Zi Luo tidied up the information then looked down at the Amethyst Sea on her wrist and softly mumbled, "Thank you Amethyst Sea. Thank you for keeping me accompanying like always. Thank you for bringing me here and letting me continue living.
Amethyst Sea, this time I will live brilliantly unlike my mediocre life in the cultivation realm. I want my eyes to be never blinded by the sky, I want my heart never to buried by the earth so that all the livings things understand my intentions. I want the Buddhas to vanish so I may kill whatever blocks my path whether it is a human or a god." The Amethyst Sea shone brightly under Zi Luo's tender touch as if to affirm her words.
She looked at dragon and phoenix ring on her finger and seemed to hear Lin Xi's gentle voice in her ear, "Luo-er, this dragon and phoenix ring is a living storage space containing many stored objects and book collections. If you have the time then take a look and use your blood to take ownership."
"Why have you not left it for elder brother or sister? Mother, give it to my elder brother and sister. It's inappropriate for me to have it." Zi Luo tilted her head and grinned at Lin Xi.
"This was originally yours. I had intended to give you this a few years later but we don't have the time anymore. Use your blood and take ownership." Lin Xi anxiously said as she listened to the sound of fighting in the distance. The expression on her face showed a certain urgency.
Zi Luo paused briefly at the image in her head and wondered how could a magic item be originally hers. She shook her head but was unable to think of a reason and reasoned it was no matter, she will just do this step at a time.
She looked inside the ring and found a bunch of magic scrolls bundled together and a mountain high of books. The corner of Zi Luo's eye gleamed at the awesome ring, don't tell me they moved all the book collection of Lingwu here. She silently vowed to her mother that she will learn all the contents in this cool ring.
At present, the most important problem was how to cure the poison in her body. If she is unable to cure the poison then it was impossible to cultivate or avenge her parents and see her siblings again. If only she was able to open the Amethyst Sea right now as the Qingyun pill inside the bracelet can cure all poisons.
Zi Luo sighed, how will she open the bracelet when she was not even in the Zhu Ji* period. It was not possible to open the Amethyst Sea but she could still blend to make the Zhu Ji fluid and Tuomai* pill. Tomorrow she will go to the market and find some the suitable herbs to firstly broaden her meridians* so she could slowly suck in cultivation. As she thought about this, Zi Luo slowly drifted into the dreamland.
*TL-note: Zhu Ji is the first stage in cultivation.
*TL-note: Tuomai (拓脉) means to expand the veins.
*TL-note: The meridians is the network of vessels/channels in the body through which Qi flows. Like blood vessels, but for Qi instead of blood.
"Luo-er, my pitiful daughter. You must take care of yourself when we are not beside you."
"Who, who are you, who is your daughter?" Zi Luo suddenly woke from her dream. Who was that beautiful woman calling her daughter? I am her daughter? Was she my mother? Her mind was in a state of mess and could not understand the dream's meaning.
The sun was high in the sky when the delicate figure slightly opened her eyes to ponder how to quickly cure the poison. She looked down at her blood-stained clothes and opened the drawer to take out the clothes that had been prepared for Ye Zhihao by Lin Xi. Since the Ye clan had already announced that she was dead along with her parents, then from now on, she will reveal herself as a man.
The faint fragrance of lotus could be smelled in an instant when she took off her clothes and Zi Luo remembered the moment when Lin Xi handed her the dragon phoenix ring. She reached into her bosom and retrieved the single white lotus that she had been told to hide within the ring. It was also precisely this white lotus that led the Ye couple to their downfall.
Upon leaving the Ye clan, they had heard the holy lotus could cure all poison and by chance, the couple saved a middle-aged man dressed in white on the road. The middle-aged man was severely injured and he died without a word with only the holy lotus in his hand. The couple were unable to conceal their happiness as Zi Luo's life will no longer be cut short as there was finally a cure.
But nobody would have imagined that not only the holy lotus was not made in a pill but it was also found by the owners instead. Perhaps the Ye couple would not have died if they had handed over the holy lotus but instead they sacrificed themselves for Zi Luo. How will she repay and bear the love of such parents?
"Father, Mother, I will return the love you have given to Ye Zi Luo in her steed. I will repay the kindness you have given to Ye Zi Luo in her steed. Father, Mother, please rest assured that one day I will stand atop the world. I will make those who had looked down on us to crawl beneath my feet." An unbeatable aura rose from Zi Luo's body.
Zi Luo's adjusted her state of mind then took out the holy lotus from the ring and examined it carefully. The holy lotus was completely snow white and each petal carried a sparkle. The leaves were densely covered in long white silky hairs and deeply split. It was green on top while the underside was densely covered in white silky hairs and the flower head was densely concealed in the centre. This was the Tianshan* snow lotus, the main ingredient for the Qingyun pill.
*TL-note: Tianshan mountain range between Xinjiang and Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan.
Zi Luo excitedly looked at the Tianshan snow lotus. There was hope, she will be able to cultivate and recover energy!
She looked at the snow lotus and pondered whether she should take it directly or find someone to make the pill. If she took it directly then it would not be as effective and will not cure the poison completely.
Whereas if she asked someone to make the pill, it would be the fastest way to cure and get rid of the poison and money would not be an issue. Any scrolls in the ring can be sold for tens of thousand purple gold coins. The common currency in Lingwu is copper coins, silver coins, gold coins and purple gold coins. A hundred copper coins were equivalent to one silver coin, a hundred silver coins were equivalent to one gold coin and a thousand gold coins were equivalent to one purple gold coin. When over a hundred thousand purple gold coins have been accumulated, it can be deposited into the Lingwu universal flashcard which can also be used as a status symbol. The cards were categorised into the white card (a hundred thousand to one million), silver card (one million to five million), gold card (five million to ten million) and black card (over ten million).
A thief’s concerns were way worse than the theft itself. In her current state, a simple sorcerer or even someone with a tiny bit of energy will be able to kill her so the best solution was to use the holy lotus directly.
She tore a single petal and chewed it in her mouth. Immediately a burst of coolness passed through her body and she sat down cross-legged to aid the circulation of the holy lotus fluid but it just was not enough with only one petal.
No matter, she will just have to try everything in these desperate times and proceeded to swallow the rest of the eight petals. In an instant, her body burned like fire as if her whole body was immersed in boiling water. The heat slowly bubbled forth from her stomach to her throat and the skin on her body cracked!
In order to not lose her state of mind, she gritted down hard causing blood to trickle down from the corner of her pale lips. Zi Luo finally could not bear the pain throughout her body and let a loud roar, "Ahh……" If she had not been a desolate forest, the screams from her mouth would have caused others to believe a great tragedy was happening!
Pain, it really was so painful as if all the meridians on her body had countless ants gnawing on the flesh. Suddenly her meridians, veins and blue veins violently erupted and the petals repeatedly broadened the blocked meridians throughout her body. The pain was incomparable wherever it went.
Unable to bear it anymore, she fainted with a "bang" sound. In a split second, amethyst sea light up and a purple ray circled around Zi Luo to brush out her meridians again and again. The violent cleansing on the meridians from the holy lotus had now been changed to a soft gentle creek. The pain was reduced to a minimum as it gently passed through the meridians like a warm spring wind caressing the swaying willow branches.
Two hours later, Zi Luo slowly opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. Good, the house was still here. She never wanted to experience that kind of soul-crushing and bone-eroding pain again. Zi Luo figured due to the holy lily's potency, a clash must have happened between her own narrow and clogged meridians likened to when two foes meet making the collision was even more ferocious.
Fortunately, she made it out herself. If she were to die without avenging her parents and herself then she would have seriously let down the Ye couple and amethyst sea. Little did she know that it was amethyst sea who had helped her overcome it.
She looked at herself and saw black dirt had seeped out to cover her skin like black paint making it impossible to make out her own outline. It was as if she was buried within black mud. Zi Luo felt her stomach turn but before she had time to react pungent black blood was vomited out.
Finally, she was able to expel the majority of the poison and although there was a small residual left, it no longer posed a threat to Zi Luo. She will be born-again when the Zhu Ji is successful and naturally the rest of the poison will be passed out.
After approximately a quarter of an hour, Zi Luo moved her body and found out her strength has recovered a little. When she slowly stood up, the black stains fell to the ground from the motion but she paid no heed and went to prepare some hot water to clean off the filth on her body.
< > Chapter 4