Gazing at the two remaining light shields in the plaza, Huchen Wanli's expression turned to one of bewildered uncertainty. It wasn't the intensely black, almost reflective, shield that unsettled him. His anxiety stemmed from the other, lighter, deep-gray shield. Like many others, he had noticed that in just a dozen or so breaths, the shield that was once light gray had turned gray. Then, after a few dozen more breaths, the color of the shield began to deepen at an extremely rapid rate, soon becoming deep gray. This change had suddenly accelerated several times over, and the speed at which the color was deepening showed signs of getting even faster. Although there was at most half an incense stick of time left, at this rate, it wouldn't be long before that light shield turned pure black, or even deeper.
Slowly, a strange atmosphere fell over the plaza. The sounds of discussion dwindled as many stared, stunned, at the light shield whose color was visibly and continuously deepening. At that moment, another soft pop was heard, and a figure was ejected from within a light shield. The figure came out horizontally, already unconscious.
This instantly drew back the gazes that had been fixed on the seemingly bizarre light shield in the corner. The next moment, the plaza erupted in clamor once more.
"It's really Young Master Jianghai! Heavens, it's... it's... three hundred and thirty-seven herbs!"
"It's true! A result of nearly three hundred and forty herbs, this is too incredible..."
Huchen Wanli shot up from his cross-legged position. Although he had vaguely felt that the color of Huchen Jianghai's light shield was off, after he came out, he could no longer accurately compare it to the depth of his own shield's original color. He only felt that Huchen Jianghai's shield seemed to have gained a certain luster, but he was unwilling to dwell on it from the depths of his heart.
He stood by the light shield, muttering to himself, "Three hundred and thirty-seven herbs, three hundred and thirty-seven herbs, three hundred..." A moment later, as if waking from a dream, his eyes locked onto Huchen Jianghai, who was being helped up and fed a medicinal pill.
"Hehe, hehe, what a good fourth brother, my good fourth... brother. You must have cultivated the Ghostly Poison Scroll to the fourth layer, haven't you? Hehe, hehe..." A hoarse sound escaped his throat, his expression twisting.
"So this is his true strength. It seems you've been thoroughly deceived by Fourth Brother all these years," Huchen Huiqing, though also shocked beyond words and finding it hard to believe that the sycophant who constantly followed Huchen Wanli around could have cultivated the Ghostly Poison Scroll to such a high level, couldn't help but mock him when she saw Huchen Wanli's contorted face, a trace of schadenfreude rising in her heart. However, Huchen Wanli seemed not to hear her taunt. His gaze remained fixed on the meditating Huchen Jianghai, like a venomous snake waiting for the right moment to strike.
On the viewing platform, Xie Xiaoxiao's body first jolted. After a long moment, a cold glint flashed through her long, narrow eyes. When she turned her face again, it was as frosty as a winter's day. She looked at Ye Luoyan and sneered in a low voice, "Fourth Sister, who would have thought that Jianghai is the true Kylin's son of the Huchen family."
Ye Luoyan, however, looked back at Xie Xiaoxiao with an unchanged expression. "Big Sister, this child Jianghai probably just had a sudden stroke of luck. I never knew he had such talent in cultivating the Ghostly Poison Scroll before. This must be the blessing of the Huchen family's ancestors." Her words suddenly lost their usual humility, taking on a tone that seemed somewhat foreign to Xie Xiaoxiao.
"Good, very good! A fine 'blessing of the family ancestors,' hahaha!" Xie Xiaoxiao's tone grew colder, her laughter chilling.
"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Ye. The Ye family bloodline is indeed powerful, to have produced such a Kylin's son for the Huchen family. Congratulations, congratulations. This is also thanks to Luoyan's guidance; her contribution is truly indispensable. Furthermore, I imagine your family has many more with such a bloodline. In the future, your family is sure to ascend to a first-rate cultivation family!" At this moment, the Xie Family Ancestor suddenly broke into a broad smile, turning to the Ye Family Ancestor and cupping his hands in a gesture of sincere respect.
The Ye Family Ancestor was the elderly man with a Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivation, just one step away from forming a Nascent Soul. Because of this, the Ye family had always been a second-rate cultivation family, unable to ascend to the first rank. Hearing the Xie Family Ancestor's words, he couldn't help but curse the man's shameless villainy in his heart. On the surface, the words seemed to praise his daughter for giving the Huchen family a fine son, but in reality, every sentence was laced with malicious intent.
The Xie Family Ancestor only mentioned the strength of the Ye family bloodline, not the Huchen family's, implying that Huchen Jianghai's achievement was due to the Ye bloodline, as if the Ye bloodline had improved the Huchen family's heritage. He was even subtly suggesting that Huchen Jianghai's heart lay with the Ye family. Another point was to highlight the Ye family's constant desire to become a first-rate cultivation family, which would put them on equal footing with the Huchen family. Coupled with Huchen Jianghai's connection, the Huchen family would need to be careful then.
"Hehe, Brother Xie overestimates my Ye family. Jianghai is the son of the Huchen Patriarch. He and his siblings are all extraordinary individuals. Moreover, they cultivate the Ghostly Poison Scroll. With any other cultivation method, I doubt they could have achieved such success. This is only possible for a long-standing, ancient family like the Huchen family," the Ye Family Ancestor said with a smile to the Xie Family Ancestor, before turning to cup his hands towards the Huchen Ancestor.
Now that the Huchen Ancestor was out of seclusion and presiding over the selection of the successor, the Ye Family Ancestor knew which side to lean on. If the Xie Family Ancestor's aura made his heart turn cold, the Huchen Ancestor's aura felt unfathomably deep, like a hibernating beast. Previously, with the Huchen Ancestor in seclusion and rumors of it being a life-or-death retreat, he wouldn't have dared to offend the Ye Family Ancestor and had to act cautiously. But now, from the information he had gathered, the Huchen Ancestor, with his cunning and experience, had likely long seen through the Xie family's actions within the Huchen family over the years. The two disciples, Huchen Qiukong, that the patriarch had secretly cultivated further confirmed this. If he continued to associate with the Xie family, not only would he gain nothing, but it could very well bring disaster upon his own family. Thus, he had discussed this matter with his daughter before coming, and the final plan hinged on Huchen Jianghai. As long as Huchen Jianghai could distinguish himself, the Huchen Ancestor, whether for Jianghai's talent or for his daughter-in-law's sake, would step in to protect the Ye family.
Therefore, when Huchen Jianghai did indeed excel in this round as expected, the Ye Family Ancestor unhesitatingly sided with the Huchen family. However, his words were still watertight, not directly offending the Xie family on the surface. As a Golden Core cultivator who had managed to keep his family safe while caught in the middle, the Ye Family Ancestor had his own way of doing things.
Hearing the Ye Family Ancestor's words, the Xie Family Ancestor merely gave a faint smile, though an imperceptible cold glint flashed in the depths of his eyes.
The Huchen Ancestor smiled and nodded at the Ye Family Ancestor, but said nothing more.
Watching the brief exchange, the Chi Family Ancestor maintained a placid demeanor. He stared at the plaza and suddenly chuckled softly, "The real show might not be over yet."
In Huchen Wuding's isolated space, his eyes were blood-red, and the veins on his forehead bulged, making his otherwise handsome face look somewhat ferocious. His expression was one of utter exhaustion.
At this moment, eight medicinal herbs were lined up before him. Some were nearly complete, while others were only half-formed.
Huchen Wuding had fully released his Divine Sense, frantically pulling fragments of herbs from all directions. He didn't need to think carefully; he had already memorized these fragments during his earlier observations. All he had to do now was identify the herb he wanted to form and instantly search for it in his mind. Moreover, he was forming eight herbs simultaneously, which was the absolute limit of his Divine Sense. He believed that if he could one day successfully achieve Foundation Establishment, in a similar test, he could condense at least twenty herbs at the same time. The prerequisite for all of this was to build an unbreakable foundation in the Ghostly Poison Scroll.
When he first obtained the Ghostly Poison Scroll as a child, he chose the pure cultivation method. One reason was the clear description in the scroll's opening: once mastered, the power of the pure cultivation method was about three times that of using it as an auxiliary. Having been bullied since childhood, he naturally yearned to become incredibly strong and chose the most difficult method without hesitation. The second reason was that under Xie Xiaoxiao's deliberate suppression—she knew Huchen Wandong had given him the scroll but didn't stop him—she constantly prevented him from obtaining any other cultivation methods. Her goal was to make him realize the difficulty of purely cultivating the Ghostly Poison Scroll, to make every inch of his progress agonizingly hard. In other words, even if the young Huchen Wuding had wanted to choose the auxiliary path, he would have been unable to. But this, conversely, forced him to focus all his efforts on the path of using the Ghostly Poison Scroll as his primary cultivation method.
Huchen Wuding felt as if his head was about to explode. With his ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivation, consuming his Divine Sense in such a way was a burden he could not currently bear. In less than half a quarter-hour, his mind had already become fuzzy. Looking at the countless fragments in this space, he felt a disorienting sensation of the world turning upside down, making him feel dizzy and nauseous.
Now, every time he released his Divine Sense , it felt like he was peeling a sliver of his soul from its very depths, the pain causing his clothes to be drenched in sweat again and again, only to be dried by his Spirit Power, and then soaked anew the next instant. In this endless cycle, due to the extreme pain, his ten fingernails had long dug deep into his palms. The ground beneath his feet was already stained with drops of blood. His body was hunched in agony, yet he still struggled to look up at the sky before him, relying on a final shred of defiance to keep himself from falling.
Countless complete herbs were already floating in layers around him. He didn't know how many others had completed, or even how many he himself had finished, his mind too blurred to remember.
"I... must... complete... these eight... eight herbs..." Staring at the increasingly blurry scene before him, Huchen Wuding fixed his gaze on the eight nearly completed herbs. This action had become a subconscious behavior. Each time he completed a set of eight, he would instinctively find the next group of fragments that could form another eight, acting on the instinct forged from countless tedious practice sessions of the Ghostly Poison Scroll's foundational chapter, his subconscious mind making the moves.
To the onlookers outside the light shield, the half an incense stick of time did not feel long, especially since they were still reeling from the shock Huchen Jianghai had delivered. They were all murmuring in low voices, not daring to speak too loudly, as they could all see the gloomy expressions on the faces of the First Branch's disciples on the platform and Huchen Wanli in the plaza. They feared that a careless comment would earn them Huchen Wanli's enmity.
Huchen Jianghai also slowly regained consciousness. He wore the same simple, honest smile as before. Even when facing Huchen Wanli's murderous gaze, he just scratched his head sheepishly, a look of surprise on his face. This expression made even Huchen Wanli pause for a moment, momentarily thinking that Huchen Jianghai had really just gotten lucky, because no matter how he looked, Huchen Jianghai still appeared to be the same person who had followed his lead since childhood.
However, his thoughts did not last long before they were interrupted by a sudden increase in the surrounding noise.