The horrific scene before them seemed to freeze the very air.
After a brief, deathly silence, an unprecedentedly fierce killing intent blazed in Princess Taiping's phoenix eyes.
"Well... what a fine Mingyang! What a fine high adept of the Daoist Order!"
Princess Taiping's voice seemed to drift up from the deepest pits of hell, every word carrying a bone-piercing chill. "I... will grind his bones to dust and scatter his ashes!"
Lu Changfeng stood beside her and drew a deep breath, trying to suppress the killing intent boiling in his chest.
He had always believed in "keeping one's own virtue intact when powerless." He knew full well that in Chang'an, where waves surged and clouds shifted treacherously, his strength was meager and enemies surrounded him. The wisest course was to protect himself, avoid inviting trouble, and certainly not indulge in pity for all the world's suffering.
Throughout his journey, he had always weighed the costs and benefits that way.
But now, witnessing the silent despair inside these iron cages, seeing children who should have been innocent and carefree reduced to experimental subjects with vacant eyes and twisted bodies... he could barely stomach it.
Lu Changfeng crouched and carefully approached an iron cage, trying to examine the condition of the child nearest him.
The child flinched, crimson eyes filled with fear and bewilderment, strange rasping sounds coming from the throat.
"Don't be afraid. We're here to save you."
Lu Changfeng made his voice as gentle as possible while circulating his Shennong Qi. A faint, soothing glow rose from his fingertips as he slowly reached toward the child's wrist, hoping to investigate the condition within.
Yet just as his fingers were about to touch the child-
"Hrrr!!!"
The child suddenly let out an inhuman growl. Bloody light flared in those eyes, and primal savagery replaced the previously numb expression as the child lunged to bite Lu Changfeng's hand!
The speed far exceeded that of an ordinary child!
Lu Changfeng reacted swiftly as well. With the swift-sword inheritance, his movements were more agile than before, and he quickly withdrew his hand, avoiding the bite. His heart sank nonetheless-the "ape transformation" and violent temperament recorded in the notes were real! These children had not merely been altered physically; their minds had also been severely damaged and distorted!
"Their minds are impaired, and the qi and blood within them are raging out of control. Ordinary methods of soothing them probably won't work..."
Lu Changfeng stood, his eyes fixed on the children, and said gravely, "They'll likely need medicines with yin properties to counteract it, followed by acupuncture to gradually guide out the residual medicinal power and violent energy in their bodies. It will be a long process, and... they may never fully recover."
Princess Taiping keenly caught the subtle change in Lu Changfeng's tone, along with the flash of sorrow in his eyes, and something stirred faintly in her heart.
Previously, she had admired Lu Changfeng's talent, medical skill, and cunning, but had always felt that he was too calculating, too rational, as though an inscrutable veil lay between them. Now, seeing the wavering concern he naturally revealed before these children made him seem more real, more "human."
A trace of softness crept into Taiping's gaze.
"No matter what, we must save them. Our immediate priority is to get them out of here safely..."
Taiping looked at the notes in Lu Changfeng's hand. "The Inner Guard will arrive soon. Do those notes say anything about that man's origins?"
"No, only the experimental process... but his mastery of pill refining is extraordinary!"
Lu Changfeng raised the book, his expression solemn. "Judging by the dates, only three or four months have passed since his first experiment, yet he's already refined three kinds of medicine, each building on the last! The first, the [Beastheart Pill], can mutate apes, giving them steel sinews and iron bones and making them incredibly ferocious-turning them into 'Blood Apes' that obey his commands."
"The second, the [Soldier Blood Tonic], goes a step further. It dramatically increases the strength of the 'Soldiers' who take it while preserving part of their reason, making them more controllable humanoid weapons."
"Finally, he experimented on these children to develop a third medicine, intended to greatly increase a person's strength while suppressing the side effects of 'ape transformation' as much as possible and maintaining human form... judging solely by his efficiency and approach in using the Blood Tai Sui to refine pills and medicines, this man's skill ranks among the finest in the world!"
Taiping frowned. "Soldiers?!"
Lu Changfeng briefly explained the notes describing the second-stage "Soldier" experiments conducted on death-sworn operatives and prisoners.
After hearing him out, Princess Taiping's expression grew uglier still, her chest rising and falling slightly with anger.
What filled her with the greatest fury and resentment was...
Behind this "Mingyang" most likely stood the Li Tang imperial family...
Lu Changfeng offered a warning. "The notes say the 'Soldiers' have already been created, but none appeared during the encirclement earlier. Either they still have hidden problems, or he's keeping them in reserve! Your Highness, you must be careful while searching the Sun-Burning Temple."
"Mm."
Taiping nodded, raised her hand, and circulated her qi. With a series of pointing gestures through the air, she sent the apes and children in both stone chambers into a deep sleep.
Lu Changfeng crouched again and carefully examined the children's pulses and internal conditions. The more he examined them, the more he sighed, and the tighter his brow furrowed.
The Blood Tai Sui's medicinal power was fierce. Children's physiques had yet to take their final shape, and their meridians were supple, making them easiest to reshape with medicinal power and draw out their potential. Yet they were also the most fragile-the consequences of pulling up seedlings to hasten their growth were far worse for them than for adults!
Their life potential was like candles forcibly set alight. The glow seemed dazzling, but in truth they were burning away faster. Their lifespans had already been gravely diminished, and the foundations of their bodies were all but destroyed. Such wanton cruelty toward young children in pursuit of a goal made the suppressed killing intent in Lu Changfeng's chest surge once more, refusing to settle.
Such utterly conscienceless scum-nothing short of killing him can quell this fury!
For the first time, the determination to kill someone rose so clearly in his heart!
I wonder whether the [Peacock Plume] can kill a fifth-realm Great Grandmaster...
At that thought, he chose to claim his reward. A slight weight settled inside his robe as an object appeared out of thin air.
At the same time, a vast, intricate torrent of information poured into his mind-not insights into martial arts, but countless complex mechanisms, material ratios, forging temperatures...
Together, they formed the design blueprints for the Peacock Plume-the [Peacock Diagram]!
The Peacock Plume was renowned throughout the world, its power boundless. When activated, hidden weapons shot in every direction like a peacock spreading its tail, brilliant and dazzling, capable of scattering an enemy's soul while their eyes and mind were overwhelmed. Its name was beautiful and its power immense, yet its shape was merely a simple cylinder cast from pure gold, a little over eight inches long.
Its power was closely tied to the materials used in its construction and the strength of the gunpowder packed inside.
In theory, if it were made with sufficiently exceptional materials, killing a Great Grandmaster was not impossible!
He unconsciously ran his fingers over the cold, dangerous cylinder inside his robe. His gaze swept over the children used as experimental subjects once more as he considered how to finish off that bastard...
Suddenly, a thought he had always overlooked-one that could even be called somewhat heretical-flashed through the darkness like lightning, abruptly illuminating his mind!
Experimental subjects...
The Noble Physician's Canon...
Rewards for treating illness and saving lives...
All this time, he had passively waited for "noble patients" with difficult illnesses to come to him, or stumbled across them by chance as he had tonight, then treated them and saved their lives to earn rewards.
This approach seemed reliable, but it was riddled with uncertainty, and the speed at which his strength improved depended entirely on luck.
But if I approach it differently, could I do as these experiments did... actively "create" patients, then personally "treat" them, repeatedly triggering rewards from the Medical Canon and rapidly growing stronger?
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