Wandering the Four Seas - Chapter 156: Purifying Poison from the Sea of Bitterness

"Pffft..."

Foul, blackish-purple toxic blood spewed from Lin Taixuan's mouth.

Shui Huan was exceptionally alert; transforming into a fiery shield, it blocked the flesh-dissolving and soul-consuming poisonous blood for Su Ye.

Mists of miasma began to brew within Lin Taixuan's sea of consciousness, and he fell backward.

Su Ye and the surrounding Daoists all changed expression.

Chen Mu rushed over at top speed, supporting his senior brother whose face had turned pitch black.

The other four Daoists were gripped by fear, their faces as pale as paper. They sat cross-legged, intending to channel their energy to help their senior brother heal.

"Do not act rashly!" Su Ye commanded in a stern voice.

All the Daoists obeyed instantly.

Su Ye crouched down, reaching out to check Lin Taixuan's pulse while simultaneously sensing his spiritual consciousness.

The demonic poison contracted in the forest had relapsed within Douniu City, a place steeped in evil qi. When shattering the icy mirror maze, resentful thoughts mixed with malevolent poison had adhered to his skin.

Shui Huan had emerged due to the evil formation, absorbing the demonic qi here and causing everyone to let down their guard.

Lin Taixuan had recklessly released his spiritual energy, attracting the karmic retribution of reversed heaven and earth.

Beset by multiple factors, this talented cultivator—who had been sheltered under the wings of Daoist Songhe and had rarely experienced the hardships of the world—had fallen into a life-or-death crisis.

The female Daoist sensed her senior brother's faint breath, knowing that he had one foot in the gates of hell. She fell to her knees, tears welling in her eyes as she pleaded:

"Master Su, if you have a way, I beg you to save my senior brother's life."

Su Ye's cultivation was still shallow.

If he wanted to slay the Crimson Glow Demon and resolve the crisis in Douniu City, he could not do without Lin Taixuan's strength.

Even without the female Daoist's plea, he would not sit by and watch a righteous practitioner lose his life in vain.

"Protect me and keep the demonic qi away from Senior Lin," Su Ye said, not bothering to tell the female Daoist to stand up as he instructed the remaining Daoists.

The female Daoist swallowed a Great Return Pill and, aided by the formation, split into two avatars.

They formed the Great Dipper Heavenly Gang Formation, protecting Su Ye and the unconscious Lin Taixuan within it.

Su Ye executed the Compassionate Soul-Guiding Technique, leading Lin Taixuan's weak spiritual consciousness into a dream realm guarded by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

The poison had been lurking in his blood vessels, and because Lin Taixuan had unleashed his divine abilities while capturing the small demonic beast Shui Huan, it had spread through his meridians to his entire body.

His viscera and internal organs had all been eroded by the demonic poison.

His condition was a hundred times more perilous than the demonic poison Su Ye himself had once suffered.

It was only thanks to Lin Taixuan being a master who had cultivated for many years that he had not already died from the poison's outbreak.

The terrifying weight of karmic force manifesting upon him was vividly reflected within Su Ye's sea of consciousness.

"Had even a single link been missing, Senior Lin would have undoubtedly perished," Su Ye exhaled inwardly, feeling a deep sense of emotion.

If he had not created the Sea of Worldly Suffering in this perilous Douniu City, or if he had failed to subdue the small demonic beast Shui Huan, he would only have been able to watch Lin Taixuan die.

His meticulous caution in never missing a single detail had provided a safety net when crisis struck.

This was the source of Su Ye's confidence.

"Shui Huan, you are a minor five-elements demonic beast born of poison, which makes you rather similar to me when I first entered the Dao," Su Ye looked at Shui Huan and said softly,

"Even though you thoroughly dislike this stubborn old Daoist, he and I are grasshoppers on the same string. I need to borrow your strength to help him escape this peril."

Shui Huan let out a dissatisfied grunt.

Sensing Su Ye's firm resolve and knowing it was impossible to sway him, it had no choice but to comply with its master's instructions.

Su Ye sat cross-legged, and the Great Luo Fire Canopy transformed into a fiery shield to protect his entire body.

He lightly raised his right hand, radiant white sword qi surging from his fingertips.

Flying from his fingertips, the qi divided into ten sword gleams that pierced Lin Taixuan's ten fingertips.

Pitch-black toxic blood oozed from the wounds.

The swirling karmic force was fierce and domineering.

————

The remaining four Daoists did not need to be distracted by fighting demons; they maintained the Great Dipper Heavenly Gang Formation while anxiously watching Su Ye administer treatment.

The black toxic blood dripped onto the sandy ground with a sizzle, and the corrosive white smoke was inhaled into Shui Huan's body.

Born from the poisonous miasma laid down by the Crimson Glow Demon according to a bizarre mathematical magic array, it was inherently nurtured by poisonous qi. Eating the toxic smoke actually increased its power.

It licked its blue lips with its tiny tongue, looking with greed at the blood coagulating at Lin Taixuan's ten fingertips.

"Shui Huan, I permit you to suck dry the toxic blood in this old Daoist's body," Su Ye said in a low, clear voice.

Chen Mu wanted to speak, but was stopped by the senior brother standing beside him.

He heard a voice transmission:

"Doubt not the man you employ; employ not the man you doubt."

Chen Mu recalled how Su Ye had cracked the icy mirror maze.

Although he did not understand why Su Ye gave such an order, he had no choice but to rein in his impatience and quietly observe how the situation unfolded.

The red-scaled demon Su Ye had slain at the bottom of the well would bite off its prey's neck before drinking its blood, ensuring that it wouldn't be counterattacked during the feeding process.

The minor demonic beast shared a telepathic connection with Su Ye and knew he was not trying to kill Lin Taixuan, but rather using an extremely unique method to save the poisoned Daoist.

It opened its tiny, finger-sized mouth and sucked hard.

The blood droplets at Lin Taixuan's ten fingertips converged into ten black streams of water, rushing into Shui Huan's mouth to be easily absorbed.

Meanwhile, the majestic karmic force within his body belonged entirely to Su Ye.

With his right palm facing upward and guided by pure Buddhist power, he activated the newly comprehended Sea of Worldly Suffering.

The karmic force, like dim and murky chaos, condensed into a nebula above his palm, slowly revolving and dancing.

The Daoists sensed the terrifying nature of the chaotic vortex, looking at the unfathomable Su Ye with eyes usually reserved for gods and demons.

Aside from dread and terror, there was also heartfelt admiration.

Sudden greatness was, after all, an Arabian Night.

A cultivator possessing the potential for invincibility would always display a boldness far exceeding ordinary people when first stepping onto the path of immortality.

Even though Su Ye possessed no spiritual roots, the feeling he gave the Daoists was like a continuous, majestic range of Heavenly Dao Mountains.

Staid and mighty.

As long as he was here, the sky could never fall.

...

The exact moment the toxic blood was sucked dry by Shui Huan—

Su Ye flipped his left hand, and a streak of golden light flew out from the jade gourd.

"Had I not made a trip to Lingxi Island and slain the treacherous Bai Wuhai, how could I have obtained this powerful Blood-Coagulating Pill?" Su Ye murmured softly.

"Senior Lin, this means your time has not yet come to an end.

Had you missed even a single step, you would have perished right here."

The Daoists watched as Su Ye fed the crimson blood pill into Lin Taixuan's mouth.

The blood pill melted the moment it touched his tongue.

Like melting water from a snowy mountain, it irrigated his withered meridians.

Within just a few breaths, bright red blood flowed normally through his dried-up meridians.

Su Ye used the power of the Compassionate Soul-Guiding Technique to guide Lin Taixuan's unconscious spiritual consciousness back to his glabella and sea of consciousness.

His spiritual apertures were restored, and he was freed from peril.

Lin Taixuan slowly regained consciousness, feeling a multitude of emotions surging within his spiritual awareness.

These emotions did not stem from his physical body, but from the blood generated by his heart meridians.

"Senior Lin, those innocent souls who died unjustly have saved your life.

Your vast skills should likewise be used to repay the world."

Su Ye did not covet the credit, bestowing the merit of saving Lin Taixuan upon all the living beings of the world.

Lin Taixuan stood up, sensed Su Ye's intent, and refrained from kneeling to thank him for his grace.

Instead, facing the direction of the Heavenly Dao Mountains, he fell to his knees and swore an oath to the heavens:

"I, Lin Taixuan, hereby swear an oath!

I shall dedicate all my cultivation and every drop of hot blood to fight for the living beings of the world.

I will exert myself to the utmost until my dying breath."

The other five Daoists similarly followed their senior brother—whom they respected from the bottom of their hearts—and made the grand vow.

Su Ye dispersed the karmic force and recalled Shui Huan, which had fallen asleep to digest its power.

He stood up and said lazily:

"Senior brothers and sisters, keep your grand ambitions hidden in your hearts for now.

The most urgent task at hand is to eradicate the demonic plague in the city and rescue the common people suffering from their torment."

The Daoists were thoroughly convinced by now and naturally obeyed every word Su Ye uttered without the slightest hesitation.