After a brief exchange, Li Shuidao and Li Yijun each rode a White Feather Crane away from Sea Snake Daoist's cave abode, heading for their own.
Riding a white crane through the clouds, Li Shuidao wore a solemn expression as he pondered...
No wonder every clansman who had obtained a Snake Ginseng had stayed with the family this time.
The family really was getting something for nothing. Just by having their names entered in the family genealogy, they could drive their clansmen to risk their lives and toil for them. At least the Five Poisons Sect rewarded people for their merits.
Still, it wasn't quite right to say the family got something for nothing. After all, his parents and his two younger siblings were still under the family's care. If he married and had children in the future, he'd truly be laboring without complaint.
The sect never made people work for nothing. Only working for the family meant working for free.
"Hahahaha..." Li Shuidao suddenly burst into laughter.
By now, he understood Li Tianjue more and more.
When he met alone with the family elders this time, Li Shuidao had hesitated time and again, yet still hadn't truthfully told them he had already advanced to the mid-stage of the Spirit Channeling Realm.
Now, Li Shuidao had only two choices if he wanted to obtain cultivation arts: the family or his master's sect.
He had to choose one...
If he lay low for another year or two before revealing his cultivation, that would be cautious, but also far too timid. It would be like cutting off his feet to fit his shoes—more loss than gain.
If he wanted more choices, he had to improve his strength as quickly as possible instead of wasting his time!
That day, Li Shuidao returned to Golden-Faced Gentleman's cave abode and, as usual, went to the dining hall late for dinner.
Li Shuidao went to the Spirit Field to water the Spirit Grass. Suddenly, the Miasma Orchid spewed out a miasma potent enough to knock someone unconscious.
At the sight of that wisp of miasma, Li Shuidao took two steps back, then, as if possessed, took two steps forward and let himself be knocked out by it...
A short while later...
Lu Qi'er hurried into Qin Yue'e's room, her face full of worry. "Madam, Li Shuidao suddenly fainted in the Spirit Field. It looks like he's been poisoned!"
Hearing this, Qin Yue'e immediately grew tense. She hurriedly instructed the two maids, "Quick, take Li Shuidao to my room. Let me take a look at him."
Jiang Xue and Lu Qi'er immediately left the room. Carefully, they lifted Li Shuidao, whose face was purplish and swollen, and slowly helped him into Qin Yue'e's room, laying him on her jade bed.
Qin Yue'e personally went to Li Shuidao's side. She studied his complexion closely and carefully sensed the flow of energy in his body.
She steadied her breath, gently pressed a finger to his pulse, and examined the state of his body in detail.
His condition was very strange. Not only had he been poisoned, he also possessed mana.
Mid-stage of the Spirit Channeling Realm!
When had this child advanced?
His progress was far too fast!
His body held water-aligned Spiritual Energy, and his Spirit Companion was a toad!
At that moment, Li Shuidao had no secrets left from his martial aunt, Qin Yue'e.
Perhaps this was a way of confessing...
After thinking it over carefully, Li Shuidao had decided to trust his master and martial aunt.
He was in the sect; if he still relied on the family, people would inevitably look down on him.
Although his master, Golden-Faced Gentleman, had already left, once he returned, Li Shuidao could naturally ask him to teach him cultivation arts. With his martial aunt there to put in a good word or two, his master would never go so far as to take away his Spirit Companion.
As for the deadly poison on Li Shuidao, it wasn't actually fatal. He could recover on his own after lying down for a few days. He could even concoct an antidote to speed up the detoxification. It just looked dangerous on the surface...
He was only doing this to look pitiful and win some sympathy.
Qin Yue'e furrowed her brows and paced back and forth.
Misled by appearances, she believed the poison had already entered Li Shuidao's internal organs. Without a targeted antidote, his organs would inevitably rot, and he would die.
But Qin Yue'e's knowledge wasn't enough. She couldn't even identify the poison, so how could she possibly cure it?
Now that her husband, Golden-Faced Gentleman, had also left the cave abode, perhaps only that method could save his life.
"You two, go to the kitchen at once and make a life-preserving soup with ginseng, yellow essence, and Chinese millettia vine," Qin Yue'e ordered.
Jiang Xue and Lu Qi'er instantly panicked.
"Madam, although life-preserving soup can wake Li Shuidao, it can't cure the poison."
"That's right! Madam, not only can life-preserving soup not cure the poison, but the more nourishing it is, the worse the poison will become," Lu Qi'er added.
"I have my own way of curing the poison. Hurry!" Qin Yue'e said sternly.
Jiang Xue and Lu Qi'er exchanged a glance. With their master away, their martial aunt had the final say.
"Understood." Jiang Xue and Lu Qi'er took their leave.
The two personal maids looked respectfully at Qin Yue'e, then silently withdrew and closed the door behind them.
Only Qin Yue'e and the unconscious Li Shuidao remained in the room.
A trace of hesitation crossed Qin Yue'e's face.
But if she didn't do this, how could she save Shui'er?
Qin Yue'e paced in place, then quickly made up her mind. She took a deep breath and headed determinedly for her husband's study.
There was a secret chamber in Golden-Faced Gentleman's study, and only he and Qin Yue'e knew how to open it.
Qin Yue'e arrived at the study. It was empty.
She summoned her Spirit Companion, a tiny Red Snake that slithered through her sleeve, flicking its bright-red tongue from time to time.
"Go," she whispered.
The little red snake crawled out of her sleeve, then climbed up the wall and disappeared from view.
A short while later, a mechanism suddenly clicked on the desk. The bookcase then slowly shifted aside, revealing a passage.
Qin Yue'e stepped inside. This cramped secret chamber held all the treasures and cultivation resources Golden-Faced Gentleman had collected.
Dried second-tier Spirit Grass, Spirit materials from Demonic Beasts brimming with Spiritual Energy, unfinished magical artifacts, a great many Spirit Pills, several thousand Spirit Stones, and countless Jade Coins.
Deep in the secret vault sat a stone box.
The stone box was tightly shut and couldn't be forced open. Qin Yue'e formed a hand seal, and the stone box slowly opened a crack.
It was open...
Inside the stone box were four cultivation arts: Jade Toad Qi Cultivation Art, Ice Jade Palm, Golden Toad Qi Locking Method, and Taiyin Finger. These four arts were Golden-Faced Gentleman's four great specialties.
Qin Yue'e reached out toward Jade Toad Qi Cultivation Art.
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