you?" The Imperial Scholar asked.
Skymender explained quickly. "I want to attempt to create the Icy Heart poison once again, and I need your help to ensure that I don't die."
The Imperial Scholar stared at him for a moment before speaking. "And what makes you think that I will help you?"
"Regardless, I'll attempt it. I'm just seeing if you're willing to help me increase my odds of both success and survival."
The Imperial Scholar really did care about Skymender's survival, but he had no intention to show it.
"What will I get in return?" He asked Skymender.
Skymender thought for a moment. "How about a poison recipe?"
Although he would have never considered trading this before, he had managed to create a much more potent version of the poison he planned to give them.
"What kind of poison?"
"A corrosive poison." Skymender said.
The Imperial Scholar thought about it before nodding.
"You'll have to pay for any materials or medicines I use to help you. I imagine you plan to use that plant you bought to help resist the Icy Heart poison while you make it?" The Imperial Scholar said.
Skymender nodded.
The Imperial Scholar automatically began to assist in the planning for this poison creation.
"I have a recipe to create a medicine using that plant, but you can't have access to it. In the entire Empire, only I and the Emperor can. I can, however, create it for you and give it to you."
Skymender nodded without hesitation.
"Even if it is more effective after it is used in a medicine, it is still very temporary. If the effects of the Icy Heart poison weren't so dangerous, I would recommend only using it after you finish the poison. However, it is risky as I'm not sure how potent that Icy Heart poison is, and if the medicine will have a 100% antidote effect."
Skymender listened intensely.
"Also, if you have to create a hole in your chest, do it a bit farther from last time so that we can change it even more."
"Is there a place here that I can create it?" Skymender asked.
"There is. Go ahead and bring everything you need. Also, take this."
He handed Skymender necklace with some sort of design on it.
Skymender walked out of the Imperial Palace and reached the gates.
The guards looked at him with clear surprise as he walked towards them.
They opened the gate and moved aside without a single word. The necklace did its job. Skymender was able to take a few trips and bring everything inside without a single question from the guards.
He took all of this to a room on a lower level than the ground floor. It was a much more advanced poison room than those at the Imperial Scholar Camp.
Unlike before, Skymender would be able to use his cauldron to create the poison, which should both enhance its effect and increase the possibility of success.
He and the Imperial Scholar spoke about the Icy Heart poison, and Skymender even told him a bit about the recipe itself.
Eventually, someone came into the poison room and handed the Imperial Scholar a vial. Though the Imperial Scholar had created it while Skymender moved his things, it had needed to sit for a while.
"Here it is. Whenever you're ready, I am." The Imperial Scholar said.
Skymender nodded.
After a moment, the Imperial Scholar left the room, and Skymender began. He got to the point where he had been poisoned last time, and drank the medicine he was given.
Nothing happened for a moment, but then, he started to feel a coldness in his heart, as though ice was literally growing on it.
Though his emotions were permanently dimmed after the last time, he felt them dim even more.
However, he was able to control himself this time. At the very least, it did not feel deadly, just extremely dangerous and harmful.
The medicine was doing its job.
Skymender continued beyond where he had stopped last time. As he continued, using his masterful control over the cauldron to enhance the speed and quality of the process, he felt the poison slowly growing stronger in his heart.
It continued to grow, and just as his body began to shake and he felt as though he would be unable to continue any longer, he finished. He poured all of the liquid into three vials and capped them with a lid.
Instantly, the feeling of coldness faded, as though it had never been there.
Skymender looked at the poison in the vial.
It was a light, icy blue. It was mesmerizing to look at.
Skymender stared at it for more than a minute before standing up and leaving the room.
The Imperial Scholar looked at him with expectation. Skymender showed him one of the vials.
He looked at it.
"What a beautiful purple color."
Chapter 678: Different Colors - 678
Skymender narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Purple? Are you colorblind or something?"
The Imperial Scholar narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What are you talking about? I have perfect vision. Perhaps you are colorblind."
Skymender knew for a fact that he wasn't colorblind, as he had been tested at young.
He thought for a moment, before walking away. In another area, a servant hurriedly walked through the halls.
Skymender opened a door and saw him.
"Hey." He said.
The servant stopped for a moment. "Yes?"
"What color is this?" Skymender asked as he held up the vial.
"Red." The servant said as he turned and walked away even faster than before.
Skymender turned around, where the Imperial Scholar stood with furrowed brows. "What exactly is going on?"
Neither of them had the slightest answer. It seemed magical.
"Could it be that every person sees this poison differently?" Skymender asked, though he was not expecting an answer.
"In that case, what if what is different for every person is not only the color, but the effects?" The Imperial Scholar said.
Skymender held the vial with his bare hands, and he felt a cold feeling coming off of it.
He handed it to the Imperial Scholar, who saw it in a purple color.
The Imperial Scholar grabbed it and examined it. Suddenly, he felt a headache. It was very light, not enough to really impair him, but it was obvious.
"I feel a slight headache coming on." The Imperial Scholar said.
"Is it cold at all?" Skymender asked.
"Not even slightly. It is completely room temperature." The Imperial Scholar said.
After a moment, he spoke again.
"The Emperor needs to hear of this. Forgive me, but I will be borrowing this for a moment."
Skymender nodded. "As long as you can figure out what it is, you can even keep it."
At this point, Skymender was entirely confused.
They moved through the Imperial Palace swiftly, soon reaching the throne room. The Imperial Scholar signaled to the guards, who opened the door, and Skymender followed him inside.
The Emperor looked up from some papers, and seeing the Imperial Scholar walking so quickly, perked up.
"What do you need, Fei Luzi?" The Emperor asked.
As always, Sword Master Shang was standing to his side.
The Imperial Scholar held up the vial. "What color is this, your Imperial Majesty?"
The Emperor looked somewhat confused. "Black, a very very deep black."
Sword Master Shang turned his head in confusion. The Imperial Scholar noticed it.
"What color do you see, Sword Master Shang?" The Imperial Scholar asked.
He answered. "I see the color red, like the color of blood."
The Imperial Scholar turned and had the door opened. Pointing to Skymender, he spoke to a servant. "Find the one he talked to earlier."
The servant nodded. It was a vague request, but it was enough.
As the servant left, the Emperor realized just how important this was. The Imperial Scholar, though he had a calm front, was clearly not calm at all.
"Inform me."
"Skymender created this poison. It is one which nearly killed him a while back. He succeeded this time, but for some reason, every single person sees a different color. In addition, it also seems to have different effects on those that hold it." The Imperial Scholar said.
The Emperor beckoned with his hand. "Let me see."
The Imperial Scholar walked forward and handed it to him.
As soon as the Emperor held it, he frowned. "Unpleasant."
"What do you feel?" The Imperial Scholar asked.
"It is as if it is draining something from me, though so uselessly that whatever it is draining is instantly returning. Still, I don't like it at all."
He turned and handed it to Sword Master Shang.
He held it and spoke. "I feel something like loss, as if you saw someone slain on a battlefield. It is incredibly faint though, as if it is just something you read about in a short story."
Sword Master Shang's was surprisingly well described, and Skymender realized that he was actually quite good with words. As expected of someone so legendary.
It had to be noted that Skymender was currently in a room with the three greatest beings in the Empire. Though he was clearly not on the same level, nobody was treating him like a lower individual.
He naturally did not feel like he was lower than them, but for them to somewhat act like that to a 12 year old child was quite surprising.
As they discussed for a while, the Emperor and Sword Master Shang gaining interest in it, the servant Skymender had spoken to earlier came in. He was clearly terrified. He hadn't realized that Skymender was important enough to casually be in this room, and was scared that he had disrespected or offended him.
The Imperial Scholar spoke. "Hold this."
The servant did so without hesitation.
"What does it feel like?" The Imperial Scholar asked.
"It is a bit warm, sir." The servant said.
"Describe the color better." The Imperial Scholar said.
"It is red like fire." The servant said.
"Alright, you may leave."
The servant breathed a sigh of relief and left in a hurry.
At this point, it didn't seem that there was any further way to understand this poison than testing it.
After thinking, the Imperial Scholar thought of a way. Of course, he decided to see if Skymender agreed. Regardless of everything, it was his poison.
"If you let me test this, I will compensate you in every way possible, from materials used, including the antidote plant, to labor and danger pay."
Skymender nodded. "Of course."
This was all the Imperial Scholar needed.
He called a servant in.
After speaking, it was decided that a prisoner would be used to test this.
Skymender and the Imperial Scholar left.
Though the Emperor was too busy to personally attend, he requested that the results be brought to him immediately.
Skymender and the Imperial Scholar sent the prisoner to an observation room, poison vial in hand. In order to reduce his sentence by half, all he had to do was open the vial for a few seconds and close it. Considering he was in prison for the rest of his life, this was a one time deal that he would never see again.
Skymender and the Imperial Scholar stood above, behind a one way glass wall.
They could see everything happening inside the room.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment