Chapter 34: Master of Medicine and Poison
However, even if she did have a method, he dared not ask.
To put it bluntly, Ying Tong’s willingness to exchange ten spiritual herbs for the sarira was already a generous gesture.
Otherwise, with Ying Tong’s strength, even if she were to take them by force, what could Lingxiao Sect do? After all, twelve years ago, a young Ying Tong had nearly destroyed the entire Lingxiao Sect—let alone now.
Taking them by force would simply tarnish her reputation a bit, but no one would feel compelled to stand up for Lingxiao Sect.
“In that case, I’ll have someone bring the Buddha beads. Please wait a moment, Venerable Yunhuang,” the Lingxiao Sect Master said with a smile.
The other peak masters and elders had no objections. In fact, they stared intently at the ten spiritual herbs.
Before long, an elder approached holding a tray with a long string of beads resting atop it.
At first glance, the sarira looked no different from ordinary beads—perhaps even less refined than common beads.
Upon closer inspection, the surface appeared rough, and the beads didn’t feel particularly good to the touch.
Ying Tong looked at the sarira on the tray and scanned them with her divine sense. They were exactly as expected: 107 beads in total, all of them sacred relics.
Keeping a calm expression, she took them and put them away.
“Thank you.”
She then placed the ten spiritual herbs before the Lingxiao Sect Master.
Before the sect master could reach for them, an elder standing closest to him quickly grabbed them first.
“Sect Master, with your clumsy hands, let me be the one to store these safely,” he said.
The others looked on in shock and regret.
They were astonished at the elder’s shamelessness and regretted their own hesitation.
Since Ying Tong was still there, none of them dared say anything.
Originally, Ying Tong had planned to leave right after obtaining the items, but just then, a disciple hurriedly ran in and said, “Sect Master, someone has fainted outside the sect gates.”
The Lingxiao Sect Master frowned. “It’s just one person. Bring them inside, arrange a place for them, and once they wake up, let them leave on their own.”
Such a trivial matter hardly seemed worth reporting.
The disciple shook his head. “We found this on the person.”
With that, he pulled out a token from his sleeve.
Although it was covered in blood, the character “Ying” on it was still very clear.
“This is the exclusive token of a Ying family member,” Ying Xuechen remarked.
He took the token and turned it over, revealing the characters “Shao An” engraved on the back.
“Ying Shaoan? Take me to see this person,” Ying Tong said quickly.
As she walked, thoughts about Ying Shaoan filled her mind.
Ying Shaoan was born with an extraordinary talent for alchemy, known for his unparalleled skills in both medicine and poison. He was renowned as a master of both.
But in Ying Tong’s dreams, Ying Shaoan had been consumed by his obsession to create a pill that could revive the dead, driving him mad and causing the deaths of many people.
Some who consumed his pills mutated into poisonous beings.
If Ying Xuejian had ascended from the lower realm to disturb the Cangqiong Realm, Ying Shaoan had gone the opposite way, spreading his chaos by descending from the Cangqiong Realm to the smaller realms.
Several smaller worlds had become infested with poisonous beings because of him.
This alone showed that Ying Shaoan was as dangerous as Ying Xuejian.
However, Ying Tong was more curious as to why he was so obsessed with bringing people back from the dead.
Her dream hadn’t provided an answer, so it seemed she would have to investigate on her own.
Guided by the Lingxiao Sect disciple, Ying Tong soon found Ying Shaoan.
At this time, Ying Shaoan was merely a ten-year-old child, lying on the bed with his eyes tightly shut, unconscious.
The disciple who had led them there explained, “We’ve already checked his body. He hasn’t suffered any injuries, and the blood on him isn’t his own. The reason he fainted and hasn’t woken up yet is simply due to extreme exhaustion.”
“Do you know why he appeared here?” Ying Tong asked.
The disciple shook his head. “Not sure, but it seems he fell from the sky. He must have had a defensive artifact on him, which is probably why he survived such a high fall without injury.”
At that moment, Ying Xuechen added, “Venerable, I’ve already sent a message back to investigate his identity. He’s likely a child from one of the branch families.”
Due to Ying Shaoan’s presence, Ying Tong and Ying Xuechen decided to stay temporarily. After all, Lingxiao Sect had the best alchemists and the finest doctors.
Although Ying Shaoan appeared uninjured externally, he had numerous internal injuries and even toxic buildup within his body.
As the Lingxiao Sect Master and the others listed the types of toxins found in Ying Shaoan, Ying Tong’s face grew darker with each one.
“It’s like a full mix of poisons in there,” Ying Xuechen couldn’t help but remark.
He was seriously wondering how this child, with so many toxins inside him, was still alive.
An elder commented, “Young Master Xuechen, there are times when having multiple toxins isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Have you heard of ‘using poison to counter poison’? From what I can observe, while there are many toxins within him, most seem to counteract each other—such as this fire poison and cold poison.”
“These poisons have reached a delicate balance in his body. As long as no external force disrupts this balance, their effect on him is minimal.”
Even those who were well-versed in such matters couldn’t help but marvel at how these various poisons had achieved such harmony within a single person.
If this person weren’t a member of the Ying family, and if Ying Tong and Ying Xuechen weren’t standing here, they would truly be tempted to keep him and study him thoroughly—what a pity.
But who exactly was behind this? Whoever managed to accomplish this must certainly be a remarkable healer.
After listening to the elder’s explanation, Ying Tong glanced at the unconscious Ying Shaoan lying on the bed, a faint suspicion forming in her mind.
A talent for both medicine and poison, showing signs so young?
She then used her spiritual senses to examine Ying Shaoan and found no trace of Pill Intent; it seemed it hadn’t been awakened yet, likely due to the influence of the toxins.
Although they had said the toxins’ effect on him was minimal, “minimal” didn’t mean none at all.
From the outside, Ying Shaoan’s bone age indicated he was eleven, yet he appeared more like a child under ten.
Since resolving Ying Shaoan’s toxins required time to craft specific antidote pills, Ying Tong and Ying Xuechen decided to stay.
“What do you plan to do with those prayer beads?” Lan Feng, now perched on Ying Tong’s shoulder in a smaller form, asked. “The beads have become ordinary now. If you break them apart for individual use, their power will weaken greatly and may not be enough to suppress the Demonic Heart and Demonic Bones.”
