Chapter 114: Dragon’s Breath Herb
Chapter 114: Dragon’s Breath Herb
"It’s the-"
"... Blood of the Shadowfire Serpent."
Silence took over the room as Xiang Ling stared at Zhang Xuan in surprise. A moment later, she whispered, "So, you already know."
Zhang Xuan gave a little nod of his head in response before he spoke, "You must be trying to find the antidote." It wasn’t a question and he seemed too relaxed about the situation as he poured himself a cup of freshly brewed herbal tea before taking a sip.
On the other hand, Xiang Ling’s anxiety level was skyrocketing. She turned her body to face the man and hurriedly explained, "For the antidote, I need the Dragon’s Breath Herb. But-"
"But it’s impossible to be found, right?" He seemed to know exactly what was troubling her, and yet, the calm look on his face and the little smile on his lips was making Xiang Ling question his thoughts. Taking another sip of the tea, he continued, "If you want the Dragon’s Breath Herb, there’s one place you can find it."
"Where?" Xiang Ling asked urgently, her eyes looking at him with hope.
"The Treasury of Heaven Realm."
"..."
Xiang Ling let out a sigh of dejection and returned her attention to the scroll. "Don’t speak if you can’t say anything helpful." She told the man before she busied herself once again in reading the scroll.
"How am I not being helpful here?" Zhang Xuan asked as he placed one of his elbows on the desk and rested his temple against his knuckles, focusing his full attention on Xiang Ling. "I’m the only one here listening to your worries while your precious husbands are completely unaware of your troubles. Doesn’t it make me helpful?"
He waited for some sort of response from the woman but got nothing at all as Xiang Ling continued to focus on the content of the scroll. He took a glance at the scroll and realized it contained information on Dragon’s Breath Herb.
"Why are you so unsettled though? You have done your best to fulfill your part of the deal with Fairy Liying. If you can’t find the antidote, it’s not your fault." He tried to reason with the woman but received a hard glare from her in response.
"This is not about the deal anymore. These poor mortals are fighting for their lives because some stupid demons have decided to create unnecessary trouble. They don’t deserve to die like this when they have done nothing wrong." Xiang Ling tried to control her anger as she recalled the state of the villagers she had seen throughout the past week during her stay in the Lin Family’s Village.
Even after hearing her words, the calmness and the smile didn’t disappear from Zhang Xuan’s face. Instead, he looked intrigued by her words and reminded her, "But you are an Immortal. You shouldn’t interfere in the mortals’ business."
Xiang Ling slapped her palm on the desk as she once again turned to face the man in order to continue the debate. "How come it’s only mortals’ business? The demons are clearly making trouble to provoke the Upper Realms. Why should the mortals pay the price of these neverending wars between the Heaven Realm and the Demon Realm? Besides, I’m a mortal now. I can interfere in the business of the Mortal Realm without breaking the heavenly laws."
Zhang Xuan just watched her calmly as if he was watching a very interesting show. After a long silence, he let out a small sigh and asked, "I agree with you. So, what are you going to do now? You can’t find the Dragon’s Breath Herb and there’s no other substitute for it. Without the antidote, those mortals will die in no time."
All of Xiang Ling’s anger disappeared and she was left with nothing but apprehension. She needed to find the antidote but it seemed like it was an impossible task. Her gaze shifted toward Zhang Xuan again and all of a sudden, she recalled his words from before - "Do you think there’s anything I might not know about?"
Was he indeed trying to imply something or she’s just reading too much into his words? Xiang Ling found herself wondering. But despite the unclear situation, she decided to take the chance as she wasn’t left with any other option.
"Do you know a way to make the antidote without Dragon’s Breath Herb?" She asked and held her breath to hear his response.
Zhang Xuan didn’t look the least bit surprised by her question. With his usual calmness, he replied, "I just told you that there’s no substitute for the Dragon’s Breath Herb."
His answer was loud and clear, and yet, as Xiang Ling stared into his deep obsidian eyes, she felt like he wasn’t telling her the entire truth.
"You know how to make the antidote without the Dragon’s Breath Herb. Don’t you?" She asked while staring into his eyes to observe his expression closely.
The smile on his lips grew bigger before he finally discarded his unbothered persona and relented. "Alright. I will help you since you are my favorite person in the Five Realms at the moment. I just hope you will reward me handsomely for my service."
Xiang Ling hurriedly nodded her head without even waiting to think about what kind of reward he was asking for. "Please help me make the antidote."
"Start the refining process with the rest of the ingredients. I will provide my help when it is time to add Dragon’s Breath Herb." Zhang Xuan told her and watched as Xiang Ling hurriedly stood up and moved to set up the equipment and the ingredients.
Within minutes, she had set up around ten cauldrons. Huge amounts of herbs and other ingredients were laid out on a table before she started working on the refining process of the antidote.
She washed and cleaned the herbs and other ingredients. Ground several of the minerals and dried herbs together before mixing them with other ingredients in the cauldrons. Once all the ingredients were added, she channeled her spiritual energy into all ten cauldrons and started refining the pill.