Chapter 12: Pledge of Love

"Seven-Colored Poison Scripture?!" Little Doctor Fairy's slightly surprised voice rang out, with a trace of subtle delight mixed in. If Xiao Yan hadn't been expecting it, he really wouldn't have caught it.

"What? You're interested in it?" Xiao Yan asked knowingly.

"What's so strange about that?" Little Doctor Fairy walked forward naturally, took the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture into her hands, and said, "Don't you know that doctors and Poison Masters are inseparable?"

"This belongs to me now." Little Doctor Fairy smiled at Xiao Yan and said with a hint of provocation, "Let me tell you, if you dare do anything improper to me again, just wait and see how I'll deal with you. Hmph!"

Having said that, the girl proudly raised her fair little chin, her small nose seemingly stretching a few degrees longer in that moment.

Though she said so, Xiao Yan was no easy pushover. He walked right up, slipped his hands around her slender willow waist, and with a pull, Little Doctor Fairy's soft delicate body pressed against him.

Lowering his head, he gazed at Little Doctor Fairy's little face, surprised and blushing: "Oh? Then tell me, what counts as improper things, so I can avoid them."

"You!" Little Doctor Fairy stamped her foot in annoyance, stomping hard on Xiao Yan's instep. But given Xiao Yan's physical body's strength, that little force was no different from a massage.

"Do you know? Some poisons can make a man unable to perform. Want to try?" Little Doctor Fairy said with a sinister edge, thoroughly riled up.

But unexpectedly, Xiao Yan wasn't afraid at all; instead, he held her tighter: "Haven't you noticed I have Strange Fire? Ordinary poisons are useless against me—they'll be burned away directly by the Strange Fire inside my body."

"Strange Fire?" Little Doctor Fairy, who had been embarrassed and annoyed, instantly widened her eyes: "That's impossible! You're just a Dou Zhe, how could you have refined Strange Fire?"

"Then if it's not Strange Fire, why would a mere Dou Zhe like me have the attack power of a Dou Shi?" Xiao Yan countered.

"This…"

"So there are some things you don't need to hide from me either—I won't be afraid of your poison." Xiao Yan suddenly shifted from his earlier teasing and said gently.

"Hide? What would I be hiding?" Little Doctor Fairy looked puzzled, her gaze drifting uncontrollably, like a child caught lying by an adult.

Although Little Doctor Fairy still didn't want to say it, Xiao Yan wouldn't let her off so easily: "You were born with a poison body, also called the Calamity Poison Body, right?"

"I'm not! I don't! I…" Looking at Xiao Yan's resolute gaze, Little Doctor Fairy's voice gradually weakened: "You… know everything?"

"Of course." Xiao Yan gently brushed the girl's cheek: "I saw through it from the very first day I met you."

"Then why did you still approach me? Aren't you afraid?"

"I told you, I have Strange Fire, ordinary poisons are useless against me. And I once obtained an Alchemist's inheritance, which included a solution for the Calamity Poison Body." Xiao Yan said gently, extending his right hand and brushing across his Na Ring, causing a scroll to appear before the two of them.

"This is?" Gazing at the scroll floating in the air, Little Doctor Fairy realized something and looked at Xiao Yan in disbelief, a glimmer of hope flashing in her eyes.

"This is the solution I told you about—the Poison Pill Method."

Dou Qi swept through as the scroll unfurled in the air, line after line of arcane text appearing.

"The Calamity Poison Body is one of the most unique and powerful constitutions on the Dou Qi Continent. It feeds on deadly poison, and uses deadly poison as material to grow. But as the poison accumulates within the body, it will gradually spiral out of control. Once the toxin erupts, within a thousand miles, man and beast alike will be wiped out, not a blade of grass will grow, all life will be destroyed, and even the Calamity Poison Body's host will not be spared. This Poison Pill Method borrows the power of Strange Fire to condense all the body's toxins into the dantian, transforming them into a Poison Pill. Once the pill is formed, the poison body reaches perfection, and one can be invincible below Dou Sheng!"

"To condense the Poison Pill, three things are required: first, three kinds of Strange Fire; second, a Seven Rank Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast Magic Core; third, Bodhi Transformation Saliva."

Her gaze swept quickly across the scroll, but the more she understood the Poison Pill Method, the more Little Doctor Fairy felt hope slipping away, her initial excitement gradually dimming. The materials required by the Poison Pill Method recorded above were truly terrifying. First, the Seven Rank Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast Magic Core—even a Dou Zun strong expert might not necessarily be able to produce one, so how could she possibly obtain it? Second, Strange Fire—one kind of Strange Fire was already hard to find in ten thousand miles, let alone three! As for the final Bodhi Transformation Saliva, Little Doctor Fairy had never even heard of it, but being listed alongside the first two, it was clearly no ordinary thing either.

The cruelest thing in this world is to grant hope only to snatch it away! The harsh conditions plunged Little Doctor Fairy's whole heart into silence, and a layer of gloom settled over her eyes.

"Xiao Yan, thank you. I will work hard to find these materials." Little Doctor Fairy forced herself to rally, struggling to pull out a smile.

"Mm." Xiao Yan replied, gazing deeply at the girl's deliberately strong face: "Little Doctor Fairy, once your Calamity Poison Body matter is resolved, will you marry me?"

"Xiao Yan!" Little Doctor Fairy's heart trembled, a glint of crystal welling in her eyes.

The girl pondered for a long moment, then for the first time took the initiative to wrap her arms around the youth's waist, gently leaning into his chest, and whispered: "Okay."

If heaven doesn't bless, and the Poison Pill Method fails, then I'll just leave. Little Doctor Fairy thought silently.

But Xiao Yan certainly wouldn't let Little Doctor Fairy harbor such pessimistic thoughts: "Little Doctor Fairy, look at this?"

A ball of forest-white flame appeared out of thin air within the stone chamber, but this flame didn't bring warmth to the cold stone chamber—instead, it plunged the surroundings into an ice cellar.

"This is!" The sudden turn of events interrupted the sorrowful resolve in Little Doctor Fairy's heart, and she stared blankly at the scene.

"This is the Strange Fire from the Alchemist's inheritance I obtained, plus my own—that makes two in total." Xiao Yan, seeing Little Doctor Fairy's expression of惊喜 mixed with disbelief, continued: "Besides that, the Alchemist whose inheritance I obtained had ties to the legendary sacred ground of Alchemists—the Central Province Alchemist Tower. Although the other two materials for the Poison Pill are precious, for the Alchemist Tower, they should still be able to produce them."

"Xiao Yan." Little Doctor Fairy murmured, saying nothing more. She wasn't foolish—Xiao Yan made it sound easy, but the Alchemist Tower wasn't something you could enter just through a master's recommendation. Even taking it ten thousand steps further, even if Xiao Yan were truly a heaven-gifted talent who could enter easily, what did that have to do with her?

"Little Doctor Fairy, do you know what I was thinking the first time I saw you?"

"What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking, this beauty really matches me well!" Xiao Yan returned to his earlier teasing tone, gently pinching Little Doctor Fairy's little nose, trying to pull the atmosphere out of its original heaviness.

Yes, truly a perfect match—even Little Doctor Fairy herself felt that way. The person before her was like the window heaven opened for her after closing the door, pulling her out from the shadow of the Calamity Poison Body.

"You only know how to bully me." Pouting her little lips, the girl pretended to be dissatisfied, her small fists pounding the youth's chest, an ambiguous atmosphere spreading between their hearts.

When the two left the stone chamber, the moon had already risen high in the sky, and阵阵 cool breeze blew past—what could not be blown out was that fiery heart.