309: Chapter 306 Senior Su is still the same as always

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall instantly fell into a dead silence.

All the half-immortals gasped, though they had never even heard of this "Void Marrow-Eating Plague."

But just hearing the name and seeing the woman's miserable and terrifying state in the cage, they knew it was definitely a lethal thing.

"Void... Void Marrow-Eating Plague? May I ask, Young Master, what exactly is this?" The Red-Robed Man swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly.

Su Lin stood with his hands behind his back, looking deep into the distance, and began his performance in a low, eerie tone.

"This plague only originates in areas where spatial cracks are extremely unstable. It is not an ordinary poison, but a living fragment of a tiny Law."

"Once infected, it lurks within a Cultivator's Dantian and Qi Sea, specifically devouring their Origin magic power."

"When the host's emotions fluctuate violently or are triggered by external Qi, the plague will fully erupt."

Su Lin pointed at the wriggling purple-black poison markings on Yan Rusi's body, his voice becoming stern.

"Look at the patterns on her body."

"These aren't poisonous sores at all, but those tiny Law fragments devouring her bone marrow and transforming it into highly infectious plague Qi!"

"Once this plague Qi completely spreads, every Cultivator below the Earth Immortal Realm within a hundred-mile radius will have their Dantian instantly corroded by just one breath. Within three days, their entire body will fester and turn into a pool of pus and blood!"

At this point, Su Lin suddenly turned his head, his sharp gaze piercing the guards who were preparing to carry away the iron cage.

"You lot, if you dare touch this cage with your hands, I guarantee you won't survive for even half an hour!"

"Clang!"

The guards were so frightened that they dropped the carrying poles on the ground and scrambled back several yards, looking at the iron cage as if it were a super bomb that could explode at any moment.

The Cultivators in the hall were even more scared, their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering. They activated their Magic Treasures one after another, and some even started smashing the doors, wanting to escape Juxian Pavilion.

"What should we do! Juxian Pavilion! Hurry up and deal with this harbinger of disaster!"

The Red-Robed Man was now completely at a loss. His pitifully small amount of knowledge was shattered before Su Lin's seamless and logically rigorous fabrication.

He fell to his knees at the edge of the high platform with a thud and bowed repeatedly to Su Lin: "Young Master! Since you recognize this plague, you must have a way to resolve it! Please, Young Master, help us. If this plague spreads in Liuyun Town, I will be unable to atone for my crime even with ten thousand deaths!"

Su Lin saw that the timing was about right, and a hard-to-detect trace of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

He feigned difficulty and sighed, his brow furrowed: "Resolving this plague is extremely dangerous."

"It requires a profound Formation to completely Seal it, and then special secret fire to burn it day and night before that Law fragment can be fully refined."

"This not only requires a great deal of effort, but if one is not careful, even the caster will suffer a backlash from the plague Qi."

"I was just traveling through here and really don't want to get involved in such a huge mess."

After saying that, Su Lin flicked his sleeve and made a move to turn and leave.

"Young Master, please stay! Young Master, please stay!"

The Red-Robed Man was so anxious that tears almost fell. He jumped directly off the high platform and blocked Su Lin's path.

"As long as the Young Master is willing to help and take this disaster away from Juxian Pavilion to deal with it, I am willing to give all the auction proceeds from today—no, I am willing to pay out of my own pocket and offer one hundred Medium Grade Immortal Stones as a reward! I only beg the Young Master to show mercy!"

One hundred Medium Grade Immortal Stones!

For a low-level half-immortal, this was simply an unimaginable fortune!

But the Red-Robed Man couldn't afford to worry about the money now. If this woman really exploded in Juxian Pavilion, everyone in the venue would die, and the Xuantian Earth Immortal would definitely extract his soul and refine his spirit. Spending money to avert disaster was the only way he could think of now.

Su Lin stopped, turned his head, and looked at the Red-Robed Man with an extremely reluctant gaze.

"Very well."

Su Lin gave a long sigh, putting on a noble posture of having to enter Hell for the sake of all living beings. "Meeting is fate. I cannot stand by and watch the Cultivators of this entire town lose their lives because of your momentary greed."

"I will take this thing away. As for those Immortal Stones, consider them compensation for the Seal Materials I need to purchase."

The Red-Robed Man felt as if he had been granted a great pardon. He kowtowed repeatedly and quickly counted out one hundred Medium Grade Immortal Stones, which emitted a thick Immortal Qi, from his Storage Pouch, offering them respectfully with both hands.

Su Lin unceremoniously took the Immortal Stones into his sleeve and then turned to look at Chu Weiwei.

Chu Weiwei understood his meaning.

She walked onto the high platform and pretended to take out a piece of talisman paper covered in complex runes from her sleeve. In reality, it was just an ordinary Heart-Calming Talisman. She stuck the talisman on the iron cage while secretly circulating her Medicine Immortal Origin to slightly suppress the spreading "Withered Bone Rosy Face" poison gas.

"Revered Master, it has been temporarily Sealed," Chu Weiwei reported obediently.

"Good." Su Lin waved his sleeve, and together with the huge iron cage, he directly stored it into an idle storage Magical Artifact.

The entire process was smooth and natural, and no one saw any flaws.

"The residual plague Qi in this place needs to be sealed for three days and supplemented with intense fire to be completely dissipated. Take care of yourselves."

Su Lin left one last extremely professional medical instruction. Under the grateful gazes of everyone, as if they were seeing off a savior, he led Chu Weiwei and walked grandly out of Juxian Pavilion.

Without spending a single penny, he not only got the person but also earned one hundred Medium Grade Immortal Stones for nothing.

Walking on the dilapidated streets of Liuyun Town, Chu Weiwei finally couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle.

"Revered Master, your acting just now was too realistic. I almost thought the poison I refined really turned into some 'Void Marrow-Eating Plague.' The way those people's legs went weak from fear was just too funny."

Chu Weiwei clung to Su Lin's arm, her purple eyes full of stars of admiration.

"Deception is, after all, just a temporary measure. In this place, strength is the ultimate principle."

Su Lin weighed the Immortal Stones in his sleeve, and his mood lightened quite a bit. "With these Immortal Stones, we finally don't have to sleep in the open."

The two of them moved quickly and soon returned to the abandoned courtyard on the edge of Liuyun Town.

Chu Weiwei skillfully reset the poison mist barrier, maximizing the defense Rank of the entire courtyard.

Su Lin walked to the center of the yard, flicked his wrist, and the huge iron cage slammed heavily onto the bluestone floor.

Yan Rusi in the cage was still unconscious. Although the purple-black poison markings on her body were no longer spreading, they still looked shocking.

"Neutralize the poison on her body," Su Lin said to Chu Weiwei.

"As you command, Revered Master."

Chu Weiwei walked to the iron cage, pinching her nose with some distaste. She extended her slender jade finger, a drop of emerald green Medicine Immortal Origin condensing at the tip, and with a flick of her finger, the drop accurately landed on Yan Rusi's brow.

The emerald light instantly spread like a clear spring flowing through a dry riverbed. The purple-black poison markings on Yan Rusi's body receded at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the nauseating stench also dissipated, restoring her fair and delicate skin.

"Ugh..."

Accompanied by a painful groan, Yan Rusi's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she finally slowly opened her eyes.

Her brain was still a bit muddled, and her vision was blurred.

"Is this... Hell?" she murmured bitterly, her memory still stuck at the moment of agonizing pain on the high platform of Juxian Pavilion.

"If you think this is Hell, then I should be the judge who reaps souls."

A calm and gentle voice sounded above her head.

Yan Rusi trembled violently and struggled to lift her head.

Against the dim glimmer, she saw an extremely familiar face, one that she had gritted her teeth at in countless dreams deep in the night yet could never forget.

"You... it's you?!"

In Yan Rusi's charming peach blossom eyes, extreme shock and disbelief instantly emerged.

"Su Lin?!"

She simply couldn't believe her eyes.

Three hundred years ago, in the Southern Border, the man who had saved her on a whim, yet had treated her, the Saintess of the Hehuan Sect, with disdain when she offered herself to him—and had even lectured her solemnly.

How could he appear here? And in this nightmare-like Upper Realm?!

"Long time no see, Saintess Yan. It seems your life after Ascension hasn't been very pleasant."

Su Lin looked down at her, his tone carrying a hint of the sentiment of old acquaintances reuniting.

Yan Rusi stared blankly at Su Lin, then at her hands locked in chains, and the dilapidated courtyard around her.

Her brain worked rapidly, finally connecting all the clues.

"Was it you... who saved me?" Yan Rusi's voice was a bit dry.

"To be precise, my Revered Master showed mercy and picked you up like trash from those pieces of garbage who treated you as a defective product."

Chu Weiwei poked half her body out from behind Su Lin and unceremoniously interrupted Yan Rusi. Her purple eyes were full of hostility as she scanned Yan Rusi's disheveled appearance and snorted:

"You'd better dress properly in front of Revered Master. Your Hehuan Sect's charm techniques won't even seduce a fly here."

Only then did Yan Rusi notice the girl beside Su Lin, who was exceptionally beautiful but had a bizarrely eerie aura.

She keenly perceived the faint sense of danger from the other party, as well as that morbid gaze that seemed to want to keep Su Lin all to herself.

Yan Rusi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in her heart. She was, after all, the Saintess who once ruled the Hehuan Sect; her Heart-Nature was far beyond that of ordinary people.

She ignored Chu Weiwei's mockery and instead struggled to adjust her posture, trying to appear as dignified as possible in the iron cage.

"In any case, thank you, Fellow Daoist Su... no, thank you, Senior Su, for saving my life."

Yan Rusi gave a bitter smile. "Rusi thought that after Ascension, it would be a smooth path. I didn't expect this so-called Immortal Realm to be a demon's den that eats people without spitting out the bones."

Su Lin flicked his finger, and a burst of Qi directly cut the spiritual energy chains on Yan Rusi's wrists.

"The Laws of this Upper Realm are even more cruel than you imagine." Su Lin looked at the now-free Yan Rusi. "Since you were able to survive that slaughterhouse of a Reception Platform and escape to this Liuyun Town, it shows that your Luck and strength are not too bad."

Yan Rusi rubbed her purple wrists and stepped out of the iron cage. Hearing Su Lin's words, a flash of extreme lingering fear crossed her eyes.

"It was because Rusi was lucky." Yan Rusi's voice trembled slightly. "When I ascended, I happened to encounter a very brief disturbance in the Reception Platform's Formation.

I exhausted all my Magic Treasures and secret techniques before I could forcibly tear open a spatial crack at the edge of the Immortal Transformation Pool and escape."

"But during my escape, I encountered a Void Storm, and my cultivation plummeted. I finally managed to land near Liuyun Town, but because I didn't have the Immortal Stones they mentioned, I was caught by a guard team that specifically hunts ascenders..."

Yan Rusi looked up, her peach blossom eyes filled with deep exhaustion and confusion.

"Senior Su, what... what exactly is this place? Can we... still survive?"

Su Lin didn't answer directly but turned and sat down at a stone table in the yard.

"Whether you can survive depends on how much value you have."

Su Lin's fingers lightly tapped the stone table, making a rhythmic sound.

"Yan Rusi, I saved you not out of any old sentiment. In this Taihuang Immortal Domain, I need people who can get things done."

Su Lin's gaze was as sharp as a knife, piercing straight into Yan Rusi's heart.

"I can provide you with protection and even the resources to restore your cultivation, but the premise is that you must prove you are useful to me."

Yan Rusi knelt on the cold bluestone floor, the bruises on her wrists from the spiritual energy chains not yet faded, her tattered red dress barely covering her body.

She heard Su Lin's cold and realistic words.

"Prove you are useful to me." Her heart felt as if it were being squeezed hard by an invisible hand.

No warm reminiscing, no feigned generosity. This was exactly how the man in her memory should be.

Three hundred years ago, he was the same way, casually leaving behind a Formation enough to turn the tide of a battle and then leaving without looking back, as if the one he saved wasn't the Saintess of the Hehuan Sect, but a stray cat in the rain.

"Senior Su is still the same."

Yan Rusi gave a low laugh, one that carried self-deprecation and a certain resigned acceptance.

She lifted those peach blossom eyes that were still capable of stealing souls and looked directly at Su Lin. "You don't beat around the bush at all."

"If you beat around the bush too much, it's easy to get yourself tangled up."

Su Lin picked up the bowl of long-cooled coarse tea on the stone table and took a sip. "Especially in a place like this."

Chu Weiwei stood by Su Lin's side with her arms crossed, her amethyst-like eyes like two sharp scalpels, scanning Yan Rusi up and down.

She made no effort to hide her scrutiny and hostility, her lips moving slightly as if she were silently muttering something. If one were to listen closely, they could probably distinguish hair-raising evaluations like "waist too thin," "clavicles too prominent," or "skin too thin."

Yan Rusi naturally noticed this undisguised hostility. As the Saintess of the Hehuan Sect, her experience in matters between men and women was far beyond that of ordinary female Cultivators.

With just one look, she saw through the possessiveness deep in Chu Weiwei's eyes that was almost overflowing. It wasn't a disciple's respect for a Revered Master, but a more twisted, more intense, almost morbid emotion.