"Bishop Salas!"
Qian Renxue and Ning Fengzhi followed Salas to the special ward of the Martial Spirit Temple. When the group of people guarding the bench outside saw that it was Salas, they quickly stood up and bowed.
These people were the parents of the seven members of the Canghui Academy Team. After the Canghui Team had an accident, Salas immediately arranged for the seven to be placed in a special ward of the Martial Spirit Temple and found the best medical doctors to treat them.
Unfortunately, the injuries suffered by those seven people were too fatal, affecting their brains, spirits, and even their souls after their Martial Soul were shattered.
The brain and mind are relatively easier to deal with, but the soul is a much more difficult issue.
This level of injury is beyond the healing power of even the Nine Heart Begonia, the strongest healing-type Martial Soul on the continent.
"Have you all thought this through? Given the physical condition of those five children, forcibly extracting their memories would almost certainly result in their deaths..."
Ning Fengzhi then spoke up, intending to explain the risks and consequences involved, hoping to discourage these people from making a decision.
Before Ning Fengzhi could finish speaking, one of them sneered.
"I know you. Bishop Salas told us that you are the sect leader of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and your daughter is in the Shrek Team."
It's true that we little people like us can't afford to offend someone as important as you, but even if we are small fry, we still have to demand justice from you today.
"Of course, if you can save our child, this matter can be dropped; if not, there's no need to waste any more words."
Although the others looked at Ning Fengzhi with fear, they were filled with resentment even more.
After all, their children are lying in the hospital ward, and some of them are even only children.
Watching their children grow thinner and thinner each day, and even witnessing two couples lose their children to heartbreak, how could they not feel hatred?
This question left Ning Fengzhi speechless, because he also had no way to bring those children back to life.
He was secretly furious about this. If Salas hadn't intervened, would he have stooped so low as to argue with these lowly people?
"Uncles and aunts, I am Xue Qinghe, the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire. I understand your anxiety and sorrow. I guarantee with my position as Crown Prince that I will give you a satisfactory explanation."
But your request is too extreme. In these final moments, I still want to ask you to give me one more chance to do some final treatment.
Qian Renxue stepped forward, gazing at each person with gentle sincerity.
Having received the education from the Spirit Network, she naturally understood that these ordinary people were the cornerstone of the empire, so she did not mean to underestimate them.
"Your Highness, you flatter us. If you have a way to cure this, please do so quickly!"
The person who had spoken earlier suddenly brightened up, looking at Qian Renxue with eager anticipation, as did the others around her.
If they could save their children, why would they bother going against a powerful force like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?
"Don't worry, I will do my best."
Nodding reassuringly, Qian Renxue asked Salas, "Bishop Salas, I wonder if any celestial medicine could save the lives of those children?"
"A rare and precious medicine?"
Salas was shocked as he stared at Qian Renxue, never expecting that the Crown Prince would utter such a forbidden phrase.
"Your Highness, please wait a moment. I will go and ask Elder Xue to see if it can be done."
After a moment's thought, Salas opened the ward door and inquired about the health of the children in the Canghui Team who were inside.
He was a complete novice when it came to medical matters. Although he had learned about the physical condition of the group from Elder Xue, he was not sure whether a rare and precious medicine could cure their injuries.
He dared not speak rashly about things he was unclear about, after all, it concerned several lives.
If his negligence causes those children to lose their last chance for treatment, not only will the enforcers of the Spirit Hall not let him off the hook, but his own conscience will be troubled for the rest of his life.
"Your Highness, do you mean...?"
Ning Fengzhi seemed to understand what the Crown Prince was thinking.
"Right now, the priority is to save their lives. Once their lives are saved, everything else can be negotiated."
Qian Renxue spoke calmly. She genuinely wanted to use a divine medicine to save the five people in the ward, even if it was just to save their lives, it would be completely worth it.
In her view, human life is of paramount importance. As long as there is a chance to save a life, it would be worth it even if it were ten rare and precious medicinal herbs, let alone one.
Furthermore, if those five people could be saved, this incident would be much easier to handle; otherwise, even she wouldn't be able to give these parents, who had outlived their children, a satisfactory explanation.
"I'll go and have someone bring Tang San here right away."
Ning Fengzhi nodded slightly, agreeing with the suggestion.
Although he believed that using rare and precious medicines to treat these people was a Mo Da waste, and that it was no exaggeration to say that it was a squandering of resources.
But those precious medicines weren't his, so once they were used up, they were simply used up.
Soon, Salas walked out of the ward and told the story of his conversation with Elder Xue.
"I have discussed this in detail with Elder Xue. According to him, if there is a suitable celestial medicine, there is at least a 50% chance of saving the lives of those five children."
However, rare and precious medicines are hard to find, let alone five of the exact same divine-grade medicinal herbs needed for the specific ailment.
In the end, Salas shook his head slightly, clearly not optimistic about Xue Qinghe's suggestion.
"Bishop Salas may not know this, but there is someone who possesses a considerable number of celestial-grade medicinal herbs. It is said that Sect Master Ning's daughter broke through the limitations of her Martial Soul inheritance and advanced to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda because of a single celestial-grade medicinal herb."
Xue Qinghe smiled and explained that as the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, her intelligence network was naturally quite extensive. Although she didn't know exactly how many precious medicines Tang San possessed, the quantity was certainly considerable.
Moreover, according to intelligence from within the Spirit Hall, Tang San, together with Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, plundered a treasure land, which contained all sorts of immortal-grade medicinal herbs.
There must be a miraculous medicine inside that can cure the five people in the ward.
"What? You mean Ning Rongrong from the Shrek Team took a rare elixir before the match? No, all the main players on the Shrek Team took rare elixir before the match?"
Upon hearing this, Salas's face darkened, his eyes filled with rage, and his cold gaze fixed directly on Ning Fengzhi.
He sensed something strange about the Shrek Team members from the beginning, and their achievements at the age of sixteen or seventeen were simply too astonishing.
Unexpectedly, it was caused by taking a rare and precious elixir, which had already subtly violated the rules of the competition, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it cheating.
Salas is a person who values rules very much, and he dislikes people who break the rules the most.
Not to mention that he was the arbitrator in charge of the preliminary and qualifying rounds of the Heaven Dou Empire Tournament. For this to happen right under his nose was a slap in the face!
"Ahem... Bishop Salas, right now everything should focus on saving those five children; other matters can be discussed later."
With a dry cough, Qian Renxue offered a word of comfort, though she didn't quite agree with Shrek Team's approach.
Since celestial-grade medicinal herbs are treasures that are in no way inferior to those of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, using such external forces to increase one's strength is absolutely a cheating act.
Although there is no explicit rule against using celestial-grade medicines in the Continental Elite Soul Master Tournament, it is because celestial-grade medicines are extremely rare, and there has never been such a precedent before, which is why they are not included in the tournament rules.
Shrek Academy is exploiting loopholes in the competition system!
This incident also made Ning Fengzhi slightly embarrassed. Cheating was wrong in the first place, and to be caught red-handed by the referee made him blush even with his composure.
However, Ning Fengzhi was no pushover. Although he felt embarrassed, he didn't show it at all and maintained a cold and aloof expression.
Soon Tang San was brought over by Ning Fengzhi's men, along with Flender, the dean of the Shrek Academy.
"Greetings, Your Highness, Sect Master Ning, and Bishop Salas!"
Flander and Tang San bowed to the three of them first to show respect, but they were both quite solemn inside.
Before they arrived, Ning Fengzhi's subordinate had already explained the situation to them in detail, and they all understood that the matter had become more complicated.
Before anyone could react, Salas flashed in front of Tang San, placed his hand on Tang San's shoulder, and used his Soul Power to sense Tang San's body.
"As expected, it's a celestial-grade treasure medicine, and it even exudes the aura of three different celestial-grade treasure medicines! Tang San, you're very good!"
After sensing the three powerful and terrifying forces within Tang San's body, Salas's old face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, basically confirming that the kid had indeed taken a divine medicine before the competition.
Even if it's cheating, you can't be this utterly depraved!
Taking three whole rare and precious medicinal herbs at once? Aren't you afraid of overeating yourself?
"Bishop Salas, the competition rules don't seem to explicitly prohibit participants from using rare and precious medicines!"
When Flender realized that his secret had been exposed, he simply stopped hiding it and directly retorted to Salas.
He just stuck to the competition rules, saying that as long as they didn't explicitly violate them, Salas couldn't do anything to them.
Besides, they exploit loopholes through their own abilities; what can you say about that?
"So, I, the referee, was kept in the dark, and you're all doing a great job!"
Too lazy to pay attention to Flender's words, Salas then recalled why Blazing Fire Academy and Skywater Academy had been so angry when they lost to Shrek Team in the qualifiers.
At first, he naively thought that the students from the two academies lacked the necessary composure and couldn't accept defeat. Now it seems that they had already noticed during the battle that the Shrek Team members had taken rare and precious medicines.
However, both academies knew that there were no explicit rules in the competition prohibiting this, and even if they reported it, it wouldn't cause any real trouble for the Shrek Team. On the contrary, it would make them seem petty, so they were too lazy to report it.
In the end, only the referee found out about it, which is like putting his old face on the ground and stomping on it with the sole of a shoe!
"I can overlook the fact that you consumed large quantities of celestial-grade medicine before the competition, but you must produce celestial-grade medicine capable of curing those five children today."
Taking a deep breath and suppressing his anger, Salas, with a dark expression, gestured for Tang San to hand over the celestial-grade medicine.
"There's no need to cure them, just keep them alive."
After Salas finished speaking, Ning Fengzhi secretly used his Soul Power to transmit his voice to Tang San.
He also believed that using rare and precious medicines to treat the five people would be a waste of resources, so minimizing the losses was always a good thing.
If we can save those five lives, things will be much easier to handle from here on out.
However, Tang San's next words made Ning Fengzhi an eyebrow, and a hint of dissatisfaction arose in his heart.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, Sect Master Ning, Bishop Salas, although I really want to save them, unfortunately, the few immortal-grade medicinal herbs I have that can heal soul damage have already been given to several family elders."
I currently have no suitable precious medicine on hand, so I am unable to help.
Tang San looked apologetic and regretful, as if he were truly helpless and disappointed.
He does indeed possess a divine medicine capable of healing those individuals, but this medicine is his trump card for survival; how could he use it lightly?
Furthermore, he currently only has four of these rare and precious medicinal herbs, enough to save at most four people. The remaining person will still become an enemy of their Shrek Team.
Since that's the case, saving all four people or not saving any of them makes little difference, so it's better not to waste four life-saving celestial medicines.
However, Salas, Qian Renxue, Ning Fengzhi, and the other two present were all shrewd individuals. How could they not see that this was just Tang San's excuse? The other party definitely still had corresponding celestial-grade treasures in his possession, but he was simply unwilling to take them out.
Although she was also very annoyed, Qian Renxue still spoke up, intending to give Tang San another chance.
" Tang San, could you contact your elders? I'm willing to pay a certain price to exchange for those few celestial-grade medicinal herbs."
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, those precious medicinal herbs have already been used by the elders of the clan. Even if I go and speak to them now, it will be of no use."
Having made up his mind, Tang San would not easily change his mind.