Fu Mingzhi and Si Puyu waited patiently for them to finish discussing before coming over to ask about the plan for what Xi Caixuan had reported.
Gu Ningyun briefly explained her and Mu Chenze's rescue mission. She ended with a warning: "Please tell Shao Yuqi that there might be great danger to the north. If possible, leave as soon as they can."
Fu Mingzhi nodded. "Si Puyu and I will contact the others and try to gather everyone together."
...
At the northwestern border of the forest and the grasslands, a campfire burned.
Xi Caixuan's team of six was gathered around the fire, contemplating their next move.
Between them lay a young boy about eight years old, his eyes tightly shut.
The firelight reflected off the boy's face, casting a warm glow over his pale features, but it only served to highlight the black qi visible in the veins of his neck.
There was an alchemy cultivator in their group who was currently flipping through "One Hundred Solutions for Bizarre Symptoms," trying to find a way to resolve the boy's condition.
Barely a tenth of the way through, she found the corresponding symptom—evil qi entering the body.
When she saw the recipe for the solution, her brow furrowed, and her expression grew increasingly grim.
A teammate noticed her change in mood. "How is it? Did you find anything?"
"Senior Brother Zhu was injured, and the evil qi clinging to his wound seeped through his flesh and blood, invading his body."
The alchemy cultivator's tone was heavy. "Evil qi is extremely difficult to extract once it enters the body. The amount in Senior Brother Zhu isn't too much, but it still requires a mysterious-rank low-grade Spirit-Purifying Pill to cleanse it."
The teammate's pupils shrank. "A mysterious-rank pill? That's for those at the Foundation Establishment stage."
"Correct. If there were more evil qi, it might even require a higher-grade pill."
"But for Qi Refining cultivators—even if we Xiaoyao disciples have practiced body refining—the most we can handle is a mysterious-rank low-grade pill."
"Any higher, and we'd need a senior at the Foundation Establishment stage to help guide the energy. Otherwise, taking even a mysterious-rank mid-grade pill would cause one to explode and die."
The alchemy cultivator continued, "Leaving that aside, look at our current situation. We don't have the herbs to refine it, and even if we did, no one here can refine mysterious-rank pills."
"Are there no other ways besides pills?"
"Perhaps, but I've only studied alchemy. I'm not familiar with other methods."
Just as they were mired in worry, Xi Caixuan finally put down her identity jade token, a hint of joy appearing on her face. "Senior Sister Gu says this is evil qi corruption. She's coming over to treat it now."
"Senior Sister Gu is skilled in healing melodies; I didn't know she could also purify evil qi." The alchemy cultivator's eyes lit up. "With her here, Senior Brother Zhu is saved."
A teammate asked, "Should we carry Senior Brother Zhu and meet up with Senior Sister Gu as quickly as possible?"
"No," Xi Caixuan refused decisively. "The fact that Senior Brother Zhu was invaded by evil qi means something has changed in the secret realm."
"The forest is dangerous at night. It's inconvenient for us to move with an injured person. It's better to wait here for Senior Sister Gu to find us."
The alchemy cultivator agreed. "Senior Sister Gu has a wind spirit root; she's fast. If she encounters danger, she can escape easily, and it's more convenient for her to move. It's best we wait here."
"If we leave recklessly, we might not be able to run if we hit danger. And even if we don't, it would be bad if we missed Senior Sister Gu."
While Xi Caixuan's group discussed the many dangers of the forest, Gu Ningyun and Mu Chenze were racing toward the edge of the forest.
To save their trump cards for the final three days, they didn't use Swift-Walk Talismans, relying solely on spirit energy to travel.
Even so, their speed was comparable to others using Swift-Walk Talismans.
Half an hour later, Gu Ningyun's divine sense spotted a campfire in the distance, with six people sitting around it and a boy lying unconscious.
It was indeed Xi Caixuan, Zhu Zijin, and the others.
As they drew closer, Xi Caixuan also sensed Gu Ningyun's presence and stood up to look into the forest.
Seeing Gu Ningyun and Mu Chenze, she couldn't hide the joy in her voice. "Senior Sister Gu, Senior Brother Mu."
Gu Ningyun exchanged quick nods with Xi Caixuan and the others. Without wasting words, she brought out her guqin and began to heal Zhu Zijin.
Mu Chenze sat behind her. He seemed to be idly playing with his folding fan, but he was actually quietly recovering his spirit energy while his divine sense monitored the forest and their surroundings.
Zhu Zijin had been corrupted by evil qi for too long; his level of infection was the most severe Gu Ningyun had seen so far.
At the start of the treatment, she used the single-target healing capability of «Zongjiao». The melody automatically locked onto Zhu Zijin, the most severely injured person present, and focused all its power on purifying the evil qi in his body.
Having spent the whole day purifying evil qi, Gu Ningyun was no longer as clumsy as she had been at the start. She was now quite experienced, and using the purification power of «Zongjiao» felt increasingly natural.
She blinked. She hadn't expected that participating in a team competition in a secret realm would give her a chance to practice and master the purification abilities of «Zongjiao».
If she went out for experience in the future and encountered evil cultivators or got corrupted by evil qi herself, she wouldn't have to panic.
She could just take out her guqin and play «Zongjiao» to heal.
At that thought, her mind wandered.
Since «Zongjiao» could purify evil qi, if she encountered an evil cultivator, could she lock onto them with her divine sense and play «Zongjiao» to purify the evil qi inside them?
An evil cultivator without evil qi... wouldn't they be like a tiger with its teeth pulled?
Spirit cultivators have spirit energy in their bodies and absorb spirit energy to cultivate; demon cultivators have demonic power and absorb demonic qi to cultivate.
Following that logic, evil cultivators should have evil power and absorb evil qi to cultivate.
Before transmigrating, Gu Ningyun had read many novels on Blue Star, but most of those descriptions were fictional.
She was now in a real cultivation world. Every step involved her safety, strength, and even her future.
Therefore, ever since arriving here, if she encountered something she didn't understand that seemed similar to descriptions in Blue Star novels, she never blindly applied that logic.
Instead, she would learn through the library or by asking those around her.
Like when she had an epiphany and consulted Senior Fat Duck.
Or later, when she learned about the origins of variant spirit roots from «A Few Things About the Five Elements».
Thinking of evil cultivators now, she naturally did the same.
The purification of Zhu Zijin's evil qi was already on the right track and didn't require too much mental effort. So, she asked Mu Chenze behind her, "Chenze, do you know where evil qi, or evil cultivators, come from?"
"That's a long story."
Mu Chenze waved his folding fan and glanced at the dark forest. "Ningyun, why the sudden curiosity? Do you suspect this evil qi is related to evil cultivators?"
"Not really," Gu Ningyun shook her head.
"Our Xiaoyao Immortal Sect is the number one sect in the cultivation world, and this secret realm is the competition ground for new disciples."
"If evil cultivators could sneak in right under the nose of the number one sect, then I'm afraid evil cultivators would have taken over the world long ago."
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