A sorrowful atmosphere filled the pavilion.
After receiving confirmation from Li Yidan, Tong Shishi no longer knew what to do. Could she truly just watch helplessly as the people before her died?
Her gaze swept over them one by one.
Gongye Qing, at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, was the most skilled artifact refiner in the Qixi Festival Sect. He was usually a man utterly devoted to his craft and got along well with everyone. Yet now, he lay there with a faint breath, as if he might pass away at any moment.
Liu Jinzhi, at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, had considerable expertise in cultivating spirit plants. She was responsible for all of the Qixi Festival Sect’s spirit plant cultivation. But at this moment, her eyes were vacant, as if she were drifting further and further from this world.
And the others, too.
The Qixi Festival Sect was not large, and Tong Shishi remembered every member. Seeing those familiar faces grow weaker and weaker, an indescribable ache filled her heart.
“Stop wearing those expressions. At worst, it’s just death.”
Gongye Qing spoke through gritted teeth.
He looked relatively young, with a square face, thick brows, and large eyes.
Forcing himself to hold his body up, he looked at everyone and said, “The artifact refining skills I know were all learned by Little Jing anyway. Without me, the sect’s refining standards won’t decline.”
Hearing this, Tong Shishi couldn’t help but glance at the young woman not far from Gongye Qing.
This woman had hair like dark clouds and flushed, peach-blossom cheeks, with a perfectly curvaceous figure. She was Gongye Qing’s younger sister, Gongye Jing, also a very outstanding Artifact Refining Master.
Tears streaming down her face, Gongye Jing looked at Gongye Qing: “Brother, I won’t allow you to say that. I want you to live.”
Gongye Qing smiled bitterly: “I do want to live, but don’t we have no other choice? If there really is no way, don’t force it. Those who live just need to remember to keep living well.”
Gongye Jing shook her head, unable to accept the situation.
Both siblings had poor cultivation aptitudes and had suffered much bullying in the past. Their lives only improved after arriving at the Qixi Festival Sect.
Within this modestly sized sect, everyone helped each other and advanced together. It had been a wonderful period of life. Even as insignificant as they were, it seemed they had found a tiny piece of the world that belonged to them.
Who could have known that today, calamity would strike from nowhere, bringing such a tragic scene?
Gongye Jing couldn’t accept it.
But how could the others?
Lying to the side, Liu Jinzhi had a slender frame but an unblemished, graceful air. She managed to say, “Bring me a brush and paper. I must write down some spirit plant cultivation techniques. Hurry, I fear there isn’t much time.”
Hearing Liu Jinzhi’s words, many people around them secretly wiped away tears.
The others lying on the ground also began to speak, one after another, uttering their last wills.
The scene unfolding before her brought Tong Shishi inner grief, yet she was helpless.
Was this the fate destined for them?
Why was the Heavens so unjust, making those who were already pitiful even more so?
Why?
Why was it?
Tong Shishi felt almost like roaring inside.
Perhaps because she was inwardly berating the firmament, she seemed to hear the sound of urgent wind from the sky above, as if something was rapidly approaching.
No… No, it wasn’t her imagination!
Suddenly alert, Tong Shishi swiftly turned around.
The others in the pavilion also noticed the disturbance and turned one after another.
Under their watch, a black dot plummeted rapidly from the sky, landing on the ground almost in an instant.
“Bang!”
The black dot hit the ground, producing a strange, crisp sound. It wasn’t the impact of a rock hitting the earth, but an odd crashing sound. Moreover, it caused not a single crack on the ground, demonstrating its own lightness.
“What is this?”
Tong Shishi and the others were stunned, staring at the object that had fallen before them.
It was a brown sphere, larger than any single person of theirs, emitting a faint, peculiar fragrance.
Tong Shishi had never seen anything like this before and was very curious about its origin. She couldn’t help but walk out of the pavilion and look up at the sky.
It was a cloudless sky, utterly empty.
So where did this brown sphere come from?
For some reason, Tong Shishi thought of the giant palm that had descended from the sky and swatted Su Wuchen to death earlier. It, too, had arrived mysteriously without any apparent reason, filled with mystery.
“This is…”
Li Yidan and the others also walked out of the pavilion.
Tong Shishi looked at Li Yidan, whose expression had changed, and asked, “What is it?”
Li Yidan sniffed and said, “Why does this thing seem a bit like a medicinal ingredient to me?”
A medicinal ingredient?
This brown sphere?
Tong Shishi looked astonished.
“Let me take a closer look.”
Li Yidan was well-versed in pharmacology. As if she had sensed something now, her expression somewhat excited, she walked to the side of the brown sphere. She reached out and patted it, scraped off a tiny bit of powder, and placed it on her tongue to taste.
This made Tong Shishi and the other members of the Qixi Festival Sect tense up internally. Was it really alright to put something of unknown origin into one’s mouth like that?
After tasting the flavor, Li Yidan’s eyes practically burst with joy: “Sect Master, there is hope.”
Tong Shishi was startled: “What hope?”
Li Yidan: “Gongye Qing and the others can be saved. The powder ground from this sphere seems to possess an incredibly powerful detoxifying effect. Quickly, grind some powder and feed it to everyone.”
Detoxifying effect?
Tong Shishi’s eyes widened in surprise, and she immediately rushed forward to help scrape powder off the brown sphere.
Naturally, she had great trust in Li Yidan’s judgment.
The other Qixi Festival Sect disciples also stepped forward one after another, bringing the powder ground from the brown sphere back into the pavilion.
“Brother, swallow this quickly.”
Gongye Jing proactively fed it to her older brother, Gongye Qing.
Nearby, Tong Shishi fed the brown powder to Liu Jinzhi as well.
Li Yidan and the others also administered this powder to the remaining poisoned individuals.
As the brown powder was ingested, Gongye Qing and the others’ complexions recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the look of unbearable pain on their faces eased.
Gongye Qing said, stunned: “What kind of divine medicine is this? I feel fine now.”
“Me too, I feel much better.”
“Wasn’t I going to die? I don’t have to die anymore?”
“What is this? It tastes pretty good, actually.”
“Alchemy Master Li, what is this thing?”
The poisoned persons, one by one, recovered and expressed their astonishment, their gazes then falling on Li Yidan.
Li Yidan shook her head: “I don’t know what this is either, only that it’s an object that fell from the sky.”
As she said this, Li Yidan’s expression was somewhat subtle.
Hearing this, the others’ expressions also changed.
At this moment, everyone recalled the giant palm that had descended from the sky not long ago to deal with Su Wuchen.
First, a palm from the heavens.
Now, a divine medicine from the heavens.
What did all of this signify?
