Apart from Shi Qi and Shi Min, the other four members of the Shi Family were all in poor condition-their auras were unsteady, their faces purple and blue, and purplish-black fumes kept rising from their bodies.
Clearly, all four had been afflicted with some deadly poison.
They sat cross-legged on the ground, driving their cultivation techniques to the limit as they fought with all their might against the poison eating away at them.
Seeing Shi Qi return, Shi Min immediately went forward to greet him.
A cluster of flames still hovered above her head, illuminating their surroundings.
"Elder Shi Qi, did you find any medicinal herbs that can cure the poison?" Shi Min asked.
Shi Qi nodded and turned his hand over, producing a jade box.
The jade box opened, revealing the "moss" within.
"If I am not mistaken, this is Snake-Bone Moss. It can neutralize most snake venoms in the world. But how effective it is against Ink Viper venom remains to be seen."
As Shi Qi spoke, a wisp of magical power swept from his fingertips, dividing the Snake-Bone Moss in the jade box into four equal portions and sending one toward each of the four poisoned cultivators.
The four did not hesitate. They opened their mouths and swallowed the Snake-Bone Moss flying toward them.
Immediately afterward, visible pain crossed their faces, but all four gritted their teeth and endured, continuing to circulate their cultivation techniques.
The purplish-black fumes rising from their bodies grew denser, until a faint purple haze drifted through the air.
Shi Qi was not worried by this, however, as though he had anticipated it.
He turned his gaze into the distance.
There, a lake was faintly visible.
Shrouded in darkness, its waters were black as ink, like an abyss waiting to choose its prey