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"What do you mean by that?" Gu Li embraced An Lu and pressed for answers, his eyes bloodshot. Venerate Spirit Treasure merely glanced at him coldly but said nothing.

"Tell me!" Gu Li was really about to go mad. An Lu was his life, yet now, this person was saying that if he carried her down the mountain, she was doomed.

He was now overcome with regret. If he'd known something like this would happen, no matter how much An Lu begged him, he never, ever would have brought her someplace like this.

"Is that how you beg someone?" Venerate Spirit Treasure snorted. "You lack the strength befitting the Emperor Star, but you've sure got the temper part down."

"Venerate, Gu Li is desperate to save her. If you know what's happening, please just say it," said Ye Zichen. He was worried too.

"I'm still not completely certain, but what I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt is that bringing them down the mountain will kill them. All we can do now is keep moving." Venerate Spirit Treasure looked at An Lu and Pu Jingwan. "They'd best travel separately from the others. We can't say for sure that their symptoms aren't infectious."

"What do you mean?" Gu Li glared.

"There's no need to glower. I'm just telling it how it is. Not even the Hermit Emperor can discern the source of their symptoms. I have my suspicions, but I can't prove their veracity. Furthermore, that girl you're holding only started showing signs of distress after getting close to Pu jingwan. Who knows? Their sickness might very well be infectious."

Venerate Spirit Treasure's gaze was utterly calm as he continued, "They should definitely travel separately from the rest of us. And you, too. You're holding her so close, you might have already become a vector for disease. Please keep your distance from the rest of us."

"Hmph. Even if you hadn't said anything, I have no desire to associate with you." Gu Li gnashed his teeth and carried An Lu to the back of their procession.

After a moment's silent contemplation, Ye Zichen went over to join him.

"Ye-zi."

"Don't come over. Venerate Spirit Treasure is right; we don't know the source of their illness. Besides, we're currently in a vicious beast-infested mountain range. If we all get sick, then run into vicious beasts, there's a real risk we'll all get wiped out." As Ye Zichen said this, he glanced pointedly at Gu Li; he was saying this in part so Gu Li understood Venerate Spirit Treasure's intentions.

Those suspected of carrying the illness were to travel separately, at the end of the procession, while those who were still healthy led the way forward.

However….

"Monkey." None of them imagined that not long after, the Great Sage developed the same symptoms. But it wasn't just him; even Xuan Ji started showing signs of the same illness.

When their symptoms flared up, even imperial lords collapsed with symptoms similar to altitude sickness.

The Great Sage supported himself with his hands and coughed. Xuan Ji frowned, then sat on the ground, unable to take so much as a single step further.

"Pu Jingwan." Just as the group came to a stop, Pu Jingwan, who'd been the first to show symptoms, collapsed in a snowbank.

Ye Zichen checked her condition. He could still sense her breathing, but her breath was so weak and shallow it was only barely noticeable.

Even the Hermit Emperor was at a loss. He'd been practicing medicine for hundreds of thousands of years, but he'd never once encountered such strange symptoms before.

Venerate Spirit Treasure walked up to Pu Jingwan, then lifted her eyelids. Then, he put his fingers to her neck. Finally, he tore the sleeves of her left arm.

A deep red line snaked up her arm. It had almost spread to her shoulder.

Then, he went up to An Lu and tore her left sleeve off too. She had a similar red line, but hers hadn't spread quite as far yet.

Next, he went to Xuan Ji and the Great Sage. They all had similar marks.

Especially the Great Sage. The red mark was even more severe than Pu Jingwan's.

"Have you been enduring all this time?" Venerate Spirit Treasure looked at him.

The Great Sage said nothing, but it was obvious that he was really suffering. He'd gone from gasping and letting out dry coughs to outright dry-heaving.

"Venerate Spirit Treasure, what exactly is happening?" The Hermit Emperor couldn't figure out what was happening behind the scenes, but judging from Venerate Spirit Treasure's behavior, he knew a little."

Those without symptoms looked over. Venerate Spirit Treasure furrowed his brows, then looked around the group. "If I'm not mistaken, the problem started on the mountain."

"Do we need you to tell us that?" snapped Gu Li.

Venerate Spirit Treasure glanced at the infuriated Gu Li. He didn't seem to want to continue, but he was on good terms with the Great Sage. Whenever they had free time, they'd discuss everything they'd learned about "treasure-hunting". He didn't care if the others died, but if the Great Sage died too, he'd be down a dear friend.

So he directly ignored Gu Li, then turned to Ye Zichen. "Given their symptoms, it seems they've inhaled Thousand Petal Lotus pollen."

"Thousand Petal Lotus?" The Hermit Emperor's eyebrows shot up. It seemed he knew about this flower's existence. "But that's used to make medicine. Numerous pills include traces of Thousand Petal Lotus. I've never heard of it poisoning anyone."

"It's true that Thousand Petal Lotus is a medicinal ingredient," said Venerate Spirit Treasure. "But how much pollen do you use when refining pills?"

The Hermit Emperor was no grandmaster pill refiner, but practicing medicine year round meant he had a decent understanding of pills. He instantly understood what Venerate Spirit Treasure was getting at.

"Are you saying there's a path of Thousand Petal Lotuses nearby?"

Venerate Spirit Treasure nodded noncommittaly. "Thousand Petal Lotuses grow in snowy mountains. A snowy peak beset with blizzards is the perfect environment for them. Furthermore, this is the Transcendent Mausoleum; it only appears before the world once in billions of years. No outside force can destroy the flowers or disrupt their growth. Just how much can a Thousand Petal Lotus patch grow in a hundred million years?"

"This…" When he heard it described like this, the Hermit Emperor could imagine entire mountains just covered in flowers.

Thousand Petal Lotuses were a famous, expensive ingredient, and they were used to purify and enhance medicines. Even divine grade medicines would benefit from the inclusion of a trace amount of pollen; it would enhance their purity.

That's why, outside, Thousand Petal Lotuses were worth cities. Furthermore, supply came nowhere close to meeting demand.

Countless pill refiners dreamed about obtaining them.

In the Upper Three Realms, if someone found even one Thousand Petal Lotus, they could turn their lives around. After selling it, they could acquire enough resources to go from a supreme all the way to a diviner.

It was clear how precious these flowers were.

But the Hermit Emperor hadn't known that, in excessive quantities, this precious pollen was poisonous.

It wasn't that he was ignorant. It was just that, even if you searched throughout the Upper Three Realms, there was now way there were any million-plus-year-old lotuses in pristine, hidden lands to be found. Whenever someone found a lotus, even if it had yet to mature, they'd take it. They'd even take all the dirt in the surrounding territory if they could.

"You still haven't said how to save them," said Gu Li.

He didn't give a whit about whether it was a Thousand Petal Lotus or not, or about how valuable an ingredient the lotuses were. All he could see was the poisoned, suffering An Lu. All he cared about was curing her.

"The area around Thousand Petal Lotus is also home to a plant called 'Worry-Alleviating Grass.' It's extremely toxic, but if you eat it, you can forget your worries. Of course, the end result is still death. Hermit Emperor, you ought to know about it too. This type of grass is typically picked for use in antidotes," said Venerate Spirit Treasure.

The Hermit Emperor nodded in response. Venerate Spirit Treasure continued, "The only thing that can cure Thousand Petal Lotus poisoning is Worry-Alleviating Grass. To survive such a dense concentration of the lotuses, the grass is naturally highly resistant to its pollen's effects. Search for it, then feed it to the afflicted. That way, they'll still have a chance of survival. As for where precisely the plants are located, given their symptoms, it ought to be nearby. Search carefully for it."

"I'll go now." Gu Li didn't even need to think.

"If you go on your own, you're just throwing your life away. Thousand Petal Lotus is a supreme treasure of the Upper Three Realms. Even a single stalk is sure to have a vicious beast guarding it, much less an entire patch. If there's not an entire group of beasts guarding the area, that means whichever beast claimed it is strong enough to protect the flowers on its own. Its cultivation is sure to be quite high."

Venerate Spirit Treasure looked at Gu Li, who'd let all the blood rush to his head. Then, he turned to Yang Jian and Ye Zichen. "You two should accompany him. The Hermit Emperor and I will stay behind to take care of the patients. But you'd best hurry back; Pu Jingwan and the monkey are in particularly bad shape, and they don't have much time left. If the red lines reach their heart, new lotuses will sprout there."

Sprouting new lotuses?

Everyone's expressions grew solemn. If Thousand Petal Lotuses sprouted in their heart, no one could save them.

They had to find the Worry-Alleviating Grass as quickly as possible.

"We'll go right now."

"Before you do, leave me with some spiritual recovery medicines. They're burning through their spiritual power extremely quickly, and in this frigid climate, without spiritual energy to protect their bodies, the cold will kill them before the flowers get the chance," said Venerate Spirit Treasure.

….

….

….

Yet another vast stretch of ice and snow.

Ye Zichen left practically every divine-grade spiritual recovery medicine he had on hand with Venerate Spirit Treasure. He only had a few bottles left, which he'd kept to use himself, just in case.

Yang Jian, Gu Li, and Ye Zichen left the group and searched this endless expanse of snow for the lotuses' location.

Based on Venerate Spirit Treasure's description, there ought to be a huge patch of the flowers in the area. However, it was still hard to find; this was an ice-covered mountain, an endless sea of snowy white. The flowers, too, were white through and through. The snow served to camouflage them, making them difficult to locate.

"We left in too much of a hurry," said Yang Jian. "We ought to have asked about how to locate them."

"Thousand Petals Lotuses have a unique scent. If there's a whole patch of them, the smell should be quite intense. All we have to do is follow our noses," said Gu Li.

"Are you an idiot?" Yang Jian rolled his eyes irritably. "Listen to this wind! Even if there is a distinctive smell, do you really think we can figure out where it's coming from?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Unusually, even though he'd just been yelled at, Gu Li didn't fire back.

"I…." Yang Jian fearfully pursed his lips. "People don't usually entrust me with anything that requires using your brain."

"Ssh!" Before Gu Li could retort, Ye Zichen put his finger to his lips to silence them. Then, he pointed at a spot not too far away, where there was a ten-meter-wide footprint. "I think we found it!"