Chu Liang Was a Good Man

Xu Ziqing perhaps thought the ground was too dirty and did not want to sit, so she stood to one side. The little girl had been walking in the middle of the group, protected by everyone, so she was neither tired nor in much need of regulating her breath.

While the others sat in meditation and circulated their cultivation, she grew a little bored. Her lively eyes rolled from side to side as she looked around at the scenery of the dense forest.

Suddenly, the leaves ahead trembled, and something seemed to shift faintly in the shadows. Curious, she stared at it.

Then came a rustling sound. With a whoosh, a palm-sized deep-blue toad sprang out from beneath the leaves! Its bulging eyes were wide open, and it looked hideous and ferocious.

This thing was not a demon, so Fang Ting's divine sense had not locked onto it. It had approached the area where the group was resting.

"Ah!"

Yet even without any danger, the creature's terrifying appearance dealt a tremendous blow to the little girl's heart. She stumbled back several steps in fright.

That retreat took her one step beyond the range of the lantern's light.

Just one step.

Just as everyone's attention was drawn over, a vine at the edge snapped up with a whoosh, opening its fanged maw!

Sssht—

Caught off guard, the little girl was bitten on the calf by the flower demon!

"Junior Sister Ziqing!" Fang Ting shouted, and the sword on his back flew forth in an instant.

Crackling, a golden dragon coursed through the air. A surging Sword Qi streaked with lightning burst forth, instantly swallowing the flower demon's body. Along with the vines behind it, the giant trees, and a broad swath of forest, it plowed out a deep trench more than ten zhang long.

Chu Liang had previously heard Lin Bei say that Fang Ting's treasured sword was called the Thunderclap Sword, and that the golden core he cultivated was the Divine Firmament Five-Thunder Golden Core, specializing in lightning Sword Qi.

Now that he saw the power of this strike, it truly was terrifying beyond measure.

And yet, that outrageously powerful sword strike had passed right alongside Xu Ziqing's body without even brushing a corner of her clothes. That degree of control was equally astonishing.

There truly was an enormous gulf between Golden Core Realm cultivators and those of the Divine Intent Realm.

But no matter how fierce his retaliation, it could not change the fact that Xu Ziqing had already been bitten by the flower demon. The little girl staggered and collapsed to the ground. Her movements were not slow as she hurriedly circulated her cultivation to stop the bleeding, but soon she cried out again in panic.

"This flower demon is poisonous..."

Looking again, beneath the rolled-up trouser leg, black blood was seeping from the deep wound between her smooth, fair calf and ankle. The surrounding skin had also been stained by black qi.

"The green-vine flower demons in this forest are not poisonous. That one just now... was likely a mutated purple-vine flower demon," Fang Ting said.

"This is bad." Lin Bei said, "The antidote pills we prepared were Filth-Dispelling Pills, meant to deal with the miasma in the forest. Purple-vine flower demons are rather rare, so we did not prepare an antidote for them... At this point, there is only one way!"

"What?" Everyone looked at him.

Lin Bei wore the expression of a man ready to march to his death and declared resolutely, "Junior Sister Ziqing, seal off your blood and qi yourself to slow the poison from entering your body. I'll circulate my cultivation and suck out the poisoned blood for you!"

As he spoke, he bared his teeth and stretched his mouth, as if already warming up.

"Nonsense!" Fang Ting frowned and scolded him. "Your cultivation is not much higher than Junior Sister Ziqing's. What if you get poisoned too after sucking out the blood? Hm... My cultivation is higher. I'll do it."

Only then did Lu Rencai, who had remained taciturn all along, speak up as well. "Senior Brother Fang bears great responsibility and should not take such a risk. Junior Brother Lin's cultivation is too low, so do not act rashly. I should do it."

After speaking, he licked his lips as well.

"Ah..." The little girl cradled her tender little foot, her voice already tinged with tears. This was clearly not a situation she had ever imagined.

While the three were arguing, Chu Liang cut in from the side. "Everyone, I..."

Lin Bei looked up at him. "What, you want a taste too?"

"No." Chu Liang shook his head. "I was going to say that I brought some medicine that can detoxify poison. It might be able to counter the flower demon poison Junior Sister Xu was afflicted with."

"What?" Xu Ziqing immediately looked at Chu Liang with shining eyes, as though she had seized a lifeline. "Senior Brother Chu, you really brought an antidote?"

"That's right. Though it was not specifically meant for flower demon poison, it should still have some effect." Chu Liang took out the Hundred Flowers Powder.

"It is not a specialized antidote, so there is still some risk." Lin Bei seemed somewhat reluctant to let it go as he looked at Xu Ziqing. "Junior Sister Ziqing, you decide..."

"Right now there are only two choices: have it sucked out by mouth, or take medicine?"

"I'll take the medicine!"

Xu Ziqing answered without the slightest hesitation.

Chu Liang handed over the Hundred Flowers Powder. "Take half internally and apply half externally."

"Alright, thank you, Senior Brother Chu." Xu Ziqing was overcome with gratitude.

"Sigh." Lin Bei sighed, his face filled with guilt. "I can't help with anything. My conscience truly cannot rest easy. Since I can't help you suck out the poisoned blood, how about I help you apply the medicine?"

That earned him nothing but a huge eye-roll from Xu Ziqing.

Following Chu Liang's instructions, she divided the Hundred Flowers Powder in two. She applied one half to the wound and took the other half with water, then circulated her cultivation to regulate her breath for a while.

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the black qi around the wound had completely faded! Even the bowl-sized wound was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The vigorous blood and qi of a cultivator surely played a part, but the healing effects of the Hundred Flowers Powder had undoubtedly helped greatly as well.

"Senior Brother Chu, your medicine is incredibly effective!" Xu Ziqing looked at Chu Liang in delighted surprise.

"As long as it worked." Chu Liang merely smiled faintly.

For cultivators, as long as there was no demon poison, ordinary cuts and wounds posed no real problem. Xu Ziqing applied a little more salve for external injuries and immediately got to her feet as though nothing had happened, lively and bouncing about.

Perhaps it was only an illusion, but after using the medicine Chu Liang had given her, she felt as though her body had begun to give off a fragrance. That scent even changed. At first it was a faint jasmine fragrance, then a rich rose scent, and later it became... well... a strange smell she had never encountered before, and it was extremely strong.

It was probably some kind of floral fragrance too?

Once they resumed moving, she came gracefully to Chu Liang's side and softly said, "Senior Brother Chu, how should I thank you?"

"It's nothing." Chu Liang smiled. "You gave me a Qi-Gathering Pill, and I gave you Hundred Flowers Powder. It's only proper to return courtesy for courtesy."

"But..." The little girl tilted her head. "How could a Qi-Gathering Pill possibly compare to your Hundred Flowers Powder...?"

Chu Liang waved a hand. "We are fellow disciples and friends. Why keep such exact accounts?"

"We're friends..." Xu Ziqing froze for a moment, then suddenly broke into a sweet, delighted smile. "Alright."

At that moment, Lin Bei asked from beside them, "But Brother Chu, didn't we drag you straight over from the Sword Exchange Pavilion? You carry antidotes with you at all times?"

"It never hurts to be prepared." Chu Liang answered casually.

Before long, Fang Ting called for the group to set off again. Chu Liang immediately returned to the front and resumed the task of clearing the way.

This time, as everyone watched his back, their gazes were much gentler than before. The Jade Sword Peak disciples all felt in their hearts... this Silver Sword Peak disciple was someone worth being around. When there were demons, he truly fought them; when there was medicine, he truly gave it out.

Chu Liang was a good man!