Fairy Feimeng

"What, regretting it now? Want to use Master to scare me?"

Lin Miao stopped in his tracks, killing intent flashing across his face.

"How could that be? You misunderstood.

I wanted to ask whether Heavenly Medicine Mountain has a library. I'd like to read some books on cultivation. After all, I'm already a Qi Refining Level 1 cultivator, yet I know nothing about cultivation arts or spells."

Su Hao forced a smile.

Lin Miao looked disdainful. "Qi Refining Level 1 doesn't need to know that much!"

Having said that, he suddenly hesitated. After pondering for two seconds, he removed the jade token from his waist.

"Forget it. Seeing your attitude, as your senior disciple brother, I can't be too stingy. I'll grudgingly satisfy your request. I'll lend you this identity jade token. Go to the bamboo building in the north; there's only an old man guarding it.

"You can read miscellaneous subjects like alchemy and geographical records. Don't even dream about anything else.

"Trash like you, with no aptitude whatsoever, can't learn any other cultivation techniques.

"It took me a whole year just to barely master the Vine Thorn Spell!"

Once any ordinary person had mastered spiritual power, the first thing they wanted to do was learn methods of wielding that power. Spells were the most common application!

Lin Miao had been through it himself and saw through Su Hao at a glance. His claim of broadening his knowledge was a lie; what he truly wanted was to cultivate spells.

Su Hao caught the jade token and lowered his head. "Thank you, senior disciple brother!"

Lin Miao gave him a long, deep look before turning and leaving.

"That little brat is really vicious..."

After a while, Su Hao straightened up and rubbed his still faintly aching left ribs with one hand.

Counting his previous life, he was already in his thirties. To be taught a lesson by a little brat of twelve or thirteen was truly humiliating!

But there was nothing he could do now. Fighting back would only bring him more suffering.

Lin Miao was at Qi Refining Level 4, and his foundation was solid. In terms of strength and speed, he could easily crush seven or eight grown men!

As for Su Hao, who had forcefully attained Qi Refining Level 1 by swallowing pills over a few days, his spiritual power was pitifully scant. Physically, he was barely any stronger than an ordinary person.

He turned back toward his side room, secretly speculating about Lin Miao's background.

"Lin Zhi Shan, Lin Miao... Could this Lin Miao fellow be Lin Zhi Shan's relative, or perhaps his illegitimate son?

"No, even a vicious tiger does not eat its cubs. If he really were an illegitimate son, Lin Zhi Shan wouldn't have let Lin Miao cultivate the 'Hundred Profound Medicine Veins' and kept him as a spare Medicine Slave, would he?

"I just don't know how close their relationship is.

"Lin Miao dared to take two bottles of Origin Blood Pills. If he's more timid, he might switch out some of the Origin Blood Pills in secret, replacing them with fakes.

"If he's bolder, he might keep them all for himself.

"But then, if I've only taken this tiny amount of Origin Blood Pills, would someone with Lin Zhi Shan's abilities fail to notice?

"So that brat will most likely steal and replace three to five Origin Blood Pills, perhaps even fewer. I'd rather he ate them all himself."

Su Hao returned to his room, intending to apply some liniment for bruises and sprains. A large patch of his left ribs had turned purple, and he might even have injured the tendons or bones.

Lin Miao had struck far too viciously!

And right now, Su Hao felt vaguely uneasy, as though something was not quite right.

After applying the liniment, Su Hao was about to leave when his discomfort suddenly intensified. His chest felt tight and painful, and a wave of dry heaving and nausea rose within him.

"Blergh—"

When the discomfort reached its peak, Su Hao suddenly vomited. A large puddle of sour liquid mixed with food scraps splattered across the floor, and a dense stench filled the entire room.

Yet Su Hao felt incomparably refreshed and invigorated, his spirits sharply lifted.

After using nearly half a bucket of water to rinse his mouth, it took the time of a cup of tea before most of the strange taste finally faded. "Damn it, Lin Miao! That kick was brutally vicious. What kind of poisonous leg technique did he use?!"

The food was unlikely to be the problem, so it could only have been Lin Miao's kick. Had it not only caused external injuries, but also damaged his internal organs?

Su Hao's body now felt warmly heated, with threads of hot current coursing through his limbs and bones. The sensation was strongest around his injured left ribs, where the warmth and tingling numbness were especially intense.

He lifted his inner shirt once again. The bruising on his left ribs had already vanished, and the injury from that kick had healed!

The Origin Blood Pill, which should have taken a cultivator one or two days to digest, had silently transformed entirely into medicinal power, continuously nourishing his qi and blood, tendons, bones, flesh, and blood.

"..."

Su Hao fell into thought.

It was the talent, Medicine Spirit, at work!

If the strange reaction just now had not been caused by Lin Miao, then it must have been his constitution fighting against the impurities or toxicity in the Origin Blood Pill, causing his body to expel the pill toxins and impurities on its own?

After all, the vomit had smelled exceptionally foul as well.

"Tomorrow, I'll take another Origin Blood Pill. Then I'll be able to determine the cause. If it really can eliminate and expel toxins, then the Origin Blood Pill's side effects on me will be reduced to the bare minimum, or perhaps there won't be any at all. With no more hidden dangers, this Origin Blood Pill will be a great tonic, a spiritual medicine!"

To be safe, he did not dare take a second Origin Blood Pill after such a short interval.

Su Hao instructed a servant to clean the room, then headed straight for the northern side of Bamboo Heart Courtyard.

About three kilometers away, a building lay hidden beyond the bamboo grove: a two-story bamboo building beside a stream, secluded and elegant.

They could hear people talking from far away.

Most of them wore black, with embroidered sect emblems on their chests.

The moment Su Hao saw them, he stopped in his tracks without realizing it.

These black-clad youths were genuine Golden Light Sect disciples. Any one of them possessed strength at Qi Refining Level 2-3 or above, their auras full and robust.

After so many days at Heavenly Medicine Mountain, this was the first time Su Hao had seen so many black-clad disciples.

Unlike Su Hao and Ge Lao Si, although Lin Zhi Shan had nominally taken them in as registered disciples, he had never actually reported them to the sect or entered their names into the disciple registry.

Su Hao did not dare go any farther.

After all, these disciples treated human lives like blades of grass. Zhang Yunfei's death was still vivid in his mind.

"Junior Brother, Fairy Feimeng is really inside? Is that true? She never usually takes even half a step outside Joy Peak."

"Can't you see it? Can't you smell it, either? The unique warm, secluded fragrance of Joy Peak fills the air all around us. Tsk, it smells incredible. Taking a few more breaths feels like adding years to your life. If I could discuss the great Dao of dual cultivation with Fairy Feimeng, it would be worth dying for."

"Stop dreaming. Do you think it'd ever be your turn, you Qi Refining Level 4 piece of trash?"

"So what if I'm Qi Refining Level 4? Chen Yue, if you've got the guts, let's settle this on the Life and Death Arena three days from now!"

"You think I'm afraid of a Qi Refining Level 4 nobody like you?! Life and Death Arena in three days—whoever doesn't show up is a turtle's bastard! But quit making such a racket now. If you disturb Fairy Feimeng, I'll kill you right here."

"..."

"Why hasn't she come out yet? That lousy library at Heavenly Medicine Mountain doesn't have any secret cultivation arts hidden away, does it? Could she be with that old man guarding the building..."

"..."

A maid with no cultivation stood guard at the entrance, yet she had stopped more than a dozen black-clad disciples.

None of them dared force their way in. They could only crowd around the doors and windows, trying to sneak a peek.

They nearly came to blows during that time.

Su Hao's arrival did not draw anyone's attention.

At most, they gave Su Hao a contemptuous glance. The instant they saw what he was wearing, they had him figured out, making it even less likely that they would spare him a second thought.

"Thank you, Elder Zhao. I've been looking for this copy of the 'Yin Yang Secret Record' for a long time, and I've finally found it. Please tell Alchemist Lin that I'll borrow it for a while and return it as soon as I'm done reading."

"You're too polite, Fairy. It's only a worthless book. If Alchemist Lin were here, he'd definitely give it to you without a second word."

With a creak, the doors swung open.

An unrivaled beauty stepped out, dressed in revealing clothes reminiscent of a Dunhuang musician-dancer's costume.

In an instant, she drew everyone's attention. No one cared about the stooped old man beside her.

The moment Su Hao laid eyes on her, it was as though he had been bewitched. His blood surged, and wild fantasies began flooding his mind uncontrollably. He wished he could immediately "bring this woman to justice" on the spot.

Even the highest-ranked among the black-clad disciples, a disciple at Qi Refining Level 8, had turned strangely red-faced and fallen into the same fantasies as Su Hao.

A few people suddenly cried out, as though every bit of energy had been drained from their bodies, and collapsed to the ground, gasping heavily. Yet a trace of bliss appeared on their faces.