Chapter 222: Antidote

When Li Luo smoothly delivered the detoxifying medicinal ingredients to the Xiyang House headquarters, the panicked people inside the headquarters couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Young Master, this batch of detoxifying medicinal ingredients has truly solved our most pressing problem." Even Cai Wei was patting her chest, her charming oval face full of relief.

"The others didn't manage to procure detoxifying medicinal ingredients?" Seeing their expressions, Li Luo immediately knew that the other purchasers must have returned empty-handed.

Jiang Jiang Qinge nodded and said, "Golden Worm Paste and Heavenly Awn Salt, these two high-grade detoxifying medicinal ingredients, were out of stock at every other medicinal shop today."

"Good thing you sent me to the Golden Dragon Treasure House." Li Luo sighed. This situation was clearly something Jiang Jiang Qinge had anticipated beforehand; otherwise, she wouldn't have sent him personally to the Golden Dragon Treasure House.

Lu Lu Qingmei clasped her hands behind her back and said with a smile, "How could the Golden Dragon Treasure House have stock? That Manager Pei Hao came prepared; he couldn't possibly overlook such an obvious place, could he?"

Li Luo said, "The Golden Dragon Treasure House's stock was also swept clean today. My batch was taken from the Golden Dragon Treasure House's reserve vault."

Lu Lu Qingmei raised an eyebrow and said, "Tsk tsk, I heard that the Golden Dragon Treasure House's reserve vault requires Yu Yu Hongxi's jade talisman to open. Your face carries quite a bit of weight."

Li Luo glanced at Lu Lu Qingmei, wondering why it felt like there was something hidden behind her words.

"But this time, we really owe it to President Yu Yu Hongxi. If she hadn't given her nod, this batch of detoxifying medicinal ingredients truly couldn't have been bought back." Li Luo briefly explained what had happened this time, especially Yu Yu Hongxi's unfathomable attitude.

Hearing this, the corners of Jiang Jiang Qinge's lips curved into a rather meaningful smile. She said, "Perhaps only you could achieve such a result. If it had been me instead, I'm afraid Yu Yu Hongxi wouldn't have even shown her face, let alone allow taking goods from the Golden Dragon Treasure House's reserve vault."

Li Luo was stunned: "Is it really that blunt?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge smiled without answering. She had actually met Yu Yu Hongxi a few times herself, but both sides could sense the other's coldness and resistance. And since they both had rather strong personalities, naturally neither could swallow her pride to make friendly overtures.

Yu Yu Hongxi was on bad terms with Dantai Lan, and Jiang Jiang Qinge admired Dantai Lan the most. So even though she clearly knew that building a good relationship with Yu Yu Hongxi would benefit House Luolan Mansion, she had never done so—proud as a great white goose, walking with elegant and haughty posture, never bowing her head.

Jiang Jiang Qinge didn't say more on this matter. Her golden eyes turned to the several healers present and said, "Now that the detoxifying medicinal ingredients have arrived, I'll have to trouble everyone to quickly develop the antidote."

"Young Lady Jiang, please rest assured, we will give it our all. But as luck would have it, my teacher hasn't been in Daxia City these past few days. If the old man were here, resolving this poison crisis shouldn't be difficult."

The speaker was a seemingly young man. His smile was warm, his appearance quite refined. It was evident that under Jiang Jiang Qinge's gaze, his spirits and enthusiasm had risen considerably.

"Then thank you for your trouble." Jiang Jiang Qinge nodded slightly, her breathtakingly beautiful face showing little emotion.

Li Luo on the side was rather startled, then smiled helplessly. He remembered this healer seemed to be called Qin Wang, who was somewhat famous among the healers in Daxia City. Moreover, his teacher was a top-tier healer in Daxia City, also among those Li Luo had failed to invite this time.

When this person had been invited earlier, this Qin Wang had been somewhat cold and arrogant. Yet now, the moment Li Luo left and returned, Qin Wang was acting as though he couldn't wait to immediately develop the antidote. This could only mean Jiang Jiang Qinge's charm was truly too overwhelming.

At this moment, the room was already fully equipped with various implements for developing the antidote. As the detoxifying medicinal ingredients were brought in one batch after another, the development work hastily began.

An unpleasant, pungent smell immediately spread through the room.

However, neither Li Luo nor Jiang Jiang Qinge left; instead, they watched the development process at all times. After all, these detoxifying medicinal ingredients were too important, and they had to guard against the possibility that some healer among them might sabotage the work.

Li Luo had previously crammed some healer's techniques in order to handle the treatment for the young Emperor, so he could barely understand what was happening now. But if he were truly asked to step up and develop the antidote, he'd truly be completely in the dark. After all, much of the knowledge involved was something he simply hadn't had the time or energy to study.

While waiting, Li Luo suddenly looked at Jiang Jiang Qinge and said in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Do you think they can develop the antidote? Or rather, will the antidote they develop actually work?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge glanced at him, was silent for a few seconds, and said, "What do you think?"

Li Luo sighed softly and said, "I just feel uneasy. That Manager Pei Hao came prepared this time. If everything could be solved just by getting the detoxifying medicinal ingredients, it seems too simple."

Jiang Jiang Qinge said calmly, "There's some news I haven't told you. While you were out procuring medicinal ingredients, I also sent people to invite some top-tier healers in Daxia City. But guess what? None of them were in Daxia City."

Li Luo's pupils contracted slightly. Of course he understood the implication behind Jiang Jiang Qinge's words. Those top-tier healers clearly couldn't have left Daxia City for no reason—someone must have been pushing things in the shadows.

And who that person was, the answer was self-evident.

But with the forces Manager Pei Hao had at his disposal, achieving this would be far too difficult. Therefore, there must be other forces backing him.

"That bastard..."

Li Luo cursed softly.

While the two were talking, Cai Wei suddenly hurried in and said to them in a low voice, "The condition of those poisoned Phase Masters is getting worse and worse. The poison must be spreading inside their bodies."

"Moreover, the news that some Phase Masters in Xiyang House have been poisoned has already spread throughout Daxia City. Among the rumors are claims that these branch Phase Masters offended the Young Master, so the Young Master gave them Mi Fa source water laced with poison..."

There was some anger on her cheeks. This kind of rumor was truly too vicious—not only did it aim to destroy Xiyang House, but it also tried to sling mud on Li Luo that would be hard to wash off.

Both Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge frowned. The current situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for them.

But saying all this was useless now. Everything still had to wait until the antidote was developed.

So their gazes turned once more to the busy healers. Time rapidly slipped away in this tense atmosphere, and in the blink of an eye, an hour had passed.

Suddenly, Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge heard some excited voices from the healers in the room. When they looked, they saw several healers gathered together, one of whom was the Qin Wang who had spoken earlier. He now held a jade bottle, and inside the jade bottle was the developed antidote.

However, it wasn't completely finished yet.

Just as with refining Spiritual Water Wonders, where one finally condenses the source water's source light, developing the antidote also had the same final step. This step was called "Dotting the Eyes" in the healer's profession.

Simply put, it meant highly condensing one's own phase power that possessed healing effects, infusing it into the antidote, then merging the two together to maximize and unleash their healing and detoxifying effects.

But just like refining Spiritual Water Wonders, it still required the refiner's own phase power to stimulate the medicinal properties. Otherwise, if someone else's phase power was infused, it would cause the entire bottle of antidote to be destroyed outright due to phase power conflict.

And since this first bottle of antidote was refined by Qin Wang, he naturally proceeded with the "Dotting the Eyes" step without hesitation. He was seen dropping a highly condensed droplet of phase power light into the bottle. Immediately, a strange sound rang out, followed by a pungent smell surging forth.

However, the surrounding healers showed expressions of joy at this pungent smell, because it indicated that Qin Wang's refinement had indeed succeeded.

"Brother Qin truly lives up to being Master Lulong's prized disciple." The healers praised one after another. Everyone had been developing simultaneously, yet only Qin Wang completed it first—clearly, he had real skill.

Facing everyone's flattery, Qin Wang couldn't help feeling a bit proud. Then his gaze turned to Jiang Jiang Qinge's breathtakingly beautiful face and said, "Young Lady Jiang, I have not failed your expectations."

Jiang Jiang Qinge's gaze lingered on him for a moment longer. She nodded slightly and said, "Master Qin truly lives up to being a disciple of Master Lulong... Since the antidote has been refined, let's first test whether it's viable."

She raised her hand, and immediately a servant carefully carried in a wooden chest. When the chest was opened, inside were jars of black blood contained in crystal bottles.

"This is the poisoned blood drawn from the victims. If the antidote truly works, it should be able to neutralize this poisoned blood." Jiang Jiang Qinge said.

Qin Wang took out a bottle of poisoned blood from among them, and his expression also grew much more solemn, because he too knew how domineering this poison was. So whether the developed antidote would actually work, he couldn't be sure in his heart.

Under the watchful gaze of many nervous eyes, Qin Wang opened the poisoned blood, then poured the antidote he had developed into it.

As the antidote poured in, that jar of poisoned blood immediately began to react. Countless emerald-green light points burst forth from within, rapidly eroding and dissolving the surrounding black blood.

And under the erosion of these emerald-green light points, the black blood began to show signs of fading.

"It works!" a healer exclaimed joyfully.

Li Luo, Jiang Jiang Qinge, Cai Wei, and the others also held their breath, watching tensely as the black blood began to fade.

However, their joy didn't last long. The emerald-green light points spreading throughout the poisoned blood, in the next moment, seemed to encounter a backlash from some terrifying force. In just a few breaths, the green light points were all covered by the black poisoned blood, dimming and being extinguished one by one...

In the blink of an eye, the emerald-green light points in the black blood vanished completely. Only a bottle of black blood remained, quietly standing there, seemingly emanating a foul stench that made one's blood run cold.

Qin Wang's face turned slightly pale, and the other healers also stared at this scene with ugly expressions.

This poison was even more vicious than they had imagined.

Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge on the steps also gradually furrowed their brows; they exchanged a glance and both saw the gravity in each other's eyes.

Sure enough, everything was just as they had anticipated.

Even with these corresponding antidote ingredients in hand, neutralizing this poison was still not so easy.

This time, Manager Pei Hao's offensive was watertight — he clearly would not rest until the Xiyang House was utterly destroyed...