Published at 3rd of May 2023 5:00 am

Chapter 1041: Sheng Huotian’s Awakening

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Ning Cheng made his move to attract Sichen Qiutian. Since Sichen Qiutian came over and spoke up, Ning Cheng naturally wouldn’t continue.

Seeing Ning Cheng stop, Ba Meng promptly put away the Sun and Moon Pagoda. The Dao Essence Holy Emperor, who blocked Ning Cheng, also had to put away his artefact.

“Ning Cheng greets the Union Master.” Ning Cheng hurriedly went forward to greet him.

Not only was Sichen Qiutian a strong alchemic powerhouse, but his cultivation was also the highest within the Pill Union. At least Ning Cheng couldn’t tell Sichen Qiutian’s current cultivation level. Moreover, Sichen Qiutian was an upright person, which made Ning Cheng respect him very much.

“Pill Sage Ning must have had a hard time returning, but I wonder what made you get into a conflict Elder Daopeng?” Seeing Ning Cheng stop in time, Sichen Qiutian spoke up in a friendly tone.

When he said that Ning Cheng had difficulty returning, it indicated that he naturally knew why Sheng Huotian had been poisoned. The person who poisoned Sheng Huotian had done so mainly to attract Ning Cheng, which also meant that Ning Cheng wouldn’t have had a peaceful time.

The middle-stage Dao Essence cultivator, Daopeng, whose full name was Cai Daopeng, was the first elder of the Pill Union. His position in the Pill Union was second only to Sichen Qiutian and Sheng Huotian, the third-in-command. Yet, at this moment, when he saw Sichen Qiutian talking to Ning Cheng with such a friendly tone, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable in his heart.

If someone else had dared to make a move in the Pill Union, Union Master Sichen Qiutian wouldn’t have even said anything before crushing that person to death. At the very least, Sichen Qiutian wouldn’t have stopped him. But facing Ning Cheng, the Union Master not only asked for a reason but also did in such a pleasant tone, which felt too eccentric even for someone like Sichen Qiutian.

Ning Cheng clasped his fists and replied, “Replying to the Union Master, I brought my friend back to help heal Brother Huotian, but this Elder Cai Daopeng forcibly stopped us and didn’t allow me and my friend to go in to heal Union Master Sheng.”

“You….” Cai Daopeng turned furious but could only say to Sichen Qiutian, “Replying to Union Master, when Pill Sage Ning returned, he didn’t say that he brought someone to help care for Union Master Sheng.”

Sichen Qiutian laughed, “Since this is just a misunderstanding and since we’re all members of the Pill Union, then let’s forget it. Go in. Let’s go in together and see Union Master Huotian. I have been deducing the recipe for the antidote to the Ripple Bone Poison, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a solution other than the Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill. I heard that Pill Sage Ning had previously refined the Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill for the Void Star Sect; I wonder if this is true?”

Ning Cheng responded, “Yes, it indeed is…….”

“Then, do you have any more Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pills in your hand?” Cai Daopeng eagerly asked.

Ning Cheng swept a glance at Cai Daopeng, “No.”

Cai Daopeng didn’t ask any more questions but inadvertently breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t know that Ning Cheng did indeed not have any in his hand, but he did have half a bottleful inside his ring.

With the restrictions on Sheng Huotian’s residence fully opened, Ning Cheng didn’t expect to find another person inside. A woman Ning Cheng had never seen before.

However, Sheng Huotian’s current state utterly shocked and distracted him from everything else. The current Sheng Huotian looked even more ghastly than when he had first met Qi Shisanxing, almost a skeleton, but a purple-black skeleton.

Moreover, he couldn’t sense even the tiniest shred of a dao rhythm from Sheng Huotian, just a thick aura of death.

“Why is Union Master Sheng like this?” Ning Cheng asked in horror. Since Ancestor Kang could resist this poison for countless years, why would Sheng Huotian fall into such a miserable state in just two years?

Sichen Qiutian sighed and said, “The Ripple Bone Poison is too powerful. Huotian hasn’t reached Dao Confirming’s Dao Fusion Realm, so he can’t fully restrain the Ripple Bone Poison’s spread. If it goes on like this, I’m afraid…….”

Sichen Qiutian didn’t continue; everyone understood the meaning of his words. Sheng Huotian can’t last much longer and has little time left. Any more delays would most likely result in his death.

Ning Cheng didn’t ask any more questions but didn’t take out the Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill for Sheng Huotian. Instead, he sighed but didn’t say anything.

Thinking of a few things, his gaze finally moved to the woman in Sheng Huotian’s room, “Who are you? Why are you here?”

Cai Daopeng immediately said, “Union Master Sheng’s poisoning is too strong, so I brought her here to take care of Union Master Sheng.”

Ning Cheng asked no more questions but said to Sichen Qiutian, “Union Master, I want to take Brother Huotian away to cure the poison. I will try my best even if there is only one in a billion chance.”

Before Sichen Qiutian could say anything, Cai Daopeng’s expression turned gloomy, and he said, “Union Master Sheng is the Second Head of my Pill Union. His identity is too precious. How can you take him away just because you want to? In case something happens, can you bear the consequences?”

Ning Cheng’s gaze shifted to Cai Daopeng, and he sneered, “Are you a Dao Essence Pill Sage, or am I a Dao Essence Pill Sage here? If I can’t afford the consequences, then can you? Just now, Union Master said that the way Union Master Sheng looked, he wouldn’t last while you and the people you invited have been caring for Union Master Huotian. Yet, you couldn’t even begin to comprehend the actual situation?”

Hearing Ning Cheng seemingly comparing alchemy level with himself, Cai Daopeng became even more furious, and his expression twisted out of anger. However, he found it impossible to refute Ning Cheng, as his level in alchemy truthfully couldn’t compare to Ning Cheng.

“Union Master……” Cao Daopeng couldn’t refute this but could only look at Sichen Qiutian.

Sichen Qiutian waved his hand and said to Ning Cheng, “Ning Cheng, you can take Huotian away. You and Huotian are friends and a Dao Essence Pill Sage, so I trust you. I’ve collected all the auxiliary herbs to refine the Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill, but unfortunately, I could only obtain one of the main ingredients, the Ayala Silver Phoenix Grass. If you need them, you can come get them from me anytime. No matter the result, I think as long as you try your best, Huotian will not blame you. However, after this matter, you should focus on the Five Grand Realms’ Alchemy Competition.”

“Yes, many thanks, Union Master. Once I gather the rest of the dao fruits, I will come and trouble the Union Master.” Ning Cheng said gratefully.

In any case, Sichen Qiutian was genuinely helping Sheng Huotian. It’s just that the ingredients for the Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill were a little too difficult to get.

Since the Union Master agreed, Cai Daopeng could only look at Ning Cheng with a blank face as he left with Sheng Huotian. Ning Cheng had a Dao Essence powerhouse by his side, so even if he was a middle-stage Dao Essence cultivator, he couldn’t dare to do anything to Ning Cheng.

“Brother Ning Cheng, I think something is wrong with that Pill Union elder.” After leaving the Pill Union’s headquarters, Ba Meng finally spoke up.

Ning Cheng sneered, “He has a few problems. Not only does he have problems, but the woman who cared for Brother Huotian also has some problems. Moreover, there are no healing arrays in Brother Huotian’s room; rather, it only has monitoring arrays. Did they think they could deceive me for not knowing the Dao of Arrays?”

……

“Brother Ning, you’re back?” Jian Sanshan saw Ning Cheng come to his residence and immediately came out to greet him with joy.

“Senior Apprentice Brother….” Wu Qihong’s surprised voice emerged, and a moment later, Xin Xiu followed him out.

Ning Cheng asked in doubt, “Since you two are here, what happened to the Pill House in Heaven Essence Sacred City? Did you hire someone to look after it?”

Xin Xiu and Wu Qihong lowered their heads with guilty looks.

Jian Sanshan sighed and said, “It’s because my strength is too low to keep the Pill House. After I heard about Union Master Sheng’s poisoning by Ripple Bone Poison, I immediately understood that it was aimed at you. Therefore, I asked Junior Apprentice Suster Xin and Junior Apprentice Brother Qihong to not tell you about it lest it makes you worry even more.”

Ning Cheng understood; he nodded but didn’t ask about this matter. Instead, he introduced Ba Meng to everyone, pointed to a covered chair above his head and said, “This is Union Master Sheng. Let’s go in; I want to heal Union Master Sheng’s wounds.”

There were too many eyes and ears around and inside the inns in this sacred city, so Ning Cheng had deliberately chosen to come to Jian Sanshan’s residence. Besides, he had helped rearrange the protective arrays of Jian Sanshan’s residence in the past, so this place felt much safer than many of the inns.

……

Ning Cheng finally took out a Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill in a room surrounded by powerful restrictions and sent it into Sheng Huotian’s mouth. When Ancestor Kang had detoxified the poison with the help of the Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill, it had taken him several hours to expel it. But now, in just one incense stick’s worth of time, black mist poured out of the top of Sheng Huotian’s head, followed by a drop of black-coloured Ripple Bone Poison dripping down from his body and falling into the jade bottle prepared by Ning Cheng.

Fortunately, the powerful restrictions set up by Ning Cheng blocked the overflowing poisonous mist, not allowing even a strand of it to leak.

As an hour passed, the black and purple on Sheng Huotian’s body slowly disappeared, and flesh grew on his skeletal frame. Sheng Huotian finally opened his eyes, nodded to Ning Cheng, and then closed his eyes again.

A moment later, the aura of dao rhythms started to surround and coalesce around Sheng Huotian. Seeing this, Ning Cheng understood that Sheng Huotian had finally escaped danger. He, Ba Meng, and the others left the room, leaving Sheng Huotian alone inside to complete the detoxification.

“Junior Apprentice Sister Xin Xiu, can you tell me what happened with our pill house?” Ning Cheng finally felt free enough to ask Xin Xiu about this matter.

The fact that both Xin Xiu and Wu Qihong were fine made Ning Cheng sigh in relief. Everything else felt secondary so long as his people were fine.

Without waiting for Xin Xiu to speak, Jian Sanshan said, “I’m afraid this matter has nothing to do with them. After Union Master Sheng got poisoned, someone came to our pill house to sell a Falling Scar Fruit…….”

“Wait, you said someone came to our pill house to sell a Falling Scar Fruit?” Ning Cheng asked in disbelief. Something like the Falling Scar Fruit would be coveted by almost everyone everywhere. Why would anyone bring it to a pill house to sell?

“That’s right.” Jian Sanshan nodded and said, “After that person took out the Falling Scar Fruit, the people in the pill house immediately turned red-eyed and grabbed at the Falling Scar Fruit….”

Ning Cheng spoke up with a gloomy face, “I understand. While snatching the Falling Scar Fruit, the others snatched the rest of the pills in the pill house and then messed up the pill house. Is that right? Then, I’m guessing, all those people simply disappeared?”

Jian Sanshan sighed, “That’s pretty much it. At that time, Xin Xiu, managing the pill house, also got seriously injured. Fortunately, I managed to come just in time and saved Xin Xiu. I reckon that this incident and the poisoning of Union Master Sheng was all about luring you back.”

“That’s right, it was aimed at you this time.” Sheng Huotian’s voice emerged from the room, followed by him. Although his body still looked shrivelled, it no longer had any trace of Ripple Bone Poison’s aura.

“Elder Brother Huotian, you’re all right.” Ning Cheng stood up and said happily.

Sheng Huotian nodded and said, “Brother Ning Cheng, many thanks for your help this time. Fortunately, you said you had no Renewing Heaven Ripple Bone Pill on you back in the Pill Union. If you had answered Cai Daopeng’s question with a yes, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have had the chance to come here.”

“You mean….” Ning Cheng’s eyes instantly revealed a murderous intent. When Cai Daopeng blocked him, he only thought it was due to a grudge against Sheng Huotian. But if the Ripple Bone Poison was placed by Cai Daopeng, then he shouldn’t blame him for being ungracious. A mere Cai Daopeng wasn’t qualified to even covet his things.

Sheng Huotian said with a grave face, “It shouldn’t only be Cai Daopeng. Cai Daopeng and I have some conflicts, but not so deep that he would use poison against me. However, I’m sure that he must have been involved in this. I, Sheng Huotian, remained in Dao Confirmation’s Dao Essence Realm for so many years; what storms have I not witnessed. Hmph! If someone wants my life, they should trade it with theirs.”

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