Chapter 83: Alchemy Can Also Harm People
The more Long Yue was like this, the more Ming Zhaoshuang wanted to laugh.
Her five fingers passed through the cuff of her sleeve, and behind everyone’s backs, she caressed Long’s spine, laughing, “What’s wrong, Xiao Bai, isn’t it funny?”
Long only felt a cool, gentle touch from his body, which disappeared before he could feel it carefully.
A corner of his dragon tail was exposed, sliding past Ming Zhaoshuang’s fingertips.
Hearing Ming Zhaoshuang’s words, everyone coincidentally came up to ask what she was talking about. Ming Zhaoshuang brushed them all off, only Shen Liqian glanced extra at Ming Zhaoshuang’s cuff.
After Ming Zhaoshuang appeased Xiao Bai, she led Shen Liqian and others towards the opposite direction of Qin Feilong.
As expected, not long after they separated from Qin Feilong, they felt themselves returning to that sticky state.
However, it was still bearable, so Ming Zhaoshuang and the others did not choose to eat spirit fruits.
After all, they still did not know how far they had to go. They did not have Qin Feilong’s good luck, and all the fruits they chose were spirit fruits. These spirit fruits were all limited resources, so they would not use them if they could avoid it.
As dusk deepened, the already dim mountain forest appeared even more terrifying.
Crows flew by, emitting hoarse caws.
The trees before their eyes became increasingly sparse, and the leaves on them turned white and yellow, giving a sense of desolation.
Ming Zhaoshuang and the others were extremely close, fearing they would miss anyone in such an environment.
Fortunately, this formation managed by Yixu did not contain any spiritual beasts, big or small. The only creatures that occasionally passed before their eyes were ordinary wild beasts without any spiritual energy.
Their legs grew heavier and heavier.
Fortunately, all of them were cultivators. Although their spiritual power was lost, their spirits were still good, and they could still walk.
Everyone also discovered that the further they went from Qin Feilong’s direction, the heavier the poison mist around them became.
Fei Changxiu shivered and couldn’t help but say, “She’s called an Alchemy Saint, yet the formation she created is so gloomy, more terrifying than the Devil Realm.”
Shen Liqian explained, “Alchemy Saint Yixu is not an ordinary pill cultivator. She cultivates poison pills, the kind that kill people.”
Ming Zhaoshuang suddenly remembered that Long had told her that Yixu had a natural poisonous body and an unpredictable temperament.
If she hadn’t been associated with Feng He Du Xian and the others, perhaps she would have been sealed as the ‘Poison Saint’.
Then this second trial truly had her personal characteristics.
Fei Changxiu was indifferent to the Five Sages, only caring about his goddess Feng He Du Xian. Hearing this now, he couldn’t help but click his tongue and sigh,
“So it is. So alchemy can also harm people.”
Shen Liqian smiled faintly upon hearing this and said, “Only a very small number of alchemists choose to refine poison pills, so Senior Brother Fei does not need to worry too much.”
As far as she knew, the only demoness known for refining poison pills was from the Hehuan Sect.
After all, refining such things would only attract the wrath of the righteous sects, so most people would not choose to refine them.
Ming Chenxing glanced at Shen Liqian upon hearing this, but said nothing.
As the group was talking, Ming Zhaoshuang’s foot suddenly lost purchase, as if she had stepped on something.
She looked down and was startled.
She saw a dark yellow human skeleton lying at her feet, emitting a faint blackness. One of its hands had already been broken by her.
The skeleton was still wearing the attire of a disciple from some sect, with blood-red hemlines and golden threads, appearing terrifying in the pitch-black night.
Shen Liqian pulled Ming Zhaoshuang back a bit and said softly,
“Perhaps some sect’s disciple failed the trial and died here.”
Ming Zhaoshuang’s heart sank, and she belatedly realized that her decision to part ways with Qin Feilong and search for the formation core was indeed life-threatening.
And the probability of death was very high.
She suddenly felt her hands and feet go cold, and her thoughts became somewhat unclear.
Ming Zhaoshuang’s throat felt dry, and she said, “If we turn back now and find Senior Brother Qin, it’s not too late.”
They still had plenty of spirit fruits, enough to resist this poison mist, but if they went further, it might be an abyss of death.
Ming Zhaoshuang could not bear the responsibility for so many lives.
The System frowned and said, “Based on your personality, you would not give up before even experiencing hardship. This is not like you.”
Ming Chenxing frowned, sensing that the string in Ming Zhaoshuang’s heart was almost broken. He had not said much this entire journey, but now he said,
“Eldest Young Lady, are you sure?”
Shen Liqian handed a spirit fruit to Ming Zhaoshuang and said softly, “Zhaoshuang, you haven’t eaten a single spirit fruit since you left Senior Brother Feilong. Although I know your body can still endure it, what about your mind? Are you sure it hasn’t been affected by this poison mist?”
Since leaving Qin Feilong, everyone had eaten two or three spirit fruits, but Ming Zhaoshuang had not eaten any to save resources.
The poison mist invading the body was not the most terrifying thing; what was most terrifying was its ability to affect one’s thoughts.
Even someone with Ming Zhaoshuang’s strong disposition would waver in this poison mist.
Seeing this, Fei Changxiu teased Ming Zhaoshuang, “Junior Sister, if you’re scared, go find Junior Brother Qin. But I don’t care! After we leave the Talisman Saint’s Secret Realm, I’ll immediately write about your act of fleeing the battle. I’ll write that you’re afraid of the dark, afraid of ghosts, and that you were scared to death by a skeleton.”
Ming Zhaoshuang took a bite of the spirit fruit and her condition improved considerably.
Hearing this, she glared at Fei Changxiu and said, “Senior Brother Xiu’er, if you dare to write it, I’ll make Chenxing ignore you forever.”
Fei Changxiu jumped up and said, “No, you don’t think Ming Chenxing usually pays attention to me, do you?”
Normally, if he said ten sentences, Ming Chenxing might not even reply to one!
If he didn’t feel Ming Chenxing’s cultivation improving significantly every time they sparred, he wouldn’t be trying to get his attention with a cold shoulder every day.
Ming Zhaoshuang finished eating the spirit fruit in large bites and then said to the others,
“I was confused earlier, thinking of going back. But now the poison mist is getting thicker, which means we are getting closer to the formation core. However, spirit fruits are ultimately limited. Relying on these spirit fruits to find the formation core is clearly not enough. We must find more spirit fruits to successfully pass the trial.”
She actually thought of going back, how ridiculous!
She was Chinese, and the Chinese have an old saying: “Since we’ve come this far.”
Having come this far, if she went back, she wouldn’t be Chinese!
Seeing that everyone was listening to her speak, Ming Zhaoshuang couldn’t help but smile and say, “Alright, you don’t think I was actually scared by this thing, do you?”
After eating the spirit fruit, Ming Zhaoshuang’s thoughts, which had been disturbed by the poison mist, gradually returned. After a while, she said,
“Now, we must taste every fruit we encounter, whether it’s a spirit fruit or a poison fruit. Otherwise, the closer we get to the formation core, the fewer spirit fruits we will be able to find.”
