Cleaning House

Inside the cave abode Su Ruanruan had hastily set up, the atmosphere was somewhat tense.

The three stood facing one another, each with thoughts of their own.

The Pill Sect disciple who had been sent to search for Azure Spirit Grass had returned empty-handed and was now standing beside Su Ruanruan.

A purple-robed young man of extraordinary bearing had accompanied him.

Chen Yuanshan introduced her with a simple, honest smile. "Senior Brother Shen, this is Junior Sister Su Ruanruan, a personal disciple of Primordial Lord Chixiao of the Supreme One Divine Sect."

The purple-robed young man gave a slight nod. "Shen Mingxiao, Medicine King Peak, Purple Yang Pill Sect."

Medicine King Peak, Shen Mingxiao.

Su Ruanruan's heart skipped a beat.

After offending Feng Zhuo and joining the sect, she had crammed a great deal of information about the Aristocratic Clans and sects of the Central Continent's four regions.

Medicine King Peak was the lineage of the Purple Yang Pill Sect's sect master.

And since Chen Yuanshan, an elder's personal disciple, treated him with such respect, his status was surely even loftier. He was probably the sect master's personal disciple.

Su Ruanruan instinctively wanted to present herself at her most perfect, forgetting that the Blood Grievance Qi raging through her meridians had already left cracks across her face.

At this movement, thin streaks of blood immediately began seeping from her face again, though it had been getting slightly better.

The malice in Su Ruanruan's eyes deepened, and she wished she could hack Feng Zhuo into a thousand pieces!

Fortunately, her veil could still conceal some of her current ugliness.

She lowered her head slightly, her voice gentle and soft. "I've long heard of Medicine King Peak's illustrious reputation in the Purple Yang Pill Sect. Today, I'm fortunate to see it for myself..."

Then her eyelashes fluttered, and she sighed as if without meaning to. "Though Ruanruan is a personal disciple of Primordial Lord Chixiao, I often hear my master remark, 'When it comes to the orthodox Dao of Alchemy, Medicine King Peak should be held supreme.'"

Of course, that was a lie.

Chixiao had always been arrogant. He looked down even on the Feng Household's Alchemists, so how could he personally admit he was inferior to the alchemy cultivators of the Purple Yang Pill Sect, which stood on equal footing with the Feng Household?

Shen Mingxiao believed her, however, and the smile in his eyes deepened. "Haha... Junior Sister Ruanruan, you're too modest. Although the Supreme One Divine Sect isn't known for the Dao of Alchemy, it far surpasses our sect in other respects."

Chen Yuanshan had been about to ask where Su Ruanruan's senior brother from the same sect had gone and why she had suddenly put on a veil, but her words brought him to an abrupt halt.

Even someone as inflexible as Chen Yuanshan could hear the deliberate flattery in her words.

His impression of this personal disciple of the Supreme One Divine Sect immediately suffered a great blow. Only because of the information she had mentioned about an ancient cultivator's cave abode did he manage to suppress the urge to turn and leave.

Meanwhile, Shen Mingxiao and Su Ruanruan were enjoying their conversation.

Back at the Purple Yang Pill Sect, Dao Lord Ziyang often compared him with the personal disciples of the Supreme One Divine Sect's Crimson Firmament Peak, saying that although he was exceptionally gifted, he was lazy by nature, and his attainments in the Dao of Alchemy were not even a match for those of Crimson Firmament Peak's disciples.

Though Shen Mingxiao resented it, he did not dare talk back to his master. After every lesson, he returned to his cave abode with a bellyful of anger.

Now he had chanced upon a personal disciple of Crimson Firmament Peak outside the sect. Not only had she taken the initiative to befriend him, she had even claimed that Primordial Lord Chixiao himself held Medicine King Peak's alchemy inheritance in high esteem. How could he not be beside himself with delight?

At that moment, Shen Mingxiao was practically ready to regard Su Ruanruan as a kindred spirit!

Only when Chen Yuanshan saw that it was getting late and reminded them did the two reluctantly end their conversation.

Chen Yuanshan asked directly, "Junior Sister Su, you sent word earlier that you'd unexpectedly obtained information about an ancient cultivator's cave abode. Is that true?"

Only then did Shen Mingxiao remember the matter at hand, and he hurriedly pressed her. "Right, the ancient cultivator's cave abode! Junior Sister Ruanruan, is what Junior Brother Chen said true?"

While talking with Shen Mingxiao, Su Ruanruan had been extremely irritated.

The Blood Grievance Qi had entered her body that morning, and with things dragging on until now, the injuries on her face had grown increasingly severe.

But Shen Mingxiao could not grasp the point at all.

She had mentioned the ancient cultivator's cave abode repeatedly, both directly and indirectly, yet Shen Mingxiao had latched onto nothing but "Primordial Lord Chixiao personally admitted his level in the Dao of Alchemy was inferior to that of the Purple Yang Pill Sect's Medicine King Peak"!

Another fool!

Su Ruanruan made her judgment.

She thought of the system's warning: if she could not resolve the Blood Grievance Qi within three months, she would lose all her cultivation and never be able to cultivate again.

Su Ruanruan was nearly driven mad!

If that really happened, what was the point of her abandoning her family in the modern world and transmigrating here?!!

"Yes..."

Su Ruanruan raised a trembling hand, but the moment her fingertips touched her veil, she drew them back as though burned.

Tears glistened in her eyes, and her voice choked. "Senior Brother Chen, you saw that senior brother of mine from the same sect just now, didn't you? I meant to go forward and help him, but I never imagined... never imagined he would join forces with a woman who had a green-eyed toad crouching on her shoulder..."

"They poisoned me and disfigured my face like this!"

Steeling herself, Su Ruanruan suddenly tore off her veil, revealing a face covered in ghastly bloody fissures.

"!!!"

Shen Mingxiao jumped in fright. Only when his gaze met the grievance in Su Ruanruan's eyes did he belatedly realize how hurtful his reaction had been. He hastily tried to make amends. "Junior Sister Ruanruan, is what you said true?"

He then looked at Chen Yuanshan, whose face was likewise full of horror.

Su Ruanruan's eyes instantly reddened. Her long eyelashes quivered, and tears welled in her eyes. "It's true... they, they poisoned me..."

She clutched her sleeves tightly, her shoulders trembling slightly. "Not only did they disfigure my face like this... they, they also made the spiritual power in my meridians circulate sluggishly..."

At this point, Su Ruanruan suddenly clutched her chest, her body swaying. "I'm afraid that within three months... if I can't cure this poison, for the rest of my life... I'll be a cripple..."

As the last word left her lips, she seemed finally unable to hold herself up. She staggered half a step back, tears sliding silently from her eyes.

No teenage boy, whoever he might be, could have seen that Su Ruanruan was lying.

Looking at Su Ruanruan's horrifying face, Chen Yuanshan showed anger on his honest features. "How... how could they be so vicious!"

Though Su Ruanruan's conduct had displeased him earlier, he now felt pity for her miserable plight.

Then he remembered something and spoke in a trembling voice. "Senior Brother Shen, the person Junior Sister Su mentioned... could it be Senior Sister Nangong?"

"It must be her!"

A flash of satisfaction crossed Shen Mingxiao's eyes, as though he had finally seized upon something to use against her. "I knew long ago that Nangong Tang was ill-intentioned! She dared to poison me when we were children, so it's no surprise she's poisoning cultivators of other sects now! She's truly betrayed her sect's care and training!"

He turned to Su Ruanruan, his tone firm. "Don't worry, Junior Sister Ruanruan. Once we leave the secret realm, I'll report this matter to the sect and force her to hand over the antidote and restore your face to what it was!"

"Thank you, Senior Brother Shen..."

Su Ruanruan put her veil back on, forcibly enduring the burning agony in her meridians. "It's just... while I was unconscious, I vaguely heard Nangong Tang and that senior brother of mine plotting to explore a cave abode together..."

She continued tentatively, "If Senior Brother Shen intends to explore that ancient abode, I'm afraid you'll have to find them first."

Shen Mingxiao hesitated briefly, then made his decision. "What's so difficult about that? Before entering the secret realm, Senior Sister Hongxiao gave me a communication Law Artifact, originally intended to gather our fellow disciples."

"Since this concerns an ancient cultivator's abode and the ten-thousand-year friendship between our two sects, now is precisely the time to use it. I only hope Junior Sister will put in a good word when the time comes, so that the friendship between our sects won't be harmed."

"Naturally."

The great stone weighing on Su Ruanruan's heart finally fell. "Since Nangong Tang and my senior brother were responsible, Ruanruan isn't an unreasonable person. When the time comes, I'll ask my master not to vent his anger on your sect."

Shen Mingxiao had no more misgivings. "Good! Junior Sister is reasonable indeed! Once Nangong Tang shows herself, I'll capture her personally!"

"Every day such scum runs free is another day our Pill Sect's illustrious name is sullied! I'll be the one to clean house for the sect!"