Martial plague had little effect on ordinary people and hardly ever triggered.
However, the small impact did not mean it could be ignored. Once triggered, it could be lethal, the bare truth of which was evinced by Zheng Ankang’s death.
Though village leader Zhou Zhengwen and elder Ji chose not to manage this matter, it was a helpless act born from having no solution.
Neither ridding themselves of the martial plague nor avenging its spread were actions within their power; speaking out would merely provoke panic. Therefore, they resolved to behave as if nothing had happened, since saying anything would only cause alarm.
Should anyone else die from the martial plague, one could only chalk it up to misfortune.
In such troubled times, whether one perished from the martial plague or as a casualty of war or the collateral damage from a powerful martial artist’s battle, the outcomes were broadly the same.
Compared to those refugees displaced by war, the martial plague seemed rather insignificant.
But this was thinking based on the inability to treat martial plague.
Now that someone claimed to have a cure, neither elder Ji nor the village leader would give up.
As a healer, elder Ji’s reluctance to treat an unknown martial artist did not mean he wanted to forgo treating his fellow villagers.
His return after completing his studies wasn’t so that he could do nothing.
Wang Sheng understood this.
Nor could he obstruct it, or even if he could, he wouldn’t.
It wasn’t as if he could withhold treatment when others found a viable method.
He wasn’t capable of such actions.
However, if Xu Qu faced any risk that he couldn’t resolve, he would not be the fool to step forward; at most, he’d take Li Wenguang and his family and flee.
He’d only been in this world and this village for a few months, leading a secluded life. If he claimed to have deep feelings for this place, even he wouldn’t believe it.
If he had the means, he would help, grateful for their assistance in his initial escape plans.
But without the means, it was a different story.
For Li Wenguang’s family, though the responsibility was towards his original self, in reality, the Tiger Bone Ointment had truly saved his life.
He had used the ointment, so he could not forget the favor.
At most, he might also consider elder Ji’s aid with medical texts significant.
Perhaps after some years, a decade or so, he might develop deep feelings for the people of Qingshan Village, but certainly not now.
Human affection can be cheap at times, but when unconditional sacrifice is needed, it becomes precious.
Finally, Wang Sheng sighed and said, “Since you’ve made up your mind, stay then. But my advice is to first let Xu Qu try to manage the martial plague within you and to keep him from leaving the house for the next few months before reconsidering. Also, those who brought him here need to be informed, and should any trouble arise, come seek me!”
When things were under his control, he was still willing to intervene.
“Alright!”
Elder Ji nodded his head.
And so, Wang Sheng left.
He sensed a crisis.
The martial plague was lying dormant and not erupting, and he had always believed the mastermind would exploit that, detonating it at a crucial moment for maximum gain.
Now knowing that the mastermind was King Yong Nian, Zhou Wutong, when would be the time for him to reap the greatest benefit?
Of course, it would be during the decisive battle with King Jiang Yuan.
With the gates of Jiangyuan City in Shuzhou now breached, King Jiang Yuan wouldn’t sit idly by; the looming battle was likely to occur when King Yong Nian advanced further into Shuzhou.
At that time, if the Martial Artist Plague broke out on a large scale, the martial artists under Jiang River King would lose their ability to fight, and Jiang River King’s army would collapse instantly.
Of course, there was still a bit of doubt in Wang Sheng’s mind about this. King Yong Nian’s strength was far superior to that of Jiang River King, so why resort to such means.
If he truly wanted to vie for supremacy over the world, it would be a loss not worth the gain.
The Great Grandmaster was strong, but not strong enough to suppress the world with his power alone, otherwise, there would be no need for contention.
Under such circumstances, King Yong Nian didn’t seem to care about his reputation at all.
It was indeed a bit strange.
“Forget it, this is not my concern, I should just concentrate on resolving the Martial Artist Plague before the decisive battle comes!”
He didn’t know how King Yong Nian would trigger the outbreak of the Martial Artist Plague later on, so he had no way to prevent it, the best method was still to enhance his own Qi Blood Power and break through it before the outbreak!
Thus, as soon as he returned home, he began training in the Eight Section Brocade.
The consumption of the Eight Section Brocade was now extremely terrifying, and based on his daily training, he needed to use more than five Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills.
With such consumption, both his blood strength and Qi Blood Power increased rapidly. He controlled his Qi Blood Power to linger in front of the “gates” of the Martial Artist Plague, and the sense of danger had already diminished significantly.
“It’s close, it should happen within these few days.”
If he kept up at this pace, he would soon be able to challenge the final disease focus within his body.
Once the last disease focus was resolved, he could not only remove a big burden from his body but could also enter the final stage of Qi Rushing to the Disease, reducing the disease.
Unlike Finding Disease and Flipping Illness, progress during the reducing disease stage could enhance one’s strength.
He was very much looking forward to seeing how much his strength would improve during the reducing disease phase.
In this way, three days passed. He didn’t pay much attention to what Old Ji and Xu Qu were doing, only occasionally noticing Old Ji frequently passing by his house to go to the village chief’s house, not knowing what they were pondering.
He also made progress during these three days.
Both his blood strength and Qi Blood Power were enhanced once more.
Under the state of introspection, the blood became “thicker”, but out of curiosity, he tried to let out some of his blood, which did not show any sign of “thickness” when released.
It seemed that this state was only visible under introspection.
Ever since he started cultivating, the enhancement of blood strength had become a metaphysical concept. He wasn’t too surprised by such phenomena, just marveled at it for a moment.
At the same time, after three days of enhancement, his Qi Blood Power had increased to the point where facing the disease focus formed by the Martial Artist Plague no longer posed any danger.
This meant he was now ready to challenge the final disease focus!
However, just to be safe, Wang Sheng further enhanced his Qi Blood Power for three more days, made all the preparations, and only after placing three Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills in his mouth did he begin to assault the Martial Artist Plague disease focus.
Boom!
In the introspective state, this assault seemed to evolve into a battle for siege as before.
The Qi Blood Power transformed into a colossal column for siege, repeatedly striking the disease focus.
If it were the previous disease focus, it would gradually disappear under the relentless erosion of the Qi Blood Power.
But the disease focus formed by the Martial Artist Plague seemed to be a completely different concept, like the difference between besieging an undefended empty city and a well-fortified large city stocked with troops.
In simple terms, the massive disease focus formed by the Martial Artist Plague was resistant!
Not long after the Qi Blood Power began its assault, the disease focus formed by the Martial Artist Plague started its counterattack, continuously eroding the strength of the Qi Blood Power.
Under Wang Sheng’s introspective gaze, the Martial Artist Plague disease focus seemed to turn into a Poisonous Flood Dragon, continuously hissing and threatening towards the Qi Blood Power, spraying venom to exhaust the Qi Blood Power.
The Qi Blood Power was fearless as if it had turned into a massive blood-red dragon, roaring back!
Soon, one red and one black, they began to tear at each other.
The final challenge of Qi Rushing to the Disease had officially begun!