Daqin arrests alchemists, what does it matter to me as a qi refiner?

Upon hearing this, the guards immediately rushed forward to capture Yang Ling, but to their surprise, they found themselves unable to move. It turned out that Yang Ling had secretly set up an array that had immobilized them all.

"Fusu, Fusu, do you really think I, Yang Ling, am a lamb to the slaughter?" Yang Ling said coldly to Fusu. "I can leave the palace at any time if I want to, but doing so would only make my loved ones suffer and my enemies rejoice. So I have decided to stay and fight you to the end! Let's see who will have the last laugh!" As he spoke, he flicked his fingers and released the guards from their immobilization spell.

Once the guards regained their freedom, they immediately tried to capture Yang Ling again, but they found they were no match for him. Yang Ling easily dodged their attacks and then swept his hand back, knocking them all to the ground.

Fusu was shocked to see this—he hadn't expected Yang Ling to possess such profound martial arts and magic. Knowing he couldn't defeat Yang Ling today, he could only glare at him resentfully before turning and leaving.

After Fusu stormed off, Yang Ling took a deep breath. He knew this turmoil was far from over, and he had to find the real culprit as soon as possible to completely clear his name. However, what was more urgent was explaining the cause of Xiao Li's death to dispel everyone's misunderstandings.

He turned and walked to Leonardo DiCaprio's body, squatted down, and examined it carefully. Then he took a pill from his pocket and put it in DiCaprio's mouth. Everyone watched his actions in surprise, wondering what he was going to do.

After a while, Little Li's complexion gradually returned to normal, and his breathing became steady. Then he suddenly opened his eyes, sat up, and looked at the people around him with blank expressions.

"What... what happened?" Little Li touched his chest, feeling a slight pain, but the suffocating sensation from before was gone.

Yang Ling breathed a sigh of relief and explained, "The antidote you just took was made from cinnabar. Cinnabar itself is highly poisonous, but it can only be transformed into an antidote through a specific refining method. After taking the antidote, you must take another antidote to completely neutralize the cinnabar's toxicity. Otherwise, you will experience the symptoms of apparent death you just saw."

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized that Little Li hadn't actually died, but had been temporarily paralyzed by the poison of cinnabar. This also explained why Yang Ling dared to let Little Li test the medicine—because he had an antidote that could revive him.

Little Li knelt before Yang Ling, tears streaming down his face, and said, "I will never forget the Imperial Preceptor's life-saving grace! From now on, my life belongs to the Imperial Preceptor!"

Yang Ling helped Xiao Li up and said with a smile, "You don't need to thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank His Majesty. It is His Majesty's great fortune that gave you the opportunity to obtain this antidote pill." He knew that although this trial was successful, it had also exposed many problems. He had to improve the antidote pill's refining method as soon as possible to ensure that similar accidents would not occur again in the future.

Just then, a commotion broke out outside, and a guard rushed in: "Your Excellency, it's terrible! Prince Fusu has led a large group of men into the palace!"

Yang Ling's heart sank upon hearing this—he knew Fusu was serious this time. Immediate action was necessary to protect the King and Queen. He quickly arranged for reinforcements to strengthen the palace's defenses and personally led a team of elite guards to confront Fusu.

A sinister glint flashed in Fusu's eyes as he looked at Yang Ling. He hadn't expected Yang Ling to possess such power to bring Li Zicheng "back to life." However, this didn't change his plan; he was determined to take down Yang Ling and seize the throne from Ying Zheng. "Yang Ling, do you think you can clear your name like this?" Fusu said with a sneer. "Let me tell you, no one can stop me today!" With that, he waved his hand, and his men immediately charged forward to engage Yang Ling's forces in battle.

Chaos erupted both inside and outside the palace, with shouts of battle and the clashing of weapons filling the air. Yang Ling charged ahead, engaging Fusu's forces in fierce combat. He knew this battle concerned the fate and future of the entire nation, and there could be no room for complacency or retreat.

In the fierce battle, Yang Ling and Fusu's forces clashed, swords flashing and danger lurking everywhere. Yang Ling, relying on his profound martial arts and magic, charged left and right across the battlefield as if it were empty. However, he knew that continuing like this was not a sustainable strategy; he needed to find a breakthrough as soon as possible to turn the tide of the battle.

So he fought while searching for an opportunity to speak with Fusu. Finally, during a brief exchange, he seized the chance to shout, "Fusu! Wake up! Doing this will only cause pain to your loved ones and joy to your enemies! Do you really want to see the country descend into internal strife and the people suffer?"

Upon hearing this, Fusu was taken aback, and his attack slowed slightly. However, he quickly regained his ferocious expression: "Yang Ling! Don't try to deceive me with sweet words! Today, I will take you and Ying Zheng no matter what! I am determined to have this throne!"

Yang Ling's heart sank—it seemed Fusu had been completely blinded by power and desire, and was no longer willing to listen to any advice. He knew that continuing like this would only lead to more innocent people bleeding and sacrificing themselves. Therefore, he decided to take more decisive action to end this battle.

He took a deep breath, channeling all his energy to prepare to unleash his most powerful spell to crush Fusu's forces in one fell swoop. However, at that moment, he suddenly felt a wave of weakness wash over him—it turned out that he had expended too much energy and power while refining the antidote pill, and now he could no longer support himself in unleashing such a powerful spell.

Fusu was overjoyed at the sight—he realized Yang Ling was already exhausted! This was the opportunity he had been waiting for! So he immediately swung his weapon and launched a fierce attack on Yang Ling: "Yang Ling! Prepare to die!"

Yang Ling barely dodged Fusu's attack, inwardly cursing his fate—at this rate, he feared he might truly perish here. But just then, he suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him: "Grand Preceptor! We've come to lend you a hand!"

Yang Ling turned around and saw that Xu Fu had arrived with a team of elite guards! Seeing Yang Ling in trouble, they immediately rushed forward and engaged Fusu's forces in fierce combat. With the arrival of Xu Fu and his men, the tide of battle turned instantly. Although Fusu's forces outnumbered their opponents, they gradually fell into a disadvantageous position under the combined attack of Yang Ling and Xu Fu.

Fusu was shocked to see this – he hadn't expected Yang Ling to have reinforcements! And these reinforcements were incredibly powerful! He knew he couldn't win today, so he could only glare at Yang Ling resentfully before turning and fleeing the battlefield with his remaining troops.

Yang Ling watched Fusu's retreating figure and breathed a sigh of relief—the crisis was finally temporarily averted. However, he knew this battle was merely the calm before the storm; greater challenges awaited him and the nation. He had to quickly recover his strength, perfect the antidote's refining method, and strengthen the nation's defenses to cope with any future challenges and crises. (End of Chapter)