Chapter 1620 — Two Solutions

The snake venom in Wei Zhao's body had not, as he had anticipated, been spat out directly or dissolved by his true qi. Instead, it lingered within him. Not only did it linger - it was actively stirring up turmoil, rendering him completely unable to cultivate normally.

For now, there was no point in Wei Zhao continuing to cultivate; the urgent matter was to identify what this poison actually was and how to deal with it. If it could not be resolved, wouldn't he be forever stuck at the peak of the late Yellow Tier?

This thought broke out in a cold sweat all over Wei Zhao. It seemed he had been somewhat careless after all - Leader Zhu was no simple character! Wei Zhao gnashed his teeth with fury, yet was utterly powerless to do anything.

Knowing full well that continued cultivation would yield no results, Wei Zhao quickly composed himself. He was himself a skilled healer, and Elder Wei back home was the best of the best among healers; though he had not delved deeply into those sinister and insidious tricks in the past, that did not mean Elder Wei did not know about them either.

Wei Zhao vaguely recalled having seen this very poison in some medical text, its effects broadly similar to the snake venom he had just been afflicted with. Such poisons, however, were mostly employed by those insidious and underhanded medical sects - and the thought of this brought the Medicine King to mind!

This Leader Zhu's methods bore some resemblance to the Medicine King's style; at the very least, this poison fit the Medicine King's profile perfectly! That old wretch specialized in concocting those harmful and malicious medicines!

"Elder Jiao, what exactly is wrong with me?" Before consulting Elder Wei, Wei Zhao decided to ask Jiao Yazi first, to see if he had any experience with such matters.

"Aren't you poisoned - isn't that it?" Jiao Yazi said carelessly. "Aren't you a skilled healer? Figure out how to neutralize the poison yourself. What's the use of asking me?"

"Ah... I meant - can you cure this particular poison?" Wei Zhao asked with a bitter smile.

"Me?" Jiao Yazi shook his head. "That's not my area of expertise. If your true qi can't refine and dissolve it, coming to me won't help either. I'm only adept at treatments and antidotes that don't require medicinal herbs. Anything that does need herbs, I know absolutely nothing about."

"I see... very well then." Wei Zhao nodded. What Elder Jiao said was probably the truth - Elder Jiao was quite knowledgeable about true qi and the body's meridian pathways, but he lacked knowledge in the realm of pharmacology.

Wei Zhao exited the jade pendant space without delay. Though it was already very late, he still placed a call to Elder Wei.

"Xiao Yi? What are you doing? Sleepwalking?" Elder Wei had been deep in a muddled sleep when he answered the phone, still not quite awake.

"Old man, stop sleeping - something terrible has happened!" Wei Zhao said urgently.

"What? A fire? An earthquake? A UFO landing?" Elder Wei snapped awake in an instant, saw that nothing was wrong, and was seized by fury. "Are you out of your mind? Calling me in the middle of the night? What on earth is it?"

"Old man, I'm crippled!" Wei Zhao said with a bitter smile.

"What? Crippled? How did you get crippled? Overindulgence, or did someone kick you there?" Elder Wei asked.

"..." Wei Zhao was momentarily speechless. "I said my strength is crippled!"

"Doesn't your strength get crippled all the time? The more it gets crippled, the stronger you become." Elder Wei clicked his tongue and said.

"This time is different - it seems I was poisoned, and my strength vanished all at once," Wei Zhao said. "And it's unlike the usual situation. The moment I once again cultivate up to the early stage of Xuan Tier, my true qi will dissipate again..."

With that, Wei Zhao recounted in full detail the circumstances of what had happened to him and his current physical condition.

"Hm... I see." After hearing Wei Zhao out, Elder Wei furrowed his brow, pondered for a moment, and said: "If I'm not mistaken, you've been afflicted with the Five-Step Power-Dissolving Powder!"

"Five-Step Power-Dissolving Powder? Doesn't that sound a lot like Laughing-Within-Half-Step Madness? A name from a martial arts novel?" Wei Zhao was taken aback.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Within five steps, the poison takes effect and disperses every ounce of your cultivation!" Elder Wei said. "However, this Five-Step Power-Dissolving Powder is only effective against those at the Xuan Tier level; it has no effect on Earth Tier experts or above. Once an Earth Tier expert is poisoned, they can neutralize it on their own - there's no phenomenon of their power being dispersed."

"You've got to be kidding me? I'm at the peak of the late Yellow Tier, just one step away from the Earth Tier, and I draw the short straw like this?" Wei Zhao suddenly understood - no wonder Leader Zhu had been so nonchalantly handling the poisonous snakes without worrying about accidentally harming himself; he was already an Earth Tier expert and didn't concern himself with such things.

"You could say that," Elder Wei said. "You were just unlucky."

"...Then why is it that, when I was cultivating before, there were no adverse reactions whatsoever before I reached the Xuan Tier?" Wei Zhao asked with some puzzlement.

"Hehe, I already told you - this poison is only effective against Xuan Tier experts. So if you haven't reached the Xuan Tier, the poison simply won't trigger, and naturally there are no adverse reactions!" Elder Wei said. "Is that clear now?"

"So that's how it is!" Wei Zhao said. "Then, Elder Wei, since you understand this so well, you must have some way to cure it, right?"

Hearing no trace of tension or alarm in Elder Wei's voice, Wei Zhao knew the old man must have a proper solution at hand, and his heart immediately relaxed. Otherwise, being stuck at the peak of the late Yellow Tier for the rest of his life would be a truly unfunny joke!

"There is, and there are two!" Elder Wei said with an air of unflappable, profound mystery.

"Two? Then hurry up and tell me!" Upon hearing there were two solutions, Wei Zhao felt even more at ease - even if one didn't work out, there was a backup.

"The first solution is to prepare an antidote. I have the prescription for it, and you can compound it yourself... but..." Elder Wei paused here.

"But what? Is there some problem?" Wei Zhao asked hastily.

"But the antidote prescription requires a rather uncommon medicinal herb," Elder Wei said.

"Uncommon? Don't tell me it's something like the Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit?" Wei Zhao was startled, his heart jolting with alarm as he asked.

"That it won't be!" Elder Wei shook his head. "The Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit - I have never even heard of such a thing. But this herb, many experienced physicians know of it, and it's planted in my medicine garden; I even have seeds for it."

"Then what's the 'but' for? Isn't that a non-issue?" Wei Zhao was somewhat puzzled.

"There is no issue, but this herb - you've probably heard of it too. It's called the Spring Arrives Grass," Elder Wei said lightly.

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