Chapter 32: I Have a Friend

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Bai Jingyan asked in a low voice, “Brother Lin, when you went to the Eastern Region before, did you come into contact with anything unusual? Or did you encounter anything strange?”

Lin Xuan pondered for a moment, then shook his head. “At the time, I was merely traveling through the Eastern Region with my father. I did not come into contact with anything particularly unusual. However…” He paused. “I remember seeing a strange stone stele in an ancient temple in the Eastern Region. Some ancient runes were carved into it. I did not pay much attention to it then; I only thought the stele was rather peculiar.”

Bai Jingyan’s heart stirred. He pressed on, “That ancient temple… Where exactly was it?”

Lin Xuan frowned, uncertainty entering his voice. “It was too long ago. I can no longer remember clearly. I only recall that the temple stood amid a stretch of barren mountains in the Eastern Region, far from any human habitation.”

“After I returned, I caught a cold. Then I fell gravely ill and never fully recovered. For half a year, I was unable even to get out of bed and walk. With no other choice, my father invited the renowned Divine Physician Gongsun of Jade Balance Prefecture to treat me. The medicine he prescribed at the time was this very decoction!”

Bai Jingyan’s words struck Lin Xuan and Yun Xiyue like a heavy hammer. The bowl in Yun Xiyue’s hands fell to the floor with a sharp crack, spilling black medicinal liquid across the ground and filling the air with a bitter stench. Lin Xuan’s face instantly turned deathly pale, his eyes brimming with shock and disbelief.

“Brother Bai, you… are you telling the truth?” Lin Xuan’s voice trembled, clearly unable to accept the reality.

Bai Jingyan nodded, his tone heavy. “Brother Lin, I cannot claim to be a hundred percent certain. But judging from the symptoms you described and the ingredients in this prescription, I would say there is an eighty- or ninety-percent chance that this is the truth. Although Spirit Awakening Liquid is extremely potent, to someone who has only just recovered from a serious illness, it is a deadly poison. It silently corrodes your meridians and devours your vitality, ultimately reducing you to a cripple.”

Yun Xiyue’s expression grew terrible. Biting her lip, she said angrily, “But… why would Divine Physician Gongsun do such a thing? Our Azure Cloud Sect has no grudge against him. Why would he harm my senior brother?”

Bai Jingyan shook his head, a trace of coldness in his voice. “I have no idea. Perhaps he has some unknown grudge against the Azure Cloud Sect. Or perhaps someone instructed him to do it. Whatever the reason, his intentions are clearly not innocent.”

Lin Xuan fell silent for a moment, a complicated emotion flickering through his eyes. He lowered his head and stared at the medicinal liquid scattered across the floor. His voice was subdued. “Brother Bai, if what you say is true, then does that mean there is no cure for this cold poison?”

Bai Jingyan shook his head, his tone firm. “Brother Lin, the situation is not beyond hope. The cold poison is troublesome, but it is not incurable. We simply need to identify the true cause of your illness before we can prescribe the proper treatment.”

Hope immediately flashed in Yun Xiyue’s eyes. “Bai Jingyan, you really can save my senior brother?”

Bai Jingyan nodded, confidence in his voice. “I have seen symptoms like these before and know a few methods of treatment. However, this will require Brother Lin’s cooperation, as well as some time.”

Listening to Bai Jingyan, Lin Xuan and Yun Xiyue felt a chill creep down their backs, an indescribable coldness settling over them. In particular, whenever Yun Xiyue thought of how Lin Xuan had been taking poison all these years, she could not help shuddering.

“Brother Lin, you must have noticed something over the past few years, haven’t you?” Bai Jingyan said with a faint smile, staring directly into Lin Xuan’s eyes. He spoke each word distinctly.

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“That’s right!”

Lin Xuan nodded and uttered two words: “To be frank, Brother Bai, over the past two years I have indeed felt myself growing weaker by the day. I had my suspicions, but I never dared imagine that Divine Physician Gongsun was responsible… Now that I have heard what you say, it seems my guess was nearly correct.”

“Hmph!”

Yun Xiyue snorted coldly, drew her sword, and declared furiously, “Senior Brother, let’s go butcher that old bastard Gongsun Shan right now!”

With that, Yun Xiyue stormed out.

“Xiyue, come back.” Lin Xuan frowned. “Now is not the time to seek out Gongsun Shan. The most important matter at hand is the Mad Dragon Sect’s auction.”

Yun Xiyue halted.

Then she turned around and came back.

Seeing this, Bai Jingyan smiled. “Miss Yun is certainly a woman of straightforward character. But your senior brother is right. Even if we found that so-called Divine Physician Gongsun now, it would be of no use. The urgent matter is to think of a way to save your senior brother.”

Lin Xuan’s expression changed slightly.

He cupped his fists toward Bai Jingyan and said respectfully, “Since you can say that, Brother Bai, you must have a way to save me. I humbly beg you to help me!”

Bai Jingyan was silent for a moment before saying, “I do have a method. I simply do not know whether Brother Lin will dare to use it.”

“What is there to fear?” Lin Xuan replied.

“Very well.” Bai Jingyan nodded. “In that case, please have three thread-stem worms, each two inches long, prepared before nightfall.”

Thread-stem worms?

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Lin Xuan was slightly taken aback. Although he did not understand what Bai Jingyan intended to do, he still nodded. “I understand. I will have my servants take care of it immediately.”

With that, Lin Xuan instructed two servants to search for thread-stem worms.

Bamboo-thread worms could be used medicinally throughout the Tranquil Continent, and they were extraordinarily expensive. They were virtually impossible to find in most places. Bai Jingyan had previously surveyed the terrain around Dragonback City and discovered that the air here was too dry for thread-stem worms to survive. Thus, his request that Lin Xuan prepare them before evening was also a test of the Azure Cloud Sect’s strength—to see whether it truly was as formidable as people claimed.

“Brother Lin, while we have the opportunity, I would like to ask you about something,” Bai Jingyan suddenly said.

“Please, Brother Bai,” Lin Xuan replied hurriedly.

“I would like to know what exactly is being sold at the Mad Dragon Sect’s auction. If there were no worthwhile attraction, you would not have come all this way, would you?” Bai Jingyan asked.

At this, Lin Xuan cast a surprised glance at Yang Chen.

Then he nodded and smiled. “Indeed, Brother Bai, you are a clever man. Half a month ago, the Mad Dragon Sect announced that it had obtained a map of a Martial Ancestor’s tomb. It was precisely this map that drew all of us here.”

Martial Ancestor?

At those words, Bai Jingyan’s brows lifted slightly, and surprise filled his eyes.

The Martial Ancestor realm stood above that of the Martial Emperor. Those who reached it were genuine powerhouses of the age.

“So your Azure Cloud Sect came for the map as well?” Bai Jingyan asked with a smile.

“No.” Lin Xuan shook his head. “We did not come for the map, but for a certain pill being auctioned here.”

“It is called the Sect-Breaking Pill!”

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