Such a sense of propriety made it very difficult for people to feel resentful. At this moment, outside the door, the figure of Chen Fanzhuo appeared again. He didn't use his status and cultivation to ignore the people waiting in line but patiently waited on the side.
Only when there were no more people did he enter the apothecary.
"Uncle Chen." Ling'er looked up and greeted the middle-aged cultivator with a smile.
"Miss Ling'er, is Master still refining pills?" Chen Fanzhuo asked politely. He then took out a bag filled with medicinal herbs and placed it on the counter before glancing at the back room.
Just as Ling'er was about to speak, the curtain of the back room was lifted and Xu Qing walked out.
"Greetings, Master." Chen Fanzhuo's expression turned solemn as he cupped his fists.
Xu Qing nodded. His gaze swept past the other party and his heart stirred.
Last time, Chen Fanzhuo's body contained poison. According to his antidote pill, the poison should have dissipated by now. However, from the looks of it now, not only was there some poison left, but there was also a new poison.
Xu Qing fell into deep thought. He then lifted his right hand and took out a white pill, handing it over.
"You hold it in your mouth, reverse the flow of your cultivation into a minor cycle, and let it slowly dissolve."
Chen Fanzhuo was stunned. From Xu Qing's words, he could tell that something was amiss. He hesitated for a moment before taking the medicinal pill and putting it into his mouth. He then circulated his cultivation according to Xu Qing's request.
A moment later, the medicinal pill in his mouth completely dissolved. When it spread throughout his body, Xu Qing suddenly spoke.
"Concentrate your cultivation in your right index finger, draw a drop of fresh blood, and let it fall on this leaf."
Xu Qing lifted his hand and took out a stalk of yellow medicinal herbs. After placing it to the side, Chen Fanzhuo didn't hesitate at all. He immediately pierced his index finger and a drop of black blood flowed out of the wound.
Waves of unpleasant smell spread out. When Chen Fanzhuo smelled it, his expression changed drastically. He originally thought that his poison had been neutralized, but from the looks of it, it was clearly still there.
Hence, he didn't dare to be careless and hurriedly smeared this drop of blood on the yellow medicinal herb Xu Qing had given him.
At the moment the blood came into contact with the herb, the herb emitted a sizzling sound and produced a green smoke. It started to wriggle in mid-air, and there was a faint echo of soul-piercing screams.
Seeing this scene, Chen Fanzhuo's eyes narrowed. With a wave of his hand, he assumed a protective posture, as though he didn't want the strangeness of the green smoke to taint the apothecary.
Although this action was a little fake, the attitude it revealed was very upright.
Xu Qing glanced at him and took out a transparent pill bottle. After shaking it for a while, he opened it. The aura emitted by it seemed to possess an intense attraction to the green smoke.
Hence, at the next instant, this lump of green smoke headed straight for the pill bottle in Xu Qing's hand. After it entered it, Xu Qing pressed the stopper of the bottle down and held it in his hand to observe.
The green smoke in the pill bottle continued to squirm and condense in this small bottle. Finally, it transformed into a green centipede.
It looked very sinister. Upon closer inspection, one would discover that what formed this large centipede were countless small centipedes.
"Master, this is…" Chen Fanzhuo was shocked. He shuddered at the thought of such a bizarre entity in his blood.
"This is the soul of the centipede, a not very common special medicinal material. Its toxicity is moderate, and it's mainly used for tracking and locating, providing the user with a target's position. When combined with other methods, it can be refined into a Gu."
Xu Qing was a little happy. He didn't expect to find such a precious item recorded in Grandmaster Bai's pharmacopeia here. Hence, he spoke in satisfaction.
"You're being targeted. Moreover, looking at the restlessness of this centipede soul, the person who targeted you shouldn't be far from here."
As Xu Qing spoke, the green centipede in the small bottle suddenly became irritable and slammed into the bottle.
The small bottle swayed intensely but it couldn't escape Xu Qing's palm.
"Hmm? The person who has his eyes on you is approaching."
Xu Qing calmly spoke.
Chen Fanzhuo's expression changed and he bowed solemnly to Xu Qing. After that, he turned and walked toward the door.
He knew that the Master of this apothecary had no obligation to help him resolve the crisis. To be able to detoxify the poison and tell him this was already benevolent.
If he didn't know what was good for him and forcefully dragged the other party into his private grudge, this wouldn't be in line with his principles.
At the thought of this, he quickly walked to the door. After pushing open the door of the apothecary, he was about to step out when Xu Qing's voice echoed behind him.
"He's here."
The instant Xu Qing's voice rang out, wind and clouds surged in the sky of earth city. Large balls of fog churned in the sky and waves of wild shrieks and howls could be heard.
This sound was incomparably terrifying. When the residents of this city heard it, their hearts trembled and they quickly closed their houses. Even those outside immediately found an empty house to crawl into.
In the blink of an eye, the entire small city looked empty.
At this moment, the black fog in the sky gathered toward the city and finally formed a figure on the streets.
As it became clearer, the appearance of this figure was revealed.
He was an old man wearing a loose robe. As his Nascent Soul cultivation fluctuated, his white hair fluttered in the wind. His eyes were cold and there was a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth.
And the edge of his robe, at this moment, had some mist lingering in the wind.
All of this made this old man look extremely bizarre.
"You dare to steal my things? You must be tired of living."
This old man was none other than the one-eyed cultivator who had provoked Xu Qing. After he had a conflict with Xu Qing previously, he had been on tenterhooks and was filled with panic.
In order to avoid Xu Qing, he had no choice but to hide. It was only when he felt that the limelight had passed that he carefully went out. He didn't expect that one of his cave abodes would actually be robbed.
