When Jiang Chen saw even Elder Shun nod in acknowledgment, a few words flashed through his mind—the Curse of a Hundred Lifetimes of Shared Hearts.
This was an ancient incantation, crafted by a person consumed by obsessive love who refined their own soul to forge a curse, then infused it into the pregnant body of a rival in love.
The curse was meant to target the unborn child.
Once cast, the child would be born bearing the curse’s taint.
And the Curse of a Hundred Lifetimes of Shared Hearts would weave fragments of the caster’s soul into the newborn’s soul, making them a part of it.
This curse was terrifyingly potent. The stronger the caster’s obsessive resentment, the deeper the imprint it left upon the newborn’s soul, and the more severe the symptoms when it activated.
The curse, named for its nature, contained all the twisted, devoted resentment of a lovelorn soul. Its power was immense, far beyond the ability of any mundane healer to lift.
Looking at Huang-er, her life signs were robust. Her martial talent and cultivation level clearly indicated she had inherited exceptional gifts.
However, the Curse of a Hundred Lifetimes of Shared Hearts didn’t affect her physical vitality; it only targeted the soul. Once activated, fragments of the caster’s soul would wreak havoc within the victim’s spirit.
This would continue until the caster’s soul fragments utterly destroyed the victim’s soul, causing them to die in a state of unimaginable agony.
While dormant, the curse left the victim indistinguishable from a normal person.
But once it awakened, the situation would be horrific. Because the caster had used their own life and condensed their very soul to forge this curse, its power of obsessive resentment was beyond the capacity of any words to describe.
Jiang Chen was able to identify it as the Curse of a Hundred Lifetimes of Shared Hearts because most soul-related ailments were either congenital defects or caused by later traumatic experiences.
These illnesses affecting the soul and consciousness typically drained the patient’s life force.
Sufferers would often be extremely weak, giving off an aura of frailty.
Only the Curse of a Hundred Lifetimes of Shared Hearts was different—it was a curse’s power, not an inherent deficiency in the soul. Therefore, it had little impact on the patient’s physical body.
In his past life, Jiang Chen had read countless texts and heard of the Myriad Heavens’ Ten Great Incurable Afflictions.
The Taiyin Physique ranked first among them.
While the Curse of a Hundred Lifetimes of Shared Hearts wasn’t on that list, it was close to being a terminal condition.
So Jiang Chen remembered it well.
However, the reason it wasn’t included among the Ten Great Incurables was understandable.
Because, in a sense, the Curse of a Hundred Lifetimes of Shared Hearts wasn’t truly incurable. At the very least, it could be dispelled.
It just wasn’t something that could be accomplished overnight.
Seeing Jiang Chen frown in deep thought, Elder Shun didn’t dare to interrupt. He stood nearby, his face etched with anxiety. He knew that the prophecy from the Elder of Thousand Mechanisms likely pertained to this very situation.
If this young man said there was no cure, then perhaps there truly was no one in the world who could help.
So, even someone as formidable as Elder Shun felt his heart rate quicken at that moment.
"Elder Shun, I have a preliminary diagnosis of Huang-er’s condition. It is neither a congenital illness nor a disease acquired later in life."
"Then what is it?" Elder Shun asked, startled.
"A curse. If I’m not mistaken, Huang-er’s parents were an enviable pair, like immortals descended to the mortal world. There must have been another woman who was desperately, obsessively in love with Huang-er’s father."
"A curse?" Elder Shun’s heart stirred. The details Jiang Chen mentioned matched the facts perfectly. Huang-er’s parents had indeed been in love, and there was indeed another woman who had pursued Huang-er’s father with obsessive devotion.
But it was one-sided, unrequited love that ultimately went nowhere.
Later, the woman had pined away and, somehow, perished. Could it be...?
Thinking of this, Elder Shun’s expression changed dramatically. "What kind of curse could be so overbearing?"
"The Curse of a Hundred Lifetimes of Shared Hearts. It is the work of someone consumed by obsessive love, who uses their own soul and the immense resentment of that obsession to cast the spell, infusing it into a pregnant woman’s womb. This allows soul fragments to leave an imprint within the fetus’s soul. These fragments periodically emerge to wreak havoc, disrupting the soul, until finally causing it to collapse, leading to death and the cessation of the Dao."
Jiang Chen looked at Huang-er with a touch of sympathy. "Miss Huang-er has fallen victim to this senseless calamity, afflicted by the Curse of a Hundred Lifetimes of Shared Hearts cast by that obsessed woman."
"The Curse of a Hundred Lifetimes of Shared Hearts?" Elder Shun murmured. He had never heard this name before; it sounded utterly foreign.
Such curses were exceedingly rare. They were essentially unknown to the wider world.
Therefore, even with Elder Shun’s vast experience, he had never encountered it.
Hearing Jiang Chen’s explanation, Huang-er was also somewhat stunned into silence. She couldn’t help but believe him, because everything he described aligned perfectly with the facts.
Originally, Huang-er hadn’t placed much faith in Jiang Chen. She had simply felt that since Elder Shun cared for her so deeply and went to such lengths on her behalf, she couldn’t bear to disappoint him.
But she had never truly considered that Jiang Chen might actually be able to diagnose the root of her affliction.
In this moment, shock and astonishment filled her heart.