418: Chapter 418 Deadwood Poison

Poison Vine stared at her for a long time, retracted the Storage Pouch into her sleeve, and sneered: "Good, very good. You have ambition. I hope your ambition can take you further in the subsequent trials." She turned to leave, stopped after a few steps, and added, "You may take the Green Wood Pulse Continuation Technique, but Changsheng Valley has more than just this trial. I will personally oversee the following tests. You'd better be prepared." Her figure vanished into the bamboo forest.

Chu Lan stood there, gazing at the bamboo forest swaying in the night wind. She stayed a bit longer in the Spirit Plant Garden, burying the roots of that detoxifying Spiritual Plant back into the soil and watering it with a spoonful of water diluted with time spirit spring, hoping it would grow again next year. Under the moonlight, a branch of the azure wood holy seed grew quietly in a corner of the spiritual field. She didn't take it away, letting it take root there as proof that she had been here.

When she returned to the guest house, her teammates were still awake. Lin Yue sat on the threshold wiping a Formation Plate, Tianxin was organizing Talismans under the corridor, Luo Li held the flowing sound zither and lightly plucked a few notes, and Su Ning rested with her eyes closed. Yaoguang still held a bottle of rejuvenation pills in her hand—leftovers from today that hadn't been finished. As Chu Lan entered the courtyard, Lin Yue looked up at her: "Did Poison Vine cause trouble for you again?"

Chu Lan shook her head: "She's just unwilling to let go."

Gao Feng stood up from beside a corridor pillar and walked over to her: "You refused her?"

"I refused." Chu Lan looked up, meeting Gao Feng's calm eyes in the moonlight, "I said I want to follow you."

Gao Feng said nothing more, only nodding: "Get some rest early. There are trials tomorrow."

On the night Chu Lan refused Poison Vine, a light rain fell over Changsheng Valley. In the morning Spirit Plant Garden, before the dewdrops on the leaves had dried, Fairy Qingmu sent someone to invite the nine of them to the Qingmu Hall.

A long table had been added to the hall, with a beast-skin map spread across it, marking the terrain of Changsheng Valley. Fairy Qingmu stood before the table, and once the nine had settled, she said directly: "The complete Legacy of the Green Wood Pulse Continuation Technique is not in the Scripture Pavilion, nor in my cultivation room, but in the Sect's Forbidden Ground—the Dead Wood Forest." She pointed to a black area marked on the map, "This forest was a place of lush Spirit Plants in ancient times, but after a great war, it was eroded by a toxin called 'withered wood poison,' leaving it barren. Successive Valley Masters have tried to purify that land, but all have failed."

Gao Feng asked: "Do we need to enter the Dead Wood Forest to obtain the Legacy?"

"The Legacy is in a stone temple in the deepest part of the Dead Wood Forest, where the Ancestral Master meditated and comprehended the Dao." Fairy Qingmu's tone was more solemn than usual, "withered wood poison does not harm the Physical Body, but only erodes spiritual power. Anyone who steps into the Dead Wood Forest will find their spiritual power draining rapidly. If they cannot withdraw in time, their Meridians will be completely eroded by the toxin, and their cultivation will be entirely lost." Her gaze swept over Poison Vine, intentionally or otherwise.

Poison Vine stood at the side of the hall, expressionless, like a dead tree.

Chu Lan stepped forward: "Valley Master, does Changsheng Valley have an antidote for the withered wood poison?"

The hall fell silent for a moment. Fairy Qingmu's gaze turned to Poison Vine. Poison Vine finally spoke, her voice as cold as ice shards: "I have indeed researched the withered wood poison and know the formula for the antidote. However, several of the required Spirit Medicines are out of stock, so it cannot be prepared for now." Her tone left no room for negotiation.

Chu Lan heard the subtext. It wasn't that they were out of stock; she just didn't want to give it.

She didn't argue but turned to Gao Feng: "Let me try. I am a Spirit Plant Master. No matter how powerful the withered wood poison is, it cannot escape the essence of being a 'poison.' As long as I can take a sample for analysis, I might be able to find the antidote formula."

Gao Feng did not hesitate: "What do you need?"

"Tianxin will help me construct an isolation layer, Su Ning will help me with sampling, and Luo Li will help me analyze the toxin's frequency. I also need a toxin sample from the edge of the Dead Wood Forest." Chu Lan counted on her fingers, "The others will stand by."

Fairy Qingmu glanced at Poison Vine and said to Chu Lan: "The toxin concentration at the edge of the Dead Wood Forest is relatively low; staying for a short time won't be dangerous. I will have someone take you there."

Poison Vine's face darkened, but she had no reason to stop them.

The Dead Wood Forest was in the deepest part of Changsheng Valley, reached after about half an hour's walk through a dense emerald bamboo forest. From a distance, that forest stood in stark contrast to the vibrant valley—the tree trunks were withered and black, without a single leaf, the branches twisted like ghost claws, and the ground was covered in a layer of grayish-white decayed soil, completely barren. Before they even got close, a decaying scent wafted toward them; it wasn't pungent, but it made their spiritual power circulation noticeably sluggish.

"Stop here." Chu Lan halted at the edge of the Dead Wood Forest, knelt down, and took a vibrant green "Poison-Probing Grass" from her sleeve. This Spirit Plant is extremely sensitive to toxins and is an essential tool for Spirit Plant Masters in the field. She extended the grass leaf toward the grayish-white decayed soil at the forest's edge. As soon as the leaf touched the soil, the tip turned black instantly, and the blackness spread rapidly up the veins.

Chu Lan didn't wait for the poison to reach the roots before pulling the Poison-Probing Grass out; the roots were intact. "The toxin indeed only acts on spiritual power." She placed the roots of the Poison-Probing Grass into a jade box and stood up. "Tianxin, isolation layer."

Tianxin had already pulled out a stack of Isolation Talismans. She rarely used this kind of Talisman because there was no need to isolate spiritual power in battle, but it was needed now. She stuck the Talismans one by one onto the ground around Chu Lan, and with a surge of spiritual power, a golden light shield enveloped Chu Lan. The Isolation Talisman could not only isolate physical contact but also prevent spiritual power leakage, stopping the withered wood poison from eroding Chu Lan through spiritual power fluctuations.

"Su Ning, sampling."

Su Ning's hands formed seals, and Space Cutting condensed into an invisible blade, precisely cutting a walnut-sized piece of decayed soil from the edge of the Dead Wood Forest. She didn't use her hands but used the Space Power to levitate the piece of soil in mid-air and bring it to Chu Lan. Chu Lan placed the soil into a specially made jade box and closed the lid.

"Luo Li, analyze the toxin frequency."

Luo Li sat cross-legged on the ground, placing the flowing sound zither across her knees. Her fingers touched the strings, plucking a low and brief melody. The sound waves passed through the jade box's casing and resonated with the withered wood poison inside, causing a layer of grayish-white light to appear on the strings. Luo Li's fingers slid gently over the strings, measuring the fluctuation period of that light. "The toxin's frequency fluctuates in a cycle between twelve and fifteen breaths; the fluctuation curve is regular, not random. As long as we find a substance that counters the toxin's frequency, we can formulate an antidote."

Chu Lan took the jade box back to the Spirit Plant Garden and began the long and tedious detoxification experiment.

She took the branch of the azure wood holy seed from her robe, carefully plucked a leaf, ground it into juice, and dripped it into the jade box containing the toxin sample. The moment the holy seed's pure life force touched the withered wood poison, grayish-white smoke rose from the jade box. The toxin sample was partially neutralized but not completely cleared. Failure.

She adjusted the concentration of the holy seed juice and tried again. Failure.

She added Yaoguang's Rejuvenation Technique spiritual power for assistance and tried again. Failure.

Tianxin used Talismans to simulate different spiritual power fluctuation environments, and Chu Lan repeatedly adjusted the proportions of the antidote formula. Failure, failure, and failure again.

Fairy Qingmu and Poison Vine watched from outside the Spirit Plant Garden. Fairy Qingmu's expression grew more solemn, while the corners of Poison Vine's mouth curled up slightly.

On the eleventh attempt, Chu Lan diluted the holy seed juice concentration to one percent of the original, added Yaoguang's Rejuvenation Technique slow-release technique, and included a spiritual power stabilization rune Tianxin extracted from an Isolation Talisman. The toxin sample in the jade box was finally completely neutralized, and the grayish-white decayed soil turned back into normal yellowish-brown.

Chu Lan slumped against the fence of the Spirit Plant Garden, fine beads of sweat still on her forehead, but her lips curved into a smile. She handed the antidote formula to Yaoguang: "Prepare it according to these proportions, one for each person."

Yaoguang took the formula and led Tianxin and Su Ning to the alchemy room to prepare the antidote. Two hours later, seven jade bottles were placed on the stone table, with fine silver specks of light suspended in the pale green liquid—those were the precipitates formed by the combination of the holy seed juice and the Rejuvenation Technique's spiritual power.

Each person swallowed a bottle of the antidote.

Poison Vine stood outside the Spirit Plant Garden, her face like the sky before a storm. Fairy Qingmu glanced at her but said nothing.

After taking the antidote, Gao Feng led the team into the Dead Wood Forest. The withered wood poison still permeated the air, and the grayish-white decayed soil still spread beneath their feet, but their spiritual power no longer drained away. Tianxin's Isolation Talismans were not triggered, Su Ning's Space Cutting was undisturbed, and Luo Li's zither music was clearly audible. Chu Lan walked in the middle of the team, the branch of the azure wood holy seed in her robe warming slightly, as if reminding her that there was something deeper in this forest.

After walking for about an hour, the withered trees ahead suddenly thinned out. A clearing appeared before them, and in the center lay a massive dark shadow—a Rotten Wood Beast about thirty feet long, shaped like a giant lizard, with grayish-white scales and faint breathing. It emitted a dense aura of withered wood poison, its concentration far exceeding the outskirts; it was the very source of the toxin. It wasn't actively releasing the poison, but it was too old, and the withered wood poison accumulated in its body had exceeded its limit, slowly seeping out.

Gao Feng made a gesture, and the nine of them held their breath, bypassing the edge of the clearing. The Rotten Wood Beast did not wake up, its breathing remaining faint.

Passing through the clearing, the withered trees became even sparser. Finally, in the deepest part of the Dead Wood Forest, they saw a dilapidated stone temple. On a stone platform inside the temple lay a vibrant green Jade Slip. Gao Feng took the Jade Slip into his robe and signaled everyone to withdraw.

The nine returned the way they came. Passing the clearing, Chu Lan took a jade bottle from her sleeve and gently poured the remaining antidote onto the Rotten Wood Beast's head. The antidote seeped into the gaps between the scales, and the grayish-white scales brightened slightly—a trace of the azure wood holy seed's life force circulating through its body.

Chu Lan put the empty bottle back in her sleeve and caught up with the team. Behind them, the massive shadow's breathing became a bit steadier than before.

Outside the Spirit Plant Garden, Fairy Qingmu nodded after hearing Gao Feng's report.

She turned to Poison Vine, her voice not loud, but every word was like a nail driven into a wooden board: "Junior Sister Poison Vine, you could have prepared the antidote, but you refused on the grounds of insufficient stock. If Chu Lan had not used the Spirit Plant Art to crack the withered wood poison, they would not have been able to enter the Dead Wood Forest, and the Legacy of the Green Wood Pulse Continuation Technique could not have been retrieved. As an Elder of Changsheng Valley, you did not prioritize the Sect's Legacy but instead created obstacles out of selfishness. What is your crime?"