A Sinister Poison!

In truth, Lu Kangnian had also realized where the crux of the problem lay. The issue was that nobody knew what the poison actually was! The sect's alchemist, the elderly man surnamed Yu, was merely a rank-three alchemist. When Li Guanqi took out the jade slip, none of them knew what it was. Li Guanqi took a deep breath and spoke in a deep voice. "Old Gu, I am currently at the Great Xia Sword Sect. May I trouble you to make a trip over?" Before long, Gu Yan's mellow voice sounded by his ear. "Hahaha! Is my young friend inviting me as a guest to your sect? As it happens, I am in the Northern Region. I'll head over in two days." Li Guanqi pondered for a moment, then said quietly, "I have a favor to ask. It is very serious." Atop an ornate pavilion, Gu Yan's expression shifted slightly. He held down the mischievous boy beside him with one hand and frowned. "Alright, I'll set out immediately!" At his words, quite a few people beside the old man turned to look at him, chuckling, "Old Gu, what's got you in such a hurry?" Before he could reply, Li Guanqi's voice echoed in his mind. "I would be immensely grateful. If possible, could you find a rank-five alchemist to come along with you?" "Payment will not be an issue! But your movements must be kept concealed." Gu Yan's gaze hardened imperceptibly, his hand inside his sleeve tightening reflexively. The old man maintained his composure, turning to look at a plump, long-browed old man clad in a fiery red robe. "Old Sun, come with me." Sun Miao furrowed his brows. With his cultivation, he had naturally overheard the voice transmission from the jade slip just now. Glancing at Gu Yan, he sent a voice transmission, "Who could get you in such a rush with just two sentences? And even drag me along?" Sun Miao was one of the foremost rank-five alchemists across the entire Qingyun Continent. He was close friends with Gu Yan, so he had no reservations asking this. Gu Yan smiled with an unperturbed look. "If I tell you to come, just come. Why all the chatter?" There were over a dozen people in this private room, all of them rank-four alchemists or higher; this was a small exchange gathering. The entire restaurant had suspended business because of them, terrified that some blind fool might offend this group. The network and influence these people possessed... made them an existence that no sect or clan dared to provoke. Sun Miao curled his lips, then stood up and laughed. "Alright, let's wrap up this gathering here. We'll catch up next time." The others nodded with smiles, knowing the two had business to attend to, and refrained from prying. When Li Guanqi lowered the jade slip, Lu Kangnian couldn't help asking curiously, "Guanqi, who were you messaging?" Li Guanqi shrugged and said, "A rank-four alchemist. He saved my life back in Nanze City." Hearing this, Lu Kangnian was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "What? Then... would someone like that be willing to come?" "Since he saved your life, we must receive him with the highest hospitality no matter what." "Old Qin, whether he comes or not, and whether he can help or not, prepare a generous gift!" Li Guanqi took all of this in. The reason he had grown increasingly fond of the Great Xia Sword Sect was precisely because of a sect master like Lu Kangnian. His first consideration had never been profit or interest, but the fact that the man had saved Li Guanqi's life! Li Guanqi said softly, "Old Gu should also be bringing a rank-five grand alchemist along." "What?! Rank five?!" "Heavens... Th-this... Elder Li managed to make acquaintances like that during his two years away?" "A rank five! That will definitely solve this matter! I just wonder what kind of price we'll have to pay!" "Just how many rank-five grand alchemists are there in the entire Qingyun Continent? I wonder which one is coming..." "A rank-five grand alchemist... I fear the price will not be small..." As soon as the words fell, an uproar broke out among the elders below, many of them worried that securing the aid of a rank-five grand alchemist would demand an exorbitant price. Lu Kangnian's face darkened, and he barked in a low voice, "Enough!" "No matter what price must be paid, even if it drains every last spiritual vein of the Great Xia Sword Sect, the lives of our disciples must come first!" "If we lose resources, we can earn them back! At worst, I'll go hunt demon beasts every single day!" "Alright, dismiss yourselves and appease the disciples' emotions." Hearing this, the elders bowed, saluted, and retreated from the great hall. At this moment, Li Guanqi spoke in a heavy voice. "Sect Master, have the sect disciples still shown no anomalies whatsoever?" Beside them, Qin Xian let out a sigh and said gravely, "Ever since we received the news, we gathered all the disciples and examined them." "Even with the disciples who took the most pills, aside from some accumulated pill toxins in their bodies, we couldn't find anything wrong." Li Guanqi fell silent for a long moment before saying softly, "Bring a few disciples who have taken relatively large amounts of pills recently. Let me have a look." "I possess the heavenly flame, the Purple Dragon Thunder Flame. Perhaps I can spot a clue." Qin Xian repeated absently, "Mm, heavenly flame... Wait, WHAT?! A heavenly flame?!" Even Lu Kangnian on the dais widened his eyes and exclaimed in disbelief, "A heavenly flame?! You brat have a heavenly flame in your body?!" Li Guanqi shrugged. With a lift of his hand, he released a colossal dragon formed of flames, coiling in midair. The scorching heat forced everyone present to deploy primal energy barriers to shield themselves. A sharp glint flashed across Lu Kangnian's eyes. Everyone tactfully refrained from probing further. This was Li Guanqi's own fortuitous encounter. As for why Li Guanqi, possessing a lightning spiritual root, could harbor a heavenly flame, that was his own private affair. Before long, three disciples were escorted inside. The moment the three saw Li Guanqi, their eyes lit up as they looked at him. Li Guanqi offered them a gentle smile and said softly, "I will help comb through your meridians. In a moment, relax your mind as much as possible, and do not resist no matter what happens." The three nodded like chicks pecking rice. A stroke of luck like this would normally never fall upon them. The three sat cross-legged on the ground. Li Guanqi closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and raised his hand, shooting three streams of flame power into their bodies. The burning power made the three youths shudder all over, breaking out into a drenching sweat. Li Guanqi barked in a low voice, "Guard your celestial spirit! Open your minds and do not resist!" Gradually, the three stopped trembling, their minds calming. With his divine sense surging, the flames rampaged like fiery dragons through the meridians inside the three! Yet as his probe deepened, Li Guanqi's face grew darker and darker! Watching this, everyone grew solemn, their brows furrowing tightly. Li Guanqi discovered that wherever the fiery dragons passed, an eerie green vapor faintly emerged within their meridians! Soon, the flames entered their dantians... The dantians were filled with the bizarre green aura, and the dantians of all three youths showed an eerie tendency of withering! This withering... was bizarre, as if their origin had been drained dry by some mysterious power. However, Li Guanqi discovered that although his flame could cause the bizarre green aura to reveal itself, it could not incinerate it. Recalling his flames, the three disciples had already fallen unconscious. Li Guanqi turned to Lu Kangnian and Qin Xian, saying in a heavy voice, "That poison... is very likely to destroy the dantians of all our disciples!!" Hearing this, Qin Xian cried out in shock, "What?! Destroy their... dantians?!" Lu Kangnian took a deep breath, his expression turning ice-cold as he spoke in a chilling voice, "Once this matter is resolved, I will take my sword to Juexian Mountain!!" Everyone's heart sank. For now, they could only wait for Gu Yan to bring his companion.