Xu Ziqing, perhaps finding the ground a bit dirty, chose to stand aside rather than sit down. As the young girl had been continuously walking in the middle of the group, protected by everyone, she wasn't tired and did not need much rest.
With everyone else meditating and circulating their qi, she found herself becoming a little bored. Her spirited eyes darted around, taking in the scenery in the dense forest.
Suddenly, the leaves in front of her rustled as if something was moving behind them. Out of curiosity, she stared right at it.
Next, she heard a faint rustling sound, followed by the appearance of a palm-sized dark green toad from beneath the leaves. With its bulging eyes, the toad looked ugly and fierce.
This creature was not a demonic creature, so it wasn't detected by Fang Ting's divine sense, allowing it to approach the group.
"Ah!"
Even though it wasn't dangerous, the toad with its horrific looks still managed to strike a significant blow to the young girl's spirit. Startled, she stumbled backward several steps.
This retreat caused her to step out of the range of the lantern's glow.
Just a single step.
Just as everyone's attention was drawn towards her, a vine sprung up from the edge, revealing a gaping mouth filled with sharp teeth!
Hiss--
Caught off guard, the young girl was bitten on her calf by the flower demon!
"Junior Sister Ziqing!" Fang Ting exclaimed, instantly drawing his longsword from his back.
With a swishing sound, a golden dragon echoed through, unleashing a wave of monstrous sword qi filled with thunderbolt, instantly swallowing the flower demon's body. Along with the surrounding vines, huge trees, and a large part of the dense forest were carved into a deep gorge that stretched over ten yards long.
Earlier on, Chu Liang had heard from Lin Bei that the treasure sword on Fang Ting's back was called the Shocking Thunder Sword, and that the golden elixir he cultivates is the God Thunder's Five Thunder Golden Elixir, concentrating on cultivating the thunderbolt sword qi.
Seeing the devastating power of this single sword attack affirmed its terrifying might.
Yet, such a mighty sword attack passed next to Xu Ziqing without even a trim to her clothing, signifying Fang Ting's superb control.
Indeed, a vast chasm existed between cultivators at the Golden Core Realm and the Divine Consciousness Realm.
However, no matter how vicious his subsequent retaliation, it could not change the fact that Xu Ziqing had already been bitten by the flower demon. The young girl staggered and fell to the ground. She quickly activated her qi to stop the bleeding, but inevitably, she panicked and cried out.
"The flower demon is venomous..."
Looking at her again, indeed, the portion between the petite calf and the ankle that she lifted up was seeping black blood from a deep wound. The skin around was getting infected by the black gas.
"The green vine flower demon in this forest is non-venomous. The one just now... must be a mutated purple vine flower demon." Fang Ting explained.
"This is bad." Lin Bei said, "The detoxifying elixir we've prepared, the Haze Removing Pill, is meant to counter swamp gas in the forest. This purple vine flower demon is rather rare, and we didn't prepare any antidote for it... At this moment, there's only one solution!"
"What?" Everyone turned to look at him.
Lin Bei, with a look of determined sacrifice, said resolutely, "Junior Sister Ziqing, you must seal off your qi and blood flow to delay the poison's infiltration into your body. I will circulate my qi to suck out the poisoned blood!"
Saying so, he gritted his teeth, appearing ready for the task ahead.
"Stop messing around!" Fang Ting sternly rebuked, "You're at roughly the same cultivation level as Junior Sister Ziqing. If you suck out the poisoned blood, and you get poisoned, what then? Hmm... I have higher cultivation, I'll do it."
It was only then that the typically reticent Lu Ren finally spoke up, "Senior Brother Fang carries heavy responsibilities, it's inappropriate for him to take such risks. Junior Brother Lin's cultivation is low, so he shouldn't act rashly. Rather, I should do it."
Having said that, he licked his lips.
"Ah..." Holding her delicate foot, the young girl's voice was now carrying a sob. The circumstances reminded her of a situation she had never imagined before.
As the three of them were arguing, Chu Liang from the side interjected, "Gentlemen, I..."
Lin Bei looked up at him, "What? You want a taste too?"
"No." Chu Liang shook his head. "What I'm saying is, I have a kind of antidote that might be able to neutralize the flower demon poison in Junior Sister Xu."
"What?" Xu Ziqing looked at Chu Liang like a drowning person grasping at straws, her eyes shone brightly. "Senior Brother Chu, do you really have an antidote?"
"Indeed, although it's not specifically targeted at the flower demon poison, it should be somewhat effective." Chu Liang took out the Hundred Flowers Powder.
"It's not a specific antidote, it might be risky." Lin Bei seemed somewhat reluctant to give it up, looking at Xu Ziqing, "Junior Sister Ziqing, it's your call ..."
"Right now we only have two choices, either sucking it out or taking the medicine."
"I'll take the medicine!"
Xu Ziqing said without hesitation.
Chu Liang handed over the Hundred Flowers Powder, "Half of it should be ingested, and half applied externally."
"Thank you, Senior Brother Chu." Xu Ziqing gratefully accepted.
"Sigh." Lin Bei sighed, looked guilty, "I couldn't be of any help, it doesn't sit well with my conscience. Since I can't help you suck out the poisonous blood, why don't I help you apply the medicine?"
His words earned him a big eye-roll from Xu Ziqing.
As per Chu Liang's instructions, she divided the Hundred Flowers Powder in half, applying one half to the wound and ingesting the other half with water, then she started working on her recuperation.
Incredibly, in the span just a tea cup time, the dark aura at the wound had completely faded! Even the huge wound that was as big as a bowl was visibly closing up at a visible pace.
Of course, part of this healing was due to the strong vitality of cultivators. However, the healing effects of the Hundred Flowers Powder definitely played a significant part.
"Senior Brother Chu, your medicine is truly miraculous!" Xu Ziqing looked at Chu Liang with delight.
"As long as it works." Chu Liang simply answered with a faint smile.
For cultivators, as long as there was no demon poison, trivial flesh wounds wouldn't impact much. After Xu Ziqing applied some external wound cream, she immediately stood up and started hopping around like her normal self.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but she felt a fragrant scent emanating from her body after taking Chu Liang's medicine. This scent even transformed over time. It started as a faint jasmine aroma and then transitioned to fragrant rose before changing into ... um ... a strange smell that she had never smelled before, and it was rather strong.
Perhaps it was some kind of flower scent?
Having recovered her mobility, she walked up to Chu Liang and whispered, "Senior Brother Chu, how should I thank you."
"No need." Chu Liang laughed, "You gave me a Spirit Gathering Pill, I gave you Hundred Flowers Powder. It's all about quid pro quo."
"But..." the girl cocked her head, "How can the Spirit Gathering Pill compare to your Hundred Flowers Powder?"
Chu Liang waved away the thought, "We're fellow disciples, and friends, too. Why get hung up on the details?"
"We're friends..." Xu Ziqing considered this for a moment before a delightful smile crossed her face, "Alright."
Meanwhile, Lin Bei asked, "But weren't you brought directly to the Sword Exchange Pavilion by us, Chu? Do you always carry an antidote with you?"
"Better safe than sorry." Chu Liang answered casually.
Soon after, Fang Ting signaled the group to move again. Chu Liang immediately moved to the front, continuing his role as the pathfinder.
As everyone watched his retreating figure, their gaze softened compared to earlier. At that moment, all the disciples of Jade Sword Peak thought... this Silver Sword Peak disciple can handle himself well. He truly fights when there's a monster, and he truly provides medicine when needed.
Chu Liang, he's good!