Chapter 184: Unconscious, Medicine, Awakening

He Zhang and his disciple found a secluded booth in the inn, sat down and ordered a pot of tea and some small dishes.

“Master, didn’t you discover any traces of demonic energy from that man’s body earlier?” Qin Lingyu poured a cup of tea for He Zhang as he asked.

He Zhang squinted his eyes as he recalled their earlier encounter before he shook his head, “No. Even though you’ve mentioned that he’s a demonic cultivator, your master can’t detect any anomalies in his body. I’m afraid that there must be an artefact on his body that’s presently concealing his demonic energy.

Qin Lingyu’s eyes darkened. To him, Rong Ruihan and Ye Xiuwen were like two thorns by his side that had to be removed.

But now that Ye Xiuwen had disappeared and was very likely dead, the only remaining thorn was naturally Rong Ruihan.

If possible, he wanted to reveal to the world the fact that Rong Ruihan was a demonic cultivator so that he would immediately become the target of all spiritual cultivators.

His fingers tightened around the cup in his hands as he suggested, “Master, the Inferno Kingdom’s first prince seems to be on good terms with the Heavenly Peak’s Jun Xiaomo. Would it be possible to think of a way to reveal his identity as a demonic cultivator? This would be helpful to us in the grand scheme of things.”

He Zhang deliberated for a moment before he rejected Qin Lingyu’s suggestion.

“This man doesn’t only seem to be close to Jun Xiaomo, right? He had arrived at the competition grounds together with the Eternal Summit Sect entourage, and we’re not clear on his relationship with that group of people. If we disclose his identity as a demonic cultivator, it might unnecessarily implicate the people from Eternal Summit Sect as well. That’s something we can’t afford to do.”

“Master, I don’t think that the people from the Eternal Summit Sect are aware that Rong Ruihan is a demonic cultivator. If we expose his identity, I’m sure the Eternal Summit Sect will simply distance themselves from him. Why would they bear any enmity or hostility against us?”

“This might not be the case. The Eternal Summit Sect pride themselves in their reputation, especially Dai Yanfeng. Even if they’re not prepared to harbour and protect a demonic cultivator, it’s still a fact that they had once received a demonic cultivator within their midst. This would make them the biggest laughingstock in the spiritual cultivation world. At that time, they might even think that the Dawn Sect had done this with the sole intention of humiliating them and that might further strain the relationship between our sects to the point of hostility and enmity.”

“But…” Qin Lingyu was unwilling. He was just about to continue when he was cut off by He Zhang.

“Alright, Lingyu, I know you’re incredibly displeased and uneasy about the things that you’ve experienced on your earlier travels. But you have to have the big picture in mind. You need to keep your emotions in check and prevent that from influencing your judgment. The more pressing issue at hand is to think of a way to stimulate the demonic energy within Jun Xiaomo’s body and reveal her identity as a demonic cultivator, not Rong Ruihan. Furthermore, no matter how close Rong Ruihan is to Jun Xiaomo, he’s just an outsider. So what if we expose his identity as a demonic cultivator? The Heavenly Peak can immediately dissociate themselves with him by saying that they had been kept completely in the dark. By then, we would have not only wasted our efforts, we would even attract unnecessary attention to ourselves.”

He Zhang took a sip of his tea before he continued –

“On the other hand, if Jun Xiaomo’s identity as a demonic cultivator is exposed, then things would be quite drastically different. Jun Xiaomo is Jun Linxuan’s daughter – this is an indissociable truth. Furthermore, Jun Linxuan would never stand idly by and watch his dear daughter get shredded to pieces by the rest of the cultivation world. He would most certainly find a way to conceal and protect his daughter. At that time, all we have to do would be to give him little push off the precipice that he’s treading upon, and the Heavenly Peak would no longer have any firm ground to stand on.”

As he turned his attention to Jun Linxuan’s impending doom, a vicious smile crept up the corner of He Zhang’s lips, and a sense of joy filled his heart.

If his schemes worked out, not a single person from Heavenly Peak would be able to escape! By then, the insurmountable resources and treasures, and…that person that he desired most would be his.

Qin Lingyu grimaced silently, tacitly signifying his compliance with He Zhang’s instructions. Yet when he lifted his teacup, a trace of melancholy filled his eyes.

Everything was going according to plan, so there was no reason not to be pleased at all. But the fact of the matter was that there was no joy in his heart right now.

He couldn’t understand why he was experiencing such reluctance right now. In fact, he had thought of their plans with great eagerness and anticipation just a little while ago.

Just then, the image of Rong Ruihan carrying Jun Xiaomo in his bosom as he left the competition grounds surfaced in Qin Lingyu’s mind again, and his fingers tightened slightly around his teacup.

Qin Lingyu ferociously gulped down a mouthful of tea as he mustered all of his strength to suppress these unnecessary thoughts.

On the other side, Rong Ruihan had unpacked some of his travel necessities in his room and was just about to head over to Jun Xiaomo’s room to check on her when the Transmission Talisman in his clothing began to grow hot.

He retrieved his Transmission Talisman from his clothing and placed it on the table. The formation array on the Transmission Talisman glowed with a faint blue light, before a conspicuous image was projected from the heart of the formation array. Just like that, an illusory image of old man Chi’s body was projected onto the surface of the table.

Rong Ruihan’s face revealed some measure of astonishment. Moments later, he respectfully bowed to old man Chi, “Disciple greets master.”

“Hmph!” Old man Chi snorted as he got straight to the point, “What happened to that young lady again?”

Rong Ruihan’s expression of bewilderment intensified as he clarified, “Did master use the sect’s Transmission Talisman just to discuss Jun Xiaomo’s matter with disciple?”

“Who else would it be for? Do you think this old man would be contacting you to discuss how much he misses you?” Old man Chi grunted sarcastically.

Even though he was already a few thousand years old, and his face was already filled with countless wrinkles, old man Chi still behaved and acted like an adolescent child throwing a tantrum in front of those whom he was familiar with and close to.

A smile crept up the corner of Rong Ruihan’s lips as he respectfully responded, “Disciple sincerely thanks master for master’s efforts. Truth be told, disciple didn’t expect master to use the sect’s Transmission Talisman to speak with disciple about this matter. Disciple thought that this matter might affect master’s cultivation, so disciple had only used a Transmittance Talisman back then.”

Transmittance Talisman and Transmission Talisman were very similar, but their speed and efficacy differed greatly.

“Hmph! Do you think this is of your master’s own volition? If I didn’t personally get involved in this matter, this young little runt is going to personally pluck out all of my beard!” Old man Chi snorted with indignation.

“Young little runt?” Rong Ruihan paused for a moment in shock, before he very quickly managed to guess who old man Chi was referring to.

It was almost as though it wanted to confirm Rong Ruihan’s suspicions, but within the blink of an eye, a chubby little packrat scampered up old man Chi’s shoulder and greeted Rong Ruihan with a few squeaks.

After returning to the clan grounds, old man Chi managed to refine the cure to counteract the effects of the Shapeshifting Fruit that the little packrat had earlier consumed, and the little packrat had thus reverted to his human form.

That said, the little packrat might have remained as a little packrat for far too long before a cure was applied, because even after the cure was applied, there were still some residual, lasting effects – that is, the little packrat would revert to his packrat form for a few days in the middle of every calendar month.

Old man Chi had looked up all kinds of medicinal books and manuscripts, but he had been unable to find a cure for this residual effect of the Shapeshifting Fruit. Thus, he was resigned to having his great grandson revert to his little packrat state for a few days within each month.

“Actually, it’s rather cute and adorable too.” The little packrat’s mother, Shao Sirong, consoled herself as she thought aloud.

The little packrat and his father, Chi Hongyi stared in exasperation at Shao Sirong, and their lips twitched involuntarily.

Fortunately, apart from this minor residual effect, the Shapeshifting Fruit did not leave other lasting or permanent damage to the little packrat’s body.

It so happened that the little packrat saw the message transmitted back to the clan’s grounds by Rong Ruihan. At that time, it anxiously leapt up to old man Chi’s body and began to claw impatiently at old man Chi’s beard, coercing him to save Jun Xiaomo as soon as possible.

This was what had transpired just prior to the present communication between old man Chi and Rong Ruihan.

Rong Ruihan was rather bemused by this turn of events, but he was nevertheless immensely grateful to old man Chi and the little packrat for their concern towards Jun Xiaomo.

He knew that if old man Chi did not have a good impression of Jun Xiaomo, he would never have bothered to use the Transmission Talisman to resolve this matter, regardless how much the little packrat would have clawed at his beard.

“Master, given Jun Xiaomo’s current condition, do you have any suggestions?”

“First, tell me in detail what happened to that young lady.” Old man Chi shed his playful appearance and spoke earnestly to Rong Ruihan.

Thus, Rong Ruihan briefly explained Jun Xiaomo’s condition to old man Chi. He especially pointed out the fact that Jun Xiaomo’s body contained a different type of energy within.

It was neither demonic energy nor spiritual energy. This was what left both him and Jun Linxuan completely helpless.

Old man Chi furrowed his brows. Having lived for a few thousand years, this was the first time he had ever heard of something so absurd as a third type of energy apart from demonic energy and spiritual energy.

But he knew that since demonic energy, spiritual energy and the type of energy within Jun Xiaomo’s body were all foundations of power and abilities, they were bound to have some common ground among them.

Old man Chi thought about it, before he retrieved a little jade bottle from his Interspatial Ring, poured out one medicinal pill and placed it onto the formation array.

Moments later, that medicinal pill appeared in front of Rong Ruihan and floated in mid-air.

Rong Ruihan picked up the medicinal pill and asked, “This is…?”

“This is an Energy Amelioration Pill, and it can be used to soothe and sort out clashing energies within a person’s body. You’d earlier mentioned that it was because this young lady was about to breakthrough a bottleneck that the energy within her body grew chaotic and clashed about, resulting in her falling into a stupor, right? This Energy Amelioration Pill might be useful to help appease the clashing energy in her body.” Old man Chi slowly explained, “Go ahead, feed it to her and see if it works.”

Rong Ruihan’s face was obviously filled with joy. He hurriedly bowed to old man Chi as he exclaimed, “Disciple thanks master!”

“Hurry on then, before I change my mind! Hmph! To think that you’ve even forced me to take out the good stuff that I’ve been storing for ages.” Old man Chi snorted, before waving his hands and ending the transmission.

Rong Ruihan’s eyes were filled with a lingering trace of joy.

He looked at the medicinal pill in his hand once more before standing up and making his way to Jun Xiaomo’s room.

When Rong Ruihan entered Jun Xiaomo’s room, Jun Linxuan and Liu Qingmei were already by Jun Xiaomo’s side. Their expressions were filled with worry and concern.

The other disciples from the Heavenly Peak had also sought to visit their martial sister, but Jun Linxuan prevented them from doing so. After all, there was no need to have everyone crowd around Jun Xiaomo in the confines of this small room. It would not be good for Jun Xiaomo either.

“Senior, my master has given me an Energy Amelioration Pill, and he says that this might be useful to mitigate Xiaomo’s condition.” Rong Ruihan presented the Energy Amelioration Pill to Jun Linxuan.

“Energy Amelioration Pill?” Jun Linxuan revealed a bewildered expression on his face.

Of course he had heard of the Energy Amelioration Pill before. In fact, he knew just how difficult it was to refine these pills.

“That’s far too valuable. I can’t just take it from you like that. I wonder what the value of this Energy Amelioration Pill is? I’m willing to purchase it from you.” Jun Linxuan stated with sincerity.

“Senior, since I’m willing to hand this medicine over to you, I’m naturally not asking for anything in return. Furthermore, Xiaomo is my good friend, and there’s no need to stand on ceremony. I hope you won’t regard me as an outsider either.”

“Since that’s the case…then alright. Thank you.”

Jun Linxuan sincerely thanked the young man, before turning around and carefully feeding Jun Xiaomo with the Energy Amelioration Pill.

One hour later, Jun Xiaomo finally began to rouse from her stupor.

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