Difficult Choice, Strange Disease

"Surely Brother Wang had heard of the name Master of South Abundance Valley?"

Chen Linger stood up slowly on her bare jade feet, her back turned as she stepped onto the edge of the water platform.

With a dazed expression, she revealed a secret unknown to most.

A hundred years ago, White Light City had not been divided into inner and outer districts. Only three powers ruled the entire city.

The military, the Xuanyuan Clan, and the Tuoba Clan.

The three families each controlled immense wealth throughout White Light City, standing like a tripod, their defenses as solid as a moat of molten gold.

But in those days, the Tuoba Clan produced an existence of peerless talent, one whose gift for martial arts was practically monstrous.

In less than sixty years, his cultivation soared to the Dipper Pivot Realm. He awed White Light City with his might and suppressed even the clan's old ancestors and elders.

Under the leadership of that outstanding monster, the Tuoba Clan surged forward in triumph, forcibly overwhelming both the military and the Xuanyuan Clan.

Yet as the saying went, prosperity at its height must decline; the Heavenly Dao turned in cycles, and no power could flourish forever.

That year, the Northwestern Barbarians broke through several cities in succession and occupied several great oases in the Western Desert.

The raging tide of war swiftly spread to Blue Orchid Continent. From without to within, the Northwestern Barbarians charged in with savage force.

As one of White Light City's overlords, the Tuoba Clan received orders from the Central Plains court to join the military and the Xuanyuan Clan in resisting the Western Barbarians.

That battle shattered mountains and rivers, sent blood dancing upon the wind. The Western Barbarian elite emerged in full force, intending to repeat their prior strategy of directly seizing several continents.

In one burst of momentum, they sought to hammer to death every obstacle before their iron hooves.

The three powers joined forces to resist, but the Western Barbarians had gathered the strength of their entire tribe and were at the height of their military edge, beating the three sides back step by step.

Just as the Western Barbarian spearhead was about to drive straight into White Light City and the three clans could no longer withstand it, that monster of the Tuoba Clan broke through amid battle. In one stroke, he entered the third level of the High Origin Realm and beheaded three great Western Barbarian generals.

One man, one spear—he charged into the Western Barbarian army. Decisive and ruthless in slaughter, countless souls died beneath his spear, regardless of martial prowess, family standing, or status.

At a single word of disagreement, he would draw his spear and nail someone to death. In a fit of rage, with eyes wide, he would kill.

By himself, he blocked the Barbarian Tribe's advance and forcibly held them off until court reinforcements arrived.

Yet it was also that utterly horrific slaughter that saved all of White Light City.

The Northwestern Barbarians hated that Tuoba Clan genius to the bone. Thus, they laid a great formation in the perilous Black Bramble Valley of Blue Orchid Continent.

Their purpose was to bury alive this monster who had prevented their invading spearhead from advancing!

Sure enough, under the ambush in Black Bramble Valley, that Tuoba Clan monster fell into their trap and was severely wounded on the spot. Just as he was about to die, with his life hanging by a thread—

A yellow-robed Daoist appeared out of nowhere. Amid ten thousand troops, he rescued the Tuoba genius and retreated unharmed on his own.

After bringing the Tuoba Clan genius back to White Light City, he used extraordinary medical skill and knowledge of medicine to pull him back from the brink of death. He then opened a medicine shop outside the city.

It specialized in treating martial apprentices rescued from the battlefield beneath the Western Barbarian advance. He charged not a single coin, and his medical skill stood at the pinnacle—bringing the dead back to life and growing flesh upon white bones.

So long as one had not died outright on the battlefield, and still clung to a final breath when brought before the yellow-robed Daoist, one could keep one's life and continue resisting the foreign tribes.

Once Great Zhou's elite army reached the Western Desert, they swept forward, driving the Western Barbarians back ten thousand li. White Light City became the only surviving great city on all of Blue Orchid Continent.

After White Light City's crisis was resolved, that yellow-robed Daoist who had turned the tide brought the Tuoba Clan genius deep into the Central Plains.

The medicine shop he left behind was the predecessor of today's Medicine King Shop.

Besides that, the Daoist left behind the name "Master of South Abundance Valley."

"And my Chen Clan ancestor was the herb-gathering boy at Master of South Abundance Valley's side back then!"

"Our Chen Clan was able to grow as well. After a hundred years, White Light City expanded, and only then did it gain its distinction between inner and outer city!"

Wang Xuance's brows knitted tightly. Though he did not know why Chen Linger was recounting her Lineage's origins, having lived two lives, he keenly sensed a thread of unease quietly drawing near.

Changing the subject, Chen Linger lightly stepped forward on lotus feet. The "sharp peaks" wrapped in white cloth were perfectly round; though she was young and still immature, her entire body exuded the ripeness of a peach.

The sight left Wang Xuance restless, his blood and qi surging as he remained unable to calm himself for a long while.

Unaware of his abnormality, Chen Linger slightly raised her delicate brows and asked in an even tone.

"Wang Xuance, join my Chen Clan. Sell your life for me, and I will give you martial arts that can cultivate Martial Apertures! I will let you enter the Fetal Breath Realm and become a Martial Practitioner."

Her words were startling, leaving no room for retreat.

With a hum, a gust of cool wind suddenly swept past, brushing over the two of them and slowly carrying away the space between them.

After hesitating for a moment, Wang Xuance shook his head and refused.

"Miss Chen, I do not wish to join your Chen Clan. I believe the army is where I belong!"

"Wang Xuance, do you know how difficult it is to obtain martial arts capable of cultivating Martial Apertures in the army, even if you successfully enter the Three-Knock Blood Pass?"

"Hmph. For duckweed without roots like you, it is as difficult as ascending to the heavens!"

"Oh? Could Miss Chen tell me what one must do to obtain it?"

Chen Linger's tone was mocking. She had completely lost her former calm poise and spoke without the slightest courtesy.

"The military camp will give each of you a suit of iron armor and let you choose a weapon. Then you will enter the borderlands alone!"

Her eyes fixed on Wang Xuance's lean, refined face as she explained each word clearly.

"You must fight the Northwestern barbarians to the death for half a year. Killing ten people is the standard. For every additional head you bring back safely to White Light City, the greater your reward!"

At those words, Wang Xuance's pupils abruptly contracted, and a surge of excited joy instantly rose within him.

"Those who can kill ten heads each year are often fewer than one in a hundred, while those who can return alive to White Light City are even rarer!"

"Yet the soldiers who grow through such an assessment become terrifyingly strong. The captains who have risen through the city's army in recent years are all fierce generals of this background."

"Hehe, General Li from your outer city grew up this way back then. I heard he personally killed more than forty Western Barbarian soldiers in succession before returning to the city in blood-soaked clothes!"

"He was accepted as a direct disciple by the commanding inspector who guarded White Light City at the time."

"Well? Now that you know how harsh the requirements are, you should understand the gains hidden within the risks!"

"Miss Chen, thank you for your kindness, but I still wish to give it a try!"

"Mm... Since you understand that joining my Chen Clan... what?"

"You truly do not know what is good for you!"

The girl's eyes widened, disbelief filling them as she stared at Wang Xuance with a face full of doubt.

"Miss Chen, thank you for your kindness. It is simply that the path of joining a Lineage does not suit me, so I have no choice but to refuse!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Linger gave him a deeply meaningful look.

"Very well. Since you do not wish to join my Chen Clan, that does not hinder the cooperation between us!"

With a clack, a jade box flew from the girl's sleeve and landed steadily upon the bamboo table.

The moonlight was bright and the starlight faint as Wang Xuance emerged from Medicine King Shop, his expression clouded and uncertain.

At Water Orchid Pavilion, Chen Linger sat at the table, slowly savoring tea. Across from her sat a stooped old man with long, curved white brows, his expression grave as he watched the girl.

"Miss, the Lineage has already begun to split into two extremes. One group supports those led by Chen Feng, while the other is headed by the Second Elder. As for our side, we are truly too weak!"

"If this continues..."

"Enough!"

The girl's face was frosty, Sha Qi rolling between her brows. As the night wind blew past, it revealed a pair of flawless, snow-white eyes.

The old man merely met those eyes and immediately felt cold pierce into his bones. His entire body shuddered, and alarm filled his heart.

Fortunately, the girl only glanced at him before shifting her gaze away. As though granted a great pardon, the old man found cold sweat already streaming down his body, his heart trembling with fear.

"My brother is in urgent seclusion to break through. We absolutely cannot disturb him over this matter and make his mind restless, to the detriment of his breakthrough of the Mystic Gate!"

"Hmph. Old Bai served my grandfather, my father, and now me, remaining loyal and devoted through three generations. I know Old Bai spoke from good intentions, so I will not pursue the offense of such reckless words!"

Old Bai hurriedly nodded, no longer daring to make the slightest overstep.

"Miss, since that boy refuses to join our clan and now knows so much about our clan, why not..."

The white-browed old Daoist made a throat-slitting gesture, intending to kill him and silence him forever.

"What I told him was not truly confidential. It was merely some insignificant scraps!"

"This man killed three Qilian Mountains disciples by himself. That shows his will is firm and his methods extraordinary. He has already offended Chen Feng; we absolutely cannot force him into becoming our enemy!"

"The enemy of an enemy is a friend. He still has some value. Once that matter is done, simply throw him into the medicine pool!"

"We cannot touch him for now..."

Old Bai's eyes darkened as though he had recalled something.

"Miss, that day at the Martial Lecture Hall, General Li killed that Qilian Mountains man with a punch. The girl who appeared afterward was likely one of Qilian Mountains' Nine Great Holy Maidens. Did she not say she had come looking for something?"

Having spent many years with the white-browed elder, how could Chen Linger fail to understand what he meant?

"We only learned that some upheaval seems to have occurred in Qilian Mountains, and many disciples fled while carrying secret tomes of the Demon Sect. Yet for a Holy Maiden to act personally, the secret tome's importance must far exceed our imagination!"

"It absolutely cannot be brought alive out of Qilian Mountains by someone at the Two-Knock Blood Pass. It is highly unlikely that Wang Xuance could obtain Qilian Mountains martial arts."

"Besides..."

"Demon Sect martial arts and Buddhist Sect martial arts are both famously difficult to cultivate. Even if he obtained them, he could not master them without special medicinal ingredients and methods!"

"Hmph. Once he realizes how difficult it is to acquire martial arts that can cultivate Martial Apertures, he will naturally turn back!"

"If Elder Brother were not in seclusion, and I were not isolated and helpless, how could an outer-city man like you ever enter my sights!"

"I really did throw medicine at a sickness in desperation..."

Within Wang Xuance's small courtyard, he looked at the object inside the box.

In his mind, he recalled Chen Linger's instructions.

"One month from now, three hundred li outside the city, at Sunset Slope, explore an ancient cave dwelling with me!"

"The object in the box is the deposit. Once it is done, there will be another generous reward!"

The girl's expression then had allowed no refusal from him.

He knew that the dangers within certain ancient cave dwellings far exceeded what ordinary people imagined.

Of course, exploring ancient cave dwellings was itself a matter of high risk and high reward. Many had found martial arts, rare medicinal herbs, even incomparably formidable weapons, and more within such dwellings.

Any existence capable of establishing a cave dwelling in ancient times had reached the peak of martial arts, an existence who had entered divine awareness and seated illumination.

Even if an ordinary person obtained the smallest ancient remnant, their chances on the path of martial pursuit would increase by several degrees.

It was something countless people flocked toward, but to Wang Xuance, it was no different from snatching chestnuts from a fire and marching down a perilous path.

Leaving aside whether he could make time to leave the city with her, the situation outside the city alone left him helpless.

At some unknown time, an extremely strange plague had appeared on Blue Orchid Continent. So long as an ordinary person was touched by even the slightest trace of it—

Within as few as three days or as many as seven, their entire body would rot away, giving rise to all manner of illness.

Their deaths were ghastly, bleak, and miserable.

Entire populations of several small cities had been infected. Recently, countless people had begun fleeing in exile, throwing all of Blue Orchid Continent into a state where every rustle of wind and cry of crane seemed like an enemy, where every blade of grass and tree looked like a soldier.

No city dared accept the refugees at all. This left the herdsmen who had originally lived by following the grass in unspeakable misery, and they too began to contract the plague and perish.

So far, there had been no measure capable of stopping this strange epidemic.

When faced with this illness, only martial apprentices who cultivated martial arts could resist it. It had no effect whatsoever on Martial Practitioners.

Viewed in sequence, this was a venomous scheme aimed at the stability of Blue Orchid Continent!

If I leave the city with her, every danger will lie in the unknown!

But Wang Xuance understood that if he had refused at the time, word that he had killed Qilian Mountains disciples would have spread throughout the city.

When that happened, regardless of the truth, he would not escape trouble from Qilian Mountains.

He still carried the silk manuscript of the [Great Arm Scripture] in his clothes. It truly was a "path to seeking death."

"As for seeking protection?"

Wang Xuance could not help but smile bitterly. He was someone who had not even truly become a soldier yet—what help could the army offer him?

"I am riding a tiger and cannot get down now..."

Sitting on the ground, the youth felt an indescribable frustration in his heart. A tiger stood before him and wolves behind him; for him, one wrong step meant gambling with his life.

"Strength—I still need strength! If I were as powerful as General Li, who would dare threaten me!"

With a muffled bang, Wang Xuance swiftly threw a punch into the Iron-Wood Stake.

Fine cracks appeared along the dense wood grain. The fist mark sank deeply into it, making the wooden stake tremble with a ringing clang.