The Imperial Martial Pill Venerable

Wielding a long spear, Qin Ya was wreathed in a monstrous Purple Flame. The purple mist retreated wherever he passed. Suddenly, a petite figure leaped into his line of sight. Seeing she was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief, then shot forward in a blur.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!"

With a cold roar, Qin Ya charged into the swarm of Black Armored Corpse People, the Purple Flame around him making him look like a giant fireball. Corpse People were beings of absolute yin and evil, and to them, the extremely yang Purple Lotus Celestial Flame was a natural predator. A mere touch sent them howling in agony, while some were instantly reduced to ash.

His charge tore a massive hole in the formation of the Black Armored Corpse People. Everyone else stared, dumbfounded. ’Good heavens,’ they thought. ’The very same Corpse People we’ve been fighting tooth and nail are like paper in his hands, burning to nothing in an instant.’

"It’s Brother Qin!"

A look of delighted surprise appeared in Shangguan Yue’s eyes.

"This is wonderful. With him here, our chances of breaking through have increased." A hint of joy also appeared on Lii Yunge’s cold, stern face.

Just then, as if sensing Qin Ya’s disruptive presence, the Giant Corpse Monster let out a furious roar. Countless tentacles lashed toward him like Iron Whips, a veritable storm that filled the air with a humming, tearing sound.

"Get lost."

Qin Ya roared and swept his long spear, unleashing a monstrous wave of fire. The tentacles were incinerated almost instantly. But Qin Ya didn’t stop. Crouching slightly, he kicked off the ground, shooting toward the Giant Corpse Monster like a cannonball and leaving two deep craters behind.

"DIE!! Chasing the Sun!"

With a cold shout, boundless killing intent shining in his eyes, he gathered the Purple Flame at the tip of his spear. Once the ferocious energy had been concentrated to its limit, it exploded. The Giant Corpse Monster shrieked as a massive hole was blasted through its bloated body, the edges of the wound giving off a nauseating, burnt stench.

Immediately, a spark of purple flame ignited on the wound and, in the blink of an eye, engulfed the entire Giant Corpse Monster. Even its tentacles, which stretched out for dozens of feet in every direction, were not spared. In the time it took to draw a few breaths, the creature was reduced to ash.

Fang Yu, Chu Lingfeng, and the others stared, their mouths agape and eyes bulging with shock. The Giant Corpse Monster, which had seemed invincible against their combined assault, hadn’t even survived a single move from Qin Ya. It was just... burned to ash. This was too outrageous! How could he possess such terrifying, almost incomprehensible combat strength?

"Brother Qin, that was amazing!" After swinging her sword to unleash a dozen streaks of Sword Qi and cutting down several Black Armored Corpse People, Shangguan Yue happened to see the exact moment Qin Ya killed the Giant Corpse Monster and immediately cheered aloud.

Qin Ya flickered and appeared in front of Shangguan Yue. His eyes suddenly fell on the wound on her right shoulder, and his pupils shrank. "You foolish girl," he said angrily. "Who told you to come here? And what’s this wound?" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Shangguan Yue jumped, startled. Ever since she’d known him, Qin Ya had never spoken to her with such a tone. Feeling a pang of guilt, she said, "This wound is just from one of the Giant Corpse Monster’s tentacles. It’s nothing."

"Nothing, my ass!" Qin Ya’s voice was laced with anger. "Don’t you know this Giant Corpse Monster is covered in Corpse Poison? It’s ten times more potent than the poison from the other Corpse People." He immediately began searching through his Storage Ring for an Antitoxic Elixir.

His words terrified Shangguan Yue. As she looked at the Corpse People, creatures that were neither human nor ghost, a profound fear washed over her. The thought of becoming one of them was so horrifying that she would rather draw her sword and kill herself.

"Then... then what do we do?"

Hearing this, Lii Yunge’s expression changed drastically, and she too began to panic.

Qin Ya took an Antitoxic Pill from his Storage Ring, had Shangguan Yue swallow it, and said, "Less talk. We need to leave this place first."

Soon, with Qin Ya’s help, the group finally broke through the encirclement of Black Armored Corpse People and successfully escaped the Purple Mist Forest. The expedition had yielded no gains whatsoever; on the contrary, the two great Sects had lost many of their elite Disciples.

"Bastards, damn it all."

Chu Lingfeng’s face was like a mask of Frost. He slammed his palm into a large boulder, shattering it to pieces. Clearly, he was in an absolutely terrible mood.

Fang Yu wore a similar expression. He had thought the combined strength of their two Sects would be enough to conquer the Purple Mist Forest, but he never imagined they would suffer such heavy losses less than a few miles in. Punishment from their Sects was now unavoidable.

Qin Ya took out a golden Elixir and handed it to Lii Yunge. "This is an Antitoxic Pill," he said. "Dissolve it in water and have everyone take a sip. It will cure you of the purple mist’s poison."

After taking the Elixir, Lii Yunge looked at Shangguan Yue’s ashen face, her own eyes filled with worry. "What about Yue’er?" she asked.

Hearing her name, Shangguan Yue looked up. Her once-bright eyes were now shrouded in a dim haze. "Am I going to turn into one of those things?" she asked.

She was, of course, referring to the Corpse People from the Purple Mist Forest.

"If you keep being so reckless, you will."

A glimmer of hope flashed in Shangguan Yue’s eyes when she heard him. ’Do his words mean... he has a way to cure me?’

"Okay, I won’t be reckless again! I promise I’ll listen to you," Shangguan Yue said, raising her hand as if taking an oath. She looked at Qin Ya with renewed hope. "Brother Qin, do you really have a way to help me? I don’t want to become a Corpse Person. It’s too disgusting."

"Yes," Qin Ya nodded and said with certainty.

"Haha, how utterly ridiculous."

At that moment, Fang Yu’s scornful laughter echoed. "Corpse Poison is one of the most difficult poisons in the world to cure," he sneered. "Even Top Level Alchemists would find it a headache. And you, a wet-behind-the-ears brat, think you can do it?"

He then looked at Shangguan Yue with feigned pity. "What a shame. Such a beautiful young lady, about to turn into a cold-blooded Corpse Person."

BOOM...

The very air seemed to shake as an endless wave of cold energy surged toward Fang Yu. He resisted with all his might but was still blasted hundreds of feet away. A layer of blue Frost coated his body, and he shivered uncontrollably, looking utterly wretched. His lips trembled as he stared at the young man in the distance slowly withdrawing his palm, a flicker of terror in his eyes.

"I saved your life, and instead of being grateful, you dare to run your mouth here."

Qin Ya’s eyes flashed with a menacing killing intent, causing the numerous Disciples from Purple Cloud Heavenly Mountain to shiver. They couldn’t help but recall the scene from a few days prior, when Qin Ya had been hunting them down. ’You can’t be serious,’ they wailed internally. ’We just escaped the jaws of death, and now we’re about to walk right into the lion’s den again?’ The thought made them all look at Fang Yu with resentment.

’Why did you have to go and provoke this walking disaster!’

Seeing Fang Yu’s fate, Chu Lingfeng, who stood nearby, immediately swallowed the derisive comment he was about to make. He looked at Shangguan Yue with a touch of pity. In his opinion, Qin Ya was just making empty boasts.

’Cure Corpse Poison? Heh. You think you’re some kind of Alchemy Master?’