Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 93 - 78: Trial Cave

August 19, 2017

When Wang Jiu and Shen Qingming hurried back to the Li Family Mansion, they found that the atmosphere inside was not as heavy as they had imagined.

The joyous atmosphere brought by the birthday banquet two days ago still lingered in the air, and the people coming and going in the courtyard mostly wore faint smiles on their faces.

Shen Qingming suspiciously glanced at the servant who ran to Shen Garden to deliver the message. He was Li Rong, one of the cronies of the head steward of the mansion, Li Hong. At 25 years old, although he did not have Immortal Cultivation, he was exceptionally clever and handled matters cleanly and efficiently.

Li Rong whispered in explanation, "Madam and Uncle Hong both said that the master’s injury came too suddenly, and it’s best to keep it a secret from outsiders, so I didn’t dare to mention it to anyone outside of Shen Garden."

Shen Qingming nodded: "Well done, where is father now?"

"In the Alchemy Furnace Room, healing his wounds. When I left, his condition had already stabilized."

As he spoke, Li Rong led Shen Qingming and Wang Jiu along a secluded path within the mansion, avoiding the others, and headed straight to the Alchemy Furnace Room.

Upon entering, they were faced with a mountainous giant alchemy furnace, its flames blazing like an inferno, making it hard to breathe and causing the whole body to feel scorched.

In front of the furnace, where the heat was most intense, Li Fengyun sat cross-legged, shirtless, letting the furnace flames scorch him, sweat pouring down like rain, with the beads of sweat occasionally mixed with a black hue.

Seeing those black sweat droplets, Shen Qingming’s expression changed, and she rushed forward: "Father, are you alright?"

But she was stopped midway by an invisible True Essence force.

A woman’s voice echoed softly.

"Don’t get too close, the furnace is fully fueled now, and cultivators below the peak of the Cloud Flipping Realm cannot withstand it."

Shen Qingming had to stop and finally spotted a slightly smaller woman not far from Li Fengyun.

Also sweating profusely, and clearly a Rain Cover Realm expert who couldn’t withstand the heat, was Lu Xin.

Seeing that exhausted and trying-to-stay-spirited delicate face, Shen Qingming couldn’t help but say, "If you can’t hold on, stand back a bit."

Lu Xin slightly raised her head: "Humph, how could I not hold on, this bit of heat is nothing."

"But your legs are shaking."

Lu Xin raised her eyebrows, annoyed: "...That’s just the light distortion caused by the heat!"

Shen Qingming wanted to laugh but really couldn’t. Lu Xin like this was clearly holding on near the furnace for a long time, not intentionally putting on a show in front of Qingming. She was probably too concerned about her husband’s injury, unwilling to stay away even if it was extremely uncomfortable for herself.

After a moment, Shen Qingming said, "...You’re too far away, I can’t hear you clearly."

Lu Xin paused, nodded, and stepped away from the furnace, walking over slowly.

"Your father’s injury has basically stabilized, it’s not a life-threatening issue. I was just a bit too alarmed before."

Shen Qingming looked at Li Fengyun in the distance, seeing that although his face was red from the furnace, his expression was calm, showing no sign of pain. This slightly eased her mind, and she asked with concern, "What happened? With father’s cultivation, who could injure him? Are those black sweat droplets from poison?"

Lu Xin shook her head: "I don’t know, he returned with heavy injuries, both True Essence and Primordial Spirit showing signs of exhaustion, and his vitality was constantly draining, his consciousness was even a bit blurred... Fortunately, Sister Yan timely infused him with True Essence, and his own foundation is good, quickly stabilizing the situation. As for the black sweat droplets, we still don’t know what’s causing it. Your father’s internal injuries are not severe, it’s just this poison that’s pestering. Sister Yan and I gave him various Immortal Elixirs and Spiritual Medicines capable of counteracting all poisons, but to no effect. Luckily, Jinglun happened to visit today, and saw he might be afflicted by Exotic Gu Poison, hence suggested using the True Flame of the Alchemy Furnace Room’s Elixir Pills to stimulate vitality and expel the poison...but strangely, Fengyun has been sitting here for a while, though the black poisonous sweat keeps coming out, there’s no sign of poison reduction..."

As they spoke, hasty footsteps were heard outside the Alchemy Furnace Room again.

Li Jinglun came running in, holding a thick ancient book, saying while running, "I just found a strange poison in the Ancient Five Poisonous Injections, named Corpse Rot Gu Poison, which can dwell inside the human body, feeding on blood and flesh essence, continuously growing. For this kind of ancient Gu poison, roasting with furnace fire can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. The book says this Corpse Rot Gu is of a very high grade, with stubborn vitality, ordinary medicine is completely ineffective, it’s best controlled with the top tier Seven-Colored King Gu..."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xin urgently said, "But hasn’t the Seven-Colored King Gu been extinct for a long time?"

Li Jinglun was taken aback for a moment: "Yes, yes, it was during Xiangzhou Year 3, when the Blood Poison Sect was eradicated, that the Seven-Colored King Gu became extinct..."

"Then what should we do!?"

Li Jinglun flipped a few pages and said, "The book also mentioned a cumbersome method, injecting finely controlled True Essence into the body to remove the numerous small Gu one by one."

"Who can achieve such precise True Essence control?"

"One person alone certainly cannot, at least twenty cultivators at the Rain Cover Realm or above, who are also familiar with the characteristics of Gu poison, must join forces. Um, the book also provides several simple True Essence Operation Maps."

"Alright, I’ll go call people." Lu Xin nodded, forcing herself to calm down.

Although the Corpse Rot Gu Poison is an ancient and exotic poison, as long as there is a way to break it, there is no need to worry too much. Twenty experts above the Rain Cover Realm might be hard to gather for an average sect, but the Li Family, being one of the Seven Great Noble Families, has deep foundations. By calling upon the elders and subsidiary cultivators in the mansion, they can basically muster the manpower needed. Besides, Fengyun has excellent resilience. As long as it doesn’t take too long, there shouldn’t be any side effects...

However, before Lu Xin could leave to find someone, he glimpsed a tall and slender figure steadily approaching the alchemy furnace, coming beside Li Fengyun.

"Mr. Wang Jiu, is something wrong?"

Wang Jiu said, "This is not some Gu Poison."

Lu Xin was startled and quickly turned to look at Li Jinglun.

Li Jinglun, holding an ancient book, looked confused: "Not a Gu Poison? Then what is it? I have consulted all the books, and only the symptoms of the Corpse Rot Gu Poison are the closest. Brother Wang, I know your mathematical foundation is astonishing, but could it be that you also have mastery over exotic poison techniques?"

Wang Jiu said, "I know nothing about poison techniques, but I am very knowledgeable about the Demon Race."

As he spoke, he reached out and pressed Li Fengyun’s Celestial Spirit.

This action was quite dangerous, and Lu Xin instinctively wanted to intervene, but the next moment, he saw a large black mist gush out from every pore of Li Fengyun’s body, then coalesce into a twisted shape in mid-air, emitting an extremely piercing shriek.

All those present were filled with a sense of horror and trepidation.

The black mist twisting and turning in the air seemed to be the most sinister, chaotic, and vicious thing in the world. It appeared to be just a mass of energy, yet it seemed alive, giving the impression that it could rapidly expand and grow at any moment.

Once this thing grew, it would undoubtedly trigger a terrifying disaster.

But just as several people instinctively prepared to intervene, a white sword light came down from above, splitting the black mist into two halves.

To cut the illusory mist with a solid sword seemed like a ludicrous charade, but at the moment the White Sword descended, the black mist emitted an unprecedented scream, then quickly crumbled and vanished into thin air.

Wang Jiu slowly withdrew the pure white Divine Sword body, while the Sword Spirit True Form manifested by the Illusion Sword Technique lightly licked its lips. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"This taste... though weak, the tier is not low."

The next moment, before everyone could recover from their astonishment, Li Fengyun in front of the alchemy furnace suddenly collapsed softly to the ground.

Lu Xin hurriedly ran over, ignoring the blazing furnace, and held Li Fengyun in his arms, only to see that although he had collapsed in weakness, he had also regained consciousness, clearly indicating that the toxin in his body had indeed been cleared completely.

At this moment, no matter how hard Lu Xin tried to remain calm, his eyes still turned red.

"What’s wrong with you!? You left a note and disappeared without a trace the night before last, then suddenly returned this morning all heavily injured; you always act so inexplicably, but this time you’ve gone too far!"

Li Fengyun frowned as if about to respond to his wife’s reproach when he heard Wang Jiu’s ice-cold voice coming from the side.

"Mr. Li Fengyun, I would like to know, where did you encounter the Upper-Rank Demon General?"

"Upper-Rank Demon General?"

"Ranked 9th in the Demon Race’s 73rd sequence, next only to the Demon Emperor and the highest-rank demon generals, a high-ranking officer with strength comparable to cultivators from the Sea Overturning Realm to the Earth Split Realm. This unique demonic aura, I could never mistake it."

As he spoke, Wang Jiu’s expression was as stern as ice, and there was a deep murderous intent in his voice.

Behind him, the fierce flames of the alchemy furnace suddenly flickered, as if on the verge of going out!

Stirred by Wang Jiu’s cold aura, Lu Xin, Shen Qingming, and the others suddenly realized: "Are you talking about the Demon Race from the Immortal Demon War!?"

Li Jinglun, however, found it baffling: "Immortal Demon War? What do you mean?"

Wang Jiu no longer cared about others’ reactions, asking in an even deeper, more murderous voice: "Li Fengyun, where did you encounter the Upper-Rank Demon General?"

Li Fengyun was taken aback for a moment before saying, "Cyan Peak Mountain, Trial Cave."

Lu Xin exclaimed, "Cyan Peak Mountain? That’s right beside Cyan Cloud City!"

Li Fengyun nodded and said, "The night before last, when we discussed the Original Sword Essence, you suggested that I seek an adventure by leaping off a cliff in the deep mountains, and the highest cliff near Cyan Cloud City is the Broken Boundary Cliff directly connecting to the Trial Cave of Cyan Peak Mountain."

"That was a retort! I never actually meant for you to jump off a cliff; anyone with a brain would know that there’s no chance of an unexpected adventure!" Lu Xin really felt like pulling her beautiful hair out and wanted to strangle Li Fengyun, questioning when he would allocate even one percent of his brilliant swordsmanship talent to the intelligence of his daily life.

"But, I really did have an unexpected adventure. At the bottom of the Trial Cave, I did encounter a... very strange creature."