Chapter 115: The Antidote
Chapter 115: The Antidote
Seconds turned into long minutes as Xiang Ling continued to channel her energy into the cauldrons to refine the pills. As the process reached the last stage, she spoke to the man who had been quietly observing her working from the sidelines. "It’s time."
She had no idea what he was going to do or what substitute he was planning to use in place of Dragon’s Breath Herb, and yet, a voice in the back of her head kept telling her to trust him; and that was exactly what she did - trusting him.
From the corners of her eyes, she noticed him taking a few steps in the direction of the cauldrons before he stopped and stretched out his right hand. Everything was still for a moment and the very next one, Xiang Ling almost let out a sharp gasp as she watched him taking out a dagger and making a cut on his other palm.
His blood flew out of the cut on his palm and turned into several droplets of divine energy before they all flew toward the cauldrons and got mixed with the rest of the ingredients of the antidote.
"Here you go. Seal the pills and complete the refining." Zhang Xuan told her as he stepped back as if he hadn’t just shocked the life out of her with his unexpected action.
Still feeling baffled at what just happened, Xiang Ling returned her attention to refining the pills and continued to channel her spiritual energy into the cauldrons. The closer she got to the end of the process, the more she needed to exert her powers.
However, her mortal body was no longer able to hold the immense pressure that using spiritual energy required. After constantly using her powers for the past week, her mortal body was in a very bad condition.
She felt her breathing becoming sharper as she continued to exert her spiritual energy. Her heartbeat was picking up the speed and she felt sweat beads appearing on her forehead and her nape. Her body became weak and darkness danced at the periphery of her vision, threatening to overpower her at any moment.
Just when Xiang Ling was about to finish the refining process, her body gave in to the darkness and she felt her legs giving away. Her body might have landed on the hard, cold floor if not for the man who was immediately behind her to catch her before she could have lost control over her spiritual energy. One little mistake and she could have ruined the antidote.
"Complete the refining." The man whispered next to her ear. A rush of power entered her body the very next second and she found her spiritual balance once again. Her strength returned and she continue to channel her energy into the cauldrons. Within minutes, the process finally came to an end.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she watched the perfectly refined pills levitating in the air above the cauldrons. She let her body relax against the hard chest behind her and felt his arms securely wrapping around her to keep her in place.
"You have over-exerted your powers. Don’t you know that a mortal’s body can not handle an Immortal’s divine powers? How can you be so immature?" Zhang Xuan didn’t sound the least bit happy as he reprimanded her for acting foolishly even though she knew the consequences of her actions.
Xiang Ling didn’t say anything at all in her defense and just listened to him reprimanding her. It felt nice to hear someone feeling concerned for her.
Zhang Xuan let out a small sigh before he spoke again, this time in a calmer tone, "No matter how much sympathy you feel for others, you shouldn’t be letting your Primordial Spirit suffer. It’s not like you aren’t aware of the consequences of harming your primordial spirit. Make sure to rest and heal your body as soon as possible."
Xiang Ling slowly pulled out of his arms and turned to face the man. She gave a nod of her head in acknowledgment of his advice and replied, "Once I have fed all the patients these antidotes, I will immediately return here to heal my body."
The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments before Xiang Ling cleared her throat and spoke again, "Thank you for everything you did today. I’m really grateful." What she wanted the most was to ask him the secret behind him adding his blood to the ingredients which resulted in successful refining of the antidote. However, she held herself back, knowing that she wouldn’t get the answer she wanted.
Zhang Xuan just gave a nod of his head but didn’t say anything. Not wanting to waste any more time, Xiang Ling took her leave and left the Spatial Realm with the antidote. As she made her way downstairs, she found Liying on the ground floor of the Inn.
"You are back." She acknowledged the presence of the fairy whom she sent to Dongzhi City the previous evening.
Fairy Liying gave a bright smile in response before she spoke, "I’m at a loss for words to praise you. Your idea really worked. Now, we have rations for nearly two weeks and your husband has promised to deliver more rations by the end of this week."
Since there were no rations left in the Lin Family’s Village and the food aid wasn’t coming at the right times, Xiang Ling asked Liying to deliver a letter to Wei Guang, asking the man to prepare enough rations for a week and deliver it to the Lin Family’s Village.
"I have another good news." Xiang Ling informed the Fairy who waited curiously to know what sort of good news was the former talking about. Taking out a bottle of pills from her sleeves, Xiang Ling handed it to the Fairy.
"What is it?" Liying asked as she uncorked the bottle and took a look inside. Her gaze fell on the pills and she quickly took a sniff. "Is this..." She turned her shocked gaze toward Xiang Ling who smiled proudly and nodded. "It is the antidote we need."