Chapter 176: Enlisting for the beast hunt

Su Menqi was still unconscious due to the poison left in her body. Although the poison was now concentrated in a single vessel created in her body by Long Tao, the consequences of the time they stayed in her body were quite grievous.

"Her condition is not going to worsen because of the poison traces, by the damage dealt is quite severe. The servant was too late while performing the save. We need to come up with an unorthodox method to cure her." Even the hall master of the pill hall was sent into a deep thought

"You said that thunder would be able to eliminate the poison traces, but did its application worsen the damage done to her body?"

"I expected this situation to occur. You are not that adept in using thunder energy hence you weren't able to guide it properly. The best way to heal her body is to unlock the seal which is used on her."

"Would I be able to do it?"

"You would be able to once you step into advance tier King level, but as of now the situation is hopeless."

Long Tao's expression turned grim. He could feel intense pain in his heart when he saw Su Menqi's unconscious body. His means were not powerful enough to help Su Menqi.

"I do have another method in mind."

Long Tao's eyes sparkled with hope. He instantly turned all his attention to the hall master. "She is the possessor of the ice-jade body. If you can get your hand on ice attributed natural resources' and inject a concentrated essence into her, the seal might weaken bit by bit. Once the seal Weakens, her body would start recovering itself."

"As far as I remember, we don't possess any ice- element resources with us."

The Keeper appeared at the exact moment." Did you forget this artifact? The Crimson Lords are a practitioner of Omni-element. It includes ice too. The energy within the artifact contains a combination of every possible elemental energy you can think of. But as the relative concentration is low, you would need to inject a high amount at a time."

Long Tao understood the Keeper's theory. The anti-poison was almost done. He managed to breakdown the components and hence was able to prepare an anti-serum to negate the effects of the poison.

"The procedure is going to take some time. You would be applying the antivenom while using the fire energy as a vessel. You need to use thunder energy to negate any spill from the vessel into her body. You also need to stabilize her soul, so that she can successfully survive through your treatment while injecting the aura within the Crimson Lord world into her."

"I guess it's a good thing I am having so many avatars to share my burdens."

"The process wouldn't be as easy as it seems. Your soul would be taxed with a load of information received from each of the avatars. This is where your soul training would show its results."

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The treatment had begun already. Three avatars were tasked with accompanying Long Tao in the procedure. Each of them would be doing one of the tasks involved in the overall treatment. 

The initial expenditure was quite high. Su Menqi's body was rejecting the foreign Qi which was being injected in her. But after some time, she was finally able to accept the Crimson world QI and her body start to devour it.

The rapid rate of absorption came as a surprise to Long Tao.

"As expected, her body is able to harness the ice elemental Qi and absorb the rest of it as residual energy. The ice affinity is slowly increasing. Continue to induce Qi in a larger volume." Fortunately, Long Tao's cultivation was absurdly higher than Su Menqi. Transferring the amount was not a problem for him.

As time went by, the rate of devouring began increasing. "Her soul would be able to handle the next procedure now. One of you should first inject the soul essence, while the other will begin the process in the next two minutes."

Long Tao followed the instructions. The rate of absorption could now compete with Long Tao's speed. It was the first-time long Tao was feeling the burden of transferring the Qi. "Call out 2 more avatars to help you."

Soon after the anti-poison was injected into her body and Long Tao began to circulate his thunder energy within her. The poison residues were slowly being eliminated, while the rate of recovery sped up. Su Menqi's body was getting healthier visibly. A rosy complexion soon appeared on her face.

"Sustain through the process boy. Just a little bit more." Long Tao was finding it more taxing than refining pills. He couldn't imagine that even after so much soul power training, just a single procedure like this would take such a high toll on him.

After a period of time, the poison in the fire vessel was finally eliminated and Long Tao took a breath of relief. "Stop transferring energy into her. We manage to weaken the seal quite a bit. Her body would be able to recover on its own now." As the hall master declared, Su Menqi was able to open her eyes after some time.

"Rest for a bit. We will have a long talk after that." Long Tao forced her body back to bed and used his illusion skills to send her back to deep sleep.

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Somewhere far-

"Was he able to cure the poison?" The woman asked in a hurried manner. She didn't feel right leaving Su Menqi with Long Tao, but something within her mind said she could rest easy if she is with him. The servant who was sent to keep an eye on them came back.

The servant expression is that of a shocked person. He himself couldn't believe what he saw. There were 4 figures who looked exactly like Long Tao, injecting their Qi into one another.

"He was able to cure young miss, madam. She is resting as of now." The woman breathed a sigh of relief. He truly left her daughter in some capable hands. But she suddenly noticed the servant's expression. "Is there something else you would like to report?"

"I Wasn't able to make any sense of it, but maybe madam could" The servant handed over a memory slip to her, which was injected with his soul essence. It had a recorded scene of what he saw back then.

When the general and the woman saw the memory, they too were shocked. "It seems our to be son-in-law is not only resourceful but extremely talented and secretive too. I am even more relieved after seeing this."

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Long Tao was sitting in his tent when one of the soldiers came forward with a letter.

"Your resignation as the general of Jiao military has been accepted, sir. You are free to get relieved from your position."

"Is there any news from the royal capital?"

"Both the king and the chief strategist wanted to thank you for the service to this country. They requested you to visit once you are free of the matter at present.'

"Inform them that I accept their invitation." The soldier bowed and left.

Long Tao wanted to go and meet the royal siblings one last time before leaving, but the matter at hand was more important. He instantly dismissed the black-buck squad and left for the central plains.

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Wuji city was one of the main trade cities which marked the entrance to the central plains. There were numerous powers in the central plains and the only rule which worked there was strength. It was natural that Wuji city would have a branch of every single power in the central plains too.

The city which was marked by huge movements of goods and people was even busier during this time of the year. It was the time for the annual beats hunt.

Geographically, Wuji city bordered with one of the biggest beasts dwelling in the central plains and hence was constantly under attack in the past. Hordes of the beast would attack and there have been records stating that the city suffered from more than 100 beast tides.

It was during this time that the branches in Wuji city decided to carry out annual hunting to keep the beats population in check. They attracted the attention of young adventurers with the promise of huge rewards for the hunter who takes down most of the beasts. Soon enough the popularity of this city began to increase.

An increasing overflow of hunters meant that the beast was continuously being hunted and merchant guilds trading in beast remains soon started appearing. It was also the start of the golden age for Wuji city, which now transformed into a massive trading hub.

The annual beats hunt invited parties of at least 4 people to hunt within the forests in a given period of time and compete over the prizes.

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A hooded figure appeared before the hunter's guild, who was in charge of the hunt. It was the place parties come to register for the hunt during this time.

"How may I help sir."

"I would like to register for the annual beast hunt. These are the details of my partners." The receptionist soon gave the figure a receipt confirming his registration. "The beast hunt would begin within two days. The rules are listed within the slip. Please go through it."

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'Did you register for the hunt?" Su Menqi inquired.

"I did. We need to prepare our supplies. Your mother left us with the location of the fountain, and there is something I want to get my hands on too." Long Tao spoke up.