By the time the setting sun sank below the ridgeline, the two teams had met at the fork in the road.
Feng Xiaotian's team arrived first. Seven people stood in the clearing at the fork, their shadows stretching long. Lu Hanxiao leaned against a tree trunk, the presence of his Snowy Owl Martial Soul having settled completely. Jiang Lin stood at the edge of the group, that layer of pale golden light shining quietly in his light brown eyes. Ye Qingyu and Su Ran stood side by side, neither saying a word. Lu Qing carried his Wind Scythe on his back, with Cheng Luo standing beside him. Feng Xiaotian stood at the very front, looking west.
Before long, footsteps came from the woods to the west. Feng Lingtian led the way, followed by Zhong Yue, Su Mei'er, Ji Ning, Shi Yan, and Bai Yu. Six people, not one missing.
Feng Xiaotian glanced at the people behind his younger brother. "Everyone finished?"
"Zhong Yue, Su Mei'er, and Ji Ning have all finished," Feng Lingtian said.
Feng Xiaotian nodded and was about to say something when Su Mei'er suddenly stepped out of the group.
"Wait." Su Mei'er's voice was quiet, but everyone heard her.
Feng Lingtian looked at Su Mei'er. Her eyes were closed, the perception of her Wind-Winged Spirit Fox fully unleashed. A few breaths later, she opened her eyes and looked deeper into the mountains.
"Over there." Su Mei'er pointed northwest. "There are poison-attribute fluctuations. Not a Soul Beast-a place. Very concentrated."
Feng Xiaotian and Feng Lingtian exchanged a glance.
"How far?" Feng Xiaotian asked.
Su Mei'er fell silent for a breath as she estimated. "About half an hour's journey. The poisonous vapor is very dense, but it isn't spreading. It's as though something has locked it in."
Something stirred in Feng Lingtian's mind. Poisonous vapor that was locked in rather than spreading meant something there was absorbing or suppressing the toxins. He had read about this in the True Explanation of the Dao of Alchemy. Something capable of suppressing toxins was either an exceedingly rare herb or a special natural environment. Either way, it was worth a look.
Feng Lingtian looked at Feng Xiaotian. "Brother, I want to take a look."
Feng Xiaotian nodded. He turned and swept his gaze over everyone. "Su Mei'er has found a place. There may be something inside. Let's go take a look together."
The thirteen of them formed up again. Feng Xiaotian led, with Feng Lingtian and Su Mei'er following on either side. Su Mei'er kept her eyes closed, relying entirely on her Martial Soul's perception to guide the way.
The farther northwest they went, the damper the air became. The firm soil beneath their feet grew soft, sinking a little with every step. The trees gradually thinned, giving way to low shrubs. Their leaves were an unnatural deep purple, their edges curled as though something had corroded them.
Su Mei'er stopped. "We're here."
Ahead lay a valley shrouded in poisonous mist. The mist was so dense it had almost become tangible, stretching before them like a grayish-purple wall. It churned, but just as Su Mei'er had said, it did not spread outward. All of it was confined within the valley, as though an invisible barrier enclosed it.
Feng Lingtian crouched, pinched up some soil, and held it beneath his nose to sniff. There was a faint herbal scent in the soil, mingled with the bitterness of the poisonous mist and almost impossible to distinguish, but his years of refining pills had made him extremely sensitive to such smells.
"Something inside is absorbing the toxins." Feng Lingtian stood. "Not suppressing them-absorbing them. It draws the toxins from the soil and air and turns them into nourishment."
Feng Xiaotian glanced at his younger brother. "Can we go in?"
Feng Lingtian took a jade box from his storage pouch and opened it. Inside were several pale brown pills the size of mung beans, their surfaces covered in fine markings. They were unfinished Clear Pivot Turbidity-Transforming Pills. Although they could not neutralize deeply accumulated poisons within the body as the finished pills could, they were enough to resist the corrosive effects of external poisonous mist for a short time.
"Hold one in your mouth. Don't swallow it." Feng Lingtian distributed the pills to everyone. "They'll last half an hour. We must be out before then."
With pills in their mouths, the thirteen stepped into the poisonous mist.
The scene inside the valley was even stranger than outside. Not a blade of grass grew on the ground. The rocks were a sickly gray-green, their surfaces coated in a slimy, mosslike substance. Bitterness filled the air; every breath felt like smearing a layer of medicinal dregs over their tongues.
At its deepest point lay a swamp. Here, the poisonous mist was so dense they could barely see their own outstretched hands. A rock protruded from the middle of the swamp, and on it grew a deep green herb. Its leaves formed a spiral, their veins gleaming silver-white and glowing faintly in the mist. As the surrounding poisonous mist approached, an invisible force slowly drew it into the leaf veins.
Feng Lingtian's breath stopped for an instant.
Jade phosphorus poison-clearing grass. He had seen it in the illustrated catalog of the True Explanation of the Dao of Alchemy. Deep green throughout, with silver-white leaf veins, it fed on poisonous mist and could neutralize Martial Soul toxins accumulated within the body. It was extraordinarily effective against the backlash of snake-type and poison-type Martial Souls.
An inky-green giant python lay coiled beside the rock. Its scales gleamed dimly, and its body was thicker than a grown man's waist, forming a small hill where it coiled. A Jade Phosphorus Poison Python, Feng Lingtian judged. It was around eight hundred years old, but within this poisonous mist, its combat strength far exceeded that of an ordinary eight-hundred-year Soul Beast.
Feng Xiaotian glanced at the python, then at the jade phosphorus poison-clearing grass on the rock.
"You want that herb?" Feng Xiaotian asked.
Feng Lingtian nodded.
Feng Xiaotian asked nothing more. He turned and began assigning tasks.
"Zhong Yue, Shi Yan, draw the python's attention from the front. Su Mei'er, restrain its movements with Wind Lightning Chain. Lu Hanxiao, pinpoint its weak spot. Ji Ning, Feng Lingtian, attack from the flanks. Ye Qingyu, enhance the whole team with your zither music. Bai Yu, give Zhong Yue and Shi Yan your bell tones. Lu Qing, Cheng Luo, Jiang Lin, Su Ran, hold the line and provide support."
All thirteen moved at once.
Zhong Yue and Shi Yan charged side by side at the front. Zhong Yue drove his phantom tortoise shell to its fullest power, while Shi Yan activated his Bell Martial Soul at the same time, enveloping himself in a pale golden bell-shaped phantom. With their two defenses layered together, they plunged into the depths of the poisonous mist like two shields.
Sensing the threat, the python abruptly raised its enormous head from its coils, opened its mouth, and spewed a torrent of inky-green venom. The venom splashed over Zhong Yue's phantom tortoise shell with a corrosive hiss, eating a depression into its surface.
Zhong Yue gritted his teeth without slowing.
Bai Yu's bell tones arrived. The wind chime's enhancement settled over Zhong Yue and Shi Yan, making both defensive phantoms more solid. Shi Yan gave a low shout, and his Bell Martial Soul's phantom shuddered violently, sending out a ring of sound waves. The python's body briefly faltered under their impact.
Now.
Su Mei'er's Wind Lightning Chain shot in from the side and wrapped around the python's neck. Lightning burst forth, and the python convulsed violently, its enormous tail thrashing wildly through the swamp and sending mud flying. The Wind Lightning Chain pulled taut, and Su Mei'er's feet plowed two grooves into the rock, but she did not let go.
Silver-white light shone in Lu Hanxiao's pupils. Night Owl Gaze activated, breaking the python's movements into individual trajectories before his eyes. He saw it. Before every lash of its tail, the scales on its neck contracted first. Before every spray of venom, the muscles of its lower jaw swelled first.
"The neck, third scale." Lu Hanxiao's voice was quiet, but everyone heard him.
Feng Lingtian and Ji Ning moved at the same time.
Feng Lingtian unleashed Gale Flash Step at full power, cutting in from the side. Ji Ning darted in from another direction and activated Swallow Return, displaying the Hummingbird Martial Soul's speed advantage to the fullest in that instant-he changed direction twice in midair, each turn faster than the last. Their attacks struck precisely at the third scale on the python's neck. The Peregrine Falcon's sharpness combined with the hummingbird's agility, shattering the scale and drawing a piercing hiss from the python.
Feng Xiaotian struck.
He used no flashy techniques, merely gathering Soul Power into his right fist and driving a punch into the python's shattered scale. The Gale Twin-Headed Wolf's savage strength penetrated its body. The python stiffened abruptly, its enormous head rearing high before crashing down.
The python's body twitched a few times in the swamp, then lay still.
Stepping on the phantom tortoise shell Zhong Yue raised for him, Feng Lingtian carefully approached the rock in the center of the swamp. The jade phosphorus poison-clearing grass glowed faintly in the poisonous mist, the silver-white markings along its leaf veins pulsing gently like blood vessels. He took out the jade box, dug up the entire herb intact with its roots and soil, placed it inside, and closed the lid tightly.
Su Mei'er withdrew her Wind Lightning Chain and glanced at him. "You took such a big risk just for one herb?"
Feng Lingtian put the jade box away. "It can save someone's life someday."
Su Mei'er asked no more, but gave the jade box another look.
By the time the thirteen withdrew from the mist-shrouded valley, the last trace of dark red on the horizon had sunk below the ridgeline. Dusk closed in on all sides, and the Heavenly Peak Mountain Range fell quiet, with only the sound of wind passing through the treetops.
Feng Xiaotian walked at the front, with Feng Lingtian beside him.
"You recognized that herb?" Feng Xiaotian asked.
"Jade phosphorus poison-clearing grass," Feng Lingtian said. "It can neutralize Martial Soul toxins accumulated in the body. I'll still have to study its specific uses when we get back."
Feng Xiaotian nodded. Feng Lingtian paused, then added something else.
"Brother, this herb has another use." Feng Lingtian spoke quietly enough that only the brothers could hear. "I heard there's a senior among the Titled Douluo who uses poison, named Dugu Bo. His Martial Soul backlash is very severe. If we can help him solve that problem, perhaps we can obtain something in exchange."
Feng Xiaotian glanced at his younger brother. "What?"
"Immortal herbs," Feng Lingtian said. "Dugu Bo has a treasure land where, supposedly, many immortal-grade medicinal herbs that have vanished from the outside world still grow. If we can get in, it will benefit our entire team."
Feng Xiaotian was silent for a moment. "Are you confident?"
"Not yet," Feng Lingtian said. "But with this jade phosphorus poison-clearing grass, at least we have a chance to open the conversation."
Feng Xiaotian nodded and asked no more. His younger brother never loosed an arrow without a target.
Toward the back of the group, Zhong Yue still walked two paces ahead of Bai Yu. Bai Yu walked with her head lowered, the wind chime on her wrist swaying gently with her steps and giving off the faintest of chimes. Su Ran and Ye Qingyu walked side by side at the very rear, neither speaking, but at some point, the rhythm of their footsteps had become exactly the same.
Feng Lingtian glanced back. Thirteen people stretched into a long line in the dusk.
Once we get back, it'll be time to finalize the official team roster, he thought.
Feng Lingtian's gaze swept over each of them. Zhong Yue had not retreated half a step before the python; his defense was the foundation of the entire team. Su Mei'er had never let her Wind Lightning Chain slacken from beginning to end. Her control of the battle's tempo as a Control System member had been flawless. Lu Hanxiao had said only five words-"The neck, third scale"-but those five words had given everyone's attacks a single point to strike. Ji Ning's Swallow Return grew faster each time; he was proving the value of the Agility Attack System through his actions.
And there was Jiang Lin. Feng Lingtian glanced at Jiang Lin in the middle of the group. Jiang Lin remained as quiet as ever, his light brown eyes watching the path ahead. Throughout the entire battle in Poison Miasma Valley, Jiang Lin had not launched an attack, but his Spirit Mapping had remained over everyone's minds. Every movement of the python, every shift in the flow of its Soul Power-everyone had seen them in advance.
Feng Lingtian withdrew his gaze.
The outline of the official team had already emerged with perfect clarity in this battle.
The thirteen walked out of the Heavenly Wind Mountain Range.