Chapter 136: Visitor from Fengzhou

The clear, vast sky of Shengjing was cloudless and boundless.

A massive flying sword, wreathed in roaring spiritual energy, arrived from Liangzhou, tore through the layers of clouds, and finally descended into Nishan.

Danzong Elder Dan Qiongzi, accompanied by inner-sect disciples Lu Ze, Wen Bin, and Yuan Bingqing, followed the Elder of the Auspicious Hall to the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan to treat Yu Buyu.

At this moment, Yu Buyu lay on a couch in the side hall of the Auspicious Hall, his face covered in a layer of gray mist, looking utterly devoid of life.

Beside him stood Yu Yingqiu, the Master of the Auspicious Hall, wearing a hairpin, her expression solemn.

Besides them, the hall was filled with Yu Buyu's parents and several other elders of the Yu family, all wearing worried expressions.

"How long has he had these symptoms?"

"For half a month already."

Dan Qiongzi sat on the edge of the couch and pulled back Yu Buyu's eyelid, revealing eyes that were jaundiced and completely devoid of luster.

He then channeled his elixir energy into the body to investigate, his expression growing increasingly solemn.

This solemnity was not because he had found the problem, for if he had found it, there would be a way to handle it.

The problem was that there was no problem; that was the biggest problem of all.

Dan Qiongzi frowned for a long time before carefully probing Yu Buyu's spiritual essence, his fingertips trembling as they rested on the edge of the couch.

He discovered that Yu Buyu's spiritual essence had turned a blackish-purple, and it showed no reaction when touched by his elixir energy.

Spiritual essence is the foundation of a cultivator; it should not be like this.

Unless this person was already dead.

Dan Qiongzi raised his eyes to look at Yu Buyu, who was still breathing, feeling utterly baffled.

He then unleashed a burst of seven-colored elixir light from his hands, attempting to approach Yu Buyu's spiritual essence to see if he could reactivate it.

But as the elixir light swept in, he felt a powerful suction pulling at the light in his hands, like a deep quagmire, rendering his elixir light completely uncontrollable.

Seeing this, Dan Qiongzi immediately withdrew the light, squinting as a bead of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"What happened?"

"There is something in his body that does not belong to him—it is like a poison, yet not a poison. It is tightly clinging to his spiritual essence, in intense conflict with his own."

Yu Yingqiu sat nearby, her brows furrowed deeply.

Dan Qiongzi looked at Yu Yingqiu: "I have heard that the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan transmits the Dao through the Little Little Tian Shu and possesses the art of deducing heavenly secrets. Can Hall Master Yu find the source of this thing?"

"I only see a pitch-black night. My senior brothers' deductions are the same."

Dan Qiongzi stayed on Nishan for several days, formulating prescriptions and attempting treatment, then arranging for his disciples to refine pills for Yu Buyu to take.

But no matter the type of pill, they had no effect upon entering his body; even when Dan Qiongzi used his own elixir energy to catalyze them, the medicinal properties would simply vanish into nothingness within him.

At this time, Wen Bin and Lu Ze, who had come with Dan Qiongzi, were waiting outside the hall, their expressions becoming thoughtful.

"Is Yu Buyu beyond saving?"

"His life should be safe, but his path of cultivation is likely at an end."

"Then the Abbot would surely not let his daughter marry someone who is crippled..."

The Lu and Wen families were both cultivation clans of decent standing in Liangzhou. Both families had sent their eldest sons into the immortal sects to cultivate, and their second sons to Danzong to study alchemy.

Their talent for alchemy was indeed quite good, and both had entered the inner sect. With their status and background, they were originally the candidates for Yuan Caiwei's husband.

Who would have thought that after the Qiling incident, Danzong would intend to form a marriage alliance with the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan.

Thus, the hopes of second sons of clans like them were dashed, yet who would have thought that things would take a turn at this moment.

In fact, there was not a single disciple of Danzong's inner sect who did not wish to marry Yuan Caiwei.

So at this moment, both Wen Bin and Lu Ze could not help but curl their lips into smiles.

However, just as the two were talking, they saw their junior sister, Yuan Bingqing, walking over hurriedly from the hall, holding a letter in her hand.

"Junior sister, where are you going?"

"I am delivering a letter for Senior Sister Caiwei; I will be back in a moment."

Lu Ze was stunned: "Is that letter from Senior Sister Caiwei not for Yu Buyu?"

Yuan Bingqing smiled gently: "Naturally, it is not."

"?"

Ji You, who had returned from Kuang Cheng's place, had been in seclusion during this time, continuing to refine his physical body through the Dim Illumination Realm.

This refinement lasted for three full days; the numbing pain made it impossible to persist for long, so he could only stop and start, switching to meditating in the Enlightenment Field during his spare time.

The little Sword Master of the Lingjian Mountain spent more and more time on the Void Mountain, advancing from the Initial Realm of Responding to Heaven to the Middle Realm of Responding to Heaven.

She had her own persistence, hoping to become the sharpest sword of Lingjian Mountain in the shortest possible time.

Every time Ji You entered, he could see the myriad Dao techniques evolving in her hands, and her temperament becoming increasingly ethereal.

However, the only thing that remained unchanged was that every time she saw Ji You, she would slightly raise her arms.

To her, it seemed that being held while meditating was more convenient.

However, regarding "Shuyi, call me brother," there was still no progress.

"Yu Buyu is likely beyond saving."

"?"

At noon, Wen Zhengxin, Ban Yangshu, and Pei Ruyi arrived at the elegant garden by the Emerald Lake, though they arrived empty-handed, which left Ji You quite dissatisfied.

But soon, his attention was diverted by the news they brought from the inner sect.

"Beyond saving? Is the injury that severe? Have they buried him yet?"

Ban Yangshu's mouth twitched; he thought to himself that his junior brother's tongue was sharp enough: "He isn't dead yet; at most, he will be unable to cultivate..."

Ji You frowned after hearing this, thinking it was a pity: "Exactly where was he injured?"

"It's not an injury. I heard the disciples of the Auspicious Hall gossiping that there is something in his body that doesn't belong to him."

Something in his body that doesn't belong to him...

Ji You twisted his teacup, pondering for a long time, his eyes narrowing slightly, thinking that this sentence sounded a bit lewd.

Pei Ruyi set down her teacup: "I am wondering now if this has anything to do with Lingjian Mountain, but I feel it makes no sense. Since my Heavenly Tian Shuyuan lost the debate, why would they go to such lengths? And He Lingxiu is perfectly fine."

Ban Yangshu lowered his voice: "Could it have been before they went up the mountain? Didn't Yu Buyu say that an expert from Lingjian Mountain tried to attack him that night, but was forced back by his words?"

Ji You immediately waved his hand: "Impossible. Since they already attacked, why not just kill him? He must have offended some handsome man he shouldn't have."

"?"

"Or perhaps, he ate something dirty."

The three looked at Ji You: "Can this be eaten?"

Ji You raised his head and met their eyes: "Before going to Lingjian Mountain, Yu Buyu took a large amount of pills to refine his Dao. Who knows if he ate something messy by mistake."

Wen Zhengxin suddenly felt a sense of gossip: "By the way, Ji Shidi Ji, I have had a question since we returned from Lingjian Mountain. Is that Ding Yao really your fiancée?"

"If she were my fiancée, could she have told Gongshu Chou not to hold back in the ruins? Senior Sister, your guess is too outrageous."

"But looking at her attitude toward you, she seems quite obedient."

Ji You chuckled twice, thinking that it wasn't that he had successfully trained her mistress, but rather that he had trained her: "Perhaps it is because the matter of breaking the sword forest made her fall in love with me."

Wen Zhengxin couldn't help but say "Oh": "So the night you broke the sword forest, she knew you slept very late, and you also said you had back pain. You really do have fiancées everywhere."

"Senior Sister, don't wrong me just because you see that I am handsome."

"It's useless for you to say that. Bai Rulong has been spreading it in the courtyard for the past few days, saying you have fiancées on Lingjian Mountain. Now everyone knows about it. Why are you still hiding it, Ji Shidi?"

Ji You pursed his lips: "It seems Rulong the Immortal Emperor's purse is itching again and needs me to scratch it."

Just then, a "knock-knock-knock" sound suddenly came from the door, and someone pushed it open and walked in.

The crowd turned to look and found a young woman wearing not the robes of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, but the robes of Danzong.

Ji You was slightly stunned, then looked up at her: "May I ask what business you have with me, Miss?"

"Young Master Ji, my name is Yuan Bingqing. My senior sister asked me to bring a letter; please open it, Young Master."

"Your senior sister?"

"My senior sister is the daughter of the Danzong Master, Yuan Caiwei."

Hearing this, Ban Yangshu, Wen Zhengxin, and Pei Ruyi couldn't help but turn their heads, thinking that even if there wasn't a fiancée, this was one you couldn't deny!

Ji You reached out to take the letter and thanked her, then opened it to take a look.

In fact, ever since Ji You returned to the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, Yuan Caiwei had wanted to write to him, but hesitated for a long time before putting pen to paper.

The main reason was that the little Sword Master of Lingjian Mountain had written to ask her what good things she had seen of Ji You, telling her to tell the truth.

This made her feel a bit guilty, as if she were snatching a man from her sister.

So this letter had been written early on, but had not been sent.

Later, the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan sent someone to ask for help treating Yu Buyu's injury, and she took the opportunity to entrust this letter to her junior sister.

The content was basically greetings, mentioning the recent situation of Yuan Chen and herself, and finally, once again, earnestly requesting Ji You to forget the night she sat in his arms wearing only a bodice.

Although she said to forget it, Yuan Caiwei described the scene that night with delicate and beautiful words—the jade-like feet, the perky buttocks.

This didn't sound like asking him to forget at all; instead, it was as if she were taking him back through the shared bath that night.

"A femme fatale!"

"Ji You, you really are a femme fatale!"

Wen Zhengxin, Pei Ruyi, and Ban Yangshu were holding their teacups, looking at Ji You and cursing him for being shameless.