"That goes against reason. Shouldn't this world possess the ability to heal itself?" He Lingchuan asked. "Ever since the heavenly disaster?"
"Well, it did to some extent. I hear spiritual energy recovered very quickly in the early Middle Ages. Rising anew from ruin—that was how it was supposed to be. But for reasons unknown, the process was interrupted again later."
He Lingchuan recalled the theory proposed by Tianshengzi of the Tianyan Sect.
"Within the Tianyan Sect, there was once an immortal named Tianshengzi. He put forward a hypothesis: the appearance of Emperor's Flowing Dew corresponds precisely to the fall of gods in the heavens."
Sun Fuling's eyes flashed with interest. "Fascinating. That's an obscure notion indeed. I've never seen it in any books, nor have I heard the grandmasters of Panlong City mention it at the Hall of Immortal Inquiries. How did this Tianshengzi argue his case?"
He Lingchuan recounted what he had learned from the soul-snatching mirror's memories.
Sun Fuling sighed. "A compelling theory, but without proof, it remains nothing more than a mirage. No wonder the doctrine failed to be handed down."
"In other words, as long as one knows when a deity dies, one can predict when Emperor's Flowing Dew will erupt." He Lingchuan stared intently at her. "I remember that before Emperor's Flowing Dew bursts forth, Panlong City always notifies everyone in advance."
Sun Fuling let out a soft laugh. "Divine will is inscrutable. You ought to ask Lady Mitian. She is a deity; she would have the answer."
"If I went and asked her, as if she'd pay any attention to me." He Lingchuan sighed, dispirited.
"Why are you forcing a smile today?" Sun Fuling studied him closely. "By the way, I ran into Commander Xiao the day before yesterday. He said you received an exceptional promotion to the Gale Army?"
"Yeah. I went on my first mission today."
"Didn't go smoothly?"
"Very smoothly. Barely lifted a finger." In truth, it really had just been lifting a hand to chop off a head.
"Then why are you so downcast?" Sun Fuling clearly understood something of the process. "A first mission upon promotion to the Gale Army is usually very difficult. I've heard that if someone fails to complete it, they're sent back to keep honing themselves."
"Looks like the higher-ups were exceptionally kind to me, then." He Lingchuan pulled the curtain aside and looked outside. "Ah, we're here."
They had arrived at the Elixir Office.
He Lingchuan usually exchanged for pills at the Pengcheng Office or bought them directly from A'luo or local apothecary shops to save his military merits. This was his first time at the Elixir Office.
Before getting down from the carriage, Sun Fuling suddenly grabbed his arm.
"You must learn to focus and to let go. You belong to Panlong City now." She pursed her lips toward the plaza ahead. "Life isn't easy for anyone here, but everyone is trying their hardest."
He Lingchuan blinked in surprise and nodded. Before he could grasp her hand in return, she had already pulled away and hopped down from the carriage.
As one of Panlong City's crucial institutions, the Elixir Office did not flaunt grand pomp or ostentation, but a rich herbal fragrance filled the air. Along the stream beside it grew color-changing lotuses, half-white and half-pink, or half-purple and half-red. A myriad of plants and flowers flourished in front of the office, though He Lingchuan could recognize only a handful, such as pale-green and white bellflowers and wild, beautiful dendrobium blossoms.
While other institutions like the Pengcheng Office decorated their courtyards and corridors with ornamental greenery, the Elixir Office was naturally blanketed in medicinal herbs. Tall racks stood about, laden with tiers of round winnowing baskets used for sun-drying and sifting ingredients.
Countless small rooms lined the compound, their doors usually shut tight, their purposes unknown.
As He Lingchuan passed one small door, he seemed to hear faint snarling—like... a beast's roar? And one filled with sheer terror.
These alchemists certainly knew how to entertain themselves.
He paused to listen, but couldn't make it out clearly. Sun Fuling poked his arm. "Hey, what did you come here for?"
"I thought I heard the cries of some little monster." He Lingchuan rubbed his nose. "Isn't this the Elixir Office?" Why did it feel like a biochemical facility?
"Those are raccoon dogs," A'luo suddenly chimed in, appearing out of nowhere. "A while back, a den of raccoon dogs outside the city consumed Emperor's Flowing Dew and turned into demons, wreaking havoc all over. The patrols netted over twenty of them alive. It would've been a waste to just slaughter them, so the Elixir Office took them in for experiments."
*Wouldn't that be worse than death?* He Lingchuan asked him, "Did you finish modifying my formula?"
"I intended to do it myself, but my master happened to be at the office this afternoon, so I asked him to step in."
He Lingchuan was overjoyed. "Mister Helian agreed?"
A'luo's master, Helian Chen, was a renowned grand alchemist in Panlong City. When Wen Xing had been injured by Ferry Brat, Wen Daolun had sought out Helian Chen immediately.
"He agreed. Follow me."
The two followed A'luo deeper into the grounds. The further they went, the sparser the people and buildings became, yet the medicinal plants grew all the more abundant.
At last, A'luo led them into an open square pavilion.
It was much like a house, except it had neither walls nor windows, only six bare pillars, with fabric curtains hung on all four sides to regulate the light.
Several long tables stood end to end across the spacious interior, each holding one glass cloche after another.
A few alchemists were placing plants inside the cloches—broomcorn millet grass, wheat grass, and even sweet potato vines. He Lingchuan swept his gaze across them and discovered that beneath the glass covers were tiny insects, some winged and some wingless.
Evidently, this was another laboratory, dedicated specifically to insects.
Not far off, someone lay bent over the edge of a table, backside sticking up toward the room.
A'luo walked over and spoke respectfully, "Master, Broken Saber is here."
The man hurriedly scrambled up and turned around; it was indeed Helian Chen.
A'luo helped tidy his robes, brushing away the wheat grass clinging to him. Helian Chen glanced over the two of them, his eyes settling on He Lingchuan. "You're Broken Saber? I feel as though I've... seen you somewhere before?"
"At Mister Wen Daolun's residence."
"Right, right!" Helian Chen slapped his forehead. "You were standing right beside young Wen Xing's sickbed back then! Ah, what a pity, what a pity."
A'luo supplied an explanation for him: "Master means it is such a pity young Master Wen passed away." Pausing, he added, "My master and Mister Wen have been close friends for many years."
He Lingchuan's expression turned solemn. "Had I arrived a step earlier that day, perhaps young Master Wen could have been saved."
Helian Chen waved his hands repeatedly. "Nothing to do with you. Our enemies have always stooped to every possible vile trick!"
"I heard from A'luo that you're a good lad, freshly promoted by exception to the Gale Army." He scrutinized He Lingchuan from head to toe. "Tell me about your cultivation progress, especially from the last eruption of Emperor's Flowing Dew until now."
He Lingchuan gave a detailed explanation.
During this time, Helian Chen took his pulse and used true power to thoroughly examine his condition.
"Not bad. Yes, not bad. Let me think this over carefully." With that, he took out brush and paper and sank into deep contemplation.
He pondered for quite a while, and He Lingchuan did not dare disturb him.
Sun Fuling walked over to the glass cloches, examining them one by one, occasionally feeding an insect with a vegetable leaf.
He Lingchuan whispered to A'luo, "What are all these for?"
"These are agricultural pests gathered from farmland across the Chipa Plateau. Didn't you take missions like this when you were a patrol guard?"
*Oh?* Actually, they had. He Lingchuan remembered.
Once, Liu Tong had received a task requiring their entire squad to collect hornet nests from places like White Cotton Lake. The mission wasn't particularly difficult, but it required a high quota, and they had to gather them from four or five designated areas, making the journey and harvesting quite arduous. Door Plank's bee-suit had torn, earning him two massive stings that swelled his face like a pig's head.
A typical tedious task with meager rewards. Every time Liu Tong took such a mission, everyone grumbled.
Panlong City issued all kinds of bizarre missions daily. Later, He Lingchuan learned these were requirements from various ministries and offices, utterly essential.
Keeping this city operating smoothly was truly no simple feat.
A'luo stepped before one glass cloche and beckoned them over. "Look at this."
He Lingchuan drew near and saw the label before the cloche: *Variant: Green Silk Borer.*
Inside the cloche were two kinds of creatures:
Worms as thick and long as earthworms, but green in color with pale-green segments and over a dozen pairs of prolegs;
And pale-yellow little moths, less than half the size of a pinky finger.
Sun Fuling flicked the glass cover with her finger. With a sharp *clink*, the green worms inside startled, suddenly arching their bodies and springing upward with surprising distance, slamming directly into the glass.
Over a dozen green worms struck the glass simultaneously in chaotic commotion, frightening the moths into fluttering wildly around the dome.
Both men turned to look at Sun Fuling. She sheepishly pulled back her finger. "Sorry, couldn't help myself. I used to scare them like that all the time as a kid. But these ones reacted far too intensely."
A'luo pointed to the cloche. "Not long ago, your report delivered the warning from the Qianling Mountain Spirit, and the city took it very seriously. The foreign demons infiltrating Qianling have mostly been captured, predominantly avian demons. According to their confessions, they hail from the northern demon kingdom."
He Lingchuan frowned. "What business does the Beijia Kingdom have meddling here?"
*The Qianling Mountain Spirit?* He thought back for a long moment before remembering the day General Nan Ke had temporarily conscripted the patrols. While on duty on the plateau, they had encountered a giant sika deer demon. That deer demon had passed along the intelligence from the Qianling Mountain Spirit.
Upon returning to Panlong City, Liu Tong had reported it. Following that lead, Panlong City had been taking action ever since.
Sun Fuling was not surprised in the least, explaining to him, "The Beijia Kingdom has always pressured Baling and Xianyou to expand into the Panlong Wasteland. For matters between the nations to reach today's state, Beijia bears unmistakable blame." She scoffed. "That demon kingdom loves fanning the flames and provoking wars; they've never been any good."
A'luo continued, "The mission of several avian demons was to scatter these borers into the rice paddies of the Chipa Plateau as quickly as possible."
"To what end?"
"The green silk borer is different from the native species of the Chipa Plateau. A female moth can lay over a thousand eggs at once, and the hatched borers have enormous appetites and exceptional jumping ability. They destroy rice seedlings three to four times faster than other varieties, and they're toxic, so birds won't eat them. Once this plague spreads, it could cause massive crop failures across the Chipa Plateau."
"Damn!" He Lingchuan couldn't help cursing. "Vicious!"
The fertile Chipa Plateau was the foundation that allowed Panlong City to withstand foreign aggression. If its grain production suffered a sharp decline, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"When that happens, if we want to counter the damage, Panlong City would have to allocate more origin power there."
One of the miraculous functions of origin power was regulating climate and ensuring bountiful harvests.
Such an effect was certainly wonderful, but a city possessed only so much origin power. If consumption spiked here, the quota left for combat would naturally dwindle.
Either way, Panlong City's overall strength would be eroded.
The enemy was truly insidious, fighting all the way from siege warfare to biological warfare. He Lingchuan muttered, "Hidden arrows are hard to guard against."
Chapter 371