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“Meng Qiqi,” After Li Che finished attending to the injured cultivator, he turned around and found that Meng Qi was no longer by his side. Her slim blue silhouette, just like his own a moment ago, began weaving through the injured cultivators on the city wall.
“Wait for me!” Li Che was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly chased after her. He was already somewhat bewildered, unsure of what to do, but saving people had been a reflex for him. Meng Qi’s appearance, though slightly surprising, was like a light in the fog, suddenly clarifying the path ahead of him.
Li Che quickly caught up and together they looked at a cultivator from the Earthly Camp lying unconscious on the ground.
“Spiritual sea…” Meng Qi’s slender fingers swiftly moved over the unconscious cultivator, finally exhaling, “Spiritual sea shock, he passed out.”
The cultivator was covered in blood from his head, thoroughly staining his robe. He appeared severely injured, but in reality, he had just been frightened into unconsciousness.
“I see,” Li Che nodded, pulling a small incense stick from his storage pouch. He casually lit the incense and brought it to the nose of the unconscious cultivator. A faint, slightly cool scent emanated from the incense. Meng Qi blinked and asked, “Is this… Dream-Solving Incense?”
“Yes.” Li Che nodded. “I added some juice from the stem of gentian, it smells a bit bitter, but its efficacy increases.” He then handed a few more sticks to Meng Qi: “I have more here, I’ll give them all to you.”
“Thank you.” Meng Qi accepted the Dream-Solving Incense with a smile. Unseen to herself, the bloodshot in her eyes slowly faded, becoming clear again, just like Li Che’s.
“That kid…” From quite a distance, Ling Ji and Yun Qingyan, who never left their eyes on Meng Qi, observed this scene entirely.
“He has not been affected by the Thousand Emperor Bell’s tolling from the very beginning,” Ling Ji murmured as if speaking to himself. His natal sword, following Meng Qi as she leaped onto the city wall, was now hovering in mid-air, not far behind her. The tip of the sword flickered lightly, a cold light lurking within. Should any danger occur, this sword, one of the fastest and most swift in the world, would strike instantly.
“The Thousand Emperor Bell, carrying the resentment and unwillingness from ten thousand years ago, can engulf people with similar feelings,” Ling Ji continued. “But it is not invincible.”
He looked at Meng Qi, then at Li Che, suddenly sighing lightly. It was a sigh of pride, satisfaction, and perhaps also lamentation: “The path of cultivation is long and difficult, yet there are still those whose spirit is unwavering. The Three Thousand Worlds, after all, will eventually be led by these young people.”
“Dong, dong, dong—” Just then, the Thousand Emperor Bell tolled three times.
Ling Ji suddenly let out a long roar and leaped up: “I shall meet this so-called number one refinery master from ten thousand years ago!”
…
In midair, the whistling sound of a passing sword swept across the sky. Meng Qi and Li Che simultaneously looked up, barely catching a glimpse of Ling Ji’s agile figure dashing across the sky toward the deeper parts of the green mountains. But they were the only ones who noticed it—other cultivators continued battling fiercely above the city walls, completely ignoring their surroundings.
The tolling of the Thousand Emperor Bell became increasingly urgent, “Dong dong dong dong…” as if striking right at the hearts of those who heard it. The bell kept ringing, and yet Meng Qi felt herself becoming more sober than before. Even the fire that had been burning at the bottom of her heart and in her spiritual sea seemed to have extinguished. Meng Qi wondered, touching the Dream-Solving Incense that Li Che had given her: Could it be because of this?
She rolled several finger-length pieces of green incense in her hand, emitting a slightly cool, bitter scent.
“Meng Qiqi?” Li Che, who had just finished bandaging the wound on the arm of a female cultivator, turned around to see Meng Qi staring at the Dream-Solving Incense, and curiously asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Li Che.” Meng Qi raised her eyes and looked at him. It was only then that she noticed that Li Che’s eyes were perfectly clear, devoid of any red color or bloodlust: “Did you feel like there was a fire burning in your chest and spiritual sea, blurring your consciousness?”
“No.” Li Che shook his head blankly, touching his chest. Being a medical cultivator, he quickly grasped Meng Qi’s implication: “You mean…”
Li Che stood up, looking around. Up and down the city walls, the battle had intensified, and more and more cultivators would fall injured by each moment. The air also grew thick with the smell of blood as the cultivators’ strikes became more ruthless, with techniques and spells that would normally be reserved only for enemies currently directed at companions who had been jovial just moments before.
Li Che touched his chest again, murmuring in surprise as if to himself, “There’s no flame burning. I only hear the bell, but that too…” He scratched his head in confusion. Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught the sight of a cultivator falling backward on the city walls. Li Che didn’t ponder any longer; he moved quickly to support the falling cultivator, carefully helping him to sit down.
“Ugh…” It was a sword cultivator. The young man grunted, pressing his left hand against his right.
“How are you?” Li Che asked, holding the injured man’s left hand to move it away from the wound on the right. As he spoke, he looked up at the man. The sword cultivator had a rather handsome look—his eyelids were half-lowered and his eyelashes covered most of his eyes, but that couldn’t hide the color of blood in his eyes.
Li Che paused, slightly startled. He quickly grasped the man’s jaw to take a closer look at his eyes. “This…” He swallowed hard, then looked back at Meng Qi, “Their eyes… could it be…”
Li Che suddenly realized, “Are they all influenced by the bell’s sound?”
“Yes.” Meng Qi lit the Dream-Solving Incense and put it close under the sword cultivator’s nose. The slightly bitter, cool scent spread, but the man’s eyes remained blood-red.
“Not the Dream-Solving Incense?” Meng Qi extinguished the incense, muttering as she put it away.
Li Che had already started to clean the wound on the man’s right arm, pointing out, “Dream-Solving Incense just stabilizes the turbulence within a spiritual sea. The fire you mentioned, of course, cannot be affected by the Dream-Solving Incense.” He paused, then added, “Dream-Solving Incense is a very common medicine, even with added gentian, it’s not that powerful. It’s available in most pharmacies in the Southern Realm. If it were that effective, they wouldn’t be in this state now.”
“Right.” Meng Qi nodded. Just before Ling Ji had leaped, she clearly heard him say he was going to meet this so-called number one refinery master from ten thousand years ago. Was he referring to that bell?
“Meng Qiqi.” Li Che suddenly raised his voice, lifting the man’s arm, “Look at this.” In the blood flowing from the wound, a dark golden light sparkled.
“Myriad Corpse Silkworm!” Li Che leaned in to smell, then immediately blurted out upon realization. As a medical cultivator from the Southern Realm, he naturally recognized this poisonous insect that existed only within the Southern Realm.
“It’s the Myriad Corpse Silkworm again.” Meng Qi’s eyes flickered, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.
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