It was five days after the Resurrection Match had concluded.
People had selectively forgotten the events of that day.
Whether it was that specific team or Emperor Jing’s blunder, no one breathed a word about them now.
Regardless, once the results of the Finals were released and this year’s Shenzhou Cup was declared over, everything would be settled.
These unpleasant memories would eventually be submerged in the long river of history, as if they had never happened at all.
“Cough…”
That morning, Alchemist Saint Liu Jinting pushed open the doors of his quiet residence as usual.
However, the scene that greeted him was so bizarre it gave him a start.
There was coughing everywhere.
Although it was just a few ordinary coughs—as if their throats were tight or they had eaten something too salty—everyone seemed full of energy and showed no signs of lethargy. Still, for so many Cultivators to be coughing simultaneously was truly inconceivable.
“Is the breakfast today Spring Snow?” Liu Jinting asked with a strange look in his eyes.
The Sect Leader of the Heavenly Gate Sect laughed. “Heaven knows what they’re up to.”
Speaking of Spring Snow, it was a legendary dish.
It used salt as the main ingredient, salt as the side dish, and then more salt was poured in for seasoning.
Once the dish was finished, you placed a bucket of water next to it and began your feast.
Of course, no one took him seriously; it was clearly just a joke.
“The disciples had a couple of days off, and many of them went down the mountain. This is how they’ve been since they returned,” the Sect Leader of the Heavenly Gate Sect said.
“I have no idea what they were doing down there.”
Liu Jinting frowned. His years of medical experience told him something was fishy.
He poured Spiritual Power into his eyes, performing the Microscopic Vision that only those at or above the Seven Luminaries Realm could use.
Vaguely, he seemed to see tiny, pitch-black dust floating in the air.
‘Poison? No, that’s not right. If it were poison, a concentration like this would have been enough to slaughter the entire Sect.’ Liu Jinting stroked his beard and pondered for a moment before saying half-doubtingly, ‘Smog? Did those bastards at The Golden Stone Sect upwind explode another Dan Lu during Tool Refinement again? Sect Leader, Senior Brother, blow this trashy dust back at them!’
“I’ve had enough of it too. How many times has it been, and they still haven’t learned their lesson!” The Sect Leader of the Heavenly Gate Sect wore an ill-tempered expression and let out a cold snort.
He took out a Banner Artifact and gave it a heavy wave.
Immediately, a wild wind began to howl toward the northwest.
As the gale blew away the fine particles in the air, Liu Jinting felt the air grow much fresher.
It seemed it really was just that dust…
“Cough, cough, cough, cough!”
The sound of coughing from beside him caused Liu Jinting’s expression to stiffen.
“Sect Leader, Senior Brother, why are you still—”
“Gah—”
Just as Liu Jinting turned his head, a bolt of blood suddenly shot out from the Heavenly Gate Sect Leader’s throat! It sprayed directly onto Liu Jinting’s neck!
What was happening?
When had the Sect Leader been injured to such an extent?
Liu Jinting was horrified.
He rushed forward to support the staggering Sect Leader.
The Sect Leader of the Heavenly Gate Sect clutched his chest, his face filled with the same confusion as Liu Jinting’s.
“Strange… I haven’t even gone down the mountain recently. How could I have been poisoned?”
“Don’t move. Let me check your pulse,” Liu Jinting said, grabbing the Sect Leader’s wrist.
In his perception, the Sect Leader—who had been perfectly fine just a second ago and was a Super Level powerhouse at the peak of the Eight Trigrams Venerable rank—suddenly possessed an extremely weak pulse.
His meridians were withering rapidly, and his Spiritual Power was running wild.
He was showing signs of being at death’s door!
Before he could clearly investigate the Sect Leader’s condition, several flashes of light suddenly streaked across the sky.
Densely packed, urgent Messenger Stones swarmed toward Liu Jinting like raindrops!
Liu Jinting frantically checked the messages, only to find that the contents were nearly identical.
“The Sect Leader of The Golden Stone Sect is in critical condition! Send help immediately!”
“The Soaring Moon Sect’s Great Elder, Sect Leader, and Patriarch—three Honored Ones—have suddenly fallen into critical condition due to poisoning! Send help immediately! The price is negotiable!”
“The Sect Leader of the Celestial God Sect has been poisoned and is on the verge of death! Send help immediately!”
Over thirty Sects sent out urgent reports almost simultaneously—their strongest leaders had suddenly collapsed from an unknown, lethal toxin!
If it were one or two powerhouses, Liu Jinting could understand. Perhaps it was a conspiracy to exterminate certain factions. But over thirty completely unrelated Sects with no shared interests were issuing emergency reports at the same time!
What kind of terrifying conspiracy was this? How powerful would the poisoner have to be to place so many Honored Ones in mortal danger at once?
“Cough…” Liu Jinting felt his throat tighten for a moment and let out a cough.
He had no time to worry about the distress calls from other Sects.
Even his own Sect Leader had been struck down; he had to administer emergency treatment to the man in front of him first.
The whites of his eyes were bloodshot, and there was bruising under the skin.
This indicated poor blood flow, which should be treated with Coagulation Toxin.
‘Wait, why does this symptom look a bit familiar?’
There was no time to think deeply; he had to act fast.
Liu Jinting pulled out a small white porcelain bottle and stuffed a Dan Medicine into the Sect Leader’s mouth.
He held the man’s mouth shut and used Spiritual Power to melt the pill, forcing its absorption.
In his perception, the Sect Leader’s previously blocked blood flow immediately began to circulate joyfully.
His medicine was working!
The Heavenly Gate Sect Leader’s heart beat strongly and powerfully, pumping fresh blood to every part of his body.
His massive Spiritual Power also began to repair his body like a vast, surging river.
The heart that had nearly stopped began to beat faster and faster, and faster, and faster…
“Wait!”
Liu Jinting watched the Heavenly Gate Sect Leader’s heaving chest in a daze. That heart was like a runaway horse; its beating speed was becoming terrifyingly fast!
His blood vessels burst under the excessive pressure. Immediately following that, the Sect Leader’s skin began to rot at a speed visible to the naked eye.
‘No, it’s not just Coagulation Toxin. This is a composite toxin; the central nervous system is also compromised!’
Liu Jinting gritted his teeth and made the painful decision to take out his long-treasured Nine-Turn Hundred-Refined Pill.
Since it was a composite toxin, he had to use a Dan Medicine with composite functions to counter it.
The Nine-Turn Hundred-Refined Pill could effectively deal with most types of toxins while simultaneously repairing a Cultivator’s bodily functions.
It could both expel poison and sustain life, making it the strongest anti-toxin pill in the Cultivator Realm!
There was almost no poison in this world that the Nine-Turn Hundred-Refined Pill could not handle!
After administering this pill, the Heavenly Gate Sect Leader’s condition indeed improved significantly.
His flesh repaired itself, and his breathing and heartbeat returned to a steady, normal state.
Liu Jinting thought to himself that the Nine-Turn Hundred-Refined Pill was truly worth its price of tens of millions of Magic Crystals.
Although his heart ached at the loss, the Sect Leader’s life was clearly more important.
Furthermore, since the Nine-Turn Hundred-Refined Pill was effective, it meant that this toxin was not an unsolvable new strain.
He simply needed to identify the effective components within the pill to completely neutralize the toxin.
It was that simple.
Liu Jinting gave a smile of relief. ‘There is still no poison in this world that can stump the Alchemist Saint. How dull.’
[The Nine-Turn Hundred-Refined Pill can treat this toxin. There is no need to worry.]
Feeling at ease, Liu Jinting began to reply to the messages from the Sects whose leaders were in danger.
Any Sect that could afford his services was a super-sized Sect; they could certainly afford a single Nine-Turn Hundred-Refined Pill.