Treating the Poison

At that moment, the six attackers who had been utterly ignored were filled with fury and the humiliation of being looked down upon.

Mu Chen's attitude, treating them as though they did not exist, was more unbearable than any insult.

"Quit putting on an act!" The boy with blood streaking his face looked ferocious as he forced the words through clenched teeth.

"Everyone, attack! Finish this quickly!" the tall, thin boy shouted. His spear was the first to unleash a fierce gust, and he followed its thrust, becoming a gray blur as he lunged straight at Mu Chen's center!

He knew that delay would only invite trouble. He had to defeat this mysterious black-clad boy before he and Luo Li could coordinate their attacks!

The others exchanged glances, murderous intent erupting as they moved together. Saber flashes and sword shadows sealed off every escape route!

Against the six of them attacking in concert, even Luo Li with her Level Three Spirit Body at its peak could only have avoided their sharpest edge, and would inevitably have suffered fresh wounds.

But the person they faced was Mu Chen.

Someone who possessed the innate chaos saint body dao embryo, whose spirit body had already reached level seven, and who had even tempered his fist intent!

In Luo Li's crystal-clear eyes, Mu Chen's figure seemed to blur for an instant.

Crack!

Whoosh-

Splat!

The Spirit Artifacts in the six boys' hands shattered outright!

Several Spirit Artifact fragments, carrying force Mu Chen had casually imparted to them, shot back in an instant and pierced their skulls!

In the blink of an eye, all of them were dead!

This was the first time Mu Chen had deliberately killed anyone. Before this, he had only knocked people unconscious and taken their tokens at most.

It felt... very calm.

His heart remained unruffled. He even felt an indifference that seemed perfectly natural.

That was only to be expected.

"They're all dealt with." Mu Chen walked up to Luo Li and examined her injuries. "Can you still walk?"

Luo Li's long eyelashes trembled, as though she had only just awakened from some distracted daze.

She tried to straighten her back, but that slight movement sent a sharp spasm of pain through the wound at the side of her lower abdomen. She gave a muffled groan, and her body swayed again.

Mu Chen frowned. Without another word, he stepped forward and carefully supported her.

Luo Li stiffened, but did not resist. The warmth and strength coming from Mu Chen's palm were unfamiliar to her, stirring a strange ripple deep in her heart.

Had Mu Chen not appeared in time, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

Mu Chen surveyed their surroundings, his gaze quickly settling on a cave half hidden by vines near the cliff wall on one side of the platform.

Supporting Luo Li, he headed toward it.

The cave was dry, with daylight filtering through fine cracks overhead, and its floor was reasonably level.

Mu Chen lit a fire and tidied the interior, then helped Luo Li over to a relatively even stretch of rock wall and let her slowly sit down against it.

Once Luo Li sat down, her taut nerves relaxed slightly, and intense pain and dizziness surged over her like a tide.

She clenched her teeth. Fine beads of cold sweat seeped from her temples, and her face grew even paler.

The real danger was not the wounds, but the poison!

The firelight illuminated Luo Li's bloodless face and bloodstained clothing, making her fragile beauty all the more breathtaking.

Mu Chen crouched beside Luo Li, his gaze falling on the hand she had pressed tightly against the side of her lower abdomen.

"Move your hand. Let me look at the wound," Mu Chen said, his tone betraying little emotion.

Luo Li lifted her eyes to him, the flickering flames reflected in her crystal-clear gaze. After a moment's hesitation, she slowly moved the hand covering her wound.

Mu Chen carefully lifted the hem of her blood-soaked clothes. Across her smooth, flat lower abdomen, a saber wound had turned an unnatural purplish black.

The skin around the wound was also faintly darkened. The poison was spreading slowly.

Besides that, Luo Li had several other wounds, some deep and some shallow. They were poisoned too, but the one on her lower abdomen was the worst.

If they were not treated promptly, the poison would invade her internal organs, and things would become much more troublesome.

It was remarkable that she had held out for so long and even killed three of her attackers.

"This poison is a little troublesome. If you had spiritual energy, you could force it out, but there's no spiritual energy on the Spirit Road..." Mu Chen wrestled with the problem. "And in your current condition, you might not survive bloodletting."

"How about I suck the poison out for you?"

Inspiration suddenly struck Mu Chen, only for him to realize that what he had said sounded rather inappropriate.

Luo Li's gaze, which had grown somewhat unfocused from blood loss and poison, sharpened abruptly.

She looked at the black-clad boy crouching before her. There was no particular expression on his face; he was simply waiting for her answer.

Suck it out?

How?

Almost the instant those thoughts arose, the answer became self-evident.

Luo Li lowered her eyes, her long silver lashes hiding the ripples beneath them.

"...All right."

Mu Chen was a little surprised. He had not expected Luo Li to agree!

Normally, someone sucking out poison could also be poisoned, but with the innate chaos saint body dao embryo and a Level Seven Spirit Body supporting him, this little poison amounted to nothing.

"Ahem. Forgive me, then."

Without much hesitation, Mu Chen leaned down.

His warm breath brushed the sensitive skin around her waist and abdomen. Luo Li gave a slight shiver, her fingers curling unconsciously.

She closed her eyes, her long, thick lashes trembling like the wings of a startled butterfly.

"Mm..."

A brief, muffled sound escaped Luo Li's throat. It was not entirely from pain; there was also an indescribable embarrassment and trembling.

Mu Chen's movements were steady-quick, precise, and forceful-with not the slightest hint of sensuality.

He sucked hard, then lifted his head, turned his face aside, and spat a mouthful of black blood onto the ground beside him. Its metallic sweetness carried a heavy bitterness and a numbing sensation.

He repeated the process over and over.

At first, Luo Li's body was as rigid as stone, but as the poisoned blood was drawn out little by little, the searing pain around her wounds and the spreading numbness did indeed ease.

The taut strings of her heart loosened slightly, and her attention drifted involuntarily to the person before her.

After an indeterminate amount of time, he finished treating every wound on Luo Li's body and stopped.

Large stretches of Luo Li's fair, jade-like skin were exposed now, making it difficult to look away.

"Most of the poison is out, but some has seeped into your flesh and meridians. You need a stronger constitution to resist what remains and heal your wounds."

Mu Chen suppressed the desire in his heart, took out some clothes to cover her, then produced the blood-red tokens he had searched from the attackers and held them out to Luo Li.

"Absorb the soul essence energy inside, strengthen your spirit body, and stimulate your own blood and vitality. Take it step by step."

Luo Li looked at the tokens he offered, then raised her eyes to him.

Of course she knew that sucking poisoned blood from such viciously poisoned wounds meant the rescuer had to take a risk as well.

"You..." she began.

"I'm fine." Knowing what she wanted to ask, Mu Chen interrupted her and extended the tokens a little farther.

"This little poison can't hurt me. Hurry. The longer you wait, the harder it'll be to clear out the remaining poison."

Luo Li hesitated no longer. She took the tokens, held them in her palm, and focused her mind inward.

Soon, several strands of pure soul essence energy were drawn from the tokens and flowed into her body through her palm.

Warm currents flowed along her meridians, nourishing her damaged body and stimulating the circulation of her own blood and vitality.

She could feel the numbness, itching, and pain around her wounds easing. That cold, sluggish sensation also slowly receded as her blood and vitality washed through her.

At last, the faintest trace of color returned to her paper-white face.

Mu Chen kept quiet watch beside her. Seeing her breathing gradually steady, he let out a breath of relief.

It was only because Luo Li could not yet bear the soul essence of an Earth Ranking Spirit Beast; otherwise, Mu Chen would not have minded giving her one.