Haze shrouded the sky.
On the way to the Taiming Sect, Yellow Coward saw low-level Cultivators fighting until they were bloody over ineffective Dan Medicine.
He saw children holding unconscious parents, their faces covered in the toxic blood from burst blisters.
Panic-stricken people ran through the streets in total chaos, with nothing but terror and distress in everyone’s eyes.
Yellow Coward had seen wars between Cultivators and was used to life and death, but this scene was more shocking than any war fought with blades and spears.
Finally, the barrier of the Taiming Sect appeared in his view.
Looking at the Cultivators guarding the Taiming Sect barrier, Yellow Coward’s expression hesitated, unsure of how to speak.
“I am Supreme Elder Yellow Coward of the Bright Sun Sect. Please open the barrier; I have urgent matters to discuss with the Medical Cultivators of Lingyin Valley.”
“Alchemy Immortal? Yellow Coward?” The Peak Master of Starfall Peak looked at Yellow Coward in surprise.
“What are you doing here? Regardless, it is impossible for this barrier to open. It doesn’t matter who asks.”
“Shenzhou is in imminent danger! We urgently need the Medical Cultivators’ help!” Yellow Coward said anxiously.
“It is useless to tell me this. Did Emperor Jing send you?” the Peak Master of Starfall Peak asked in return.
“No…” Yellow Coward forced himself to say.
“The Emperor will not let us leave, so what use is there in coming to us? You know it is not that we do not want to help,” the Peak Master of Starfall Peak sighed.
“The Epidemic Poison has broken out in Shenzhou, and the dead are countless. You can’t just sit back and do nothing, can you?” Yellow Coward was so anxious that he was dripping with sweat. “The Emperor is stubborn… but at least you can pass on the method to deal with the Epidemic Poison to save the people of this world! Please let me see the person in charge of Lingyin Valley!”
“So you’ve come to get something for nothing?” The Peak Master of Starfall Peak gave a half-smile.
“But it’s really not that we don’t want to help you. It’s just that the person in charge of our Lingyin Valley was already seized by your Emperor. Yiqin has not returned to this day, and her life or death is unknown. Even if we wanted to help you, we have the will but not the strength.”
“…”
“Instead of looking for me, you might as well go find out where Yiqin is,” the Peak Master of Starfall Peak waved his hand.
“She is foolish. She would definitely help you without you even needing to resort to moral kidnapping.”
Having been flatly rejected, Yellow Coward turned around weakly.
He knew that Emperor Jing had gone too far this time, but Yiqin had shamed Emperor Jing in front of everyone.
Emperor Jing was an emperor who loved his pride more than anything, and he surely hated Yiqin to the bone.
As long as Emperor Jing did not back down, the conflict between the two sides could never be resolved, and the Medical Cultivators would not be able to help.
And Emperor Jing had always been stubborn; it was impossible for him to compromise.
“Wait!”
The voice behind him suddenly called out to Yellow Coward.
The Peak Master of Starfall Peak looked at him with disgust and said, “Yiqin left a message. If someone comes to ask for help, tell them… use medicine to sustain life, but do not use Dan Medicine that enhances Spiritual Power. Use biological agents and physics that do not affect Spiritual Power. For example, assisted breathing, cardiac pacing, and adrenaline injections.”
Yellow Coward was overjoyed and hurriedly committed it to memory.
“Also, coughing is a symptom of infection for this Epidemic Poison. Isolate those who cough first, and have the healthy ones stay at home and not go out. This can effectively prevent the Epidemic Poison from spreading, reducing the subsequent medical supplies and workload needed. Even if there is no antidote in the end, at least a few will survive.”
After the Peak Master of Starfall Peak finished speaking, he waved his hand with an extremely impatient expression. “It’s only because Yiqin is so pitifully foolish. If it were me, I wouldn’t care if you lived or died. It would be better if everyone died together, including that stupid Emperor!”
“What about the antidote? These can only buy time!” Yellow Coward hurriedly pressed.
“Even Yiqin isn’t in Lingyin Valley. The most important research mainstay isn’t here, so how are we supposed to research an antidote for you?” The Peak Master of Starfall Peak glanced at Yellow Coward with disdain.
“Thank your Majesty. If we die, we die together. Shenzhou is finished.”
Leaving Lingyin Valley, Yellow Coward’s heart still felt stifled.
Without an antidote, even if life could be temporarily sustained, it was merely a slow death.
At this moment, while all the living beings in Shenzhou were racing against time, Emperor Jing was unswervingly suppressing any chance of survival.
Perhaps if his two colleagues had not fallen, he would have been like Emperor Jing, still treating this matter as an opportunity to make money.
However, the fall of the two strongest Danxiu in Shenzhou made him realize that he had become the last line of defense for the current Shenzhou.
And he, the last line of defense, had no countermeasure against this unknown toxin, not even an idea of how to solve it.
He could not delay any longer!
Now the whole world was looking at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to come up with a solution. The immense pressure on his shoulders and the clear awareness of his own lack of ability made it impossible for him to endure any longer!
He couldn’t hold on!
Whether it was death or anything else, he did not want to become the sinner who would be cursed by future generations! If they wanted to curse someone, go curse the Emperor! He could no longer carry this burden; he had to shift the blame to someone else!
Yellow Coward strode toward the Royal Palace.
“…Continue to increase the publicity for the Shenzhou Cup. I want this Shenzhou Cup Finals in Jiangdu to be more grand than any previous one!”
When Yellow Coward saw Emperor Jing, he was discussing matters related to the Shenzhou Cup with a minister beside him.
Yellow Coward’s mental state collapsed instantly.
“The Shenzhou Cup must be stopped!” Yellow Coward suppressed his anger.
“Impossible.” Emperor Jing’s expression was unfriendly, and his answer was categorical.
“Your Majesty! I beg you to go outside the palace and take a look!” Yellow Coward stepped forward and said sorrowfully, “In a few days, your subjects will all be dead!”
“Is it that serious?” Emperor Jing was slightly startled.
“The memorials just reported that the country is peaceful and the situation is stable. I even praised the managers of those government offices.”
The country is peaceful? The situation is stable?! Yellow Coward almost died of anger right then and there.
These bastards really had no shame at all just to claim credit! Yellow Coward took out a Recording Crystal and played the footage he had recorded on the road.
Emperor Jing looked at the scenes that resembled a hell on earth, showing an expression of disbelief.
After watching, Emperor Jing sighed and said, “Then it is even better to hold a wonderful Shenzhou Cup to soothe the people’s hearts.”
Yellow Coward: “???”
“You do not understand,” Emperor Jing shook his head.
“Only when you sit in my position will you understand what is more important.”
“But the people…”
“What is important is not whether the commoners live or die,” Emperor Jing interrupted.
“Even if all the commoners are alive, if they are no longer my subjects, they might as well be dead.”
“…”
In an instant, Yellow Coward seemed to fully understand the deep sense of despair and helplessness Yiqin felt when facing himself and Emperor Jing.
“Cough…”
The sound of Emperor Jing coughing made Yellow Coward suddenly snap back to his senses.
At this moment, the cough of the person before him seemed to have become his savior.
He suppressed the wild joy in his heart and handed over a treatment report to Emperor Jing.
“This is the treatment summary for the Sect Leader of The Golden Stone Sect before the Alchemist Saint fell. I ask Your Majesty to look at it.”
“What is there for me to look at in such a thing?” Emperor Jing was somewhat impatient.
“The Sect Leader of The Golden Stone Sect is dead; he died a miserable death,” Yellow Coward said in a heavy voice. “And all of it started with a cough…”
Finally, Emperor Jing’s face changed.