138: Bewitching Pill

"Let's leave here first," Lin Feng said, putting away his jade pendant. "The Hehuan Sect will not let this go."

The two had just summoned their flying Magic Treasure and were speeding through the night when suddenly, a strange ringing sound came from behind.

The ringing seemed to pierce through the eardrums and strike directly at the Divine Soul. Su Sizhu swayed, nearly falling over.

"It's the Soul Chasing Bell!" Lin Feng hurriedly circulated the Seven Heavens Thunder Lure, casting a barrier of lightning around them. But the ringing was like a maggot in the bone, actually piercing through the barrier and shaking them until their blood and Qi surged.

The figure of the Red-Robed Elder appeared from the mist, holding a gilded bell in one hand and a Peach Blossom Mirror in the other.

"You destroyed my grand formation, killed my Disciples, and you still want to leave?" He sneered, and the bell rang again.

This time, the ringing turned into tangible sound waves, surging like a tide. Su Sizhu endured her discomfort and summoned her Magic Treasure, the Clear Heart Seal. The Clear Heart Seal bloomed with a soft white light, colliding with the sound waves and emitting the sound of metal clashing against stone.

"The Clear Heart Seal?" The Red-Robed Elder's eyes narrowed. "It seems the Tianxuan Sect has indeed intervened."

He turned the mirror face, and a pink beam of light shot out from the Peach Blossom Mirror, aiming straight for Su Sizhu. Wherever the beam passed, the vegetation withered completely.

Lin Feng slashed rapidly with his Sword Qi; the green sword light collided fiercely with the pink beam, erupting in blinding light.

"The brat's swordsmanship is not bad, but it's a pity..." The Red-Robed Elder shook the bell again, and the sound waves shot toward Lin Feng like sharp blades.

Lin Feng took a deep breath and summoned the Shadow Scale Snake from his spirit beast pouch. The golden pattern on the Shadow Scale Snake's forehead shone brightly, actually absorbing some of the sound waves into its body.

Seizing this opportunity, a cold light flashed in Lin Feng's eyes, and he shot a stream of Ice Soul Divine Light from his left hand directly at the Red-Robed Elder's face.

The Red-Robed Elder hurriedly used the Peach Blossom Mirror to block, and a layer of frost instantly formed on the mirror's surface.

Just as he was distracted by dispelling the cold ice, Lin Feng pressed his palms together, and seven thunder rings appeared around him. As the thunder rings rotated, they drew upon the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, and the faint sound of thunder could be heard in the air.

"Impossible!" The Red-Robed Elder's expression changed in horror.

What shocked him even more was that Lin Feng changed his sword technique again, and a cyan-green sword light emerged from within the lightning.

The cyan-green sword light wrapped around the Soul Chasing Bell, and the lightning conducted along the cyan-green Sword Qi; the bell was suddenly unable to make a sound.

"Clear Heart Seal, open!" Su Sizhu seized the opportunity, and the jade seal bloomed with ten thousand feet of clear light. Wherever the clear light passed, the pink mist within the Peach Blossom Mirror melted like snow and ice.

The Red-Robed Elder retreated seven steps in a row, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"The Clear Heart Seal... it truly is worthy of being True Person Xuan Ling's Lifebound Treasure!" He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "To think even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could unleash such power!"

The Peach Blossom Mirror trembled slightly in his hand, and the burn marks from the clear light were clearly visible on the mirror's surface. The Red-Robed Elder turned his gaze toward the jade seal floating above Su Sizhu's head, a trace of wariness flashing in his eyes.

But when his gaze fell back onto Lin Feng, his shock and suspicion deepened.

Three types of elemental spiritual power were perfectly blended around Lin Feng, mutually nourishing one another. What was even more alarming was that the Shadow Scale Snake coiled beside Lin Feng, the golden pattern on its forehead flickering, made even him feel a lingering fear.

"The Tianxuan Sect... when did they produce such characters?" The Red-Robed Elder was secretly shocked.

The Shadow Scale Snake suddenly raised its head, its golden pattern shining brightly. The Red-Robed Elder snapped back to his senses, only to discover that his Lifebound Treasure, the Soul Chasing Bell, had developed tiny cracks. He made a decisive decision and threw three blood-colored Talismans from his sleeve.

"Today's humiliation, I will repay it a hundredfold in the future!"

The Talismans exploded into a dense mist of blood, and the Red-Robed Elder took the opportunity to turn into a stream of light and escape.

"He let him escape." Su Sizhu wiped the blood from her lips and looked at the stream of light dissipating in the sky. "However, his Lifebound Treasure is damaged, so he won't be able to cause much trouble in the short term."

Recalling what she had seen earlier, she sighed, "Those Cultivators... even if the poison is cured, their dao foundation is already riddled with holes."

"It seems we have no choice but to return to the valley we just left for an investigation." Lin Feng was silent for a moment before suddenly speaking, "Aside from the Cultivators who were hit, there are many Hehuan Sect Disciples coming and going; there will always be someone who knows the truth."

Su Sizhu nodded, "That's exactly what I was thinking. Let's go catch someone alive and ask."

At the hour of the Rat, thick clouds swallowed the last sliver of moonlight. Lin Feng and Su Sizhu lurked in a crevice in the rocks beside the mountain stream; the damp rock walls exuded a chill that soaked through their clothes.

"They're here." Su Sizhu transmitted her voice directly into his mind.

Two Hehuan Sect Disciples at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage walked near the stream, carrying medicine baskets. The younger one rubbed his shoulder and complained, "This errand is really bad luck; we just lost Senior Brother Ling yesterday..."

The older Disciple looked around, his fingers pressing against the Talisman at his waist. "Say less. Once we finish picking the Condensing Dew Grass, let's hurry back to the branch altar."

A cold light flashed from the tip of Su Sizhu's finger as she prepared to strike, but Lin Feng suddenly pressed down on her wrist.

"Don't be hasty," he transmitted. "Making too much noise might alert others."

His gaze swept across the faint patrol lights visible on the other side of the stream, and he summoned the Shadow Scale Snake. "Let the little guy do it." With a thought from Lin Feng, the Shadow Scale Snake shot out like a bolt of lightning.

A gray, mist-like poisonous miasma suddenly spread across the back of the young Disciple's neck; he collapsed like a marionette with cut strings, a strange wheezing sound coming from his throat.

The older Disciple turned back in alarm, and just as he was about to open his mouth to call for help, the Shadow Scale Snake wrapped around his neck, its fangs piercing deeply into his collarbone.

The gray mist seeped out from the young Disciple's seven orifices, condensing into a phantom in the air. The older Disciple's eyes widened as he watched, helpless, as the poisonous mist phantom crawled into his own nose and mouth. He clawed futilely at his throat, his whole body collapsing limply to the ground.

The stream continued to flow with a gurgling sound, and the laughter of the patrolling Disciples on the other side could be heard faintly, as if nothing had happened. The Shadow Scale Snake released its fangs, its long, slender tail coiling around the two limp bodies, and it slid silently back into the depths of the rock crevice.

The silver needle at the tip of Su Sizhu's finger trembled slightly; she had never seen snake venom that could instantly disintegrate the Protective Aura of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Lin Feng recalled the Shadow Scale Snake, and carrying the two captives, he flew for dozens of miles before landing on a hilltop.

Lin Feng threw the two Hehuan Sect Cultivators onto a smooth rock. The purple-black poison marks on the older Disciple's neck had already spread to behind his ears, while the younger Disciple's face was as pale as paper, his clothes soaked with cold sweat.

"You have been afflicted by my Seven Absolutes Poison." Lightning danced on Lin Feng's fingertips, reflecting in the other's terrified pupils. "Without the antidote within three hours, your cultivation will be completely ruined."

He paused for a moment before speaking, "If you want to live, tell me what kind of pill you are feeding the Cultivators."

The older Disciple gritted his teeth and secretly activated a Magic Treasure. A yellow ring flew out from his sleeve, but it was locked by the lightning as soon as it emerged. The younger Disciple seized the opportunity to turn his body into green smoke, intending to escape, but was forcibly dragged back to his original spot by the electric light erupting from the lightning net.

"There is no need to waste your effort." Lin Feng's voice was calm. "You cannot escape."

The younger Disciple collapsed to the ground, despairingly discovering that the spiritual power within his body was being eroded by the poison. He trembling reached for his Storage Pouch, took out an antidote pill, and put it in his mouth, but it had no effect.

"It... it is the spirit bewitching pill!" The younger Disciple finally broke down. "I beg Senior to grant the antidote!"

The older Disciple glared at him angrily, "Shut up! Have you forgotten the sect rules..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the lightning net suddenly tightened, and the electric light whipped against the older Disciple's body.

Su Sizhu said softly, "If you tell the truth, we might spare your lives."

Lin Feng suddenly remembered an event from a few years ago in the west mountain of Hundred Flowers Valley. At that time, in order to find heart-bewitching grass for the Shadow Scale Snake, he had snuck into the depths of the west mountain and had inadvertently heard rumors about the spirit bewitching pill.

But the refining Materials mentioned by the Hehuan Sect Disciples at that time... what exactly were they?