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Chapter 432: A Series of Good Fortunes
🕑 Added 2024-10-15 10:13:03 +0000 UTCAfter gulping down the potion in one go, Wang Gang could clearly feel the fierce medicinal power surging through his entire body, violently stimulating his meridians and dantian. At that moment, it felt as if his meridians and dantian were on fire, the pain so intense it was nearly unbearable.
Although Lin Qian had warned him beforehand, the actual pain far exceeded his expectations. As he focused inward, Wang Gang could see the purple medicinal power from the potion forcefully drilling into the walls of his meridians and dantian, transforming into purple flames that burned fiercely.
Simultaneously, he could sense a faint purple mist rising from the burning flames, gradually dissipating from his body.
“Ahhh!” Wang Gang collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.
Seeing the once steady and composed Wang Gang unable to endure such intense pain, rolling on the ground in anguish, Barreto began to understand the severity of the suffering caused by the potion.
However, Barreto also recognized that to attain greater power, such pain was an unavoidable hurdle that had to be faced.
Lin Qian had been fully informed about the potential pain from the potion when Zhuge Ming handed it to him. Therefore, Wang Gang’s reaction was within expectations, and there was no cause for alarm.
While Wang Gang endured the effects of the potion, Lin Qian, having nothing else to do until he saw the results, casually struck up a conversation with Barreto. "I seem to recall you mentioning earlier that your people didn’t initially resist the Blackhorn Kingdom’s rule. What changed?"
Barreto sighed deeply. “Indeed, the Blackhorn Clan and our Redhorn Clan are both branches of the Lingjiao Clan, with one focusing on physical cultivation and the other on soul power.”
"In the past, the Blackhorn branch was undoubtedly stronger, so their rule was accepted as a matter of course. However, about a thousand years ago, the Blackhorn King’s temperament drastically changed, becoming increasingly tyrannical. Eventually, we four clans could no longer tolerate it, leading us to our current situation."
As Barreto finished speaking, Lin Qian fell into deep thought.
The spiritual energy anomaly in the Southern Nine Provinces began eight thousand years ago, but the underground Forest World’s spiritual energy levels had remained unchanged throughout that time. The Blackhorn King’s sudden shift in behavior a thousand years ago seemed like it could be connected to the anomaly, though the timelines didn’t quite match up.
“To uncover the truth, we must investigate the entire Forest World.” Lin Qian contemplated silently. The situation in this underground world was complex, and the clues regarding the spiritual energy theft pointed directly to the Blackhorn Kingdom’s palace. To understand the full story, Lin Qian realized he would need to enter the palace.
There was only one path forward—conquer the entire Forest World, integrate it into the territory of the Huaxia Empire, and storm the Blackhorn palace to uncover the truth.
“Looks like another battle is on the horizon,” Lin Qian thought, feeling a surge of excitement. However, he knew he couldn’t recklessly summon the Huaxia army to attack the Blackhorn Kingdom just yet.
The Forest World was vast and still largely unknown. According to Wang Gang’s descriptions, it was comparable in size to three entire provinces of the surface world. Along the way, Lin Qian had discreetly summoned scout beasts to spread out in all directions, but it would take at least three months to fully map the Forest World.
If he deployed the swift Wind Beasts, the task could be completed in half a month, but their presence would attract too much attention. For now, Lin Qian preferred to remain inconspicuous and gather information quietly, leaving the job to the scout beasts.
“The Blackhorn King is likely the key to this,” Lin Qian concluded.
The presence of the blood-red aura in the Blackhorn palace, combined with the king’s sudden change in behavior, made him the most probable cause of the issue. These two unusual factors pointed to a significant problem.
Having decided on his next course of action, Lin Qian focused his attention on observing Wang Gang, who was enduring the effects of the cleansing potion. His spiritual sense enveloped Wang Gang, monitoring his condition closely and relaying the information to the Tian Gong Division.
The cleansing potion, as its name suggested, was designed to purge the effects of the Transformation Fruit from the bodies of the Forest World’s humans, restoring them to their natural state. While the Tian Gong Division’s analysis had confirmed that the potion should work as intended, Hua Sheng had warned that if they mass-produced it without proper testing, he would personally ensure Zhuge Ming paid the price.
“Damn that old man!” Zhuge Ming grumbled as he watched Hua Sheng walk away with his good tea, though he didn’t dare voice his complaints too loudly.
As a strategist and warrior, Zhuge Ming possessed considerable strength, but Hua Sheng, the empire’s foremost physician, was not only skilled in healing but also a master of poisons. Even though the empire’s top leaders had all taken antidotes to prevent poisoning, Hua Sheng could still incapacitate them if given the chance. After all, who said poison was the only way to knock someone out? Overdosing on tonics could work just as well.
As Lin Qian transmitted the information back, the Tian Gong Division analyzed the cleansing potion’s effects and confirmed that the results were better than expected.
"That old man Hua Sheng really knows his stuff," Zhuge Ming remarked with a satisfied smile as he reviewed the data on the tactical screen.
As he continued to scrutinize the information, his expression changed, as if he had discovered something even more remarkable. Excitedly, he exclaimed, "Your Majesty, this truly is an unexpected boon!"
“Oh? What’s so special about it? Tell me more,” Lin Qian responded, sensing that something good was indeed on the horizon.
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