Volume 3 Chapter 31
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Volume 3 Chapter 31: The Next Night (Part 4) – Night Talk
Seeing the other four had finished meditating and were quietly waiting for him, with concern in their eyes, Xu Qingfan felt a warmth in his heart and said apologetically, "Sorry to keep you waiting, fellow brothers."
Jin Qinghan observed Xu Qingfan’s still pale face and asked worriedly, "Senior Brother Xu, how much of your Spirit Qi has recovered? Do you need more time for quiet cultivation?"
Xu Qingfan shook his head and smiled reassuringly, "No need, most of my Spirit Qi has recovered, Junior Brother Jin, don’t worry."
In fact, Xu Qingfan’s Spirit Qi had recovered about sixty to seventy percent by now. His face was still pale because the two mouthfuls of essences he had spat out earlier had taken a toll on his vitality. While Spirit Qi depletion could be expedited using medicinal pills, the essence blood lost required gradual recovery through rest, needing months to fully replenish.
Essence blood is the essence of a person’s blood, crucial to health, and the foundation of cultivating immortality. So even though Xu Qingfan had taken two ‘Spirit Lasting Pills’ and a ‘Wooden Glory Pill’, his Spirit Qi recovery was slow, managing only sixty to seventy percent as others reached eighty to ninety percent, with no clear time when the substantial essence blood lost would be fully replenished.
Seeing the continued concern in the four’s expressions, Xu Qingfan asked again, "How is everyone’s Spirit Qi recovery?"
Lv Qingshang nodded and said, "Junior Brother Xu, the ‘Huan Ling Dan’ you gave us is indeed a rare divine medicine in the cultivation world. What would have taken at least three days to replenish these depleted Spirit Qi now only took us half a day to recover eighty to ninety percent."
Feng Qingtian and the other three nodded slightly in agreement upon hearing Lv Qingshang’s words.
The "Spirit Lasting Pill" was one of the magical pills Xu Qingfan exchanged for using the core of a Blue-eyed Cloud-foot Beast from the elder of Medicine King Valley. It has the wonderful effect of stabilizing cultivators’ internal Spirit Qi and is also very effective in restoring Spirit Qi.
Earlier, when they rushed to investigate the situation at the teleportation array on Huandao Island, Xu Qingfan had already given each person of Jiuhua Gate a pill. Before everyone sat in meditation here, he gave them each another pill, but Xu Qingfan’s bottle of "Spirit Lasting Pill" only had twenty pills. Now, half of them are gone in one go. Although Xu Qingfan is always carefree and unconcerned with material possessions, he still felt heartache at this moment.
However, with crisis everywhere on Huandao Island and the situation being unusual, for the safety of everyone and to help them regain their strength soon, Xu Qingfan disregarded the preciousness of the "Spirit Lasting Pill."
Once they confirmed that Xu Qingfan’s internal Spirit Qi had indeed mostly recovered, everyone felt at ease and began discussing the various events of the day.
From the sneak attack by Liuhe Gate to the appearance of Huang Xie from Eight Wilderness Hall, from the unknown Condensed Core Stage cultivators’ actions in the center of Huandao Island to the destroyed teleportation array and the slain disciples of "Xuantian Gate" and "Yellow Spirit Mountain," too many things happened today, and they were all very strange.
With Xu Qingfan’s explanation, everyone mostly dismissed the idea that the deaths of "Xuantian Gate" and "Yellow Spirit Mountain" disciples were due to the actions of the other six sects’ disciples. However, no matter how they discussed it, they couldn’t make sense of it. It seemed there was a hidden connection between these incidents, but what the connection was, no one could say for sure.
"Deng Tianao from Liuhe Gate, we all know the secret of his ‘Purple Womb Car’ cultivation. I’m afraid he’ll definitely cause us trouble again before the elders arrive on Huandao Island," Lv Qingshang suddenly said, frowning as they chatted.
"Indeed, if it were a head-on confrontation, we wouldn’t fear him, but I’m just afraid he’ll set up the ‘Dark Rain Barrier’ again. That barrier greatly limits our abilities, and I’m afraid we would be even more miserable then," Jin Qinghan said, also frowning.
Xu Qingfan gave a faint smile and said coolly, "No need to worry, brothers. I’ve already set things up with him. His whereabouts are always under my control. Before he ambushes us, I can detect him in advance and even deplete his Spirit Qi before he makes a move. So now, he’s no longer a threat."
"Oh? How did Senior Brother Xu manage it?" Jin Qinghan asked curiously.
Xu Qingfan explained, "While he wasn’t paying attention, I sprinkled the seeds of the ‘Giant Spirit Flower’ on him. If he doesn’t attack us, then it’s fine, but if he has any ill intentions, I’m afraid I’ll have to strike first."
Upon hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, everyone was momentarily stunned, their eyes involuntarily showing a hint of terror.
The "Giant Spirit Flower" is a very famous and unusual plant in the cultivation world, and the four from Jiuhua Gate had all heard of it long ago. In fact, it is more accurate to say that the "Giant Spirit Flower" is a disease rather than a flower.
This flower uses living creatures as hosts, growing inside them and drawing energy from the host as nourishment. Once its pollen lands on a creature, it will grow under certain conditions, absorbing energy from the host in the process.
If a mortal comes into contact with it, the ‘Giant Spirit Flower’ absorbs their life force and blood. If it’s a cultivator, it absorbs their Spirit Qi first and then moves on to their life force and vital essence.
Each ‘Giant Spirit Flower’ requires a great deal of energy to mature. There are often cases where mortals, after being covered in the flower’s pollen, are drained dry. For cultivators below the Inedia Stage, their Spirit Qi is consumed quickly and often insufficient for the flower’s growth.
More frighteningly, once the ‘Giant Spirit Flower’ is fully grown, its roots spread throughout the host’s body and become difficult to remove. Once mature, it explodes, scattering pollen to infect other creatures within a significant radius. Hence, even cultivators turn pale at the mention of the ‘Giant Spirit Flower.’
Xu Qingfan had only recently and with great difficulty obtained some ‘Giant Spirit Flower’ pollen. Due to its great harm, Xu Qingfan had never used it before. However, with the dire threats on Huandao Island, though he felt it went against natural order to harm others with it, he chose to use it to ensure their safety.
Although Deng Tianao possessed the Lingji Stage cultivation and had strong Spirit Qi within him, the pollen of the "Giant Spirit Flower" that Xu Qingfan Deng Tianao sprinkled on him earlier was enough to render him powerless. In fact, the moment Xu Qingfan scattered the pollen on him, he had already secured victory in the battle.
However, Xu Qingfan didn’t notice that after revealing his plan, Jin Qinghan subtly frowned. In Jin Qinghan’s eyes, Xu Qingfan was someone who disliked conflict and was kind-hearted, often leaving some leeway in battles and never plotting against others. Yet, Xu Qingfan’s actions at that moment made Jin Qinghan feel a bit unfamiliar with him.
As if sensing something, the moment Jin Qinghan frowned, Xu Qingfan looked over at him. Seeing the familiar gentleness and calmness in Xu Qingfan’s eyes, Jin Qinghan felt relieved because he realized that when it came to friends, Xu Qingfan was still the Xu Qingfan he knew.
"In any case, Xu Qingfan is my true friend, and there will never be a scene of us scheming against each other. That’s enough," Jin Qinghan thought silently.
What Jin Qinghan didn’t know was that the reason Xu Qingfan had always left room in previous conflicts was that the opponents were only targeting him. But now, Xu Qingfan was the leader of the five Jiuhua Gate members and responsible for their safety in the Newcomer Competition. To ensure everyone’s safety, Xu Qingfan reluctantly had to do things he would prefer not to do.
It can be said that circumstances shape character. If Deng Tianao’s plans only targeted Xu Qingfan alone, Xu Qingfan’s nature would never have led him to plot against others first. Unfortunately, Deng Tianao’s aim was to harm the five members of Jiuhua Gate.
Lv Qingshang heaved a slight sigh of relief after hearing Xu Qingfan’s plan; he had been at a disadvantage in the previous battle with Chou Xuan. However, he still frowned and said, "Not just Deng Tianao, the Eight Wilderness Hall’s Huang Xie is even more terrifying. I feel his pressure is not at all inferior to a Condensed Core Stage master. We must be very cautious when encountering him in the future."
Xu Qingfan shook his head and said, "In such a situation, anyone making a move to seize the Seven-colored Deer from other sects would become the target of suspicion, so I don’t think he’ll try to take them from us now. Being the leader of Eight Wilderness Hall, he’s not someone who can’t see the big picture. Right now, I’m more worried about who eliminated the disciples of ‘Xuantian Gate’ and ‘Yellow Spirit Mountain’ and whether this person might pose a threat to us."
Upon hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, everyone fell silent. They had discussed this issue at length earlier but still hadn’t come up with a clue.
Feng Qingtian had always remained silent and hadn’t joined in the discussion. Yet, seeing everyone else fall silent, he suddenly asked, "Senior Brother Xu, how are you able to perform the Phoenix Spirit Fire?"
Saying this, Feng Qingtian lifted his gaze and locked eyes with Xu Qingfan.
Ever since Feng Qingtian witnessed Xu Qingfan using the "Flame Phoenix," a secret technique of the Feng family, he had been pondering this question. Previously, he believed that only the descendants of the Feng family, who possessed phoenix blood, could wield the Phoenix Spirit Fire. Feng Qingtian took pride in this, but today he encountered several non-Feng family individuals capable of using the Phoenix Spirit Fire. First came Xu Qingfan, then he discovered lingering energy of the Phoenix Spirit Fire on the bodies of disciples from "Xuantian Gate" and "Yellow Spirit Mountain." This left Feng Qingtian astounded.
