Repugnant Gateway 3

by Zhi Bai

  No one dared to disturb her. This process lasted for three full minutes. Just as the blossoming medicinal pellet was about to be shrunk, Qu Liuxi quickly picked up a burnt piece of the Blood Withering Vine and threw it in. She dragged the pill with her left hand and the roasting continued. She stretched out her right hand, and what appeared to be a small and delicate medicine box was opened in midair. The same herb, or whatever it was that no one else could recognize, flew out of the box and landed in her right hand.

  She continuously placed these items in the palm of her left hand. After the red blaze passed, these items quickly fused into the pill.

  With a total of thirty-six medicines, that pill just so happened to be the same, perfect as new. Qu Liuxi let out a light sigh of relief, opened up Ding Ningdong's mouth and placed the pellet inside. The pill dissolved after it entered Ding Ningdong's mouth and quickly flowed into her body. In less than a second, Ding Ningdong suddenly spat out a mouthful of black water. The black water fell to the ground, revealing an octopus-like thing that was wriggling back and forth.

  Qu Liuxi flicked her finger, and a type of medicinal powder flew out from the medicine box and sprinkled on the black object that looked like a small octopus. That thing let out a shrill cry, and then fell onto the ground and turned into black water.

  "I've extracted the blood root of the Withering Blood Vine. For the time being, her life is not in danger. But I do not have sufficient knowledge about poisons, so I would need a master to diagnose them. "

  Qu Liuxi said as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

  Everyone was dumbfounded. No one expected her to be able to refine pills with her bare hands … That scene was something that no one could forget.

  Chapter 235 - Opening the Door to Accept Disciples

  "Alchemy with bare hands, blooming five petals."

  Zhuge Chouyun walked out from the back of the crowd with a small wooden case in hand.

  "Amazing, amazing!"

  He put away the small wooden box, threw his walking stick to the side and applauded at Qu Liuxi: "Such a young age, to have such talent, to be able to be so calm and steady, I must have seen the world. People all say that you can't afford to offend the old martial arts world, but now it looks like this is already the young people's world. After opening the pill, he added in thirty-six different herbs. Each of them had to be in the right order. Furthermore, the timing couldn't be wrong either. Otherwise, the pill would be destroyed. Even if I were to refine this pill now, it would not be any better than what you have done. "

  Qu Liuxi, whose face was blushing a little, said: "Senior is too kind, it is just that junior's luck is too good."

  Zhuge Chouyun said: "In this world, every kind of success can only be due to luck, and not pill refining. In matters such as forging pills, steps, timing, quality of fire, and quality of materials, she couldn't afford a single mistake. Where did her luck come from? Great is great, you don't have to be modest. Think about when I was your age, and all I thought about was getting out of my master's sight and playing crazy. "

  Qu Liuxi was a little embarrassed by his words, she could only change the topic: "Senior, please come and cure Ding Ningdong."

  Zhuge Chouyun walked over and supported the unconscious Ding Ningdong: "When I was originally going back, I racked my brains to think of a way … Using poison to fight poison. The Vampiric Blood Vine was as bloodthirsty as life itself. It could only survive if it was nourished with blood. It was an evil being to begin with. But in my memory, there was no medicine that could restrain it. Therefore, I can only think of another way, which is to think of the Nine-headed Snake Grass. "

  "Nine-headed Snake Grass?"

  Qu Liuxi was slightly stunned. "Senior wants to use the Nine-headed Snake Grass to kill the Withering Blood Vine?"

  Zhuge Chouyun nodded her head, "The Withering Blood Vine and Nine-headed Snake Grass are both rare herbs, but they are more animal oriented. However, the Nine-headed Snake Grass was even more ferocious. I had originally planned to have the Nine-Headed Snake Grass grow on the stem of the vine, absorb its nutrients, and kill it. In the instant that the Withering Blood Vine died, she pulled Ding Ningdong out. However, this method is really dangerous, as long as we are slightly lacking in time, the Nine-headed Snake Grass will take over the control of Ding Ningdong's bloodline in place of the Withering Blood Vine. "

  Qu Liuxi replied, "The Nine-headed Snake Grass's personality is even stronger, so if it were to be replaced by someone else … "It's too dangerous."

  Zhuge Chouyun placed one hand on the back of Ding Ningdong's hand, a dark red brilliance flickering in her hand. As he healed Ding Ningdong's injuries, he asked, "How did you guys get rid of the Withering Blood Vine?"

  At that time, the Enchantment Cloth had automatically killed the Withered Blood Vine, but absolutely could not know about this. Fortunately, at that time, those present, were all from the Heavenly Awakening Sect, with the exception of Ding Wanqiu. An Zheng glanced at Ding Wanqiu and he nodded slightly.

  Qu Liuxi explained: "The two of them used the power of their own bloodlines to compete with Ding Ningdong for control over the Withering Blood Vine. While the Withering Blood Vine was shaking, I used the combination of the seven dan beads and the Tian Lu water to burn through its meridians. "

  Zhuge Chouyun frowned: "If you guys really used this method to succeed, then I can only say that it's luck."

  Qu Liuxi said: "It's not necessarily luck, but Ding Ningdong's vital energy and blood loss is just too severe. If it was two hours ago, I'm afraid we wouldn't have had any chance to succeed. Now that her blood had almost dried up, her control over the Withering Blood Vine was very weak. On the contrary, as the blood that the Withering Blood Vine absorbs is becoming less and less, once it discovers that there is more blood, it will divert a large portion of its attention to us. "

  Zhuge Chouyun looked at the others, she did not see anything wrong, but he still felt that Qu Liuxi's method did not have much success rate.

  But fortunately, Ding Ningdong had saved him, so he did not say anything more.

  After he forced out the poison remnants from Ding Ningdong's body, he once again stuffed a Poison Cleansing Pill into Ding Ningdong's mouth, and said: "Actually, the easiest and most direct way to remove the Withering Blood Vine is the Enchantment Cloth … However, that was something out of the rumors, and probably not many people had ever seen it before. Legend has it that a long, long time ago, Eye of Nine Incarnations existed in the world. The Eye of Nine Incarnations would not die. When it was about to die, the Eye of Nine Incarnations would choose its next successor. There was a rumor that the last thing that possessed a Eye of Nine Incarnations was a lion, and another said that it was a demonic beast that looked like a lion. "

  "Anything that possesses Eye of Nine Incarnations s is the greediest thing in the world."

  Zhuge Chouyun seemed to be a little tired, and handed Ding Ningdong over to Ding Wanqiu: "Regardless of whether it's the ancient tomb, or the treasure left behind by some powerful being, as long as it detects it, it will definitely enter, and absorb all the treasures."

  "Absorb?"

  An Zheng was slightly taken aback: "What does absorption mean?"

  Zhuge Chouyun asked: "How can Eye of Nine Incarnations discover the treasures in this world? Why was it obvious what was rare? This was precisely because it had devoured so many treasures, it had the nature of all treasures. It was said that the Eye of Nine Incarnations could even be swallowed and absorbed when they reached their limit. When its eyes completely devour the treasures that are unique to the materials, it will be able to start its reincarnation cycle. "

  He smiled tiredly: "But this is only a legend …" After all, Eye of Nine Incarnations had not appeared for at least hundreds or even thousands of years. The Enchantment Cloth that I was talking about just now, seemed more like an assistant or servant of the Eye of Nine Incarnations. As long as a Eye of Nine Incarnations appeared, there would definitely be a Enchantment Cl
oth appearing. As you all know, those tombs with treasures are often extremely dangerous. To be able to gather treasures in the tomb, which one of them wasn't someone with a powerful cultivation or an extremely high status? Which one of them would be willing to have their tombs stolen after their deaths? So these tombs or treasures are filled with traps. "

  Zhuge Chouyun pointed to the dried up blood rattan that had been burned to death on the ground. "The reason this dried up blood vine appeared is because of something that someone made many years ago to prevent their tomb from being destroyed by a descendant."

  He paused for a moment before continuing, "This is one of the most sinister methods. It is very disgusting to talk about. In order to protect the tomb, the first step was to kill many people and extract their blood. It was not the blood of a single person, nor was it the blood of a lot of people. Rather, it was the blood of someone from the same clan … This is also why I said that you guys were lucky to be able to kill the Withering Blood Vine. "

  "After the Withering Blood Vine absorbs someone's blood, it will be of the same quality as that person. That is to say, even if it is sucking the blood of others, it will still be of the same quality as the first person. To the Withering Blood Vine, other people's blood is just like the water you used to water the flowers, it's just a nutrient. "

  After he finished speaking, he looked at Qu Liuxi with a deeper meaning.

  Qu Liuxi's expression changed slightly, but she did not say anything.

  Zhuge Chouyun continued to speak, "The owners of those tombs are either the elites of their generation or the prime ministers of their king, so cultivating the Blood Withering Vine is nothing to them, it's just that their methods are ruthless. She would first choose a clan. At the very least, they had to have decent physiques. Then they all got caught and bled to death. This blood would be stored inside a container. The container's design was very ingenious, and the amount of blood that flowed out every day was the same. This amount of blood is enough to grow a wilted blood vine. According to the rumors, the longest is enough for five hundred years. "

  "But that's not the end."

  Zhuge Chouyun said: "Among the exterminated families, the youth with the best talent will be left behind, skinned alive, and then placed in the blood vat. This youth's body had been modified by some sort of medicinal pill. He did not have any flesh, but he was soaked in blood, so he had tentacles growing out of his body … The tendrils that were born would pass through the blood and merge with the wilted blood rattan. This is the main root of the Withering Blood Vine, and the main root controls all of the Withering Blood Vines in the entire tomb. "

  "Imagine, let's not talk about five hundred years, let's say a hundred years, what would the Withering Blood Vine look like in a tomb? Therefore, using the Blood Withering Vine to protect the tomb is much stronger than anything else. "

  "If a Eye of Nine Incarnations wants to seize a treasure, the first thing they need to do is to kill the Withered Blood Vine. And the method to kill the Withering Blood Vine was its servant, the Enchantment Cloth. According to the rumors, the first generation Eye of Nine Incarnations was carried by … It was a person. A heaven warping genius, the Enchantment Cloth was also created by him. It was precisely because of this that Enchantment Cloth were so loyal to Eye of Nine Incarnations. Even if that person dies, the Enchantment Cloth will still follow the Eye of Nine Incarnations's successor. "

  Zhuge Chouyun said: "Only, it's already been too long, I don't know if these rumors are true or not."

  After calming himself down, Qu Liuxi said, "Perhaps it's because the Withering Blood Vine that Ding Ningdong raised was not meant to attack anyone."

  Zhuge Chouyun acknowledged: "That's possible, after all, she is only being controlled by her own inner demons."

  He stood up and said, "Little friend, if you are interested in the future, you can come and find me. However, I am going to use a steam bath made of medicinal herbs to remove the remaining poison from Ding Ningdong's body. Ding Wanqiu, you stay. "

  Ding Wanqiu took possession of her body: "Junior will follow your orders."

  An Zheng and Qu Liuxi cupped their fists as they took their leave. When they left, they had the nagging feeling that Zhuge Chouyun's gloomy eyes were staring at their backs. Zhuge Chouyun told him so much about Eye of Nine Incarnations. It was not necessarily because the old man was kind and liked telling stories. It was not easy to guess how scheming such a person was. Even though they were very far away, they still felt a chill behind their backs.

  It wasn't until they returned to the Heavenly Awakening Sect that they felt a little more at ease.

  "In the next few days, good old man and Enchantment Cloth won't be able to show their faces."

  An Zheng pondered for a while, then said: "Zhuge Chouyun, this person, does not have anything good or evil to say. The only thing he could be sure of was that once he found out the whereabouts of the Eye of Nine Incarnations, he definitely would not let them off. So in these few days, good old man and Enchantment Cloth will be staying in the Heaven Defying Seal and not coming out. "

  The Old Huo nodded his head, "Although I don't know this Zhuge Chouyun you all are talking about, anyone who likes to study poisons would usually have a terrifyingly stubborn personality. Therefore, it's best to be careful. Once good old man falls into his hands, he will undoubtedly die. "

  An Zheng acknowledged, "In the recent days, I have spent more time at the Martial Academies. You all should worry about the matters of the sect. Also... Recently, many people have begun to send their children to our Heavenly Awakening Sect. This is a good start. To change a person, starting from when they were young was the most fundamental. When we were in Fringe, we took in so many people because they were not wicked in nature. However, there were many ideas that could not be changed. The reason they did what I said is because they felt it was a spirit of loyalty. In their hearts, they might not feel that what we did was meaningful. "

  "Children are different. Since young, I have given them the correct concept of right and wrong, so that they won't become evil in the future. From today onwards, any child that has the potential to cultivate will be accepted. Everyone will take turns to teach them cultivation. As for the children who cannot cultivate, they will need to choose the right people from the sect and bring them along for body tempering. "

  Everyone nodded.

  An Zheng said: "To us Heavenly Awakening Sect, this is also the beginning of a change."

  He let out a long breath. "When teaching your child, you only need to remember one thing … If we are wrong, then we are destroying the lives of others. "

  Chapter 236 - The Child's Father

  Tiantong Palace, Heavenly Protection Hall

  The palace in front of them had already been completely destroyed, so it had to be rebuilt. And to rebuild it, it was not a one-day affair. Besides, the war in the east was tight, and the Ministry of Revenue could not allocate any money. A few days ago, it was rumored that the Embroidery Palace's empress dowager had personally ordered everyone to scram if the Ministry of Revenue did not transfer over the silver for the reconstruction of the Sky Harmony Palace. In the end, the empress dowager's words were much more useful, so they quickly gathered the silver. However, when it was delivered to the Sky Protection Hall, the Swallow King rejected it.

  Mu Changyan ordered for all the silver to be handed over to a carriage shop called Yan Yun.

  An Zheng was currently standing beside Mu Changyan, and the two of them looked out of the window at the ruins.

  "No more repairs, and it's not even smooth. Just leave it like this." Whether it's to an orphan or to a future Swallow King, it's all a wake-up call. "

  Mu Changyan turned his head and waved to signal for everyone to leave.

  "An Zheng, do you know why I trust you so much?"

  Mu Changyan asked.

  An Zheng nodded: "Understood."

  Mu Changyan laughed: "It's good that you know this. This secret absolutely cannot b
e leaked out. There is one thing that you might not know, and this is also the biggest scandal of the great swallow's harem since it was established, so no one dared to speak carelessly about it. The people from Embroidery Palace who know about this have also been given strict orders.

  He sat down and said nothing for a moment. "The Empress Mother is pregnant," he said.

  An Zheng's expression changed as he felt slightly disgusted in his heart.

  Mu Changyan said: "If she was just being unrestrained, I could even ignore her. After all, she couldn't be considered to be old, so … But she was pregnant now, with only one purpose. That means that if she wants to steal the position of the Mu family, the first step is for her to rule herself, which means she is going to be the queen. Second, when she gets old, that child is his heir. "

  An Zheng stood there, not knowing what to say.

  Mu Changyan said: "So the Xiao Qi Dao is the future of the State of Yan, you must protect him well. He knew that the time he had left might not be much. When the Empress Mother gives birth, it will be the time of her death. Gu Shenwei didn't have the heart of a king back then, but now he could only bear the burden of it alone. The Xiao Qi Dao will be the one to shoulder the burden of the future. "

  An Zheng shook his head. "Xiao Qi Dao still doesn't know his own background, so even if he does, he might not be willing to be this Swallow King."

  Mu Changyan remained silent for a while, before he said, "The reason why I'm reusing you is not only because you have sufficient ability, but also because of the relationship between you and the Xiao Qi Dao. Regardless of whether or not he would shoulder this responsibility in the future, what he had to do alone, he had to prepare for him. You probably didn't understand it before, but did you think it was child's play to use them against the empress dowager to recruit those young men? In fact, the people I recruited are all for the future Xiao Qi Dao. Only by nurturing people who are loyal to the Mu family from the beginning will he be able to live a more comfortable life in the future. "