"A misunderstanding!" Wang Xiu hurriedly helped Li Zuoyue to his feet. "It’s all a misunderstanding, Senior Brother. You don’t need to take it to heart. Let’s tend to our three senior brothers’ injuries first!"
Li Zuoyue sucked in a sharp breath. That was right! He’d almost forgotten that his three cousins were still unconscious from their severe injuries! They had to save them, and quickly!
As a Sword Cultivator, bloody battle was the norm. Therefore, Li Zuoyue had practiced basic healing spells, and he kept a good supply of healing spiritual medicines in his void ring. He activated his divine consciousness, and a quick scan gave him a preliminary understanding of the injuries suffered by Li Longhao and his brothers.
After that, Li Zuoyue retrieved a jade bottle from his void ring. He poured out several pills that teemed with vigorous life force and fed one to each of the three men. As the medicinal power of the pills was refined, the life force of the three brothers stabilized.
However, Li Zuoyue’s expression did not relax; it remained incredibly grave. "Junior Brother Wang Xiu, were the three of them subjected to a soul attack?"
Wang Xiu nodded slightly. "They fought Daimon Qianmian. The Qiong Qi Magic Artifact he summoned wounded their souls."
The roar unleashed by the Qiong Qi statue was not merely a sonic attack; it also contained an intense soul assault that reached the level of the Golden Core Stage. Even with the Three Talents Sword Formation for defense, it was far more than Li Longhao and his brothers could withstand. That was precisely why they had been defeated so swiftly.
"Qiong Qi’s Roar?" Li Zuoyue nodded slowly, his voice heavy with sorrow. "Then it’s no wonder. The Qiong Qi is one of the four great Fierce Beasts, and its roar can inflict tremendous damage on a Cultivator’s soul. Even if it was just the roar from a mixed-blood Qiong Qi’s remnant soul, it would be far too much for Little Hao and the others to resist."
Wang Xiu asked, "Are these injuries difficult to treat?"
"Very difficult. Extremely difficult," Li Zuoyue said grimly. "Soul injuries have always been the most challenging to treat. They can only be cured by finding a spiritual medicine that specifically heals the soul. If we can’t find one, the best-case scenario is that their foundations will be damaged and their cultivation levels will plummet. If their luck is poor, they could even lose their minds and become lunatics." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ N(o)vᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt
Spiritual medicine for the soul?
Wang Xiu appeared thoughtful. "Senior Brother, actually..."
Li Zuoyue waved his hand sorrowfully, cutting him off. "Junior Brother, you don’t need to comfort me. Although they are my very close cousins, we Sword Cultivators wield our three-foot blades to slay demons and exorcise evil. How can we expect to remain safe forever, without any casualties?"
Wang Xiu’s mouth twitched. "Senior Brother, I actually have..."
Li Zuoyue nodded. "I am also mentally prepared, but they are my cousins, after all. I absolutely cannot stand by and watch their divine souls be shattered and their futures destroyed. I’ve heard that Senior Sister Xiao Qingyu of Dragon Head Peak recently acquired four Nourishing Soul Lotuses of excellent quality. The Chief of the Alchemy Sect, Elder Lu, will personally refine them into Supreme Soul-Nourishing Elixirs. When the elixirs are ready, I will do whatever it takes to beg for a few."
Wang Xiu was exasperated. "Senior Brother, but..."
"I know what you mean, Junior Brother," Li Zuoyue interrupted again. "There are many elders and senior uncles in our Sect who have suffered soul injuries. It will be difficult for a junior like me to compete with them. But we Sword Cultivators stand seven feet tall; we would rather break than bend. We must always forge ahead. How can we simply give up when faced with a challenge?"
If it weren’t for the fact that your cultivation has reached the Ninth Heaven of the Golden Core Stage, I would absolutely sew your mouth shut right now!
Seeing that he couldn’t get a word in edgewise, Wang Xiu didn’t force the issue. He simply took out a Nourishing Soul Lotus from his storage bag and held it out in front of Li Zuoyue.
Instantly, Li Zuoyue froze, staring blankly at the swaying lotus. "A... A... A Nourishing Soul Lotus?"
Wang Xiu nodded slightly. Seeing that the man had finally fallen silent, he said softly, "Senior Brother, what I was trying to say is that I have some Nourishing Soul Lotuses, too."
Li Zuoyue’s pale face flushed a deep crimson. After a moment of stunned silence, he once again bowed a full ninety degrees toward Wang Xiu. "I was too anxious just now and kept interrupting you, Junior Brother. Please forgive me! This Nourishing Soul Lotus is of immense use to Little Hao and the others. As long as you are willing to part with it, I will gladly purchase it for double the price!"
Our Master always said that we Sword Cultivators cultivate ’straightforwardness.’ We speak directly, act directly, and have a direct gut. But being direct doesn’t mean being unreasonable. First and foremost, you must always be polite. If you meet a demon, you politely cut them down. If you meet a good person and you are in the wrong, you honestly bow and apologize. There’s no shame in that! If you need to ask someone for a favor, you must be even more polite; after all, no one is ever offended by too much courtesy. Things that can be solved with politeness should not be solved with a sword. There will be plenty of time to start cutting once the other party stops being polite.
Now that Junior Brother Wang Xiu was willing to offer a Nourishing Soul Lotus, it was a life-saving grace for his three cousins. He absolutely had to be thanked properly!
Buy it at a higher price? This Li Zuoyue is a fat sheep, nothing like that broke Jiang Yourong. He could probably afford several Nourishing Soul Lotuses without any trouble. Still, compared to his friendship and the favor of saving the Li brothers’ lives, a few Spirit Stones are insignificant. The more friends you have, the more people there are to listen to your bragging, right?
Wang Xiu smiled. "Senior Brother, you’re being too formal. Our three senior brothers and I fought that demon together; we share a bond of life and death. They were injured in the line of duty, so it’s only right that I help them heal. This is just a Nourishing Soul Lotus to be given to our brothers. How could I possibly accept money for it?"
"I couldn’t possibly."
"I couldn’t possibly."
"I really couldn’t possibly do that!"
With that, Wang Xiu took out two more Nourishing Soul Lotuses from his storage bag. His face was a picture of sincerity as he asked, "Senior Brother, is one Nourishing Soul Lotus enough to save all three of them? If not, how about two more? One for each?"
Looking at Wang Xiu holding three lotuses, his expression earnest, his entire body seeming to radiate a holy light, even Li Zuoyue, with his sword-heart of iron, couldn’t help but feel his eyes well up with tears.
Who said the members of the Divination Sect were all harbingers of misfortune? Look! Just look! Junior Brother Wang is clearly a lucky star, the last beacon of hope for my three cousins!
"Junior Brother Wang, your righteousness truly reaches the heavens!" Li Zuoyue bowed deeply once more, a perfect ninety degrees. "These three lotuses are the gift of a second life for Little Hao and the others! You may not wish to accept payment, but how could I not give it?"
With a flash of light from the void ring on his hand, bags of Spirit Stones began to fall to the ground. "I left in a hurry and didn’t bring many Spirit Stones with me. Junior Brother, I hope you won’t look down on this amount. Once I take them back to the Sword Sect and see their injuries healed, I will personally prepare a lavish gift and visit you on Spirit Turtle Peak to express my thanks. In the future, if you four brothers ever need us, you need only say the word! We would brave mountains of daggers and seas of fire, and never shrink from death!"
After speaking, Li Zuoyue summoned three jade caskets. They expanded in the wind, quickly becoming three jade chests, each seven feet long and two feet wide and tall. He carefully placed his three cousins inside and closed the lids. The three jade chests shrank back down and flew into his hands.
"Junior Brother Wang Xiu, I’m in a rush to get them back to the Sect for treatment, so I must part ways with you for now," Li Zuoyue said. "Another day! Another day, we will surely prepare fine wine and delicacies and visit you to show our gratitude."
He gave Wang Xiu one final, deep ninety-degree bow, then leaped onto his flying sword and vanished into the night sky.
From the distant horizon, his last words drifted back. "Thank you!"
Wang Xiu was dumbfounded.
I thought Li Zuoyue, the head senior brother of the Sword Sect, would be some impossibly cool, larger-than-life Sword Immortal. I never expected him to be an excessively polite bowing fanatic. He executed those little bows with such speed and precision; he’s clearly had a lot of practice. Frankly, his performance was flawless.
But none of that is important. What’s important is just how many Spirit Stones did that guy drop? Also, even though that Daimon Qianmian was blasted to ashes, there’s a glint of light in the charred earth. It seems his void ring wasn’t destroyed. Heh heh. After defeating the boss, it’s time for my favorite part: looting the body! The entire fortune of a Sixth-Layer Golden Core Stage Demon Cultivator... I have to admit, I’m a little excited!