Chapter 719: Where Did The Heavenly Physician Come From

Jiang Yushan looked at Xu Bai.

His handsome features stirred nothing in her.

Yet when Liu Yihang's face flashed unbidden through her mind, she paused.

Liu San had told her that Xu Bai was an avatar refined by Liu Yihang. With Liu Ruchen gone, Liu Yihang now led the Medicine King Sect as sect leader.

Her expression softened. After a moment's hesitation, Jiang Yushan gave a slight nod.

"Since the sect leader puts it that way, let's give it a try first.

"But I spent my early years in the Unmoored Prison, and my body carries immense, ineradicable baleful qi. Is that truly not a problem?"

She furrowed her brow, confusion flickering in her eyes.

"The Myriad Immortals Alliance cultivators are desperate for the Longevity Pill right now. Even with some minor side effects, it should still fall within an acceptable range. After all, it's a choice between dying when your lifespan ends or suffering some physical damage. They can tell which is worse," Xu Bai said with confidence.

He briefly explained to Jiang Yushan the background of the Lifespan-Devouring White Mist and the Myriad Immortals Alliance's current policy of encouraging cultivators to explore it.

"When I was outside just now, I caught sight of those walls of white mist piercing heaven and earth. Devouring lifespans, splitting the world apart... to think such cataclysmic changes have taken place," Jiang Yushan murmured, her voice barely audible.

"Right now is the peak sales period of the Longevity Pill. Old Liu alone can't meet demand. I hope you can lend your aid, Elder Jiang," Xu Bai said softly.

"Pill refining, is it... Let me give it a try first," Jiang Yushan said, nodding.

Joy flickered across Liu San's face.

They gathered ninety-nine Golden Core disciples in the Medicine Hall of Longevity Valley and set up the Salvation Longevity Grand Array.

Liu San and Jiang Yushan sat cross-legged at the center of the array, channeling their Longevity Verdant Force into the Medicine King Cauldron, the array's core.

The moment both forces emerged, Xu Bai sensed the difference at once.

If Liu San's Longevity Verdant Force was the vibrant vitality of spring in full bloom, Jiang Yushan's was that same life force with a current of killing intent threaded through.

This baleful qi stirred a faint, nagging familiarity in Xu Bai, one he couldn't place.

His eyes narrowed. Outwardly, he stayed calm and waited for the Longevity Pills to be refined.

With Jiang Yushan's help, the array's operation sped up more than threefold. Combined with Liu San's seasoned direction, the first batch of Longevity Pills emerged before long.

Three sky-blue pills formed. Yet a wisp of black cloud marred each otherwise perfect, round pill. It was an eyesore.

Even the natural fragrance of the life-extending medicine was suppressed.

Holding a pill in hand, Xu Bai felt no urge to swallow it.

"Sect leader, will these pills do?" Jiang Yushan frowned.

Xu Bai didn't answer right away. Instead, he tossed one into his mouth and closed his eyes.

He ignored the added lifespan and focused instead on the baleful qi rampaging through his body alongside the Longevity Verdant Force, destroying his flesh as the pill dissolved within him.

Just as I thought. Heaven-Scorning's aura.

Xu Bai's heart grew heavy.

Spiritual qi circulated through his body, slowly repairing the damage the baleful qi had caused. Then Xu Bai opened his eyes and asked, "Elder Jiang, could you explain what this baleful qi is?"

Jiang Yushan hesitated, then began to explain.

"In ancient times, cultivators overcame the Heavenly Tribulation to ascend. The tribulation was both trial and opportunity. The risk of death was real, but those who crossed it successfully were infused with Immortal spiritual qi and transformed into Immortals.

"Later, the Immortal Path was severed, and Heavenly Tribulations ceased to appear. Yet the killing intent of heaven and earth still needed an outlet, so baleful qi descended upon the world instead.

"That is the original source of the baleful qi within the Unmoored Prison. But over time, countless heinous cultivators were imprisoned there, and the qi grew intermingled with the boundless killing intent of men.

"Through the interaction of heaven and man, it grew more twisted and harder to uproot. Even after decades apart from it, constantly purifying myself through the healer's path, it remains stubbornly resistant to elimination." Jiang Yushan paused. "Given enough time, the baleful qi's damage to a cultivator's body becomes irreversible. This quality of my voice is one of its effects."

She fell quiet for a moment, a distant look crossing her face. "With such great upheaval now sweeping the Xuanhuang World, I wonder what has become of those inside the Unmoored Prison."

Heaven-Scorning, Heaven-Slaughtering... Xu Bai wore a contemplative expression.

"Elder Jiang, have you ever seen this man, or a sword filled with baleful qi?" As he spoke, Xu Bai traced the images of Old Man Fisher and the Heaven-Scorning Sword in the air.

Jiang Yushan studied them for a while, then shook her head. "I haven't seen them."

The answer was within Xu Bai's expectations.

"That’s fine."

He waved his hand, dispersing the images, and spoke to Jiang Yushan and Liu San. "You two need not worry. The Longevity Pills you refine together will damage a cultivator's body, true, but the benefits outweigh the flaws. As long as the lifespan-extending effect stays the same, plenty of people will still scramble to buy them. At worst, we can just lower the price a bit."

Having eased their concerns, Xu Bai told them to focus on refining the pills.

"Roughly how many should we refine? I'm curious about this era, and I'd like to go out and take a look," Jiang Yushan asked.

Xu Bai went quiet for a moment.

He glanced at Liu San, who was staring at Jiang Yushan in a daze, clearly not about to oppose her.

After a moment's thought, Xu Bai said, "Just use up half the raw pill materials in Longevity Valley. It would be a waste to let them sit stockpiled."

Jiang Yushan, with no clear sense of how large that stockpile actually was, nodded and agreed readily.

"Then I'll leave it to you both."

Xu Bai smiled faintly, then drifted out of Longevity Valley.

She won't be coming out for at least a year or two.

The image of the Old Man Fisher, the Heavenly Severer, surfaced again in Xu Bai's mind.

The baleful qi staining Jiang Yushan struck him as strikingly similar to the Heavenly Severer's aura.

Yet there was a subtle difference.

The distinction was hard to put into words. But for Li Fan, who had encountered both, it was easy enough to discern.

If one were to use an apt metaphor, "two samples of seawater with different salt concentrations" might capture it well. Similar, yet not identical. As if...

They come from two different worlds.

A sharp gleam flashed in Xu Bai's eyes.

Jiang Yushan came from the Unmoored Prison and the Medicine King Sect. In the Xuanhuang World of today, scattered records of those places still survived.

The conclusion was obvious.

A suspicion had been taking root in the depths of his mind for some time now.

The Heavenly Physician, Heavenly Severer, Heavenly Decree, and all those from Cloudwater Palace were likely not native cultivators of the Xuanhuang World.

They were outsiders.

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