Distant mountains held shades of blue-green, nearby waters held mist. The Immortal Medicine Valley was hidden on an island across the river from Xiayang City.
As the boat drew closer, Gu Baiqing could feel the entire island brimming with spiritual energy. A faint medicinal scent drifted through the air. Looking toward the center of the island, one could see a gigantic towering tree clearly taller than the surrounding trees.
Its crown was already studded with pale red blossoms, looking heavy and full, with a gentle, shimmering glow emanating from them.
Everyone disembarking could not help but have their gaze drawn to this tree, knowing that it was the legendary ancient divine tree.
Gu Baiqing was in the middle of looking when suddenly someone patted his shoulder.
When he turned around, his head immediately started to ache.
“Young Master Bai, you’re here too!” Ji Chuling said, wearing a mask and smiling cheerfully at him. “You know who I am, right?”
“Miss Ji…” Gu Baiqing wasn’t exactly hoping otherwise, but with so many trips ferrying witnesses back and forth, at least a hundred people, how was it that they ended up disembarking together again?
Ji Chuling smiled, the corners of her mouth curved, and she made a shushing gesture toward Gu Baiqing as she said, “Did you see it last night? The two people I was following also came. If we encounter any special situations on the island, could I trouble Young Master Bai to lend a hand?”
Gu Baiqing nodded, thinking that if any special situation really did arise, he would definitely keep his distance. He had only come up this time to make sure nothing went wrong when the task was being carried out.
As the two were talking, a sudden cry of surprise came from behind them.
When they turned around, they saw an extremely eye-catching beauty in a red dress stepping ashore. It was Fairy Yuxin from the Hehuan Pavilion. Her appearance naturally drew a scene of stars gathering around the moon, though everyone likely hadn’t expected that she, too, would have the leisure to come and serve as a witness.
“She isn’t chasing after those two here, is she?” Ji Chuling was very hostile toward Yuxin.
Gu Baiqing, on the other hand, felt that Yuxin’s coming probably had something to do with Lou Zixiao. Otherwise, Yuxin wouldn’t have been able to come up on her own.
After all, although the Immortal Medicine Valley claimed to randomly select witnesses, they seemed to prefer sword cultivators and ordinary people, and were somewhat repelled by cultivators whose primary path was dual cultivation.
From their reaction the previous night upon discovering that Lou Zixiao had been to the Hehuan Pavilion, one could tell that although their medical path acknowledged that dual cultivation could have therapeutic effects in certain situations, in the end it was still quite different from their own orthodox path, so they naturally could not help but feel some aversion.
Yuxin’s previous requirement had been to be a guest of the Immortal Medicine Valley, probably for this reason—to secure herself a guaranteed spot to land.
After all, this island was not so easy to get onto.
Gu Baiqing surveyed the surroundings. Without an overwhelming immortal lord sitting in authority, yet still able to dominate a region and enjoy lasting peace, it was not merely because the cultivation world respected medical cultivators and needed their output.
The defensive formations here were all combined with the medical path. They looked as though they lacked strong offensive power and great might, yet they were extremely deadly.
To put it bluntly, a powerful medical cultivator would understand far better than a high-level sword cultivator how to kill someone.
Soon, people from the Immortal Medicine Valley led them to their temporary lodgings, since they would be staying here for ten days.
The Immortal Medicine Valley would specially assign people to take care of them, to help condition their bodies in preparation for the upcoming activities.
Although the lodging conditions were simple, the single-occupancy rooms were still fairly convenient. They were assigned according to the order of arrival, and Gu Baiqing and the others had arrived the latest, so they were naturally assigned to the last courtyard. Ten people lived in this courtyard. Ji Chuling and Yuxin were also here. As soon as some men saw that they were sharing a courtyard with Yuxin, they immediately sought out others to trade, hoping to exchange rooms.
Several groups came to find Gu Baiqing one after another. Gu Baiqing naturally refused them all. Having already confirmed that those who arrived earlier were housed farther away from here, he was of course going to guard this safe distance carefully.
Ji Chuling was also bothered by people, so she came over to Gu Baiqing and said, “Young Master Bai, I’m living next door to you. It’ll be convenient for us to look after each other. Don’t pay them any mind, we’ll just stay here.”
Gu Baiqing glanced sideways at Ji Chuling and could only nod in agreement.
The two stood to one side, watching that group of people make trouble for others. While Ji Chuling was complaining, she suddenly couldn’t help but sigh. “Looks like she really is very charming. Young Master Bai, when men see someone like that, don’t they all feel their hearts stirred?”
Gu Baiqing said with some amusement, “There’s nothing wrong with appreciating beautiful things. But I’ve seen Miss Ji’s appearance, and I can say fairly that you’re better-looking than she is.”
Ji Chuling froze, looking at Gu Baiqing in surprise, then lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly and said, “Thank you.”
Suddenly, a voice sounded, “Is that so? May I have a look?”
The two looked up. The speaker was none other than Yuxin. From so far away she could still hear them, her cultivation was indeed not low.
Ji Chuling felt a bit awkward about talking about someone behind their back. Yuxin, however, walked straight over, smiling brightly as she said, “Even with the mask on, one can tell you’re very beautiful. Is it inconvenient for you to show your true face, miss?”
Ji Chuling replied awkwardly, “It’s inconvenient.”
Yuxin maintained her smile and suddenly leaned in close to Ji Chuling, very obviously taking a sniff.
“You smell so nice… Miss, would you mind if I lived next door to you?” Yuxin’s action instantly startled Ji Chuling into freezing in place. She remembered that Yuxin seemed to have flirted with Lou Zixiao before as well, and immediately felt terrible all over.
Gu Baiqing, who was beside her, instead had a strange feeling, sensing that Yuxin might have ill intentions. He raised his hand to block slightly, creating some distance between the two.
As a result, Gu Baiqing’s action caught Yuxin’s attention.
Gu Baiqing was wearing a mask that covered half his face. Beneath the mask was an ordinary, unremarkable face altered by disguise, and the cloak he wore also concealed his figure. He truly belonged to the type that was hard to notice. At this moment, Yuxin slowly turned her head. She seemed a bit displeased at being interrupted, but when her delicate nose twitched slightly, her eyes instantly lit up.
Before Gu Baiqing could react, Yuxin grabbed his arm and pulled him close. Because he needed to maintain his disguise, Gu Baiqing naturally would not strike out casually, and was instead pulled into a slight lean. Yuxin used too much force, and Gu Baiqing nearly crashed straight into her face.
From the outside, the posture looked as if Yuxin were pulling Gu Baiqing over to tease and kiss him. Ji Chuling beside them cried out in surprise, and the surrounding crowd all sucked in a sharp breath.
The sudden rush of strong fragrance made Gu Baiqing’s nose uncomfortable. He frowned slightly and tried to shake her hand off.
Then he heard Yuxin murmur in an eerie tone, “How can there be such a tempting man? I almost missed him… so fragrant.” As she spoke, she greedily leaned closer to Gu Baiqing’s neck, sniffing his scent as if intoxicated.
Gu Baiqing felt not the slightest sense of being seduced by a beauty’s closeness. Instead, goosebumps rose all over his body.
Gu Baiqing finally shook off Yuxin’s arm and saw her stand up with a smile like blooming flowers, her face full of infatuated satisfaction, yet those eyes looked at him with undisguised desire.
“Young master, would you be willing to dual cultivate with me?” Yuxin suddenly asked.
Gu Baiqing instantly felt a head full of black lines. This woman…
Gu Baiqing directly cupped his hands and said, “Unwilling.” Then he turned and went into his room, closing the door.
Ji Chuling also looked at Yuxin somewhat speechless. Without lingering, she returned to her own room as well.
At this moment, Yuxin made up her mind, she wanted to live next to Gu Baiqing.
Aside from the fixed conditioning times, the rest of the time they were free to move about. However, places with guards were naturally not something one could enter casually.
After everyone arrived, the thing that stirred the most curiosity was naturally the divine tree. Many people formed groups and went over together. Ji Chuling also wanted to pull Gu Baiqing along, but Gu Baiqing had no intention of taking that risk. Thinking ahead, he wanted to first thoroughly familiarize himself with the surrounding terrain.
After everyone left, Gu Baiqing finally went out alone, observing along the way. He soon discovered something unusual. Not to mention that the Immortal Medicine Valley itself already had various defensive formations, numerous to the point of complexity, just looking at the people guarding certain entrances and exits, those… were not ordinary people. They were the ones he had seen last night attacking Lou Zixiao and the others.
Gu Baiqing confirmed that only when one got close enough would those people react. Observed from a distance, they were like… corpses.
Gu Baiqing slightly frowned. As he was watching, he suddenly came face to face with two people coming out from inside.
“You’re a witness who came onto the island. What are you doing here?” The leading man seemed to be the young man who had followed beside Lou Xuan last night.
Gu Baiqing saluted and said, “Just curious and looking around. It’s too big, and I got a bit lost. Seeing that these two guards seem somewhat off, are they… living people?” Gu Baiqing put on the look of a clueless novice, asking nervously.
The two did not doubt Gu Baiqing’s explanation. They only said, “These are medicine people our Immortal Medicine Valley made using people who could not be saved, driven by medicinal spiritual energy. You’re not from Xiayang City, right? You haven’t seen them before?”
Gu Baiqing instantly understood. No wonder they looked like corpses, essentially the living dead. Their spiritual energy would continuously drain during combat because they themselves could not circulate it, like tools that needed to be charged.
Given how long the Immortal Medicine Valley had existed, there were probably as many of these medicine people on the island as one could count. They could be considered their second major killing weapon. Unlike puppets, which required control threads and did not need spiritual energy infused into the body, these were completely the opposite.
“All right, stop looking here. Leave.” The other person said impatiently.
Gu Baiqing was about to leave when he suddenly heard a woman’s scream coming from inside. He immediately turned back to look at the two. “You two, this is…?”
The two slightly frowned, seeming somewhat annoyed.
“It has nothing to do with an outsider like you. This is our punishment of sect disciples. Just a few lashes, yet she’s screaming like this, truly useless.”
Hearing this, Gu Baiqing instantly thought of Lou Zixiao from last night.
Gu Baiqing said no more, turned and pretended to leave. Then he used a talisman to conceal himself, leapt over the high wall, and immediately saw the person being punished in the courtyard.
Gu Baiqing immediately lay prone and observed carefully.
He saw Lou Zixiao bound by a spell at the arms, forced to kneel on the ground, while behind her a whip formed of spiritual energy lashed down again and again.
The young girl’s cultivation was not high, and she could not withstand such pain. She screamed incessantly. There were quite a few people in the courtyard, all watching coldly.
Counting from the first strike, it was only after ten lashes that it barely stopped. Lou Zixiao was already in so much pain that she lay sprawled on the ground, her back covered in bloody welts. However, Gu Baiqing could see clearly that this would not harm the fundamentals. It was considered a punitive flesh wound. Still, seeing the pitiful state of the young girl stirred pity.
Soon, Lou Zixiao knelt properly again and said, “This disciple knows her mistake.”
He then heard someone beside her snort coldly. “Hmph. Continue kneeling and reflecting. There will be another ten lashes tonight.”
At this moment, a gentle voice sounded. “Third Grand Elder, how about letting it go? Junior sister must already know her mistake. The competition begins tomorrow. If she’s seriously injured, it will still have an impact.”
Gu Baiqing looked up. She was wearing the same emerald-green dress, but it was a girl seated in a wheelchair. The girl looked frail and delicate, her aura weak, showing signs of oil exhausted and lamp spent. Gu Baiqing was somewhat surprised, how could there be someone like this in the Immortal Medicine Valley? What incurable illness was this?
“Don’t plead for her.” An old man scolded, then turned to Lou Xuan, who had been standing quietly to the side, and said, “You don’t properly discipline your own disciple, so you let this old man do it personally. You don’t have any objections, do you?”
Lou Xuan said coldly, “No.”
Gu Baiqing could see that Lou Zixiao seemed to tremble all over for a moment, and he felt a bit sorry for the little girl.
“Fine, then let her kneel. Kneel until evening and that will be the punishment.” The old man left angrily with his people.
Lou Xuan just quietly looked at Lou Zixiao, seeming to wait for everyone else to leave, but the girl in the wheelchair beside him did not leave. Instead, she spoke up, “Little Martial Uncle, I’m a bit cold…”
Hearing this, Lou Xuan turned around, probably to go fetch something.
At this moment, only the two girls were left in the courtyard.
Only then did Lou Zixiao raise her head to look at the girl in the wheelchair. “Senior Sister, was it you? You’re the only one who knew I went to Hehuan Pavilion.”
Lou Zihan said with an innocent expression, “Xiaoxiao, you really wronged me. I was the one who suggested you go, how would I dare say anything?”
Lou Zixiao’s expression looked a bit unpleasant, but she did not make things difficult for Lou Zihan.
Lou Zihan instead asked curiously, “Xiaoxiao, did you see Yuxin? Did you get an answer?”
Lou Zixiao did not want to speak, but Lou Zihan refused to let it go and stepped forward to shove the kneeling Lou Zixiao.
Just then, Gu Baiqing noticed Lou Xuan returning from afar with a cloak. He then heard an “ah” cry, and Lou Zihan, together with her wheelchair, fell to the ground, while Lou Zixiao stood up in a panic, preparing to help her.
Hearing the sound, Lou Xuan seemed extremely anxious as he rushed into the small courtyard, pushed Lou Zixiao aside, and picked up Lou Zihan.
Lou Zihan nestled in Lou Xuan’s arms, crying with shock, anger, and grievance mingled together. “Xiaoxiao, I already said I didn’t betray you. Why would you…”
“I… I didn’t, I…” Lou Zixiao’s face instantly turned pale as she moved closer, wanting to see whether Lou Zihan was really injured.
As a result, Lou Xuan swung his palm. “Get back and kneel!”
Lou Zixiao was knocked over by the palm force and was forced down into a kneeling position in a miserable state. Her face turned white as she said, “It’s not like that, Master, I didn’t push her. It was an accident, the wheelchair was unstable. Believe me!”
Lou Xuan cast a sideways glance at Lou Zixiao.
“Little Martial Uncle, I…” Lou Zihan was about to say something when she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Lou Xuan’s expression changed drastically, and holding her, he flew away.
Panic filled Lou Zixiao’s face. She wanted to stand up, but because of the suppressing spell forcibly imposed on her body, she did not dare to move again. All that remained was her ashen face, and her murmuring, “Why is it that whenever it involves her… you never believe me?”
Gu Baiqing watched everything from above and could not help twitching the corner of his mouth. He had really seen all kinds of melodramatic plots.
He had seen the entire process of a girl doing something bad, but it seemed he was not in a position to appear and say anything. Since it was confirmed to be a family matter of the Immortal Medicine Valley, there was no need for him to interfere, so he could only turn and leave.
But before he could fly down, he heard something unusual. It was the two medicine people guarding the gate, and they actually walked in.
Gu Baiqing immediately had a bad premonition.
Sure enough, he saw the two of them walk straight toward Lou Zixiao’s back, slowly raise their hands, and point the sharp weapons in their hands directly at Lou Zixiao.
Gu Baiqing was just about to speak when he remembered that Lou Zixiao was currently suppressed by the formation and could not move at all. He clicked his tongue, about to make a move, when suddenly several flashes of silver light appeared.
Gu Baiqing was instantly startled and lay back down again.
It was God Nine Transformations.
Only a few of the eighteen nails appeared, instantly knocking down the medicine people behind Lou Zixiao.
Lou Zixiao turned her head back in surprise and saw a figure land.
“Big Brother Mo?”
Mo Xuanli did not speak, but raised his head to look toward the surrounding wall. “Who is it? Come down!”
As he spoke, the other nails were already launched.
With irresistible force, they attacked the wall.
But just as they were about to shatter it, all the nails stopped.
The guarded look on Mo Xuanli’s face changed. He instantly flashed to the wall, but there was already no one there.
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