Chapter 848: Wei Ruyan’s State
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
"The color changed?" Taken aback, Zhang Xuan hurriedly made his way over the area where the Ten-leafed Flower was planted.
The Ten-leafed Flower was a saint herb. Upon reaching maturity, a different colored flower would bloom on each of its ten leaves, and each flower corresponded to a human’s three hun and seven po. 1
Wei Ruyan’s soul had been placed into it to be nourished.
Based on what his deduction, the color of the Ten-leafed Flower shouldn’t change in the midst of the treatment, so what could be happening?
Soon, at the center of the courtyard, Zhang Xuan saw the Ten-leafed Flower. Its previously resplendent flowers had all turned pitch black, as if someone had tossed a bucket of ink over it.
"What happened?" Zhang Xuan’s face darkened.
The ten colors of the Ten-leafed Flower were symbolic of its ability to nurture a soul. For them to have turned black, it was clear that some kind of mishap must have happened.
He had already promised the deceased Wei Changfeng to take good care of his daughter, so nothing could be allowed to happen to Wei Ruyan!
"Young Master, you told me take care of this flower, so I have been diligently watering it with some Earth Vein Spirit Essence every day. It had been growing well, and even when I checked it this morning before you returned, I didn’t notice any anomalies. However, just two hours ago, the colors of its flowers suddenly turned pitch-black. I checked the surroundings carefully, but there were no signs of anyone coming by and tampering with it. I have no idea what happened," Sun Qiang explained anxiously.
"It suddenly turned pitch-black?" Zhang Xuan muttered with a frown.
He released the surrounding formation and studied the surroundings carefully, and indeed, just as Sun Qiang said, it didn’t seem like anyone else had been there.
Since no one else had been there, Sun Qiang would have been the greatest suspect. However, Sun Qiang had been with him for some time now, and he trusted the other party deeply. Furthermore, Sun Qiang had no reason to harm Wei Ruyan. Just what could have happened?
Perplexed, Zhang Xuan walked up to the Ten-leafed Flower and studied it carefully with his Eye of Insight.
Previously nourished by the Earth Vein Spirit Essence and Heaven’s Path zhenqi, the Ten-leafed Flower had been overflowing with vitality when he left Hongyuan City ten days ago. But in this instant, not only had the resplendent flowers turned black, even the leaves seemed to have become slightly withered, as if they were suffering from some kind of terminal illness that was sapping its life force away.
This feeling was particularly prominent when Zhang Xuan saw the decay on the exposed rhizome of the herb.
How could this have happened?
Under the constant nourishment of the dense spiritual energy from the Spirit Gathering Formation and the Earth Vein Spirit Essence, the saint herb should have flourished with time. How could it have been reduced to this state instead?
Zhang Xuan stretched his hand over to touch the Ten-leafed Flower and muttered "Flaws!" beneath his breath. The next moment, a book materialized in the Library of Heaven’s Path, and he hurriedly flipped it open.
Upon taking a look, his complexion turned awful. It was indeed poisoned!
According to the details recorded in the Library of Heaven’s Path, the reason the Ten-leafed Flower had been reduced to its current state was because it had been poisoned!
Wei Ruyan possesses the Poison Soul Constitution, which means that her soul contains lethal poison. The Ten-leafed Flower has the ability to nurture a soul, but after prolonged contact with her soul, it was inevitable that it would be poisoned. If not for the dense spiritual energy and the Earth Vein Spirit Essence nourishing it and sustaining its life force, it would have died several days ago...
A deep frown surfaced on Zhang Xuan’s face as he analyzed the situation.
Wei Ruyan’s Poison Soul Constitution was simply a formidable ability. The fact that it could suppress even the Innate Fetal Poison in his soul served as proof of its prowess!
The Ten-leafed Flower was a saint herb that possessed the ability to nurture a deficient soul, but even it was powerless before such a formidable poison, thus resulting in its current state.
Zhang Xuan had been single-mindedly thinking about nurturing Wei Ruyan’s soul to rouse her consciousness and treat her body that he had neglected the potency of her Poison Soul Constitution!
If the Ten-leafed Flower died, Wei Ruyan’s soul would lose its binding to the world and dissipate swiftly!
It was fortunate that Sun Qiang had noticed it early, or else she could have lost her life just like that.
I should take a look at how far her soul has been nourished first...
Not daring to waste any time, Zhang Xuan drew out his soul and observed the soul infused within the flower.
A moment later, his expression turned livid.
The nurturing of the Ten-leafed Flower could easily nurse even the weakest of souls back to perfect health within ten days, but Wei Ruyan’s Poison Soul Constitution was simply too powerful. Putting aside how it had nearly poisoned the saint herb to death, it had also rendered its property to nurture souls nearly completely ineffective!
In other words, Wei Ruyan’s soul might have recovered slightly over the ten days, but it was still in an extremely feeble state. It would take a lot more before she could regain her consciousness.
At the current rate, if I wish to bring back her consciousness, I will require... at least a hundred thousand Ten-leafed Flowers! Zhang Xuan clenched his fists tightly.
Just to obtain this Ten-leafed Flower, he had caused a huge ruckus and nearly crippled the Physician School for good. A hundred thousand Ten-leafed Flowers... Where in the world could he find that many?!
It clearly wasn’t feasible!
It seems like... I will have to try looking for a higher tier saint herb than the Ten-leafed Flower! Zhang Xuan frowned.
While the Ten-leafed Flower was a saint herb, it was of the lowest tier. To put it in terms of human cultivation realm, it was only at Saint 1-dan. Naturally, its ability to counteract poison and its potency in nurturing souls would be weaker.
If a higher tier saint herb was used, the effectiveness of the treatment could be increased significantly, and he wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble as to gather a mountain of saint herbs.
But... it was so difficult to find even a stalk of a living Ten-leafed Flower in Hongyuan City, could he really find a higher tier living saint herb that had the ability to nurture souls here as well?
For the time being, I should return her soul to her body first...
Knowing that it was futile to think about it at the moment, Zhang Xuan instructed Sun Qiang to carry Wei Ruyan’s body over before drawing her soul out of the Ten-leafed Flower.
The extracted soul still looked extremely weak. Even after it was returned to its body, Wei Ruyan showed no sign of regaining consciousness.
Looking at the unconscious young lady before him, Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella. I should just forge the Grand Intermittence Pill for the moment. By nourishing her body, her soul will be strengthened along with it, thus stabilizing her current condition... With that, I should be able to gain some time to find a higher tier saint herb!
An affliction that could render innumerable 6-star physicians helpless, Wei Ruyan’s condition was clearly not as easy to treat.
Zhang Xuan had thought that everything would fall into place once he found a living saint herb to nurture her soul, but reality had shown that his thinking was too naive.
Putting everything aside, just the fact that her Poison Soul Constitution could render most saint herb ineffective was a tough hurdle to overcome.
Shaking his head grimly, Zhang Xuan drew out his soul and transferred his soul essence to Wei Ruyan to nourish her soul, stabilizing her condition for the time being.
After this was done, he heaved a sigh of relief.
While the Ten-leafed Flower had failed to bring back Wei Ruyan’s consciousness, it hadn’t been completely ineffective. At the very least, it had pulled her back from the brink of death for the time being.
As long as he could successfully forge the Grand Intermittence Pill and return vitality to her body, she should be able to last until he found a suitable saint herb to treat her.
"Young Master, Apothecary Lu and the others have arrived!" Sun Qiang reported.
Nodding, Zhang Xuan tasked Sun Qiang to take care of Wei Ruyan before heading to the main hall to meet Apothecary Lu and the others.
As soon as Zhang Xuan walked into the room, Apothecary Lu and the others hurriedly stood up and greeted him. "Zhang shi!"
"There is no need to stand on ceremony. I believe you should know why I gathered you all here today. I need your help in forging a grade-7 Grand Intermittence Pill."
Taking a seat, Zhang Xuan got straight to the point.
Even though they had an inkling of the reason when they made their way here, their faces still turned grim upon hearing those words.
As 6-star pinnacle apothecaries, they were more than confident in forging any grade-6 pills. However, to forge a grade-7 pill, not to mention, they would have to collaborate with people they had never worked with before... It was simply too difficult.
"Zhang shi, it is not that we are unwilling to help you, but we know our own limits, and... we fear that we might not be able to reach your expectations!" Apothecary Lu shook his head.
They had to admit that Zhang shi did possess an inconceivable talent for pill forging, but the Grand Intermittence Pill was one of the harder pills to forge even among grade-7 pills! It was impossible for them to succeed!
Noticing the lack of confidence among the apothecaries, Zhang Xuan reassured, "There is no need to worry, and you need not feel pressured as well. As long as you follow my instructions strictly, there shouldn’t be much of a problem!"
He could understand why they would feel apprehension at having to forge the Grand Intermittence Pill.
The gap between each rank grew exponentially larger as one progressed up any occupation.
Similarly, there was a huge gap between forging grade-6 pills and grade-7 pills. They had seen many of their peers devoting their lives to pill forging, only to never step through the final threshold.
As such, it was unimaginable for them to forge the Grand Intermittence Pill, the difficulty of which ranked amid the top among grade-7 pills.
"But even so, I still don’t think that we can do it..." Apothecary Lu shook his head.
"All of us have tried many times to forge a grade-7 pill, but never have we succeeded before. On top of that, we don’t have any experience collaborating with one another, so I fear that it is nigh impossible for us to succeed!"
The other apothecaries also shook their heads grimly.
Seeing that the apothecaries had no confidence at all, Zhang Xuan frowned.
Skill wasn’t everything to forging a good pill, one’s spirit, soul, and essence must be in the right place as well. This was especially so for a pill like the Grand Intermittence Pill, which harnessed vitality so overwhelming that it could regrow broken limbs. If the apothecaries carried such a pessimistic attitude, even if they were to get all of the steps correct, they would still be unable to forge a proper pill.
This was a problem of spirit and faith.
This was similar to how in his 1-star apothecary examination, one of his invigilators, Apothecary Chen Xiao, had managed to successfully forge Tranquil Heart Pills in his Pill Debate, but due to his own condition, the pill harnessed a death aura, which not only rendered the pill ineffective but could cause one’s cultivation to go berserk as well.
A grade-7 pill would be Saint-tier at the very least, which meant that it would possess a spirit of its own. If the apothecary forging the pill suffered from a lack of spirit, how could the pill forging be successful?
Zhang Xuan only had one set of medicinal herbs, so there would be no second chances. Failure was a luxury he couldn’t afford!
"Since none of you have the confidence, then... pardon me!"
Seeing the state that the apothecaries were in, Zhang Xuan knew that it would be difficult for him to make them regain their confidence anytime soon. However, he didn’t have the time to spare at the moment. Thus, he flicked his wrist, and the pile of medicinal herbs fell to the ground. These were the medicinal herbs that the apothecaries had prepared and entrusted Sun Qiang to pass to him.
After which, he took a deep breath and began speaking. "Let’s get straight down to business. Here are the medicinal herbs. Apothecary Lu, extract the medicinal essence of the Goldsilver Burclover. Apothecary Qiu, process the Truebeard Flower under low heat. Apothecary Liu..."
Zhang Xuan issued instructions swiftly, and his words seemed to carry a unique rhythm to them, making it particularly pleasant to the ear.
The apothecaries were intending on refusing Zhang Xuan, but before they knew it, their bodies were already moving according to the other party’s instructions.
Impartation of Heaven’s Will?
Feeling how their bodies were moving against their will, the crowd narrowed their eyes in astonishment.
No matter how slow they were, it was obvious that the young man before them had used Impartation of Heaven’s Will against them!
But they were 6-star pinnacle master teachers, Saint realm experts, and their Soul Depths could be considered among the highest in the Master Teacher Academy. Never had they thought that they would succumb to the Impartation of Heaven’s Will of another so easily!
Even at the very least, his Soul Depth must have reached 21! they thought in shock.
To be able to make so many of them fall under his Impartation of Heaven’s Will so easily, it meant that the other party’s Soul Depth was significantly higher than theirs, very possibly reaching the level of a 7-star master teacher!
For a twenty-year-old freshman to possess a Soul Depth of 21... Such a genius was probably rare even within the Sage Clans!
Perhaps, under the young man’s leadership, they might just be able to produce a miracle!