Wen Zhong Arrives

That night.

The Xi Qi main camp had only just fallen quiet when a rush of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded.

Nangong Shi, clad in armor, burst into the central command tent, his expression grave. He cupped his fists and reported urgently:

"State Preceptor! There is a strange phenomenon above Chong City!"

Shen Gongbao's eyes snapped open.

"What strange phenomenon?"

Nangong Shi said in a deep voice:

"Green light is shooting into the sky, and black qi keeps rising from within the city. It seems some immortal treasure is suppressing the poisonous miasma. This general did not dare make a judgment on his own, so I came at once to report."

Shen Gongbao's heart sank, and he immediately rose.

He stepped out of the great tent, his figure soaring into the air. Standing atop the clouds, he looked toward Chong City.

With that one look, Shen Gongbao's expression changed on the spot.

He saw, in the distance above Chong City, a beam of profound green light piercing heaven and earth. The light was not fierce, yet it was utterly upright, utterly dense, utterly clear.

Within the green light, countless indistinct phantoms emerged.

Lingzhi, ginseng, Huangjing, licorice, poria, calamus... the forms of countless medicinal herbs flowed through the night sky, the vitality of grass and wood linking into one whole as it enveloped all of Chong City.

There was also an ancient, simple long ruler hanging above the city.

Upon the ruler's body, ancient seal-script characters flowed, as if carrying the meaning of "tasting the hundred herbs, determining their medicinal nature, saving the myriad people."

Each time the Shennong Ruler trembled lightly, vast swaths of black qi were forced out of the wells, gutters, and moat within Chong City.

That black qi churned with shrill violence, as if countless poisonous insects were