Chapter 96 Brotherly Strife
Although Qi Qingji possesses remarkable talent in alchemy and can integrate various spiritual plants to create his own pill formulas, the pills he concocts are all somewhat strange.
[For example, a beginner-level alchemist's pill, the Bigu Pill, which prevents a cultivator from feeling hungry for a certain period of time after consumption, but in Qi Qingji's hands...]
[It can only be said that Qi Qingxiong, this guinea pig for the drug trial, suffered from diarrhea for three whole days after consuming the fasting pills he concocted, and was so weak that he couldn't even speak.]
Lou Yuqing imagined that scene and couldn't help but mourn for Qi Qingxiong.
Qi Qingxiong's face instantly darkened.
The mysterious female voice stirred up his terrible memories—it was during the Cloud Soaring Sect's outer disciple competition, and he went up on stage to compete against someone. Before the competition even started, he let out a loud fart in front of everyone.
He still remembers the strange looks those disciples gave him—shock, disgust, contempt, and disbelief—which made him feel so ashamed that he covered his face and fled.
As soon as he got back to his place, he started having diarrhea. It lasted for three whole days until he was completely exhausted. This period was the most embarrassing time of his life.
At that time, his reputation was not as great as it is now; he had only made a name for himself in the outer sect. This incident, however, became a double-edged sword, causing his reputation to plummet.
The disciples' impression of him became: "Look, he's the one who openly farted during the minor competition!"
Many rumors circulated behind his back, saying that his hobby was farting, that he felt uncomfortable if he didn't fart every day, and that he was even called a "farting maniac".
He initially thought it was a disciple participating in the competition who had framed him, since he was one of the top students at the time, and eliminating that disciple would improve the other's ranking.
As for who would worry about him threatening the rankings, it must be those disciples with strong cultivation in the minor competition, especially the disciple who initially challenged him. He investigated him thoroughly, but no matter how much he investigated, he found no clues.
In the end, he could only suffer in silence, unable to express his bitterness.
Forced into a corner, he accepted an assignment to guard the outlying area, waiting for the storm to pass before daring to return to the sect. To this day, no disciple remembers what happened back then, and he himself has almost completely forgotten it, but now…
This matter was suddenly brought up again, and the culprit was revealed to him.
Qi Qingxiong felt ashamed, angry, and even had a murderous impulse. He never expected that the one who tricked him was not his fellow disciple, but Qi Qingji!
Now that he thinks about it, he did indeed take the fasting pill given to him by Qi Qingji before participating in the competition. Immediately, his eyes turned as if he wanted to cut Qi Qingji's body into a thousand pieces.
Qi Qingji's body stiffened: "..." My life is over.
Hahaha!
On the other side, Si Nidie laughed unkindly.
Fortunately, she only smiled to herself and didn't laugh out loud, otherwise she and Lou Yuqing wouldn't have been able to hide it at that moment.
However, the disciples of the Cloud Soaring Sect and the Star Pavilion couldn't laugh at all. They cautiously glanced at Qi Qingxiong's face, which was blacker than the bottom of a pot.
They had actually heard about this matter, but as Senior Brother Qi's prestige within the sect grew, no one dared to go up to him and say anything untoward.
Qi Qingji's heart skipped a beat. It was all over. He was about to fool his cousin, but that wretched mysterious woman had ruthlessly exposed this old secret.
"Brother Qingxiong, you know your younger brother." Qi Qingji tried to calm himself down and attempted to appeal to emotions. "Your younger brother has always been honest and upright, respectful to elders and friendly to brothers. This Soul-Nourishing Pill took me forty-nine days to refine..."
[Nonsense, it's clearly only three days]
Qi Qingji choked, looking at Qi Qingxiong's increasingly hostile gaze, he unconsciously swallowed. If he didn't come up with a solution soon, he would really lose his life.
When he heard that the other person had lost face because of farting, he felt guilty and thought about confessing. However, when he thought about the consequences he would face if the truth were exposed, his subconscious avoided the matter.
"Brother Qingxiong, believe me." Qi Qingji trembled under the oppressive gaze, tears welling in his eyes, and said, "I swear, my brother's heart is completely devoted to you!"
That batch of Bigu Pills was the first pills he had successfully refined. Apart from giving them to Qi Qingxiong, he ate the rest himself. He meant well, but unexpectedly, he had diarrhea for ten days shortly after taking the Bigu Pills.
To be honest, he was quite impressed with his cousin for only having diarrhea for three days. But from then on, he found that his concoctions were always malfunctioning, so he thought of his incredibly resilient cousin…
If this is truly a case of using people as guinea pigs for drug trials, then I'll laugh my head off!
Qi Qingji: "..."
Senior, please have mercy and stop talking.
He was really about to cry.
Test mice for drugs!
Five large characters kept echoing in Qi Qingxiong's mind. He revealed his white teeth: "Qingji, I suddenly remembered something. Over the years, you have given me a lot of pills. Every time I take a pill, I always experience all sorts of problems. Are you doing this on purpose?"
Qi Qingji shook his head frantically: "No way, the pills I refine are absolutely genuine, how could there be a problem? Brother Qingxiong, you must have something else wrong with you."
Qingxiong looks terrifying; we absolutely cannot admit to this!
Did Qi Qingxiong sense something was wrong beforehand?
[That's right. After so many coincidences, she should have realized that she's been tricked by Qi Qingji. After taking those pills, she suddenly lost her mind and fell flat on her face, and then her body hair suddenly grew out and she turned into a wild man...]
A storm was brewing in Qi Qingxiong's eyes.
He had always thought these changes were due to a mistake in his cultivation technique, but he never expected that they were all the work of Qi Qingji.
He had never doubted Qi Qingji before. Every time Qi Qingji sent him pills, he was very moved and took them. He felt that this younger brother was really good to him and he could not betray this friendship. So he sent Qi Qingji a lot of spirit stones to help him refine pills. As everyone knows, being an alchemist is an expensive profession.
But now, Qi Qingji, you're really something! You used my spirit stones to refine pills, and then used me to test them on. I'm going to kill you! Even if the Heavenly King himself came, it wouldn't help!
Qi Qingxiong raised the tip of his Qingfeng sword, aiming it at Qi Qingji's throat, and said coldly, "We brothers haven't sparred in a long time. Since I have some free time, let's have a match. Don't say I didn't give you time to prepare; it will begin within three breaths!"
Qi Qingji looked at Qi Qingxiong in disbelief, as if struck by lightning. Realizing he wasn't joking, he forced an ugly smile and tried to brush aside the Qingfeng sword in front of him.
“My brother is no match for you, so there’s no need for a spar. Besides, we’re in a small world right now. If you think the trial is more important, we can talk about the sparring outside. I’ll definitely be there to keep you company then.”
Qi Qingxiong brandished his natal sword, unleashing sword energy that shook off Qi Qingji's hand. His brows and eyes resembled an unyielding iceberg in the north, and he sternly said, "Enough talk! You have two breaths left!"
"No, my brother really doesn't want to fight you. You can't force me to!" Qi Qingji used polite language. He was very flustered, extremely flustered.
Qi Qingxiong ignored him: "One breath!"
"No!" Qi Qingji cried out in anguish.
The disciples of Yunxiao Sect and Xingchen Pavilion quickly retreated, clearing the area for the two to fight. Senior Brother Qi had clearly gone berserk, and they didn't want to become victims of his swords. It was better to let the two brothers handle it themselves.
Si Nidie clapped her hands excitedly: Finally, the fight is about to begin!
Almost at the same time as Qi Qingji screamed, countless talismans flew out of his storage bag, flashed around him, and formed a two-zhang-thick light screen, protecting him completely.
Everyone stared in disbelief, their faces blank with shock.
So many defensive talismans are practically burning through spirit stones!
After Qi Qingji set up the defenses, Qi Qingxiong focused his mind, locked his divine sense on him, and unleashed a simple yet extremely lethal sword aura.
The sword energy shattered the surrounding air, whistling through the air and arriving in front of Qi Qingji in an instant with a whooshing sound, colliding violently with the defensive light barrier.
What a fast sword!
Si Nidie was amazed.
The sword energy was incredibly powerful, instantly piercing through the light barrier. Under Qi Qingji's horrified gaze, it advanced unstoppably, cutting through everything in its path for a full zhang before finally dissipating due to insufficient momentum.
"Huff." Qi Qingji's heavy breathing sounded, and his eyes became serious. His cousin's swordsmanship had improved a lot, and he almost thought he was going to be defeated by a single sword strike.
Qi Qingxiong didn't look at the result of the first sword strike, and immediately swung out the second, third, and fourth sword strikes... streaks of sword energy chased each other and rushed towards Qi Qingji.
With a loud bang, the protective light barrier trembled, and cracks appeared like a spider web. With a crack, the cracks turned into specks of light, which continued to rush towards Qi Qingji with undiminished momentum.
The light curtain shattered too quickly, but it bought Qi Qingji some time. He held a bright green bead in his hand, spun it around, and it transformed into a barrier that enveloped him.
The remaining sword energy all struck the green barrier, and with the balance shifting, the sword energy lost its power.
"My brother was wrong. Please forgive him, he's too kind to hold a grudge!" Qi Qingji blocked the first attack, but there was no joy on his face. He was in the wrong, so it was fine for him to be passively beaten. If he took the initiative to attack, his cousin would definitely beat him even harder.
It has to be said, Qi Qingxiong's physique is incredibly strong; he managed to withstand so many pills.
[There's also this Soul-Nourishing Pill. While it can expand the sea of consciousness and strengthen the soul after consumption, the side effect is hair loss.]
According to the original plot, Qi Qingxiong should have taken this pill during the second arena match, and then the effects of the drug would have taken hold, turning him bald and making him famous throughout the Seven Sects.
Bald!
Qi Qingxiong felt a chill run down his spine and roared, "Qi Qingji, come out here! Don't be a coward, I want to fight you to the death!"
Qi Qingji looked up to the sky and cried out in anguish: "Give me a way out!"
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