Meng Qi looked back at the chaotic fighting, and as soon as Pei Mufeng stood up, she immediately said, “Pavilion Master Pei, my two friends are still in there. Could you please…”
“Let’s go.” Pei Mufeng flicked his finger, and his natal sword paved the way in front of them. Already strong, his swordsmanship had improved further during his months in the Starfallen Sea. His trusted sword shot out swiftly, almost too fast for the eye to see. With Pei Mufeng’s protection, the group quickly and safely reached Chu Tianfeng.
With two swift strokes of his sword, Pei Mufeng repelled the cultivator fighting with Chu Tianfeng.
“Chu Tianfeng!” Meng Qi hurriedly approached and inserted a Qingling Pill into his mouth.
Chu Tianfeng wasn’t injured, but his robe and cheek were splattered with blood. After taking the pill, his gaze cleared up in no time.
“Meng Qiqi?!” He exhaled sharply, incredulously looking at Meng Qi standing before him. His natal weapon, a red lotus-shaped artifact, still hovered nearby. “You… what’s going on here? Such a strong smell of alcohol!”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Meng Qi said.
The group then rushed towards Qin Xiumo. With Chu Tianfeng now in their ranks, they moved even more efficiently and swiftly. Soon, Meng Qi also administered a Qingling Pill to Qin Xiumo. The group quickly withdrew from the chaotic battlefield and returned to where Li Che and the others were awaiting. By then, Xu Zijun and the other Xingluo Pavilion disciple had also joined them. The scent of alcohol on the grassland was now so intense to the point of nauseating.
Li Che still gazed into the distance, muttering to himself.
“So what exactly is happening?” Chu Tianfeng, wiping the blood off his face, asked indignantly, “Is this a deliberate provocation to make us fight?”
The Ten Absolutes Mountain was a special place where memories of events were forgotten upon leaving. As a result, it was akin to a lawless realm devoid of law and moral constraints. The Drunken Dragon Grass had the effect of clouding a cultivator’s consciousness, causing them to lose control over themselves. Coupled with the incitement from the mysterious voice earlier, most people were completely bewitched, unable to restrain themselves.
They had managed to extricate themselves, but others were still embroiled in battle. If this continued, it was likely to escalate into a deadly, unending conflict…
Qin Xiumo turned to Yan Xuan and asked coldly, “Jingyuetian allows disciples of other sects to enter the Ten Absolutes Mountain once every century. For the decennial openings, only disciples from your sect can enter. Even without knowing exactly what happens here, is it correct that at least one-third of the disciples make it out alive each time?”
Yan Xuan looked straight at Qin Xiumo and replied firmly, “Yes.” He paused, then added, “If most of the disciples who entered perished or were heavily injured each time, my Jingyuetian would have been weakened long ago.”
“This is… huh?” Suddenly, another voice arose beside them, and a young man appeared, pausing mid-sentence, “Drunken Dragon Grass?!” He looked at Meng Qi in utter surprise, “You guys…”
“It’s Drunken Dragon Grass,” Meng Qi nodded.
The newcomer was Xue Chengxuan, who had already been to the second challenge and apparently passed it. As one of the most outstanding disciples of the renowned Feng Alliance, he quickly guessed the situation upon smelling the alcohol and observing the chaos.
“I have some Tingxue herbs here, maybe…” Xue Chengxuan began, but then he too suddenly bent down and picked a tiny white flower, “Imp Orchid?!”
“Yes,” Meng Qi confirmed.
“This…” Xue Chengxuan muttered, “The poison becomes much more dangerous when Imp Orchid is combined with Tingxue Herb.”
“Mhm,” Meng Qi nodded. Even as she spoke, her mind kept turning around, quickly trying to recall any other methods to counteract the poison of Drunken Dragon Grass without using Tingxue Herb.
“Young Daoists…” The mysterious voice that had been silent for a while spoke up again, “Now that you have saved your friends, you should hurry and leave. What does the life or death of these people have to do with you? Don’t forget, they are your competitors in the next challenges.”
Li Che continued to look up at the sky, muttering to himself.
Xue Chengxuan remained silent, his expression serious.
Meng Qi’s spiritual consciousness was focused inward, where the bamboo slip given to her by Lin Yan was emitting a faint light, rapidly imprinting its content into her mind.
The three seemed to completely ignore the voice, lost in their thoughts.
Qin Xiumo and Chu Tianfeng exchanged glances. Each had their natal weapon floating beside them, ready to spring into action. They were not surprised at all by Meng Qi’s actions. Not just Meng Qi, but all three medical cultivators seemed to be…
They didn’t quite know how to describe it. Li Che was one thing, but Xue Chengxuan was another. As the eldest son and heir of the Xue Clan and the almost certain future leader of the Feng Alliance, Xue Chengxuan usually acted with consideration for his clan’s interests. Except for that time in the Starfallen Sea, where he cast aside many concerns and fought wholeheartedly alongside them, Xue Chengxuan always behaved as a proper heir and prioritized the alliance and the clan’s interests first.
But now, even though he had a significant advantage and could ignore these people to maintain his lead, his expression was remarkably similar to that of Meng Qi and Li Che.
Qin Xiumo and Chu Tianfeng looked at each other again. These medical cultivators were truly…
“Found it!” Meng Qi suddenly snapped her fingers, and a shimmering jade slip appeared before her. “This is the jade slip I got in the Starfallen Sea last time,” she explained. “It’s a medical note left by a predecessor who perished there.” Meng Qi’s finger tapped on the jade slip, and a line of text flew out, quickly encircling Li Che and the others.
“Drunken Dragon Grass can be counteracted not just with Tingxue Grass but directly with Imp Orchid,” Meng Qi said, somewhat surprised yet found it made sense.
Everything in the world has its counter.
So…
She looked around. The grassland was dotted with little white flowers; there were plenty of Imp Orchids. In medical texts of later generations, there’s seldom mention of Imp Orchid being used to counteract Drunken Dragon Grass. This meant the ancient predecessor who planted this Drunken Dragon Grass also left the means to counter its poison.
Meng Qi exchanged glances with Li Che and Xue Chengxuan. Along with the other two disciples from Canglang Academy, they brandished medicinal knives in their right hands. While the natal weapons of choice of medical cultivators may vary, nearly everyone used a medicinal knife.
They began to uproot the Imp Orchids together. According to the record in the notes, twisting the roots of Imp Orchid to extract the juice and applying it to the foreheads of those poisoned by Drunken Dragon Grass could detoxify them. It sounded simple, but with so many poisoned cultivators in the midst of battle, treating them one by one would take too much time.
“I bought an artifact before.” Meng Qi summoned her Five Spirits Cauldron and gestured for the rest to throw the uprooted Imp Orchid roots into it. She flicked a few spirit stones into the cauldron, and in no time, the roots were refined into a green medicinal liquid.
Meng Qi took out the artifact she had bought from Tianhai Pavilion not too long ago. This specific artifact was originally meant to blend poison into rainwater, increasing its potency and spread. “This is perfect for now,” she said cheerfully. “I didn’t think this thing would have such a use.”
Yan Xuan watched Meng Qi with a complex expression. He had been listening and thought they planned to save people one by one after concocting the medicine. Although this method was slower, it allowed them to choose who to save. But Meng Qi intended to use this artifact to indiscriminately save everyone?
“Huh?” Li Che curiously leaned in. “There’s such an artifact? Where did you buy it? I want one too. It would make dealing with the outbreaks of Southern Realm’s miasma much easier.”
“It’s from Tianhai Pavilion in Beyond The Heaven,” Meng Qi replied. “Yeah, it’s quite useful.” As she spoke, she skillfully infused the medicinal liquid extracted from Imp Orchid into the artifact. With a light tap, spiritual aura flowed in.
Within moments, rain began to fall from the sky. The air over the grassland, once filled with the intoxicating scent of alcohol, now seemed cleansed and refreshed, becoming clear again. The cultivators who had been locked in fierce combat gradually regained their clarity. Some ceased their attacks, and others soon followed suit. The sounds of clashing weapons slowly diminished until only the sound of the rain pattering on the grass remained.
At last, a tranquil peace returned to the land.
< Previous | TOC | Advanced TOC | Next >
Wants more chapters?
Click this page for the status of sponsored chapters.
Click this page for advanced chapters TOC.
