Teacher Lian’s ability to become a teacher in the Alchemy Tower of Kunlun Academy was itself a testament to his strength.
Teacher Lian proposed two feasible solutions.
The first was to find a top-grade spiritual medicine with water attributes, at least level eight, and use it as the main ingredient to refine an eighth-level Water Spirit Pill.
The second method was to counter poison with poison. They would bring the three individuals to a place where fire elements gathered, and find a cultivator with fire spiritual roots to help expel the fire poison from them.
Upon hearing the second method, Xu Yi immediately recalled one of the tasks the Monkey King had assigned her: finding Fire Berries.
Fire Berries, coincidentally, grew in places where fire elements were most abundant.
Xu Yi pondered, "Teacher Lian, whether it's refining the Water Spirit Pill or traveling to a place where fire elements gather, it will take some time. In the meantime, is there any way to alleviate their condition?"
"Let me think..." Teacher Lian pondered for a moment, then offered Xu Yi an idea. "Do you still have a considerable amount of Clear Fire Pills on hand?"
"Yes."
"Take a hundred Clear Fire Pills, melt them down with the spiritual fire from your palm into a quantity for three doses, and add three drops of Stone Spring Water. After consumption, it will suppress the fire poison. However, be extremely careful not to let them mobilize their spiritual energy, or they will surely suffer a backlash."
Xu Yi listened and nodded, indicating she had taken note.
"One more thing, you must use the spiritual fire from your palm, not the Earth Core Azure Flame, as the Clear Fire Pills cannot withstand your unusual flame."
Before ending the communication, Teacher Lian reminded Xu Yi of some precautions.
Xu Yi noted them all down and turned to find Ji Buwang, informing him that she would be refining pills on the spot and asking him to keep watch for any nearby activity.
Ji Buwang nodded in agreement.
Xu Yi briefly explained her plan to Qu Xiaoxiao and, under Qu Xiaoxiao’s grateful gaze, sat down cross-legged and began refining the Clear Fire Pills.
Refining Clear Fire Pills was not difficult; the challenge lay in reducing their quantity to three doses, which was quite time-consuming.
Initially, Qu Xiaoxiao could focus intently on Xu Yi refining the pills, but eventually, her gaze became unfocused, and her thoughts began to wander.
Had Senior Brother Jin and Senior Sister Hong truly encountered misfortune?
Would Senior Brother Long and the others awaken?
Could Senior Sister Xu lead her and her fellow disciples out of this place?
Countless thoughts wove into threads in her mind, tying themselves into intricate knots.
After an unknown period, a chill suddenly passed through Qu Xiaoxiao’s body, causing her to tremble.
She subconsciously looked across at the senior brother who was traveling with Senior Sister Xu. He was currently casting a cold glance at her.
She was startled at first, then realized she had been zoning out and staring in his direction, likely offending him.
She immediately lowered her head and shifted her gaze, gently pursing her lips.
That senior brother was so fierce, unlike Senior Brother Jin and the others.
She became even more acutely aware that, apart from her own fellow disciples, no one else could unconditionally tolerate all her flaws like they could, nor would they protect her as desperately as her senior brothers.
Qu Xiaoxiao lowered her head and looked at her three senior brothers, whose faces were still flushed. Another surge of warmth welled up in her eyes.
However, this time she held back.
Senior Sister Xu, who was kind to her, was refining pills, and the other aloof senior brother was on guard. She couldn’t cause them any more trouble.
After forcing back her tears, Qu Xiaoxiao suddenly thought she could find something to make her three senior brothers feel more comfortable.
She rummaged through her storage bag for a while, eventually finding only a few soft silk handkerchiefs and a flask of spiritual water.
She remembered that when she had a serious illness as a child, her father had used a cloth dipped in cold water to cool her forehead.
Qu Xiaoxiao sprinkled the spiritual water onto the handkerchiefs and then carefully placed one on the forehead of Long Haotian, who was closest to her.
However, as soon as the damp handkerchief touched Long Haotian's forehead, within two breaths, all the moisture evaporated, and the handkerchief returned to its dry and soft state.
Qu Xiaoxiao watched this happen with her own eyes, a flicker of helplessness in her gaze.
Her method didn't seem to have worked.
Qu Xiaoxiao tried a few more times, even directly dripping the spiritual water onto their bodies.
*Sizzle—*
The water droplets quickly evaporated, and their skin remained as hot as a furnace.
Qu Xiaoxiao now only wished she possessed the rare ice spiritual root, so she could use her own spiritual energy to soothe her three senior brothers instead of watching them suffer.
Qu Xiaoxiao felt like crying again.
Or rather, she didn't want to cry, but when her emotions reached a certain peak, she couldn't control them.
However, before she could shed a tear, a jade bottle that abruptly appeared before her interrupted her emotions.
Qu Xiaoxiao quickly reacted, picked up the jade bottle, and softly said "thank you" in the direction it came from.
Opening the jade bottle, a cool scent wafted out.
Qu Xiaoxiao poured a drop of the liquid from the jade bottle onto a handkerchief. The bone-chilling coolness spread through her fingertips to her entire body.
Her eyes lit up, and she immediately placed the handkerchief on Long Haotian's forehead.
This time, the moisture on the handkerchief did not evaporate, and Long Haotian's tightly furrowed brow relaxed slightly.
It worked!
Qu Xiaoxiao rejoiced inwardly and quickly dipped the remaining two handkerchiefs in the unknown liquid and placed them on Wang Yi’an and Chen Tao’s heads.
Seeing that the condition of her three senior brothers had somewhat improved, Qu Xiaoxiao tightly grasped the jade bottle, as if holding onto a lifeline.
...
"Senior Brother Jin, will our final resting place be here?"
In a dark and damp mountain cave.
Hong Shengyi hugged her knees, leaning against the stone wall, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.
"We will definitely not die."
Jin Biao replied, while attempting to break free from the invisible restraint on his body.
Hong Shengyi glanced at the contorted expression on Jin Biao's face, wanting to help, but ultimately could only weakly raise her arm and then slowly lower it.
Hong Shengyi didn't understand how things had come to this.
That day, she and Jin Biao had intended to find a secluded spot to talk, when unexpectedly a gust of cold wind swept by. They both lost consciousness and, upon waking, found themselves trapped in this cave.
The cave seemed to have been hollowed out directly from the mountainside, with no exits, so not a single ray of light penetrated it.
Moreover, both of them had been placed under a restriction, preventing their spiritual energy from circulating, and even restricting their free movement.
In the past few days, like Jin Biao, she had been trying to break free from the restraints.
Today, she suddenly no longer wished to try.
The person who could abduct them without them even realizing it was beyond their ability to contend with.
All they could do was wait for that person to appear to understand their intentions.
More than her own safety, Hong Shengyi was now more worried about Long Haotian and the others, especially Qu Xiaoxiao.
Without her and Jin Biao, the Xuanqing Sect's team would struggle to survive in that area.
If they encountered another incident similar to the Star Bloom Flower, Long Haotian and the other two would not be able to protect Qu Xiaoxiao, and might even be wiped out.
Hong Shengyi glanced at the communication disk on her waist, which flickered intermittently, and sighed inwardly.