On this particular day, Chu Yang took his sister to a cliff to pick a century-old lingzhi mushroom. If they could sell it, the money would be enough for them to live on for half a year.
Chu Yang carefully prepared all safety measures and repeatedly told Nannan to wait by the side and not to wander off.
Little Nannan nodded repeatedly, promising not to move.
However, as soon as Chu Yang walked away, her bright eyes started sparkling with curiosity.
She looked around.
After all, a little child could hardly be expected to stay put in such a situation.
Suddenly, she spotted a green snake in a nearby bush. Excited, Nannan rubbed her hands together and ran toward the snake.
Unlike other children her age, Chu Nannan was not afraid of snakes. While other kids might wet their pants at the sight of a snake, Nannan saw them as fascinating toys.
She had no sense of danger.
Approaching without caution, she was suddenly attacked by the snake, which bit her arm fiercely.
The venom quickly spread through her arm and began circulating through her body.
"Ah!"
Nannan screamed as the potent venom took effect, and she collapsed on the ground.
Chu Yang, who was about to pick the lingzhi mushroom, was startled by the scream and nearly fell off the cliff.
Nannan! What happened to Nannan?!
Chu Yang immediately abandoned the lingzhi and hurried back up, his heart racing with worry.
When he reached the top, he saw Nannan lying unconscious with a snake slithering nearby.
"Die!"
Filled with fury, Chu Yang's blood surged, and veins popped on his forehead.
He rushed forward and, with his sharp reflexes, grabbed the snake and tore it in half.
He then noticed Nannan's arm turning purple, with the venom visibly spreading throughout her body.
Panic-stricken, Chu Yang picked Nannan up and dashed towards the nearby town.
He arrived at an apothecary, whose owner, Chen, was one of Chu Yang's few friends in the town.
"Master Chen, please look at my sister. Please, you have to save her!" Chu Yang pleaded desperately as he burst into the shop.
After examining Nannan, Master Chen frowned deeply and sighed, "Chu Yang, your sister has been bitten by a venomous rainbow snake. Fortunately, you brought her in time. To save her, we need to amputate her arm."
Chu Yang felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
Either lose the arm or lose her life!
But Nannan was only eight years old. How could such a young child face such a cruel fate?
Losing an arm would be unimaginably painful.
Outside the Heavenly Emperor's realm.
Chu Nannan trembled, her expression shifting.
After being bitten by the snake, she had remained unconscious and only woke up once she was cured.
Other cultivators discreetly glanced at Chu Emperor's left arm.
It was still there.
"The rainbow snake's venom is easily neutralized by us, but for a mortal, it's deadly," one cultivator sighed.
"I sense that Master Chen was also a cultivator. It seems he must have saved Chu Emperor," another speculated.
As for the Emperor, still a mortal at that time, no one believed he had the power to save Chu Emperor.
In the mirror.
Chu Yang refused to accept this reality. He asked, struggling, "Master Chen, is there no other way?"
He held onto hope, no matter how slim.
"There are two other ways, but neither can be accomplished quickly. Even with my help, your sister can only hold on for seven days," Master Chen pondered for a moment before speaking.
Chu Yang's face lit up with hope. As long as there was a way!
"Master Chen, please tell me these two methods!" Chu Yang urged.
Master Chen sighed, "The first method requires finding both Heaven Bamboo Grass and Water Cold Flower, along with a snake demon as strong as a Dao Palace cultivator to use as a catalyst. The second method involves a Dao Palace cultivator using their spiritual power to neutralize the poison."
In cultivation terms, the realms were Body Refining, Spirit Guiding, and Dao Palace.
A Dao Palace cultivator in this remote place was almost mythical. Finding such a cultivator was as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Master Chen, after ten years of cultivation, had only reached the Body Refining stage, so he was powerless against such a venom.
After Master Chen's explanation, Chu Yang fell silent, knowing the difficulty.
Taking a deep breath, Chu Yang said to Master Chen, "Master Chen, if I don't return in seven days, please amputate my sister's arm."
Master Chen sighed, knowing he couldn't persuade Chu Yang otherwise.
He handed Chu Yang an old book, "This is a Body Refining manual. Take it."
Chu Yang thanked him repeatedly, took the manual, and left the shop.
Outside the Heavenly Emperor's realm.
A quasi-emperor cultivator shook his head, "The Body Refining manual is the most basic cultivation method. Even with the Emperor's extraordinary talent, it's impossible to reach the Dao Palace realm in seven days."
Cultivation was difficult, and even the initial Body Refining stage was as challenging as a Dao Palace breakthrough.
Someone glanced at Chu Nannan's arm, saying, "It seems Master Chen found a way to save Chu Emperor in the end."
Even Ye Fan spoke up, "The best age for body refining is before ten years old. By ten, the human body's bones are set, making the pain of body refining indescribable, and the results are limited."
No one believed in the young Emperor. None of the conditions seemed achievable for him.
Chu Yang had been searching for five days but had not found any trace of the two medicinal herbs. As for the Dao Palace realm snake demon, that was even harder to find.
Beasts of this level were already intelligent and rarely appeared in human territories.
Walking through the streets, Chu Yang asked everyone he met, "Uncle, do you know where I can find a Dao Palace realm cultivator?"
He asked dozens of people, but no one was willing to help him.
Disheartened, Chu Yang wandered into a desolate countryside. There were only two days left before the venom would fully take hold, and he had made no progress.
Was he really going to have to cut off Nannan's arm?