Han Li stood up and held his hands behind his back as he waited for Feng Yue to awaken.
After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the black poisoned blood formed a large pool around Feng Yue’s body and he eventually began to softly groan as if he were about to awaken.
Han Li’s gaze wandered and he flicked his fingers, launching a wind that immediately stopped the flow of poisoned blood. Then with a tremble of his shoulder, his second Nascent Soul transformed into a black cloud and disappeared into the forest.
“It’s you...” Feng Yue eventually opened his eyes and clearly saw Han Li standing in front of him. He then let out a yelp of alarm and struggled to sit up.
Han Li gave Feng Yue a glance and asked, “What? Is it a surprise to see me?”
“Was it you who saved me? Where is that traitor Feng Zhen?” Although Feng Yue’s voice was weak, it was filled with vigilance.
Han Li looked to the side and carelessly said, “You mean that purple-robed man? He’s dead.”
Feng Yue turned his head with great effort before finally spotting the remains of the purple-robed old man. An expression of shock and resentment appeared on his face. Then his gaze turned back to Han Li with an odd expression.
“Could it be that Fellow Daoist Han was the one to kill that old traitor? It seems your abilities are truly profound. I will remember your kindness and reward you in the future.” He then took out a medicine pill from his waist and brought it to his mouth before attempting to stand up.
When he stood up halfway, his lost the strength in his legs and fell back onto the ground.
“What’s going on? I can’t muster any strength.” Feng Yue’s face then betrayed a trace of panic.
“You’re going to give me a reward? It seems you don’t know about your current situation.” Han Li spoke indifferently, showing no intention of helping him.
“What does that mean? What has happened to me? Have you placed a restriction on me?” Feng Yue glared at Han Li and his face revealed furious alarm.
Han Li smirked and said, “You think too highly of me. If I wanted to restrain you, why would I need to place a restriction on you? How about you take a look for yourself?” He then raised his hand and flicked a small object in his direction, a common mirror.
Feng Yue was completely bewildered by Han Li’s actions, but gritted his teeth and took a look at the mirror.
“Ah! How can this be? My face... When was I so deeply poisoned? Could it be that old traitor used...?” When Feng Yue saw his condition, he felt great fright and couldn’t help but yell in shock. He then hastily reached for his storage pouch and took out a large pile of bottles in a flash of white light. He hastily searched through the bottles and began stuffing his mouth with medicine pills without any regard for the consequences.
Han Li watched him with indifference and didn’t say a word, allowing him to scarf himself with medicine.
With that done, Feng Yue said little else to Han Li and closed his eyes in meditation, focusing on channeling the medicinal power to dissolve the poison. But after a while, he opened his eyes and appeared to be on the verge of panic.
“How can this be? The many antidotes I’ve taken have no effect? What kind of strange poison is this?”
Han Li leisurely said, “Although I haven’t seen it before, it appears to be the Agony Poison of the Ten Absolute Poisons.”
Feng Yue’s complexion turned deathly pale and he couldn’t help but shout, “Agony Poison?! To think they would use that against me... That old traitor is clearly relying on the Kong Clan. It was rumored the Kong Clan possessed that poison.”
“The Kong Clan?” Han Li’s brow momentarily stirred.
“Wait.” Feng Yue suddenly thought of something and managed to gather the strength to turn himself in Han Li’s direction, asking, “The Agony Poison should’ve immediately killed me. How was I able to reawaken?”
Han Li’s expression sank and he snorted, “It seems you are unaware of my act of kindness. If it weren’t for the questions I had for you, I wouldn’t have wasted the Vast Essence Pill on you. You merely had a temporary stay on life because of that thing on your neck blocking the poison. It would’ve immediately killed you otherwise, preventing any miraculous medicine from reawakening you.”
“You touched it?” When Feng Yue heard Han Li mentioning the silver key, he looked down at his chest in alarm before quickly calming down.
“I was quite curious about how a Foundation Establishment cultivator was able to resist Agony Poison for such a long period of time. Naturally, I wanted to investigate the matter. However, the Vast Essence Pill is only temporarily blocking the poison. One day, the poison will continue its attack on your heart and you will surely die.”
With some thought, Feng Yue then nervously asked, “The Vast Essence Pill? I heard that it was an incredibly rare medicine pill. If I had another one of those pills, would I be able to continue suppressing the poison?”
Han Li was surprised by his question and coldly replied, “It would be able to preserve your life temporarily, but do you understand the materials used to refine it? It isn’t a medicine pill for dissolving poison, but something used for Core Formation cultivators to break through bottlenecks. It isn’t something that can be bought on a market.”
Although Han Li didn’t say it outright, it was clear what he had meant.
“It is a cultivation progression pill for Core Formation cultivators?” Although Feng Yue anticipated the pill would be precious, he couldn’t help but be dumbstruck.
“However, there is a way for you to live.” Han Li said with a smile.
“What is it? So long as you save my life, I am willing to agree to any conditions.” Feng Yue’s mind was roused and he quickly spoke with eagerness.
Han Li chuckled and said, “I don’t want any reward from you, just a few answers to my questions.”
“That’s fine. I’ll answer to the best of my knowledge.” Feng Yue replied without hesitation.
Han Li explained, “The method is quite simple. Since the Agony Poison has already set your body on the path of ruin, you simply have to exchange your body. In the past, cultivators that are afflicted with the Ten Absolute Poisons used possession to escape with their lives.”
“Possession?” Feng Yue bitterly smiled, much to Han Li’s surprise.
Han Li raised his brow and asked, “What? Do you find this method unacceptable?”
After a moment of hesitation, Feng Yue muttered, “Many thanks for Brother Han’s kindness. While possession might work for others, I can’t use this method.”
Something then came to Han Li’s mind and he asked, “You can’t use this method? Could it be you already...”
“I won’t conceal this from you,” Feng Yue said with a bitter smile, “I already used possession once before. This isn’t my original body.”
Han Li sighed and shrugged. “In that case, there is nothing left for you. There is no cure for the Ten Absolute Poisons.”
Feng Yue revealed an expression of alarm and bitterly pleaded, “There is truly no other way? Brother Han has much knowledge. Can I trouble you to give it more thought?”
“There is nothing to think about,” Han Li shook his head, “Since the fame of the Ten Absolute Poisons had lasted through the cultivation world for so long, there truly is no method of dissolving them, earning them the reputation of being the Ten Absolute Poisons.”
“Then you mean to say that I will soon pass away?” Feng Yue said with a deathly complexion.
“That’s right,” Han Li replied emotionlessly, “Even if you continued to take Vast Essence Pills, you will eventually become resistant to its effects and perish regardless.”
Grasping at his final straw of life, Feng Yue recollected himself and rigidly stared at Han Li, asking, “How many Vast Essence Pills does Brother Han possess? Can he sell them all to me?”
Han Li frowned and then calmly asked, “What? Fellow Daoist Feng wishes to purchase them from me? While I am willin
g to sell them, I don’t have too many. How about we talk about the matter after you answer my questions?”
“Please don’t hesitate to ask. Now that I’ve reached this far, there is nothing I won’t answer.” Feng Yue gloomily replied.
“Good, very good. How about you state your identity? You aren’t from the Soaring Tribes but from a noble family from the Great Jin, is that right?”
Feng Yue looked at the jade pendant that had fallen to the ground and the silver key on his neck. Then he gritted his teeth and said, “Since you’ve already guessed it, was there a need to ask that question?”
Han Li wore a faint smile and aloofly said, “Which Ning is the Feng of Ning from? And how powerful is the Feng Clan?”
Chapter 890: The Feng Clan’s Secret Cave
“What other Ning is there? It is the Guan Ning Prefecture’s Feng Clan of course. It can be considered a significant faction.” Feng Yue answered.
“The Guan Ning Prefecture? The province capital?” Han Li narrowed his eyes.
“There are many prefectures with the name Guan Ning, but the Feng Clan of Ning resides only in the Liao Province.” Feng Yue replied with an odd expression. He appeared somewhat baffled by Han Li’s questions.
Han Li carelessly nodded and didn’t further ask about the Feng Clan. He instead pointed to the jade pendant and asked, “How did you acquire that item? What are its origins?”
“This pendant was passed down from my father. It is a token of the Feng Clan. Why do you ask?” Feng Yue said with surprise.
Han Li glanced at the youth and doubtfully asked, “A token? Could it be all disciples of the Feng Clan possess a top grade magic tool as a token?”
“Of course not,” Feng Yue shook his head, “There are only four such tokens in the entire Feng Clan.”
“From that, it seems your standing in the Feng Clan is quite high.”
“I am the eldest son of the Feng Clan. If nothing unexpected happened, I should’ve become the head of the Feng Clan in several tens of years.” Feng Yue curled his lips and a trace of pain appeared on his face.
When Han Li heard this, he wasn’t surprised. For such great problems to happen to him, it seems that something happened to the Feng Clan. However, this had nothing to do with Han Li. Instead, he stared at Feng Yue and uttered the most pressing question on his mind, “What relationship does your Feng Clan have with the Buddhist sects of the Great Jin? Don’t say you don’t know anything about it. That token of yours possesses a deep Buddhist spiritual light.”
Feng Yue blankly stared for a moment and openly answered, “The Buddhist sects do have a relationship with our Feng Clan. One of our ancestor was a layman disciple of the Guan Ning’s Thousand Light Temple, a branch of the grand Gold Sifting Sect. Our Feng Clan originally cultivated a Buddhist technique, but ever since the Thousand Light Temple moved away from the Liao Province several hundred years ago, we changed our cultivation art to a Confucian one.”
When Han Li heard this, he rejoiced. Although he didn’t know about the Thousand Light Temple, he had heard of the Gold Sifting Sect. It was one of the four great sects of the Great Jin. It seems the Feng Clan had genuinely cultivated Buddhist techniques in the past.
“Do you know any of these Buddhist techniques?” Han Li asked.
After a moment of hesitation, Feng Yue replied, “I didn’t wish to cultivate Buddhist techniques, so I don’t know any of the incantations. However, our Feng Clan have preserved some of these techniques.” He was astonished that this mysterious character had his eyes set on these Buddhist techniques.
While Buddhist techniques were extremely powerful when cultivated to their late stages, their cultivation speed was pathetically slow. Even in the Great Jin cultivation world, there were few truly willing to take the initiative to cultivate Buddhist techniques.
Monarch Soul Divergence then said, “Youngster Han, ask if his ancestor cultivated a Crystal Relic within his body. Only Buddhist cultivators with a Crystal Relic are able to cultivate methods to dissolve baleful Qi.”
In preparation for his trip to the Great Jin, Han Li had read through a few records that happened to touch upon the subject of Crystal Relics.
Crystal Relics are a characteristic of Buddhist cultivators. There is no set pattern for their appearance. There are those that appear during Core Formation stage and those that are refined during Nascent Soul stage. To external cultivators, they were a rather mysterious existence.
However, a Crystal Relic was something required to cultivate many profound Buddhist techniques and abilities. As such, cultivators from other sects, despite how superior their cultivation may be, are rather fearful of Buddhist cultivators who possess a Crystal Relic.
Han Li agreed with Monarch Soul Divergence’s suggestion and asked Feng Yue about it.
“A Crystal Relic?” Feng Yue frowned, “My ancestor had cultivated one in the past, but due to his poor aptitude, he wasn’t able to break through the barrier to Nascent Soul stage. As such, he was disheartened and established the Feng Clan of Ning instead.”
Han Li’s spirits were roused. It appeared his luck was quite good. He may be able to find a technique to dissolve the baleful Qi without searching deeply into the Great Jin.
With that thought, Han Li smiled and said, “I now have one last question for you.”
Feng Yue forced a smile and said, “If there is anything you wish to know, please ask.”
“Why did they use Agony Poison to deal with a Foundation Establishment cultivator such as yourself? The Ten Absolute Poisons are more precious than rare medicine pills. They wouldn’t have used it if they wished to capture you alive. There should’ve been no reason for that Core Formation cultivator to use something as excessive as the Agony Poison, given the differences in your cultivation.”
When Feng Yue heard him, his face turned gloomy. “That traitor Feng Zhen was a rogue Devil Dao cultivator that our Feng Clan had adopted in the past. Because he had offended an expert and was being hunted, he prostrated to our Feng Clan to take him in, even offering to take our name as well. My grandfather had given that traitor shelter as our clan was prosperous at the time. As he was sent to handle our relations with a few of the Soaring Tribes in the past, I had originally come here to find him, but I didn’t expect that he had been compromised by the Kong Clan. He then lured me out and used the Kong Clan’s Agony Poison because of the restriction placed on his body; direct descendants of the Feng Clan are able to restrain his cultivation once they’re at Foundation Establishment stage. If he hadn’t used poison to launch a sneak attack on me, I wouldn’t have been so helpless.”
Han Li tilted his head and mused, “So it was like that. It is said Agony Poison has no scent or color. In the instant a lesser cultivator touches it, they would immediately slip into a coma. The Kong Clan seems to be great enemies with your clan.”
“That’s right,” Feng Yue scowled, “The Kong, Zhang, Jin, and the Feng Clan are the four great noble cultivation clans in the Guan Ning Prefecture. Originally, we were all neutral parties, but when our Feng Clan weakened in power, the Kong Clan suddenly created an alliance with the two other clans and struck the Feng Clan off guard.”
Feng Yue was reduced to wandering through various tribes in the plains after his clan had lost his standing and was now on the death’s door. It was only natural for him to bear hatred towards these three clans.
“I have no interest in knowing about the quarrel between noble clans, but your reply is to my satisfaction. Now, let’s mention the matter of the Vast Essence Pill. I only have about ten of these medicine pills, enough to extend your life for about ten days. However, each of these medicine pills cost several thousands of spirit stones. Are you truly able to purchase them?”
“Several thousands of spirit stones?!” Although Feng Yue had guessed as much, he was alarmed. It was the cost of a top grade magic tool.
“Fine, I’ll buy it.” Feng Yue agreed with gritted teeth.
“You’re carrying that many spirit s
tones on you?” Han Li raised his brow and examined Feng Yue with a mysterious smile.
“I don’t have them on hand, but I can put up the key to the Feng Clan’s secret cave for collateral.” Feng Yue lifted the silver key around his neck and handed it over without any hesitation. It seemed he had already come to a decision.
“The Feng Clan’s secret cave?” Han Li stared at the silver key and didn’t immediately move to take it.
“That’s right,” Feng Yue answered, “This is the sole magic tool that can open the secret collection of the Feng Clan for over a thousand years. As a direct descendant of the Feng Clan, the Feng Clan Elders had me escape with the key as calamity befell the clan. Although I had never been there myself, the collection should have several tens of thousands of spirit stones.”
“You’re putting that key up for collateral?” Han Li expressionlessly asked, “How can I tell whether or not it is genuine? And even if it is, don’t tell me you have no intention of returning to the Feng Clan.”
“What is there to return to?” Feng Yue gloomily said, “To the best of my knowledge, only a few servants and branch disciples managed to escape. I am now the only direct descendant remaining. I would’ve reunited with my other clan members instead of roaming these plains alone otherwise. If I die, the bloodline of the Feng Clan will cease and the secret collection will eventually be tracked down by the Kong Clan, only to their benefit. As such, it would be better spent to save my own life. If I cannot find a way to dissolve this poison in ten days, I will leave the secret collection to you, a better fate than having it found by the Kong Clan. Besides, the Buddhist techniques Fellow Daoist Han so desires will be found in the secret cave as well.”
Han Li silently pondered for a long while before saying, “Fine. You can use the key as collateral for the medicine pills. But first, you must allow me to search your soul to find out whether or not the matter of the secret collection and the Buddhist techniques are true. I don’t wish to make a trip to a cave that doesn’t exist.”
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