Method of Saving People: Hope

Ren Jie did not delay. He took the paper and pen and began writing.

One sheet...

Two sheets...

Three sheets...

Ren Jie wrote incredibly fast. He originally did not know how to use a writing brush, but as he wrote, he naturally grasped its principles. His handwriting became increasingly fluid, and his speed increased as well. Sheet after sheet covered in various materials was passed to Ren Tianzong beside him.

Ren Tianzong looked at the sheets Ren Jie had finished, each filled with all kinds of materials. At first, he did not think much of them, but the longer he looked, the more astonished his expression became.

Because when Ren Jie had first begun writing, it was obvious that he did not know how to do it. Yet gradually, his strokes became rounder and smoother, his handwriting more beautiful and natural. Then, as his speed increased, the words became increasingly bold and unrestrained.

One could judge a person by their handwriting. Ren Tianzong discovered that after Ren Jie had written more than ten sheets and several hundred characters, his handwriting had become exceptionally smooth, arrogant, and wild, as though it revealed the heart of the person himself.

How was that possible? Had he truly learned to write in such a short time? What came later was better than the work of ordinary scholars who had practiced for over twenty years. Most unimaginable of all, he had already formed his own style.

Sixth Master Ren Tianzong was somewhat better off. He was merely shocked and astonished, because more of his attention was focused on the prescriptions and materials written on the paper.

Over the years, he had researched many different fields. Gradually, he realized that Ren Jie's command of every single thing was no worse than the masters he had invited. Although these poisons, formations, and restrictions were not especially advanced, they were all exquisitely ingenious, and those people's arrangements had been the best possible.

How old was Ren Jie? How could he possibly achieve this too—and across more than a dozen fields in one breath?

Moreover, beyond the parts that fit together, there were subtle adjustments that made everything even more exquisite. Thinking of what Ren Jie had said earlier, Sixth Master Ren Tianzong seemed to sense that the things Ren Jie was writing could be linked together. They were no longer entirely independent.

Sixth Master Ren Tianzong was immersed in it all, while Wan Hong stood beside him staring blankly at Ren Jie's handwriting, as though he were dreaming.

The more he looked, the more bewildered he became. He could not believe that someone could write a single character and improve as much as others did after training bitterly for a year, then stabilize after writing a few dozen characters and gradually form a style. That was simply utter nonsense.

Even if someone were talking nonsense or bragging, no one would brag like that. It was too absurd.

Yet the facts were right before his eyes. Wan Hong held it in for a long time before finally coming up with a reasonable explanation in his mind. Right, Ren Jie had secretly been practicing. He had merely hidden it in ordinary times, and now he was finally no longer hiding it. Right, only that explanation made sense.

Ren Jie had no time to care what they thought. Damn it, nineteen interlocking links involving more than a dozen different fields—the possible changes were too numerous to count.

He wrote without stopping for a full three hours before finally coming to a halt.

"Th-these are all necessary?" Ren Tianzong held a thick stack of paper in his hands, thicker than several books piled together. All these medicinal materials and ingredients combined would be enough to fill a wooden house like his.

"No, one thing is still missing." Ren Jie held the brush in his hand and stared blankly at the empty paper before slowly speaking.

"What is missing?" Ren Tianzong now somewhat believed that Ren Jie truly had a solution. Though it was difficult to imagine how he had done it, he had genuinely seen hope. He urgently wanted to know what that one missing thing was.

Leaving aside everything else, just the combination of materials and medicinal ingredients from so many fields in the stack he held was not something one could fake even if one tried.

"Mm..." Ren Jie hesitated slightly, then slowly wrote four words on the paper: "Heavenly Profound Cold Marrow."

"Heavenly Profound Cold Marrow—is it extremely precious, or difficult to find?" Sixth Master had already seen the problem in Ren Jie's expression. His research into certain fields had all been prompted by Yun Feng'er's symptoms, while the Heavenly Profound Cold Marrow Ren Jie had written was needed for the two symptoms Yun Feng'er had not yet suffered an outbreak from. It was also the most crucial thing, so Ren Tianzong truly did not know about it.

"It is not completely impossible to obtain, but it is exceptionally rare. It could be said that the movement of every drop would cause a huge sensation. And it is something needed for the final Gu Poison. Since the Gu Poison has not erupted and no one knows exactly what kind of Gu Poison it is, there are many ways to control it. But unless one uses some overwhelmingly powerful object or heavenly treasure, the most suitable thing at present is Heavenly Profound Cold Marrow."

Ren Jie said worriedly, "Judging from the methods of the person who poisoned Sixth Aunt, this person was extremely sinister and vicious. He wanted Sixth Uncle to watch Sixth Aunt while being powerless to help, all while continuously throwing his own life into it, until the two of them finally died together after years of pain, torment, and suffering. A person like that could not possibly have failed to leave something behind as a safeguard. I think this Heavenly Profound Cold Marrow should be what he left behind. He may have a way of knowing about its whereabouts. The other materials are manageable, but once we set our sights on this Heavenly Profound Cold Marrow, we may alert the person who harmed Sixth Aunt back then."

Sixth Master Ren Tianzong's expression changed as well. He wished he could immediately drag that person out and slice him into a thousand pieces, yet even that would not ease his hatred. But no matter how much he hated that person, saving Yun Feng'er was more important.

Yet after hearing Ren Jie say this, he felt waves of chill run through him. What kind of person would go to such lengths just to torment the husband and wife to this extent?

"This Heavenly Profound Cold Marrow condenses within a Billion-Year Ice Mountain. Like Earth Milk, it possesses a unique cold nature. It naturally suppresses Gu Poison and can balance the chain reactions of other poisons, so it is indispensable. We must obtain it carefully and secretly, without letting anyone discover it. Besides that..."

Ren Jie looked solemnly at Ren Tianzong. "The other medicines cannot be gathered in haste either. With so many medicines, even collecting them through the Ren Family's channels would cause quite a stir. So we must keep it down and hold steady. Sixth Uncle, think about it. So many years have already passed. Are we really in such a hurry over a few more months?"

In truth, after Ren Jie had written all these things down, even he felt shocked. The depth of the poisoner's scheming was terrifying.

Sixth Uncle had used his own life to sustain the other person's survival for so many years. One could imagine how deeply he loved Sixth Aunt. Under normal circumstances, once he knew the method, even if he gathered the materials in secret, he would certainly want to obtain everything needed as quickly as possible.

But if they did that, the other party would discover it. This showed that the other party had been keeping watch all these years. The more one thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

"Rest assured. Though your Sixth Uncle did not think of a solution, I have spent many years contemplating the person who harmed your Sixth Aunt. I understand something of his sinister, vicious nature and the terror of his plotting. This matter will not alert anyone in the Ren Family, nor will we use any of the Ren Family's channels. We will not even purchase anything within the Bright Jade Dynasty. Everything will be split into several hundred batches and sought through different means. No one will discover any connection to these medicines. Not only the Profound Heavenly Cold Marrow—even the other slightly more precious medicines will be handled this way." Sixth Master Ren Tianzong had finally seen a glimmer of dawn after great darkness. Naturally, he would not risk even the slightest danger. He nodded and spoke in a deep voice.

Hearing Sixth Uncle say that, Ren Jie was reassured.

"Then good. Sixth Uncle need not bother seeking anyone else for the alchemy either. When the time comes, I will do it personally. Though the final products are all High Grade Potions, their complexity far surpasses ordinary Supreme Grade Potions. Even finding a Spirit Alchemist might not be enough, unless we find someone whose research into potions has reached a certain level. That is also a point where we could easily be exposed, so I may as well do it myself." Ren Jie had already considered the final refinement of the antidote.

Wan Hong, listening at the side, felt speechless. Ren Jie's words were practically a roundabout way of boasting about how capable he was. He truly was not modest at all.

"You know alchemy too?" Sixth Master Ren Tianzong stared at Ren Jie in disbelief. Just how many secrets did this boy still have? At that moment, he suddenly felt that he had never understood this boy at all.

When Wan Hong heard Sixth Master's astonished question, he froze as well. Just now, he had only thought Ren Jie was indirectly boasting, but he had not realized that issue.

"Didn't Sixth Uncle summon me here to ask whether Fang Qi's poisoning had anything to do with me..." Ren Jie admitted without concealing anything, "That poison was made by Fatty and me."

Although Sixth Master Ren Tianzong had considered that possibility, like everyone else, the poison had been so overbearing that the enormous Fang Family had been left helpless. Thus, without realizing it, he had ruled Ren Jie out.

He had made the same mistake as everyone else. Subjectively, he believed that while Ren Jie was the most likely suspect, that very fact meant Ren Jie was even less likely to be responsible. If he truly possessed such ability, why would he act when suspicion against him was so great? No one would do that.

Now that he heard Ren Jie admit it personally, and recalled everything that had just happened, Sixth Master Ren Tianzong remained stunned for quite some time, unable to react.

"Then everything that has happened these past few days was intentionally arranged by the fam... ily... head? Is the family head not afraid that this will bring even greater trouble?" Wan Hong grew more astonished the more he thought about it. While Sixth Master Ren Tianzong was still dumbfounded, he cautiously asked from the side. Or rather, he could not help asking.

"With the foundation my father left behind, even if I spent decades eating, drinking, playing around, and being a family head who did nothing, there would have been no problem letting them do as they pleased and fight among themselves. It would not have mattered if I left it for others to resolve later. But the situation is clearly more terrifying than I imagined. They all want me dead, so why should I be polite with them? Trouble? I am the dignified head of the Ren Family. What trouble would I fear? Besides, even if I said I wanted to be like my old man, who would believe me?"

"What's more..." Ren Jie smiled at Ren Tianzong. "Don't I have Sixth Uncle backing me up? The moment I openly entered the Library Pavilion, Sixth Uncle secretly took control of it. The moment I showed my power, Sixth Uncle cleared out all the people around my courtyard. I am not fighting them alone, so what do I have to fear?"

Ren Jie had long noticed the subtle changes around him. Someone had been secretly helping him with certain things. At first, because of the Smiling Old Man's appearance, Ren Jie had considered him. He had even wondered whether they were Sixth Uncle's people, but later he realized those were two separate matters.

Even Sixth Uncle did not know of the Smiling Old Man's existence, while the other matters were Sixth Uncle helping him.

Originally, they had thought Ren Jie would evade the matter, or react in some way, or that they would need to negotiate. Yet before they could even ask, this incident had occurred, and Ren Jie had then laid everything bare himself.

Wan Hong stood there dumbly, thinking that this was simple—far too simple. It was so direct that it was almost unbearable.

"Haha..." Sixth Master Ren Tianzong suddenly threw back his head and laughed. He laughed until tears flowed from his eyes, then finally stepped forward and abruptly embraced Ren Jie. "Good, good! Eldest Brother has an heir! I knew it—how could Eldest Brother's son possibly be like that? Dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes. How could Ren Tianxing's son be lacking? Good, good..."