CH 31.2

Chapter 31.2: Each Their Own Trial

The air-traveling boat finally reached the field exam island after traveling for almost an entire day. The cultivator from the Law Enforcement Hall went over the rules, then had everyone enter the island from their assigned location.

The new disciples had entered following people of their own team. However, they discovered that no one was next to them after they exited. There were arrays cast on the entrances and they threw the people randomly into the field practice island. It was even possible, for those with bad luck, to be thrown right in front of a spirit beast. Those that didn’t react quick enough would definitely be injured.

The moment Li Xinmei entered, she sensed the array and proceeded with vigilance. Thus, she wasn’t flustered after being thrown in an unfamiliar place. Seizing up the surroundings, she found that she was on a beach on the coast of the island. There was no place that could be used for shelter around but there were also no traces of spirit beasts being around.

The field practice island was near the void sea. As of now, since the void sea was currently in its wind season, there was a lot of wind here near this sea as well. From time to time, ten feet tall waves would travel over and crash heavily onto the reefs.

Li Xinmei’s attention was attracted by a faint gold light on the surface of the sea.

That faint gold light was appearing in the center of the sea as if someone had placed a gold-colored pearl on top of the sea. No matter how the waves rolled, that bit of gold light stayed the same. It didn’t seem to be affected by the movements of the waves at all.

Li Xinmei stood quietly in place as she observed it. She extended her spiritual consciousness outwards in an attempt to see it more clearly, but the moment she extended her spiritual consciousness, the gold light disappeared.

Li Xinmei retrieved her spiritual consciousness, and the light appeared once again.

She stared fixedly at the center of the sea. Unbeknownst to her, at this time, the dim gold color in her eyes deepened a little.

Something seemed to mysteriously attract her. Li Xinmei started walking step by step towards the sea. However, right at this moment, a voice suddenly appeared.

“You’re also here!?”

Li Xinmei snapped back to her senses and abruptly turned around. Xu Wei was now standing in the middle of the previously empty beach. His appearance was a little wretched – his white disciple garment seemed a little dirty and quite a bit of sand was sticking to his clothes. It was clear to see that the array had probably thrown him onto the sand.

She actually ran into an old acquaintance so soon despite the large size of the island.

“What are you walking towards the sea for? The beasts in the sea surrounding the field practice island are much harder to deal with. Didn’t your Master tell you about this?”

“I’m going to wash my hand,” said Li Xinmei coldly.

Xu Wei’s brows were knitted so much a mosquito could practically be squished to death between them. Wash your hands? Even a ghost couldn’t be fooled with that. One Dust Barrier would be enough to clean everything off, who would walk to the ocean just to wash their hands? Couldn’t you put just a bit more effort in if you’re going to come up with a lie!?

However, he understood Li Xinmei’s personality. She wasn’t willing to get involved with him right now at all. Xu Wei opened his mouth several times but couldn’t find any topics. In the end, after a period of silence, he said, “Be careful.”

He should be working on meeting up with his fellow disciples but at this moment, with the lady by the sea in front of him, he suddenly couldn’t bring himself to leave.

“I’ll protect you until you meet up with those seniors from Heaven Firmament Peak,” said Xu Wei slowly. As of now, he was in the Sixth Stage of Spirit Condensation. Thus, he was a well-known figure among the new disciples. His ability was naturally also rated among the best.

Li Xinmei had already extended her hand into the cold seawater. Her hair flew up due to the wind and covered half her face, also concealing her expression.

As of now, she was certain that there was a mysterious array in the sea. Due to the fact that she had comprehended a bit of the Universe Array Eyes the ancestor of Array Sect left behind, she was able to see the abnormality in the center of the ocean.

However, this was the field practice array, the place all the large sects used to temper new disciples. That array was probably the dimension separating array that protected this place from unorthodox cultivators and high-level spirit beasts. Li Xinmei didn’t continue to mull over it. She tidied her hair then walked towards the forest without paying any mind to Xu Wei.

Xu Wei silently followed after her while holding his sword. The two, one behind the other, entered the dense forest.

*****

“Xiao Mei and the others have to stay on that island for an entire month. I wonder if those medicinal pills will be enough?” Su Tingyun sat next to the pond chatting with the Orchid Tongue Grass.

She wasn’t expecting the Orchid Tongue Grass to reply, she was just a little bored. She had been refining pills day and night so she was a little worn out. While she was rushing around, she hadn’t noticed it but now that she was taking a break, she felt that her entire body was a little off. Her skin even stung and itched a little, as if she had been baked by the fire due to refining too many pills.

She currently felt very weak, it was to the point she couldn’t even cultivate. Thus, she decided to rest for a couple days to recover a little.

Why was this happening? Was it because she overused her spiritual energy and spiritual consciousness? Su Tingyun’s entire body felt weak to the point she couldn’t move. Her head was spinning and the world seemed to be spinning in front of her eyes. From time to time, she seemed to see sparks. Occasionally, black things that seemed like mosquitoes seemed to fly around the corners of her eyes as well. This symptom seemed to resemble eye floaters, something that often affected the elderly.

She had taken White Jade Dew so her health had improved. Due to the fact she had broken through to the Spirit Condensation Stage, she was much younger as well. There was no reason for her to have an eye disease like this.

Su Tingyun sighed and reached out to stroke the Orchid Tongue Grass. Hearing it laugh ‘hahahaha’, she felt a little better. However, when she got up, she was hit with a dizzy spell and almost fell headlong into the pond. It was only due to the fact that the Orchid Tongue Grass used its large, fan-like leaves to steady her that she was able to regain her balance.

After she stood up, she noticed her nose felt strange. She reached up to touch it and her hand ended up covered with blood. Her nose was bleeding. The color of the blood was odd. There were traces of black mixed in the red.

Could it be that she had been poisoned?

Gu Hao! When did he!? How did he!? Now what!? Su Tingyun’s thoughts exploded. She was currently very weak and completely incapable of refining an antidote pill. She staggered towards the direction of the main hall. After just a few steps, her vision turned dark and she fell forward. However, she didn’t collapse onto the ground.

Su Tingyun once again entered the state in which she seemed to be outside of her body. It was just like the way used to be able to observe her surroundings when she was asleep.

Su Lijiang had caught her. However, he wasn’t willing to continue touching her so he cut a tree with his sword and used a spell technique to lift that tree trunk into the air. After he laid Su Tingyun’s body on it, he flew towards Heaven Jade Pavilion with the tree trunk flying next to him.

Was Su Lijiang bringing her to an alchemist? Dan Fengyang and Liu Feizhou were currently in seclusion. There was no doubt that Gu Hao was the one who poisoned her and Ning Yan was in cohorts with Gu Hao so the only person that could possibly help her was that Eldest Senior Brother, Xu Yishan.

Su Tingyun watched as her own face turned increasing gray. Red patches started appearing on her skin, then layers of blisters appeared on those patches like small swellings. They started to visibly fester like pimples and yellow liquid seeped out. It was a disturbing sight.

They reached the inner courtyard of Heaven Jade Pavilion. Seeing Su Lijiang head directly towards Gu Hao’s direction, Su Tingyun itched to shout at him, “It was Gu Hao who poisoned me! His greatest wish is for me to meet a tragic end, there’s no way he’ll help!”

However, she couldn’t move at all so there was no way she could communicate that to Su Lijiang. She wanted to use a spiritual consciousness attack to convey her objection but she discovered that her spiritual consciousness was also very weak. The moment she formed this intention her surroundings started becoming blurry. It was as if she had been plunged suddenly into an ash gray night when it was sunny just moments earlier. Everything around turned fuzzy and indistinct.

“Spiritual Master Lingwu!”

Su Lijiang had cut straight through the lock on the door. The people inside cried out in shock, obviously not expecting for someone to burst in. Ning Yan’s cheeks were scarlet. Her garments slid down to her shoulders, exposing smooth, fair shoulders. There was still a hand on her chest since events had happened too fast for the people inside to react.

Gu Hao glared at the entrance. However, when he saw who it was, his expression immediately changed and he moved to shield Ning Yan from Su Lijiang’s sight as he asked, “Wonder what Spiritual Master Lingwu is here for? Could it be for treatment of an injury?”

His gaze moved to Su Tingyun’s body. “Has she been poisoned? What a pity. This poison has already entered deep into her bloodstream. I can’t save her. However, if my master comes out from seclusion, she may still have a chance at surviving.”

Spiritual Master Lingwu was a Golden Core Stage cultivator. Hence, even though Gu Hao was interrupted in the middle of his enjoyment, he didn’t dare to act rashly.

However, Ning Yan just had to know no shame. She poked her head out from behind him and exposed her half-uncovered chest. How could it be possible for Gu Hao to not know what she was thinking? Anger erupted in his heart and he couldn’t be bothered to care about the other party’s status anymore. Lifting his hand, he said with a wave, “Spiritual Master Lingwu, I still have business with Junior Sister so please return first. Forgive me for not seeing you off!”

“She has never left Heaven Firmament Peak. Most of the time, she’s within the range of our spiritual consciousness. The only exception is when she is at Ten Thousand Treasures House. There is only one person that is capable of poisoning someone without leaving any clues in Heaven Firmament Peak,” said Su Lijiang coldly.

Gu Hao’s facial color changed. He never expected that Spiritual Master Lingwu would actually turn hostile towards him for this old woman. “Spiritual Master, don’t cast baseless accusations! What evidence do you have that proves I’m the one that poisoned her? I was in the inner courtyard when her poison flared up. For the past month, I’ve also been in seclusion refining pills. I’ve never left Heaven Jade Pavilion or gone to some Ten Thousand Treasures House!”

However, Su Lijiang simply said mildly, “I don’t have evidence but I can guarantee that if she dies, you will also die.”

“Y-you, based on what…” Gu Hao’s eyes widened to the point his eyeballs seemed about to pop out. He was so angered his hands were trembling and he could barely get out any words.

Yet at this moment, Su Lijiang spoke again. “You as well.”

As he spoke, he swept his line of sight across Ning Yan who was showing off her looks behind Gu Hao. She was originally using her delicate hands to tidy her hair but when she heard his words, she trembled and instantly turned pale.

“Su Lijiang, you won’t be able to explain to our master if you kill us. After Master comes out from seclusion, he will definitely demand an explanation from you!” Gu Hao glowered at Su Tingyun’s body that was already turning black.

Su Lijiang’s expression remained undisturbed. “My Master will naturally give Master Dan an explanation once he comes out from seclusion.”

So what if your master was an Alchemy Master? My Master is a cultivator at the Crossing Tribulation Stage! Not to mention, you’re only his outside disciple. I am my master’s only direct disciple!

Su Lijiang’s words clearly expressed this meaning and his tone was unquestionable. The blade in his hand was still sheathed but Ning Yan felt a sinister sword intent emerge in the surroundings. She immediately grabbed Gu Hao and said, “What are you still spacing out for? Hurry and save her! Once that poison penetrates the meridians, there’ll be no hope for recovery.”

Ning Yan hastily rushed to Su Tingyun and laid her flat on the ground. Then, she took out a set of acupuncture needles and said, “Hurry, she probably depleted her primordial spirit energy too fast lately and caused the poison to flare up ahead of time. If you don’t do something now, it’ll be too late.”

Right after she finished speaking, she stiffened, realizing she had slipped. The hand holding the needles trembled, causing the needles to almost fall to the ground.

Gu Hao itched to just slap her across the face. Big-breasted brainless woman! She didn’t have a single good point other than the fact she was pretty. However, now wasn’t the time to get angry. It was a poison he picked out so naturally he was capable of curing it. It would just take a bit of effort since it had flared up ahead of time.

He had bribed someone from Ten Thousand Treasures House to add a little bit of poisonous spirit wood in the pile of spirit wood they sold to the damned old woman. The poison would enter her body little by little as she burned the wood. Even Su Lijiang who was at the Golden Core Stage wouldn’t have been able to detect it. At that time, she would have slowly weakened until the poison finally flared up without warning and caused her death.

But this damned old woman refined too many pills lately. Even alchemists like them wouldn’t have been able to endure refining that many pills. Thus, the poisonous gas collected too fast and caused the poison gathered in her body to break out ahead of time. The poison normally wouldn’t show any signs but due to the poison’s effects speeding up, the signs emerged on the surface of her body. Hence, it was obvious at a glance that she had been poisoned and this instantly broke his cover.

It hadn’t been easy to set this up. It was clearly just about to succeed but now he had to undo it by his own hands. There’s no way he could be willing ah! But if he didn’t save her… Spiritual Master Lingwu would really kill Ning Yan and him.

His master was an old freak at the Crossing Tribulation Stage and they were nothing but insignificant existence. Their master would never offend that person for their sakes.

…

Su Tingyun watched with disbelief as Gu Hao and Ning Yan worked with all their might to save her. Of course, the most incredible part was that Su Lijiang actually acted that decisively and directly threatened Gu Hao in order to force him to save her.

Perhaps it was because her body had recovered a little. Before Su Tingyun was able to think much more about it, her vision went dark and she fell completely unconscious. Thus, all she knew ended here.

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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Proofread by Yours Truly