Inside the room.
The lamplight was dim.
Mu Canglong looked haggard as he lay on the bed, having long since fallen unconscious.
Across his cheeks, pitch-black tadpole-shaped runes writhed like living things, giving off a deeply horrifying impression.
Mu Piaomiao stood beside the bed, her face full of anxiety. "Junior Brother... how is he?"
Fang Xi had his right hand on Mu Canglong's wrist, appearing to take his pulse.
In reality, he was secretly seeping wisps of pure Evergreen Art energy into Mu Canglong's body.
Based on his experiments in the Cultivation World, a cultivator's energy should have a fairly good effect at wearing away Curse Power.
About thirty breaths later.
"Ugh..."
Mu Canglong's eyelids trembled violently before he suddenly opened them. "I..."
"Father!"
Mu Piaomiao burst into tears of joy.
"Master Mu, how are you feeling?"
Fang Xi withdrew his fingers and asked calmly.
This treatment had cost him quite a bit of energy, but his expression remained unchanged.
"Not bad..." Mu Canglong could not make sense of it and looked toward his daughter.
Fang Xi considerately withdrew, leaving the father and daughter some time to talk.
Once he stepped out of the room, a graceful figure immediately came to greet him. "Young Master... It's wonderful that you're all right."
Bai He's eyes were rimmed red, and her voice carried a sob.
A few days earlier, Young Master had said he was going out to search for supplies, only to never return. She had nearly been scared to death.
Monsters now wandered the city from time to time, and Bai He had been terrified that Young Master would fall into their hands.
Fortunately, this pillar of support had finally returned.
"Don't worry. I'm fine..."
Fang Xi glanced at the multigrain steamed bun in Bai He's hand and smiled. "What? You even prepared food for me?"
"Sister Piaomiao said we have to economize and can't waste anything... Young Master, you'll have to bear with it for now."
Bai He looked at the coarse-grain bun in her hand, somewhat embarrassed as well.
The old Fang Xi had always demanded the finest delicacies, and even his maidservant's palate had become spoiled along with his.
To have fallen into such a state was truly miserable.
Still, humans were highly adaptable creatures, and Bai He had adjusted quickly.
After all, before she had been sold to Fang Manor, she had genuinely endured a period of hardship.
"Mm."
Fang Xi neither agreed nor disagreed, but he did not gnaw on the coarse-grain bun either.
He asked a few more casual questions and discovered that in Black Stone City, monsters appeared extremely infrequently near the city walls.
By contrast, the farther one went toward the city center, the more monsters there were. Nor did they necessarily follow the pattern of hiding by day and emerging at night.
It seems the Yao Mo Tree at the city center really is this demon's fatal point...
And those who know their stuff hid at the outskirts of Black Stone City from the beginning, which truly let them eke out a precarious existence for a while.
Fang Xi secretly pondered this after obtaining the important information.
At that moment, he saw Tang Xuan carrying several steamed buns into Wu Ji's room.
Wu Ji's wife—a remarkably beautiful woman—seemed to be living in there as well.
"That's Senior Brother Tang bringing food to Bai He... Poor Bai He. Not only did her entire family die in the Demon Calamity, but that man surnamed Wu also forcibly brought her here and publicly claimed she was his wife..."
Seeing Fang Xi's gaze, Bai He hurriedly explained.
"I never thought Wu Ji would be that kind of person."
Fang Xi sighed, but did not take it to heart.
In the present Black Stone City, there were countless people even more miserable than Bai He.
Just then.
The door behind him opened, and Mu Piaomiao stepped out. "Senior... Senior Brother... My father wants you to come in!"
"All right!"
Fang Xi nodded to Bai He and entered the room.
Inside the room.
Mu Canglong was half leaning against the bed, staring at Fang Xi as he entered, his face filled with astonishment. "You've already broken through the Black Cloud realm?!"
Although his daughter had told him about everything that had happened recently, Mu Canglong still found it hard to believe.
Not only had he broken through at an astonishing speed, but after breaking through, he had even been able to slay a powerful enemy of the same rank!
He had even claimed that he could cure the poison of demonic Curse Power!
This disciple's talent was simply too shocking, even carrying an air of mystery.
"That's right!"
Fang Xi nodded.
In this world, he did not need to act overly cautious.
After all, a Martial Hall Master was already an absolute member of Black Stone City's upper echelon.
"Excellent, excellent, excellent! My White Cloud Martial Arts School finally has someone to carry on its legacy. I'm prepared to entrust both the position of Martial Hall Master and my daughter to you..."
Mu Canglong's face flushed with excitement.
"Wait!"
Fang Xi hurriedly waved his hand. He had no desire to accept these two burdens. "Does Master Mu still wish to have the poison in your body treated?"
"Alas..." Mu Canglong sighed. "One knows one's own affairs best. The power of this curse seal came from a demon. Qi and blood cannot wear it away. I've already come to terms with it. To see a disciple carry on my teachings before I die is already enough to leave me without regrets..."
"Cough, cough... Master Mu needn't be so dispirited." Fang Xi coughed. "I have a spirit pill that can cure a hundred poisons... I spent a full thousand taels of gold to purchase it from some wandering merchant back then. Would you like to give it a try?"
Earlier, to digest the Demon Meat, he had specifically purchased a Clear Spirit Pill. Fellow Daoist Zhuo Luting had praised it to the heavens and beyond.
Now, he could not help feeling the urge to experiment.
After all, he was somewhat wary of the demon's Curse Power and needed a Martial Hall Master to volunteer as a test subject before he could determine whether pills from the Cultivation World were effective.
Besides, he and Mu Canglong had some friendship. He did not particularly want to watch the man die in front of him.
"A thousand taels?"
The corner of Mu Canglong's mouth twitched.
His entire fortune might not even amount to a thousand taels of gold.
Yet, remembering Fang Xi's reputation, he actually believed him.
This wastrel really might have spent an exorbitant price to buy some unknown little pill!
When he saw the medicine bottle in Fang Xi's hand, Mu Canglong believed him even more.
The bottle was carved from a single piece of flawless jade. In the mortal world, it was practically an incomparable treasure, perhaps something found only in the Daliang Imperial Palace.
A jade bottle like that naturally held an extraordinary pill.
The Clear Spirit Pill was entirely emerald green and carried a faint fragrance.
Just by inhaling once, Mu Canglong felt his spirit quiver slightly. "It seems you encountered a true eccentric who wanders the mortal world!"
"Please take the medicine, Master Mu."
Fang Xi came behind Mu Canglong and pressed one palm against his back.
Since he was a test subject, Fang Xi naturally needed to monitor him in real time.
Otherwise, how could this be called testing medicine?
"Haha... Bring it on!" Mu Canglong did not mind. Since he already considered himself certain to die, he naturally took everything in stride.
He swallowed the Clear Spirit Pill in one gulp and began silently sensing its medicinal power.
"Hm?!"
Fang Xi watched everything closely, and his expression shifted slightly as well.
After the time it took an incense stick to burn.
Mu Canglong's expression suddenly twisted in agony. He opened his mouth and spat out a mass of black blood.
Hiss, hiss!
A patch of corrosion suddenly appeared on the bluestone tiles beside the bed.
Yet Mu Canglong's pained expression relaxed greatly, while the curse marks on his face began to slowly recede.
"Alas..."
Fang Xi withdrew his hand and stared out the window toward the city center, his expression becoming incomparably solemn.
"I feel much better. My lower abdomen is warm, and the numbness throughout my body has greatly eased."
Mu Canglong flung off the quilt and stood up, his face full of delight.
"Unfortunately, this pill can only suppress the Curse Power, not eliminate the remaining poison... Perhaps in a few months or years, it will return with a vengeance. By then, taking this spirit pill again won't help much."
Fang Xi shook his head.
The Clear Spirit Pill's grade was still too low. If it had been a First-grade High-rank Myriad Spirit Pill, perhaps he could have recovered completely.
At the same time, Fang Xi felt a powerful sense of vigilance arise within him.
This was not the poison of the Yao Mo Tree's main body, but merely a remnant of Curse Power from one of its puppets, yet it was already so difficult to deal with.
There were surely immense dangers hidden within this world!
He still had to be a little more careful.
"A few years? That's enough." Mu Canglong gave a bitter smile. "With us having fallen into the Demon Domain, it's hard to say whether we can even survive until tomorrow."
Clearly, he understood the current situation very well.
The so-called "waiting for the demons to withdraw on their own" was merely a desperate hope.
Much more likely, everyone would be trapped to death inside Black Stone City!
Compared with that, a Death Tribulation that erupted only months or years later was nothing at all.
"Forget it... It's good that Master Mu can see things so clearly." Fang Xi smiled. "I still have some questions about martial arts and would like to ask you for guidance."
"You want to ask how to advance after True Energy?" Mu Canglong closed his eyes. "Unfortunately... once True Energy is formed, it cannot be changed. Even if you cripple your cultivation and devote yourself to another discipline, your qi and blood will become chaotic. As for our White Cloud Palm, its highest level is the True Energy realm. There is no path beyond it..."
"So you're saying I've already reached a dead end?"
Fang Xi thrust his right leg forward.
Bang!
A layer of floor tiles instantly shattered into pieces.
"Red Snake Leg?" Mu Canglong nodded, then shook his head. "So you've also taken the path of mixed martial arts."
"It seems quite a few Rogue Cultivator Martial Artists before me also cultivated multiple martial arts and broke through to the True Energy realm?" Fang Xi's eyes lit up.
Mu Canglong thought for a moment before answering cautiously. "Martial artists like us naturally wish to advance further... Cultivating martial arts that do not conflict too greatly is one method. I heard that someone once cultivated seven or eight martial arts and reached the point where he could fight a True Energy Martial Master, but he soon died violently..."
"After True Energy comes True Energy force?" Fang Xi took the opportunity to ask about martial arts.
"Once True Energy is formed, one uses it to temper the five viscera and six bowels, alter the sinews and replace the marrow, and refine the entire body, awaiting the spontaneous birth of True Energy force..." Mu Canglong sighed. "Unfortunately... martial arts involving True Energy force are already secret inheritances of sects. They are not something Martial Hall Masters like us can covet."
"I see. I wonder whether cultivating True Energy-force martial arts can resolve the conflict between the True Energy I've already cultivated?" Fang Xi asked curiously.
"In all likelihood, it cannot. But without a doubt, cultivating True Energy-force martial arts will make a martial artist stronger... As for whether it can break through the realm, I don't know either."
Mu Canglong's eyes were somewhat dazed. Clearly, this question had exceeded his abilities.
After all, he was merely a Martial Hall Master...
Before you continue