Chapter 866: Wei Ruyan's Current Situation

"The color changed?" Zhang Xuan was startled and quickly walked toward the Ten-Leaf Flower.

The Ten-Leaf Flower is a sacred realm medicinal herb. When it matures, it produces ten blossoms, each with a different color, corresponding to a person's three souls and seven spiritual aspects. Wei Ruyan's faint soul was being nourished on it.

He had promised Wei Changfeng to take care of his daughter. What happened for it to suddenly change color?

He quickly arrived at the center of the courtyard and saw that the vibrant flowers within the formation had all turned jet black, as if someone had splashed ink on them.

"What's going on?" His expression darkened.

The Ten-Leaf Flower, with its ten colors and ability to nourish souls, had now entirely turned black, clearly indicating a problem. Wei Changfeng was gone, and as a young master, he had made a promise. If he couldn't save the man's daughter, how could he still claim to be a Master Teacher?

"Before you left, Young Master, you asked me to look after this flower," Sun Qiang explained, his face filled with anxiety. "I've been watering it daily with Earth Vein Spiritual Liquid, and it's been growing well these past few days. Even when you returned this morning, I checked it and found no issues. It was only about an hour ago... that its color suddenly turned black. I've thoroughly checked, and no one has touched the formation, nor has anyone been here. I'm not sure what exactly happened..."

"Suddenly turned black?" Zhang Xuan frowned, deactivated the surrounding formation, and took a careful look. Indeed, no one had been there. If no one had come, sabotage was impossible, and he trusted Sun Qiang completely. What could be going on?

He approached the Ten-Leaf Flower and activated his Eye of Insight, observing it. This Ten-Leaf Flower, previously nourished by his Earth Vein Spiritual Liquid and Heaven's Path zhenqi, had matured rapidly, brimming with vitality and vibrant color. But now, not only had its blossoms turned black, but its leaves were also somewhat withered, as if it were suffering from a disease and on the verge of death. Especially its exposed roots, which had already begun to rot.

"How could this happen?" Nourished by Earth Vein Spiritual Liquid and gathering spiritual energy from the Spirit Gathering Formation, this sacred herb should have been thriving, not rotting away like this.

He reached out a finger, mentally called "Defect," and a book appeared before him. He quickly opened it. He glanced at it, and his expression immediately turned grim: "It's poisoned!"

According to the Library of Heaven's Path's findings, the Ten-Leaf Flower was in this state not due to any other reason, but because... it was poisoned!

"Wei Ruyan has an Innate Poisonous Soul Physique, and her soul carries potent toxins. While the Ten-Leaf Flower can nourish souls, prolonged exposure to her soul naturally caused it to become poisoned to this extent! If it weren't for the Earth Vein Spiritual Liquid and spiritual energy nourishment, it would have died long ago and wouldn't have lasted even ten days..."

The root cause of the situation became clear in his mind, and Zhang Xuan's brows furrowed deeply. Wei Ruyan's Innate Poisonous Physique was incredibly formidable; it could even suppress the innate fetal toxins in his own soul, showing just how terrifying it was! The Ten-Leaf Flower was a sacred medicine for nourishing souls, but when exposed to such a potent poisonous physique, it couldn't withstand it, leading to this anomaly.

Previously, he had only focused on nourishing Wei Ruyan's soul and treating her, forgetting about her Innate Poisonous Soul Physique. He hadn't expected it to be so powerful! Once the Ten-Leaf Flower died, Wei Ruyan's soul would be like a tree without roots and would quickly dissipate! Fortunately, Sun Qiang discovered it in time. Otherwise, not only would she not have been saved, but her soul might have been utterly scattered.

"First, let's see how much her soul has been nourished!" Without hesitation, he focused his mind, and his spirit-soul left his body. He looked down at the soul contained within the flower. A moment later, his face turned ashen.

The Ten-Leaf Flower, when nourishing other souls for ten days, could definitely bring a fading soul to consciousness. However, Wei Ruyan's Innate Poisonous Soul Physique was simply too powerful. Not only did it poison this sacred herb to death, but it offered very little benefit in terms of nourishment! In other words, while Wei Ruyan's soul was slightly stronger than ten days ago, it was still incredibly weak and far from being able to regain consciousness.

"Given her current condition, to awaken her... it would require at least hundreds of thousands of Ten-Leaf Flowers!" His fist clenched. Analyzing Wei Ruyan's current state, it would be impossible to awaken her without hundreds of thousands of Ten-Leaf Flowers. Just one Ten-Leaf Flower had caused such an uproar, leading to the dismantling of the Physician School. Hundreds of thousands... how could that possibly be achieved? It was clear that saving her with Ten-Leaf Flowers was no longer an option!

"Unless... I use a higher-grade sacred medicine!" His eyebrows rose.

Although the Ten-Leaf Flower was a sacred medicine, it had only just entered the Saint realm. According to human cultivation classifications, it was equivalent to Saint 1-dan, and its resistance to toxins and endurance were naturally weaker. If he used a higher-grade sacred medicine, the effect might be much greater, making the process far less troublesome. However... even one Ten-Leaf Flower was incredibly hard to find, let alone other living medicinal herbs of higher grades!

"First, let's return her soul to her body..." Knowing that thinking about it now was useless, he had Sun Qiang bring Wei Ruyan's body over. Then, with a mental command, his spirit-soul extracted her soul from the Ten-Leaf Flower.

The soul, once separated from the flower, was as weak as before, its eyes tightly closed. When it returned to her physical body, there was indeed no sign of her waking up.

"I still need to continue refining the Continuation Pill. Once the pill is ready, I'll first nourish her physical body. If her body strengthens, her soul might also become stronger... then, I'll find a way to search for a higher-grade sacred medicine!" Seeing that the girl remained unconscious, Zhang Xuan rubbed his brow.

The fact that countless six-star physicians were helpless and Wei Changfeng had exhausted all his energy confirmed that Wei Ruyan's condition was indeed not as simple as he had imagined. He had initially thought that finding a living sacred medicine to nourish her soul would awaken her. Now, it seemed he had been too naive. Apart from other factors, her innately poisonous soul alone made countless sacred medicines incapable of resisting its effects.

His spirit-soul flew out, and he used his own soul to nourish hers for a while longer. Feeling that her vitality had somewhat recovered and she wouldn't temporarily die, Zhang Xuan finally let out a sigh of relief. Although this Ten-Leaf Flower hadn't fully awakened her, it had successfully averted the immediate danger of death. As long as the Continuation Pill was refined and her physical body regained vitality, even if she didn't awaken immediately, she would definitely survive until a higher-grade sacred medicine could be found.

"Young Master, Master Alchemist Lu and the others are already waiting in the hall!" Zhang Xuan instructed Sun Qiang to have someone continue looking after Wei Ruyan, then walked toward the main hall.

"Master Zhang!" Upon entering the main hall, Master Alchemist Lu and the others immediately stood up when they saw him.

"Please, no need for formalities," Zhang Xuan said, sitting down and getting straight to the point. "The reason I've asked you all to come is obvious without me saying much. I hope to utilize your expertise to refine a Grade-7 Continuation Pill!"

Although everyone had already guessed, hearing him confirm it personally made them fall silent. They were all peak six-star alchemists, capable of refining Grade-6 pills without issue. But refining a Grade-7 pill... especially as a group who had never cooperated before, it was incredibly difficult.

"Master Zhang, it's not that we're trying to decline, but our abilities are limited. We're afraid... it would be difficult to accomplish such a crucial task!" Master Alchemist Lu shook his head. They didn't deny Master Zhang's profound attainments in alchemy, but... a Grade-7 pill, especially one of such high rank, seemed utterly impossible!

"Please don't worry, and don't feel any psychological burden. As long as you follow my steps and complete them meticulously, there shouldn't be any major problems!" Zhang Xuan said, seeing their lack of confidence. It was understandable; they were only six-star alchemists, and Grade-6 pills were the highest they commonly dealt with. The Continuation Pill, being a high-ranking Grade-7 pill, was already beyond their imaginable capabilities.

"We still don't dare..." Master Alchemist Lu shook his head.

"That's right, we're all old now, and we've attempted it many times without success. Plus, we've never cooperated before; it's likely too difficult to complete!" The other alchemists also shook their heads in unison.

Seeing that none of them had even a shred of confidence, Zhang Xuan frowned. Alchemy requires not only skill but also vitality, energy, and spirit, all of which are indispensable. Especially for a pill like the Continuation Pill, which can repair limbs and reattach severed arms, it contains potent life force. If the alchemists have such an attitude, even with correct procedures, success would be impossible! This was no longer just a matter of alchemy techniques, but of spirit and conviction. It was like when he took the one-star alchemist examination; Master Alchemist Chen Xiao, due to his physical condition, had refined pills that contained death qi. Taking them would not only be ineffective but could also lead to qi deviation. Grade-7 pills had already reached the Saint level, and the medicinal ingredients could even develop their own consciousness. If the alchemist's spirit was insufficient... how could they succeed?

He only had one set of medicinal ingredients. If they failed, there would be no second chance. In other words, this refinement absolutely could not fail!

"Since you all lack confidence, then... please forgive my presumption!" Seeing their attitude, Zhang Xuan knew it would be difficult for them to regain confidence quickly, and he had no time to waste. With a flick of his wrist, a pile of medicinal ingredients appeared on the ground – precisely those that the elders of the Alchemist School had helped prepare earlier.

After doing this, he took a deep breath and immediately stated: "No need for anything else, let's begin refining now. These are the ingredients. Master Alchemist Lu, purify the liquid from the Alfalfa Honeysuckle. Master Alchemist Qiu, gently bake the True-Beard Flower over a low flame. Master Alchemist Liu..."

His words came out rapidly, carrying a unique rhythm. He assigned a task to each person. Just as the alchemists were about to decline, they felt a dizziness in their minds, and their bodies involuntarily began to process the medicinal ingredients according to his instructions.

"Heaven's Path Impartation?" Watching their hands and movements, which were no longer under their own control, everyone's pupils constricted. Even the most foolish among them now knew that the person before them had used Heaven's Path Impartation on them! They were all high-grade six-star Master Teachers, with their strength and mental fortitude ranking high within the Master Teacher Academy. To be directly affected by this was something they wouldn't have dared to imagine before!

"His mental fortitude... it must have already surpassed ours!" They were all utterly shocked. To be able to command everyone in one breath and make Heaven's Path Impartation effective meant that this person's mental fortitude was stronger than theirs, likely having already reached... the seven-star Master Teacher level!

A student in his twenties, whose mental fortitude had reached that level... even the Sage Clans wouldn't have such a heaven-defying genius! Perhaps, they, who had never cooperated before, could truly work together and create a miracle!