On the Brink

"Phew..."

Facing the rising sun, Fang Yuan breathed in and out purple qi, his expression solemn.

"With Red Jade Rice helping me, my Martial Arts have improved at an astonishing pace!"

Lately, he had grown a little addicted to training. After all, the feeling of his skill soaring and becoming stronger bit by bit was intoxicating.

"Maybe... I should get my hands on Eagle Claw Skill and Hard Qi Skill soon, too!"

Before, he'd worried about biting off more than he could chew. Now, though, Fang Yuan had no such qualms.

Once he'd reached a high level in Martial Arts, picking up other disciplines would make his progress at the lower levels fly. For him, it would be like riding a rocket.

"Still, I'll wait until I reach the fifth Martial Arts gate..."

Fang Yuan glanced at his attributes.

"Name: Fang Yuan

Essence: 1.8

Qi: 1.6

Spirit: 1.5

Age: 18

Cultivation: Third Martial Arts Gate

Skills: Black Sand Palm [Third Layer]

Specialties: Medical Skill [Level One], Planting Skill [Level Three]"

"Breaking through the Sheng Gate of the Third Martial Arts Gate boosted my Essence Yuan and Qi Yuan by about 0.3. The rest is thanks to the Red Jade Rice..."

"But my Divine Essence hasn't increased since I ran out of Heart-Questioning Tea. It didn't even rise when I broke through the Three Auspicious Gates..."

The harder it was to increase his Divine Essence, the more Fang Yuan valued it.

After all, with his current attributes, having half again as much Divine Essence as an ordinary person had already made him feel as if he'd undergone a complete transformation.

What incredible changes might come if he raised his Divine Essence even further?

Fang Yuan was eager to find out.

"The Heart-Questioning Tea Tree is about to bud again... And as for the Red Jade Rice, I've already set aside a huge paddy field, enough to grow plenty... Right now, what I'm short on is Spiritual Fertilizer!"

The strange, translucent granules brought by the Flower Fox Ferret had the remarkable effect of speeding up the maturation of spiritual plants.

Now that Fang Yuan was practicing Martial Arts, he needed a large supply of Red Jade Rice. His dependence on Spiritual Fertilizer had reached its peak.

"I need Spiritual Fertilizer! A lot of it! Otherwise, the Red Jade Rice and Heart-Questioning Tea will be castles in the air..."

Unfortunately, the Flower Fox Ferret had repeatedly told him that the place where the fertilizer could be found was extremely dangerous. With his current strength, he'd be wise not to venture there rashly.

"Now that I'm a skilled martial artist at the Third Gate, I can even follow the White Sable's movements if I concentrate fully... The danger it mentioned must lie somewhere between the Two Level Gates and the Three Dangerous Gates!"

The Twelve Gates of Golden Lock and Heavy Tower were an obstacle no martial artist of this age could avoid.

Fang Yuan had already broken through all Three Auspicious Gates. Once he broke through the Du Gate, he would immediately enter an entirely new realm.

According to the Hard Qi Skill manual, martial artists who had passed the first three gates were as common as dirt. But those who had reached the Du and Jing Gates had only just begun to grasp the path of Martial Arts.

As for those who had broken through the Shang Gate and the higher Jingmen and Si Gates of the Three Dangerous Gates, they could truly be called masters. Even in the Gui Ling Sect, they could serve as elders.

Song Zhigao's backing, Elder Song Zhong, was in fact a skilled martial artist at the Three Dangerous Gates.

And given his age, there was little chance he'd break through the Si Gate in this lifetime and challenge the final realm of the Four Heavenly Gates.

"Chitter!"

"Chitter!"

Just then, the Flower Fox Ferret appeared. It tugged at Fang Yuan's trouser leg and darted toward the mouth of the valley.

"Hmm? More visitors!?"

Fang Yuan was a little annoyed, but there was nothing for it. He headed to the valley entrance, and his eyes immediately narrowed.

Before him stood a huge entourage, led by Steward Lin, Lin Benchu. The Zhou siblings were there, too.

And that wasn't all. Four burly servants behind them carried a sedan chair. Curtains hung around it, and through them he could just make out a figure lying inside.

"My dear nephew!"

Steward Lin stepped forward and spread his hands. "Are you really confident you can handle this?"

"Handle what?"

Fang Yuan was at a loss.

"Why, the matter of treating the sick, of course! The Zhou family has put everything on the line and even brought Old Master Zhou here!"

Lin Benchu's face was grave. "The other day, you sent Old Man Tian with a letter saying you had a way to save him, but that you'd only treat him if they brought him into the Hidden Valley... Sigh, you were being rather presumptuous!"

"A letter?"

Fang Yuan's heart sank. He kept his expression calm as he took the letter and read it. It said exactly what Steward Lin had described: that he had a miraculous remedy, but would only treat Old Master Zhou if the Zhou family brought him into the mountains. Otherwise, he refused to help. The wording was quite arrogant.

Worse, the handwriting matched his own down to every stroke. Even Fang Yuan almost believed he'd written it himself.

"Old Man Tian..."

Fang Yuan's eyes shifted, and he immediately understood where the problem lay.

As the only herb gatherer who had dealings with the Hidden Valley, Old Man Tian had several lists and letters in Fang Yuan's own hand. Forging another one would have been easy.

And Steward Lin had met Old Man Tian before. He knew the man was practically the Hidden Valley's spokesman, so he'd believed the letter without question.

The trouble was, Fang Yuan had never promised to cure anyone, and he knew nothing about Old Master Zhou's illness!

"A vicious plot!"

Fang Yuan's gaze turned cold. What a vicious plot. Now I can't defend myself, no matter what I say!

Clearly, Old Master Zhou was already at death's door. They'd been deceived into making this exhausting journey, and he might even die in the Hidden Valley. If that happened, Fang Yuan and the Zhou family would become sworn enemies!

Even if he said he hadn't written the letter, who would believe him now?

Looking at the Zhou family's hopeful faces, Fang Yuan fell silent.

He thought of something else. If he were the mastermind, he would have already silenced Old Man Tian, leaving no loose ends.

Perhaps it's killing two birds with one stone. Old Master Zhou must belong to a faction opposed to Elder Song. Otherwise, Song Zhigao wouldn't dare pull something like this, even if he had a hundred times the nerve...

Fang Yuan quickly pieced together a great deal.

"What's wrong... Nephew... Surely you don't mean..."

Steward Lin, a shrewd old man, began to break out in a cold sweat.

Heaven knew, Old Master Zhou's condition couldn't wait any longer. With no other options, the Zhou family had decided to clutch at straws and bring him to the Hidden Valley.

And Steward Lin himself had vouched for the plan.

If Fang Yuan backed out now, the consequences would be unimaginable!

"I'd better take a look at the patient first."

Fang Yuan glanced at Steward Lin, knowing he couldn't blame him.

After all, he really had sent him several messages through Old Man Tian. And the Hidden Valley was tucked away deep in the mountains, making communication inconvenient.

"Of course!"

Steward Lin's scalp prickled as he led Fang Yuan to the sedan chair.

"Layman Fang, we're counting on you!"

Beside the sedan chair, Zhou Wenwu and Zhou Wenxin led several members of their family in bowing deeply. A few experts with profound auras stood nearby, watching.

Fang Yuan looked at them and gave a cold laugh inwardly, not bothering to respond. He understood perfectly well: if he worked a miracle and saved Old Master Zhou, everything would be fine. But if he failed... the crushing disappointment after such high hopes would become his death warrant.

As for explaining everything?

Would the Zhou family even listen to him now?

What a huge trap. Song Zhigao must be directing this from behind the scenes!

Now that the arrow was on the string, he had no choice but to let it fly.

Fang Yuan stepped forward and lifted the curtain. A rotten stench immediately hit him.

"Damn it, how is Old Master Zhou any different from a corpse?"

Fang Yuan's heart sank as he forced himself to examine him.

Inside the sedan chair lay an old man who seemed to be sleeping soundly. But his breath was as faint as a thread, as if he might stop breathing at any moment.

Any renowned physician who saw this would likely conclude that his vitality was spent and no medicine could save him.

The injury was on the old man's chest. It seemed he'd once been badly hurt, but the wound was now neatly bandaged and appeared to be healing.

"Eh? This is strange!"

Fang Yuan examined him for a moment, then blurted out without thinking.

"Layman Fang, how is my father? Can he still be saved?"

Zhou Wenwu immediately asked anxiously. The Zhou family members around him watched Fang Yuan with hostile expressions.

After all, this doctor had been acting like a big shot!

With an attitude like that, he'd made them travel all the way into these remote mountains. Many of them were already nursing dark thoughts: if this young man turned out to be a quack, they would make him pay!

"I have a rough idea. I'll need to examine him further before I can say for sure."

Fang Yuan returned to the valley and soon came back with a box of silver needles. He casually lifted one of Old Master Zhou's arms and inserted a needle.

Pfft!

A moment later, he pulled it out. Nothing seemed amiss. Fang Yuan stared at the needle tip in silence, then suddenly took out a tinderbox and lit it. He held the needle over the flame for a moment, then sniffed it carefully. A faint, orchid-like fragrance reached his nose.

Old Master Zhou isn't gravely wounded. He's been poisoned!

Looking at the old man, whose breath was as faint as a thread, Fang Yuan thought, And... it's the strange poison my master mentioned, Lover's Intoxication...

Heart-Questioning Hermit was a master physician with vast experience saving lives. He'd once discussed various cases with Fang Yuan, and Lover's Intoxication had made a particularly strong impression.

This strange poison was colorless and odorless, with no symptoms at first. It would simply leave its victim growing thinner by the day, their mind growing hazy, until they eventually faded away in misery—as though they'd died of lovesickness. It was an unusual poison indeed.

Once inflicted, it clung like a maggot to the bone. Worse, it caused no obvious symptoms, and even a silver needle couldn't detect it. Only when heated over a flame would it give off a faint orchid fragrance. That was the only clue.

Heart-Questioning Hermit had made the story sound so interesting that Fang Yuan had remembered it. He'd never expected to encounter a patient poisoned by Lover's Intoxication himself.

"How is he?"

Seeing Fang Yuan's brow furrow and relax by turns, the Zhou siblings hardly dared breathe. They asked in hushed voices.

"I can cure Old Master Zhou."

Fang Yuan nodded.

If he were dealing with a genuine severe injury, his level of Medical Skill might not be enough. But poison was nothing to fear.

Then Fang Yuan said, "However, I have a few conditions!"