Initially, Gu Zuo didn't mind very much because his days were very busy, and he received his dear big brother's explanation first. Yet, time marched on and seven to eight days had already pa.s.sed. After the ninth day, when he didn't see a shadow of his big brother, Gu Zuo grew anxious.
No matter how far away it was, the distances were only relative. Under normal circ.u.mstances, he should've been able to return in four or five days. Even if there were any underlying conditions, it would've been six or seven days. But now, it was almost ten days.
The time period had been exceeded by over half…
Gu Zuo couldn't help but remain vigilant.
Did he, did something happen to big brother?
At night, Gu Zuo walked around the valley. Dragon Two accompanied him, and Qian Hu followed behind. All three people's expressions didn't look too good.
Suddenly, Gu Zuo only felt a burst of intense heart palpitations. He'd become completely fl.u.s.tered and stunned! He wanted to refine medicine to calm down, but for whatever reason, he couldn't calm down. His fingers faintly trembled as if something scary had truly occurred!
What was going on?
Ah, it shouldn't be…
Gu Zuo couldn't help asking in his mind: System, what's happening to me? I feel like I'm in danger. It's very —
After that, the system's answer could be heard.
[Your guardian has encountered a life or death crisis.]
Gu Zuo's heart suddenly lurched, almost skipping a beat: What did you say? My big brother encountered something and his life is in danger? What's the danger? Is he still okay? What should I do?
The series of questions belayed the lingering, deep worries in his heart.
[There is only one individual who has signed the guardian contract of this pharmacist. It is equivalent to a partnership. When the partner encounters danger, the pharmacist can somewhat sense it. The stronger the friendship between the guardian and pharmacist, the clearer the premonition. In the event that the guardian dies, the pharmacist will also receive a fixed backlash. The same applies to the death of the pharmacist. It is impossible to sign another guardian contract within ten years after the death of one of the parties. Thus, the pharmacist needs to conduct the selection of their guardian with the utmost care.]
Gu Zuo's heart settled somewhat.
Selecting with the utmost care? What was there to worry about? Ordinarily, he would've certainly been troubled, but not anymore. What he currently cared about was that he only had a premonition without a backlash. This indicated that his big brother was still alive, and he hadn't truly faced death…
Following that, Gu Zuo set the system aside for the time being.
Merely, after he recollected himself, he discovered that Qian Hu and Dragon Two had a bit of blood seeping from the corners of their mouths.
Gu Zuo was startled: "What's going on?"
Dragon Two said with difficulty: "Young master, wounded…"
Qian Hu also nodded his head. He was clearly feeling worse and couldn't talk at all.
Gu Zuo immediately became anxious: "Dragon Two, are you certain? How do you know?"
Dragon Two breathed deeply: "It should be…the bloodline connection. The young master is now our bloodline master. The injuries he sustained are reflected onto our bodies, making us share some of the burden… My bloodline is even closer to the young master than Qian Hu's, so I'm doing a bit better than Qian Hu."
A person who became Xiantian through a Xiantian Pill refined from the blood of the Tiandu Body… Sure enough, it didn't come so cheaply. After the Tiandu Body received an injury, they could share the injury, allowing the Tiandu Body to persist even longer. It wasn't known if the Tiandu Body could shift injuries voluntarily. Also, if the Tiandu Body perished, would these Xiantian individuals similarly die? Perhaps there were many other secrets that could be explored!
These kind of thoughts flit through Gu Zuo's mind in a flash. He quickly started observing the facial expressions of the two people before him.
Dragon Two's expression seemed somewhat joyous. As for Qian Hu, he furrowed his brows, but he didn't show any resentment.
…Not bad.
Dragon Two really was incomparably loyal. Qian Hu was also gradually converting.
Only, now wasn't the time to question loyalties. Gu Zuo said with resolve: "I need to go find big brother. Dragon Two, you'll go with me. Qian Hu, guard this place and watch over those pharmacists. Don't let them leave the valley for whatever reason. Also, don't let anyone who isn't completely trustworthy enter."
Qian Hu knew his place and swiftly responded: "This Qian understands."
Dragon Two also didn't object in the least.
His deep concern over Gongyi Tianheng wasn't necessarily any less than Gu Zuo's.
After settling things, Gu Zuo followed Dragon Two and departed at once.
It was currently still nighttime, but the night had its advantages. At the very least, they didn't need to worry about being too conspicuous.
As for the matter of visiting the Violet Tower tomorrow, Qian Hu would find someone to deliver a letter.
The two immediately rented a wild bird, which was said to have the fastest speed. They made it fly throughout the night, regardless of the whistling winds surrounding them, and went directly to that mountain range.
Its location was quite far removed from the Qingyun Sect. Normally, many Qingyun Sect disciples knew about it, and they often went there for adventures and to seek resources. It was called the Twilight Tiger Mountain Range.
The mountain range contained countless medicinal herbs and numerous wild beasts. There was a mountain king, and some formed groups while others were solitary loners. This formed a special environmental ecology.
When the wild bird arrived, overlooking the area, one could see some martial artists making their way to the mountain range — The majority of these martial artists naturally weren't Qingyun Sect disciples.
After all, while the Qingyun Sect was large and it had many disciples, it couldn't compare to the entire continent. It was impossible for ordinary martial artists to enter this gigantic Sect.
The wild eagle circled overhead.
Gu Zuo asked: "Dragon Two, did big brother have a plan about which direction they'd go?"
Dragon Two said: "Young master went to the Tiger Head region because of the wild wolf packs there. Young master's intent was to completely capture them, where they could be sold for a high price to those large powers of the Inner Sect that had good reputations and were well-off. Thus, he could acc.u.mulate large amounts of money and jumpstart our own reputation."
Gu Zuo nodded, showing his understanding.
This really was his big brother's style. He wouldn't let any opportunities to acc.u.mulate capital slip away. Undoubtedly, those things refined from the mutated Scarlet Blood Rice were a very good opportunity.
Moreover, those things that were obtained unexpectedly shouldn't have aroused too many covetous gazes —
While he thought this, the wild eagle flapped its wings. Based on the direction Dragon Two pointed at, it flied towards that Tiger Head region of the Twilight Tiger Mountain Range.
Gu Zuo released his psychic power, seeking Gongyi Tianheng's whereabouts.
The psychic power formed a densely-packed net, enveloping that mountain top. Yet, the instant the psychic net dropped down, an extremely fiendish intent rose into the air, immediately tearing the psychic net open!
Gu Zuo felt pain in his chest, and sprayed a mouthful of blood.
How terrible! Too careless!
He promptly took out a Rejuvenation Pill to suppress his own injury.
In the past, his psychic power was always successful without exception. Today, however, he knocked into an iron plate. Gu Zuo understood in his heart that he'd lost his patience. In addition, he'd placed blind faith into his psychic power.
That bout of fiendish intent probably came from a ferocious wild beast. Although it wasn't a substantiated psychic power, that type of intent was mixed with qi energy. It was the same as being intangible, and it was also capable of harming psychic powers.
Gu Zuo's heart was a little distressed.
In the future, he needed to be even more careful when using psychic power in the Inner Sect. He seemed to be able to spy on Immortal Realm martial artists for the time being, but he absolutely couldn't rush headlong against even higher ranking ones.
At this moment, because Gu Zuo's psychic power had swept down, the area where that fiendish intent originated from echoed with a resonant and violent beastly roar.
That wild beast's grade was surely very high! Even though the wild eagle was far away, it still trembled all over. It seemed that it didn't dare circle over this region, let alone land nearby!
Gu Zuo's heart tensed.
What could they do? If he couldn't overlook from high alt.i.tudes nor use psychic power, how could he search for his big brother's whereabouts on these mountain tops? His state of mind had been straining this whole time, which showed that his big brother still wasn't out of danger!
Gu Zuo opened his mouth and urgently asked: "Dragon Two, do you know the specific locations of those wild wolf packs?"
Dragon Two shook his head: "The wild wolf packs' range of activity are located in this region, but they're used to migrating and it's impossible to dwell in one location."
Gu Zuo immediately realized that his own question was rubbish and stopped talking at once.
Then he was struck by inspiration, and asked in his mind: System, since the guardian contract can let me perceive big brother's danger, can it also let me perceive big brother's position?
[Within a certain distance, it can.]
Gu Zuo held his breath: At what distance?
[Telepathic distance.]
Gu Zuo understood in a flash.
He and his big brother had established a "private chatroom" link. Regardless of who took the initiative, both could conduct secret communications under the premise of concealing the other. Because this thing was very enjoyable, he studied this with his big brother — Basically, the farthest they could transmit their voices was three kilometers.
Although it seemed a bit short now, his psychic power would surely grow stronger in the future. It would be better to use it now, rather than go looking for them like headless flies.
After making his decision, Gu Zuo said: "Dragon Two, we're going down."
Dragon Two promptly slapped that wild eagle: "Yes, Pharmacist Gu."
The wild eagle still trembled with fear, and wasn't willing to move.
Dragon Two made the wild eagle retreat to the back, and after smacking it some more, it begrudgingly descended to the base of a somewhat distant mountain.
Gu Zuo and Dragon Two jumped off. The wild eagle didn't take them into consideration and flapped its wings again, soaring off.
That att.i.tude was a sign that even fleeing in defeat wasn't excessive.
Gu Zuo: "…"
Did he still have to pay for a wild eagle that fled halfway through?
Dragon Two explained considerately: "When encountering situations with unknown difficulties, the wild eagle can flee back to the Sect. After returning, although the down payment can't be reimbursed, we won't have to pay the balance."
Gu Zuo nodded: "Let's go and find big brother right away."
…The remaining balance and what not weren't important. How they got back also wasn't important. What was important was Gongyi Tianheng, whose life or death was still uncertain.
The two were forced to go on foot.
Yet, because Dragon Two was a Xiantian martial artist, he could fly. Merely, the flight speed was far inferior to the wild eagle. However, it was much faster than just using body techniques to hasten the journey.
Gu Zuo's psychic power also could be used. But first, he still needed to prepare this as a trump card. Secondly, he didn't know Tianheng's situation and he needed to save some strength. As a result, Dragon Two leaned over, letting Gu Zuo ride on his back, and they flew out quickly.
Dragon Two's speed was very fast. Meanwhile, Gu Zuo was looking around.
This time, Gu Zuo didn't dare discharge his psychic power too brashly, and only quietly sent out a little bit to scan the surroundings. This was to avoid some wild beasts that might've hindered their path.
Gu Zuo often pointed at certain directions and Dragon Two always obeyed. Gradually, they threaded their way into the mountains' depths.
The wild beasts they pa.s.sed by grew more and more ferocious. Gu Zuo distracted and evaded, while composing himself deep down. In his mind, he imagined Tianheng's figure and concentrated his psychic power on this image.
He tried to make use of their guardian contract… Unfortunately, it was of no use.
After that, Gu Zuo called out in his mind: Big brother? Big brother?
If it was within a kilometer, they'd surely be able to connect!
But as before, there was nothing.
Gu Zuo sighed.
But he'd never give up just because of this.
No matter what, once he got closer to his big brother, these efforts of his wouldn't have gone to waste!
Unwittingly, Dragon Two had already led Gu Zuo through several mountains.
But at this moment, the two were somewhat hesitant.
Dragon Two paused his steps.
Gu Zuo furrowed his brows: "Up ahead is the domain of that powerful wild beast."
Correct. The place where that wild beast issued a roar probably wasn't too far away! If they got there and that wild beast discovered clues, wouldn't they be torn to shreds?
Just previously, his psychic power had only probed a little bit and Gu Zuo had been attacked by that bout of intent, suffering an internal injury. It was clear that the strength of that wild beast shouldn't have been below the Immortal Realm! In other words — It was extremely possible that it was a Spirit-Grade wild beast!
Wild beasts were stronger than martial artists of equal ranks.
An Immortal Realm martial artist wouldn't dare say they could capture a Spirit-Grade wild beast with one hundred percent certainty!
In that case, what should they do now?
Gu Zuo made a decision almost instantly.
Make a detour.
There was more than one path from mountain to mountain. Since they were in the region of the Tiger Head, why would they have to go straight along this road? Gongyi Tianheng probably wouldn't have deliberately approached such a vicious wild beast.
— If it was under normal circ.u.mstances, it should've been like this.
However, Gu Zuo forgot that since it was life-threatening, when it came down to it, what kind of matter could threaten Tianheng's life?
As a result, the split second that he wanted to make a detour, a shout directly echoed in his mind at last.
[Ah Zuo?]
[Big brother! Where are you?]
[Ah Zuo, why have you come? Where are you?]
The two had sent out their questions without getting the other's answer almost simultaneously.
Gu Zuo waited for a bit, and discovered that Tianheng didn't respond promptly. He immediately guessed that the situation was too critical to the extent that Tianheng had to focus all his energy to confront that danger. As a result, even the usual mult.i.tasking was very difficult. He immediately didn't dare to keep pestering. If his chattering affected Tianheng's ability to persist, wouldn't it be his fault?!
After taking a deep breath, Gu Zuo's brain started to operate calmly.
His big brother's location was already within three kilometers of him. The surroundings were all boulders and trees, which could block one's line of sight. If it was calculated by going straight for three kilometers…
Gu Zuo's eyes fell upon the high mountain in front of him.
This was originally the high mountain he wanted to make a detour around. And the location of that Spirit-Grade wild beast was on the other side of that mountain.
A Spirit-Grade wild beast was a significant danger!
Almost immediately, Gu Zuo did his best imagining Gongyi Tianheng in his mind. Soon after, a strong intuition unexpectedly told him that Tianheng was just beyond that mountain!
For a split second, Gu Zuo felt his own heartbeat stop.
It turned out to be like this! It turned out to be like this!
He couldn't control himself from asking in his mind: Big brother, you're with the Spirit-Grade…
Over yonder, a voice was rapidly transmitted: Ah Zuo, hide quickly! You mustn't come over!
Gu Zuo had a hard time swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
He knew that not going over would've been safer. He also knew that he couldn't do anything even if he went over.
But how could he turn a blind eye?
Dragon Two didn't have Gu Zuo's psychic power, and he also didn't have a way to connect to Gongyi Tianheng. He couldn't even take the initiative to scout out Tianheng's whereabouts. But he could see that the complexion of Pharmacist Gu beside him had instantly become pale.
This made his heart turn cold: "Pharmacist Gu, what's wrong? Are we still going to make a detour?"
Gu Zuo snapped out of it, and slowly shook his head: "…No. Big brother is fighting that Spirit-Grade wild beast. We, we can't leave."
Dragon Two's complexion also changed: "Then, we'll go immediately to support the young master!"
Gu Zuo shook his head once more: "Our bit of skill can't compare to big brother's. Rashly charging ahead is basically throwing our lives away. We need a few things. Dragon Two, you must quickly find them for me."
After he said that, his lips opened and closed at lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, he'd already announced the names of a series of medicinal ingredients.
"There are lots of medicinal herbs in the vicinity. You must harvest as much of them as possible!"
"Yes, Pharmacist Gu!"
Dragon Two promptly understood Gu Zuo's way of thinking, and didn't dare neglect anything. His figure was like a whirlwind as he started searching for herbs in the nearby mountainous region — As a Tianlong Guard, he always did his best to absorb knowledge. Although he couldn't compare to a pharmacist, the medicinal herbs he knew about were in no way small in number. Otherwise, when he went to make purchases, how would he recognize them?
Meanwhile, Gu Zuo flashed through numerous Paradox Pill prescriptions in his mind.
There was no need for doubts. Right now, ordinary methods absolutely wouldn't work. But if he could refine some poison pills, even if the effect of a single pill wasn't too good, greater quant.i.ties wouldn't necessarily be useless.
He also had his psychic power for sneak attacks…
With Gu Zuo thinking like this, his thoughts moved. In front of him appeared many toxic medicinal ingredients.
Because Gongyi Tianheng needed poison, he intentionally saved up many things of this aspect. This was the time to use them.
Not long after, Dragon Two brought back many supplementary medicinal herbs, however the numbers weren't enough — After all, it was impossible for all those herbs to grow close to each other. Being unable to gather enough was to be expected.
Gu Zuo intentionally had Dragon Two go harvest the ones that grew in environments close by. He also hunted some poisonous wild beasts. After layering the poisons and using the supplementary herbs to stimulate them, it produced an even more acute toxicity.
Afterwards, a pill cauldron appeared.
Gu Zuo took a deep breath, concentrated his energy, and started refining poison!
Everything was all for the sake of that future support…
Fifteen minutes later.
Because Gu Zuo's mind was stretched taut, his body was drenched with sweat. However, his psychological qualities weren't lacking. The refining process had no mistakes, and he smoothly created pills. After another five minutes, he used his fastest hand speed to refine a basin of poisonous fluid, which was poured into a gourd.
Time was rushing by and the medicinal ingredients were limited. This was the best that Gu Zuo could achieve.
He only hoped that these would prove useful…
Gu Zuo didn't dare delay for a moment. After putting everything away, he quickly climbed back onto Dragon Two's back. They flew up into the sky and dashed directly to that high mountain!
They bypa.s.sed countless trees and boulders. That intuition grew stronger and stronger, which meant that their distance to Gongyi Tianheng grew shorter and shorter. At the same time, the roars of many wild beasts entered their ears.
There was more than one wild beast!
Gu Zuo unexpectedly didn't feel too surprised.
Finally, the scene below appeared before them.
Gu Zuo's pupils suddenly shrank!
With a glance, Gu Zuo saw Gongyi Tianheng. He, he was already covered in blood!
The region was similar to a mountain hollow. There was an enormous, ferocious beast. It was like a small hill supported by four legs. On its head was a single horn that flickered with a sharp and cold light. Its aura was frantic and its throat whinnied incessantly. And after each whinny, a cloud of smoke billowed out, emitting a dense, sulfuric smell.
A fire attributed wild beast?
Every time it trampled the ground, the ground seemed to quake. The might of the spewed smoke was extremely powerful, and everywhere it pa.s.sed became a piece of scorched earth!
Across from the Spirit-Grade wild beast were some tiny humans…and human corpses.
Next to Gongyi Tianheng was Dragon One and Liu Bao, who protected him on the left and right. Bao You and He Wu brought up the rear. As for that Wu Gang, he had already become a corpse.
Everyone's injuries weren't light. However, they were doing much better than another group of people.
Gu Zuo didn't recognize that group, but based on their individualistic behavior and mutual precautions, although they were compelled to fight the Spirit-Grade wild beast together, they didn't seem that friendly to one another.
Their aloofness meant that they weren't friends. On the contrary, because there were many people, they might've somewhat posed a threat to Tianheng and the others…
Yet, Gongyi Tianheng hadn't fallen to a disadvantageous position at this moment.
Because, besides Dragon One and a couple enslaved martial artists, the ones surrounding him were several Great-Earth Bears. Each beast had a rough hide and stocky build. They were guarding several people and tearing at an additional dozen or so leopard-shaped wild beasts.
Unfortunately, that Spirit-Grade wild beast would spew smoke from time to time, taking away some lives and burning many people. In addition, there were even more leopard beasts fighting the group on both sides…
To be precise, this was an existing wild beast attack with a Spirit-Grade wild beast's intimidation.
It looked like a desperate situation!
Merely, whether Gongyi Tianheng or the other side, neither were those who were willing to give up their lives. However, so long as there was the slightest possibility, they would all persevere to the end!
Gu Zuo didn't hesitate whatsoever.
His left hand took out the gourd filled with poison and made preparations. After that, the s.p.a.ce between his eyebrows emitted heat and he took cover behind a mountain boulder. Then, dozens of awls flashing with silvery light were produced one after another!
That Spirit-Grade wild beast basically never thought that someone would dare provoke it at this time. While it originally was playing with those humans, unruffled by the surrounding chaos, it surprisingly felt a burst of stabbing pain on its head!
Even though it was only for an instant —
It was truly too painful!
It hurt so much that it couldn't help letting out a long howl.
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