SWDnovel Chapter 66 The Unknown Jade Slip
Chapter 66 The Unknown Jade Slip
Night fell.
Inside the C-class camp in the special protected area, the deathly silence was broken by the occasional sound of patrolling footsteps from outside.
The runic stone pillars at the four corners of the tent emitted a dim, eerie light, illuminating this small area in a bizarre and fantastical way. Clumps of multicolored "Five-Colored Illusionary Poison Fungus" on the ground stretched their caps in the night, spewing out tiny spores invisible to the naked eye, brewing the air into a jar of poison capable of killing mortals.
Gu An sat on a worn-out stool, holding a palm-leaf fan in his hand, seemingly trying to shoo away mosquitoes, but his eyes, narrowed to slits, never left the girl on the cold jade bed.
Shen Wan appears to have fallen into a deep coma.
Even with the restraint of the jade bed, the wounds on her body, wrapped in rune bandages, continued to ooze dark green pus. This pus dripped down the edge of the bed, corroding small, steaming pits on the floor, nourishing the greedy poisonous mushrooms.
Her brows were furrowed, and her pale face was covered in cold sweat, clearly indicating that she was enduring unimaginable pain.
"call……"
Gu An put down his palm-leaf fan, and after confirming that the surrounding restrictions were intact and that no one was spying on him, he slowly stood up.
He didn't approach directly, but first took out a cloth roll wrapped in oiled paper from his pocket. When unfolded, it contained a row of silver needles of varying lengths.
These silver needles were no ordinary items; they were a set of "poison-drawing needles" that he had found among the clutter of the underground cell. The needles were hollow and made of special spirit-absorbing silver, specifically designed to guide and extract poisonous blood.
"Never mind, the bold will get rich, and the timid will starve."
Gu An licked his slightly chapped lips, a hint of fanaticism flashing deep in his eyes.
The taste of that poisonous fog during the day was still unforgettable for him. The feeling of his cultivation level soaring like a rocket was far better than his arduous work of planting mulberry trees and cultivating with blood essence in Youying Valley.
This isn't a patient; it's clearly an inexhaustible mine of spiritual stones!
Gu An walked to the cold jade bed and skillfully unwrapped a corner of the bandage on Shen Wan's wrist.
There was a newly festering wound there, with dark green venomous blood poised to erupt.
Gu An held his breath, picked up the thinnest hollow silver needle with his fingers, and pierced it steadily and accurately into the abscess at the edge of the wound.
"laugh."
The slight sound was masked by the hissing sound of corrosion.
Gu An did not make direct physical contact, but instead extended his right index finger and lightly touched the end of the silver needle, about half an inch away.
The "Life-Growing Wood Technique" quietly circulated within his body, and an extremely weak but tenacious suction force followed this half-inch of void, acting on the silver needle.
The dark green poison gas, like iron filings attracted by a magnet, rose up along the hollow silver needle, transforming into an extremely thin green thread that burrowed into Gu An's fingertip.
boom!
The moment the poison gas entered his body, Gu An's dantian trembled violently.
That familiar, violent energy, carrying both destructive and life-giving attributes, surged wildly through the meridians. The already thirsty, azure-green Wood Spirit Liquid instantly pounced on it, enveloping, devouring, and assimilating it.
The feeling was like drinking a bowl of chilled plum juice on a sweltering summer day; every pore was groaning with blissful relief.
[Sheng Sen Yi Mu Technique Proficiency +5]
[Sheng Sen Yi Mu Technique Proficiency +5]
……
The numbers on the panel began to jump at a heart-pounding pace.
In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Gu An's cultivation, which had only recently broken through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, visibly solidified by a degree. If the rogue cultivators outside knew about this speed, they would probably be green with envy.
As Gu An withdrew his weapon, Shen Wan's condition on the cold jade bed underwent a subtle change.
The swollen, shiny abscess on her wrist visibly shrank. The excruciating pain that constantly tore at her nerves seemed to be somewhat relieved as the toxins decreased.
Shen Wan's tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.
Seeing this, Gu An felt much more at ease.
This is a win-win situation. He wants cultivation, and she wants to live, or at least suffer less. As long as the balance is maintained, it's a sustainable business.
Just as Gu An was immersed in the pleasure of improving his cultivation level and was preparing to change acupoints to continue the "treatment",
Shen Wan, who had been keeping her eyes closed, opened them without warning.
In the dim light, her eyes were unfocused, yet seemed to pierce through everything. She made no sound or move, simply staring silently and intently at Gu An's fingers hovering above the silver needles.
Gu An's heart skipped a beat. But he was a man who had weathered many storms and was a natural-born actor.
After that moment of stiffness, Gu An did not panic and stop. Instead, a simple, nervous expression with a hint of wanting credit immediately appeared on his face.
Hehe~
Gu An maintained the output of spiritual energy, though now it was purely guided out.
He wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead with his other hand, his voice extremely low, as if afraid of disturbing something:
"Um... young lady, you're awake?"
"I see that your sore is very congested, and I'm afraid the poison will reach your heart, so I've taken the liberty of using a folk remedy to help draw out some of the pus."
As he spoke, he awkwardly withdrew the silver needles, then took out a dirty porcelain bottle from his pocket and poured out some white powder, sprinkling it on the wound.
"This is a family heirloom cooling powder. Although it's not valuable, it's still somewhat effective at relieving pain."
The so-called "cooling powder" was actually just a powder made by Gu An from mint leaves and a few common herbs. Apart from being cool, it didn't have much use and was mainly for psychological comfort and masking the smell.
Shen Wan remained silent.
Her lifeless eyes lingered for a long time on Gu An's sallow, humble face, then she looked at the well-treated wound on her wrist and the cool-feeling medicinal powder that had been applied.
Although her body was immobile and her spiritual power was sealed, her consciousness and perception remained.
The feeling of being drained just now was something no ordinary, crude method could achieve. This seemingly useless rogue cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining was actually absorbing her poison.
That was a rare type of wood poison that even Foundation Establishment cultivators would avoid, yet he was actually ingesting it and using it to become stronger.
Is this person a heretical cultivator? Or does he possess some extraordinary treasure?
Shen Wan didn't care. In this dark and gloomy special protection zone, in this despair where she could rot into a puddle of pus at any moment, anyone who could alleviate even the slightest bit of her excruciating pain was of value.
Gu An felt uneasy under her gaze and was considering whether he should just give her a quick death and run away if this woman called for help.
Just then, Shen Wan's chapped lips moved slightly, and hoarse words squeezed out from her throat:
"water……"
There is only one word.
There were no questions, no thanks, and no exposure.
Gu An's tense back instantly relaxed, and he breathed a long sigh of relief.
This is the tacit understanding between intelligent people.
"Hey! Hey! The water's here! Please wait a moment!"
Gu An immediately adopted a solicitous demeanor, deftly pouring a bowl of warm water from the table beside him. Instead of feeding him directly, he took out a reed stalk, stuck it in the bowl, and carefully offered it to Shen Wan's lips.
Shen Wan slowly sucked on the reed stalk.
After a few sips of water, the deathly look in her eyes seemed to fade a little. Then she closed her eyes again, ignoring Gu An, as if nothing had happened.
Gu An tactfully retreated to the small stool and continued to fan himself with his tattered palm-leaf fan.
However, the rhythm of the palm-leaf fan was much lighter than before.
……
For the next three days, Gu An's life in the special protection zone became extremely regular.
During the day, under the disdainful gazes of Steward Ma and the other caregivers, he went in and out, emptying chamber pots and washing bandages, behaving like a hardworking ox who would do anything for five spirit stones.
At night, once it was quiet and still, this place became his private sanctuary for cultivation.
Shen Wan seemed to tacitly approve of his actions.
Whenever Gu An took out the silver needles, she would even relax her body in an extremely cooperative manner, allowing Gu An to treat the poisonous sores on her body. Gu An was also very careful, only extracting the most painful part of the poison that had overflowed from her body each time, never harming the source of the poison, and never making her feel weak.
Under this bizarre "symbiotic" relationship, Gu An's cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds.
The turquoise yin essence within his body had grown from the size of a fist to the size of a bowl, and its color had become increasingly deep, faintly revealing a jade-like texture.
Even without using any magical artifacts, his current true combat strength, relying solely on his abundant Yi Wood True Qi and his fully-formed Copper Skin Body, is enough to crush ordinary Qi Refining Level 5 cultivators, and he could even put up a fight against those at the early stage of Qi Refining Level 6.
But to outsiders, he was still that weak-breathed, sallow-faced Qi Refining Level 3 rogue cultivator, "Guan Lu".
This morning.
A noisy commotion arose outside the protected area.
As Gu Anzheng carried a wooden basin filled with blood-stained bandages and a change of clothes out of the tent, he heard two guards talking in hushed tones.
"Have you heard? It seems they lost again."
"That's right. I heard that a ruthless person has appeared from the Blood Blade Sect. He led a group of 'blood corpses' that appeared out of nowhere and managed to break through our three lines of defense. The wounded will be brought down soon, and we're going to be swamped with work."
"A blood corpse?" Gu An's ears twitched slightly, but he didn't stop walking.
He carried the wooden basin, head down, until he reached a fire pit in a corner of the special protected area, a pit specifically used for burning waste.
This place is perpetually shrouded in black smoke and has a pungent odor, so no one wants to go near it.
Gu An put down the wooden basin and began to skillfully sort the contents inside.
Those bandages stained with poisonous blood must be burned immediately, or they will breed a plague. As for the clothes that have been changed, if they are special robes, they can be washed and recycled—this is a strict order from the stingy managers in the logistics department.
Shen Wan was not wearing ordinary clothes, but a specially made robe that could prevent the poison gas from leaking out. Although it was corroded by the poison and riddled with holes, it could still be used after washing and patching.
"That's the way rich people act."
While complaining, Gu An endured the nausea and soaked the sticky, bloodstained clothes in a special medicinal solution to scrub them.
The "copper skin" on his hands allowed him to ignore the corrosive effects of the residual venom, and he was even quietly absorbing the energy from it.
"Um?"
Just as Gu An was scrubbing the inner lining of the clothes, his fingers suddenly touched something hard.
This thing was only the size of a thumb and was hidden very deep. If the robe hadn't been so tattered, it would have been impossible to find it.
Gu An paused, then immediately looked around warily.
After confirming that he was alone, he quickly took out the hard object, using his sleeve as cover.
It was a broken jade slip.
The jade slip was dark red, as if it had been soaked in blood for too long. The broken edges were jagged, clearly indicating that it had been violently crushed.
Gu An did not rashly probe into the divine sense, but first used a wisp of Yi wood spiritual energy at his fingertips to test it.
After confirming that there was no backlash from the restriction, he cautiously probed into it with his divine sense.
A massive, chaotic, and somewhat frenzied flow of information rushed into my mind.
Most of the content was lost when the jade slip was broken, leaving only some scattered fragments and images.
That appears to be a scene from an alchemy room.
The furnace roared, its air thick with the mingled scents of medicine and blood. An old man, his face obscured, was frantically tossing various bizarre ingredients into the furnace: demon beast cores, human hearts, highly poisonous herbs…
At the end of the picture is a tattered prescription.
Most of the characters in the prescription were blurred and illegible, except for the top few characters, which were still faintly discernible:
[Reversing Life to Create... Transformation Pill...]
In the list of materials required for the elixir recipe, Gu An saw a word that looked familiar:
[The Poison of Yi Wood (Nurturing in Living Form)...]
Gu An suddenly opened his eyes, his heart pounding violently.
The poison of Yi Wood is nourished by warming the living body.
He subconsciously looked at the gray-white No. 4 tent in the distance.
Is Shen Wan the medicinal catalyst? Or is she the vessel for "living nurture"?
No wonder she was imprisoned in such a place, no wonder there was a cold jade bed to suppress her, and no wonder even though her poison gas outbreak killed so many people, the sect still refused to give up on treating her.
They weren't saving people, they were making elixirs!
"The Reversal of Life and Creation Pill..."
Gu An muttered to himself. Although he didn't know the specific effects of the pill, just by hearing its name and the cruel refining process, he knew it was definitely not a legitimate method.
Moreover, the fact that this jade slip was hidden so secretly clearly indicates that Shen Wan desperately wanted to preserve it or pass it on.
Gu An held the broken jade slip in his hand, his palms slightly sweaty.
This is a hot potato. If Steward Ma or the elders above find out that he has this thing, he definitely won't live past tonight.
As for destroying it? Gu An tightened his fingers slightly; with just a gentle squeeze, this already fragile jade slip would turn to dust.
But he stopped. In this world of cultivation, information is life, and also opportunity.
Since this pill formula can drive people so crazy, it must have an extraordinary value. Moreover, it might be a trump card for him to manipulate Shen Wan in the future, or even to play against the higher-ups of the sect.
"Fortune favors the bold."
Gu An took a deep breath, quickly put the jade slip into the deepest part of his storage bag, and affixed a spirit-sealing talisman.
He then continued washing the blood-stained clothes in his hands as if nothing had happened, his face still bearing that numb, greedy expression.
"Lu Guan" is still the same "Lu Guan," except that he now has an invisible knife hidden in his sleeve.