Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 682 There is no solution that cannot be solved
At this moment, Li Hongjiu underwent a rapid transformation. His skin turned as red as a boiled shrimp, and his blood and qi seemed to be boiling. Only he himself knew the extent of the pain he was enduring.

"Centurion, what's wrong... you're burning up." Someone touched him and exclaimed, pulling their hand away.

Even a fool could see that Li Hongjiu had been tricked.

Ming Chaofeng, who was staring at the mirror image, directly asked his subordinate for the communication device and personally sent a message to the token on the other side to inquire about the situation.

Upon realizing the message from the token, Li Hongjiu was too weak to concentrate. He immediately took out the token and tossed it to a master with a higher cultivation level than himself, a master at the Great Perfection of Earth Immortal realm, who was also a master that his senior brother had specially arranged to be his assistant.

A man with melancholy eyes, named Gao Lian.

Gao Lian took the token, glanced at the message on it, and quickly reported what had happened.

Ming Chaofeng immediately issued a stern warning: "The most dangerous thing now is not just Li Hongjiu, but all of you!"

Gao Lian suddenly realized that plotting against Li Hongjiu meant that they might be targeted. He looked around at his comrades, who were now in a chaotic mess because of Li Hongjiu. If an enemy attacked now, they would be caught off guard and thrown into chaos.

He immediately shouted a warning, and everyone snapped out of their daze.

Ming Chaofeng stared at the mirror with a very serious expression. Based on the information he had just gathered, Li Hongjiu's fall for the trap was not due to carelessness. He had been extremely cautious beforehand, not approaching or touching the seriously injured woman after she appeared. He only approached to investigate after everyone had confirmed that she was alright and that she was too badly injured to fight back.

They only lowered their guard after personally confirming there was no threat, and yet they were ambushed in this seemingly impossible situation.

From the moment the woman cried for help, saying she had a token, this step-by-step scheme against Li Hongjiu was absolutely meticulously planned.

Everyone around could sense Li Hongjiu's subconscious casting of a spell to defend herself. The drop of dew, which had no impact, was able to blend into Li Hongjiu's defense. Ming Chaofeng couldn't figure out what it was either. He first surveyed the distribution of people in that area, and then quickly mobilized his forces to rush to the rescue. If he sat idly by and watched his junior brother get into trouble without helping him, he wouldn't be able to explain it to the sect.

The biggest problem for him now is that once everyone signs up to fight, they cannot back out. The command center here can only command, and no one can enter the battlefield to interfere in the fighting.

At this moment, the overhead mirrors of all the major teams almost abandoned all other observations, and the images were almost entirely focused on Li Hongjiu.

There was no other way. First, Li Hongjiu was one of the most important people to watch. Second, each side had obvious surveillance and informants in their respective teams. When Li Hongjiu was caught in the mirrored footage of the Xiniu team, each side would definitely send a message to their own side immediately.

Li Hongjiu was someone each team had instructed their elites to temporarily avoid the limelight. No one expected that Li Hongjiu would fall into this trap so quickly; it was completely unexpected.

Upon seeing Li Hongjiu, who was covered in red blood, Wei Mo, the commander of Dongsheng, smiled and said to the people around him, "They had been keeping an eye on him before the incident. Without a doubt, it was a long-planned poisoning by the Xiniu side."

The Heavenly Court team commander, Manxi, smiled and said something similar to Mulan Jin, "It's not easy to make Li Hongjiu fall for this. It seems that Niu Qian put a lot of thought into the plan, even using assassins. But this is a good thing, our Heavenly Court team has lost a major threat."

Mulan frowned and said, "That woman might not be some kind of assassin."

He nodded in delight, "I'd love to hear your wise opinion, Your Excellency."

Those nearby all turned to look at Mulan Jin upon hearing this, as the two had not communicated telepathically, and everyone in the vicinity could hear them.

Mulan asked, "Just now, the informant from Xiniu said that they saw the dying woman touch Li Hongjiu's chest with a single drop of dazzling dew. What kind of attack power could a dying woman have? The informant also said it was just a light touch. If I'm not mistaken, that drop of dazzling dew should be 'demon dew,' which is why it could easily break through her defenses."

"Demon Dew?" Manxi was startled upon hearing this. "Niuqian actually went to such lengths?"

Those around them were also astonished; for many, this was something that had only existed in legends.

Mulan said, "When I was handling cases before, I saw people injured by 'Demon Dew'. Their condition was the same as Li Hongjiu's, their whole body was red, and their bodies were probably boiling. The so-called 'Demon Dew' is made by collecting the spirits of all demons and extracting their joys and sorrows. This is the most strange thing about this thing. Those who know it have it, and those who don't don't."

To put it simply, if this 'demon dew' were implanted into your body without the commander's knowledge, it would have no effect on the commander, remaining inactive forever, and undetectable by magic. However, if the commander knew of this foreign substance within their body and felt even the slightest aversion to it, the poison would immediately take effect. Once it did, there would be no cure; they would either succumb to the effects and die suddenly, or survive and transform into a mindless monster.

Manxi looked on with wide-eyed surprise and exclaimed, "So there's such a thing as Yao Lu?" Mulan replied, "I only found out about it after I investigated the case back then."

In this way, Manxi and the others immediately understood the meaning behind his previous words. The seriously injured woman probably did not know that something had been implanted in her body, otherwise she would have been poisoned immediately. However, the fact that this woman was able to use this demonic dew to launch a sneak attack after getting close to Li Hongjiu meant that she must know that there was this thing in her body.

After thinking for a while, Manxi pondered and said, "In other words, that woman may have been controlled by someone." Then he flicked his sleeve and said, "Whether it is or not, since Xiniu brought this thing in, there may be more if there is one. Tell our main leader that any similar wounded people should be killed without mercy. We cannot follow in Li Hongjiu's footsteps."

"Yes." A group of people who controlled the magical artifacts readily accepted the order and carried it out.

Mulan also pulled out a mother-and-child talisman from her sleeve and gave Han Bao and Shi Chun the same warning, saying that Xiniu had brought in that terrible thing and they should be careful.

He didn't tell Shi Chun about Li Hongjiu's infection because he knew that Shi Chun and Li Hongjiu were supposedly friends. Although he suspected that their friendship might be superficial, he still wanted to be on guard to prevent Shi Chun from acting impulsively.

Manxi suddenly turned around to face Mulan Jin, narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Master, when others come into a place like this to fight and risk their lives, the sect might worry that their treasures will fall into the hands of others. But Li Hongjiu is different. Not only is he highly skilled, but he is also Qu Wuming's prized prodigy. Yanbao Sect is the fourth largest sect in the weapon refining world. In order to protect Li Hongjiu, they will probably go to great lengths. Do you think he might have a powerful treasure that can overwhelm all the heroes?"

With her gaze fixed on the landscape painting, Mulan Jin slowly said, "I'm afraid you're not the only one with this idea."

Manxi suddenly turned his head and noticed that the light spots around Li Hongjiu's location seemed to be denser. He immediately ordered the mobilization of personnel to participate.

After making these arrangements, Manxi returned her gaze to the mirror image and found that Li Hongjiu had been moved by her accomplices and was still covered in crimson red in the rapidly flying wind scales, her fingers pointing to her chest and her eyes closed in silence.

He chuckled, "I wonder if this precious gem of the Yanbao Sect will succumb to the pressure and die, or if it will turn into a monster."

Mulan's slightly puzzled voice sounded from behind him, "Something's not right."

Manxi turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"

Mulan hesitated and said, "After being poisoned by the demonic dew, one's life or death can change in an instant. It seems that he has been holding on for too long... Perhaps our knowledge of this substance is too limited."

Not only did he feel that the fight had lasted too long, but Du Wulang, who was leading a group of men flying behind Li Hongjiu's group, also felt the same way. The commander had clearly said that Li Hongjiu would be finished soon after being hit by the attack, so since something was wrong, he had to report the situation again.

So the mirror image of the Xiniu team returned to Li Hongjiu. Niu Qian looked puzzled, as it seemed different from what he knew. However, it was the first time he had seen the effect of the Demon Dew, and he didn't know what was going on.

The higher-ups had given Li Hongjiu very clear instructions, telling him to be extremely careful and not to act rashly without certainty. They even said that even with his cultivation at the Niuqian Celestial Immortal level, he might not be a match for Li Hongjiu, as Li Hongjiu had already killed several Celestial Immortal experts from Xiniu. That's why they gave him the Demon Dew to plot against him.

Li Hongjiu's current situation has made him somewhat hesitant...

At the Nanzhan team's central command, Ming Chaofeng, staring anxiously at the mirror image, had already discerned from the landscape map that an encirclement of Li Hongjiu was gradually taking shape. It was possible that the first large-scale battle of the Amnesty War would be centered around Li Hongjiu.

He couldn't figure out what had happened to Li Hongjiu and didn't know how to resolve it, so he had already sent people out of the Demon Realm to seek help from the Royal Court and the sect.

Although the Xun Gate, the entrance and exit, was sealed off and no one was allowed to enter or leave, this did not include those who came in to report on the battle situation. Ming Chaofeng was essentially using public resources for private purposes.

After waiting for a while, the person who went out to report finally returned, flew up to the high platform, and whispered, "The Right Chancellor said that, according to our report, Li Hongjiu should have been poisoned by the 'Demon Dew'."

"What?" Ming Chaofeng exclaimed in disbelief. He had also heard that there was no cure for this poison. He never expected that someone would use such a precious item to scheme against Li Hongjiu. However, he still held onto a sliver of hope and asked, "Does the Right Chancellor have any ideas on how to cure this?"

The visitor shook his head with difficulty and said, "The Right Prime Minister said that there are only a handful of people who can refine demon dew. Although they can refine it but not decipher it, that's just them. The Right Prime Minister said that there is no unsolvable method in the world, it just depends on whether someone knows it. The Right Prime Minister said that the method of refining demon dew was created by a supreme being of the demon realm. He should be able to decipher it, but that supreme being seems to be a contemporary of the Demon Ancestor who created the Demon Realm, and has long been buried in the dust of history."

Isn't this still unsolvable? Ming Chaofeng's heart sank. He regretted bringing his junior brother into this matter. Now he felt that the sect was also bewitched. In order to help him gain more power, they had even sacrificed the future hope of the sect. What a waste.

The visitor added, "The news has been urgently sent to the Yanbao Sect. Your sect said they would notify us immediately upon finding the solution to the Dharma Assembly."

(End of this chapter)