CH 101 Secret But Not Revealed, Known But Not Spoken

On the flying peak of Pill Peak, alchemical smoke swirled amidst the drizzle.

Inside the grand hall, a stern looking young man silently looked at the letter given to him during his visit to see Qiu Yuansheng, then passed it to the other disciples present. 

The letter had already been opened by the Qingnu, detailing the staffing matters on the peak after his departure. As Qiu Yuansheng’s deputy, he should have been questioned, but given the unrest at Pill Peak, it was not advisable to stir up more trouble. Since it had been concluded that he wasn’t aware of Qiu Yuansheng's actions, he was temporarily assigned to lead the Pill branch.

He still found it hard to believe that Senior Brother Qiu could be that kind of person. Senior Brother Qiu was always so kind and gentle, exceptionally gifted in the art of pill alchemy, and diligent in teaching them. Pill Peak’s success in suppressing the Medicine, Poison, and Acupuncture branches was largely due to him—if not entirely, at least nine-tenths of it was his credit.

How could he be a traitor...

However, he quickly composed himself. Once they returned to Kun-Lai, with the elders of Pill Peak backing him, as long as Senior Brother Qiu was innocent, they would surely clear his name.

For now, he needed to focus on leading the Pill branch well, making sure that it wasn’t suppressed by Qingnu Peak.

The other two junior brothers, after reading the letter, were equally heavy-hearted.

“This matter can only be dealt with once we return,” they both concluded.

“Qingnu Peak has issued a new challenge today: to break down our pill poison, while our task is to create a poison that the Medicine Peak cannot cure, and resolve the Poison Peak’s latest toxin. Additionally, today’s medicinal pills must be more effective than those from Medicine Peak,” he calmly asked the other two, “Any issues?”

“No problem. In recent years, our Pill Peak has flourished, and our talented disciples far outnumber those of Qingnu Peak,” one junior brother replied calmly.

“Then let’s begin the challenge.” With a wave of his hand, a small alchemy furnace flew out, floating in the air.

The disciples all performed their techniques.

In a few moments, a hundred or so pills, in four colors—green, white, black, and red—smooth as jade beads, slid out of the furnace and into the prepared jade trays.

The three called over the disciples, distributing the four types of pills.

Each Pil Peak disciple received four pills.

They then summoned their captives, smiling as they said, “Let’s have a duel. If you win, you won’t have to stay at Pill Peak for the next three days.”

The captives were cautious, eyeing the two pills in front of them with suspicion. “How do we duel?”

“There are two pills here: one for you, one for me. Whoever consumes the problematic one loses,” the disciples smiled, as if they were discussing something as simple as today’s meal, “You can choose first.”

“And what if both are problematic?” The captives remained skeptical.

“Stop blabbering so much. If you don’t eat it, I’ll make you eat both!” The Pill Peak disciple’s smile was as flawless and unyielding as porcelain.

***

“Poison is not about being the most deadly,” warned the eldest senior brother of Poison Peak, dressed in his black robe adorned with jellyfish patterns. “The most lethal poisons are precious. We have two strategies: one that kills slowly and subtly, and one that acts quickly, knocking the enemy down at once. For combat, I recommend the latter—even if Pill Peak’s antidote pills try to counter us daily, it won’t matter. On the battlefield, one small shift, and they’re dead before they have time to take an antidote pill.”

“Then why does Senior Brother still make us buy antidote pills?” a little girl with her hair in a bun and wearing an identical black robe asked.

“Because they’re cheap! They can neutralize most poisons and are better than carrying six hundred antidotes around. Besides, if any of you fools take the wrong antidote, do you want to end up in the hands of the Qingnu?” The eldest senior brother scolded her.

“Good point!” The other disciples applauded.

“Alright, now that we’ve discussed poison, let’s talk about venomous insencts. It’s a new subject for us and can’t compare to the southern sects that specialize in it. So we’ll use this opportunity during the expedition. The next stop is near Nine Abyss Pass, where there’s a remnant of the Wu tribe. We can consult them.” The eldest senior disciple instructed, “Different venomous insects create drastically different effects, and don’t be fooled by all that nonsense about love insects… Stay serious, especially you, little junior sister!”

The little girl quickly corrected her disinterested expression and nodded obediently, asking, “Will the Wu tribe teach us?”

“They desperately need salt. We’ve prepared two hundred pounds of salt for this trip, which is more than enough to acquire all their best breeds.” Poison Peak's eldest senior brother replied confidently.

“Two hundred pounds?” The girl was stunned. That was remarkably little. The salt fields of Haijing City could produce a hundred thousand pounds a day, and in recent years, as the rivers transported salt to the Western Continent nations, it had become so cheap that every household could afford it. She remembered hearing before she joined Kun-Lai that the abundance of salt had even driven the price of dried goods down, angering the sea clans who had been calling for salt control.

“They don’t need much. This amount will last them a hundred years, and by the next time we come around, they’ll have something new for us. If they could leave that place, our Peak Master would’ve invited them to start a new branch at Kun-Lai long ago.” The eldest senior brother sighed, then returned to his stern demeanor, “Enough! Let’s set the challenge for today. We’ll need the captives.”

The elite disciples of Poison Peak quickly came up with their challenge and handed it out.

***

A while later, the little girl in black robes gently approached one of the captives, smiling as she said, “Let’s have a duel. If you win, you won’t have to stay at Poison Peak for the next three days.”

The captive didn’t say a word and immediately swung his sword.

The little girl was knocked down instantly, and the captive coldly said, “I won.”

“Why didn’t you follow the script?” The little girl almost burst into tears—her poison hadn’t even been released yet. Weren’t people supposed to hesitate a bit?

“Rookie!” The captive sneered, looking around at the other disciples ready to attack him. “Which peak is next?”

“Medicine Peak didn’t warn us about him,” the little girl muttered, biting her lip before forcing a smile, “You’re quite impressive. Even now you're still surrounded by protective true essence and with an inner energy forming its own realm—ordinary poisons won’t affect you. But our Poison Peak has more than just that.”

The captive’s body swayed slightly before collapsing with a thud.

“I actually had to use march miasma,” the little girl grumbled, noting down the poison’s activation time before checking his pulse.

In the next second, the captive’s hand shot out like lightning, grabbing her throat.

He had been pretending, but he let go just as quickly. Merely touching her neck had caused his entire arm to petrify, the effect spreading upwards.

The little girl touched her neck, complaining, “You have too many tricks!”

***

“These captives are truly full of surprises,” Feng Qingxiu remarked, reviewing the various records with amusement.

Ji Yunlai chuckled softly beside him, “The Kun-Lai expedition is meant to help disciples grow and gain insight into the countless mysteries of this world. Speaking of which…”

He patted his apprentice’s head with a sigh, “Always staying by Xiao Qing’s side might be limiting your growth.”

“That’s not hard to solve,” Feng Qingxiu pointed to his chest, “Master, you can rest here.”

“How would I have any fun that way?” Ji Yunlai refused. This foreign land was far more interesting than the Western Continent—he hadn’t seen enough yet.

“So Master, you should continue having fun. Your apprentice can still protect himself,” Feng Qingxiu mercilessly exposed his master’s true intention and returned to reviewing the records of Zhuiyun Peak. These days, the captives from Ziyun Dao hadn’t been idle either. Fueled by a sense of “if I’m not having a good time, neither should you,” they’d gone to great lengths to cause trouble. There were numerous severe injuries, and several cases where their heads were nearly cracked open, but they were all saved in the end.

Ji Yunlai leaned over to see and was amazed at how incredibly advanced the medical cultivation techniques had become. While they didn’t have X-rays or advanced internal scanners like his old world, they had something that could be called a universal solution—true essence spiritual energy. This energy could be threaded like silk, inserted into the body for precise internal examinations, more accurate than any machine imaging. Not only that, but it could directly repair internal injuries without surgery. The only drawback was… it hurt a bit.

Just as Ji Yunlai was pondering this, he heard the voice of Qingnu giving instructions outside.

“Anesthetic? What for? Don’t you know that a little pain makes it easier to observe bodily reactions?” Qingnu scolded a disciple.

“But he can barely hold on…” a female disciple weakly responded.

“What do you think the spiritual energy ropes or beds on the peak are for? If you have to tie them down, do so. We’re not the Poison Peak—we don’t need to numb anyone. Do you have any idea how expensive their harmless anesthetic drugs are?” Qingnu replied.

“But won’t he develop heart demons?” the female disciple timidly asked.

“If you’re cultivating without any heart demons, what’s the point of cultivating?” Qingnu scoffed, “How do you think our reputation as the Medicine Peak spread?”

The fearsome reputation of Qingnu… The female disciple obediently nodded, “I understand.”

Ji Yunlai couldn’t help but laugh at this, but suddenly, he froze.

His apprentice was intently reviewing the reports, his face strikingly handsome, with a tall nose and flawless profile illuminated by the daylight. His black hair was neatly tied, and indeed he was quite the good-looking young man.

But the problem was… his apprentice’s shadow was currently snuggled up to his own shadow, happily tracing little circles with its fingers.

Ji Yunlai felt a slight twinge of suspicion in his heart, mixed with a curious sense of satisfaction. Tilting his head, he softly asked his apprentice, “Xiao Qing, do you think I’ve been too strict with you?”

His apprentice suddenly looked up, wearing an expression of “What are you talking about?”

“How could I possibly think that?” Feng Qingxiu replied, shocked.

Ji Yunlai’s peripheral vision caught the shadow on the ground shaking its head furiously. He smiled, “Just a casual question, don’t be alarmed.”

Feng Qingxiu gave his master a puzzled glance, then breathed a sigh of relief, though his eyes remained a bit distracted as they drifted back to the reports.

After a while, Ji Yunlai lowered his voice and spoke again, “Xiao Qing, I might have to leave soon.”

Feng Qingxiu was silent for a moment before quietly replying, “Master, with all your responsibilities, it’s only natural.”

The shadow, however, clung tightly to his own shadow, its disappointment evident.

“I’m just kidding,” Ji Yunlai patted his apprentice’s head.

“…” Feng Qingxiu wanted to scold him, but held back.

So it only reacts when emotions are at their peak…

Both Feng Qingxiu and his shadow shivered simultaneously.

Ji Yunlai watched as his apprentice’s shadow sulked off to the side, and he couldn’t help but chuckle.

It seemed he’d discovered one of Xiao Qing’s little secrets.