Chapter 98: Healing after the battle

Meng Jia put away all the vials he had taken out. He only kept a yellow pill with green stripes floating in his hand. Then, he turned toward Chief Elder Baishen.

"Chief Elder Baishen, infuse the medicinal essence of this pill within his Yin acupoints. Then circulate them according to the Wind course." There were several classical pathways for Qi circulation. Five of them were simply named according to the five elements. These were not particularly useful in martial arts or cultivation. However, they were used in medicine. It was easier to name them rather than to explain every acupoint and every meridian the Qi had to pass through.

Chief Elder Baishen was a bit knowledgeable in medicine. As the chief elder in charge of the martial art pavilion, she had had to help out some disciples after accidents and she had actively deepened her understanding of medicine to help them better. Instructor Meng Jia knew about this, so he did not waste any more time than necessary.

Every second was critical in order to heal Cao Yun. At first, Meng Jia had agreed to take him as a student because of Xiao Xuefeng's demand. However, he ended up really liking the kid and his talent. With his proficiency in alchemy, there was no way he was going to just let him die.

Similarly, that was also the case for Chief Elder Baishen. She was fond of his talent, but she also recognized that his character was upright, unlike Luduo Bu's. And in fact, no one cared for Luduo Bu at all. They did not even try to determine whether what Huang Cixi had said was true or not. They had both taken her words for it and it was logical. Luduo Bu was known to be violent and impulsive. Not many people liked him within the sect, but he had never crossed the red line, always breaking the rules enough to be punished but not expelled.

The yellow pill levitated in the air, under the control of Chief Elder Baishen. It slowly began to dissolve and a vague mist washed over Cao Yun's body. It delicately entered his mouth and went through his meridians. Chief Elder Baishen could have tried to send it through his acupoints directly but this was more brutal, especially for a Mortal who had not opened them yet. Once the medicinal essence got within his body, she circulated it according to Meng Jia's instructions and focused on the Yin acupoints along the way.

Meng Jia took out a balm and applied it to the wound on his back. It was not bleeding anymore as Cao Yun had lost a lot of blood already. However, it was wide open. The balm acted to close up the wound, just like scar tissues. It would also promote the self-repair of his flesh. This balm could speed up the natural healing process by a magnitude of five to six. Then, Meng Jia went to work on the halberd.

He unceremoniously took out the 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear' from Luduo Bu's body as blood spurted out a bit. Then, with utmost care, he applied the balm on Cao Yun's belly while taking off his uniform bits by bits. Ever so slowly, he took out the halberd's blade and used both the balm and his own Qi to prevent any more blood from spilling out. Cao Yun had already lost a great quantity of blood and every drop he lost would weaken him further and reduce his chances of survival.

Once both wounds were closed, Meng Jia delicately put him on the ground, laying him on his back.

As the situation seemed to be more in control, Meng Jia's tension alleviated. It had been ages since he had been so serious. Usually, he preferred to sleep most of his days and to live peacefully. His mastery of alchemy could not go higher before he finally broke through to the Spirit Warrior realm but he was not too hasty. In fact, he came to really like his slow life.

But today, Cao Yun's beaten body woke him up quite a lot. On the side, Huang Cixi was also extremely tense. When she finally saw Meng Jia calm down, she heaved a sigh of relief. She knew both of them were dotting on Cao Yun and the way they were treating him was proof of that. They would have helped any disciple, but they clearly cared a lot about this young boy.

Sensing that Cao Yun's state was stabilized, Chief Elder Baishen also heaved a sigh of relief. She was really putting all her focus on circulating the medicinal essence without hurting Cao Yun's body any more than it already was. With her spiritual senses, she could easily feel whether his life was in danger or not. Right now, he was safe. However, he had lost of lot of blood. Cao Yun was still unconscious and he would probably not wake up for a long time. To replenish enough blood and completely heal his internal wounds, it would take several days or even weeks.

Fortunately, the Wubei Sect had great physicians and Cao Yun would be carer for. Now that he was safe, Chief Elder Baishen finally started to analyze the scene. According to what Huang Cixi had said, Luduo Bu had most likely used demonic arts. And indeed, she felt Evil Qi all over Luduo Bu. But she also felt some Evil Qi around Cao Yun. Indeed, as they had fought, both of their Qi was all over each other. However, she did not catch a glimpse of the Drop of Wrath. It was nested deep within the Chamber of the Mysterious Elixir in Cao Yun's heart. Moreover, it was now in a state of slumber, digesting the Evil Qi and the blood runes it had absorbed.

But even when it was active, even Xiao Xuefeng could not feel it. She was the one with the most sensible spiritual senses. If she could not feel it, no one in the entire Hongchen kingdom could. The Drop of Wrath came from an existence no one in the Hongchen kingdom could even imagine and no matter how weakened it was, its innate properties protected it from spiritual senses.

This hurt the story of Huang Cixi, because the blood runes had completely disappeared without any trace at all. But it could be imagined that Luduo Bu had taken them back within his body. However, Chief Elder Baishen looked through his blood and every bit of his body with her spiritual senses. And she found nothing unusual except for the corrosion of Evil Qi. Sadly, it could have been explained by another theory.

And soon, someone who could adhere to this theory appeared, Chief Elder Bian. Considering the ruckus caused by Chief Elder Baishen's flight, the disciplinary pavilion had been warned. Accordingly, Chief Elder Bian decided to take action immediately. In a matter of minutes he was towering over them, up in the air, his spiritual senses spreading throughout the area. Since Luduo Bu's trial, he had a grudge against Cao Yun. Strangely, he was under the impression that Cao Yun had orchestrated everything and twisted the facts to accuse Luduo Bu.

And now that Luduo Bu was dead, he obviously suspected Cao Yun. A deep frown on his face, he examined every single trace of Qi on the scene. Usually, differentiating between Qi was pretty easy, especially for a Spirit Warrior. However, Evil Qi was another story altogether. As it was corrosive and full of resentment, it was a bit more difficult to trace it back to a single source. Xiao Xuefeng could do it easily, but for Chief Elder Bian, it was very complicated. With his spiritual senses, he could only feel that Cao Yun and Luduo Bu's bodies were covered in Evil Qi. However, only Luduo Bu's organs were corroded by this Qi.

There were only two possibilities. Either Luduo Bu had lost control of the Evil Qi he used. Or Cao Yun was the one who wielded Evil Qi against Luduo Bu. And with their difference in cultivation, it made sense for Chief Elder Bian that the latter was true. After all, if Luduo Bu had used Evil Qi, Cao Yun should have been killed with ease. Ironically, Chief Elder Bian was technically right. Cao Yun had indeed used Evil Qi, against his will, when the Drop of Wrath had absorbed the Evil Qi from the blood runes. And Luduo Bu had also lost control over his Evil Qi, because of his inner demon and his frustration about both Cao Yun's dodges and the loss of his blood runes.

Chief Elder Bian was a reasonable man in theory. But he felt wronged by Cao Yun for some reason. There was only one irrational thing in his mind, the law. For him, law was absolute and needed to be adhered to very strictly. As such, he wanted to get back to Cao Yun, but it did not mean that he would just make up false charges. On the other hand, his grudge painted the situation the worst way possible for him.

Knowing that Chief Elder Baishen would oppose him, he decided not to act right away. After all, it was clear that Cao Yun would stay comatose for a few weeks at least. His first course of action should be interrogating Cao Yun's servant in a neutral place. With both Cao Yun's personal instructor and Chief Elder Bian, he knew that everything would be favorable to Cao Yun.

With his spiritual senses, he sent orders to the disciplinary pavilion. Within the Wubei Sect, array formations allowed his telepathy to reach almost everywhere. Even though his senses could not reach as far, some disciples were always posted in the disciplinary pavilion in order to receive such orders. As such, he easily contacted them. He could not get any response but he did not need to. His orders were absolute.

He made sure that the interrogation rooms were ready. He also sent orders to keep watch over Cao Yun. Finally, he went down.

"Sister Baishen, have you contacted the physician pavilion?"

"Of course, they'll be here soon enough. I gave them all the details, Chen Guo should be perfectly fine." Chief Elder Baishen's voice contained defiance and a bit of resentment. This angered Chief Elder Bian once more, but he kept his composure.

"Fine. My pavilion will need to investigate." He turned toward Huang Cixi. "You're Mei Yuzhi, the servant of Chen Guo, right?"

Huang Cixi felt as though she was immersed in freezing water. Unable to speak, she simply nodded.

"Brother Bian! Don't you feel any shame? Bullying a servant?" Chief Elder Baishen's spiritual senses blocked those of Chief Elder Bian.

"Sister, do not wrong me with such infamous accusations! Mei Yuzhi is the only witness, so I need to interrogate her carefully. I do not mean to bully her. If it can appease you, I swear upon my honor that she won't be mistreated one bit."

"Hmph! What honor is that, Brother? I'll send one of my servants to watch over the interrogation. You would have no reason to object, right?"

Chief Elder Bian's face got distorted for an instant. "Fine. I do not wish to fight with you, Sister. But whoever you send may not intervene during the interrogation."

Huang Cixi clearly saw that Chief Elder Bian was biased against Cao Yun. Ideas popped up in her mind. With this bias, she could easily lead him to believe that Cao Yun was responsible for everything. If he was condemned for murdering a fellow disciple, the worst punishment could be death. Even if she only lead the conversation to make him believe that Cao Yun was the one attacked but that he had acted with too much violence, he could suffer a lesser punishment. Then, she remembered that he had almost died to save her. In fact, he really chose death to protect her. At the time, he had no way to know that he could survive, and yet he risked it all to protect her.

Hence, she decided to stay truthful. She would even go as far as do everything to present Cao Yun under a favorable light. With her words, she was masterful. In fact, she had not seen the elements that could incriminate Cao Yun, such as him absorbing the blood runes. Quickly, she knew exactly how to turn her sentences to favor her master. She had no need to lie at all, just use the right words to describe what had happened.

Very soon, a physician came flying. The physician was an old woman, in the middle of the Spirit Warrior realm. She did not waste any time saluting the elders and with her spiritual powers, she lifted up Cao Yun's body with extreme care. Immediately, she left for the physician pavilion.

Cao Yun would stay several days there. When his state was deemed stable enough, the physicians agreed to send him back in his room. There, his friends visited him often. In fact, when Mei Ying learned about her older brother, she insisted in staying with him as much as possible. Mei Hua as well stayed there a lot to visit him. After all, she had free time since her master had left the Wubei Sect for the time being, pursuing some intel she had received. However, Mei Hua knew nothing of her mission.

Ren Chao and Sun Liao spent many hours with him too. Sun Liao even asked his master, Chief Elder Suxian, to set up an array formation in order to increase Cao Yun's recovery. Coupled with Meng Jia's pills, this array formation allowed Cao Yun's body to be fully healed in less than a week. But then, he needed to replenish both his Qi and blood. The physicians had seen that his acupoints had been stressed. If they rushed his recovery, his future cultivation would be threatened. Given his talent, everyone agreed that the best thing to do was to take as much time as possible.

During his coma, Cao Yun slowly healed. And deep within his heart, the Drop of Wrath started to become more active. When he first refined it within his heart with the knowledge from Cleansed Asura, it had replenished all his blood, giving a bit of its properties to his body. Right now, a similar process was happening. For quite a while, Cao Yun had been more and more reluctant in using the Drop of Wrath, understanding the danger it was for him.

However, now that he was unconscious, there was nothing he could do to prevent it from acting on its own. The new blood that Cao Yun produced came directly from the Drop of Wrath. It was thicker than his past blood and even slightly hotter as well. Also, it contained at least 20% more Qi. Blood, as many other fluids, also served to circulate Qi.

All these changes were not that perceptible, even for the physicians. They were really subtle and spanned over several days. Fortunately, the Drop of Wrath did not emit or produce any Evil Qi. And the new blood was fully Cao Yun's, it was not under the influence of the Drop of Wrath, thanks to the 'Domination of Wrath' technique he had inherited from Cleansed Asura.