CHAPTER 26: Junior Sister Yu is a Fairy!

The two companions refuted immediately.

Su Yizhi instantly returned to his usual expressionless state. Though for some reason, the tips of his ears had turned slightly red, his words were firm.

“Of course, I could tell. His face changed through seven different colors in succession—clearly, he was attacked by some extremely powerful exotic beast. This is basic knowledge that any Pill Cauldron Sect disciple would recognize at a glance.”

Yu Youyou: “…Then why were you giving him a thumbs-up?”

Qi Nanfeng brushed back his hair and let out a light, carefree chuckle.

“Something this obvious, I assumed there was no need to state the obvious. So, I simply took the opportunity to lighten the tense atmosphere.”

“…” These two sure have their excuses ready.

Seeing Kuang Langsheng twitching more and more unnaturally, Yu Youyou had no choice but to step forward. “Excuse me, please make way.”

Jiang Yuan moved aside. “Hurry and treat him. I don’t even know what kind of exotic beast could launch such a silent attack on Kuang Langsheng, a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, right under my nose!”

Yu Youyou took a quick glance. Kuang Langsheng’s upper body was bare, his striking bronze skin unblemished.

“Turn him over,” she said. She couldn’t move such a massive block of muscle on her own.

Though displeased, Jiang Yuan complied.

“There’s no wound on his back either.” Jiang Yuan’s expression grew even more serious. “Could the beast have attacked his divine sense directly?”

“It’s here.” Yu Youyou pointed to the back of Kuang Langsheng’s earlobe—the one place shield cultivators often neglected when tempering their bodies. A tiny red dot was visible there. “The wound.”

“At first glance, I thought he got his ear pierced…” Qi Nanfeng muttered.

Yu Youyou gave him a slow, meaningful look. If the bite had been somewhere else—say, on his X—would he be suspecting Kuang Langsheng of having some bizarre fetish?

Qi Nanfeng coughed lightly and crouched down, leaning in to inspect the tiny red mark.

“Probably some kind of exotic ant, or a similar small insect,” Yu Youyou quickly determined. However, she couldn’t spot the culprit nearby.

“Tch, an ant was actually able to take down a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator?” Su Yizhi was quite surprised.

“Judging by Kuang Langsheng’s reaction, this ant was at least a hundred times more potent than yesterday’s spider—it must be at Foundation Establishment level.”

“Even an ant has a higher cultivation than me?” Su Yizhi clutched his knees, devastated.

Hovering above them, the three elders observing from the sky couldn’t help but smile slightly at the scene below.

“Only by experiencing the Everlasting Ancient Forest firsthand will they learn that maintaining a constant protective barrier of spiritual energy is essential to survival,” Elder Xu nodded approvingly. “This will greatly enhance their ability to control their spiritual power.”

“This trial is hundreds of times more intense than an ordinary training session. That’s why so many disciples experience breakthroughs during the Four Realms Tournament.”

“The true purpose of the tournament is not to let geniuses gain fame, nor is it to seek out rare treasures. It is to train more cultivators capable of guarding the Everlasting Ancient Forest and protecting the future generations of our human race.”

Elder Ma, listening to Elder Xu’s long-winded explanation, showed blatant disdain.

“They’re not even here, and we all know this already. Why are you standing there rambling like a fool?”

Elder Xu’s face darkened slightly.

“These greenhorns always think they’re invincible back in their sects, recklessly seeking danger under the pretense of tempering themselves! Now they’re finally getting a taste of hardship.”

Heavenly Shield Sect’s Elder Kuang even let out a hearty laugh, showing not the slightest worry over his own son’s predicament.

“You’re not wrong. They’re all prodigies among the younger generation in their sects, so their arrogance is too high, and they lack caution.” Elder Xu decided to stop talking to Elder Ma altogether.

Elder Ma immediately cut in, “No, no, don’t lump ours in with them. The ones we brought this time aren’t prodigies—they’re just here to make up the numbers. I’ve got another seventy or eighty who are stronger than them in Pill Cauldron Sect.”

Of course, those seventy or eighty had all been beaten down by his personally trained disciple.

“…” Elder Xu was too exasperated to respond.

“The true danger of the Everlasting Ancient Forest doesn’t just lie in the massive exotic beasts, but in the minuscule ones that are nearly undetectable. A single tiny ant could claim the life of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Let’s see how they handle this. If they haven’t resolved it within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Elder Ma, you can bring Kuang Langsheng onto the cloud ship for treatment.”

Elder Ma reached out his greasy hand. “I’ll treat him, sure, but you know the price—ten thousand spirit stones.”

“This is a trial to prepare them for the Four Realms Tournament! The three great sects share both glory and hardship!” Elder Xu gritted his teeth.

“Oh, right, I forgot. He’s a shield cultivator, not a sword cultivator.” Elder Ma suddenly recalled, then, under Elder Kuang’s touched gaze, added, “Fine, no need for spirit stones.”

Elder Xu: “…”

Could you be any more biased against us sword cultivators?

The three elders waited patiently. Shield cultivators had tough bodies, and with three Nascent Soul elders watching over them, there was no need to worry about Kuang Langsheng dropping dead or losing control.

They were already prepared to have him forcibly withdraw.

After all, he had been bitten by an exotic ant, and trying to locate a specific species of ant in the thick, overgrown Everlasting Ancient Forest was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack.

But at that moment, Elder Xu suddenly frowned.

“What are they doing?”

Jiang Yuan had flown off on his sword, while a group of sword cultivators and shield cultivators had all rushed over, crouching down and rummaging through the underbrush—looking like they were actually searching for ants!

And the ones directing them were none other than the three from Pill Cauldron Sect.

Elder Xu looked like he was watching a joke unfold. “Is this how your Pill Cauldron Sect disciples save people now? Using such a foolish method?”

Elder Ma gave him a sideways glance. “I already told you—they’re just here to make up the numbers. Why won’t you believe me?”

For once, he was actually telling the truth, and the other guy still wouldn’t believe it!

….

Yu Youyou had no idea the elders were arguing up above. She and Qi Nanfeng were rapidly discussing their next steps.

“What kind of insects in the eastern outskirts of the Everlasting Ancient Forest could leave a bite mark like this?”

Qi Nanfeng rattled off ten or so names without hesitation.

“Food source?”

Qi Nanfeng didn’t pause and listed a few more plant names.

Hearing this, Su Yizhi gestured, then quickly left with Qi Nanfeng to search for those insect-based food sources.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yuan spoke with a poor attitude, “As you said, we’ve sealed off the surrounding area with spiritual energy. Not a single insect will escape.”

Yu Youyou responded with a simple “Mm,” then took out her pill furnace and expanded it to its largest size.

This time, she wasn’t refining pills but rather preparing an attractant to lure all the nearby insects.

Su Yizhi and Qi Nanfeng moved swiftly, soon returning with a large pile of plants.

The attractant wasn’t even considered a spiritual pill, nor were these plants spiritual herbs, so the refining process was extremely fast.

Before long, a sweet yet refreshing herbal scent drifted out from the pill furnace.

Yu Youyou pulled out a large, shockingly ugly green pill.

The sword cultivators: “…”

The shield cultivators: “…”

Wasn’t it said that the Pill Cauldron Sect had turned alchemy into an art? Then why did their refined pills look this hideous?

Yu Youyou didn’t notice their strange gazes—perhaps because she had seen them too many times before and was used to them.

She casually tossed the green lump onto an open patch of ground ahead, then sat down cross-legged, quietly waiting.

That rich, syrupy scent continued to spread, even smelling more fragrant than the Yellow Crane Tower pastries that had been confiscated from Qi Nanfeng.

Su Yizhi, who had been starving for nearly two days, stared at it and swallowed hard.

“Want to eat it?” Yu Youyou suddenly asked him.

Su Yizhi nodded. “A little.”

Yu Youyou then pinched off a small piece and offered it to him. “Try it?”

Su Yizhi hesitated, recalling the things Yu Youyou had fed him in the past.

But… this scent was different from usual.

He decided to trust Yu Youyou one last time.

Moments later, Su Yizhi sprinted away, retching loudly in the distance.

The trust between alchemists was truly fragile.

By the time Su Yizhi returned, eyes red and utterly dejected, the green attractant Yu Youyou had placed down was already covered in insects.

This time, before Yu Youyou could even speak, Su Yizhi coldly wrapped one of the insects in spiritual energy, refined its secretions, and ruthlessly pried Kuang Langsheng’s mouth open to pour it in.

Refined through spiritual energy, the blood of exotic beasts could neutralize poisons. Consuming it directly wasn’t toxic—just disgustingly foul, making it nearly impossible for an ordinary person to swallow.

It was said that a hundred years ago, a bold medical cultivator from the Northern Hanging Gourd Sect had once gone an entire month drinking nothing but exotic beast blood during the Four Regions Tournament without taking a single fasting pill.

For most cultivators, fasting pills were edible—but exotic beast blood was absolutely unpalatable.

Several drops of the liquid went down, yet Kuang Langsheng’s face remained purple, looking as dark as an eggplant.

So Su Yizhi moved on to the next insect.

Still wrong.

Qi Nanfeng also eagerly joined in.

Kuang Langsheng had been bitten earlier because he was unprepared, but while these small insects were venomous, the others could now handle them safely with spiritual energy shielding their bodies.

Finally, after Kuang Langsheng had practically tasted every insect secretion in the area, they found the right one.

Once the extracted fluid was fed to him, Kuang Langsheng’s complexion gradually returned to normal.

“It really was an ant,” Qi Nanfeng exclaimed in shock.

The ant was actually transparent. If it hadn’t turned green from eating Yu Youyou’s concoction, they might never have caught it.

“Never seen this species before… looks like a new type of exotic beast.”

Yu Youyou took the shriveled ant and prepared to use the Pill Cauldron Sect’s recording stone to document its appearance.

It’s clearly an exotic ant. Jiang Yuan, watching coldly from the side, mentally corrected her.

The recording stone was a special magical artifact, so it could be carried around at all times.

“Newly discovered exotic beasts can be named by their discoverer,” Yu Youyou turned and met the gazes of her two friends. “What should we call it?”

“The one who got bitten was Kuang Langsheng. This thing is tiny but fierce, even daring to bite a Foundation Establishment cultivator. How about ‘Kuang Ant’?”

“‘Lang Ant’ works too. Sounds less serious, but better than ‘Kuang Ant,’” Su Yizhi added.

The two bickered back and forth, throwing out names. Meanwhile, Yu Youyou lazily circled the exotic ant with the recording stone, then—without the slightest sense of responsibility—combined their suggestions into a final decision.

“After deliberation among the Three Great Sects, in honor of Daoist Kuang Langsheng’s great sacrifice, we have officially named this newly discovered exotic ant—Kuang Lang Ant.”

The sword cultivators: “…”

The shield cultivators: “…”

When did you Pill Cauldron Sect people ever discuss this with us?!

At that moment, Kuang Langsheng finally woke up from his coma.

He struggled to sit up—only to collapse again the next instant, clutching his throat and dry-heaving violently.

The surrounding shield cultivators rushed over in alarm. “Senior Sister Yu, is our Senior Brother still poisoned?!”

“Relax.” Yu Youyou reassured them. “If you ate dozens of bugs, you’d vomit too.”

Kuang Langsheng, who had just sat up and was about to ask why his mouth tasted weird: “—Urgh!”

It wasn’t until they returned to the creek—after Kuang Langsheng had rinsed his mouth more than ten times—that he finally recovered.

At this point, all the cultivators had heightened their vigilance. Even Jiang Yuan, who had previously looked down on Yu Youyou, was now patrolling alongside the shield cultivators to guard against sudden exotic beast attacks.

Meanwhile, the three alchemists sat securely within layers of protection, refining fasting pills.

Kuang Langsheng, still recovering, wasn’t made to join the patrols, so he squatted down near the pill furnace as well.

“Ahem.” Kuang Langsheng cleared his throat and glanced around mysteriously.

After making sure that the sword cultivators and shield cultivators were too busy patrolling to overhear, he scooted closer to Yu Youyou.

“Junior Sister Yu,” Kuang Langsheng lowered his voice.

“What is it?” Yu Youyou was fully focused on channeling her spiritual energy to refine the medicinal ingredients in the pill furnace, not even bothering to lift her head.

“How do you think my acting was just now?” Kuang Langsheng patted his chest, a faint blush appearing on his bronze-colored face—whether from excitement or guilt was unclear.

Yu Youyou remained silent, not responding.

Kuang Langsheng continued, “Look, even that arrogant Jiang Daoist has now taken your advice and is patrolling the area. Clearly, he was convinced by the strength of you alchemists.”