---
Tianzun returned home after several hours of practice. The late evening sun dyed the skies in warm gold, filtering gently through the cottage windows. As he stepped inside, a faint, unnatural scent reached his nose—a sharpness, like rusted metal mixed with rotting violets.
His eyes immediately darted to the living room floor.
"Yian!"
She lay collapsed, a sheen of sweat on her pale skin. A thick, purple mist coiled around her body like venomous fog, pulsing and swirling with each strained breath she took. Tianzun's expression hardened.
> "It's happening again... the poison in her blood."
He didn't hesitate. Flame erupted in his palm—his personal fire essence, blazing a stable emerald-black hue. He knelt beside her and placed a hand above her chest, the other ready with prepared alchemical pills. Gently, but with firm control, he guided threads of flame Qi through her poisoned meridians, isolating and compressing the rampant toxicity.
Sweat beaded on his own forehead as he maintained the delicate balance of suppression.
> "Hold on... just a little longer."
He popped a pill into her mouth and coaxed it down with a stream of controlled Qi.
After nearly an hour of effort, the mist subsided. Her breathing stabilized, her body relaxing under his touch. Carefully, Tianzun lifted her into his arms and laid her on her bed. He tucked her in, gaze still narrowed with cautious attention.
> "This eruption was fiercer than the last. It's evolving."
But his heart refused to move away. He pulled a chair beside her bed, sat down, and eventually, fell asleep holding her hand.
---
When Yian awoke hours later, her mind foggy, her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim glow of dawn. The first thing she saw was Tianzun—seated beside her, head lowered, fast asleep.
And their hands were still joined.
Her breath caught.
> "He... stayed with me?"
Then panic.
> "The poison...! Did it harm him?!"
Frantically, she examined his skin. No signs of darkening. No sickly veins. His breathing was calm.
> "How? My poison... even close contact is lethal to most Dou Shi."
Her heart trembled.
> "He saved me. And he stayed."
Tianzun stirred, then blinked his eyes open. He met her gaze with a calm, assured smile.
"How do you feel?"
She looked away. "I'm fine now. But you... you shouldn't have stayed. I could've... you could've been poisoned."
Tianzun chuckled softly. "Your poison doesn't work on me."
"How?"
"Let's just say... we're bonded by something even stronger than poison."
She looked stunned.
Then, after a moment, her voice cracked.
"You know about my body, don't you?"
"I do."
"Then why? Why stay? Why risk it? Why still be near me?"
He looked at her seriously.
"Because I never abandon my friends. And because... maybe I understand what it means to carry something dangerous inside you."
She couldn't find words. She only nodded slowly, her heart clenched with something warm and unbearable.
"I'll find the solution for your body. I promise."
She smiled through wet eyes. "I'll wait."
---
Later that afternoon, Yian approached him, excitement in her voice.
"I discovered a valley," she said. "South of here. Locals call it the Medicine Valley. Hidden, full of rare herbs. But... dangerous."
Tianzun nodded. "Sounds perfect. But we'll go when the time is right."
---
As they returned to the clinic that day, trouble brewed. A group of men wearing wolf insignias blocked the road, smirking and spitting tobacco on the ground.
Wolf Head Mercenary Company.
The leader leered at Yian. "Heard the little fairy doctor has a new assistant. Pretty boy. Wanna lend her to us for a few hours?"
Tianzun stepped forward. His face remained neutral.
"You have ten seconds to disappear."
The group laughed.
"Or what, kid?"
He smiled darkly.
"Or you won't see tomorrow."
Yian pulled on his arm. "Tianzun, not here. Not now."
He nodded slightly.
> "She's not ready to see blood yet. But soon..."
That night, in the shadows of the woods outside the city, Tianzun sent a message to Yoru.
---
🌌 **Message to Yoru: Immediate Dispatch Order**
"Mobilize 10 elite Dou Shi. One Da Dou Shi commander. Green Mountain City. Objective: Eradicate Wolf Head Mercenaries. Establish auction house. Recruit business-talented villagers. Assume control. Kill or convert. No witnesses. Two-days operation.
Yoru responded within minutes:
> "Orders acknowledged. Deployment underway."
---
That evening, as Tianzun and Yian sat by the fire drinking tea, she stared into the flames.
"Sometimes I wish... I could wipe out all those bastards. The whole mercenary company."
Tianzun raised a brow. "What if they disappear by tomorrow?"
She smirked. "Then I owe you another breakfast."
He smiled but said nothing more.
In the forest clearing beyond the town, twelve figures landed silently.
A banner with the Tian Shuan sigil was unfurled.
And war began in the dark.
---
**End of Chapter 47: Veins of Poison, Threads of Power**