Volume One: The Emperor's Sword Chapter 62: Go Outside and Grab a Handful of Soil

When Yun Que carried Lan Yusheng back to his quarters at the Sword Palace, he happened to run into Luo Xiaoyu, who had just returned.

Luo Xiaoyu helped him carry Lan Yusheng inside, her eyes wide with surprise.

"This man has been poisoned by a snake!"

"How can you tell?" Yun Que asked.

"I—I just guessed." Luo Xiaoyu hastily covered her mouth, afraid she had said too much.

Yun Que could tell that Luo Xiaoyu was no ordinary girl.

The immunity vine parasitization in Misty Mountain, the blackened silver pomfret by the riverside, and now this ability to identify poison at a glance—all pointed to some hidden secret within Luo Xiaoyu.

And this was not the first time she had instantly detected poison. Back in the heart of Misty Mountain, when Yun Que handed her Xuan Wenyan’s venomous flying sword, she had immediately recognized the poison on the blade.

Luo Xiaoyu’s secret clearly had something to do with poison, but there was no time to probe further now.

"Can you detoxify him?" Yun Que asked anxiously.

Luo Xiaoyu shook her head. "I can handle minor poisons, but not something this severe."

Wu Dachuan, hearing the commotion, came running over to join the excitement. Seeing Yun Que had brought back someone on the verge of death, he exclaimed,

"Who is this, Yun junior brother? He looks like he’s about to breathe his last!"

"He’s a friend of mine. Help me watch over him—I’m going to find Senior Sister for help," Yun Que said as he headed for the door.

"Better let me go! I know where Senior Sister is—I’ll fetch her here." Wu Dachuan hurried out to find someone.

He certainly didn’t want to stay behind and watch someone die; playing errand boy was much preferable.

Pacing inside the room, Yun Que was consumed with anxiety.

Luo Xiaoyu, unable to bear it, suggested, "Why not try fighting poison with poison?"

"What poison do you have?" Yun Que asked.

"I—I..." Luo Xiaoyu hesitated for a while, then, gritting her teeth, she said, "Yun senior brother, let’s make a trade, shall we?"

"A trade?" Yun Que was puzzled. "A trade for what?"

"A trade of secrets!" Luo Xiaoyu whispered. "I’ll tell you one of my secrets, and you tell me one of yours. A fair exchange!"

Yun Que helplessly agreed, casting her a look of pity.

Children, he thought. Of all things to trade, they must trade secrets. Don’t you know secrets can be made up?

"Actually, my blood is poisonous," Luo Xiaoyu whispered.

Yun Que nodded, his expression unchanged.

Now it was Luo Xiaoyu’s turn to be surprised.

Why wasn’t Yun senior brother shocked? To remain so calm after meeting someone poisonous—what composure!

Her admiration for Yun Que only deepened.

"Now it’s your turn!" Luo Xiaoyu asked eagerly. "I want to know—can you fly?"

Yun Que paused, then nodded again.

"I knew it! I wasn’t seeing things after all!" Luo Xiaoyu jumped for joy. "The exchange is done!"

Yun Que reached out, rubbing her small head with a sigh, his gaze hollow.

Girl, not only is your blood poisonous, your mind might be too.

Hurried footsteps sounded from outside.

Xue Ziyi and Wu Dachuan entered together. The moment Xue Ziyi saw Lan Yusheng on the bed, her brow furrowed.

She couldn’t tell if he was poisoned, but she could see he was at death’s door.

"He’s an old friend of mine, wounded by snake venom. Please, Senior Sister, is there any hope?" Yun Que introduced briefly.

"Let me take a look."

Xue Ziyi summoned her spiritual sense, examining him closely.

After a moment, she frowned deeply. "His heart meridian is saturated with deadly poison. There’s almost no hope—unless he takes a detoxification pill immediately, and even then, only a sliver of a chance remains."

Yun Que’s heart leapt, but Xue Ziyi quickly dashed his hopes.

"This is no ordinary poison. It’s spread throughout his body and heart meridian. Ordinary detoxification pills are useless—you’d need at least a middle-grade pill. Those are expensive and can only be refined by cultivators at the Core Formation stage. No Foundation Establishment or Qi Refining practitioner could make one."

The mention of Core Formation made Yun Que’s heart sink.

Wu Dachuan, ever the armchair strategist, piped up, "If only a Core Formation cultivator can make those pills, then surely our Sword Palace elders must have some!"

Even if they did, would they give one?

Yun Que thought through the elders of the Sword Palace and immediately abandoned any hope of begging for one.

In the Eastern Court, he had just slain Xuan Wenyan, the Fifth Sword Heir, and made an enemy of Yan Xu, the First Sword Heir.

In the Southern Court, Elder Quan Yu had been thoroughly humiliated by him at Misty Mountain.

In the Western Court, the Chu Heng father and son he killed in Yanmen Town were kin to Elder Chu Chen.

East, South, and West—he had managed to offend them all. There was no way he could obtain a pill.

He missed his easy-going master terribly now.

If only Yin Tianxiao were still here, perhaps he could produce a middle-grade detoxification pill.

Alas, fate had other plans.

Under these circumstances, Lan Yusheng was doomed.

As for Luo Xiaoyu’s suggestion of fighting poison with poison, Yun Que had no intention of trying it.

Perhaps powerful cultivators might succeed with such methods, but it was not something for ordinary people.

Given Lan Yusheng’s frail state, even a sip of water might finish him off, let alone any further experiments.

Staring at his dying friend, Yun Que suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Senior Sister, is there a middle-grade detoxification pill in the treasury?" Yun Que asked urgently.

"I’m not sure, but you can go and check. I’ll use my spiritual power to suppress the poison in his heart meridian for a while; he should hold on for a bit," Xue Ziyi replied.

"Thank you, Senior Sister!"

Yun Que hurried out, rushing at full speed to the Sword Palace treasury.

The old disciple guarding the treasury recognized Yun Que and quickly asked, "You again? What are you here to exchange this time?"

"A detoxification pill—a middle-grade one," Yun Que said directly.

"You’ll need to speak to the Gate Elder for that. Go on in—I'll stay here and keep watch; I’m not going with you." The old disciple’s eyelid twitched as he spoke.

Last time after Yun Que left, he’d been used as a scapegoat and scolded by the Gate Elder for a whole night. There was no way he’d dare go in again—he wished he could hide as far away as possible.

Yun Que made his way, practiced and unhurried, to the golden door beneath the stone hall.

Steeling his mind, he prepared to bargain with the Gate Elder.

No sooner had he stopped before the door than a crooked mouth split open in the stone, like a human mouth, its corners drooping, exuding an air of solemn authority.

However, after a moment, the mouth shrank to the size of a normal person’s, and the corners quirking up, it wore a smirking, almost infuriating, expression.

Before Yun Que could speak, the Gate Elder began,

"Here you are, my lord!"

His tone was oily and sly, comparable to a madam in a brothel.

Yun Que’s eye twitched imperceptibly, and he replied coolly with a grunt.

"What would my lord like this time? A flying sword, a spirit pill, a talisman, or a cultivation technique? I have everything here—except ladies!"

Had the Gate Elder possessed a face, he’d surely be beaming and winking with glee.

Yun Que was unsure what to make of this old monster—did he really value soul stones so highly?

After a moment’s thought, Yun Que said plainly, "A middle-grade detoxification pill."

Time was short; he had no patience for games. He was prepared to take a loss if needed.

"I have it!"

The Gate Elder raised his voice. "A middle-grade detoxification pill can cure poisons from any beast below the fourth rank, and even suppress the venom of a fifth-rank beast. One pill for three hundred spirit stones!"

Hearing this, Yun Que was much relieved. The Golden Flood Python was only a third-rank beast; the pill’s efficacy would suffice.

Three hundred spirit stones was steep, but to Yun Que, who owned over twenty soul stones, it was nothing.

Seeing Yun Que hesitate, the Gate Elder urged, "If you don’t have spirit stones, silver notes will do!"

Huh?

Yun Que found it odd that the Gate Elder was more eager than he was, even suggesting payment in silver notes.

Just as he started to feel he was getting a bargain, he heard the Gate Elder grow even more anxious:

"If you don’t have silver notes, broken silver will do! If not, surely you have some copper coins?"

Copper coins...

Yun Que nearly lost control of his expression. Just how desperate was this Gate Elder to part with a detoxification pill?

When Yun Que still didn’t answer, the mouth on the door twisted, glancing furtively left and right as if to check for witnesses. Then it lowered its voice conspiratorially.

"How about this—I don't even want copper coins. Just go outside and grab a handful of dirt—"