The day to treat Yan Qingge had finally arrived.
That day, a misty drizzle drifted through the air.
The sky was pressed low by thick clouds.
Everywhere the eye could see was a heavy, oppressive deep gray.
Xuan Phoenix Sacred Sect’s Inner Gate training field.
The entire building was circular.
At the center of the round platform stood several tables and a crimson pill furnace.
The spectator stands had long been packed full.
The disciples’ noisy chatter even drowned out the howling wind and rain.
“Look at that pill furnace—so impressive. Mistveil Pavilion is really sparing no expense. Seems they have a lot of confidence in Pei Yunqing.”
“Hmph. Whether she can actually be cured is still uncertain. These are just superficial things and don’t prove anything.”
“Exactly. I chatted with some disciples from Yao Furnace Peak. The chance of failure is pretty high. I think our Senior Sister Chu has been blinded by love. Heh heh. If it goes wrong, the way they clean up the mess will be quite the spectacle.”
Before long, the three major forces arrived one after another.
The disciples’ chaotic voices quieted down slightly.
When they took their seats, Xuan Phoenix Sacred Sect sat directly opposite Red Sun Phoenix Heaven Sect.
An unspoken tension spread between them in the fine rain.
Glancing up at the sky, Luo Na frowned slightly and muttered, “What terrible weather…”
She waved a jade hand.
A massive spiritual power barrier covered the entire venue, blocking out the unpleasant rain.
Lin Rou stood and walked toward the round platform.
Sensing Luo Na’s gaze behind her, she turned her head slightly and gave a small nod. “Don’t worry.”
Pei Ruanyan and Pei Yunqing followed closely behind Lin Rou.
For today, Pei Yunqing had specially changed into moon-blue clothes made from premium spirit silk.
Silver threads and a few jewels adorned them.
He had also applied careful makeup.
His already outstanding appearance looked even more beautiful.
Today he appeared especially pure and otherworldly, like an immortal descended to the mortal realm.
“Aiyo, what’s with Immortal Lord Pei today? He didn’t usually dress like this.”
“I get why Senior Sister Chu chose him now. Who wouldn’t be charmed by that?”
Chu Mo stared dazedly at Pei Yunqing’s back. No matter what, she felt uneasy.
She instinctively wanted to follow him, but Luo Na’s cough sounded beside her ear.
“Chu Mo, you are a True Disciple. Stay seated and watch him perform.”
On the round platform, Lin Rou cleared her throat and amplified her voice with spiritual power.
She swept her gaze across the entire venue.
“Today is not only a momentous day for Immortal Lord Pei to treat True Disciple Yan, but we also have a happy announcement to make.”
She deliberately paused.
Her voice suddenly rose.
“Today is also the day Senior Sister Chu and Immortal Lord Pei become engaged!”
The entire venue erupted in wave-like screams and cheers.
Being stared at by so many people for this reason made Chu Mo’s face flush slightly.
Fine sweat beaded in her palms.
She felt a little at a loss.
Somewhere in her heart it felt as if a fox tail had brushed across it, leaving an itchy sensation.
At that moment, Pei Ruanyan stepped forward.
She behaved with perfect grace and generosity, leaving no room for criticism.
“I am Qing’er’s mother and also his teacher in the medical path. True Disciple Yan is our benefactor. I will assist Peak Master Lin in guarding the treatment. I will not allow even the slightest mishap.”
Her words were difficult to fault.
Lin Rou’s lips pressed together slightly.
Luo Na and the people from Red Sun Phoenix Heaven Sect all frowned tightly.
Pei Ruanyan’s presumptuous action displeased them greatly.
Yan Qingge, who had just stepped onto the round platform, paid it no mind.
She sat down casually, rolled up her sleeve, and revealed an arm wrapped in black veins that had clearly worsened.
“Begin.”
Pei Yunqing took a deep breath.
His trembling fingertips rested on Yan Qingge’s pulse.
The first wisp of spiritual energy entered her body.
Everyone present held their breath.
The black-furred ape’s poison resembled countless silk threads wrapping around the victim’s meridians.
It would spread along them until it eroded the entire body.
Most treatment methods involved peeling away the “threads” one by one.
Not only was this inefficient, but it also consumed enormous amounts of the healer’s spiritual power and mental energy.
However, the remnant medical book contained a rather bizarre “minor technique.”
By circulating it, multiple “threads” could be stripped away at once.
Its effectiveness was many times greater.
This was the capital that gave the Pei mother and son the courage to gamble so boldly.
About an hour later, the process had gone from the heart-pounding first meridian to the smooth handling of the fifth.
The toxin inside Yan Qingge’s body was truly being peeled away bit by bit by Pei Yunqing.
The suspicion hidden in Lin Rou’s eyes gradually turned to shock.
Even the originally stern and icy faces of the Red Sun Phoenix Heaven Sect elders softened a little.
Luo Na raised an eyebrow and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
She teased Chu Mo, “Chu Mo, that little boyfriend of yours really does have some skills.”
The corners of Chu Mo’s mouth curved upward.
Her beloved was performing so excellently.
How could she not feel proud?
The disciples on the platform who had been questioning him slowly began to offer compliments.
A few were already singing his praises at full volume.
When he reached the end of the fifth meridian, a pitch-black knot pulsing faintly with life force was coiled there.
It’s a gu! Pei Yunqing’s heart jolted.
He planned to withdraw his spiritual power and follow Pei Ruanyan’s instructions.
But the gu sensed the foreign spiritual power and counterattacked like a mad dog, biting and tearing.
In an instant, a cold, negative emotion surged straight into Pei Yunqing’s mind.
Lin Rou had said this thing could disturb a person’s mind!
No.
I can’t fail.
I absolutely cannot fail here! Pei Yunqing’s mind buzzed.
Hallucinations wrapped around him like thorns. The voices in his ears gradually turned into mockery.
His hands were covered in Yan Qingge’s blood.
Elder Wang was raising a sword to kill him!
But Chu Mo and Pei Ruanyan only gave him disappointed looks before turning away.
And beside Chu Mo appeared a figure nestled intimately against her.
Pei Yunqing trembled all over.
The vanity of curing Yan Qingge intertwined with the terror of failure, completely destroying his sanity.
Could the gu really affect Pei Yunqing this strongly? In truth, no.
It only needed to devour part of his spiritual power before being severed.
But Pei Yunqing had never been a person of firm will.
The mind-disturbing effect was amplified several times on him.
“Get lost! Get away from me! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”
Pei Yunqing’s near-mad, ferocious roar tore through every sound in the venue.
He made a decision he would regret for the rest of his life.
He poured every ounce of his spiritual power into striking the gu coiled in Yan Qingge’s meridian.
Although their strengths differed vastly, Yan Qingge was completely defenseless at the moment.
Not to mention, she had suppressed her protective Phoenix Flame into her spirit sea to let Pei Yunqing treat her.
It was like an unprepared person being smashed by a ten-thousand-pound hammer!
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!”
A shrill, miserable scream ripped through the ink-black sky.
Drops of fresh red followed, falling.
That red should have appeared at today’s engagement banquet.
“Stop!”
Lin Rou cried out in shock and fury.
She struck out toward Pei Yunqing, but Pei Ruanyan beside her blocked the blow.
Her face was deathly pale with desperation.
Madness burned in her eyes like a gambler going all-in.
“Peak Master Lin, Qing’er is still treating her. Do not interrupt him.”
“You—!”
Before Lin Rou could curse, Yan Qingge let out another agonized scream.
Her whole body curled up like a shrimp.
In that brief moment of obstruction, Pei Yunqing’s spiritual power had completely rampaged inside her body.
Not only did it further destroy Yan Qingge’s meridians, it also activated the remaining toxin and gu.
They struggled desperately inside her, devouring everything they could sense.
The poisonous veins slithered beneath her skin like snakes and in an instant occupied more than half her body.
Even worse, the Phoenix Flame that Yan Qingge had suppressed surged out from her spirit sea to protect its master.
It burned everything it could detect.
But just as mentioned earlier, the toxin clung to her meridians.
After Pei Yunqing’s violent strike, Yan Qingge’s meridians were like a rickety wooden barrel.
Now that barrel had been kicked to pieces.
Yan Qingge felt as if every meridian in her body had been severed.
The scorching pain of flames burning her from within followed.
With one final howl, she could no longer endure and fainted.
The entire venue fell deathly silent from the sudden turn of events.
The person who had been gradually improving a moment ago was now on the verge of death.
“Qingge!!!”
Elder Wang’s eyes nearly split open.
The spectator stands around her shattered inch by inch.
Her spiritual power surged out like an enraged lioness, rushing straight toward Pei Yunqing.
At the critical moment, Luo Na acted.
A cyan longsword descended from the sky and stabbed into the ground, shielding Pei Yunqing from most of the lethal spiritual power.
Even so, he was sent flying like a kite with its string cut.
He smashed heavily onto the ground.
His once handsome face was now swollen and split open.
The exquisite, luxurious clothes on his body were covered in blood and mud.
Pei Yunqing lay sprawled on the ground like a beaten stray dog with a broken spine in the rain.
On the platform, Chu Mo stared blankly.
Her best friend’s life hung in the balance.
Her lover was in mortal danger.
Every gaze directed at her was filled with resentment and contempt.
Her head spun.
She felt as if the heavens must be playing a cruel joke on her.
How could this happen?
How could this possibly happen?!
A thunderous roar jolted her awake.
The barrier blocking the rain shattered.
Raindrops fell like judgment swords sent down by the heavens, smashing onto everyone below.
“Pei Yunqing! I want you dead!”