The guest hall was quiet now that all the bustle was over. Only a bleak and desolate figure lay collapsed on the ground.
Knowing to be Chu Qingcheng, Zhuo Fan walked to her, his words blunt, “Edifice Lord, I need to speak with you. It’s regarding Drifting Flowers Edifice’s future. I am sure you’d be interested.”
Zhuo Fan seemed like a different person, unlike the silly and naive Song Yu. He had a crafty smile and a deep gaze.
Yet his words fell on deaf ears.
Zhuo Fan looked down to find Chu Qingcheng’s eyes dead. She didn’t hear a word he said.
[Come on! You’re a Profound Heaven expert and an Edifice Lord on top of that! Yet, you can’t take a hit? A man’s betrayal was enough to bring you to this state?]
Zhuo Fan shook his head.
[No wonder men have been rulers since antiquity. A woman’s heart is too fragile.]
[Though, big sis, even if you want to give up, do that after you listen to my plan. At least give me the Bodhi Jade Sap while you’re at it!]
Zhuo Fan sighed.
If this had happened yesterday, he would have laughed, thinking it would be easy to take the Bodhi Jade Sap and just leave.
But now, things have changed!
If anything happened to Chu Qingcheng, the Drifting Flowers Edifice would collapse. Wouldn’t that be to Regent Estate’s satisfaction? For now, he couldn’t steal the Bodhi Jade Sap and could only politely ask for it.
“Edifice Lord Chu, wake up. Listen to my plan to rescue Drifting Flowers Edifice. I promise you will like it!” Zhuo Fan waved his hand in front of her.
Chu Qingcheng was still unresponsive, her eyes blank. Though, the tears proved she was very much alive.
Sighing, Zhuo Fan found himself out of options. After a person locked their heart to escape the cruel reality, the only one capable of saving them was themselves.
“Sister Chuchu, why are you like this…” Zhuo Fan sighed, not knowing what to do.
Suddenly, Chu Qingcheng moved and the light came back in her eyes, “W-what did you call me?”
Zhuo Fan was startled then happy. It seems his unintentional call brought this foolish lady back. He rushed to say, “Sister Chuchu, wake up!”
Zhuo Fan shook to her as he used Bewitching Whispers.
His voice was amplified hundreds of times in her ear. Chu Qingcheng shivered and woke up, looking back at Zhuo Fan. Her eyes softened, “So it’s you… thank you!”
“It’s nothing, as long as you’re awake now!”
Nodding, Zhuo Fan laughed inside, “By the way, I have something…”
“No need to say it. Nothing matters at this point!” Chu Qingcheng stood up as she had made her newfound resolve. Her eyes flashed, “Drifting Flowers Edifice has entered such a crisis and it’s my responsibility to do everything to save it!”
“This isn’t your fault. And Drifting Flowers Edifice still has…”
“Song Yu.” Chu Qingcheng didn’t seem to have heard him as she smiled warmly, “I really need to thank you. I don’t know how you got Veiled Dragon Pavilion and Sword Marquise Abode to help us, to give us one last chance. Without this chance, I know that we would’ve been stripped of all dignity!”
“Uh, actually…”
“Alright, you don’t need to explain. I understand!” She used a delicate hand to help Zhuo Fan up and smiled, “I know you want to comfort me, but there’s no need. I realize it now. There is still time until the Hundred Pill Meeting starts and hope you can help me with some things.”
She pulled Zhuo Fan outside. The pitiful Zhuo Fan tried many times to get a word in, but was always shut down before he could finish. His only choice was to let Chu Qingcheng pull him.
[Big sis, can’t you let me speak? I have a way to save Drifting Flowers Edifice!]
Zhuo Fan sighed, [How does this woman speak so fast? I can’t get a word in. The moment I open my mouth, she lets out ten words. It is just for some Bodhi Jade Sap. Is it really necessary to cut me off every time?]
Zhuo Fan shook his head and stopped talking. Regardless of how he worded it, Chu Qingcheng had a way to shut him up each time, as if talking to a child!
Zhuo Fan was silent the whole trip, pulled along to a desolate cliff at the back of the edifice. And the cliff’s wall had faint energy waves leaking from it, a barrier.
“Drifting Flowers Edifice disciple Chu Qingcheng, requesting an audience with Aunt Tao!” Chu Qingcheng bowed and shouted.
An invisible ripple echoed and the barrier opened.
An aged voice traveled from within, “Chuchu, you are the Lord now. You do not need to act this way for this old lady.”
“Aunt Tao is the master of this place. I may be the Lord, but I dare not enter without permission!” Chu Qingcheng let out a rare smile and pulled Zhuo Fan inside.
The instant he got in, he sneezed!
It was so cold that he could feel it even through his Diamond Body. A cold cave such as this had to contain an extreme yin treasure!
Sure enough, a ten-meter square block of black-bluish ice laid in the middle of the cave. Any yin cultivator would greatly improve their speed of cultivation here. This place was a naturally formed treasure.
Although a tad lacking compared with Bodhi Root, it was still enough to make a Radiant Stage expert become greedy.
On the ice lay an old woman in intricate robes. She seemed in her fifties, but the black and blue on her face pointed out that she was poisoned, and from the looks of it, it had to be consuming most of her body.
“Damn! This old woman is so poisoned and can’t move, yet she can still release this barrier? Just what’s her cultivation? I didn’t think it possible Drifting Flowers Edifice could have another expert.” Zhuo Fan spoke.
Then a voice filled with contempt entered his ears, “Humph, foolish child, that is a living corpse. It cannot hear, cannot speak, cannot move. How can it release the barrier? I am the one who did it!”
Frowning, Zhuo Fan turned to see deeper inside the cave. There laid an old woman cross-legged. She wore black clothes and with how dusky it was in here, Zhuo Fan didn’t notice her at first.
“Aunt Tao, he has very low cultivation and only a bit of physical strength. It is normal he didn’t see you. Please don’t blame him.” Chu Qingcheng smiled.
Aunt Tao teased, “Girl, I have never seen you protect a man before. Is he your… Did you show it to him?”
Chu Qingcheng blushed and nodded.
Zhuo Fan was staring blankly, unable to make sense of anything!
[See what? Treasure?]
“Song Yu, she is our top alchemist, Aunt Tao. Quickly bow!” Chu Qingcheng pushed him forward.
Zhuo Fan helplessly went, feeling more bizarre. [Why suddenly bring me to your head alchemist? To teach her?]
[In any case, teaching her depends on her aptitude!]
Zhuo Fan did not wish to bow right now, but he had to show respect. But when he caught a glimpse of the old woman, he jumped in fright.
She had white hair, but also a green and blue face from being poisoned. Not worse than the old woman on the ice.
Rainbow Cloud Palm!
One look was enough to recognize the cause.
“What, did I scare you? Ha-ha-ha…” Aunt Tao showed a frightening smile, “Not all of Drifting Flowers Edifice’s people are beauties!”
“Song Yu, don’t be rude and apologize.” Chu Qingcheng urged.
Yet Zhuo Fan didn’t react, only watching her face as he muttered, “Wait, it’s similar but not quite like the Rainbow Cloud Palm.”
The old woman’s face moved and showed surprise, “Child, you seem quite knowledgeable of poisons. To be honest, this isn’t because of Rainbow Cloud Palm, but from when I failed to refine its antidote!”
“Are you making pills or poison?” Zhuo Fan shouted.
“Ha-ha-ha, well said!”
With a sad smile, Aunt Tao felt mournful, “Whether it’s poison or medicine, I am yet unsure. But in these three years of research, I have come to understand this is like a pill yet not a pill, a poison yet not a poison! Vicious Pill King, you are indeed so remarkable that I can’t even compare!”
With a crazed laughter, Aunt Tao fixed her eyes on the stone wall.
Zhuo Fan followed her eyes and squinted. A human skin was sprawled on the wall, holding a record of Rainbow Cloud Palm’s antidote formula.
Even with Zhuo Fan’s extensive knowledge, he found it weird!
“How is this possible?”
Zhuo Fan muttered, “The seven ingredients… Each is a rare natural treasure. But the refining… is that of a poison or a pill?”
Being silent for a moment, Zhuo Fan walked to the living dead on the ancient ice. He touched her hand and injected his Yuan Qi. As he expected, she was poisoned by Rainbow Cloud Palm.
And just like Chu Qingcheng, she had the Bodhi Jade Sap restraining the seven poisons. With the help of this ancient ice, her life was preserved.
Only that Chu Qingcheng’s poisoned state was less grave, while this living dead was filled with it. Even with an antidote, her recovery was slim. If the ancient ice hadn’t kept her in suspended animation, her life would’ve been over.
Zhuo Fan turned to the formula on the wall and felt something was off about it.
[It’s real, but there’s a trick to it!]
Zhuo Fan’s eyes flashed with a strange light…