Chapter 1005: Ripple Bone Poison
Watching the two Dao Raising Holy Emperors, who were chasing after him, flee in disbelief, Qi Shisanxing looked at Ning Cheng in bewilderment. “Ning Cheng, how did you become so powerful? How were you able to burn down a Dao Raising Holy Emperor’s artefact, break that Dao Raising Holy Emperor’s spirit technique, and even scare off the two Dao Raising Holy Emperors? And when the h.e.l.l did you become a pill sage?”
When Ning Cheng saw that Qi Shisanxing didn’t even know these matters, he understood that Qi Shisanxing hadn’t come out in a long time. Otherwise, the news of him becoming a Dao Essence Pill Sage would have already reached Qi Shisanxing’s ear long ago.
“Thirteen, we’ll talk about these later. First, tell me, where did you disappear off to after coming out of the Grand Essence Mystic Realm? I was expecting some help from your old man when I decided to partic.i.p.ate in the Grand Essence Great Meet. It’s just that I never expected you to not show up, causing me to almost get killed by that old thing, Man Huishan.” Ning Cheng had some suspicions that something had happened to Qi Shisanxing’s old man. Otherwise, the Profound Moon Spirit Gate wouldn’t have changed its Seat Master.
Qi Shisanxing’s face suddenly turned ugly as he gritted his teeth. “When I returned, my mother immediately sent me to a place for ‘secluded’ cultivation. She said that I could only come out after reaching Dao Sculpting Realm. In fact, the place where I was sent to wouldn’t even open before I reached Dao Sculpting Realm. I told them that I wanted to come to see you at the Grand Essence Great Meet. But my father didn’t listen and instead said that he would go in my stead to help you.”
Ning Cheng grew even more suspicious. After all, during the Grand Essence Great Meet, Qi Shisanxing’s father had never shown up. If Qi Shisanxing’s old man had come, he wouldn’t have given ten bottles of Empyrean Consciousness Trans.m.u.tation Pills to the Star Treading Tower’s master. Nor would he have been chased around by Man Huishan. With the status of Qi Shisanxing’s old man, he absolutely wouldn’t have lied about this to Qi Shisanxing. The only possibility left was that something had happened to Qi Changgui.
“Since I was trapped in the Grand Essence Mystic Realm for far too long, I didn’t resist and decided to come out after shaping my Dao. But, before I could even start shaping my Dao, my sister forcibly opened the place where I was in secluded cultivation.”
As Qi Shisanxing reached this point, his voice trembled slightly with anger. “My sister told me to not return to the sect after shaping my Dao and immediately head to the depths of the Grand Essence Ruins. She told me to search for the Grand Spirit Technique, Grand Essence Spirit Thunder. Only when I reached Dao Confirmation’s Dao Essence Realm could I return to avenge my father and mother.”
“What happened?” Ning Cheng asked solemnly.
Qi Shisanxing took a deep breath. But just when he was about to speak, a fast shadow rushed out from the depths of the Grand Essence Realm. This shadow swept past Ning Cheng and Qi Shisanxing and continued for a few breaths before reversing its trajectory and then landing beside Ning Cheng.
Qi Shisanxing, who was about to continue talking, immediately stopped when he saw someone coming toward them.
“Fellow Daoist Liu, I waited for you at the Grand Essence Ruins for a few days…….” Ning Cheng recognised this person as Liu Fanglin. He only spoke a few words before stopping. Liu Fanglin had been injured once again. Why was it that every time he saw her, she would always show up with a new injury?
No, saying Liu Fanglin had gotten injured wasn’t correct. Rather, she had been poisoned. Ning Cheng might not have known what poison Liu Fanglin got inflicted with if they had met a few months ago. But after obtaining the Ripple Bone Flower, Ning Cheng understood that she got poisoned by the Ripple Bone Poison.
Liu Fanglin had gone to look for the Ripple Bone Poison; how did she get poisoned by the same poison instead?
Liu Fanglin’s cultivation level clearly was far inferior to that skeletal elder from the Void Star Sect. He could suppress the indications of poisoning so that no poisonous miasma spilled out of his body, making it difficult to tell what poison affected him. But with Liu Fanglin’s current appearance, even those who didn’t know anything about the Ripple Bone Poison could see that she was poisoned. And poisoned quite deeply.
“Brother Ning, I guessed that you should have come out. But I didn’t expect to see you here…….” Liu Fanglin’s words were a bit urgent. Apparently, she also was well aware of her current condition.
“Wait……” Ning Cheng stepped Liu Fanglin. “Did Wei Jingbing also come out after you?”
Liu Fanglin nodded, “Yes, I poisoned him. But I never expected him to have a powerful spirit technique that caused a backlash…….”
“You again?” As Liu Fanglin’s words fell, Wei Jingbing rushed out from the depths of the Grand Essence Ruins and landed not far away, staring at Ning Cheng and Liu Fanglin with a face full of hostility.
He then noticed Qi Shisanxing and spoke up with a startled expression, “Qi Shisanxing? You’re still alive?”
Qi Shisanxing’s murderous aura suddenly burst out. “Wei Jingbing, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d, your Wei Clan is nothing but a bunch of filthy beasts. Fortunately, my sister survived by luck. If anything happens to my sister, I will not leave even a single ant alive in your garbage of a Wei Clan.”
Ning Cheng could see that Wei Jingbing had been poisoned with the same Ripple Bone Poison.
Wei Jingbing ignored Qi Shisanxing’s angry curses, only stared at Ning Cheng and gave a cold snort. Then, he took out a flight-type artefact and quickly disappeared.
He had already witnessed Ning Cheng’s strength personally and had even fought a few rounds with Ning Cheng. Therefore, he knew that he wasn’t Ning Cheng’s match even if he was at his peak. Let alone now, when he was afflicted with the Ripple Bone Poison, which would soon cripple his cultivation.
Liu Fanglin didn’t know Qi Shisanxing, nor did she understand why Qi Shisanxing held a grudge against the Wei Clan. But when she saw Wei Jingbing fleeing, she said to Ning Cheng, “Brother Ning, I’m afraid I won’t live much longer. I no longer had any real friends after my husband’s death. But if there is still someone I can trust, it’s only you. I want to ask you to help me with one thing…….”
Ning Cheng raised his hand to stop Liu Fanglin from continuing. “Fellow Daoist Liu, don’t talk about the matters of life and death for now. You should first follow me to the Grand Essence Public Square and find an inn to stay in. I may be able to help you detoxify the poison.”
“You can detoxify the Ripple Bone Poison?” Liu Fanglin subconsciously exclaimed in shock. She then collected herself and bowed to Ning Cheng, “Brother Ning, thank you for showing such kindness. However, there is no way to remove the Ripple Bone Poison without the Renewing Heavens Ripple Bone Pill.”
After saying that, she seemed afraid that Ning Cheng wouldn’t understand and explained, “Not to mention the preciousness of the ingredients for the Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill. Some of them no longer exist in this world. Plus, even if you somehow obtained all the required ingredients, it would still be useless. The reason is that the Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill is a Dao Transformation Dao Pill. In fact, it’s the most complex Dao Transformation Dao Pill in the world. I’m afraid that even a Dao Transformation Pill Sage wouldn’t be able to refine the Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill.”
Ning Cheng stayed silent before speaking up, “I can’t guarantee that I can completely eliminate the poison. But if you believe me, come stay at the Grand Essence Ruins’ inn with me and wait for a while. If you don’t believe me, just tell me what you need my help with; as long as I can do it, I will definitely help you.”
Ning Cheng asked Liu Fanglin to wait with him for some time at the Grand Essence Ruins’ Public Square because he was sure that as long as he showed up, Void Star Sect’s Sect Master would also show up. After all, he needed his help in refining the Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill. As long as the Void Star Sect’s Sect Master came looking for him to refine the pills, he could also help Liu Fanglin get rid of the Ripple Bone Poison.
It’s just that Liu Fanglin didn’t trust him very much due to the misconception that arose when he said he would help Liu Fanglin check her body in the Valley of Life. It caused doubts about his intentions to rise up in her heart. If he insisted that Liu Fanglin should wait with him, it would only become counterproductive. Besides, everyone’s fate was tied to their own decisions. Therefore, if Liu Fanglin wanted to leave the Grand Essence Ruins’ Public Square, then he could only wish her good luck and help her fulfil her last wish at the same time.
Liu Fanglin didn’t expect that Ning Cheng would still claim to have a chance to help her with the poison even after her explanation. Replaced by anyone else, they might have doubted Ning Cheng’s motives.
She looked at Ning Cheng’s eyes for a long while before taking a deep breath and said, “Okay, I will wait with you for ten days. In any case, I can only suppress the Ripple Bone Poison for about a month. If it can’t be detoxified within ten days, I won’t be able to wait any longer. I would have to leave to take care of other things with the limited time I would be left with.”
It’s not that she believed Ning Cheng could help her get rid of the Ripple Bone Poison. Instead, it was because she really wanted Ning Cheng’s help. If she were to reject Ning Cheng’s requests one after another, then Ning Cheng wouldn’t help her if she pa.s.sed him her last request.
Ning Cheng only showed a faint smile, “If I can solve it, there would be no need to wait for ten days. If it cannot be solved, it would be useless even if we waited for ten years.”
The Void Star Sect could easily find him if he stayed in the Grand Essence Public Square. In fact, it wouldn’t even take them a full ten days. But if the Void Star Sect didn’t come to him within ten days, then it meant that the Void Star Sect’s Sect Master found someone else to refine those pills.
Liu Fanglin let out a long sigh and accepted Ning Cheng’s decision. As she went through the conversation once again, she suddenly spoke up. “If you can really solve the poison in my body, I would also be willing to let you examine my body.”
Ning Cheng felt speechless. ‘Talking about helping you check your body as if it was a benefit. I’m the one helping you, not asking for a benefit. But then again, helping you check your body really did seem like a benefit.’
Ning Cheng couldn’t help but rub his chin, not knowing how to respond to Liu Fanglin’s words. Should he answer with an ‘okay’ or an ‘I’m helping you, not asking for welfare’?
Qi Shisanxing walked over and patted Ning Cheng’s shoulder. “Ning Cheng. You’re awesome. Sister Liu is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, congratulations.”
He seemed to have forgotten that he was being chased around like a lost dog.
“Stop spouting nonsense. Fellow Daoist Liu and I are just helping each other. Thirteen, let’s head back to Grand Essence Ruins’ Public Square first. There are other things that we still need to talk about.” Ning Cheng quickly stopped Qi Shisanxing from talking nonsense.
Qi Shisanxing suddenly remembered his family’s situation and no longer felt like joking with Ning Cheng. Even his expressions turned gloomy.
……
Spirit Thunder Tower. The largest inn within the Grand Essence Ruins’ Public Square.
Ning Cheng proposed that the three of them stay in a large suite. Unexpectedly, Liu Fanglin didn’t raise any objections. No matter what Ning Cheng thought, it had no effect on her. Besides, even a typical suite within the Spirit Thunder Tower usually consisted of seven or eight small chambers. As such, everyone had their own private s.p.a.ce. As long as Ning Cheng didn’t come to her room, it wouldn’t matter.
Ning Cheng naturally wouldn’t go to Liu Fanglin’s chambers. Once they entered their suite, he immediately sat down to talk with Qi Shisanxing, which took a significant part of the day.
Condensing it to the bare minimum, Grand Elder Fei Feng had a.s.sa.s.sinated Qi Shisanxing’s father during a private cultivation session. All because of a mysterious artefact. Qi Shisanxing’s mother also suffered severe injuries trying to save Qi Changgui.
But despite the severe injuries, Qi Shisanxing’s mother managed to escape with Qi Yuling. At the same time, she told Qi Yuling everything, gave Qi Yuling a jade strip, and told Qi Yuling to tell Qi Shisanxing to never return to the sect. She asked Qi Shisanxing to follow the directions on the jade strip and search for the Grand Essence Spirit Thunder, a lost Grand Spirit Technique famous throughout the Grand Essence Realm.
Qi Yuling, however, didn’t go to her brother Qi Shisanxing right away. Instead, she first went to the Battlefront Cliff’s Wei Clan to look for Wei He. Fortunately, before she reached the Battlefront Cliff’s Wei Clan, she managed to overhear that the Wei Clan fully supported Fei Feng and prepared to take down both the siblings.
“What happened to your sister?” Ning Cheng quickly asked. Since Qi Shisanxing was being chased by two Dao Raising Holy Emperors, Qi Yuling’s treatment would definitely not be any better.
“She said she was going to another place and told me not to worry, just take care of my cultivation. Therefore, I decided to wait till I shaped my Dao before coming out. But just when I was readying myself to head to the Grand Essence Ruins, those two guys started to chase after me.” As Qi Shisanxing said this, the worry in his eyes could no longer be concealed.
Ning Cheng sighed and briefly explained his experience as well. But just as the two were about to end their conversation, Lou Fanglin’s voice came from outside the door. “Brother Ning, people from Wei Clan are here and blocking our suite entrance.”