Chapter 394: I Can Try

Nearing death, he saw no point in holding his breath. He allowed himself to breathe freely, not caring if the air was toxic or not before he died; all he wanted was one last unrestricted breath, as his body had felt truly constricted since entering the Divine Fire Domain.

*Crack!* Flying debris struck Li Hongjiu's cheek, causing a sharp pain.

At that fatal moment, the blade tip shifted, embedding itself beside his neck. The sharp edge pressed against his throat, but did not cut further.

Having already given up resistance and closed his eyes, he didn't experience the outcome he expected. Instead, he distinctly felt the oppressive force that had assailed him withdraw, and then something else pressed against his body.

He felt himself over. No vital energy had leaked, meaning he was indeed not dead. *Did he not kill me?*

He suddenly opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by three divine demon effigies. The blade rested against his neck, and though its body obscured some of his vision, he could still make out the sword from one effigy’s hand poised at his heart, and the spear from another’s pressed against his abdomen.

He then saw Wu Jinliang staring at him with curiosity.

Seeing the situation stabilize, Chu Jingtang cautiously approached. It was truly difficult to fathom that someone as formidable as Li Hongjiu had been subdued and successfully captured by Wu Jinliang in a single encounter. This turn of events was quite intense.

"Hee hee hee hee, Brother Chu," Wu Jinliang gloated, "I refrained from engaging him earlier, not because I was concerned with temporary advantages. Any prodigy, any master, see? In the end, they all fall under my blade!" He was immensely pleased, frankly unable to contain his joy. He hadn't expected to subdue Li Hongjiu so easily, having only tried a single strike.

As for why he didn't kill him, one would have to be insane to kill indiscriminately. It was clear that Li Hongjiu falling so easily was abnormal; he was obviously injured. Wu Jinliang wanted to understand what had happened.

*Could there be someone among the other factions capable of injuring Li Hongjiu to this extent?*

If such an individual truly existed, then extreme caution would be necessary.

Since the man had already been defeated by him, there was no rush to kill him before understanding the situation. Releasing him, in any case, was out of the question.

"Superb, truly superb!" Chu Jingtang gave him a thumbs-up, genuinely flattering him. He was indeed happy to see a major threat eliminated.

"You flatter me, you flatter me," Wu Jinliang chuckled, cupping his hands in thanks. He then turned his attention to the matter at hand, staring at Li Hongjiu and demanding, "Who injured you?"

Due to the dim light of night, he didn't notice Li Hongjiu’s face had already begun to turn greenish-blue.

Strange gurgling sounds emanated from Li Hongjiu’s throat, and his entire body began to convulse.

Wu Jinliang considered kicking him, but, fearing a trick, he held back. He sternly warned, "Don't play games with me here. Tell me, who injured you? Perhaps we can even avenge you."

"Wait, something's wrong," Chu Jingtang said, tugging on his sleeve. "It looks like Li is poisoned."

"Poisoned? What kind of poison?" Wu Jinliang asked suspiciously.

Chu Jingtang immediately pointed to Li Hongjiu’s obvious gasping for breath, then gestured to their surroundings, indicating that the air they were breathing was toxic.

Wu Jinliang froze. He then took out a piece of sandalwood gold for examination, noticing Li Hongjiu’s alarming complexion. He immediately yelped, "You don't have to be so unyielding, do you? I didn't say I'd kill you. There are plenty of ways to end your life; why choose such a painful one?"

Li Hongjiu strained to roll his eyes and look at him, desperate to convey that no sane person would choose to die this way, and how could he have known Wu Jinliang wouldn't kill him?

Alas, only gurgling sounds escaped his throat, rendering him speechless, and his consciousness was rapidly fading.

Wu Jinliang quickly withdrew the magical artifact, removing the threat. He immediately brought forth the 'Ice Ram' to try and save him, casting a spell to help sustain his life force. His primary goal, of course, was to interrogate him. "Quickly tell me, who injured you? Hurry up! I'll definitely help you get revenge. You don't want to die with your eyes still open, do you?"

Li Hongjiu, still possessing a sliver of consciousness, desperately wanted to speak. The problem was, even if Wu Jinliang shook him until his bones rattled, he still wouldn't be able to form a word.

It was the bystander who saw clearly. After reaching out to examine Li Hongjiu's injuries, Chu Jingtang reminded him, "Brother Wu, his injuries are severe, and the poison is taking its toll. He's fading fast."

The problem was, there was no specific antidote available.

"Come on, let's go see if those old monsters have a solution." Wu Jinliang grabbed Li Hongjiu by the arm, pulling him up, and simultaneously summoned his Wind Scale with his other hand.

The three quickly ascended into the air and hurried towards the island in the center of the lake.

Beneath the pagoda, the Elder, who had been listening intently with his eyes closed, slowly opened them, a rare frown creasing his brow.

Grandfather Nine's voice, now sounding somewhat strained, echoed, "What's happening? Why didn't they kill him on the spot? Why bring him back?"

A muffled voice responded, "If that person doesn't die and reveals what happened, won't Shi Chun and the others be scared away?"

Grandfather Nine suggested, "Or, why not simply make all three of them vanish, so they never get a chance to see Shi Chun?"

The Elder stated coolly, "It's too late; the chance is gone."

The reason was simple: Wu Jinliang's attack lacked the subtlety of Grandfather Nine's. His spear strike against Li Hongjiu carried immense power, and the commotion from the fight was considerable, especially since the divine demon effigy's power was at the Earth Immortal level.

This was even *with* Li Hongjiu’s ability to redirect most of the force into the void; otherwise, the commotion would have been far greater.

Nevertheless, the commotion had already been detected by Shi Chun on the island from a distance.

Under normal circumstances, Shi Chun might only have felt puzzled, but with Wu Jinliang having just left and then fighting sounds erupting from roughly the same direction, what else was Shi Chun to think?

Shi Chun’s face paled with alarm. Deeply worried that something had happened to Wu Jinliang, he immediately mounted his Wind Scale and gave chase at full speed, bringing his weapons with him.

Not only him, but Xu, You, and Zhen'er also urgently followed suit.

Wu Jinliang and Chu Jingtang likely never dreamed that they had inadvertently brushed against the gates of hell. Had it not been for Shi Chun’s immediate reaction, they probably wouldn't even have known how they disappeared.

After all, they weren't as formidable as Li Hongjiu in his prime; eliminating them wouldn't cause much of a stir.

Consequently, the two parties, traveling in opposite directions, encountered each other above the frozen lake. They spotted one another as they passed, then both turned back, hovering in the air and assessing each other.

Seeing Wu Jinliang carrying a person, Shi Chun demanded, "What's going on?"

"Hey, come down and see for yourself," Wu Jinliang replied. "See if there's a way to save him first." He then retracted his Wind Scale and, still carrying the person, floated down onto the ice.

Shi Chun and his companions followed, descending. Upon getting closer and discerning the convulsing figure, they realized it was Li Hongjiu. "What happened to him?" Shi Chun exclaimed in surprise.

Wu Jinliang replied, "If I knew what happened, I wouldn't have bothered bringing him here. After he was injured, he inhaled the air in this place. What do we do? If he can't be saved, we might never figure out what happened."

Shi Chun understood. To find out what had happened, they needed Li Hongjiu to speak.

He also wanted to know who could possibly have injured someone as formidable as Li Hongjiu. Avoiding potential pitfalls, especially in their current predicament, was of utmost importance. He immediately waved a hand and said, "What solution do I have? Quickly take him. Let's see if those old monsters can help."

"Just as I thought," Wu Jinliang said, shaking his head. He had guessed there would be no other solution.

Just as he was about to hoist Li Hongjiu up again, Zhen'er, who had been observing from the side, suddenly interjected, "I can try."

Everyone turned to look at her simultaneously. Knowing that Zhen'er didn't speak carelessly about certain matters, Shi Chun asked in surprise, "You know how to detoxify?"

"I don't know," Zhen'er replied with some hesitation, but then she gestured to the surrounding air. "If it's from inhaling the air here, I believe I can."

"Then don't hesitate, try it," Shi Chun urged. Still trusting her words, he immediately told Wu Jinliang to put Li Hongjiu down.

Zhen'er approached the nearly unconscious Li Hongjiu, then reached up, raising a finger towards the sky. Immediately, shimmering light began to coalesce at her fingertip, growing steadily denser.

Watching from the side, Chu Jingtang muttered, "Water-affinity technique..."

The Jade Wave Sect, from which he hailed, was named as such because its primary cultivation method was related to water-affinity techniques.

Now he finally understood why he had felt an unusual sensation whenever he approached this woman. So that was it.

As the water orb at Zhen'er’s fingertip rapidly expanded, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang instinctively exchanged a knowing glance, a shared look of surprise and doubt in their eyes.

Both men knew very well that Zhen'er was the fire spirit of the divine flame. For a fire spirit to possess water manipulation techniques, which were antithetical to fire, was highly illogical.

Coincidentally, among the thirty-six types of divine flames, there was one of the rarest, called Water Ember, rumored to have been born in very deep, unique underwater environments.

Why was it the rarest? Because it was widely known that water and fire could not mix; for a fire spirit to emerge from water was an exceedingly rare phenomenon, a true example of extremes meeting their opposite.

Wu Jinliang subtly held up his index finger to Shi Chun, forming a 'ten' gesture, then gave a slight nod towards Zhen'er. His meaning was clear: Tongming Mountain’s Three-Flavored True Flame still required ten more distinct divine flames, and Zhen'er might be one of them.

Not only the two of them, but even Xu and You had begun to sense something similar. Ever since the marriage proposal was mentioned, they had known Zhen'er was a native of this place, so what else could she be but a fire spirit?

However, neither of them knew about the Three-Flavored True Flame; no one would inform them. Their only task was to capture divine flames.

Nevertheless, the two also began exchanging glances, subtle signals passing between them. With Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang apparently engrossed in the current situation, a good opportunity seemed to present itself.

Once the three-foot-square water orb formed, it stopped growing. Reflecting the starlight, it appeared quite dazzling. It gently floated down, settling onto Li Hongjiu’s face, covering it.

What Zhen'er imbued the water orb with was unknown, but with a gentle touch of her finger, the entire orb began to undulate as if an illusion. A noticeable portion of it then flowed into Li Hongjiu’s nasal cavity.

Soon after, Li Hongjiu opened his mouth and began convulsing as if vomiting, continuously expelling foul substances.

The sensation of the luminous water flowing in and out was akin to an internal cleansing of Li Hongjiu's body.

While others couldn’t fully comprehend what was happening, the occasional movements from Li Hongjiu's body at least served as evidence that he was not yet dead.

The fact that he hadn't died yet suggested that the current treatment was likely effective, or at least that's what a slightly nodding Chu Jingtang believed.

Chu Jingtang's attention remained fixed on Li Hongjiu, whereas Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang’s focus was entirely on the large water orb.

Although the large water orb was undulating and the lighting was poor, it still faintly reflected blurry human silhouettes. At the very least, the approximate positions of those standing nearby were vaguely discernible.

The reason both men were observing the large water orb was that they had noticed someone subtly shifting their position during the conversation.

Xu and You had separated, moving to the left and right, positioning themselves behind the two men.

Seeing that Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang were still intently focused on the healing process, the two, whose eyes met for a moment, subtly and slowly drew closer.

They dared not attack directly. Having witnessed Shi Chun and Li Hongjiu in action amidst the lightning, they wouldn’t risk a direct confrontation, even if Shi Chun didn't use his magical artifacts. A sneak attack, after all, was always one of the best ways to subdue a powerful foe.

Thus, they needed to get closer, even closer still.

Perhaps feeling that remaining still for too long was out of character, Wu Jinliang broke the silence. "Chuntian, who do you think injured him?"

As he spoke, he kept his eyes on the reflection in the water orb, watching the shadows of those approaching him.

In truth, even without the water orb's reflection, he wouldn't have been less vigilant, unless the approaching individuals could manage to remain entirely undetected. Otherwise, given his and Shi Chun’s background from the land of exile—where he himself couldn't count how many people he had stabbed in the back—he possessed an extremely sensitive, almost reflexive, awareness of anyone approaching.

Shi Chun replied calmly, "You don't need to worry about anything. Nothing will happen."