Chapter 88: Poisoned
A fiery red bead appeared. It had been sitting still for quite a while, so the outer surface of the bead had dimmed slightly. However, the fiery energy inside hadn't weakened at all. The violent fire energy within could be felt even through the surface of the bead.
The flames seethed within the bead like lava, and Su Chen could feel the intense heat radiating outwards.
Fire Origin Substance!
It really was Fire Origin Substance!
Su Chen's eyes lit up.
"This is a core of a Molten Rock Demon. I obtained it in a battle two hundred years ago while defending the city against Demonic Beasts. Because my bloodline is not related to fire, I never used it and have been looking for an opportunity to use it in a trade. I never expected at the time that it would take so long."
Su Chen was extremely delighted. "Many thanks, Ancestor!"
He was just about to take it when Gu Yaoye suddenly withdrew his hand. "I didn't say that I was going to give it to you for free. I have already repaid the contributions you earned from defending the city from Demonic Beasts with the Lightning Serpent's Origin Crystal. I don't owe you this one, so what are you planning on exchanging for it?"
Su Chen smiled a bit sheepishly. "Ancestor, Qingluo and I are getting engaged. Aren't you planning on giving us a gift?"
"Of course I am," Gu Yaoye replied. He picked up a Frost Flower Stone brick from where he was sitting. "What do you think about this gift?"
A fox was still a fox no matter how old they were.
The Frost Flower Stone was very expensive. Giving it as a congratulatory gift was no small matter, but it was far inferior to the Fire Origin Crystal.
Gu Yaoye had him backed into a corner. There was nothing Su Chen could do, so he bitterly said, "I can return all the stores I previously bought, as well as give you all my shares in the Flight Network."
Gu Yaoye was stunned. "That's a lot of money. You're just going to give up on it just like that?"
Su Chen replied, "My goal is to understand the ultimate secrets of this universe, not to hoard money. Money is just a tool that I use to achieve my goal and an investment to marry Qingluo. Since I have already achieved my goals, giving up on them isn't actually that big of a deal."
His expression turned serious when he talked about his goals.
Gu Yaoye was full of admiration when he heard this. "Good, good, very good! Since that's the case, then I accept."
As he spoke, he handed over the Frost Flower Stone and the Fire Origin Crystal over to Su Chen.
Just as the two of them were conversing happily, a servant suddenly came rushing over. "Ancestor, Ancestor, something terrible has happened!"
"What's gotten into you?" Gu Xuanmian snapped unhappily.
"Ancestor, it's Fourth Young Miss. She…… she……"
"Qingluo?" Su Chen was stunned. He hurriedly asked, "What happened to her?"
"She's fainted."
Within the room, Gu Qingluo lay on the bed, her face ashen and her body completely motionless.
When Su Chen, Gu Xuanmian, and Gu Yaoye arrived, they were all stunned by the scene before them.
Su Chen sprinted over to Gu Qingluo and held her wrist, measuring her pulse.
Gu Xuanmian howled, "What's going on?"
A female servant knelt on the ground and stammered, "She was fine just a few moments ago, but then she suddenly passed out just like that."
"Did she eat or drink anything beforehand?" Su Chen asked.
The maidservant replied after thinking for a moment, saying, "Yes, Prince Zhou sent over some desserts, and Fourth Young Miss ate one."
"Zhou Qingkuang?" Gu Xuanmian was stunned.
"Where's the dessert? Hurry, bring it over!" Su Chen yelled.
The maidservant hurriedly brought the dessert over. Su Chen trembled after a single glance. "The dessert's been poisoned."
"What did you say?" Gu Xuanmian began to exude a thick killing intent, and rage burned in his eyes. "ZHOU QINGKUANG!!!"
How could he not realize what had happened at this point?
Zhou Qingkuang was definitely displeased that Gu Qingluo was to be married to Su Chen, which was why he had chosen to exact revenge.
However, he hadn't expected Zhou Qingkuang to be so bold as to try to poison her.
Actually, this guy had been pampered by his clan since birth and had never suffered from any setbacks before. His personality was also domineering, so it wasn't strange for him to do something like this.
Gu Xuanmian seethed with anger. "Where is he right now?"
"Young Master Zhou returned to the Zhou Clan in the morning."
"That bastard!" Gu Xuanmian exclaimed angrily. However, he knew that now was not the time to focus excessively on it. He could only say, "Chen'er, you stay here to take care of Gu Qingluo. I'm going to go find a doctor for her!"
"There's no need. I'm the best doctor here," Su Chen replied evenly.
As he spoke, he pulled out the beast hide.
This item loved to devour poison. In theory, it could consume any kind of poison.
As soon as he unfurled the hide, black bubbles began to emerge from Gu Qingluo's body, rapidly forming round and full-bodied droplets.
"Purple Glass Froth?" Su Chen immediately identified the poison.
Purple Glass Froth was an extremely frightening poison. It could rapidly corrode a person's body and damage their Origin Energy pathways. Even Light Shaking Realm cultivators would find it hard to fight off such a potent poison. Who could have anticipated that Zhou Qingkuang would use such a fierce poison against Gu Qingluo? He really was delusional.
Su Chen was infuriated. The beast hide slowly rippled across Gu Qingluo's body, absorbing any poison it came across.
However, as the poison was sucked away, Gu Qingluo's condition didn't appear to improve in the slightest. On the contrary, her body began to glow a strange reddish color as her breathing became even more labored.
Suddenly, she spat out a mouthful of blood. The ashen color of her face receded, only to be replaced by a ghostly paleness.
"What's going on?" Gu Xuanmian grew even more agitated.
Su Chen replied sorrowfully, "Purple Glass Froth is too poisonous. Even though the poison has been removed, the injuries it caused are still present, and without the suppression of the Purple Glass Froth, her body's reactions have gone out of control…… we were still too late."
Purple Glass Froth was unique in that its activation period was very short, but it could do an incredible amount of damage during that period of time.
From the moment Gu Qingluo had fainted to the moment that Su Chen had treated her, some minutes had already passed. In that time, the Purple Glass Froth had permeated Gu Qingluo's body, eroding her bones and causing noticeable damage. Su Chen's microscopic eye could see that she was bleeding internally everywhere — the Purple Glass Froth had destroyed the functions of most of her internal organs, causing her condition to rapidly deteriorate.
When they heard this, Gu Xuanmian and Gu Yaoye simultaneously trembled.
They were somewhat familiar with Purple Glass Froth, so they knew that Su Chen was most likely telling the truth.
"So is there nothing we can do?" Gu Xuanmian asked.
"I'm thinking!" Su Chen replied. At the same time, he pulled out a vial of Recovery Medicine and fed it to her, then began to use his Origin Energy to try and stabilize her.
However, the damage done by the Purple Glass Froth was much too serious. Even the most expensive Recovery Medicine Su Chen had on him had no way of ameliorating Gu Qingluo's deteriorating condition.
As he watched Gu Qingluo's lifeforce wane, Su Chen's heart sank.
He knew that if the situation continued on like this, Gu Qingluo wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.
"Cough, cough!" Gu Qingluo began to cough up large mouthfuls of blood.
"Qingluo, hold on!" Su Chen forcefully patted Gu Qingluo's chest as he tried to increase the rate which the medicine was absorbed into her body. Even so, both his sense of Origin Energy and his microscopic eye told him that Gu Qingluo's lifeforce was still steadily declining.
They had been just a bit too late in the end.
"NO!" Su Chen began to howl.
He constantly infused her with Origin Energy, but no matter what Gu Qingluo would not respond.
As he watched her face grow paler and blood trickle from the corner of her mouth — no, from every orifice on her body, Su Chen felt his heart grow cold.
"Qingluo!" Gu Yaoye watched the situation develop anxiously.
Even though he was a Spirit Burning Realm cultivator, there was nothing he could do when faced with a situation like this.
Gu Xuanmian paced back and forth agitatedly.
"You won't die, Qingluo. No matter what, I won't let you die," Su Chen said softly as he stared at Gu Qingluo.
He pulled out a small vial of medicine from his Origin Energy and helped Gu Qingluo drink it.
"What is that?" Gu Yaoye and Gu Xuanmian replied simultaneously.
It wasn't that they didn't trust Su Chen. They just both instinctively realized that that medicine was in no way simple.
"A medicine that won't let her die," Su Chen replied numbly. No trace of happiness could be seen on his face.
"Does it have some kind of bad side effect? For instance, will her cultivation base disappear?" Gu Xuanmian asked.
Su Chen shook his head. "No. In fact, it's the opposite……"
When he heard this, Gu Yaoye was taken aback. So what are you so worried about then?
A thought suddenly surfaced in his mind. Gu Yaoye felt his heart tremble. "Could it be……"
Boom!
The unconscious Gu Qingluo's body began to undergo a drastic change.