Sinister Insect

The Spirit King knew his time was far too short, and many mysteries remained unsolved.

But there was nothing he could do. He could only tell Madam Wang the most important points, leaving even many crucial details unspoken.

"Don't worry. From now on, the four royal manors... will look after you. Nothing like this will happen again. His Majesty will soon learn how serious this matter is, too."

"You don't need to fear anyone. Anyone like those two elders from the Moon-Gazing Sect who dares offend our Ling Clan has only death awaiting them."

"Only you would be foolish enough to fear offending them, even trying to protect their disciples and wasting one of my Heavenly Soul Flowers..."

The Spirit King was utterly exhausted, yet his words did not stop for a moment.

"Your Highness..."

Listening to his instructions, Madam Wang felt as though her heart were being wrung out.

At last, the Spirit King closed his eyes.

His breathing was already extremely faint, nearly gone. Yet the strange poison surrounding him was extraordinarily fierce, and had even begun spreading outward!

Madam Wang could only watch helplessly.

Suddenly-

"I can save him."

An unfamiliar voice rang out.

Madam Wang's expression changed, and she whirled around.

A figure entirely concealed beneath a black robe had entered without a sound. If he had not spoken of his own accord, Madam Wang would not even have noticed his approach.

"Who's there!"

Madam Wang was instantly on guard, staring at the newcomer with a hostile expression.

Despite her cultivation at the Late Core Formation Realm, she had not sensed his presence in the slightest, allowing him to approach behind her so easily.

In an instant, all manner of guesses flashed through Madam Wang's mind.

A complicated look flashed through Ling Yun's eyes beneath his black robe. "You need only tell me what poison he was afflicted with."

Madam Wang narrowed her eyes. "We searched through every medical cultivator and pill cultivator in the Ling Kingdom, and none could be found who could cure the poison. How dare an unknown nobody like you make such a boast?"

Ling Yun thought, Madam Wang is as contemptuous of others as ever.

"At least I dare to try. Don't you even have the courage to let me try, Madam?"

"In less than half a quarter of an hour, the strange poison will kill the Spirit King for good. Every second you waste leaves him with that much less chance of success."

Ling Yun answered without paying any attention to Madam Wang's contemptuous words.

"Fine!"

Unexpectedly, Madam Wang agreed at once. Her attitude had done a complete about-face.

Now, she could only let him try.

At a time like this, Madam Wang could not have refused those words, no matter who had spoken them.

So, after habitually running her mouth for a while, Madam Wang agreed, her heart more anxious than ever.

"It was a Sinister Insect!"

Madam Wang said.

Hearing the unfamiliar name, Ling Yun said nothing, but walked toward the Spirit King.

"What are you doing?"

Startled, Madam Wang stepped in front of Ling Yun.

Ling Yun said helplessly, "I need to protect the source of his vitality and preserve his last breath. Otherwise, even an immortal won't be able to save him when the time comes."

Hearing this, Madam Wang could only step aside.

"Be careful you don't get poisoned to death."

She could not help warning him.

Ling Yun acted as though he had not heard her, but a white mist rose around him.

The mist was colorless and odorless, and looked entirely unremarkable. But when the strange poisonous vapor leaking from around the Spirit King's body touched it, it instantly melted away like spring snow.

"This..."

Madam Wang's eyes bulged, her face filled with astonishment. A moment later, a trace of joy appeared.

Seeing that the white mist Ling Yun had produced could dissolve the strange poison, Madam Wang was instantly filled with hope!

Ling Yun extended a hand from the sleeve of his black robe, pressed two fingers together, and tapped several acupoints on the Spirit King's body.

After he had gone through them, the poisonous vapor within the Spirit King actually stopped leaking out.

"Poison-Inducing Technique-"

Ling Yun recalled the spell. A soft white light shone on his two fingers, which lingered for a few breaths at each of the acupoints he had just tapped on the Spirit King.

Gradually, Madam Wang discovered to her delight that a hint of color had returned to the Spirit King's once paper-pale face. The poisonous vapor around him had completely dissipated, and he no longer looked as though he was at death's door.

"Did... did it work?"

Madam Wang's heart trembled violently, and she hoped with every fiber of her being that it had.

"You're getting ahead of yourself."

Ling Yun interrupted Madam Wang's wishful thinking.

Hearing this, Madam Wang's joy faded, and her reason gradually returned.

She was a clever woman.

What she had just witnessed was enough to prove that Ling Yun had a way to cure the poison, but it certainly would not be so simple.

"Divine physician, is there anything that needs to be prepared?"

Madam Wang asked. Even the way she addressed Ling Yun had changed, leaving him somewhat unaccustomed to it.

"Once I've gone back and made some preparations, I'll come back and tell you what you need to prepare," Ling Yun said.

"Madam, you'd best prepare yourself in advance. I hope you can get whatever is needed ready as soon as possible."

Madam Wang breathed a sigh of relief.

In her view, the fact that Ling Yun could say this confirmed that he was confident. That alone was enough to put her at ease.

"Divine physician, may I ask why you're helping us..."

Madam Wang asked. It was something she did not understand, and it worried her as well.

Ling Yun revealed no more, saying only, "You need only know that I mean the Spirit King's Manor no harm."

Although Madam Wang was still on guard, she had far fewer misgivings.

"Once I've found a way to cure the poison, I'll come find you. You need only wait patiently. As for other matters, don't do anything you shouldn't. In particular, I hope you won't tell anyone about my whereabouts."

Madam Wang's heart tightened; she understood the seriousness of the matter.

"I'll do as you instruct, divine physician."

Ling Yun said no more. The next moment, he vanished right before Madam Wang, giving her quite a fright.

"Was that... traveling through space?"

Madam Wang found the thought utterly unbelievable, yet she had no other explanation.

"That's an ability only those above the Dao Palace Realm can grasp. The Dao Palace Realm... how is that possible?"

Madam Wang did not dare dwell on it. Gathering her thoughts, she looked at the Spirit King, who had fallen into a peaceful sleep, and her heart finally felt a little less heavy.

Inside the Royal Mausoleum.

Ling Yun took off his black robe and let out a breath.

This had been his first time leaving the Royal Mausoleum in over two months, and he had done it for the Spirit King.

After the Spirit King came to the Royal Mausoleum, Ling Yun had noticed his condition deteriorating rapidly. Recalling how the Spirit King, despite clearly being afflicted by the strange poison, had suddenly awakened, only to end up in this state after a great battle, Ling Yun understood the truth of the matter.

"The strange poison has tainted his entire body and dantian." Ling Yun frowned deeply.

The Spirit King's current state could not be more aptly described as riddled with a thousand gaping wounds.

Of the four inheritances in pills, formations, artifacts, and talismans that Ling Yun had previously obtained from the system, he had only had time to cultivate the Talisman Dao. But for the sake of the Spirit King's poison, he had no choice but to clasp the Buddha's feet at the last moment and barely learn a low-grade spell-the Poison-Inducing Technique.

Of course, it was low-grade only in comparison to that Pill Dao Great Emperor's inheritance. In truth, the Poison-Inducing Technique was a supreme fifth-tier spell. If Ling Yun's comprehension had not been first-rate, how could he have learned to use it in such a short time?

All he could do was draw most of the strange poison in the Spirit King's body into a few acupoints and briefly seal it there.

To truly deal with the strange poison, he still needed to study the Pill Dao inheritance in depth and learn from it how to refine a specialized antidote pill, wiping out all the strange poison in one stroke!

"Sinister Insect!"

Ling Yun murmured.

His mind raced, and he soon found a relevant description in a record-

The Sinister Insect favored places filled with poisonous miasma and places with yin water. Its body carried a deadly poison, making it one of insect cultivators' favorite poisonous insects. If raised to its utmost potential, a Sinister Insect could even threaten a wielder of great powers at the Creation Realm.

After reading the various accounts of the Sinister Insect, Ling Yun could not help feeling a chill rise in his heart.

"A poisonous insect that can threaten the Creation Realm!"

That fact alone was enough to prove how terrifying the Sinister Insect was.

"Fortunately, no one in the Eastern Desolation can raise a Sinister Insect of that level. Royal Father has endured its corrosion for so long, which means this strange poison can still be cured."