Using Favor-Increasing Traits to Save...

[Zhao Li looked at the quota you had turned in and said,]

["Junior Brother Lu, the others naturally couldn't do this, but you're different. Still, the world outside isn't an easy place."]

[You bowed to Zhao Li but said nothing.]

[You returned to your cave abode and began taking stock of your equipment.]

[Several hundred pills of various kinds.]

[There was even a bottle of specially refined mid-grade Detoxification Pills.]

[Even with Artisan Spirit and Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement boosting your efforts, the success rate for refining this bottle of Detoxification Pills had been only ten percent.]

[Refining mid-grade pills was still too much of a stretch for you.]

[You had truly spared no expense.]

[Forty-eight throwing knives and two Fire-Avoidance Talismans.]

[Nine hundred and thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.]

[One incomplete map of the Greenwood Mountain Range.]

[One Jade Slip with the Black-Feather Fire Crows' route.]

[You sorted everything into categories and put it in your Storage Ring.]

[You thoroughly cleaned the cave abode, until it looked as though no one had ever lived there.]

[After night fell, you changed into the Greenwood Sect's Outer Sect Disciple uniform.]

[The Green Robe fit close to your body, with its cuffs tightened.]

[Workwear Thug took effect.]

[Your presence became more pleasing to the eye.]

[When the disciple guarding the mountain saw you, he lowered the hand he had raised.]

["Senior Brother Lu, heading out this late?"]

[You handed him your Outer Sect Wooden Token.]

["I'm going to fetch a batch of medicinal herbs."]

[He returned the wooden token to you.]

["Things haven't been peaceful in the mountains lately. I heard the Fire Crows to the west ate several groups of people."]

[You put away the wooden token and cupped your fists.]

["Thanks for the warning."]

[You soon reached the mountains.]

[On the third night, you stopped outside the valley you remembered, without rashly stepping inside.]

[You set your herb basket beside you, with a few freshly dug Hemostatic Grass plants tucked inside.]

[You wore the green robe of a Greenwood Sect Outer Sect Disciple, with an Identity Wooden Token hanging at your waist.]

[Everything about you looked like an Alchemy Hall disciple out gathering herbs.]

[To avoid leaving any openings, you changed positions at regular intervals.]

[On the seventh night, a fluctuation of spiritual power suddenly came from deep within the valley.]

[The ground trembled slightly, and the distant treetops all bowed at once.]

[Then every trace of presence vanished at the same time, and the entire valley fell deathly silent.]

[The commotion had come and gone quickly.]

[You waited where you were for thirty breaths.]

[The distance remained still.]

[You waited another thirty breaths, picked up your herb basket, circled halfway around, and slowly approached from the slope to the side.]

[You made yourself look like an ordinary cultivator drawn over by the commotion.]

[Options popped up.]

[A: Enter the valley immediately and take the initiative to find Jiang Mutian.]

[B: Continue posing as a herb-gathering disciple and pass by the edge of the valley, waiting for her to notice you first.]

[C: Set up a stall on the spot selling mid-grade Detoxification Pills, put up a sign reading "Ten percent off for severely injured female cultivators," and focus on the postwar economy.]

Lu Ping was silent for a moment, then chose B.

[You chose B.]

[You passed along the edge of the valley with the herb basket on your back.]

[You stepped on a dead branch, snapping it and making a little noise.]

[You stopped and pretended to hesitate.]

[You looked into the valley. The same three corpses were still there.]

[You saw Jiang Mutian.]

[She stood beside the three corpses.]

[Her white clothes were stained with blood, a sword wound marked her shoulder, and a palm print marked her abdomen.]

[There was also a thin streak of blood on her neck.]

[The mountain breeze stirred her hair.]

[She stood there like a statue, utterly motionless.]

[But the stones at her feet were being crushed to powder by the spiritual power leaking from her.]

[You looked for only a single breath before lowering your head.]

[Jiang Mutian raised her eyes and looked over.]

[Workwear Thug took effect.]

[Friend of Women took effect.]

[The target's emotions were extremely unstable.]

[Jiang Mutian's hostility toward you decreased.]

[Jiang Mutian's favor toward you increased.]

[She did not strike immediately.]

[You took half a step back and raised your hands in salute.]

["Senior, this junior is Lu Ping, a disciple of the Greenwood Sect's Alchemy Hall. I came out to gather herbs and wandered here by mistake."]

[You set the herb basket on the ground.]

["This junior means no harm."]

[Jiang Mutian did not answer, but her gaze fell on the wooden token at your waist.]

[You took the opportunity to speak.]

["The Greenwood Sect established itself in the Qingling Border Region through alchemy. This junior has Detoxification Pills bestowed by an elder."]

["If you can use them, senior, this junior would be willing to offer them."]

[You took out a jade bottle containing the mid-grade Detoxification Pills you had spent quite a few Spirit Stones to refine.]

[Jiang Mutian finally spoke.]

["The Greenwood Sect?!"]

[You placed the jade bottle on a flat rock.]

["You may take them yourself, senior."]

[Jiang Mutian raised her hand and drew the jade bottle into it.]

[She removed the stopper and poured out a pill, releasing its medicinal fragrance.]

[She stared at the pill for a moment, then glanced at you.]

[Workwear Thug remained in effect.]

[Friend of Women remained in effect.]

[She said softly, "A mid-grade Detoxification Pill."]

[Then she put the pill into her mouth.]

[The instant the pill dissolved, the spiritual power surging within her did subside a little.]

[But in the next breath, that spiritual power fell into turmoil again, growing even more violent than before.]

[Not only had the mid-grade Detoxification Pill failed to suppress the Severed-Fate Hehuan Powder, it had instead seemed to bring out the powder's effects ahead of time.]

[And Workwear Thug and Friend of Women had made her lower her guard toward you, causing the aphrodisiac to spiral out of control faster.]

Seeing this, Lu Ping sighed inwardly.

Using Traits that increased favor to save a female cultivator afflicted by an aphrodisiac poison really wasn't a good idea.

But without those two Traits, the moment Jiang Mutian laid eyes on him would have been the moment the simulation ended.

His cultivation was still too low.

[Jiang Mutian raised her head and looked at you, a trace of dazedness already surfacing in her eyes.]

[In the next breath, Jiang Mutian was already in front of you.]

[The spiritual power within you stopped flowing outright.]

[This time, she did not seize you by the throat.]

[A strand of spiritual power wrapped around your waist and back.]

[She lifted you off the ground.]

[The valley receded beneath your feet.]

[You saw a familiar mountainside.]

[Vines hung down, revealing a cave entrance.]

[You were once again taken into that cave.]

[Jiang Mutian raised her hand and sealed the entrance.]

[Restrictions settled onto the rock wall, and formation patterns flashed briefly across it.]

[As the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, you could not make sense of those restrictions at all.]

[Jiang Mutian looked at you with a burning gaze,]

["This poison in me is rather strange. Ordinary Detoxification Pills probably won't be able to cure it."]

[You lowered your head, showing some apprehension.]

["This junior's cultivation is shallow. I wouldn't dare speak rashly."]

[Options popped up.]

[A: Take the initiative to explain that you are immune to all poisons and try to negotiate terms.]

[B: Continue posing as an ordinary Greenwood Sect disciple and leave the initiative to her.]

[C: Apply on the spot to have this recognized as a Greenwood Sect workplace injury and ask her to sign beforehand.]