Purple Yang Pill Sect, Nangong Tang

Inside the stone cave, firelight illuminated Nangong Tang's youthful but shrewd face.

Feng Zhuo took the pill she handed him, and sure enough, the sinister Soul-Devouring Vine markings on his left arm subsided somewhat.

"This pill..."

Feng Zhuo felt its medicinal power circulating through his meridians and looked up at Nangong Tang. "Its effect is rather unusual."

Nangong Tang shook the jade bottle in her hand, her eyes curving as she smiled. "A secret formula of the Purple Yang Pill Sect, made specifically to counter baleful Qi."

As though it were an afterthought, she added, "I made sure to bring a few extra bottles."

Feng Zhuo's gaze darkened slightly.

The pill had clearly been formulated to counter the Soul-Devouring Vine's particular traits. It was no spur-of-the-moment preparation.

But he merely tucked the bottle into his Storage Bag without betraying his thoughts. "Thank you, fellow Daoist."

"Still, my pills can only suppress it."

Nangong Tang waved off his thanks.

She then sat cross-legged beside the fire, playing with the wisp of cyan Divergent Flame at her fingertips. Smiling, she said, "If you want to deal with the erosion of the blood-resentment Qi caused by the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Vine's backlash at its root, there's a 'Spirit-Cleansing Pool' hidden inside that ancient cultivator's cave abode. Its water can wash away baleful Qi."

She paused and cast a meaningful glance at Feng Zhuo's left arm. "For example... the blood-resentment Qi that comes with certain unruly vicious plants."

Feng Zhuo's eyes flickered. "Are you certain?"

"No."

Nangong Tang shrugged. "But it's worth a try, isn't it?"

She suddenly leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Besides, I suspect the cave abode also holds the Spirit Taming Sect's closely guarded secret, the 'Symbiotic Contract.' It's a Life-Bound Contract in the truest sense, nothing like a contract you forced into being."

Nangong Tang's tone was full of meaning. "Then, without the contract's backlash, not only will the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Vine stop obstructing your Dao Path, it will instead become-"

She suddenly gave him a knowing nod, the corners of her eyes tilting upward. "You know."

Feng Zhuo was silent for a moment before asking, "Why do you know so much?"

Nangong Tang blinked, looking utterly innocent. "Because I'm a genius."

Feng Zhuo: "..."

Beside them, Yanba rolled her eyes, and a wisp of black smoke puffed from her lion's nose.

Nangong Tang changed the subject. "But finding the entrance won't be easy. It takes a special... kind of sensing."

Her gaze lingered briefly on Feng Zhuo's left arm before quickly moving away.

Yanba's Heart-Scorching Flame suddenly leaped an inch higher, casting a swaying shadow on the stone wall.

Feng Zhuo coughed softly, his face pale. "In my current condition, I'm afraid I won't be much help."

"Don't say that."

Nangong Tang produced another jade box. "This is a 'Green Wood Essence-Nourishing Pill.' It can help you quickly recover your spiritual power."

She pushed the pill toward him, her eyes shining with anticipation. "We work together, and each gets what we need. What do you say?"

Feng Zhuo accepted the jade box, gently rubbing the lid with his fingertips.

He knew full well that Nangong Tang had to have some other objective.

Was it the Soul-Devouring Vine, or something else in the cave abode?

Feng Zhuo could not judge for now.

With his spiritual power restored, Feng Zhuo could now completely suppress the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Vine. Once his Life-Bound Spirit Fire devoured a fire seed of supreme yang in the future, the suppression would be even stronger.

Even so, it would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. This was no long-term solution.

Feng Zhuo was a cultivator, and he would surely have to fight others in the future. If he always had to hold back spiritual power to suppress the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Vine, his strength would be greatly diminished.

He had contracted the Soul-Devouring Vine to increase his strength in the first place. How could he do the opposite?

So he had to visit the ancient cave abode Nangong Tang had mentioned!

"All right."

Feng Zhuo finally nodded. "Supreme One Divine Sect, Carefree Peak, Feng Zhuo. Since we're cooperating, what's your name?"

Nangong Tang suddenly clasped both hands behind her back. "Nice and straightforward!"

She planted one foot on a green rock, her subtly patterned brocade boot crushing the moss beneath it. The Green-Eyed Golden Toad on her shoulder leaped down at the motion. "This young lady goes by the same name standing or sitting-"

"Purple Yang Pill Sect, Poison Miasma Forest, Nangong Tang!"

"Fellow Daoist Nangong,"

Feng Zhuo turned the red jade bangle on his left wrist. "Since we're partners, you can tell me something about the cave abode, can't you?"

Nangong Tang: "..."

That's it?

That's it?!

The Green-Eyed Golden Toad burrowed underground, and Nangong Tang took a brocade handkerchief from her storage ring and wiped the green stain from the toe of her boot.

Fellow Daoist Feng probably didn't think I looked stupid just now, did he?

Probably not, right?

Probably not!

Feng Zhuo paid no attention to her behavior. Instead, he tried to recall whether there had been a Purple Yang Pill Sect cultivator named Nangong Tang in his previous life.

She had prepared pills to dispel blood-resentment Qi in advance and knew there was a way in the Green Wood Illusion Forest to completely resolve the drawbacks of contracting the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Vine.

She must have been the one who contracted the Soul-Devouring Vine in his previous life.

But why had he never heard of Nangong Tang of the Purple Yang Pill Sect?

Someone who could even contract a vicious plant from High Antiquity shouldn't have been utterly unknown, should she?

Had he fallen too early in his previous life, dying before Nangong Tang had made a name for herself?

As for guilt?

Feng Zhuo felt none.

Since the fortuitous opportunity had fallen into his hands in this life, Feng Zhuo had no reason whatsoever to yield it.

"Uh... well, the thing is, the specifics of the cave abode..."

Nangong Tang looked awkward and gave a vague answer. "Once we get inside, won't you know?"

"You don't know?"

Feng Zhuo rose. The Green Wood Essence-Nourishing Pill truly lived up to its reputation as a spirit pill specially made by the Purple Yang Pill Sect. Though it was only first tier, a single pill had restored thirty percent of his Foundation Establishment Middle Stage spiritual power.

"Or are you unwilling to say?"

If Nangong Tang was deliberately concealing the cave abode's circumstances, Feng Zhuo could not help suspecting that she harbored ill intentions...

He swallowed two supreme-grade spiritual power recovery pills, circulated the Everlasting Spring Scripture, and generated Yi Wood Qi.

The Heart-Scorching Flame devoured the blood-resentment Qi lurking in his meridians, while the spirit fire and Wood Qi completely suppressed the Soul-Devouring Vine.

Feng Zhuo's injuries visibly improved, and spiritual pressure escaped his body uncontrollably.

He had, after all, been a Golden Core True Person in his previous life. In less than a breath, he had reined in all his pressure.

"You...!"

But even though it had lasted only an instant, Nangong Tang still noticed.

"You're not a Qi Refining Stage cultivator?!"

Nangong Tang's pupils contracted sharply. The cyan Divergent Flame flew from her palm, and the Green-Eyed Golden Toad leaped up and swallowed it. Its body swelled enormously in an instant.

It was now a sixth-tier Demon Beast.

Yanba stopped concealing herself as well, and the pressure of a seventh-tier Calamity Beast bore down on Nangong Tang and the toad!

Feng Zhuo smiled. "Fellow Daoist Nangong, you should be willing to tell me some truth now, shouldn't you?"

"Haha... haha... calm down, fellow Daoist Feng, calm down."

Nangong Tang tried to struggle. "I'll talk, I'll talk, it's just... the ground is cold. Fellow Daoist Feng, could you let my Green-Eyed Golden Toad get up first?"

"Are you joking with me, fellow Daoist Nangong? Or are you betting that I don't know how well the Green-Eyed Golden Toad can escape?"

This time, she became completely compliant.

The Green-Eyed Golden Toad might not be good at much else, but its ability to flee was second to none.

The instant Yanba withdrew her pressure, the Green-Eyed Golden Toad could swallow Nangong Tang and escape underground.

Although Yanba was a higher tier than the Green-Eyed Golden Toad, she was a fire-element Demon Beast and could do nothing to the toad once it entered the ground.

"I didn't lie, either..."

Under Yanba's pressure, Nangong Tang found it uncomfortable to stand, so she simply sat on the ground, her arms crossed, and spoke obediently. "Only a cultivator who has contracted the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Vine can find the entrance to the cave abode from High Antiquity, and there really is something inside that can wash away blood-resentment Qi."

"But..."

Feng Zhuo's injuries had completely healed. He formed a spirit seal and changed into another red robe, though the gold ornamentation on its hem differed slightly from the last one.

Nangong Tang squeezed her eyes shut and all but shouted, "But the thing that washes away blood-resentment Qi isn't the Spirit-Cleansing Pool in the cave abode. It's Spirit-Purifying Mystic Water!"