Chapter 1025: Divine Medicine
The thatched cottage was silent. Surrounded by shelves filled with herbs, the air wafted with the heavy fragrance of medicine.
Li Luo and Qin Yi followed the White Ape closely while their eyes surveyed the area. Apart from the courtyard at the front, the thatched cottage had three other buildings. The main building was situated in the middle, slightly larger than the others. From the outside, they all appeared pretty ordinary. However, their doors and walls were engraved with countless runes and wards that emanated tremendous energy waves.
Without a doubt, these buildings were important areas that were guarded by powerful wards despite their simple appearances.
As Li Luo and Qin Yi stuck closely to the White Ape, they could faintly smell the stench of a rotting corpse coming from him. It was similar to the guardian spirit beasts that they had encountered earlier.
As they discovered this, emotions surged up within their hearts.
"Senior White Ape, are you alone?" Qin Yi asked softly as her beautiful eyes blinked.
The White Ape replied in its usual slow tone, "There used to be others. However, they have been sent elsewhere. The sect has ordered me to stay here and refine Divine Medicine."
"Divine Medicine?" Qin Yi's eyes lit up when she heard this.
"Senior White Ape, we saw that the Origin Enlightenment Fruits were all picked earlier. Are they used to create Divine Medicine?" Li Luo asked.
"Yes. The Origin Enlightenment Fruit is the main ingredient. We harvest them when they're ripe and use them to make the medicine," the White Ape answered while nodding.
"What exactly is Divine Medicine?" Qin Yi asked curiously.
However, the White Ape did not answer that question. He simply strolled into the thatched cottage.
Nonetheless, Qin Yi was not discouraged by this. She swiped across her pocket sphere, and a jar of wine appeared in her hands. The mouth of the jar was sealed with mud, but it was unable to block the alluring aroma of the fine wine.
The White Ape paused for moment and turned around, then he eyed the jar of wine with a joyous look.
Qin Yi smiled a little and continued, "I've heard that you are fond of fine wine, so I brought a jar for you."
On her side, Li Luo could not help but stare at her with a peculiar look. Qin Yi was even more well prepared than he had expected. She even knew the preferences of the White Ape. How in the world had she or could she have learned about all this?
The White Ape took the jar of wine in a hurry and shattered the mud seal. He gulped down the fragrant wine in large mouthfuls, with a face full of satisfaction. "Thank you for the thoughtful gift, little girl." The White Ape squinted as he savored the wine for a good while, satisfying his alcohol cravings.
Afterwards, he smiled at Qin Yi and continued, "Unfortunately, I can't tell you about the Divine Medicine, because you don't have enough authority."
Hearing this, the smile on Qin Yi's charming face froze. In contrast, Li Luo felt secretly happy. She tried her best but still couldn't get the answer in the end.
Sensing the gloating look in Li Luo's eyes, Qin Yi couldn't help but clench her teeth and glare at him. "If I, the person with the elder's plaque, doesn't have enough authority, do you think you, someone who got in for no good reason, would have the right?"
Indeed, Li Luo actually felt like he did possess sufficient authority. When the White Ape finished his wine earlier, he gave him a quick look. He understood what that meant. He seemed to possess quite a high position within the Sacred Void Resonance Sect, although he did not know if it was due to the Acquired Resonance Flame or the mysterious Auric Halo in his body.
Nonetheless, his authority was much higher than that of an elder.
Regardless, Li Luo was not planning on helping Qin Yi satisfy her curiosity about the Divine Medicine. He did not want her to learn about it and bring the knowledge back to the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Qing, in case it brought him more trouble in the future.
The White Ape and the two of them continued walking deeper. In the end, they paused in front of the three houses.
The White Ape pulled off a handful of his fur, and a ball of flame rose up in its palm, incinerating the fur and turning it into a seal the size of his thumb. Next, he pa.s.sed the seal to Qin Yi and pointed to the side of the second building.
"With your seal, you may go in there to collect the medicine."
Qin Yi's eyes twitched a little when she heard this. Clearly, the most precious treasure in the thatched cottage would be kept in the main house in front of them. Even if the second building on the side had treasures, they were surely lackl.u.s.ter compared to the main house.
Besides, the so-called Divine Medicine was surely not stored in the side buildings.
After working so hard to get here, Qin Yi obviously had greater ambitions.
She hurriedly responded, "Senior White Ape, the elder tasked me to collect Divine Medicine."
Li Luo gritted his teeth when he heard this. Qin Yi was truly greedy. She was still trying to cheat the White Ape! The Divine Medicine was obviously his!
Just as these thoughts ran through Li Luo's mind and he was planning to speak up against her, the White Ape glared back at her and asked, "Which elder? How could he say such ignorant words? Notwithstanding the fact that the Divine Medicine is not ready yet, even if it was, did he think it was something he could take?"
Qin Yi became speechless immediately. Just what kind of existence was the White Ape? He obviously couldn't tell them apart clearly, but he still retained some form of intelligence and couldn't be fooled at all.
However, she had learned from his words that the so-called Divine Medicine had not been successfully refined.
The White Ape waved his hand and said, "Go on ahead. Since you let me have the wine, I'll allow you to collect a few more things."
Qin Yi looked on helplessly. She glanced over at Li Luo beside her. Deep down, she wanted to ask what sort of arrangement he had obtained, but she didn't. It was useless to ask after all. She couldn't change the White Ape's mind, and she couldn't beat it in a battle either.
Instead, she resolved herself to exploring and obtaining whatever treasures she could in the second building.
With that, she did not hesitate any further. She turned around decisively and walked into it
As he saw her turn around and leave, the White Ape revealed a warm and friendly smile towards Li Luo. "Follow me."
They made their way towards the main house after saying that.
Li Luo could not hold back his smile when he saw this. His Acquired Resonance Flame or Auric Halo were incredibly effective. It seemed like he had a much higher position than a so-called elder.
He followed closely behind the White Ape.
At this point, Qin Yi stood in front of the door to the second building. She was on the cusp of pushing open the door and entering. However, she had a strange feeling as she turned back to have a look. It was then that she saw Li Luo following the White Ape into the main house. Moreover, the White Ape had even opened the door, which was protected by strong wards, for him personally.
"What is going on?! Why does Li Luo have the right to enter the main house!?"
Qin Yi fell into a daze as turbulent emotions surged up in her heart and as her chest heaved deeply. Even with her usually calm temperament, she couldn't help but feel a little angry at this point.
She was the one who had presented the elder's plaque. Why was Li Luo being allowed to enter the main house instead of herself?
Sure, the White Ape had said that her elder's plaque did not have enough authority, but what about Li Luo?
Qin Yi frowned as she thought about all of this. Li Luo had been extraordinarily lucky ever since he entered the Spiritual Resonance Cave. No matter where he went, there always seemed to be some unknown power in the background helping him out.
"Was it because Li Taixuan and Tan Tailan obtained something in the ruins of the Sacred Void Resonance Sect back then and pa.s.sed it to him?" Qin Yi whispered to herself. After all, the elder's plaque was something that Qin Lian had found in the same ruins. The information she possessed about the thatched cottage was also obtained there.
Qin Yi took a deep breath and recomposed herself. She clasped the seal given to her by the White Ape in her fingers and touched the door. Light runes flowed around the door for a moment before she was able to push it open successfully.
The thick and almost visceral smell of medicine flooded out. Qin Yi's charming and composed demeanor returned before she made her way inside.
Back at the main house, the White Ape had pushed open the door and even held it open for him. Li Luo was doing his best to keep his rapidly beating heart in check. His face remained placid as he calmly strode into the main house.
...
Outside the thatched cottage, the people from the various forces were sitting cross-legged, waiting.
Over at the group from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li, Li Lingjing, who was holding onto her Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff, suddenly opened her eyes. She turned around around abruptly and looked into the distance behind them. In this moment, she felt a throbbing and ominous feeling.
It was like something extremely dangerous and scary was approaching them.
She could also faintly hear the sound of liquid flowing. However, it sounded viscous and left one feeling uneasy.
"Cousin Lingjing, what's wrong?" Li Fengyi asked from her side after seeing her suddenly go on alert.
Li Lingjing's fair and pretty cheeks twitched slightly. Her eyes revealed a look of coldness as she held tightly onto her Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff. "Something horrible is approaching us."
When the people around her heard this, their expressions changed drastically. They looked around in surprise, but they didn't find anything.
Li Wuyuan was more cautious and did not ignore the warning from Li Lingjing's senses. He flew into the air and looked far into the distance. In that instant, his face turned pale and he asked in shock, "What's that?"
A scarlet tide had suddenly appeared on the plains in the distance. The red tide had swept across the area and drowned everything it touched.
At the same time, there was the faint stench of blood flooding the air.
Li Wuyuan's reaction caught the attention of the other experts from the various powers immediately. They flew into the sky for a look as well. A moment later, cries of surprise and confusion followed.
"What is that thing?"
"A river of blood?!"
"It seems to be coming at us!"
Everyone's faces turned extremely ugly, and the cries of surprise continued. It was clear from what they could see that whatever was approaching wasn't a good or friendly thing.
Li Lingjing's expression did not change much though. As the river of blood got closer to them, she could sense a familiar feeling.
It was just like what she had felt when she met Number Two, the variant Other, earlier.
"Variant Number One? It's come after all," Li Lingjing whispered to herself, as icy murderous intent emerged from within her starry eyes.
She turned around and looked at the simple and ordinary-looking building. It was the thatched cottage that could not be destroyed. Her eyes warmed up a little upon seeing it.
"At least Li Luo should be safe in there."
In that case, there was nothing more she needed to worry about.
"As for the others..." Li Lingjing's eyes swept across everyone on the field, including the people from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li.
"It's everyone for themselves. Good luck."