Xu Ziqing seemed to be reluctant to sit down due to the ground being a bit dirty, so she stood on the side. The young girl had been walking in the middle of the group, being protected by the crowd, so she wasn't too tired and didn't need to catch her breath much.
At this time, while the others were meditating, she felt a bit bored. Her lively eyes looked around and took in the surrounding scenery.
Suddenly, there was a rustle in the leaves up ahead, as if something was moving. She was curious and stared at it for a moment.
Then, there was a scuttling sound, and a palm-sized dark green toad jumped out from under the leaves! It had bulging eyes and a hideous appearance.
It wasn't a demon, so it wasn't detected by Fang Ting's divine sense and it approached the area where everyone was.
"Oh!"
However, even though there was no danger, the terrifying appearance of this creature caused a great deal of distress to the young girl. She was startled and took a few steps back.
This step took her out of the range covered by the lantern light.
Just one step.
Just as everyone's attention was drawn to this, a vine on the edge suddenly sprang up, revealing a mouth full of fangs!
Hiss—
Caught off guard, the young girl was bitten on the leg by this flower demon!
"Ziqing, junior sister!" Fang Ting exclaimed, as he swiftly drew his long sword from his back.
With a clang, the golden dragon danced as a surge of thunderous sword energy burst forth, instantly engulfing the flower demon's body, along with the vines, massive trees, and a large swath of the dense forest, creating a deep trench over ten meters long.
Chu Liang had already heard from Lin Bei about the Thunderous Sword on Fang Ting's back and his cultivation of the Celestial Five Thunder Golden Pellet, specialized in the thunderous sword energy.
At this moment, witnessing the power of this sword, it was truly terrifying.
Moreover, despite the excessive power of this sword, it passed close to Xu Ziqing's body without touching her clothes in the least, demonstrating astonishing control.
There was indeed a substantial gap between the Golden Pellet realm cultivator and the Divine Sense realm cultivator.
Even if his subsequent retaliation was fierce, it could not change the fact that Xu Ziqing had already been bitten by the flower demon. She stumbled and sat on the ground, moving quickly to apply her own internal energy to stop the bleeding, but soon after, she exclaimed in a panic.
"This flower demon is venomous..."
Looking at the spot where she had lifted her trouser leg, the fair and tender skin between her calf and ankle had a deep wound oozing black blood. The surrounding flesh was also stained with black miasma.
"The blue vine flower demon in this forest is not poisonous; the one just now... should be a mutated form of the purple vine flower demon," Fang Ting said.
"Trouble. The antidote pills we prepared are meant for dispelling the miasma in the forest, not for countering this purple vine flower demon. Our only option now is..." Lin Bei said.
"What?" everyone looked at him.
They saw Lin Bei put on a determined and self-sacrificing expression and said firmly, "Ziqing, junior sister, seal your blood and energy to slow the spread of the poison. I will use my internal energy to draw out the poison from you!"
As he spoke, he gritted his teeth and pursed his lips, as if he was already preparing to act.
"Stop messing around!" Fang Ting frowned and reprimanded, "Your cultivation is similar to Junior Sister Xuzi's. If we suck out the poisoned blood, you might be affected too. Hmm... My cultivation is higher, let me do it."
At this point, the usually quiet Lu Ren also spoke up, "Senior Brother Fang has a great responsibility and should not take risks. Junior Brother Lin's cultivation is lower, it's better not to act recklessly. Let me do it."
After saying this, he also licked his lips.
"Ah..." the young girl held her delicate feet, her voice already tinged with crying. It was clear that she had not anticipated this situation.
Just as the three were arguing, Chu Liang interjected, "Everyone, I..."
Lin Bei looked up at him, "What? Do you want to take a turn too?"
"No," Chu Liang shook his head. "I wanted to say that I have a kind of antidote with me, which might be able to counter the flower demon poison affecting Junior Sister Xu."
"What?" Xu Ziqi immediately looked at Chu Liang with hopeful eyes, "Chu Senior Brother, do you really have the antidote?"
"Yes, although it's not specifically for the flower demon poison, it should have some effect," Chu Liang took out the Hundred Flowers Powder.
"Not a specific antidote, so there's still some risk," Lin Bei seemed reluctant, looking at Xu Ziqi. "Junior Sister Ziqi, you decide for yourself..."
"In this situation, there are only two choices: to suck it out or take the medicine?"
"I'll take the medicine!" Xu Ziqi said without hesitation.
Chu Liang handed over the Hundred Flowers Powder, saying, "Half internal consumption, half external application."
"Okay, thank you Senior Brother Chu," Xu Ziqi expressed her gratitude tearfully.
"Hmm," Lin Bei sighed, looking guilty. "I can't help you at all, my conscience is troubled. Since I can't help you suck out the poisoned blood, how about I help apply the medicine for you?"
This remark only elicited a big eye roll from Xu Ziqi.
She followed Chu Liang's instructions, dividing the Hundred Flowers Powder into two halves, applying one half to the wound and drinking the other half with water, then adjusting her energy and resting for a moment.
Surprisingly, in less than the time it takes for a cup of tea to brew, the black energy around the wound had completely faded! Even the bowl-sized wound was healing at a visible speed.
Certainly, the vigorous blood and qi of a cultivator played a role, but the healing effect of the Hundred Flowers Powder was also undoubtedly significant.
"Senior Brother Chu, your medicine is really amazing!" Xu Ziqi looked at Chu Liang with pleasant surprise.
"As long as it's effective," Chu Liang just smiled faintly.
For cultivators, as long as there's no demon poison, minor flesh wounds have little effect. After applying some external wound ointment, Xu Ziqi immediately stood up as if nothing had happened, bouncing around cheerfully.
Whether it was an illusion or not, she felt that after using the medicine given by Chu Liang, her body started to give off a fragrance, and this scent even changed. At first, it was a faint jasmine fragrance, then a fragrant rose scent, and later... um... a strange scent that she had never smelled before, and it was quite strong.
Probably also some kind of floral fragrance, right?
After recovering, she came gently to Chu Liang's side and whispered, "Senior Brother Chu, how can I thank you?"
"It's nothing," Chu Liang smiled. "You gave me Concentration Pill, I gave you Hundred Flowers Powder, it's just a matter of reciprocity."
"But..." the girl tilted her head, "how can a Concentration Pill compare to your Hundred Flowers Powder?"
Chu Liang gestured, "We're from the same sect, and we're friends, why bother keeping accounts?"
"Are we friends..." Xu Ziqing hesitated for a moment, then suddenly showed a happy smile, "Okay."
At this time, Lin Bei also asked from the side, "But Chu, weren't you pulled over directly from the Sword Exchange Peak? Do you always carry antidote with you?"
"Preparedness prevents mishap," Chu Liang answered casually.
Shortly after, Fang Ting called the team to set off again, and Chu Liang immediately walked to the front, taking on the task of leading the way again.
This time, everyone looked at his back, and their gaze softened. Now, the disciples of Yujian Peak felt... this disciple of Yinjian Peak is truly capable of handling demons and has genuine medicine.
This Chu Liang, he's something!