108: Chapter 108 Nine Yin Meridians

In the crowd, when Shi Tailong saw this scene, his expression changed completely, turning from red to white, then from white to green—truly a magnificent sight.

His body began to back up unconsciously, his steps staggering as he prepared to leave this place.

"Shit Is Too Thick, where are you going?"

Baili Yunche had sharp eyes and spotted Shi Tailong trying to slip away at a glance, shouting out loudly.

"Th-This..."

Shi Tailong's figure stiffened, and he turned around, squeezing an awkward smile onto his Face.

"Congratulations to Brother Baili Yunche for successfully winning first place in the Alchemist competition; it is truly a joyous occasion!"

His smile was uglier than crying, and his eyes were filled with unease.

Baili Yunche said with a smile, "Who was it that said just now, if I were to win first place in the competition, they would twist their head off and let me kick it around like a ball?"

"It seems it was you, right?"

"It wasn't me..." Shi Tailong stammered in defense.

"It wasn't you?" Baili Yunche raised an eyebrow and turned to the surrounding crowd, "All of you, tell me, was it him?"

"It's him!"

"That's right, it's him!"

"We heard it with our own ears!"

The crowd pointed fingers one after another, their voices rising and falling, completely nailing Shi Tailong down.

Baili Yunche teased, "Still saying it wasn't you? They are all witnesses. As an adult, you have to pay the price for what you said!"

"That was just a joke, you can't take it seriously!"

Shi Tailong said anxiously, cold sweat pouring directly from his forehead.

"You were joking, but I took it seriously!" Baili Yunche's expression sank as he said coldly, "Today, you must give an explanation!"

"Then what do you want?"

Shi Tailong asked in a deep voice, clearly carrying anger.

"Very simple, you give me fifty thousand Spirit Stones, and this matter will be dropped right here!" Baili Yunche said indifferently.

"Fifty thousand Spirit Stones?!" Shi Tailong widened his eyes, "Why don't you just go rob someone!"

He was furious; fifty thousand Spirit Stones was by no means a small sum!

Although he was the son of a Nascent Soul Cultivator, the pocket money his father gave him was also limited, and for a moment he simply couldn't produce so many Spirit Stones!

"Not giving?"

Baili Yunche raised an eyebrow, a flash of cold light flickering in his eyes.

Seeing this, Shi Tailong's heart chilled, knowing that if he didn't escape today, he would likely suffer a huge loss.

His eyes rolled, and taking advantage of Baili Yunche's inattention, he suddenly turned around, transforming into a streak of escaping light to slip away directly!

"Hahaha! Are the Disciples of the Hehuan Sect really nothing more than this? To actually go back on one's word!"

"Being unable to even produce fifty thousand Spirit Stones, yet still claiming to be the son of a Nascent Soul Cultivator?"

"This time, the Face of the Hehuan Sect has completely been thrown away by Shi Tailong..."

"Exactly! A dignified True Disciple of the Hehuan Sect actually fleeing from a debt in public, it's simply hilarious!"

The crowd's mocking sounds rose and fell, like slaps across Shi Tailong's Face.

Baili Yunche didn't chase directly; he was merely a clown jumping on a beam, not worth making a big fuss over.

The already fled Shi Tailong had a complexion as gloomy as ink, his heart filled with resentment and unwillingness:

"Detestable Baili Yunche! To actually make me lose such great Face in front of everyone! If I, Shi Tailong, do not avenge this grudge, I swear I am not human!"

Saying this, he disappeared at the end of the street, his back figure wretched and flustered.

...

Obtaining the xuanbing grass, Baili Yunche did not stay for a single moment, leaving the Alchemist Guild without stopping.

His figure was like a cyan lightning bolt, shuttling through the crowd with astonishingly fast speed.

At this moment, he had only one thought in his heart—hurry back to the Family as fast as possible, refine the azure wood recovery pill, and save his eldest uncle!

Although the xuanbing grass was in hand, his eldest uncle's condition was critical, and delaying for even a moment longer brought an extra fraction of danger.

The Jade-scaled Serpent Venom was utterly tyrannical, having already eroded his eldest uncle's Meridians for several days, and he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

"Wait... Young Master Baili Yunche..."

A cold yet pleasant voice came from behind, carrying a bit of urgency and weakness.

Lin Xueying moved her lotus steps lightly, wanting to catch up and call out to Baili Yunche, yet Baili Yunche's speed was simply too fast!

She had just taken two steps when that cyan figure had already disappeared amidst the bustling crowd, leaving behind only a faint afterimage and the lingering trace of medicinal fragrance in the air.

Lin Xueying sighed inwardly, a sense of inexplicable loss welling up in her heart.

She gazed blankly in the direction where Baili Yunche had left, a trace of complex emotions flashing through her beautiful eyes.

For some reason, this young man whom she had only met twice actually caused a ripple to form within her heart.

Just at this moment, she suddenly felt the world spin, and the cold Qi within her body surged frantically like a breached embankment, her limbs and bones feeling as if they were pierced by countless ice needles with excruciating pain.

That chill erupted from the depths of her Dantian, instantly spreading throughout her entire body, making even her blood feel as though it were about to solidify.

"Young Miss!"

Her maid Caier had quick eyes and fast hands, hurriedly supporting the tottering Lin Xueying while speaking in panic: "Young Miss, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me!"

Lin Xueying's complexion was pale as paper, completely devoid of color, and her lips even presented a purplish-blue hue, as if she had been poisoned by a potent venom.

Her body was bone-chillingly cold, like a piece of millennium black ice, and even the surrounding air condensed into a faint white frost.

She couldn't stand steady, her legs turning soft and nearly causing her to tumble to the ground; she managed to steady her figure solely thanks to Caier supporting her.

"It's fine... an old ailment is acting up..."

Lin Xueying said weakly, her voice as thin as a mosquito's buzz, carrying a trace of trembling.

Fine cold sweat oozed from her forehead, but those sweat droplets had just appeared when they condensed into tiny ice crystals under her cold body temperature, hanging on her eyelashes and hair strands, crystalline and clear, yet revealing a sense of desolate beauty.

"Young Miss, continuing like this is no solution! You must find a Yang-attribute treasure to suppress the cold poison within your body!"

Caier said anxiously, her eye rims turning red with a crying tone in her voice,

"Look at how you are right now; if this goes on, I'm afraid you won't be able to hold on much longer!"

"Treating the symptoms rather than the root cause..." Lin Xueying shook her head with a bitter smile.

Her smile was desolate and helpless, resembling a floating ice lotus swaying in the cold wind,

"Mr. Qi fortune-told for me, saying that if I wish to completely lift the side effects of the Nine Yin Meridians, I must find the fated person."

"Only the Pure Yang Qi of the fated person can neutralize the ultimate yin and cold of the Nine Yin Meridians, resolving the cold poison from its very root."

As it turned out, this Lin Xueying actually possessed the legendary Nine Yin Meridians!

In the cultivation world, the Nine Yin Meridians were an extremely rare and special Physique, difficult to find even one among a million Cultivators, deserving to be called a legendary existence.

People possessing this Physique were naturally attuned to yin and cold Qi, achieving twice the result with half the effort when cultivating yin-attribute Cultivation Techniques, with a speed far exceeding ordinary people—truly a peerless Genius.

But the Heavenly Dao is balanced; with gains come losses. Although the Nine Yin Meridians cultivated at supernatural speeds, they also came with massive side effects, clinging like maggots to bone and accompanying one for life.

The owners of the Nine Yin Meridians would constantly emit ultimate yin and cold Qi from within their bodies, continuously eroding their own Meridians and internal organs.

The higher the cultivation base, the more severe this erosion became, acting like a double-edged sword that granted formidable power while slowly devouring the host's life.

Whenever night fell on a yin month and yin day, the cold poison would erupt completely. That kind of pain was simply worse than death, as if the entire person was cast into ten-thousand-year black ice, freezing everything from the bone marrow to the Soul, and even freezing consciousness itself.

To alleviate this pain, one had to use corresponding yang-attribute Cultivation Techniques to guide it, or suppress it with yang-attribute treasures.

But these were only methods to treat the symptoms rather than the root cause, completely incapable of utterly eradicating the side effects of the Nine Yin Meridians.

Moreover, as cultivation levels increased, the effectiveness of ordinary yang-attribute treasures grew worse and worse, ultimately losing effect entirely.