Chapter 72 A Plan to Turn the Tide

Meanwhile, Wu Tianli's Immortal Cave was filled with cheers.

Wu Tianli toyed with the qianji poison in his hand, his eyes full of malice: "Lin Yue must be in agony right now! The qianji poison infects upon contact. If Liu Qingyan dares to touch him, her cultivation will be reduced by at least thirty percent!"

Mo Renxing sat to the side, toying with a Foundation Establishment Pill, his face wrinkled with laughter: "Good! Good! Once Liu Qingyan is weakened, the right to lead the East Peak for the Qingyuan Attainment in three months will fall to me! The Great Spirit Gathering Formation of the East Mountain Medicine Garden, and the Spirit Medicines filling the garden, should also have a new Revered Master!" He remembered something and added, "My Disciple Guo Degang's medicinal plant technique is top-tier within the inner Sect. I'll have him challenge them later; he'll surely seize the Medicine Garden!"

"The Medicine Garden goes to you, Senior Brother, but those women..." Wu Tianli rubbed his hands, greed flashing in his eyes. "Ling Wei's Formation talent, Luo Ningshuang's Innate Pill Body, and Su Qingyuan's Innate Sword Body are all rare Cauldrons. They should belong to me!"

"No!" Mo Renxing's face darkened, and he waved his hand. "Ling Wei must go to me. Her Tianyan Spirit Pivot Body paired with my earth-element Formations can double the Medicine Garden's yield. Su Qingyuan and Luo Ningshuang must also go to me. Their Innate Sword Body and Innate Pill Body are perfect for helping me break through to the Late Golden Core Stage! At most, I'll leave A He for you. She's just a Spirit Plant Master, which is enough for you."

"Senior Brother, that's going too far!" Wu Tianli stood up abruptly, the heaven-burning pill-pattern blade at his waist trembling slightly. "If I hadn't had Gongsun Lüe administer the poison, how would Lin Yue be poisoned? How would Liu Qingyan's cultivation be damaged? How can you hog all the benefits?"

The two bickered back and forth over the women and the Medicine Garden, spit flying across the table.

...

In the cultivation room, Liu Qingyan put away the pure spirit immortal flute. The blue-purple hue on Lin Yue's body had mostly faded. Although he was still lying down, he no longer looked in pain.

"Are you still going to pretend in front of me?" A hint of coldness flashed in Liu Qingyan's eyes as she flicked a strand of crystalline white spiritual light from her fingertip, landing on Lin Yue's Dantian. "You think I can't tell that you weren't affected by that qianji poison at all?"

"I wouldn't dare deceive Revered Master; I truly wasn't poisoned." Lin Yue sat up and moved his wrists. With his Myriad Poison-Resistant Body and the prajna divine armor protecting his heart, even the qianji poison could not harm him.

Besides, even if Gongsun Lüe hadn't confessed on her own, she wouldn't have had any chance to strike under Luo Ningshuang's vigilance.

As a direct Disciple of Baicao Valley, Luo Ningshuang was proficient in medicine and the way of poisons. Let alone an amateur like Gongsun Lüe, even if Wu Tianli came in person, he likely wouldn't have gained much of an advantage.

However, after Wu Tianli administered the poison, he would certainly not let the matter rest and would surely bring people to cause trouble personally.

Lin Yue had no choice but to find helpers in advance.

Furthermore, he had a hidden motive he couldn't mention. The System wanted him to conquer Liu Qingyan, so he needed more contact with this high-and-mighty Revered Master.

Otherwise, if he really had to force things, there would be no foundation of "feelings" at all.

"How do you plan to deal with this Gongsun Lüe?" Liu Qingyan asked Lin Yue.

Lin Yue replied, "I leave it entirely to Revered Master's discretion." He knew that since Liu Qingyan asked, she must have a plan.

"Gongsun Lüe is both a pawn and a witness," Liu Qingyan said. "By keeping her, we can expose Wu Tianli's use of her family to blackmail her into poisoning you directly to the Sect Elders Council. Wu Tianli won't be able to deny it."

Lin Yue thought the same and naturally nodded in agreement.

"In a while, when Wu Tianli arrives, he will certainly send someone to challenge you. Just act according to the plan." Liu Qingyan condensed a strand of spiritual light and sent it into Lin Yue's pulse gate. Lin Yue's face then turned deathly pale, clearly showing symptoms of severely damaged cultivation.

After finishing this, she sat down on a prayer mat in the quiet room to regulate her breathing and meditate, saying no more.

...

Sure enough, in less than an hour, a surge of powerful spiritual energy fluctuations came from outside the Medicine Garden.

Wu Tianli arrived with a dozen Disciples, followed by two Cultivators—one dressed in gold-patterned robes with a majestic face, who was another Golden Core Elder of the Sect, Mo Renyi; the other was dressed in green robes with a medicinal shovel at his waist, known as the top medicinal plant expert among the Sect's younger generation, Ren Tianxing, the elder brother of Ren Yanran.

"Liu Qingyan, you're here too?" Wu Tianli's eyes flashed with wariness upon seeing her, but he quickly regained his arrogance. "Lin Yue poisoned a fellow Disciple and forcibly occupied the Medicine Garden. According to Sect rules, he must accept Ren Tianxing's challenge! If he doesn't dare to fight or if he loses, he must surrender the position of Garden Overseer of the East Mountain Medicine Garden!"

Ren Tianxing stepped forward, the medicinal shovel in his hand glowing with pale green spiritual light. "Lin Yue won the Medicine Garden from Zhao Dezhu, but he lacks the medicinal plant Legacy and is unfit to manage this place. Today, I challenge him with the Five Elements Medicinal Plant Technique. If he loses, the Medicine Garden belongs to me; if he doesn't show up, he's a coward and must automatically surrender the position of Garden Overseer!"

Lin Dexuan had just rushed over, and his face changed drastically upon hearing this: "Sect rules state that challenges must be arranged in advance. Right now, Lin Yue is unconscious; this matter needs further discussion..."

"Further discussion? A junior like you, Lin Dexuan, dares to be arrogant in my presence?" Mo Renyi sneered, and his Golden Core pressure suddenly erupted. A powerful and matchless spiritual pressure descended. Instantly, Lin Dexuan's face turned pale, and he couldn't even speak. "Today, Lin Yue must accept this challenge! Otherwise, it's a violation of Sect rules, and no one can protect him!"

"I insist on protecting him, so what?" Just then, the stone door of the cultivation room suddenly opened with a creak. Liu Qingyan slowly stood up and blocked everyone's path. With a light wave of her hand, everyone felt the pressure on them instantly lift.

Wu Tianli, however, stumbled back five consecutive steps, clutching his chest, unable to speak for a long time.

Wu Tianli had come this time to seize the East Mountain Medicine Garden and Lin Yue's three wives. Seeing Liu Qingyan here, he naturally knew that his original plan would be very difficult to implement.

"So Junior Sister is here as well?" Mo Renxing chuckled and stepped forward, looking at Liu Qingyan with a fake smile. "That's for the best; we can settle this grudge once and for all!"

"Settle the grudge?" Liu Qingyan's gaze swept over Wu Tianli and Mo Renxing. "Is it you who are challenging, or is Ren Tianxing the one challenging?"

As soon as she said this, both Mo Renxing and Wu Tianli were stunned. Although Liu Qingyan looked young, her strength was extraordinary, and neither of them was certain of victory.

Wu Tianli asked, "What's the difference between us challenging and Ren Tianxing challenging?"

Liu Qingyan said, "If it's you challenging, then I will respond. If it's the Disciples under your command challenging, then the Disciples under my command will respond."