Jiang Ke’er had no idea which of Luyia’s sensitive nerves she had accidentally touched.
She stood there in a daze, watching Luyia rampage through the entire cave, letting out one helpless, furious outburst after another—“Stinking fox!” “Stinking fox!” “Damn cheating fox!”
Of course, as Jiang Ke’er watched Luyia, she had no clue that hundreds of miles away, there was also a man who was roaring in madness.
“Ahhhh—”
Iron Prison let out a hysterical scream, his grip on the steel armrest of the chair twisting it out of shape.
“Elder Tie, hold on, just hold on a little longer, or I won’t be able to set your bones properly.”
The Medical Cultivator beside him was so frightened he trembled, cautiously stitching Iron Prison’s wounds and aligning his shattered bones.
Iron Prison had many broken bones in his skull, especially around the cheeks, which were basically crushed into fragments.
“Sutures! Sutures! Only your grandfather knows how to stitch! Why can’t you guys even perform the simplest technique that even the weakest disciple from Lingyin Valley knows?” Iron Prison slapped one Medical Cultivator across the face, sending him flying backwards.
“Enough!” An elderly Medical Cultivator couldn’t stand it any longer.
His face was ashen as he said, “Elder Tie, don’t blame the disciples. We lost this time, but next time we’ll win it back… just don’t lose like this!”
“Second Elder Tie Ling, you’re speaking as if you have no pain. If you dare, try taking a dozen slaps from me and see how it feels.” Iron Prison smiled coldly and waited for Tie Ling’s response.
“With all due respect, you’re just stupid,” Tie Ling said bluntly, “Getting played by a little demoness like this is a disgrace to the Hall of the Wild Dragon… In my opinion, the position of Elder Tie should be given to someone smarter.”
“Hah,” Iron Prison sneered, “Anyone can replace me except you! Look at what kind of Medical Cultivators you’ve trained in the Hall of the Wild Dragon. Even their weakest disciple can’t compare! Useless!”
Tie Ling suppressed his anger and said, “I already told you! That’s not the weakest disciple from Lingyin Valley! You idiot, you’ve been set up!”
“Set up? Fine, then why don’t you teach me how to ‘set up’ and win back what we lost?” Iron Prison sneered sarcastically.
Tie Ling, however, clearly had a plan. He gave a sinister smile and said, “Next time, we compete in Poison Arts.”
“Oh?” Iron Prison narrowed his eyes.
“Competing is certain. The losses we suffered in the Medical Hall market must be recovered elsewhere… But Elder Tie Ling, what’s your brilliant plan? Aren’t you afraid of another blunder like today?”
“Heh heh,” Tie Ling laughed happily and sneakily, as if he already had victory in his hands.
Seeing Tie Ling’s confidence, Iron Prison grew serious and solemnly asked, “Please, Elder Tie Ling, enlighten me.”
“Lingyin Valley’s Medical Cultivators have always been on par with the Hall of the Wild Dragon’s Medical Division, whether it’s the Medical Hall, poison, or Dan medicine… In these three fields, there’s never been a clear winner. But today, we were utterly defeated.”
Iron Prison fell into thought.
After calming down and analyzing, he indeed noticed many strange details about today’s events.
Tie Ling continued with clear logic: “Do you know what this means? It means the strength that little disciple from Lingyin Valley showed isn’t truly from Lingyin Valley itself, or it’s the Valley’s latest research result! It must be! Otherwise, Lingyin Valley would have already completely crushed the Hall of the Wild Dragon in the Medical Hall battlefield! With such a technique, our Hall of the Wild Dragon simply wouldn’t stand a chance!”
Iron Prison’s eyes lit up: “Indeed.”
“We lost today without regret. I just mentioned two possibilities. First, we can exclude the idea that the Lingyin Valley disciple possesses power beyond Lingyin Valley. Because no matter where that power comes from, if such a strong ability existed, it would not have remained unknown. It would have long ago created the greatest Medical Cultivator sect in all of Great Sima Nation!”
“So the only answer is the second possibility—that it’s Lingyin Valley’s latest research achievement.”
“That makes perfect sense!” Iron Prison praised.
“If that’s the case, Lingyin Valley’s Medical Cultivator faction’s rise is an unstoppable fate. We didn’t lose unjustly! On the contrary, this trial exposed Lingyin Valley’s secret weapon, allowing us to prepare early, withdraw from the Great Sima Nation’s Medical Hall market, avoid competition, and prevent further losses!”
“Exactly!” Iron Prison excitedly stomped his foot and quickly shouted an order,
“Send the word! Have all the Medical Cultivator disciples of the Hall of the Wild Dragon start selling off their Medical Hall storefronts in the Great Sima Nation! Sell at a low price! Make sure to sell everything within seven days! Even if it means taking a loss, sell it!”
“Absolutely not!” a disciple nearby exclaimed in shock, “Income from Medical Halls accounts for a tenth of the Hall of the Wild Dragon’s total revenue! Selling them off will severely weaken our Hall’s vitality, let alone selling at a loss! These are the fruits of generations of effort, accumulated over a thousand years!”
“I said sell, so sell! Why so much nonsense? If we don’t sell now, we’ll lose even more later!” Iron Prison glared fiercely.
“We should get permission from the Sect Leader first…” the disciple hesitated, struggling to argue.
“The Sect Leader is visiting the Tribulation Immortal Hall; it’s inconvenient to disturb him. Besides, we don’t know when he’ll return. The situation is urgent. We must act first or face harsher punishment later!” Iron Prison snapped, “No more talk! Get moving!”
“Yes…” the disciple had no choice but to obey through tears.
Tie Ling’s analysis had already caused Iron Prison to view the Second Elder in a new light.
He softened his tone and said, “Second Elder, please continue your speculation.”
“Hmm~” Tie Ling leisurely stroked his beard and sat down, speaking calmly, “Based on these premises, we can continue to infer… To develop such powerful healing techniques, Lingyin Valley must have sacrificed something in other areas, like Poison Arts or the Path of Alchemy.”
“Exactly!” Iron Prison’s face lit up with delight.
“That’s downright shortsighted. Poison Arts and the Path of Alchemy are the real cash cows! The main sources of income for Medical Cultivators! Those pretentious women from Lingyin Valley always do these thankless, foolish things and pretend to be benevolent healers… Hah, spit!”
Tie Ling spat and continued, “This defeat will affect our Hall of the Wild Dragon’s Dan market somewhat, but the impact isn’t major. The main blow is to our Medical Halls. Poison Arts remain completely unaffected… So it doesn’t matter! Let’s just abandon the Medical Halls and focus on Poison Arts and Dan medicine. If we dominate those two, who’s afraid of not earning Spirit Stones and Magic Crystals?”
“Second Elder Tie Ling is brilliant!” Iron Prison praised, “A genius! Your thought process is clear and far beyond mine! Admirable! Admirable!”
“You flatter me, Elder Tie,” Tie Ling accepted the praise with quiet satisfaction, but his face remained calm,
“Tomorrow, we’ll challenge those women from Lingyin Valley in Poison Arts! We’ll use the Hall of the Wild Dragon’s poison to erase yesterday’s humiliation! We’ll repay the pain you suffered yesterday with poison ten times more potent!”
“Good!” Iron Prison was ready to raise both hands and feet in approval.
“Also, I’ve already decided who we’ll challenge,” Tie Ling smiled cruelly, his eyes shining with merciless intent,
“Elder Tie Prison, you must be itching to take revenge on that cunning little demoness…”
“Of course! Dream about it every night!” Iron Prison stood excitedly, recalling the scene.
“Tomorrow’s the chance! We’ll challenge that little demoness in Poison Arts!” Tie Ling declared fiercely, “All living things have limited energy! Since she’s good at healing techniques, she must be clueless about Poison Arts! We’ll pick her! Let her taste the Hall of the Wild Dragon’s deadliest poisons! Guaranteed victory!”
“Fine! Let’s do it! It’s settled!”
“Hehehehe…”
“Hehehehe…”
In the gloomy underground palace, the two old men’s repressed ecstatic laughter echoed in perfect unison.
“What? Poison Technique?” Jiang Ke’er scratched her head.
“That’s right. Since you’ve already mastered the Divine Light Technique, today I’ll teach you a different kind of Poison Technique,” Luyia said.
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