Chapter 238

The male disciple of the Spirit Sword Sect let out a miserable cry, collapsed to the ground, his whole body violently twitching, his eyes filled with bloodshot, a terrifying sight.

"What's wrong?"

Liu Yuanfei, Ye Ling'er and the others were startled, about to step forward to check, when they all simultaneously let out a miserable cry, exhibiting the same symptoms as the Spirit Sword Sect disciple.

This feeling was extremely unpleasant, as if they had been poisoned by a potent toxin, their bodies seized by some poison, breathing difficult, hearts sluggish, dantians congealed.

Liu Yuanfei leaned against a big tree, tried to circulate his Qi, but his dantian hurt terribly, so he gave up, with difficulty sealing several of his major acupoints, and gritted his teeth asking: "What... happened?"

Ye Ling'er shook her head: "I, I don't know!"

Just as her voice fell, the Spirit Sword Sect disciple who had collapsed first suddenly sprouted a green plant shoot from his crown!

"Uh!" Liu Yuanfei and the others were all stunned, instinctively touching their heads.

Indeed, everyone's head had unknowingly sprouted a green shoot, of unknown plant variety, directly drilling out from their crowns.

As soon as the shoots appeared, vitality, essence and spirit were slowly absorbed away.

Their faces instantly turned deathly pale.

The female disciple of the Great Expansion Sect struggled, pressing against the tree root, veins bulging on her face: "We've been, we've been infected with spores by some mysterious plant!!"

Liu Yuanfei began to cough up blood: "I don't know, we... probably won't survive!"

Just as his words fell, the monk from the Pure Land Temple beside them looked embarrassed: "Little monk... seems fine."

Ye Ling'er and the five others all looked at him; indeed, the monk's complexion was ruddy and lustrous, just like a healthy person.

"Why?" Liu Yuanfei asked blankly.

The monk scratched his head: "Perhaps our Pure Land Temple's cultivation method is unique; these spores have no effect on our disciples, Amitabha Buddha!"

Ye Ling'er thought for a moment, then said with difficulty: "I sense no spore life within my body; this toxin seems to exist in the air, I vaguely sensed it this morning.

And Senior Monk Tian De of the Pure Land Temple is fine; it's probably not due to his cultivation method, as Buddhist practices are not known to eliminate airborne toxins—you must have done something we haven't, allowing you to avoid it!"

Liu Yuanfei and the others seemed to grasp at a straw, all looking at the monk: "Junior Monk Tian De, what did you do?"

Monk Tian De thought: "I just fantasized about Xiao Cui from the Red Pavilion; could it be related to desire?"

Liu Yuanfei and the others didn't bother to wonder why a monk would fantasize about a brothel's Xiao Cui, and immediately closed their eyes to fantasize.

Ye Ling'er also closed her eyes and fantasized about a figure from deep within her heart, who, at some time and place, came fearlessly to rescue her!

After a while, the five opened their eyes—no effect, the shoots on their heads grew larger, even their consciousness began to blur, and they anxiously exclaimed: "No! Junior Monk Tian De, think again!"

Monk Tian De pondered deeply, then suddenly startled: "Could it be... that woman's perfume?"

Ye Ling'er widened her eyes: "Quick, try it!"

Monk Tian De immediately produced a gray medicine bottle, pondered a bit, divided it into five portions, and gave each person a sip.

Strangely enough, after the five tasted the gray liquid, their pain vanished instantly and the shoots on their heads dissipated,

More importantly, their cultivation noticeably increased!

That Spirit Sword Sect disciple even sat cross-legged; a surge of spiritual energy shot toward the treetops, smoothly breaking through from the seventh to the eighth layer of Condensed Qi.

"This..."

They exchanged glances, all feeling it was unbelievable.

Liu Yuanfei reached out to feel the air for a moment, then said solemnly: "Ye Junior Sister is right; I also sense it—this toxin is in the air, everywhere, and even if we don't breathe it will actively invade our skin and viscera, causing poisoning symptoms and those strange shoots on our heads."

Ye Ling'er thought and said: "But after drinking that strange perfume, the toxin disappears instantly, and the shoots on our heads turn into a nourishing medicinal herb that greatly boosts our cultivation!"

Having said that, all six felt it was both absurd and terrifying; if they hadn't brought the perfume, they would surely be dead now.

After a while, once the Spirit Sword Sect disciple had fully digested his breakthrough, the group continued on their way.

Not far along, they encountered a hollow in a towering tree, the size of a room, bearing traces of past human habitation.

Having learned from before, they approached cautiously, avoiding traps and seals, entered the hollow, paid respects to an ancient corpse inside, then ransacked the place clean.

Immediately afterward, the great tree weathered and collapsed with a boom.

The six gathered together, pooling their loot once more:

A damaged bronze short sword, a manual with invisible characters, a rusted suit of armor, a broken mirror, several blade-shaped coins, and a small bottle of gray liquid.

Liu Yuanfei picked up the liquid, and the six stared at it closely.

Monk Tian De said: "Obviously, this is not perfume!"

Ye Ling'er nodded: "Both ancient sites have this liquid, and it can neutralize the airborne toxin while boosting our cultivation—what does that indicate?"

The six exchanged glances: "This is absolutely a good thing!"

Speaking with some excitement, they then discussed that the liquid would be kept by the 'leader' Liu Yuanfei; if such a situation arose again, they would immediately divide and consume it to preserve their lives!

Having made their plans, the six continued on their way.

Just as they spoke, after running a dozen li, the Spirit Sword Sect disciple with the lowest cultivation collapsed again in agony, twitching violently.

Immediately, the others also fell to the ground; amid their miserable cries, shoots sprouted from their crowns.

Liu Yuanfei immediately produced the gray liquid; the six shared it, and the effects were instantaneous—symptoms vanished and their cultivation greatly increased.

Monk Tian De scratched his head, neither crying nor laughing: "Don't even mention it—this stuff is quite addictive, making us love and hate it at once!"

Liu Yuanfei looked around: "We can now be certain that this airborne toxin is everywhere; we will have an outbreak every few hours, and with the gray liquid we can eliminate the shoots and, after absorbing it, greatly increase our cultivation—but without it, we will surely die!"

Ye Ling'er nodded: "This must be a rule and a gift from the ancient ruins; as long as we find more of the gray liquid, we can break through our realms!"

"Go!"

The six were full of vigor, rushing straight toward the distance.

Over the next day, the six encountered five or six sites of weathered dust from "small ruins," unsure who had taken them first, but later they also found four intact small ruins.

Surely, although each ruin contained different items, they all shared one thing: each had a bottle of gray liquid.

In total, they obtained four bottles of the liquid.

However, the six had three outbreaks that day, using up three of the bottles.

This gave everyone a feeling of being stretched thin and tense, for as soon as the liquid ran out, they would die instantly!

Upon discovering on the road a discarded, emaciated and terrifying corpse of a Rosy Cloud Valley disciple with a small tree growing on its head, the weakness of human nature surfaced.

As the one who controls the gray potion and has the highest cultivation, Liu Yuanfei's face turned cold; he gave the five just enough dosage to eliminate the sprouts and guarantee they wouldn't die, while he himself used a full dose!

He called it: reasonable use.

The other five were no match for him; they didn't even have the strength to leave and search alone for the 'small relic,' so they could only seethe in silence, enduring it.

It was merely the indescribable pain and weakness on their bodies.

Night fell.

They lit a pile of torches in the forest.

The six sat cross-legged in a circle; aside from Liu Yuanfei being refreshed and energetic, the other five were pallid and listless.

Liu Yuanfei glanced around, a barely perceptible contempt flickering in his eyes. He coughed lightly, took out the last bottle of gray potion, kissed it as if it were precious, and solemnly said: 'I'm doing this for everyone's good; among us there must be one person with sound vital energy to protect everyone, and since my cultivation is the highest, I cannot shirk this duty—I will surely bring you all out and find our fellow disciples!'

The other five nodded weakly.

At that moment, the female disciple of the Great Expansion Sect suddenly squeezed out a smile, extended her right leg, and gently kicked Liu Yuanfei, her eyes soft as water.

Liu Yuanfei startled, then understood, coughed, and walked toward the dark side of the woods.

The Great Expansion Sect female disciple pretended to be calm and followed him.

Not long after, a strange, suppressed cry echoed from the woods.

Monk Tiande and the others exchanged a glance, furrowed their brows slightly, then lowered their heads, pretending not to have heard.

Ye Ling'er furrowed her brows, struggled to rise, and walked to the other side under a large tree, gazing blankly at the sky through the moonlight.

After a full half an hour, Liu Yuanfei returned; the Great Expansion Sect female disciple tidied her disheveled hair and followed behind, refreshed.

Obviously, the two had just made a deal.

Ye Ling'er turned away in disgust.

However, Liu Yuanfei strode over, lowered his head, and lowered his voice: 'I have few hobbies in life, only loving women; Ye Ling'er, you are ten thousand times better than that wretched woman. As long as you give yourself to me, I will guarantee your safety before we encounter the Tianyuan Sect seniors—how about it?'

'Get lost!' Ye Ling'er struggled to draw her spirit sword.

Liu Yuanfei's face changed, and he said in a deep voice: 'In this ruin, lives are as worthless as weeds; if you die, you die—don't give face and then be shameless!'

'Get lost!' Ye Ling'er roared angrily, brandishing her sword to thrust.

'Wait to die!' Liu Yuanfei angrily turned and went back.

Ye Ling'er seemed to have expended all her strength, collapsing helplessly to the ground, coughing lightly, and tears streamed down uncontrollably.

Cultivation has never been easy; we haven't even figured out what this ancient relic is, yet we're about to die in a muddled way!

Just then, a hand suddenly appeared on her face, holding a handkerchief, gently wiping the tears from the corner of her eye.

Ye Ling'er leapt back, raising her sword to strike, but realized the one wiping her tears was not Liu Yuanfei.

Only then did she see that, from behind in the darkness, a person wearing a cat-face mask and a bamboo hat had appeared at some point.

'You...' Ye Ling'er exclaimed in surprise.

'Don't make a sound!' the person said in a hoarse voice, inexplicably opening his collar.

Ye Ling'er instinctively glanced, and in an instant she was stunned like a wooden chicken.

The gray potion that the six regarded as a treasure—inside this person's clothing... there were actually over a hundred bottles.

At that moment, the person gave a slight smile, showing a mouthful of a street vendor's white teeth, and said: 'Want some, little sis?'

(End of chapter)