Meng Hao stared in surprise for a moment, before understanding showed in his eyes. He walked forward. He hated to lose Spirit Stones, but if it led to being able to dispel the poison, then it would be worth it.
The door of the shop was closed. On it hung a plaque with the number 18 written on it.
Meng Hao settled his Qi and calmed his mind, then stood there quietly. Qiu Lin stood next to him. Finally, when the sun was about to drop over the horizon, the door creaked open and a middle-aged man walked out. A frown was on his face, and he didn’t even look at Meng Hao and Qiu Lin. He walked out, turned, and then clasped hands and bowed to the old man who had shown him out.
When he saw the middle-aged man, Meng Hao’s eyes narrowed and he lowered his head. He had seen this man before. It was none other than Reverend Bi Hong, whom he had seen flying through the sky earlier in the day.
The old man who stood in the shop door was of the late Foundation Establishment stage. For a Core Formation eccentric to salute him in such a manner was very unusual.
Reverend Bi Hong turned and then transformed into a colorful beam of light that shot off into the air. A screaming whistle echoed out, after which the old man in the shop looked at Meng Hao.
Without hesitation, Meng Hao produced a bag of holding, inside of which were fifty thousand spirit stones. He respectfully handed it over.
The old man accepted it with a slight nod, then turned and entered the shop. Meng Hao followed him, glancing back as the door closed behind him. The number on the plaque changed from 18 to 19.
The shop wasn’t very large. There were no shelves. Instead, there were seven pill furnaces of various sizes, two long tables, and an oil lamp. The light was relatively dim, although to Cultivators, this didn’t matter; they could see everything clearly.
“How can I help you?” said the old man coolly, sitting cross-legged behind one of the long tables.
Meng Hao said nothing, instead slapping his bag of holding to produce a jade vial. He pushed it across the table toward the old man.
The old man picked it up and opened it, then gazed at it closely. He lowered his head and sniffed it, then tipped it over. Blood flowed out onto the surface of the table.
The jade vial contained a sizeable amount of blood, which Meng Hao had extracted from his body.
“Interesting,” said the old man, his voice low. He stared at the blood on the table. He lifted his hand, and a long, silver needle appeared. He dragged it through the blood, and immediately, the needle began to glow. Then, in the blink of an eye, it began to melt with rot. In an instant, it had turned into bits of ash, which floated out in the air.
The old man’s eyes glistened. He smacked the table with his left hand, causing the blood to fly up into the air, where it congealed into a globule. He then smacked his bag of holding, and a withered seed appeared. He flicked his finger, and the seed merged into the globule of blood.
The blood instantly began to contract, and soon was gone. The seed was no longer withered, but rather, plump and nearly bursting. As it floated in the air, it slowly began to sprout.
Meng Hao watched with rapt attention as all of this happened, growing more and more nervous. He had spent a lot of Spirit Stones, all to attempt to dispel the poison.
The seed sprouted, forming into a long branch, upon which a single leaf grew. The leaf eventually grew into a flower. As soon as the flower appeared, the old man’s face went pale. Meng Hao’s eyes narrowed.
The petals of the flower were three different colors: yellow, blue and red, interlocking with each other. The flower itself had the appeared of a demonic face that was laughing and crying at the same time. The demonic-face-flower floated there in the air, seemingly alive. It was extremely bizarre.
“A three-colored Resurrection Lily…” said the old man in a hoarse voice 1. He stared at the flower, his eyes shining.
“When this poison flares up three times, it forms a complete cycle. After three cycles, the flower will bloom. After it blooms, a demonic face that seems to be both laughing and crying will appear in your right eye. It will come and go depending on your usage of your Cultivation base. If you circulate your Cultivation base for a long time, it will grow more clear. At this stage, the poison will not injure you, and in fact will protect you from all manner of other poisons. However, your desire to kill will grow stronger.
“After three more cycles, the flower will bloom again, and when the poison flares up, another demonic face will appear in your left eye. At this point, your desire to kill will be even stronger. You will become incredibly bloodthirsty. At this point, not only will you be immune to a vast array of poisons, you will begin to emanate a poisoned miasma. Your flesh will become incredibly tough, and you will be more resilient than the average Cultivator.
“However, you will find that your body is also becoming m