Xu Chu, wielding his Huoyun Saber, his eyes ablaze with firelight, unleashed torrents of blood-red energy. It was as if a ferocious tiger, its maw wide open, was ravenously devouring the two before him.
"Hold on!"
The Third Elder of the Ling family roared in fury. How could this burly general be so powerful? Even among the top factions of the Shengyuan Dynasty, he would be considered exceptional.
"Kill!"
Xu Chu swung his tiger-like arms, three times thicker than an ordinary man's. Streaks of blood-red light erupted, the void exploding with sonic booms. His eyes, like those of a divine spirit from the Ninth Heaven, shot down towards the earth.
The ferocious tiger tore through the sky, the blood-red saber descending with each strike. Rivers of blood-red light surged from the Huoyun Saber, relentlessly assaulting the Ling family's First and Third Elders, forcing them to retreat.
This fierce onslaught was akin to divine mountains crashing down, causing the very earth to fracture. Each violent impact was like the shattering of Ninth Heaven's divine thunder, sweeping across the skies!
"Boom, boom, boom!"
The terrifying blood-red saber energy made the martial artists of the Shengyuan Dynasty turn their heads in astonishment.
"Pfft!"
A mouthful of blood sprayed out. It wasn't from being wounded by the saber energy, but from the continuous bombardment of the dense, blood-red blades that had shaken their internal organs. With a cough of stagnant blood, their complexions eased slightly.
"Hehehe, come and fight!" Xu Chu exploded forward, his charge cracking the ground. Even the one-zhang-thick bluestone street surface splintered, sending gravel flying.
"General Xu Chu, please show mercy!" Ling Xuan watched Xu Chu surge forward and was instantly thrown into a panic. After all, she was still a member of the Ling family.
Xu Chu immediately stopped his charge. He glanced at Ling Xuan, then dejectedly returned to Li Bai's side.
"General Xu Chu, care for a drink?" Li Bai smiled and offered his wine gourd to Xu Chu.
"Hey, Lord Li Bai, this fight felt so unsatisfying. I was just getting warmed up!"
"Gulp!"
"Gulp!"
Xu Chu raised his tiger head and drank ferociously, causing Li Bai beside him to burst into laughter.
"General Xu Chu truly has a genuine nature. However, we are under the King's orders to ensure the safety of Miss Ling Xuan and her family," Sun Simiao said, stroking his beard with a smile as he advised.
"First Elder, Third Elder, Ling Xuan has no interest in the position of Ling family patriarch. My father's life is in peril and he has not much time left. He has already completely relinquished all authority. There is nothing for me to do here in the Ling family. I implore you, in consideration of my father's lifelong service to the Ling family, to permit your humble daughter to take my father away and go to a distant land. I vow never to set foot in the Ling family again in this lifetime!"
Ling Xuan knelt on both knees, tears streaming down her face as she looked at the two aged elders of the Ling family.
"Alas!"
The First Elder of the Ling family sighed, "Ling Lan, bring out the old patriarch!"
"Grandfather!" Ling Lan looked conflicted.
"Hurry up and go!" the First Elder roared in anger.
...
"Father!" Ling Xuan saw the Ling family members carry out her father, who was white-haired and barely clinging to life, his breath faint and shallow. He looked as if he could pass away at any moment.
"Xuan'er, the old patriarch was actually afflicted by a demonic illness. I had no choice but to imprison him!"
Li Bai and the others looked on as Ling Xuan's father, Ling Mu, was shrouded in wisps of black energy. Some unknown substance wriggled within his blood vessels.
"Mr. Sun, what do you think?"
Li Bai looked at the scene and then turned his gaze to this sixth-rank alchemist of the Great Han – Sun Simiao!
"There is still a chance to treat it!" Sun Simiao looked at Ling Mu with a grave expression. With just one glance, he understood the demonic illness through the signs on his face.
"Mr. Sun, is this true? Can my father truly recover?" Ling Xuan scrambled to her feet, grabbing Sun Simiao's arm, her eyes anxiously fixed on this honored guest of the Great Han, the master of the Great Han's Pill Hall – Sun Simiao.
In the few months she had been in the Great Han, any medicinal pills were from this mysterious Great Han institution – the Pill Hall. No one knew how many alchemists were in the Pill Hall, nor the ranks of its two hall masters, Sun Simiao and Wan Mizhai.
Yet, it was this mysterious Pill Hall that, on its own, supported the medicinal needs of hundreds of millions of martial artists in the Great Han territory.
"Heh heh, Miss Ling Xuan, do not panic!" Sun Simiao stroked his beard.
"Exactly, exactly! Miss Ling Xuan, since Lord Sun says he can be saved, it is a sure thing. You don't need to worry!" Xu Chu bellowed loudly.
"What arrogance! Even the top fourth-rank pavilion masters of our Shengyuan Dynasty's Danqing Pavilion were helpless. With just your words, you claim to be able to save the old patriarch. Truly presumptuous!" Ling Lan immediately sneered.
"Hmph!"
Xu Chu's eyes blazed with anger. He glared at Ling Lan, terrifying the young man into quickly hiding behind the First and Third Elders.
Sun Simiao chuckled, walked past everyone, and came to Ling Mu's side. He took out a pill from his medicinal gourd. As the pill was revealed, a fragrance filled the air.
"One trace!"
"Two traces!"
...
"Five traces!"
"That's a fifth-rank pill!" The Ling family suddenly exclaimed in shock. A fifth-rank pill could only be refined by a fifth-rank alchemist, and the Shengyuan Dynasty had not produced a fifth-rank alchemist in nearly two thousand years.
"Indeed, this is a fifth-rank pill, named Hundred Herb Pill. It can cure a hundred kinds of severe illnesses!" Sun Simiao said, placing the pill into Ling Mu's mouth.
"Buzz~~"
The Hundred Herb Pill instantly turned to powder and melted into Ling Mu's mouth. A layer of golden halo enveloped Ling Mu's body, and soon, a thick, black scab formed on his skin.
"Pfft!"
Ling Mu suddenly opened his eyes and spat out a mouthful of black blood. His physical condition gradually began to improve.
"Father!"
"Father!"
Ling Xuan cried out, as if all the grievances she had suffered during this period were being unleashed at once.
"Xuan'er, Xuan'er!"
Ling Mu's eyes also welled up with tears as he patted Ling Xuan's back, "Alright, alright!"
"Father, it was Lord Sun of the Great Han who saved you!" Ling Xuan quickly pulled Ling Mu towards Sun Simiao to express her gratitude.
"Thank you, Lord Sun!"
Ling Xuan bowed deeply. She knew her father had been afflicted by a demonic illness. Although she didn't know who this Great Han was or who these people were, with Ling Xuan's introduction, he soon became familiar with the Great Han Dynasty.
Ling Mu looked at the First Elder of the Ling family. "Elder, Ling Mu is weak and his energy is not what it used to be. Ling Lan is a promising young man. I shall entrust the Ling family to your lineage!" Su Dan Novel Network.
"Thank you, Patriarch!" The First Elder was filled with remorse. He had imprisoned the patriarch and seized control of the Ling family, yet Ling Mu bore no anger and instead favored his grandson Ling Lan. He was truly ashamed of himself.