Jiang Ke’er’s Nebula Dharma Aspect manifested uncontrollably behind her! She felt her body being lifted into the air by a force she could not resist, rising to meet the arrival of that dark purple energy.
At the same time, the ancient chanting she had not heard in a long time filled her ears once more.
This time, the voices were even more mournful and urgent, as if they were longing for something… but then it all stopped abruptly!
The bell on Jiang Ke’er’s neck suddenly issued a jingling warning.
It moved on its own to block the space in front of her, acting like a bottomless black hole that swallowed every scrap of the incoming energy without leaving a single drop behind!
Only after it had absorbed all the energy did it fall back onto Jiang Ke’er’s neck.
However…
Crack —
There was a soft sound. It was clear that the sudden influx of violent energy had exceeded the bell’s capacity, and an unsettling crack appeared on its surface.
Fortunately, it was only a crack for now, and nothing else happened.
“Are you all right?”
The Minor Demons had just been pushed back by an invisible barrier around Jiang Ke’er. Seeing her land, they ran over to ask with concern.
“I’m fine. It just seems that the creator of this crater has some history with me,” Jiang Ke’er said with a helpless smile. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go look elsewhere…”
“Could it be the legendary power of an Ancient God?” Jie Shui looked at Jiang Ke’er in confusion.
“Ancient God?” Jiang Ke’er never expected to hear those two words from Jie Shui’s mouth.
“It’s nothing. Just some stories my family told me to scare me when I was a kid. It just suddenly came to mind. You don’t have to take it seriously,” Jie Shui said awkwardly.
“Uh… all right. Tell me about it when you have time. I’m actually quite curious.”
“Sure,” Jie Shui agreed readily.
There were only two days left until the Shenzhou Cup Finals.
Shenzhou had suddenly become very strange lately.
When Cultivators met, the usual greetings died on their lips, replaced by a uniform: “Cough, cough, cough.”
Clearly, something was wrong.
However, no matter how the Cultivators used their Divine Sense to investigate their own bodies, they could not figure out the specific problem.
Because there were almost no symptoms other than coughing, most Cultivators did not take it to heart for the time being.
They only thought about taking some Dan Medicine to soothe their throats, believing they would be fine in a few days.
For a time, Throat-Clearing Pills were sold out.
The Sects that produced these pills would wake up from their dreams laughing, cough twice, and then go back to sleep, only to wake up laughing again.
Because the supply of Throat-Clearing Pills could not meet the demand, Cultivators who could not bear the coughing turned their attention to places outside the Great Sima Nation.
News came from Xiniu Hezhou, Nanzhan Buzhou, and Beiju Luzhou — Throat-Clearing Pill stock is sufficient! Buy now!
Shenzhou’s transportation was exceptionally developed.
Although flying from Dongsheng Shenzhou to the other three continents was too far and separated by a vast ocean with no direct Cloud Boats… there were even more convenient teleportation Formation Arts!
Although activating a teleportation formation was very expensive and ordinary Cultivators could not afford it, the merchant guilds were there.
The merchant guilds would never miss such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a fortune.
One by one, they invested heavily to rush into the teleportation formations.
Enduring their persistently itchy throats, they swarmed toward the pharmacies of the other three continents.
Once they emptied the pharmacies in the other three continents of Throat-Clearing Pills, they immediately returned to the Kingdom of Dasi to sell them at fifty times the price!
Large bottles of Throat-Clearing Pills, which usually cost only a few Spirit Stones, suddenly became something most people could not afford.
For a time, curses echoed throughout the Kingdom of Dasi.
But the Cultivators could only curse; they were powerless on their own.
Even so, Throat-Clearing Pills remained in short supply.
At this time, most Cultivators thought of Medical Cultivators.
Medical Cultivators in Shenzhou had always been inexpensive. Although they weren’t as convenient or fast as Dan Medicine, they were at least somewhat useful.
However, when the desperate Cultivators arrived at the doors of the Medical Halls in various towns, they were all stunned by the tightly closed doors.
[SEALED]
Long sealing strips were pasted in an “X” shape across the doors of all Medical Halls. Soldiers aggressively drove away any Cultivators who tried to enter.
The Medical Halls were empty. The Medical Cultivators had been forced to take their equipment and medicine and leave dejectedly.
When Emperor Jing claimed he would eliminate Medical Cultivators, he wasn’t just talking.
The Kingdom of Dasi had already issued a new regulation: any Cultivator who dared to practice medicine would be treated as a traitor and executed without mercy!
In an instant, countless Medical Cultivators were displaced.
Their lifelong beliefs had vanished overnight because of a single Note.
These people, who were already exhausted and not wealthy to begin with, suddenly felt disheartened.
Heaven only knew how much determination it had taken for them to choose to be Medical Cultivators instead of combat-oriented Cultivators who could protect themselves.
Having walked against the tide until today, only to see the sealing strips before them — no matter how much passion they once possessed, it was now completely extinguished.
Fortunately, Lingyin Valley was still there.
[Lingyin Valley is willing to accept all displaced Medical Cultivator compatriots.]
As early as the day the Resurrection Match ended, Lingyin Valley had sent out this message to all of Shenzhou.
So about four days ago, before the coughing problem appeared, most of the Medical Cultivators in Shenzhou had already retreated to Lingyin Valley, hiding within the barrier and Formation Arts alongside the Taiming Sect.
Only a few hot-tempered martyrs chose to die outside the gates of Jiangdu Palace City, using their own blood to stage a useless protest.
“With a large number of outside Cultivators pouring in, we must do a good job of preventing Epidemic Poison,” the Lingyin Valley Master, Yiqin, repeatedly instructed.
“Carefully examine the body of every Cultivator using Microscopic Vision. If there is even the slightest abnormality, immediately isolate all those who have been in contact with them.”
In the ancient texts of Medical Cultivators, a terrifying “Epidemic Poison” was mentioned.
This poison had the ability to self-replicate, completely violating conventional toxin dilution theories.
As time passed, its concentration would not decrease; instead, it would multiply frantically and infect those around it.
Preventing Epidemic Poison was a mandatory course for Lingyin Valley’s Medical Cultivators.
Although Epidemic Poison had been extinct for tens of thousands of years, the tragic scenes of its ancient rampages were recorded in the classics and passed down for tens of thousands of years — it had once left deep scars on the living beings of Shenzhou.
Based on the philosophy of “it’s better to be safe than sorry,” combined with the strong demand of Ancestor Master Luyia, the Medical Cultivators of Lingyin Valley never slacked on their Epidemic Poison prevention training.
It was always better to be careful. Although their behavior was often dismissed as “unnecessary paranoia,” they had persevered.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
The sound of coughing from the observation room caught Yiqin’s attention.
Cultivators had Spiritual Power to protect their bodies, so any coughing was extremely abnormal behavior — and it was the same for Medical Cultivators.
This was a Medical Cultivator who had entered Lingyin Valley three days ago.
Because unknown small particles were seen around his body under Microscopic Vision, the Lingyin Valley Medical Cultivators had immediately sent him to the observation room for isolated treatment.
But it had been three days now, and the Medical Cultivator’s condition had not worsened, nor did it show any signs of improvement.
However, with every cough, he spat out many times more black particles than before.
Yiqin looked at those black particles with a heavy expression.
‘Proliferation?’
It couldn’t be…