Volume One, Chapter 14: A Grave Mistake Made

Page 1/3

Within the jade bracelet’s space, a variety of spiritual herbs flourished luxuriantly. Jiang Heng had planted every seed of spiritual grass he could find. Now, he entered this space to find an antidote to the aphrodisiac’s poison.

Although in his previous life his cultivation had been stuck in the Qi Refining stage, unable to advance to Foundation Establishment, his alchemy skills had reached the pinnacle of a second-rank alchemist. Due to his insufficient cultivation, he had long been unable to break through to the third level, but precisely because of this, he had refined nearly every kind of low-level secondary pill, solidifying his foundation profoundly.

Now, pressed for time, he couldn’t concoct pills. However, he possessed all the detoxifying herbs here. He tore off a stalk of Ice Lotus, a Calm Heart Flower, and a Buddha’s Heart Shoot from the spiritual field, stuffed them into his mouth, chewed carefully, and swallowed.

Raw spiritual herbs, before being refined into pills, were bitter, sour, astringent, and pungent—almost impossible to swallow. Jiang Heng barely managed to swallow them. The aphrodisiac’s medicinal nature was extremely potent, actually designed for spiritual beasts.

Han Jingyue was ruthless! She dared to give such a drug to a man—not to mention whether she could endure it herself, she wasn’t afraid that it would ruin the man.

In truth, this was somewhat unfair to Han Jingyue. She knew the drug was powerful but didn’t realize how severe it would be here. Nonetheless, to capture Jiang Heng, she couldn’t afford to hold back.

Her father was an ordinary man with no other means to obtain high-grade, colorless, odorless aphrodisiacs. However, the village had many beast-use aphrodisiacs that were highly effective.

Consider this: if even large spiritual beasts couldn’t resist, how could humans withstand it?

After consuming the detoxifying herbs, Jiang Heng felt the fiery heat within him slowly dissipating. He lay back among the spiritual fields, pondering Han Jingyue’s motives.

After much thought, he still believed she was after his spiritual stones and resources. Though his talent was average, his ambition was clear.

Moreover, the Han family had long hoped their daughter would find a son-in-law who could support their household. At present, he seemed her best choice.

He chuckled inwardly—now that she was poisoned, how would she detoxify herself?

Hmph, this was a classic case of “stealing a chicken only to lose the rice,” harming others only to harm oneself!

He had no intention of returning before dawn. The spiritual energy here was sufficient, so he resolved to cultivate here.

Time meant nothing to cultivation; the night passed quickly. Jiang Heng felt he had already touched the barrier of the fourth layer of Qi Refining. In a few days, he could break through to the fifth layer.

At this rate, he was hopeful. Jiang Heng was quite satisfied with his current progress.

Judging the time as right, he emerged from the earth. Outside, dawn was breaking faintly. He set off toward his campsite from the previous day.

Page 2/3

Upon arriving at the alchemy institute’s campsite, Jiang Heng found many people gathered around his tent.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Heng asked curiously.

“Hahaha, Young Master Jiang has returned!”

“You wouldn’t believe it! Last night your tent was quite lively!”

“Indeed! One dragon playing with two phoenixes, seven times in one night—truly remarkable! Hey, Young Master Jiang, where have you been?”

Seeing the main man return, others teased him eagerly.

“What’s this all about...” Jiang Heng replied, feigning innocence.

Everyone looked at him sympathetically. “Young Master Jiang, we were wrong about you. That Han Jingyue is despicable—last night in your tent, she was frolicking wildly!”

“Not just her, Gong Huimin was there too. You have no idea—they partied all night, the sounds were something else,” one person said, shaking his head.

“The three of them only came out at dawn. The assistant instructor was furious—immediately revoked their right to participate in the assessments and expelled them. The assistant instructor also said the academy would be notified to cancel their enrollment.”

“Yes, romantic relationships between men and women are normal, but their arrogance was outrageous. Probably the first time in over a thousand years of the alchemy institute’s history.”

Everyone chatted, quickly painting a full picture for Jiang Heng.

“So, no one is in there now?” Jiang Heng asked.

They all nodded.

Jiang Heng flicked out a fireball into the tent. Flames instantly roared up, crackling as they consumed the fabric.

“I won’t keep anything soiled by disgusting people,” Jiang Heng said.

The crowd nodded in agreement. “Exactly! They’re no good. Young Master Jiang, don’t pay them any mind.”

“I’ve said it—no more ties with her!”

“That’s good!”

This matter caused quite an uproar. Within half a day, the entire Xuanyuan Sect market town knew of it.

Page 3/3

The Alchemy and Talisman Institutes immediately reacted, announcing the expulsion of the three from the academy effective immediately. Not only were they banned from ever entering again, but their descendants for three generations would also be barred from enrollment.

The Han, Gu, and Gong families were devastated, especially the Gu family. They had pinned hopes on Gu Lan to cultivate well and become an outstanding talisman master who could change the family’s fortunes.

The Han family was no better! They had hoped their daughter would marry a wealthy son-in-law to support the family. Their goal was clear—the suitor had to have good family background.

But the Gu family was poor, even worse off than the Han.

The most wronged was the Gong family. Gong Huimin wept inconsolably, several times attempting to take her own life.

Unlike Han Jingyue—who liked Gu Lan and, even if she lost her virtue to him, could somewhat accept the outcome, albeit unexpectedly beneficial—Gong Huimin was different. She had no such feelings for Gu Lan.

After a wild night, as the drug’s effects faded and she regained clarity, she realized her world had collapsed.

With a heart-wrenching scream, she suddenly pushed away the still-collapsed Gu Lan on top of her.

“I’m going to kill you!” She kicked the already exhausted Gu Lan out.

“Ah!” Gu Lan screamed. The cool morning breeze brushed over his naked body, gradually restoring his consciousness.

“Oh no!” Outside the tent, many people were present. The men laughed uproariously, the women coyly covered their eyes and squealed—chaos reigned.

Gu Lan scrambled to his feet and tried to crawl back into the tent.

Gong Huimin kicked him again, flipping him over, leaving him exposed to the daylight without a stitch on.

If not for the nearby instructor, unable to bear the sight, who threw a spare garment from a storage pouch to him, Gu Lan would have been so ashamed he might have ended his life then and there.

At this moment, Han Jingyue started to come to her senses and hurriedly grabbed the furious Gong Huimin.

“Minmin, don’t be like this. Since it’s happened, let’s find a way to fix it, okay? Even if you kill him, it won’t help!”

“I won’t listen! I won’t listen!” Gong Huimin cried wildly, “I want to kill him, kill him! Waaah!”