Chapter 89: The Empress's Strength, Meeting an Old Friend

"How is it?"

Although he had already experienced the efficacy of the Healing Bait Return Pill firsthand, Li Junxian still asked with unavoidable nervousness:

"Can you feel your injuries improving?"

At this moment, compared to before taking the medicine, Lin Xingchao was clearly radiating much more vitality and life force.

He said, both agitated and unable to believe it:

"I feel like my shattered internal organs are healing and recovering. Such severe internal injuries should have been beyond saving, how could this...?"

Once these words were spoken, the two disciples, Xi Beichen and Gu Yourong, were instantly ecstatic, and Li Junxian also let out a sigh of relief:

"It is good that it is effective. Don't worry about anything else for now; first, circulate and regulate your Qi and blood to accelerate the medicine's effect, then continue to take the remaining Pill!"

Lin Xingchao, who had originally been full of the aura of death, seemed to see hope, his eyes glowing with radiance: "Alright!"

Immediately, he closed his eyes slightly and tried his best to mobilize his Qi and blood to assist the medicine's effect.

Li Junxian waved his hand, having everyone else wait outside the room.

They went outside and closed the door tightly.

Now that things had taken a complete turn for the better, Xi Beichen said to Lu Yuan with excitement and joy:

"Junior Brother Lu, you actually encountered such a miraculous person and obtained such a divine medicine; why didn't you say a word about it along the way?"

Lu Yuan smiled helplessly:

"It was mainly because neither Master nor I knew the specific situation of Uncle-Master Lin, and we were worried that the higher your hopes, the greater your disappointment, so we didn't disclose it."

Gu Yourong also swept away her sorrow at this moment, her face full of anticipation:

"Junior Brother Lu, do you think that miraculous person's Pill can completely cure Master?"

Lu Yuan said:

"I dare not guarantee that, after all, Uncle-Master Lin's injuries are truly too severe. However, judging solely from the effect on my Master, even if this Pill cannot make Uncle-Master Lin recover completely, it is enough to get him out of life-threatening danger; with subsequent slow recuperation, he can still recover as before."

"That is enough, that is enough!"

The two, Xi Beichen, showed no disappointment, remaining excited and full of anticipation.

After all, when Lin Xingchao saw Li Junxian just now, it was clearly a final flash of vitality, and it was very likely he wouldn't even make it through these two days.

If the Pill brought by Lu Yuan and Li Junxian could save a life, it was already a blessing from Heaven; they dared not have any higher demands.

Just like that.

Xi Beichen and Lu Yuan waited in the courtyard, while Gu Yourong hurried to cook for everyone and then sent it into the room.

By evening, after taking another third of a Healing Bait Return Pill, under Li Junxian's care, Lin Xingchao's complexion and state recovered more and more, making Xi Beichen and Gu Yourong increasingly joyful.

It was not until the middle of the night, after the entire Healing Bait Return Pill had been fully administered to Lin Xingchao, that Li Junxian came out of the room.

Xi Beichen and Gu Yourong arranged a room for their master and disciple to rest, and they took turns waiting in the outer room.

In the blink of an eye, the night passed.

Early the next morning.

After the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking arose, and hearing the movement of Li Junxian getting up in the next room, Lu Yuan, who had been sitting cross-legged in meditation, also stopped his cultivation and followed him out of the room, heading toward Lin Xingchao's room.

As soon as he pushed the door and stepped into the room, Lu Yuan saw that both Xi Beichen and Gu Yourong were in the inner room, and more importantly, Lin Xingchao, who had been bedridden with severe injuries, had actually sat up and was leaning against the head of the bed, holding a bowl of medicinal porridge and drinking it in small sips.

"Good, good, good!"

Seeing this scene, Li Junxian beamed and walked inside:

"You can even drink porridge yourself; your internal injuries should be of no major concern now, right?"

Lu Yuan also stepped forward to offer his congratulations:

"Congratulations to Uncle-Master for recovering suddenly and returning to your former self."

"Senior Brother, A Yuan."

Lin Xingchao immediately put down the bowl in his hand and said with tears of gratitude:

"The efficacy of this Pill is extraordinary; my internal injuries have been brought under control and have recovered quite a bit; my life has been completely saved. It is all thanks to you bringing such a divine pill and miraculous medicine that I was pulled back from the gates of hell, otherwise..."

Li Junxian laughed:

"Why thank me? Just thank A Yuan. If it weren't for his fortuitous encounter with a miraculous person to obtain these two divine pills, we would have been helpless even if we had come, so he is the benefactor and lucky star for both of us!"

Lu Yuan said:

"It was just a coincidence; Master and Uncle-Master, please don't stand on ceremony with me."

Xi Beichen and Gu Yourong, however, stepped forward together at this moment and bowed:

"Regardless of anything else, it is thanks to you, A Yuan, that Master's life was saved."

"We do not know how to repay such great kindness; please accept our bow!"

Lu Yuan reached out to stop them:

"If you are this polite again, I will be too embarrassed to stay here."

With that, laughter filled the entire room, and the sorrowful atmosphere was swept away.

"By the way."

At this time, Li Junxian asked:

"When Beichen came to me, time was short and he didn't explain clearly; where did all those experts and even Grandmasters you killed into the palace with come from?"

Lin Xingchao did not hide anything this time and said:

"These experts all come from some old brothers of the Shengping Heavenly Kingdom, as well as the Tianli Sect and the Iron-Blooded National Salvation Society. Our three parties had already formed an Anti-Gold Destroy-Ocean Alliance years ago, and we have foundations in many places such as Tianjing, Jinjin, and Modu.

Among them, the two Grandmasters who led us in the attack were Zhao Wupeng, the former Chief Commander of the guards beside our Saint King, and the other was Song Weiju, the previous Sect Leader of the Tianli Sect."

Li Junxian's expression shook slightly: "Zhao Wupeng, it was actually him!?"

Back then, after joining the Shengping Heavenly Kingdom, he and Lin Xingchao had also risen to the rank of Commander by virtue of their outstanding Martial Arts strength, which was considered a high status.

And this Zhao Wupeng was the trusted Chief Commander of the guards beside the Saint King Chen Kequan at that time, commanding a team of elite soldiers composed entirely of Three Realms Bone Forging Martial Masters, and his status and strength were both extremely high.

After the capital of the Shengping Heavenly Kingdom, Tianyun Prefecture, was breached by the Jin Army, the Saint King Chen Kequan died in battle at the Saint King Mansion; Li Junxian had assumed this trusted Commander had been buried along with him, but he never expected that he was actually still alive, and had even stepped into the realm of a Grandmaster twenty years later!

However, he suddenly thought of something and asked again:

"The one killed by the Undying Demon Empress Xici in ten moves... was that Zhao Wupeng!?"

Lin Xingchao nodded heavily, his eyes revealing a trace of sorrow:

"That's right, it was him. Brother Zhao was already nearly sixty, and because of a severe illness and injuries sustained in his early years, he had long since cut off any possibility of stepping into the Grandmaster realm. The reason he was able to step into the Seventh Realm was actually by using a Life-Shortening Secret Technique that drained his potential and foundation; this time, when he entered the palace to assassinate her, he never intended to come out alive.

But none of us expected that old demoness to be so formidable. Not only was her Martial Arts peerlessly profound, appearing to be at the peak of a Grandmaster, but she also mastered a bizarre and unfathomable Daoist Art that was not much inferior to her Martial Arts."

Li Junxian was shocked:

"Are you saying that the Demon Empress is not only a Seventh Realm peak Martial Arts Grandmaster, but also a top-tier Seventh Realm Daoist Master? How is that possible?"

Whether it is Martial Arts or Daoist Arts, to cultivate to the Seventh Realm peak, talent, comprehension, heritage, and resources are all indispensable.

There are countless people in the Great Jin who practice Martial Arts, yet those who can reach the Grandmaster realm are few and far between, often only appearing once or twice every many years; not to mention that the path of Daoist Arts is far more obscure and difficult than the path of Martial Arts, and it has been many years since anyone heard of a Seventh Realm Master appearing.

He could not imagine that the Undying Demon Empress Xici could reach the pinnacle in both paths.

Lin Xingchao nodded bitterly:

"That's right, we only confirmed this after analyzing it later. Based on Martial Arts alone, the Demon Empress could not have killed Zhao Wupeng in ten moves; her level of Daoist Arts must have also reached the Seventh Realm.

Think about how the Shaman God Sect has the so-called Empowerment Great Method, plus this old demoness has already lived for one hundred and twenty years; with such a long time, combined with the various classics and heavenly treasures collected by the Jin Dynasty, it does not seem so inconceivable that she could reach such a state."

To the side, Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes and asked aloud:

"Uncle-Master, at one hundred and twenty years old, one should logically be frail and old, like withered wood; why is this old demoness still able to fight?"

It is different from the Guiding Immortal Art he practices.

In this world, neither Martial Arts nor Daoist Arts possess any longevity-extending effects; the limit of a normal person's lifespan is just one hundred and twenty or thirty years.

Of course, this is only a theoretical limit. There are very few people in the world with special constitutions, or those who practice health-preserving techniques, cultivate their character, and live a life free from worldly strife who can live to this age; their number is likely even rarer than Seventh Realm Grandmasters.

In reality, the lifespans of ordinary Martial Arts and Daoist experts are often no different from those of common people; sometimes, because this group often engages in fighting and killing, leaving behind hidden injuries, they are not even as well off as some wealthy old men who understand health preservation.

As the ruler of the Jin Dynasty, the Undying Demon Empress Xici has secret techniques and imperial physicians serving her alone, so it is barely plausible that she could live to this age.

But for someone of two sixty-year cycles to still be able to fight and even kill a Grandmaster in ten moves, this is simply too inconceivable!

Lin Xingchao coughed twice and said solemnly:

"We still haven't figured this out either; we can only attribute it to that old demoness having a special constitution, or that there exists some secret technique within the Shaman God Sect that allows her to maintain her state. Other than that, there is no other explanation."

Li Junxian sighed at length: "If that is the case, I fear no one in this world can kill this Demon Empress; we can only wait for her to die of old age."

The others all had heavy expressions, but only Lu Yuan, upon hearing this, seemed thoughtful, and he began to evaluate in his heart.

He was evaluating whether, if he were to take action himself, he could kill this Undying Demon Empress who displayed such prowess.

With his current level of cultivation, killing those at the Fifth Realm level is already easy, and dealing with the Sixth Realm level should not be much of a problem.

But he had yet to witness what kind of means and strength a Seventh Realm Martial Arts Grandmaster or Daoist Master possessed, so it was difficult to make a judgment.

And just as his thoughts were turning.

Bang, bang, bang.

At the back door of the courtyard, a knock with a unique rhythm drifted in. Clearly knowing who the visitor was, Gu Yourong immediately went to open the door.

Li Junxian was about to take Lu Yuan to avoid them, but was stopped by Lin Xingchao:

"Senior Brother, the person coming should also be an old acquaintance of yours; there is no need to avoid them."

Li Junxian immediately asked: "Who is it?"

Lin Xingchao smiled and said nothing.

Before long, a series of light footsteps approached from outside the house.

Subsequently, an old man nearing sixty and a beautiful woman carrying a medicine chest, who still retained her charm, walked into the room under Gu Yourong's guidance. As soon as they entered, they asked anxiously:

"Linzi, are you—"

Before the words were finished, upon seeing Li Junxian and Lu Yuan who had appeared in the room, he was immediately stunned.

Their eyes met.

Upon seeing the visitors, especially the beautiful woman behind the old man, Li Junxian's voice could not help but tremble:

"Instructor Gu, Yunsheng?"

The old man and the beautiful woman seemed to be father and daughter; upon hearing the call, they both remembered something and spoke in unison:

"Junxian (Brother Li)?"

Li Junxian stepped forward excitedly: "That's right, it's me."

The old man called Instructor Gu looked him up and down repeatedly, and with a sigh of emotion, he said:

"If I remember correctly, it has been over ten years since we parted, right? After we escaped from Tianyun Prefecture together, you kid left without saying goodbye as soon as your serious injuries healed. Today, you finally decided to come to Jinjin to see us?"

To the side, the woman called Yunsheng had a complex look in her eyes, filled with both nostalgia and resentment:

"It has been over ten years since we parted; how have you been living in Fengyang Prefecture?"

Something is not right.

Lu Yuan, standing to the side, looked suspicious; he looked at Li Junxian, then at the old man and the woman, and immediately smelled the scent of gossip.

"Cough, cough."

At this moment, Lin Xingchao on the bed coughed twice again to announce his presence, and teased:

"I say, Instructor Gu, Yunsheng, shouldn't you ask about whether I'm alive or dead first?"

Lin Xingchao's vigorous voice immediately brought the Gu father and daughter back to their senses, and then they were shocked after seeing his complexion and state:

"Xingchao, your injuries?"

Gu Yunsheng, who was carrying the medicine chest, stepped forward quickly to take his pulse, and then her face was filled with disbelief:

"The death pulse has vanished, and the pulse has returned to stability... how is this possible!?"

The death pulse, as the name suggests, is the pulse of someone who is certain to die.

As the person who personally treated Lin Xingchao's injuries while in Tianjing, she knew clearly just how tragic and severe the wounds Lin Xingchao had suffered were; if not for the physique of a Refining Blood Martial Artist supporting him, no one else would have survived for more than three days.

And even after treatment regardless of the cost, Lin Xingchao's injuries remained incurable, and his life would reach its end in at most a month or so.

Yet, she never expected that Lin Xingchao, who clearly had obvious death pulses yesterday and looked as if he could not last a few more days, would have his pulse condition change drastically and return from the brink of death in just one night!?

Instructor Gu also stepped forward to examine him with a look of shock and suspicion, but Lin Xingchao laughed and said:

"The two of you need not be surprised; the reason my injuries were able to heal is mainly because of my senior brother."

Immediately, he gave a brief explanation of the matter.

Instructor Gu and his daughter were naturally astonished, casting their gazes toward Lu Yuan at the side, seemingly finding it hard to believe that such a miraculous encounter could exist in the world.

And seemingly noticing that the atmosphere was somewhat strange, Gu Yourong spoke up at the right moment:

"Master, Senior Uncle, Old Gu, Aunt Sheng, please chat first; we will go pour tea for you."

Saying this, she pulled Xi Beichen and Lu Yuan along, and they retreated from the room together.

After coming out.

Lu Yuan could not help but ask: "Senior Brother, Senior Sister, what is the background of this Old Gu and Aunt Sheng?"

Xi Beichen said:

"Old Gu is named Gu Kanshan, and he was formerly the Chief Instructor of the Shengping Army. When Master and Senior Uncle were young and had just joined the Shengping Army, they were under his command and were well taken care of. As for Aunt Sheng, she is Old Gu's daughter, and her medical skills are incomparably brilliant, no less than any famous doctor in the world today."

"Oh?"

Lu Yuan stroked his chin:

"But I see that this Aunt Sheng's relationship with my master seems unusual; what is going on with that?"

Gu Yourong said in a low voice:

"Junior Brother, you are unaware; I heard Master say that back when they were in Tianyun Prefecture, Senior Uncle and Aunt Sheng were close, and Old Gu even had the intention of marrying his daughter to him, but later..."

(End of this chapter)