Starting with a blind date with a female constable, you acquire the Nine Swords of Dugu.

Chapter Thirty: The Heavenly Physician's Poisonous Manual

The following evening.

As the sun set, only a final, dark red glow remained on the horizon. The trees lining the official road became blurred silhouettes in the twilight.

Gu Guanqi and his group had been traveling at full speed along the official road towards Jiuyuan City for a whole day, and were now exhausted.

Finally, we arrived at the post station before dark.

The post station wasn't large, but it had several carriages and a dozen horses parked there, indicating that quite a few people were resting there tonight.

Then, several couriers came forward to help unload the horses and led the group inside.

Gu Guanqi handed the reins to the postman, then looked at the carriage.

Yan Wangchuan got off the carriage, looking even more exhausted, and his steps were unsteady. Yan Bu supported him, and the father and son walked slowly forward.

An Yi stepped down from the carriage behind. Her complexion was much better than yesterday. Thanks to her medical skills and the elixirs from Medicine King Valley, her strength had recovered quite well.

immediately,

The group entered the post station.

The lobby of the inn was quite large, with more than a dozen tables set up, and quite a few people were already seated there.

As Gu Guanqi and his group of more than a dozen people entered, they immediately attracted the attention of the people in the lobby.

"Young Master An!"

A surprised and doubtful voice came from behind.

An Yi and Gu Guanqi looked over.

Then, a middle-aged man stood up by the window in the lobby. He looked haggard, with sunken eyes, red eyes, and his brows were full of fatigue and sorrow. He looked listless.

"Master Chen!"

An Yi cupped her hands in greeting, then whispered to Gu Guanqi, "This person is Chen Hong, the head of the Chen family of Jiuyuan."

Chen Hong walked over, cupped his hands, and said, "Young Master An, you've come from Baoshan County?"

An Yi nodded slightly and said, "I was just about to visit Patriarch Chen in Jiuyuan City. I suppose you're here now because you received news from Baoshan County and are on your way there!"

Chen Hong said, "I already know about what happened in the ancestral land. Thank you, Young Master An, for saving my son's life."

As he spoke, Chen Hong bowed deeply.

An Yi quickly said, "Patriarch Chen, please don't be so polite. Your son is currently at the Baoshan County government office. I originally intended to take him to Jiuyuan City, but we are currently being watched by the Four Extremes Palace, and it would be dangerous for him to come with us!"

"The Four Extremes Hall?" Chen Hong asked in confusion.

An Yi said, "The matter concerning the Chen family has now been investigated. It was assassins from the Four Extremes Hall, and that group of assassins has now been completely captured."

Chen Hong's eyes were filled with hatred as he urgently asked, "Where are those people?"

An Yi said, "They are all in the Baoshan County government office."

"Alright, alright, thank goodness," Chen Hong took a deep breath to calm himself, and asked, "Then, have you found out who instructed them?"

An Yi shook her head slightly and said, "This matter depends on whether Patriarch Chen can provide any clues. That group of assassins from the Four Extremes Palace went on a killing spree because of the Chen family's Bright Moon Pearl."

Chen Hong's expression changed, and then he said, "Young Master An, please come in for a chat!"

An Yi and Gu Guanqi exchanged a glance.

He immediately realized that Chen Hong knew the inside story of the Bright Moon Pearl.

An Yi immediately said, "Please!"

"And who is this?" Chen Hong asked, looking at Gu Guanqi.

An Yi quickly explained, "This is Gu Guanqi, the swordsman from Qingzhou. He's the one who captured the assassins from the Four Extremes Palace."

"To think that a sword immortal could be before me! My apologies!" Chen Hong exclaimed in surprise, then immediately bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, Hero Gu, for capturing those damned murderers!"

Gu Guanqi waved his hand and said, "Patriarch Chen, don't be so polite. Business is important. Please!"

"Okay, okay!"

Immediately, Chen Hong led Gu Guanqi and An Yi upstairs to a room.

The three entered the room, and Chen Hong closed the door and lit the oil lamp on the table. The dim yellow light spread throughout the room, casting their shadows on the wall.

After Gu Guanqi and An Yi were seated, Chen Hong slowly began to speak: "Speaking of the Bright Moon Pearl, it is actually closely related to Medicine King Valley."

As he spoke, he poured tea for Gu Guanqi and An Yi, saying, "More than a hundred years ago, my ancestor Mingyuan of the Chen family became a disciple of Medicine King Valley, specifically the Grand Elder Wu Cheng."

An Yi nodded slightly; she knew about this.

Chen Hong pondered for a moment and then said, "This Bright Moon Pearl is related to a secret between Medicine King Valley and Ancestor Wu Cheng."

Back then, Patriarch Wu Cheng was a prodigy. Before he was even thirty, he became the most skilled physician in Medicine King Valley and a renowned young master in martial arts. However, it was precisely because his talent was too great that he had nothing left to learn after the age of thirty.

In this situation, he began to explore on his own. Perhaps due to his excessive obsession with medicine, he embarked on a path completely opposite to the philosophy of Medicine King Valley, shifting from the path of healing and saving lives to the path of poison. He even proposed the theory that poison was the essence of medicine.

He devoted himself to research for over ten years, and finally, at the age of fifty, using the Heavenly Medicine Divine Scripture as a reference, he created a divine skill, which he named the Heavenly Medicine Poison Scripture.

Upon hearing the name "Heavenly Doctor's Poison Scripture," a flicker of excitement flashed in An Yi's eyes, but she concealed it perfectly, it vanished in an instant.

Chen Hong continued, "This Heavenly Physician's Poison Manual is extremely terrifying. Not only does it contain the most incurable poison formulas in the world, but it is also a poison cultivation technique that involves refining poisons. It is said that after reaching the pinnacle, one can enter the Dao through poison and create deadly poison in an instant!"

An Yi asked suspiciously, "I've never heard of this? Why isn't it recorded in the sect's historical records?"

Chen Hong said, "That's because there was a problem with the Heavenly Physician Poison Scripture. Master Wu Cheng was able to control it at will because his Heavenly Physician Divine Scripture had also reached a state of perfection. It could complement the Heavenly Physician Poison Scripture while restraining each other, perfectly controlling the two kinds of true energy. But others can't do that."

The Heavenly Physician's Divine Scripture is extremely difficult to cultivate. Throughout the entire history of Medicine King Valley, very few people have been able to cultivate it to perfection. As a result, those who cultivate the Heavenly Physician's Poison Scripture are unable to control the poison, leading to disasters and the deaths of many innocent people.

Master Wu Cheng was filled with remorse. He personally killed his disciples who cultivated the Heavenly Medicine and Poison Manual and destroyed the manual. From then on, he never left Medicine King Valley again and never used the Heavenly Poison True Qi again. In order to avoid harming others again, he never wrote down the secrets of the Heavenly Medicine and Poison Manual before his death. Therefore, the Heavenly Medicine and Poison Manual was lost.

That incident was bad for Medicine King Valley's reputation, and also because of concerns that someone might imitate Master Wu Cheng's methods, it wasn't recorded at all.

An Yi frowned and asked, "The Bright Moon Pearl, is it related to the Heavenly Physician's Poison Scripture?"

"right."

Chen Hong nodded and said, "Although Master Wu Cheng destroyed the Heavenly Medicine Poison Manual, he was unwilling to accept it. He believed that although the Heavenly Medicine Poison Manual was powerful, it was not a perfect martial art, so he always wanted to improve it."

However, in the end, there was indeed some improvement. The Heavenly Physician Poison Manual could stimulate the cultivation of the Heavenly Physician Divine Manual, greatly increasing the cultivation speed of the Heavenly Physician Divine Manual. Cultivating the two techniques simultaneously complemented each other, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

However, the most fundamental problem remains unresolved: the Heavenly Healer's True Qi, which has not yet reached its full potential, cannot restrain the Heavenly Poison True Qi, and cultivators will still become like a plague.

Therefore, in the end, Master Wu Cheng still dared not let the Heavenly Physician and Poison Scripture appear in the world. However, after all, it was the culmination of his life's work, and he could not bear to let the Heavenly Physician and Poison Scripture completely disappear with his passing.

So he found a special material and asked the master craftsman of the Mechanical Gate to forge four Moon Pearls, hiding the Heavenly Medicine Poison Manual inside. Only when all four Moon Pearls are gathered will the Heavenly Medicine Poison Manual appear in the world.

Afterwards, before his death, he bestowed four Bright Moon Pearls upon his four disciples, one of whom was my Chen family's Ancestor Mingyuan.

An Yi said in a deep voice, "So, the Four Extremes Palace came to seize the Bright Moon Pearl because of the Heavenly Physician's Poison Manual!"

Gu Guanqi frowned and said, "What would Zhuque need a poison technique for? Since he knows about the Heavenly Physician's Poison Manual, he should know its drawbacks, right? If he, an assassin, can't control his true energy, then he'll be in trouble."

An Yi said, "The Vermilion Bird's Seven Soul-Destroying Palms are inherently a poisonous technique. It's understandable that he covets the Heavenly Physician's Poison Manual. As for the drawbacks..." An Yi's pupils contracted slightly, and she said, "I'm afraid he has a way to avoid them or doesn't care?"

Gu Guanqi nodded slightly.

An Yi said, "If that's the case, then we absolutely cannot let him obtain the Heavenly Physician's Poison Manual. The Vermilion Bird's martial arts are already unfathomable. If he were to obtain the Heavenly Physician's Poison Manual as well, I'm afraid no one would be able to deal with him. The Four Extremes Palace is already unscrupulous; if it becomes even stronger, who knows what kind of disaster will occur!"

"Sigh," Chen Hong sighed, "I suppose my father was unwilling to hand it over to the Four Extremes Palace because he feared that unscrupulous individuals who obtained the Heavenly Physician's Poison Manual would bring disaster to the common people!"

Gu Guanqi asked, "Why didn't you destroy it?"

Chen Hong shook his head and said, "This is something left by the patriarch. How can later generations damage it? That would be a great disrespect to the patriarch. Moreover, the Bright Moon Pearl was entrusted to us by Patriarch Wu Cheng on his deathbed. He was actually thinking that if one day the Heavenly Medicine Divine Scripture of Medicine King Valley was improved by later generations, the Heavenly Medicine Poison Scripture might also appear in the world."

At this point, Chen Hong sighed and said, "Before it happens, no one realizes how serious the consequences will be. Now, even if we destroy it, it's too late and pointless!"

Gu Guanqi nodded slightly without saying anything.

An Yi thought for a moment and said, "Patriarch Chen, your Chen family's Bright Moon Pearl is currently in my hands. I can return it, but I think it would be more appropriate for me to take it to Medicine King Valley. What do you think?"

"Take it to Medicine King Valley!" Chen Hong hurriedly said, "Now that the Bright Moon Pearl has been exposed, if it remains in the Chen family, it will only bring annihilation to our Chen family, just like what happened in the ancestral land."

"Alright," An Yi said. "As you said, it must have been left by the sect's founder. I can't dispose of it on my own. I can only take it back and hand it over to the elders in the valley so they can handle it."

At this point, An Yi paused for a moment and asked, "Patriarch Chen, do you know the whereabouts of the other three Bright Moon Pearls? Since the Four Extremes Palace has taken action against the Chen family, it will surely take action against the other families as well."

"I know," Chen Hong said. "Because our ancestors were four fellow disciples, our four families occasionally have contact. The closest one is the Zhang family in Qu Town, Xinmi County, Jiuyuan Prefecture. They have declined, their population is small, and their martial arts are not thriving. Now they are just ordinary rural landlords."

Another family, surnamed Liu, lives in Wei County, Zhongwei Prefecture. The Liu family is quite well-off in Wei County now, with several members holding official positions in the local government; they are easily found out about. Another family, surnamed Ou, lives in Rongshan Prefecture. They are very powerful and are related by marriage to the great swordsman Ding Yue.

Gu Guanqi had a deep impression of Ding Yue, the Thunder Swordsman. He had heard Yan Wangchuan talk about him on the way here. Ding Yue was one of the thirteen grandmasters of Yunzhou, and one of the four grandmasters outside of the four major sects and the Six Doors. He was very famous for his chivalry in Yunzhou.

The reason Gu Guanqi was so impressed with Ding Yue was because he was a very legendary figure who had always wanted to create a powerful force, but failed time and time again because he lacked the ability to manage it.

He established several chambers of commerce and several sects, all of which eventually went bankrupt due to poor management. He later joined the Six Doors, but couldn't stand the constraints and withdrew.

A grandmaster, in the end, only succeeded in establishing his own sect after marrying a wife and with her help in managing it. However, this sect was only supported by his title as grandmaster, and none of his disciples became famous in the martial arts world.

But he was very motivated, and he fought again and again despite repeated defeats.

This kind of mindset is truly rare.

However, since he is a grandmaster, the fact that the Ou family was willing to form a marriage alliance with him is enough to show that the Ou family is indeed extraordinary.

……

in the room.

After inquiring about the specific locations and situations of the other three families from Chen Hong, An Yi cupped her hands and said, "I will set off at dawn tomorrow morning to visit the other families. I hope I can make it in time. I will go to Xinmi County first, the closest one. I would like to trouble Patriarch Chen to find a way to send a message to the other two families, so that they can take precautions!"

"Alright!" Chen Hong cupped his hands and said, "I'll send someone to deliver the message right away."

An Yi looked at Gu Guanqi and asked, "Junior Brother Gu, what do you think?"

Gu Guanqi said, "I'll go with you, Senior Sister, while Elder Yan and the others will continue on their original plan to Jiuyuan City. They should arrive by noon tomorrow."

An Yi said, "There's a branch of our Medicine King Valley in Jiuyuan City. I'll have my two junior sisters take Yan Tongzhi and the others to the branch. Then, the branch can escort them directly to Medicine King Valley for treatment!"

"Okay." Gu Guanqi nodded and said, "Let's go down and explain to Elder Yan and the others now."

An Yi nodded slightly.

Chen Hong also said, "I'll go down now and arrange for someone to send a message to those companies."

After saying that, he rushed out the door.

After Chen Hong left,

Gu Guanqi turned his head to look at An Yi and said with a light smile, "Senior Sister An, there's something I want to ask you."

An Yi said, "Junior Brother Gu, please speak."

Gu Guanqi smiled slightly and said, "The best way to deal with this Bright Moon Pearl is to destroy it, completely cutting off the possibility of the Vermilion Bird obtaining the Heavenly Physician's Poison Scripture. And Senior Sister An, you are not an irrational person; you must understand this principle. Why do you insist on bringing it back to Medicine King Valley?"

"No," An Yi said, "I just feel that this is related to the Martial Ancestor, and I... as... a descendant..."

As she spoke, An Yi slowly raised her head to look at Gu Guanqi, only to see Gu Guanqi looking down at her.

When their eyes met

An Yi felt a pang of guilt.

She didn't know why, but as the senior disciple of Medicine King Valley, she managed thousands of people in Medicine King Valley and operated dozens of trade routes. She was used to speaking to people in a way that suited them, and she had long been accustomed to it.

But now, looking into Gu Guanqi's eyes, she became hesitant and stammering.

"Senior sister, you're not going to lie to me, are you?" Gu Guanqi asked.

"No...no..."

An Yi looked away, pondered for a moment, and said, "Actually, I had heard of the Heavenly Physician's Poison Manual before. My master mentioned it to me, saying, 'Junior Sister...'"

At this point, An Yi hesitated.

Gu Guanqi immediately pressed on, "Is it related to Poria cocos?"

An Yi nodded slightly and said, "Master said that Junior Sister's Hundred Poisons Body is actually the most suitable person to cultivate the Heavenly Medicine Poison Scripture, because her Hundred Poisons Body can naturally absorb the Heavenly Poison True Qi, forming a balance with her poisonous intent by using poison to fight poison."

In this situation, the Heavenly Physician True Qi of the Heavenly Physician Divine Scripture will play a harmonizing role, mutually promoting each other. The Heavenly Physician Divine Scripture and the Heavenly Physician Poison Scripture will then perfectly complement each other, achieving rapid mastery and simultaneously controlling both types of true qi. The drawback of the Heavenly Physician Poison Scripture's uncontrollable true qi is also perfectly resolved.

Gu Guanqi's eyes lit up, and he said, "Then this Heavenly Physician's Poison Scripture is practically tailor-made for Fuling! Yes, it can't be destroyed, it definitely can't be destroyed!"

As she spoke, Gu Guanqi looked at An Yi and said, "So, Senior Sister An, you did it for Fuling!"

An Yi nodded slightly and said, "I really don't want to see my junior sister's prime years wasted in the Four Symbols Cave, where she might not be able to complete the Heavenly Medicine Divine Scripture for ten, twenty years, or even her whole life, and she might not be able to come out."

"Good senior sister!"

Gu Guanqi exclaimed in admiration, "Then let's go down for dinner now!"

"Um."

An Yi responded and followed Gu Guanqi out the door.

just,

Watching Gu Guanqi's retreating figure, she thought to herself, "That's good. If Junior Sister can master the Heavenly Healing Divine Scripture and emerge from the Four Symbols Cave soon, won't the two of them have a chance to rekindle their romance? I..."

"I am grateful to Junior Brother Gu for saving my life, I am truly grateful!"

……

The next day, just as dawn was breaking and the morning mist had not yet dissipated, Gu Guanqi and An Yi set off on horseback.

The two horses galloped along the official road and finally arrived at Qu Town the next morning.

Following Chen Hong's directions, the two headed west along the dirt road in the town, passing through several rows of low houses. Sure enough, a courtyard with blue bricks and gray tiles appeared ahead. The courtyard wall was not high, and the plaque above the gate was already mottled, but the words "Zhang Residence" could be vaguely discerned.

The two men dismounted and tied the reins to the hitching post in front of the gate.

Just as they reached the courtyard gate, they both stopped in their tracks.

A strong smell of blood wafted from the courtyard, mingling with the damp morning mist, and went straight into the nostrils.

Gu Guanqi's expression changed slightly. He exchanged a glance with An Yi, and the two of them used their lightness skills almost simultaneously to leap into the courtyard.

The scene inside the courtyard made their hearts sink.

Seven or eight corpses lay scattered in the courtyard, some old, some young, some men, some women.

An Yi took a deep breath and quickly walked over to check them one by one.

After a short while, she let out a long sigh.

"They're all dead." Her voice was very low.

"Let's go inside and take a look."

Gu Guanqi said something and then walked inside.

An Yi followed behind him.

The two walked through the main hall, side rooms, and corridors... There were corpses everywhere along the way, all of them killed instantly without any resistance.

As Chen Hong said, the Zhang family has now fallen into decline and is just a nouveau riche from the countryside relying on the legacy of their ancestors. Naturally, they have no chance to resist the assassins from the Four Extremes Hall.

But precisely because of this,

The Bright Moon Pearl in the Zhang family's possession should have been easy to obtain, yet they were still wiped out by the Four Extremes Palace.

Gu Guanqi and An Yi split up to search carefully for any survivors.

An Yi searched in the central courtyard, while Gu Guanqi went straight to the backyard.

Several corpses lay on the ground in the backyard, including an old servant and a maid, all lying in pools of blood, long since lifeless.

Gu Guanqi squatted down and examined the bodies one by one.

And then, still, there wasn't a single survivor.

Just as he was about to stand up,

Suddenly, a very light and subtle sound of wind breaking came from the upper side.

Gu Guanqi looked up and saw...

A burly figure appeared on the rooftop.

The morning light peeked through the clouds, illuminating the figure clearly. It was a burly man, broad-shouldered and with a rugged face, carrying a huge, heavy sword slung across his back. The sword was as wide as a palm and entirely black.

The two exchanged a glance.

The man's gaze locked onto Gu Guanqi, and he shouted, "Take this!"

He suddenly roared, his voice booming like thunder. Before the words were even finished, he had already leaped up from the roof, his body like a roc spreading its wings, pouncing straight towards Gu Guanqi.

The heavy sword slashed down from above with astonishing speed.

Gu Guanqi lightly touched the ground with his foot, his body floating back several feet, barely avoiding the sharp edge of that sword.

The heavy sword fell.

"boom--"

With a deafening roar, a sword aura, as fiery as flames, surged forth. The bluestone slabs on the ground shattered, sending fragments flying. The sword aura, still powerful, cleaved straight towards the stone wall behind Gu Guanqi.

The stone wall shattered under the impact of the sword energy, the blue bricks broke apart, dust flew up, and a huge gap was cleaved in the entire wall, leaving black marks as if it had been burned by a raging fire.

The man's sword missed its mark, but he didn't stop. He turned and slashed horizontally with his heavy sword, the blade carrying a sharp gust of wind, sweeping across Gu Guanqi's waist and ribs. This strike was powerful and heavy, the wind whistling through the air.

Gu Guanqi neither dodged nor evaded; he pressed his right hand on the hilt of his sword, and the Autumn Water Sword was drawn with a clang.

The sword light flashed like a bolt of lightning, exploding in a cool arc under the sunlight as it met the dark, heavy sword.

"when--"

A loud clang of metal clashing rang out, sparks flying everywhere.

The two of them took a few steps back at the same time.

Then they prepared to charge forward and fight again.

"Master Ding, Junior Brother Gu, stop!"

Just then, An Yi's voice came from the courtyard gate. She quickly leaped in and said, "You must have misunderstood!"

The burly man was slightly taken aback when he saw An Yi, and said, "Young Master An, what are you doing here?"

An Yi quickly said, "Master Ding, we received news that someone was plotting against the Zhang family, so we rushed here to rescue them, but we were too late. What brings you here?"