Ye City, a secluded gravel plaza, in the center of which stood an ancient, dilapidated altar.
For some reason, the sunlight here was exceptionally dazzling, and the closer one got to the altar, the purer and hotter the surrounding天地能量 (heaven and earth energy) became.
On the altar, stone tablets stood in rows, densely packed, their smooth surfaces reflecting beams of tangible white light, the extremely yang天地能量 (heaven and earth energy) permeating and dissipating within them.
Outside the Yang Fire Ancient Altar, Medusa shifted her delicate body somewhat uncomfortably. Her true form was a snake, and she preferred cold and coolness; this extremely yang天地能量 made her feel very uncomfortable.
This was why she had risked her life to break through; staying in the desert, the snake-people's combat strength and vitality would be suppressed by this scorching天地能量, preventing them from reaching their peak state. With their combat strength greatly diminished, even weaker enemies could be defeated.
Of course, this was the situation during the day; once night fell, the situation reversed.
The Serpent People not only escaped the suppression of sunlight but also took over the night, reaching their peak combat power, easily defeating any opponent of the same level.
The reason she evolved through her strange fire at midnight was twofold: firstly, it was when the power of her strange fire was at its lowest;
secondly, it was when her own strength and condition were at their peak.
Speaking of which… Medusa had always wondered why Gu He and his group insisted on negotiating at night, when the Serpent People's overall combat power was at its peak. Wouldn't it have been better to come at midday, taking advantage of their weakened state and using their power to intimidate them?
It was strange; did the Pill King Gu He not know about this?
Impossible, right? If Gu He didn't know, then surely Feng Li and Yan Shi, who had fought the Serpent People many times, would know?
"Sister, is Little Fairy Doctor alright?" Zi Yan, leaning against Medusa's chest, interrupted Medusa's wandering thoughts. Her small eyebrows furrowed into a line. She hadn't felt uncomfortable at the Yang Fire Ancient Altar, but she was somewhat worried about Little Fairy Doctor.
To fight a peak Dou Zong at the Seven Star Dou Zong realm—even with a special physique like the Calamity Poison Body—would be impossible without paying a price. Little Fairy Doctor's pale face just now was worse than if she had attacked at full strength.
"Don't worry, trust Lü Qiu. He'll handle everything," Medusa chuckled, patting Zi Yan's head.
She trusted Lü Qiu because he had never disappointed her. No matter the crisis or situation, his presence always gave her a sense of security and made her feel incredibly attached.
Reason told her that this thinking was wrong; human strength has its limits, and even the strongest person will encounter insurmountable enemies.
But… emotions don't follow reason. Medusa wouldn't reject that feeling of attachment, nor did she want to. If she could, she hoped this feeling could last forever, never subsiding!
The tenderness in Medusa's long, narrow eyes deepened. Deep feelings naturally intensify; she… was starting to think about dual cultivation!
At the Yanghuo Ancient Altar, Lü Qiu led Little Fairy Doctor and Yun Yun to a black stone tablet lying flat.
"Found it, this is the Earth's Eye," Lü Qiu chuckled. He stepped on the black stone tablet and gently pushed it. The tablet rotated, revealing a head-sized, pitch-black hole in its center.
Crack!
The surrounding stone tablets began to shift and arrange themselves, forming a near-circular wall that enveloped the center of the altar.
Instantly, beams of incandescent light reflected from the smooth stone tablet, converging at the central hole in the black stone tablet. A scorching, oppressive heat filled the small area of the altar.
Little Fairy Doctor's face paled; her body, weakened by the coldness of the Calamity Poison, also disliked such a place of extreme yang energy.
"Don't be afraid. The Poison Pill technique requires extremely strong and yang energy to suppress the Calamity Poison Body," Lü Qiu said.
"I know…" A trace of worry appeared on Little Fairy Doctor's pale face. Of course, she had seen the Poison Pill technique, but knowing it didn't change her fear and discomfort of such extremely strong and yang energy.
"I have prepared everything. Are you ready? It's about to begin." Lü Qiu chuckled, flicking his finger. Two jade boxes flew out, containing the long-prepared Bodhi Transformation Saliva and the seventh-tier Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast Demon Core.
As he spoke, Lü Qiu squeezed her soft hand, indicating that she should relax.
Little Fairy Doctor took a deep breath, calming her somewhat nervous emotions.
Beside her, Yun Yun chuckled, raising her left hand, and the transparent and invisible Fallen Heart Flame rose faintly.
Lü Qiu flicked his finger, and the purplish-black Three Thousand Burning Flames transformed into a fire dragon, winding and rising, swirling around Lü Qiu's side.
"Xiao Qiu, is this your new Strange Flame?" A hint of surprise appeared on Yun Yun's delicate face. This fire dragon possessed the same oppressive aura as Xiao Qiu—it was very strong!
"Yes, it's ranked ninth on the Strange Flame Ranking, the Three Thousand Burning Flames." Waving the Azure Lotus Platform and Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame he held in his hand, Lü Qiu smiled and said, "The Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame is currently idle. After helping Little Fairy Doctor treat her Calamity Poison Body, I'll help you raise the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame into a spirit servant, how about that?"
"Hmm..." Yun Yun nodded gently. With her increasing strength, she had become increasingly adept at manipulating the Fallen Heart Flame. While acquiring another Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame would be somewhat difficult, it was insignificant compared to the increase in combat power.
"Let's begin!" With everything ready, Lü Qiu turned and smiled.
"Hmm... what should I do?" Little Fairy Doctor pursed her red lips and asked softly.
"Lie down on the stone slab... um, take off your clothes," Lü Qiu said. "Then release the seal."
Hearing this, Little Fairy Doctor's pale face flushed crimson, her legs suddenly going weak. If it were just Lü Qiu alone, it wouldn't be so bad; after all, she had been honest with him, and it was acceptable.
But... Yun Yun was right beside her... Beside her
, Yun Yun's face was also flushed, and she glared at Lü Qiu with annoyance. "I knew you'd cause trouble!"
"I... I'll help you..." Yun Yun helped Little Fairy Doctor lie down on the black stone tablet, her jade-like hands trembling slightly as she removed Little Fairy Doctor's clothes. The clothes slid down her body, revealing her delicate, fair skin, a perfect body like mutton-fat jade exposed to the blazing sunlight.
The instant the clothes fell, two pairs of gazes "whooshed" onto Little Fairy Doctor—not only Lü Qiu, but also Yun Yun.
"No...let's begin..." Little Fairy Doctor blushed with embarrassment, her face turning red from the gaze, her eyes gleaming with seductive allure.
Lu Yu's expression remained stern, his gaze unwavering. He was an alchemist, a healer with a compassionate heart; how could he...no, he was a dignified man, not the kind of lecherous man he was.
Yun Yun squatted beside Little Fairy Doctor, gently adjusting her clothes, her gaze lingering on her delicate body from time to time.
"You...you're still looking..." Little Fairy Doctor was incredibly shy.
"Hehe..." Yun Yun chuckled softly, whispering in Little Fairy Doctor's ear, "It seems you're the youngest of all of us..."
"What..." Little Fairy Doctor was stunned and asked subconsciously, but before she could finish speaking, she saw Yun Yun staring at her chest.
Instantly, Little Fairy Doctor forgot her embarrassment and glared angrily at Yun Yun, "You're lying! No way!
Zi Yan is the youngest... no, she doesn't even have one!"
Yun Yun silently shifted her gaze, "When Zi Yan grew up, she was much bigger than you."
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"Little Fairy Doctor, break the seal." Lü Qiu's voice startled the two women who were whispering. Feeling a little guilty, Yun Yun jumped back like a spring.
Hearing Lü Qiu's words, Little Fairy Doctor glared at Yun Yun, then took a deep breath, clearing her mind of distractions. The blood-red runes reappeared on her smooth brow, her left eye deep purple, her right eye grayish-white—strange eyes reappeared in Little Fairy Doctor's pupils.
Whoosh!
Grayish-purple Calamity Poison Gas surged forth from all parts of her body, filling the Yang Fire Altar.
Sizzle!
At the same time, several rays of sunlight converged, their pure Yang energy enveloping her delicate body, colliding with the Calamity Poison Gas and producing strange, muffled sounds.
"There's still so much poison gas?" Yun Yun's pretty face changed slightly. Little Fairy Doctor had previously fully opened her seal, using the power of a Seven-Star Dou Zong to fight against a peak Dou Zong expert. Logically, even if the Calamity Poison Gas wasn't completely depleted, it shouldn't still be so potent.
"The newly generated…" Little Fairy Doctor said helplessly, "The Calamity Poison Body is constantly producing deadly poison on its own…"
As she spoke, her pretty face paled, and a suppressed pain flashed across her face. The Calamity Poison Body not only poisons others, but also devours the life force of its owner. Each generation of the Calamity Poison Body experiences poison gas rushing into the mind, annihilating the mind, and finally the poison body becomes a monster that only knows how to kill. Wherever it goes, the land is poisonous and barren, and all life is extinguished.
The poison body itself either dies from being besieged by countless powerful beings or from the poison within its body eroding its life force.
"Don't worry, this time we will completely control the poison body!" Lü Qiu patted her hand and comforted her softly.
"Mm!" Little Fairy Doctor bit her red lips lightly and nodded her head slightly.
"Next, I will use a strange fire to force the poison gas in your body to one place. This process will be a bit painful, you have to bear it!" Lü Qiu said in a deep voice.
Little Fairy Doctor gritted her teeth and nodded gently.
"Sister Yun, Fallen Heart Flame!" Lü Qiu immediately shouted, his Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame and Three Thousand Burning Flames surging and intertwining in his hand. At the same time, the colorless and formless Fallen Heart Flame roared in.
Lü Qiu's eyes narrowed, and his soul power surged from between his brows, forcefully fusing the three different flames together.
Lü Qiu didn't have Xiao Yan's Burning Technique and couldn't easily fuse the different flames, but that didn't matter. He didn't need to maintain the three different flames for a long time; he only needed to gather the Calamity Poison Qi in Little Fairy Doctor's body into one place.
In an instant, a wisp of bluish-black flame appeared at his fingertip. Lü Qiu raised his finger and pressed it onto Little Fairy Doctor's smooth abdomen. Instantly, the grayish-purple poison surged even more wildly. A
glint flashed in Lü Qiu's eyes, and the bluish-black flame in his hand intertwined into a dense fire net, suppressing the overwhelming poisonous mist in Little Fairy Doctor's dantian. The vast grayish-purple poisonous gas slowly rotated, forming a slowly rotating vortex of poisonous gas.
Seeing this, Yun Yun breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although she also had a strange fire protecting her, the poisonous fog just now was simply too dense.
Lü Qiu's eyes narrowed, and he raised his hand, pressing the Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast Demon Core onto Little Fairy Doctor's lower abdomen. The blood-red demon core slowly merged into the vortex of poisonous gas. The poisonous gas gathered, the demon core was extracted, and the Bodhi transformed it!
Now it was time to wait for the right moment to use the Bodhi Transformation Saliva!
Lü Qiu's lips pursed slightly, his eyes flickered slightly, and he quietly waited for that moment.
...
Somewhere in the Pill Domain, in a giant hall high in the mountains!
"Huh? Our informants have sent word that Ice River Valley seems to have suffered a setback!" An old man with gray hair looked at the jade slip in his hand and said with some surprise.
Beside him, Mu Gu, holding a jade slip, frowned, somewhat displeased, and said, "What do you mean 'seems like'? Chongmeng, your duty is to speak with certainty!"
"Reporting to Elder, our people have reported that the old man from Ice River Valley has been mobilized, but... they didn't say what it was, so they probably can't find out..." the old man Mu Gu called "Chongmeng" said helplessly.
"The old monster from Ice River Valley has been mobilized?" Mu Gu frowned. This was a Dou Zun of around the third or fourth level, incredibly powerful, even in the Soul Palace, he was no weaker than a Four Heavenly Venerable.
Why was even he mobilized? Could someone from Ice River Valley have offended the Flower Sect or the Heavenly Nether Sect?
Thinking of this, Mu Gu frowned deeply. The Central Continent had been peaceful recently, with no reports of Ice River Valley having any conflicts with other forces...
Could it be an external threat?
"Chongmeng, investigate and see what happened to Ice River Valley," Mu Gu said.
"Yes!" the white-haired elder replied respectfully, bowing his head slightly in response. A streak of light then flew from his hand and into the distance.
"Elder, recently a name for a pill-cultivating genius named Lü Qiu has been circulating in Zhongzhou. He claims to be the pinnacle of pill cultivation, and his words are incredibly arrogant. Should we take action?" another elder asked softly.
"Lü Qiu? Heh..." Mu Gu sneered, "What Lü Qiu? That's Xiao Yan!"
He and Yao Chen had fought Xiao Yan before, and coincidentally, Xiao Yan had used the alias Lü Qiu at that time.
"Xiao Yan? The Xiao Yan with the potential to become a Dou Di?" Qinghai Venerable's expression changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice.
"No, it's the Xiao Yan from the Northwest Continent, Yao Chen's disciple!" A mocking look appeared on Elder Mu Gu's face: "I thought that kid would cower under the protection of Venerable Feng, but I didn't expect him to be so arrogant."
"Elder, what do you mean..." Qinghai Venerable raised an eyebrow, a hint of interest appearing on his face.
"Good, Qinghai, you go and capture Xiao Yan!" Mu Gu said decisively in a deep voice.
If he didn't have a more important task at hand, he would have already taken action himself to capture that brat and teach him what it meant to respect his senior uncle!
"Yes, Venerable Qinghai!" Venerable Qinghai was overjoyed. These past few days, with the powerful figures in the hall withdrawn, they had been cowering in the hall, feeling restless and bored.
"Go, bring him to me. I'm very interested in that brat!" Mu Gu said in a deep voice. Last time, time was of the essence; otherwise, he would have forced the brat to reveal his cultivation technique. A technique that could fuse with different flames was too tempting for a pharmacist like him.
"Yes!" Venerable Qinghai responded and turned to leave.
Mu Gu watched Venerable Qinghai leave, his brows slowly furrowing. His current task was to infiltrate the Pill Tower and seize the Three Thousand Burning Flames from the star field.
Strangely enough, this task came from the Palace Master, but… he clearly sensed a powerful fiery fluctuation emanating from the Palace Master, presumably a high-ranking exotic fire.
So why was he so interested in the Three Thousand Burning Flames?
Mu Gu frowned, truly puzzled. Surely the Palace Master didn't also enjoy devouring other exotic fires?
(End of Chapter)