“Meng Qiqi, let me…” Li Che turned to her, his resolve returning, “We can’t afford to delay any longer. Let me do it.”
“Let me think a little more.” Meng Qi waved him off. She clenched her left hand into a fist and lightly rested her chin on it as she paced back and forth around the Netherworld Thorn.
“Meng Qiqi,” Li Che called out to her again, “There are still several challenges ahead. We can’t waste any more time here. Let me do it.”
“Let me try once more.” Meng Qi took a deep breath, her gaze and voice equally firm with resolution, “Even as medical cultivators, we shouldn’t sacrifice ourselves to save others.”
She paused and added, “Their lives matter, but so do the lives of medical cultivators.”
Li Che stared deeply at Meng Qi, sensing an unusual firmness in her stance on this matter.
Meng Qi continued pacing around the Netherworld Thorn, muttering to herself, “The fact that Netherworld Thorn can grow here means that this land can withstand its poison. So…”
She took a few steps closer, approaching the cluster of plants. Although the Netherworld Thorns grew by the bank of the Nether River, they were still some distance from the river itself. The Netherworld Thorns, equally famous for its preciousness and rarity as it was for its poisonous properties, appeared lush and thriving next to the flowing creek, but in reality, there were only around a dozen of them present. The spacing between each plant, combined with the spread of their branches and leaves, made them seem more abundant than they were.
Meng Qi gazed deeply at the ever-flowing waters of the Nether River and then at the distance between the thorns and the riverbank. She took a deep breath and said, “Since no cauldron can withstand the poison of the Netherworld Thorn, and we can’t use a cauldron to refine the medicine, we should use the earth and sky as our cauldron and refine the medicine right here.”
“Ah?” Li Che looked at Meng Qi in confusion, not quite understanding what she meant.
It wasn’t just Li Che who was taken aback—on the distant mountaintop, the black-robed sword cultivator, the red-robed spell cultivator, and the white-haired medical cultivator were all staring at Meng Qi in a state of shock.
“She…” The black-robed sword cultivator stared at Meng Qi for a moment before suddenly turning to the white-haired medical cultivator. “Did you hear what she said she was going to do?” he muttered. “She seemed to say… she was going to use something as a cauldron?”
“The heavens and the earth,” the white-haired medical cultivator responded as he slowly regained his composure, speaking almost word by word.
“The heavens and the earth…” The black-robed sword cultivator repeated the words as if they were entirely foreign to him. He slowly turned his gaze back to Meng Qi, looking at her in utter disbelief.
“Can the heavens and the earth really be used as a cauldron for refining medicine?” He seemed to be asking the white-haired medical cultivator, but at the same time, it felt like he was asking himself.
No one answered his question, not even the white-haired medical cultivator, who had a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
Using the heavens and the earth as a cauldron…
The white-haired medical cultivator stared blankly at Meng Qi. The slender, blue-robed girl, with her black hair simply tied at the back, didn’t seem particularly remarkable in appearance.
From the moment this batch of disciples entered the Ten Absolute Mountains, he and his two colleagues had thoroughly investigated the backgrounds and sect affiliations of every single one of them. Of course, this also meant that they were aware of Meng Qi’s previous affiliation and her current wandering cultivator status. How could a medical cultivator from an ordinary, virtually unknown small sect have experienced something that would lead her to speak such words?
Using the heavens and the earth as a cauldron…
The white-haired medical cultivator couldn’t help but silently repeat those words in his mind. He could scarcely imagine what it would be like if one truly used the heavens and the earth as a cauldron.
“Using the heavens and the earth as a cauldron…” Li Che was also murmuring these words. He looked at Meng Qi and, after a long while, asked dazedly, “How… how do you use the heavens and the earth as a cauldron?”
“Well…” Meng Qi replied absentmindedly, taking a few more steps forward.
“Be careful!” Li Che quickly warned her. Another step forward, and she would be dangerously close to the lethally poisonous Netherworld Thorns.
Meng Qi nodded, glancing around before gesturing in the air with her hands.
“What are you doing?” Li Che asked curiously.
“If we’re going to use the heavens and the earth as a cauldron, we’ll need a fire to refine the medicine,” Meng Qi explained.
Li Che nodded in understanding. This was something any medical cultivator was quite familiar with. No cultivators could extract the medicinal properties of ingredients out of thin air, so a cauldron was needed to contain the medicinal ingredients, ensuring that their properties didn’t escape. Typically, medical cultivators would light a fire beneath the cauldron and use their aura to fuel the flames needed for the refinement process.
There existed some rare and special flames in the Three Realms. These flames were considered natural, legendary treasures and were hard to come by. If one could obtain such flames, the medicines refined with them would have unique properties or enhanced efficacy. Sometimes, certain special medicines could only be refined using these specific flames.
Now that Meng Qi wanted to use the heavens and the earth as a cauldron, the issue of finding a suitable flame to refine the medicine became even more crucial.
Soon, Meng Qi had finished surveying the area along the Nether River bank. She drew out her knife and walked nine steps to the left, placing herself merely a short distance away from the Netherworld Thorns. Bending down, she held the knife horizontally and began swiftly drawing on the ground.
“What exactly is she trying to do?” The black-robed sword cultivator was no longer lounging leisurely at the edge of the cliff. He had stood up entirely, craning his neck in Meng Qi’s direction. Although this didn’t improve his view, he instinctively strained to see what she was up to.
By the bank of the Nether River, Meng Qi’s hand moved very nimbly. It was as if she didn’t need to think, her silver knife flashing in rapid movements, leaving behind a silver afterimage.
Aura poured out continuously from the tips of her fingers and flowed through the knife as it cut across the soil, leaving criss-crossing lines on the ground.
This time, the array Meng Qi was drawing was enormous, practically circling the entire area where the Netherworld Thorns grew and enclosing them completely within it.
Standing nearby, Li Che was completely astonished. He finally understood why Meng Qi had looked around and gestured before starting the array.
The Netherworld Thorns spanned several meters, and Meng Qi’s array encompassed all of them within its radius. Throughout the drawing process, the tip of her knife never left the ground, meaning she completed this vast array in one continuous motion without a single break.
At the same time, the black-robed sword cultivator, the white-haired medical cultivator, and the red-robed spell cultivator were equally dumbfounded. “Is… is she really a medical cultivator?!” The black-robed sword cultivator was the first to speak, his voice filled with disbelief as he observed Meng Qi’s progress in completing the grand array, his eyes showing a slight flicker of emotion.
Li Che had never witnessed an array cultivator in battle before, but the trio watching them from the distant mountain was different. They had seen with their own eyes the way ancient array cultivators fought back in their heyday. One of the best among them was even the beloved of the black-robed sword cultivator.
With a single stroke, an array cultivator could capture the world. Mountains, rivers, the sun, the moon, the stars, all the elements of creation… It seemed as though they were all encompassed within their arrays.
And when an array cultivator drew their grand array, the world itself lay beneath their feet.
Meng Qi finished the final stroke and stood up straight. Her breathing was a bit labored, and beads of sweat glistened on her pale forehead, with a few strands of hair sticking to her cheeks. Her hand, which held the knife, trembled slightly from the excessive use of aura. Before her eyes was a massive array, spanning thirty meters wide, completely enclosing the dozen or so Netherworld Thorns.
Meng Qi’s array was crafted with remarkable precision. She hadn’t touched a single Netherworld Thorn, yet she skillfully wove the array into the spaces between them, utilizing the gaps to position the array within the poisonous cluster.
“Is it done?” Li Che murmured. Although he didn’t fully comprehend what Meng Qi had just finished, he had managed to grasp some concepts after his initial failed attempt to learn the basics of arrays. As he looked at the intricate, meticulously interconnected lines, he knew that even with diligent practice, he could never have created such a complex array.
Moreover, she had also integrated the Netherworld Thorns into the array. This meant that from the moment Meng Qi drew the first stroke, she had already accounted for the positions of each individual plant. It was likely that she had also considered the distance from the riverbank, using these factors to construct the complex array before Li Che’s eyes.
Meng Qi popped a pill into her mouth, waiting for her aura to recover while quickly reviewing the array. She nodded in satisfaction.
“What should we do next?” Li Che asked.
Meng Qi glanced at him, then reached into her storage pouch and pulled out a handful of profound-grade spirit stones.
Li Che: “…”
Alright, he understood—next came the part where she would spend a loadful of spirit stones again. Not only was he unable to help with drawing the array, but he couldn’t assist with this expensive part either.
Meng Qi raised her hand, and the profound-grade spirit stones in her palm flew out towards the array. In fact, she wasn’t entirely confident that this method would work, but regardless, it was worth a try.
Nearly a hundred profound-grade spirit stones flew to the four corners of the array, quickly embedding themselves at the intersections of the lines. The aura surrounding the Netherworld Thorns began to glow, creating an eerie yet beautiful sight.
Lihuo Great Fire Array.
Meng Qi silently recited the full name of the array in her mind. This was one of the arrays taught to her by Sovereign Qingyan, who modified and simplified it for her use. The same array was also carved into her Five Spirits Cauldron.
Though Yun Qingyan never explicitly said so, Meng Qi gradually realized that the fire summoned by the Lihuo Array was likely one of the strongest flames in the Three Realms. If she wanted to refine these Netherworld Thorns, the Lihuo array would undoubtedly be the best and most powerful ally she could have.
< Previous | TOC | Advanced TOC | Next>
Wants more chapters?
Click this page for the status of sponsored chapters.
Click this page for advanced chapters TOC.