Hundred Flowers Powder

"What?"

As soon as Chu Liang said this, everyone could not help but be somewhat surprised.

One had to know that in a forest crawling with demons like this, where true essence could not be replenished, there was no telling what dangers they might encounter. Should some sudden danger truly arise, the more cultivation they preserved, the greater their chance of escaping it.

Thus, deep down, none of them wanted to waste true qi on clearing the way. That was precisely why Fang Ting had proposed the fair plan of having three people take turns.

The instant Chu Liang spoke up to say he had objections, they had all assumed he wanted to find some way to shirk responsibility, or drag Fang Ting and Xu Ziqing into it as well.

But never in their wildest dreams had they expected... that this young man with his warm smile would actually volunteer to shoulder the task of clearing the way alone.

He was only at the early Divine Intent Realm himself. Such a sense of responsibility was truly unexpected.

"Brother Chu, this is no joke," Lin Bei was the first to persuade him. "And we may have to travel this road for an hour or two. If you exhaust your true qi, it will also be detrimental to our later efforts to pick the Human-Faced Jade Essence Flowers. We should still take turns clearing the way."

Chu Liang smiled. "It's fine. I know what I'm doing. If my true qi is about to run low, I'll naturally step down and switch with someone. My cultivation is meager, and there are not many ways I can help. Let me contribute a little more here."

His words were earnest and his expression sincere, moving everyone slightly.

"If you insist, then you may clear the way first. It will be dark soon, and we must enter the mountains quickly." Fang Ting turned around, paused, then added, "Remember, if more than half your true qi has been spent, switch out promptly. If you wait until it is all gone, it will be too late."

"I understand," Chu Liang said with a nod.

The little girl Xu Ziqing looked at Chu Liang and pursed her lips.

In truth, Xu Ziqing's spirit pet, the White Bird, had not been given to her by her elder brother, but by her master. Wang Xuanling had doted on her since childhood, so Xu Ziqing also felt deeply attached to her master. Naturally, she had a poor opinion of Silver Sword Peak, which had enmity with Wang Xuanling.

When she had first heard that Chu Liang was Empress Feng of Silver Sword Peak's disciple, she had secretly been hostile toward him. When she let him ride her White Bird, she had still felt indignant, deliberately sitting in front to isolate him.

But how soft was a little girl's heart? Seeing Chu Liang suddenly take the initiative to shoulder responsibility for the team, he was clearly trying to draw closer to everyone. She suddenly felt that her earlier act of isolating him had been truly awful.

And this Senior Brother Chu Liang...

Quiet and handsome, with such a lovely smile... he looked like a good person at first glance.

Xu Ziqing tugged at the hem of her clothes, trotted a few steps to Chu Liang's side, and took out a small bottle. "Senior Brother Chu, there are three Qi-Gathering Pills here. Keep them for yourself."

Qi-Gathering Pills, which could rapidly replenish a person's true qi, were naturally of great use at a time like this. However, their main purpose was still to increase cultivation through training after taking them. Since there was no way to follow up with further cultivation here, using them solely to replenish true qi was inevitably a bit wasteful.

"Junior Sister Xu, this..." Chu Liang had just wanted to decline when he saw the little girl staring at him with watery eyes full of guilt. It seemed that if he refused, she would burst into tears at once.

That left him somewhat bewildered, so he could only accept them. "All right, then. Thank you very much."

"Hehe, it's all right. I still have plenty," Xu Ziqing said with a sweet smile only after seeing him accept them.

Chu Liang stepped forward and transformed his flying sword, gripping it in his hand. He had no time to ponder the emotional journey of Jade Sword Peak's disciples. His reason for volunteering to clear the way was very simple.

The one clearing the way got to fight monsters.

"Hisst—"

In the vast, verdant mountains, the dense forest was filled with ancient trees several zhang tall. Their crowns and tangled vines knotted together, blotting out the sky and sun so completely that not even a thread of sunlight could pass through.

Fang Ting carried a lantern-like dharma artifact in his hand, its gentle glow enveloping everyone while illuminating the way ahead. Chu Liang, walking at the very front, spread his divine sense across the several zhang before him and took every step with care and vigilance.

The moment his divine sense detected a trace of demonic aura, a strange sound came from ahead.

Among the vines wrapped around a thick ancient tree, one suddenly sprang up like a giant blue-spotted python! At the tip of the vine was a fist-sized red flower bud, its color bewitchingly vivid.

A flower demon!

The instant the vine lunged forward, the red flower bud also bloomed open. With a hiss, it revealed a gaping bloody maw filled with sharp fangs!

Within those beautiful petals, there was actually a mouth that ate people!

"Watch out," Chu Liang shouted softly.

In the short half hour just now, Chu Liang had already dealt with four flower demons like this. The mountains of the Southern Domain truly were infested with demons everywhere. Even a forest at the edge was fraught with danger at every turn. The disguises of these vine demons and flower demons were utterly impossible to distinguish with the naked eye. If not for Divine Intent Realm cultivators who had already awakened their divine sense, one would likely be reduced to bones within a few steps.

"Let's rest for a while," Fang Ting said from behind.

Although Chu Liang alone had been clearing the way, everyone behind him had kept their divine sense spread out at all times, remaining alert to their surroundings. Even if they could conserve true qi and physical strength, keeping their divine sense extended for so long still left them fatigued.

For cultivators, essence, qi, and spirit were all indispensable.

"Withdraw your divine senses and regulate your breathing for now. I'll stand watch during this time." After everyone sat down cross-legged where they were, Fang Ting also displayed the responsibility of a Golden Core Realm cultivator, guarding the surroundings alone.

Lin Bei came over and asked, "Brother Chu, are you all right?"

"I'm still in good condition," Chu Liang said with a nod.

He was telling the truth. With Xu Ziqing's Qi-Gathering Pills, his true qi remained at full capacity. As for the Qi-Gathering Pills, he had no intention of conserving them at all... after all, killing one lantern monster would earn them back.

As long as the White Tower's rewards were there, fighting monsters would always be a business guaranteed to turn a profit.

Thinking this, he closed his eyes and looked inward again, entering the White Tower with a trace of anticipation.

There, inside the White Tower's iron cells, four separate compartments each held a golden flower-shaped phantom. Chu Liang stepped forward and pressed the character for "Refine."

Boom—

A flash of Red Light appeared, and Chu Liang reached out to catch the radiance that floated out. In his palm was something wrapped in oiled paper, seemingly medicinal powder.

Then a thought arose in his mind.

Hundred Flowers Powder:

An antidote refined from the essence of a hundred flowers. Take half internally and apply half externally; it can cure a hundred poisons. Using Hundred Flowers Powder also leaves a floral fragrance clinging to the body: jasmine top notes, rose middle notes, and Chinese holly base notes. The fragrance is rich and long-lasting.