17: Chapter 17: He went out with his supernatural powers, only to be blocked at the door.
He bowed weakly in the direction of Zhou Tong: "Ma... Many thanks to the Head for... upholding justice..."
Within his field of vision, on the System map that only he could see, a brand new red light spot marked "Heavenly Dao Scripture Pavilion" was slowly emerging on the peak of the back mountain of the Qingming Sect, flickering with an enticing glow.
This performance was finally over.
Shen Xiao forced himself to stand straight, the heavy Storage Pouch and three jade bottles of Medicinal Pill in his arms like trophies won from this performance.
He did not spare another glance at Lin Yun, who was ashen-faced and being escorted to the Cliff of Reflection, but instead, supported by two attendants, stumbled out of the Discipline Hall.
Once outside the main gate, the cold night wind blowing against his face made his head, dizzy from blood loss and Qi consumption, feel much clearer.
He did not return directly to his own remote Immortal Cave; it was probably more chaotic there than a latrine right now, and the people who wanted to see him make a fool of himself and those who wanted to probe his true strength were likely lined up from the entrance to the foot of the mountain.
"Two Senior Brothers, I must trouble you... to take me to the Medicine Hall." His voice was hoarse, his breathing weak, looking every bit like he might kick the bucket at any moment.
One of the attendants frowned: "Junior Brother Shen, your injuries are so severe, you should return to your Immortal Cave to recuperate. The Medicinal Pill prescribed by Elder Liu..."
"That won't do." Shen Xiao interrupted him, his tone carrying a trace of paranoid weakness, "That 'mystic ice evil poison' is too overbearing; I feel... it is gnawing at my Dantian. Ordinary Medicinal Pill can probably only treat the symptoms. I must go to the Medicine Hall and ask the Elder on duty to take another look; perhaps... perhaps I can find a way to restrain it."
This explanation was reasonable and logical; it was perfectly normal for someone tortured by a deadly poison to seek help desperately.
The two attendants looked at each other, stopped trying to persuade him, and supported him as they turned toward the direction of the Medicine Hall.
Inside the Medicine Hall, the rich fragrance of medicinal herbs rushed to meet them.
The Elder Zhang on duty was an old man with white hair and beard. Seeing Shen Xiao being supported in, along with his face that was comparable to a dead person's, a flash of surprise crossed his cloudy old eyes.
Shen Xiao respectfully placed the three bottles of "Ziyang Pill" sentenced by Zhou Tong on the table and panted heavily: "Elder Zhang, Disciple... the evil poison in my body, I ask you to diagnose it again. Although this Ziyang Pill is a holy medicine for healing, I am afraid... it cannot suppress that cold poison."
Elder Zhang nodded and placed his withered fingers on his pulse.
A moment later, he withdrew his hand, his expression growing more solemn: "What Elder Liu said is true; this mystic ice evil poison is indeed vicious. The Ziyang Pill can protect your heart pulse and repair the damage to your Meridians, but to drive out this poison is beyond its power. This poison originates from a high-level Yao Beast; it cannot be solved by ordinary Medicinal Pill."
This was exactly the result Shen Xiao wanted.
What he wanted was an "official certification" to prove that he was very ill and that this illness could not be cured by ordinary medicine.
He wore an appropriately desperate look on his face, his voice growing even hoarser: "Then... is this Disciple... doomed?"
Elder Zhang stroked his beard and pondered: "It is not a dead end. All things in the world have their opposites. This kind of strange poison might be recorded in ancient classics with a method to restrain it. You may go to the Sect's Scripture Pavilion to look it up; perhaps you can find a glimmer of hope. I will issue a reading permit for you; the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion will be open to you for three days."
As he spoke, he took out a blank Jade Slip, injected it with Qi to record, and handed it to Shen Xiao.
"Many thanks for the Elder's guidance!" Shen Xiao accepted the Jade Slip as if it were a treasure, appearing to have grasped at the last straw of life. After thanking him repeatedly, he broke free from the attendants' support and staggered out alone.
Watching his desperate back, both attendants couldn't help but shake their heads; this kid really had been pushed to a dead end.
Stepping out of the Medicine Hall, Shen Xiao looked up at the towering pavilion on the peak of the back mountain, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly in the shadows where no one could see.
Everything was under control.
"System," he commanded in his heart, "Consume 5 points of destiny value to exchange for a temporary boost to 'Comprehension Ability'."
[Command confirmed. Consuming 5 points of destiny value, 'Comprehension Ability' temporary boost has been activated. Duration: one hour.]
A stream of cool Qi instantly surged into his mind, as if replacing the cooling System of a high-speed CPU with top-tier liquid nitrogen.
The entire world looked different in his eyes; the scent of plants and trees drifting in the air, the chirping of insects in the distance, and even the textures on the stone road became incomparably clear. All details were automatically captured, analyzed, and categorized, and his thinking speed increased several times over.
Meanwhile, in Lin Yun's Immortal Cave.
"Clang!"
A fine cyan jade teacup was smashed hard against the ground, shattering into pieces.
"Shen Xiao!!" Lin Yun's eyes were blood-red, looking like a madman.
The inside of the Immortal Cave was a mess, with tables and chairs overturned and objects shattered; clearly, he had been venting for a long time.
The three thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stone he had to pay out was almost the majority of his savings!
This made his already not-so-wealthy financial situation even worse.
But compared to the Spirit Stone, the humiliation of being publicly shamed and despised by countless people made him even more unbearable!
He was the Child of Destiny!
He was the protagonist of the world!
How could he be toyed with by a cannon fodder!
"He must be acting! He must have a great treasure on him!" Lin Yun clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms.
To be able to escape from Elder Yao's hands and even bite back, this was absolutely something a normal Foundation Establishment Stage could not do!
Shen Xiao must have obtained a heaven-defying Opportunity in the North Sea Ice Abyss!
No, this score had to be settled! Those Opportunities were supposed to be his!
Intense jealousy and hatred burned him to the point of losing his reason.
He stood up abruptly, pacing back and forth in the Immortal Cave, his eyes flickering uncertainly.
He had to go to the Cliff of Reflection, but before that, he had to make Shen Xiao spit out everything he had eaten!
He couldn't do it himself, or it would be an additional crime. But... he could find someone else.
A figure as sturdy as a bear appeared in his mind.
Lin Yun walked quickly out of the Immortal Cave, heading straight for the area where the Outer Sect Disciple lived.
The Qingming Sect Scripture Pavilion, consisting of seven floors, was a vital area of the Sect.
Shen Xiao, holding the permit Jade Slip from the Medicine Hall, successfully passed through the Formation at the entrance.
Stepping into the pavilion, a breath of ancient, heavy bookish atmosphere mixed with a faint scent of dust rushed to meet him.
The first floor hall was extremely spacious, with rows of tall bookshelves like silent giants. The Jade Slip placed on them flickered with spiritual light, clearly all decent Cultivation Technique and secret arts.
Quite a few Disciple were shuttling between them, carefully making their selections.
Shen Xiao ignored all of this.
His goal was very clear; he walked straight through the bright hall toward the deepest area that was almost deserted.
The light here was much dimmer, and the smell of dust in the air was stronger.
Most of the Jade Slip on the bookshelves had dim light, and there were even many damaged bamboo slips and yellowed paper books, clearly all discarded or incomplete abandoned Cultivation Technique.
Under the blessing of the temporary Comprehension Ability boost, his perception became exceptionally sharp.
As he walked, he carefully sensed the flow of every bit of energy around him.
The red dot on the System map was in this area, but exactly which one it was required him to find himself.
Like an experienced treasure hunter, he stopped in an inconspicuous corner.
This was a row of the most severely damaged bookshelves, piled with messy Incomplete Manual, with dust half a finger thick; it looked like no one had touched it for decades.
The moment he approached this bookshelf, somewhere under his feet, an extremely weak, almost imperceptible Soul Power fluctuation rippled gently like ripples in water.
Success!
Almost at the same time, an old, weak voice that sounded like it could be extinguished at any moment rang directly in his empty Sea of Consciousness:
"Dying person... carrying strange poison... are you willing to inherit my mantle?"
It's here!
Lin Yun's signature movement technique in the original work, "Counter-flow Step"!
And the included "portable old grandfather"!
This old man's remnant Soul was sealed here, and only when someone poisoned and near death approached could his remnant thought be activated.
The "mystic ice evil poison" he faked perfectly triggered this condition.
If it were someone else, they would probably be ecstatic right now, thinking they had hit the jackpot.
But Shen Xiao only sneered.
He didn't want an old ghost who might possess him at any moment nagging in his head.
He did not respond to the voice in his Sea of Consciousness, but instead gently stomped his feet on the ground. His powerful perception spread along the soles of his feet, quickly locking onto the source of that thread of Soul Power—a loose floor tile under his feet with a slightly different color.
He squatted down, pretending to be physically exhausted from his severe injuries, and pressed his palm inadvertently on that floor tile. With a burst of Qi, he pried it open silently.
Under the floor tile was a small groove, inside which lay a primitive scroll made of unknown animal skin.
The moment his fingers touched the scroll, the remnant thought of the old man in his Sea of Consciousness seemed to sense something and became excited. A weak Soul power tried to drill along his arm into his Sea of Consciousness to establish some kind of Soul link.
[Warning! Detected that the Heavenly Dao Opportunity "portable old grandfather" is attempting to bind with the Host. Do you wish to consume 10% of your cultivation to sever it?]
"Yes!" Shen Xiao thought without hesitation.
In an instant, a force was violently drawn from his Dantian, and his Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation immediately dropped by a notch.
This force turned into an invisible blade, precisely slashing at the Soul link that had just begun to form!
"Crack!"
It was as if something had shattered.
In his Sea of Consciousness, the old voice let out a short, astonished grunt, then abruptly stopped and disappeared completely, as if it had never appeared.
Done.
Shen Xiao remained calm as he tucked the real animal skin scroll into his robes, then pulled out something he had prepared long ago from his Storage Pouch—a torn page ripped from some street-stall storybook, on which was copied a nonsensical, incoherent, and incorrect Qi circulation method.
He stuffed this forged page back into the groove under the floor tile, then covered the floor tile seamlessly, stepped on it with his foot, and restored it to its original state.
After doing all this, he stood up slowly and turned to walk outside.
Because he had forcibly severed the Opportunity, consuming a portion of his cultivation, combined with the injuries he already had, his complexion was now even paler than it had been when he was faking it, and his steps were even more unsteady, looking exactly like a poor wretch who had just crawled back from the gates of hell.
Outside the Scripture Pavilion was an open white stone plaza.
As soon as Shen Xiao walked out of the gate, before he could catch his breath, his path was blocked by a group of people.
Leading them was a burly man eight feet tall with muscles as knotted as a brown bear, carrying a giant axe on his shoulder that was wider than a door panel. It was Wang Mang, a famous troublemaker among the Outer Sect Disciple.
Behind him followed seven or eight Outer Sect Disciple, all looking unkind, surrounding Shen Xiao.
Wang Mang looked Shen Xiao up and down, seeing his miserable state of almost dying, a flash of disdain crossed his eyes, and he shouted in a muffled voice: "Shen Xiao! I am Wang Mang! I heard you obtained great benefits in the North Sea Ice Abyss, but now you are pretending to be dying; who are you trying to fool?"
He slammed the giant axe on the ground with a "clang," shaking the ground, and pointed at Shen Xiao's nose, roaring: "If you know what's good for you, hand over the treasure you obtained in the North Sea Ice Abyss obediently, and I can let you crawl back to lie down in one piece! Otherwise, don't blame my axe for not recognizing any Inner Sect Disciple!"
Shen Xiao narrowed his eyes.
He knew of this person, Wang Mang, Late Stage Foundation Establishment, simple-minded, developed limbs, an overlord of the Outer Sect.
This kind of person would never dare to come and find trouble with him, an Inner Sect Disciple, for no reason.
Thinking back to how he had just tricked Lin Yun into the Cliff of Reflection... the answer was self-evident.
What a loyal dog; as soon as its master was locked up, it couldn't wait to come out and bite people.