After a moment of thought, Jiang Che still peeked inside the hall.
About a dozen Za Yi lay haphazardly in the hall, all with pale faces, large beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads, gritting their teeth and enduring.
Two or three were severely affected.
Some even fell face down on the ground, unconscious.
“This scale, I’m afraid, means all those who were acquainted with Qu Gu’s group have been swept away,” Jiang Che sighed softly.
Though he felt the sorrow of a rabbit dying and a fox grieving, he was more relieved to have avoided a calamity.
“If not for the divination clearly indicating good or ill fortune, I might not have resisted the temptation.”
He paused for a moment.
Jiang Che roughly made a judgment about the current state of everyone inside.
As long as they could endure this night and go to Shu Wu Hall early tomorrow to exchange for detoxifying pills, most of them should not be in mortal danger.
This also aligned with the divination’s commentary: “Sudden disaster, deeply trapped in danger, minor ill fortune.”
However, Qu Gu’s figure was notably absent from the hall.
“Could it be that his Qi Refining Stage, First Layer cultivation is already enough to resist ordinary pill toxins?”
As Jiang Che compared the events of the night with the divination’s pronouncements, he clicked his tongue in wonder, deep in thought.
He left the main hall and returned to his dwelling.
The Kuxin Sect is backed by the Rust Ridge Mountains, encompassing the territory of three peaks.
Without exception, the Za Yi Halls of each peak are all located at the western foot of their respective peaks.
Because of the vast area, even ordinary Za Yi could mostly share a room between two people.
Qu Gu happened to be Jiang Che’s roommate.
But at this time, Qu Gu was also not in the room.
Jiang Che had a faint suspicion in his heart but did not delve into it for the time being.
He simply took out the Toxin Transformation Notes from his 懷 and began to study it carefully.
This secret technique was not really difficult or obscure.
After all, when this secret technique was created, that Senior was in Chamber C of the Crimson Cauldron Pavilion, so his cultivation was at most only at the Gathering Qi Stage.
What was truly outstanding about it was its ingenious approach to blood toxins and spiritual energy.
According to the introduction in the Thunder Sound Marrow Cleansing Scripture issued by the Sect,
the comprehension of Cultivators in this world can be broadly divided into six grades: Lower, Middle, Upper, Clear Mind, Profound Comprehension, and Immaculate.
Disregarding differences in root bone Aptitude, the common belief is that middle-grade comprehension is the baseline for embarking on the path of cultivation.
Jiang Che mused that his comprehension should be between middle and upper; if he were in the mundane world, he would definitely be an excellent candidate for the imperial examinations.
But in a cultivation Sect, he was rather unremarkable.
As for the Senior who created these Toxin Transformation Notes, Jiang Che could only vaguely guess that he might have reached Profound Comprehension.
He studied until the latter half of the night.
Jiang Che finally closed the notes and sat cross-legged on the bed.
He recalled the essentials of the Thunder Sound Marrow Cleansing Scripture in his mind, pressed his tongue against his upper palate, and recited the secret incantations from the scripture.
As the recitation grew more rapid, it resembled the growing rumble of thunder.
Until it vibrated Jiang Che’s entire body, leaving him sore and numb.
Yet, not a single sound escaped.
It emanated from his lips and tongue, entering his internal organs, cleansing Impurities, forging his inner self, in pursuit of returning to the Innate state and giving birth to a wisp of primordial breath.
“It’s still just a little bit off, as expected,” Jiang Che thought to himself.
He no longer delayed, and while maintaining the oral recitation of the thunder sound, he circulated the cultivation method recorded in the Toxin Transformation Notes.
Using the residual blood toxin in his body as a guide, he combined it with the self-tempering within the Thunder Sound Marrow Cleansing Scripture.
In just two hours,
the last trace of the Bottleneck that had troubled Jiang Che for nearly a month was naturally broken through.
His body lightened, and a wisp of purest primordial breath was conceived in his Dantian.
It connected end to end, echoing the external spiritual energy from afar.
Jiang Che unconsciously took a deep breath, like someone who had been drowning for a long time finally breaking free from the water, feeling a sense of freedom he had never experienced before.
“This is a Cultivator!”
Forcibly suppressing the joy in his heart, Jiang Che closed his eyes again.
Having tasted the joy of cultivation for the first time, he felt no fatigue.
So he stayed awake all night, simply circulating his primordial breath to regulate his body and mind.
The next day at dawn,
though slightly tired, Jiang Che still left early, as was his custom, to go to Shu Wu Hall to receive assignments, earn merit, and incidentally inquire about the latest news.
As he had predicted last night,
the Za Yi who had attended the Dharma Lecture, except for two who were inherently frail, were all starting to recover after exchanging for the Blood Cleansing Pills.
However, the merit points accumulated over such a long time would probably be completely depleted.
He also wondered if it would damage their root bones and affect their future cultivation.
As for the news of Qu Gu’s disappearance, it had already spread among this group of people.
It was said that at the Dharma Lecture, Elder Tian was refining pills, and Qu Gu, eager to impress, volunteered to go to the medicine garden to procure the herbs for the second batch of pills.
Although he avoided the pill toxin leakage,
he somehow offended Senior Brother Lu from Blood Sin Peak in the medicine garden and was casually killed by him.
“Senior Brother Lu?”
Jiang Che was surprised; this name had been mentioned by Qu Gu, who said that after being away from the mountain for half a year, he returned with a Myriad Soul Banner.
Such a person was actually the righteous undercover agent mentioned in the divination...
Recalling Qu Gu’s grand words on the mountain path that day and his now worthless death, reduced to mere gossip,
Jiang Che couldn’t help but sigh.
He continued to work during the day and Cultivate at night.
Two days later,
the blood toxin he had contracted at Crimson Cauldron Pavilion finally dissipated completely.
While Jiang Che felt a long-lost lightness throughout his body, he also felt a sense of loss.
Nothing else, just that his cultivation speed had slowed down.
“If the blood toxin were continuous, and occasionally supplemented with pills,”
Using the cultivation efficiency of these past few days as a reference, Jiang Che calculated with his fingers: “Qi Refining Stage, Third Layer, would probably be achieved in about half a year.”
However, the blood toxin contracted from one trip to the Blood Pool would be completely consumed after at most three days of diligent cultivation.
To maintain his cultivation speed, he would have to go again.
But first, the job of clearing the Blood Pool was not always available.
Second, a task that others would avoid, he willingly embraced; even with the excuse of poor Aptitude, it would still be a bit too conspicuous.
After much thought, there was no particularly good solution.
Ultimately, he could only prioritize cultivation, planning to take on the Blood Pool clearing assignment again as soon as Shu Wu Hall released it.
Another three days passed in this manner.
A new occupant arrived in Jiang Che’s room.
“Brother Jiang, right?”
A slightly hunched Za Yi with triangular eyes nodded and lowered his gaze, standing opposite Jiang Che, licking his lips and chuckling,
“I used to live behind the main hall.”
“But today, new Za Yi were delivered, and the Senior Brother from Shu Wu Hall told me to make space and move here to live with Brother Jiang.”
Jiang Che stood up and greeted him simply.
People in the Sect didn’t have many personal belongings, so the two quickly sat down.
According to his own introduction, the triangular-eyed Za Yi was named Feng Yingqi.
Compared to Jiang Che and the others, he was an older batch of Za Yi, having been in the Kuxin Sect for nearly half a year, and knew a bit more about the Sect’s customs and practices.
“I also heard about Qu Gu’s matter,” Feng Yingqi said, shaking his head. “To break through a Bottleneck in two months, he had some talent.”
“But it’s a pity, his luck was bad, he ran into Senior Brother Lu, who has the heaviest killing intent.”
The two sighed to each other a few times, as a courtesy.
After nightfall, they each leaned against the wall and sat cross-legged on their beds, beginning to Cultivate the Thunder Sound Marrow Cleansing Scripture, with a clear distinction between them, clearly on guard against each other.
However, Jiang Che’s Qi Refining Stage, First Layer cultivation was unexpected.
It made Feng Yingqi click his tongue in amazement for a long time before he could enter a meditative state.
Thus, over half a month passed.
The Shu Wu Hall only had one Blood Pool clearing assignment, which made Jiang Che feel a bit more anxious, and he cultivated even more diligently every day.
Until one night, this diligent cultivation was suddenly broken.
A raging fire erupted on Blood Sin Peak near the Rust Ridge Mountains.
The sea of flames churned, and the boiling light flickered, even reflecting on the Za Yi Hall’s grounds.