Dual Cultivation

Hearing Su Yang's question, a worried expression appeared on Xie Xingfang's face, and she spoke in a low voice, "As much as I want to say that everything is perfectly fine, I think my body is finally starting to feel the effects of the poison."

"Can you explain it in more detail?" Su Yang asked her.

Xie Xingfang nodded and said, "It started a few days after I returned home from the Profound Blossom Sect, and although it was not noticeable at first, I can feel my body temperature getting slightly warmer every day."

"Let me see your hands." Su Yang placed his tea down and walked to her.

Xie Xingfang offered her hand to him a few moments later.

"Hmm…" Su Yang closed his eyes as he inspected her body with his spiritual sense.

"What's wrong, Su Yang? Is it something serious?" Lord Xie asked him after seeing the frown on his face.

"No… Not yet." Su Yang shook his head.

"What do you mean by that?" Xie Wang asked him with an anxious expression on his face.

"It's nothing serious now, but she is starting to feel the symptoms, and it will only continue to worsen from this point. Furthermore, she's experiencing the symptoms a little earlier than I'd expected. If this continues, she might have less time than we thought."

The entire room turned silent after hearing Su Yang's words.

A few moments later, Liu Lanzhi spoke in a puzzled voice, "Umm… What is happening? Are you sick or something, Xing'er?"

Xie Xingfang turned to look at Su Yang, who nodded his head.

Seeing his approval, Xie Xingfang explained the situation to her.

"Due to my ignorance, I'd poisoned myself during my training, and I will die if it's not cured soon…"

"What?! You'll die?! It's that serious?!" Liu Lanzhi exclaimed in shock, as did the other disciples.

"What about a cure? Do you know how to cure it?" she quickly asked.

Xie Xingfang nodded and said, "Yes, we know how to cure it, and we even have the prescription for it. However, we do not have the ingredients for the cure yet, as we are still waiting for two of them…"

"Speaking of the ingredients… The Devil Blood Ginseng should be mature now, so we can harvest it." Su Yang suddenly said.

"Really? Then what are we waiting for?!" Lord Xie immediately said.

However, Su Yang shook his head and said, "I can get the Devil Blood Ginseng at any time, but even if we have it, we cannot cure her without the other ingredient— the Purple Qilin's blood."

He then looked at Xie Wang and asked him, "Do you have the ingredients ready for the poison-immunity pill I spoke about before?"

"..."

Xie Wang remained silent with a dispirited expression on his face, causing Su Yang to frown, "You don't have the ingredients?"

"Unfortunately, we are missing one ingredient from the list— the Four Element Roots." Xie Wang sighed. "I have looked everywhere for it, and there's a good chance that it doesn't exist in this world."

"Why do you look as though there's no hope left?" Su Yang suddenly said after seeing his pale face. "If it doesn't exist in the Eastern Continent, we can simply go to the Holy Central Continent to see whether they have it or not. If they don't, I will think of something else."

"A-Are you really going to the Holy Central Continent…?" Lord Xie asked him with disbelief.

He nodded and said, "I actually wanted to go earlier, but then I remembered that you also wanted to go, so I decided to wait for a little bit longer."

"..." Lord Xie was speechless. He didn't think Su Yang would actually keep his words, much less wait for him.

"So? Do you want to go or not?" Su Yang asked him a moment later.

"I-I-I do! I do!" Lord Xie nodded his head in a hasty manner.

"C-Can I also come, too?" Xie Wang asked him, looking like a child who was being left behind.

"Do as you please," said Su Yang.

"Thank you!" Xie Wang said to him with teary eyes.

"When can we go?" Lord Xie asked him.

"We can leave once they enter the Celestial Pond. That'll give us seven days."

"Good! The Celestial Pond will be open in three days!" Lord Xie said.

Su Yang nodded, then he looked at Xie Xingfang and spoke, "Don't tell me you are also entering the Celestial Pond?"

"Eh? I can't?" Xie Xingfang looked at him with wide eyes, as this was fairly sudden.

Even Lord Xie and Xie Wang looked at him with anxious expressions, even feeling a little impatient for his answer.

"Unless you want to worsen your condition, I wouldn't suggest it." Su Yang then said a moment later.

"..."

"..."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Xie Wang sighed loudly, "I knew something like this would happen…"

He slapped his forehead before rubbing his temples in a stressful manner.

"Is there anything we can do, Su Yang? Missing the Celestial Pond is no small matter…" Lord Xie asked him. Surely, there must be something they can do.

However, Su Yang shook his head and said, "If you don't mind worsening the poison in her body in exchange for some minor improvements in her cultivation and potentially making the cure pointless then you can do whatever you want. Don't say I didn't warn you, though."

"..."

The entire room turned speechless again.

"Su Yang is right, father. What use are 2 years of cultivation if I die from the poison two months later? While it definitely hurts that I cannot enter the Celestial Pond now, I can simply do it when it opens again the next time. And even if I have to wait 100 years, at least I will still be alive then."

Hearing her words, Lord Xie nodded his head and said, "I understand. You are right, Xing'er. I would rather have you alive and well even if you miss the Celestial Pond."