Chapter 821: Unforeseen Ashes

On the second floor of the Lu Family Study, Yang Xiangjun held a handkerchief to his nose and mouth, weeping incessantly.

"Zhou Badou, you're a well-known figure in Pro State. We agreed to a one-on-one fight, I'd take three of your moves, and that would be the end of it. A scholar of your standing should keep his word, right? What kind of move is it to bring Li Qi into this?"

Boss Lu remained silent.

Yang Xiangjun looked at Li Banfeng and said, "Li Qi, you're supposedly a hero of your generation. What kind of thing is this to do? It's bad enough that you and Zhou Badou ganged up on me, but you even ambushed me from behind. Think about it yourself, don't you feel ashamed?"

Li Banfeng looked at the paper and brush on the table, also saying nothing.

Boss Lu sighed, "Brother Yang, I'm a bit ashamed to say this. We've known each other for so many years, and I can't bear to see you suffer so much."

Yang Xiangjun wiped his tears and said, "You've seen how much I've suffered. Let's just forget about it. I'll leave the Ink Fragrance Shop immediately, and we'll call everything that happened before a clean slate."

"I'm afraid it's not that easy to wipe clean," Boss Lu said, looking at the prescription Yang Xiangjun had written. He turned and picked up an iron rod. "You spent two hours and only wrote down three ingredients. And you want to leave? Isn't that an insult to scholars?"

Bang! Bang!

Under the brutal beating, Yang Xiangjun cried out repeatedly, "Stop hitting me! I remember now, I remember! If you keep hitting me and make me forget, don't blame me—"

Yang Xiangjun finished writing the prescription. It listed over seventy kinds of medicinal ingredients, many of which Li Banfeng had never heard of.

After reading the prescription, Boss Lu asked Yang Xiangjun, "With all the materials and manpower ready, how long will it take you to produce the Blazing Nihility?"

Yang Xiangjun wiped the ink from his hands. "About half a year should be enough."

Boss Lu and Li Qi picked up the iron rods and beat him for about ten minutes. Yang Xiangjun covered his head and shouted, "Half a day! Half a day is enough!"

"Seventh Master, you guard Yang Xiangjun here. I'll go procure the medicinal ingredients."

Li Banfeng shook his head. "Leave the ingredients to me; I can move faster."

Boss Lu smiled. "I have my own methods."

He indeed had his methods. With Lu Family Studies spread throughout Pro State, Boss Lu brought all the necessary medicines in less than half a day. These included traditional herbs and modern agents. Yang Xiangjun mixed different medicines, experimenting repeatedly, and produced several vials of liquid medicine, none of which he was entirely satisfied with.

Li Banfeng asked Yang Xiangjun, "Your technique is so skilled; do you also have a background in medicine cultivation?"

Yang Xiangjun scoffed with a smile, "Seventh Master, you've got that backwards, haven't you? Medicine cultivators are our sons' generation; they learned their fundamentals from us. The Ancestor of Medicine Cultivation was originally a Poison Cultivator. It was only because his talent was insufficient and he couldn't fully master the Daoist techniques that he was forced to create Medicine Cultivation. I'm not making this up. If you don't believe me, ask Zhou Badou."

Boss Lu nodded. "Brother Yang speaks the truth. Jiang Xuanhu, the Ancestor of Medicine Cultivation, was indeed a Poison Cultivator. Because he wasn't skilled in using poison, but exceptionally skilled in detoxifying, he established the Medicine Cultivation sect."

"Brother Zhou, don't think only medicine cultivators can detoxify. The true masters of detoxification are still among us, the poison cultivators. Medicine cultivators are hardly worth mentioning in our presence." Yang Xiangjun took a few dried flower buds, crushed them with a mortar, put the powder into a test tube, and simmered it for over half an hour.

The liquid in the test tube changed from red to blue. Yang Xiangjun removed the test tube, let the liquid cool, and said to Li Qi, "Bring a worm to test it."

Li Banfeng retrieved a Void Yuan Silkworm from the teapot. This creature was remarkably resilient; it had been carried by the teapot for so many days and was still alive.

Yang Xiangjun stared at the Void Yuan Silkworm for a moment. "This has been modified by a curse."

Li Banfeng asked, "Are Void Yuan Silkworms modified by curses more robust?"

"Not at all." Yang Xiangjun took a dropper, squeezed a drop of the liquid onto the Void Yuan Silkworm. The silkworm struggled for a moment, then stiffened and became motionless.

Yang Xiangjun checked his pocket watch and then probed the Void Yuan Silkworm with a needle. The Void Yuan Silkworm was indeed completely dead. It had taken just over six seconds. But Yang Xiangjun wasn't entirely satisfied. "Void Yuan Silkworms are notoriously tough, but those modified by curses have significantly weaker physiques. You'd best get an unmodified worm to test it on."

Boss Lu returned to his study in Greenwater City, found Yu Yaoming, asked for several unmodified Void Yuan Silkworms, and brought them to the Ink Fragrance Shop's study.

Yang Xiangjun took the dropper, dripped the poison onto the worm, opened his pocket watch, and started recording the time. After over fifty seconds, the Void Yuan Silkworm stiffened on its back and finally stopped moving.

Yang Xiangjun closed his pocket watch and let out a long breath. "Alright, this poison still works."

Boss Lu was somewhat concerned. "It takes nearly a minute to die after being poisoned. The potency of this poison is hardly convincing."

Yang Xiangjun looked up at Boss Lu. "Brother Zhou, you have to be fair. If I were to kill termites in your study, one dose would wipe them out in half a minute, guaranteed. But these are Void Yuan Silkworms, not termites. Ordinary poisons, they'd eat like food. Killing them in a minute is already quite a feat."

As he finished speaking, the Void Yuan Silkworm, lying on its back on the table, kicked its legs, flipped over, and started crawling around again. The creature was alive again.

Li Banfeng asked Yang Xiangjun, "What do you say about this?"

Yang Xiangjun said, "This, this prescription was lost, wasn't it? I, I must have forgotten something. Perhaps an ingredient was missed."

Bang! Bang!

Boss Lu snatched up the iron rod, held Yang Xiangjun down, and continued hitting him. After hitting him for a moment, Yang Xiangjun started bleeding. It was unclear whether he suddenly remembered or had deliberately withheld information, but he was heard shouting while covering his head, "Blood! We need blood!"

"What kind of blood?"

"Cultivator's blood, the higher the level, the better—"

"No problem!"

Boss Lu took a knife and approached Yang Xiangjun. Yang Xiangjun shook his head repeatedly as he looked at the blade. "It doesn't necessarily have to be my blood; any cultivator's blood will do!"

Boss Lu held Yang Xiangjun down and cut an opening on his finger. Yang Xiangjun was so angry he cried. "Zhou Badou, I only tried to scheme against you this one time, and I didn't even succeed. Do you really need to retaliate like this? Are all you refined people so petty?"

He dripped the blood into the liquid, shook it well, and then sprinkled it onto the Void Yuan Silkworms. The Void Yuan Silkworms' bodies twitched, then ceased to breathe. Boss Lu probed them several times with a needle. The Void Yuan Silkworms did not recover; this time, they were completely dead. He then tested it on several more intact Void Yuan Silkworms. All of them died within one second.

Li Banfeng nodded in approval. "This poison is indeed excellent."

Boss Lu felt something was off. He took a dropper, drew some of the liquid, returned to his study in Greenwater City, and conducted an experiment. He suspected that Yang Xiangjun might have used another method, and that the poison in the dropper might not have been what killed the Void Yuan Silkworms.

Not long after, Boss Lu returned. "Brother Yang, your medicine isn't effective. I tried it elsewhere, and it still couldn't kill the Void Yuan Silkworms."

Yang Xiangjun licked the wound on his finger, looking at Zhou Wencheng with a smile. "My dear brother, if I'm not present, this medicine definitely won't work. If any medicine could work anywhere, people would just buy my medicine instead of inviting me to do the job in person, wouldn't they?"

Boss Lu looked at Li Banfeng. "Seventh Master, it seems you'll have to work with him on this."

Li Banfeng looked at Yang Xiangjun. "Looking at him, he doesn't seem like someone who can get things done."

Fearing he might be silenced, Yang Xiangjun could only bite the bullet and agree. "First, tell me what this is about. As long as it's within my capabilities, helping you won't be a problem."

Li Banfeng nodded slightly to Boss Lu. Boss Lu took out a magazine and said to Yang Xiangjun, "Please step inside the book to talk."

Yang Xiangjun gave a strained laugh, a little flustered. "Brother Zhou, why do you want me to enter your book? I've already done everything you asked, and our grudges are settled. It's a bit unkind of you to not leave me any way out."

Boss Lu pointed to an illustration in the book. "There are medicinal ingredients and equipment inside. Just go in and focus on making the medicine."

Li Banfeng returned to his Portable Residence. His wife had already drawn the map. "Husband, back then when we followed Mengqian, it took us a full day to reach the Curse-Gu Ruins, but if you ran at full speed, two or three hours would probably be enough."

The map not only marked every landmark but also provided Li Banfeng with emergency strategies. If some landmarks changed, Li Banfeng could still discern directions within a certain range, at least avoiding being trapped in a dream. The route was not a problem. Next, they needed to consider the actions after arriving at the Curse-Gu Ruins.

"Husband, use your house-cultivator abilities to make yourself unrecognizable, administer the poison, and then return quickly. Try your best to avoid engaging with the Curse Cultivators."

Hong Ying added, "Seventh Lord, you really must listen to Xiaowan on this. These Curse Cultivators are truly vile. Sometimes you don't even notice them on the battlefield, and then you get home and inexplicably find yourself afflicted by their curses."

Li Banfeng took Hong Ying and his wife to the Ninth Room, asking Jiu'er to watch with them.

"Yingying, take off your clothes."

Hong Ying's cheeks flushed. "Seventh Lord, if we're doing this as a couple, let's not do it in Jiu'er's room, and you're even asking Xiaowan to watch—"

Zhao Xiaowan was displeased. "What's wrong with me watching? Are you shy?"

Li Banfeng said to Zhao Xiaowan, "Wife, you take off your clothes too."

Zhao Xiaowan froze, now even angrier. "You crazy man, you want us two sisters to serve you together? Who taught you this? You're playing too many fancy tricks."

Li Banfeng looked at Jiu'er.

Jiu'er's cheeks reddened. "I'll listen to my Lord. Whatever my Lord says, I'll do—"

Li Banfeng said to Zhao Xiaowan, "Wife, both you and Yingying have fought against Huen Wuyou. Yingying must have been afflicted by Huen Wuyou's Calamity Curse. When the topic of fighting Huen Wuyou comes up, she can't even hold her spear steady."

Hearing this, Hong Ying gritted her teeth in anger. "I knew it! There's no way I'd be afraid of that bitch. So, it was her scheme all along."

Zhao Xiaowan was not surprised at all. After learning that the Blood-Fang Monster was Huen Wuyou, she had long suspected she was afflicted by a curse.

Li Banfeng said, "Wife, whether we can pinpoint the Calamity Curse depends on our eyesight."

Zhao Xiaowan didn't hold much hope. "Husband, relying solely on Golden Eyes of Autumn would probably not be enough to find Huen Wuyou's Calamity Curse."

As expected, the couple examined Hong Ying for a long time but couldn't find the Calamity Curse.

Li Banfeng sighed. "It seems we'll have to ask A-Yu for help with this. It was thanks to her help before that I was able to remove the Calamity Curse."

Hong Ying felt things wouldn't be that easy. "She's not that easy to talk to, is she? To get her to do something, who knows how much it will cost."

Li Banfeng said, "She didn't mention money, just that she wanted to visit our home and bring the Heavenly Maiden with her."

Hong Ying shook her head. "That won't do. Last time she came, she almost tore our house down. If she really misses me, I'll go to her place to see her."

Jiu'er looked at Li Banfeng. "Lord, I'll go try to persuade my mother. Even if she won't help personally, it would be good if you could borrow her techniques using the Deep Manor skill."

Li Banfeng also intended to do this. "First, we'll deal with Huen Wuyou's lair, then eliminate the Calamity Curses she's planted, and then catch her off guard!"

After resting for half a day, Li Banfeng glanced at the magazine Boss Lu had given him. On the first page of the magazine, two women in large red jackets gently swayed while holding a Spring couplet. Only then did Li Banfeng realize that this magazine was a New Year's special issue.

The second page of the magazine was an advertisement: a woman applied face cream in front of a mirror, and her previously dry and dull skin immediately became lustrous and smooth. Li Banfeng had only seen such animated magazines in the Lu Family Study. Not only did he find it novel, but even his Projector was amazed. "Art on paper can actually be dynamic? Is this a scholar's technique, or a secret art of light and shadow?"

On the third page was Yang Xiangjun, grinding medicinal ingredients inside the book. Looking at the surrounding bottles and jars, he had already produced a good amount of the liquid medicine.

To be safe, Li Banfeng slept for several hours in his Portable Residence. Firstly, to accumulate some luck for himself, and secondly, to give Yang Xiangjun enough time to ensure there was a sufficient quantity of poison.

After waking up, Li Banfeng took the map his wife had given him and arrived at Black Rock Slope. The last time he went to the Curse-Gu Ruins, he departed from the abandoned station on the edge of the New Land because Mengqian could be found there. This time, according to his wife's judgment, their route included a main street on Black Rock Slope. Li Banfeng decided to start directly from the street; as long as he bypassed the station, he could avoid Mengqian.

Without Mengqian's suppression, Mengde's abilities were unleashed. She first made Li Banfeng enter a dream, and then, within the dream, guided him with the map. After walking for over an hour, Li Banfeng arrived at Carefree Haven. Ma Wu had set up a banquet, Qin Xiaopang had filled the wine cups, and the brothers were about to drink when they suddenly heard Mengde urge, "Seventh Master, it's time to wake up."

This was the difficult part of this route. If it were entirely a dream, Mengde could have guided Li Banfeng all the way along the route. If it were entirely a real road, Li Banfeng could have traversed it with his traveler-cultivator talent. But this path was half dream, half reality. On paths within dreams, one simply couldn't proceed using real-world methods. On real-world paths, someone trapped in a dream would lose their way.

Zhao Xiaowan had marked every detail along the path. After Mengde woke him, Li Banfeng found there was no Carefree Haven before him, only a swamp. After crossing the swamp, he arrived at an ancient city in the Old Lands. Li Banfeng entered a dream again. Inside the ancient city, a man kept singing "Night Fragrance," and Li Banfeng used the man's singing to pinpoint his direction. After more than a dozen alternations between dream and reality, Li Banfeng fully awoke. He had arrived at a vast snowfield.

They had reached the Curse-Gu Ruins. This was where he had parted ways with Li Yuping, but it was still far from the village. Li Banfeng only remembered the village was to the southwest. Thankfully, he was a Cloud Six traveler-cultivator. An ordinary person would be utterly unable to discern directions in this snowfield.

Li Banfeng walked dozens of miles southwest and soon saw the Curse Cultivator sentries: first, roving patrols of dozens of people, then tower sentries in groups of three, and finally, patrols of ten people. He didn't alarm any of the sentries, following the changing shifts until he quickly reached the village.

A scent of rice wine drifted on the wind. Li Banfeng looked up to see stilt houses hanging like fish scales on the cliffside, with women constantly moving in and out of the houses. There was a steep, slippery stone ladder beside the cliff. The women climbing it home were very careful because they couldn't fly. If they couldn't fly, why build their residences in such a perilous location?

Li Banfeng slowly flew along the cliff, wanting to observe the arrangement pattern of these corner towers. Reaching the center of the cliff, Li Banfeng saw a unique area. In the center of the cliff, a series of corner towers were connected vertically, forming a ten-story building. Its columns, corridors, walls, window frames, and roofs were all natural wood-colored, making it quite inconspicuous against the yellowish-brown cliff. On each floor, several women in winter clothing walked back and forth, carrying whips. There was also a group of shabbily dressed women, balancing baskets, jars, and boxes on their heads, moving in and out of the corner towers on various floors. This should be where they raised their worms.

Li Banfeng wasn't in a hurry to go upstairs. According to Li Yuping, those responsible for raising worms here had five hours of sleep each day. It wouldn't be too late to act once they were asleep. He circled the village a few times and found a total of eight such multi-story buildings for raising worms. Five of these tall buildings hung on the cliffs, while the other three were built within the mountain gorge. It wouldn't be easy to poison all the worms in these eight buildings. Whether there would be enough poison was a very serious question.

At midnight, a group of women left the tall buildings in formation; it was time for them to sleep. Some sounds of washing and chatting lingered. Li Banfeng waited until past one o'clock, until the village became completely silent, then he quietly flew up to the tall building.

On the first floor, there were three rooms, each guarded by Curse Cultivator sentries. Li Banfeng used 'Seek Fortune, Avoid Misfortune' to select a room, then 'Unimpeded Movement' to pass directly through the wall. There were many mechanisms in the wall, but their level was insufficient to detect Li Banfeng.

Inside the room, Li Banfeng saw a small dirt mound. The soil was loose, piled from the floor to the ceiling. There were many footprints on the mound, indicating that people often walked up and down it. Was this dirt pile where they raised the worms? Li Banfeng activated 'Golden Eyes of Autumn' and scanned the mound. Indeed, many black worms were moving through the dirt pile; some burrowed into the soil, while others extended their bodies and slowly wriggled. How could he poison such a large mound?

Li Banfeng took out the magazine and called Yang Xiangjun out. Yang Xiangjun looked at the dirt mound in the room and exclaimed, "What is this place?"

Li Banfeng covered Yang Xiangjun's mouth. "This is the Curse-Gu Ruins."

Yang Xiangjun raised a slender, delicate fist and lightly punched Li Banfeng. "Why did you bring me here?"

"To kill worms!" Li Banfeng looked at the dirt mound.

Yang Xiangjun glanced at the mound, then gave Li Banfeng a dismissive look. "Are you mad? Coming to the Curse Cultivators' lair to kill their worms?"

Li Banfeng also felt it wouldn't be easy. "There are too many worms; we might not have enough poison."

"Who said there's not enough poison? Don't you see whose medicine this is? Do you know how potent my medicine is? One small bottle of this liquid, and all the worms on this dirt mound will die!"

With that, Yang Xiangjun took out a small porcelain bottle, pricked his fingertip, opened the stopper, dripped a drop of blood into the bottle, poured the medicine into his mouth, and swallowed it.

Li Banfeng looked horrified. "Brother Yang, how could you drink the poison? Didn't I tell you we might not have enough poison?!"

Yang Xiangjun took a small bottle of the liquid and gave it to Li Banfeng. "You also add a drop of blood and drink it. This medicine only poisons Void Yuan Silkworms; it won't harm humans."

Li Banfeng held the bottle and asked, "What good would it do for me to drink this?"

"To kill Calamity Curses!" Yang Xiangjun said with a slightly smug smile. "Otherwise, why do you think I created a poison specifically for Void Yuan Silkworms? Did you think I just disliked them?"

Li Banfeng looked at the bottle and said, "You mean Blazing Nihility can suppress Curse Cultivators?"

Yang Xiangjun nodded. "Blazing Nihility specifically kills Void Yuan Silkworms and can suppress high-level Curse Cultivators and Gu Cultivators. I was so intimidated by these two Daoist sects back then that I specifically created Blazing Nihility. Hurry and drink the medicine. It can prevent Calamity Curses if you haven't been afflicted, and kill the worms if you have."

"This is great medicine!" Li Banfeng looked at Yang Xiangjun, a hint of respect in his eyes. "Such a good liquid medicine, how could you let it be lost?"

Yang Xiangjun sighed. "Back then, relying on Blazing Nihility, I defeated countless Curse Cultivators and Gu Cultivators. People from both these Daoist sects would avoid me if they saw me. But later, every time I ingested Blazing Nihility, I would feel a certain amount of guilt. Over time, I simply couldn't endure the torment of guilt, so I destroyed the prescription."

"What did you feel guilty about?" Li Banfeng opened the bottle cap, dripped blood into it, and prepared to take the medicine.

Yang Xiangjun's expression was desolate. "I feel guilty for myself, I feel it's not worth it for myself. Why was I born a man? This has caused me to miss out on so much beauty and vibrancy."

Li Banfeng spat out the liquid in his mouth and then gargled with his wine gourd.

Yang Xiangjun smiled faintly. "Now you know why I tore up the prescription, don't you?"

Li Banfeng pointed to the worm mound. "Hurry up and kill the worms, let's get down to business."

Yang Xiangjun took the small porcelain bottle and sprinkled a bottle of Blazing Nihility onto a corner of the worm mound. The worms throughout the entire mound immediately became agitated and began wriggling towards that corner.

"Brother, if you have ample time, wait here. If you're in a hurry, let's move to the next location!" Yang Xiangjun pulled a cloth bag from his clothes. The bag contained hundreds of bottles, all filled with liquid medicine.