Upon hearing Xia Qi's words, Qin Luo straightened his back, met his gaze without flinching, and solemnly replied:
"Don't worry, senior, I, Qin Luo, always keep my word!"
Standing beside him, Xia Zihan was also deeply moved upon hearing this. She tightly grasped Qin Luo's hand with her slender fingers and looked at Xia Qi, saying:
"Fourth Brother, don't worry, I believe in Qin Luo, and I believe he will never let me suffer even the slightest grievance in the future."
Xia Qi looked at their tightly clasped hands, sighed softly, and his tone softened considerably:
"Alright, I hope you remember your promise today. Now that you've passed my test, you can call me Fourth Brother just like Xiao Jiu does."
Qin Luo was taken aback for a moment, then quickly reacted and said, "Thank you, Fourth Brother."
Seeing this, Xia Zihan, who was standing next to her, finally felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders, and a bright smile bloomed on her face, her eyes filled with happiness.
At this moment, a handsome young man who had been standing not far away stepped forward.
He first smiled and nodded at Qin Luo and Xia Zihan, then slightly cupped his hands towards Xia Qi and said:
"Brother Xia, since the two of them are so determined, we should be happy for them."
Xia Qi glanced at the handsome man and nodded slightly, saying, "Brother Lin is absolutely right."
Qin Luo and Xia Zihan then noticed the handsome man. Xia Zihan asked softly:
"Fourth Brother, who is this?"
Xia Qi pondered for a moment and then introduced:
"This is Brother Lin Yu, a good friend I made while dealing with the alchemy book you sent me in Taihua City. I've come here to find you."
Looking for me?
Xia Zihan looked at Lin Yu with some confusion. In her memory, she had never had any dealings with this person before, and she wondered what he wanted to see her about.
Seeing this, Lin Yu coughed lightly and said:
“Miss Xia, I heard from Brother Xia that the alchemy book was sent to him by you. May I ask who the owner of this book is?”
"To be honest, the reason I've come here is because my father is suffering from a deadly poison and urgently needs a third-grade alchemist to help him refine a special elixir in order to cure him."
"I searched everywhere to no avail. I happened to see this alchemy book being auctioned off. After bidding for it, I discovered that the pharmacology and alchemy techniques inside were definitely not something a second-grade alchemist could have written. It took me a lot of effort to find Brother Xia and then I found out that it was sent from you."
"So I shamelessly followed Brother Xia here, thinking that perhaps I could find out the whereabouts of the book's owner from Miss Xia, so as to save my father from danger."
Xia Zihan was slightly taken aback when she heard this. She hadn't expected Lin Yu to have such a reason for coming here.
So he turned to look at Qin Luo, his eyes questioning. After all, the alchemy book was a gift from him, and he needed Qin Luo's permission to mention the cave dwelling to anyone.
Looking at Lin Yu's eager yet expectant eyes, and at the questioning look in Xia Zihan's eyes, Qin Luo hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking:
"Brother Lin, to be honest, this alchemy book was obtained by Zihan and me in the ruins of a simple cave in the primeval forest of the Southern Region."
Qin Luo shook his head at this point.
"As for who the owner of that cave is, we have no idea."
Upon hearing this, the hope on Lin Yu's face gradually faded, finally turning into a helpless sigh.
He had originally thought he could find a third-grade alchemist here, but now it seemed that his hopes had become much slimmer.
A hint of disappointment flashed in Xia Qi's eyes behind him. Qin Luo keenly noticed this subtle change and couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.
This made him secretly speculate that Lin Yu's urgent search for a third-grade alchemist might be because his father's condition had reached a critical stage.
The disappointment in Xia Qi's eyes might not just be because he couldn't find any clues about the third-grade alchemist. Could there be some unspeakable reason behind it?
Amidst a surge of emotions, Qin Luo suppressed his earlier doubts, looked at the utter disappointment on Lin Yu's face, hesitated for a long time, and then pondered:
"Brother Lin, could you tell me what kind of pill you need to refine? And why does it require a third-grade alchemist to refine it?"
Lin Yu was slightly taken aback by Qin Luo's question, then a bitter expression appeared on his face as he slowly said:
"Brother Qin, to tell you the truth, my father was recently in a fight in the Western Regions when he was accidentally poisoned by a deadly poison called the Netherworld Ghost Poison."
"This poison is colorless and odorless, making it extremely difficult to detect. It can quietly blend into the surrounding spiritual energy. After inhaling this spiritual energy containing the Netherworld Ghost Poison during battle, the poison will lie dormant in the body."
"After a period of time, the toxins begin to take effect, constantly eroding the cultivator's soul essence, causing the soul to gradually dissipate. At the same time, it will also cause various hallucinations and mental confusion, leading people to death in pain and confusion."
"Soul?"
Qin Luo looked puzzled upon hearing this. What exactly is this divine soul?
Seeing Qin Luo's bewildered expression, Xia Zihan, who was holding his hand, gently explained in his ear:
"Qin Luo, this divine soul is a unique divine soul that will be born in the body of a cultivator after reaching the Soul Contract Realm. This divine soul contains great potential and is the foundation of a cultivator in the Soul Contract Realm."
Qin Luo suddenly understood after hearing her explanation, and Lin Yu then added to it:
"Brother Qin, you must know that the soul is of paramount importance to cultivators at the Soul Contract Realm. Losing it is no small matter."
"After my father's accident, the clan members ran around searching for a way to cure the poison. They learned from an ancient book that only the fourth-grade elixir, the 'Soul-Clearing and Poison-Dissolving Pill,' had a glimmer of hope to cure the poison."
"We have already collected all the ingredients for this Soul-Cleansing and Poison-Dissolving Pill, but fourth-grade alchemists are extremely rare in the entire Southern Region. We have searched almost all the major families in the Southern Region, but we still haven't been able to find a single fourth-grade alchemist."
"Finally, with no other choice, we had to settle for second best and have a third-grade alchemist in our clan forcibly refine the Soul-Cleansing and Poison-Dissolving Pill. However, the medicinal materials we painstakingly collected were only enough for three refinements."
"Because some people in the clan were too eager to refine the elixir to save my father as soon as possible, they acted rashly without adequate preparation, wasting two precious opportunities."
At this point, Lin Yu's voice carried a hint of bitterness.
"Therefore, for this last chance to refine pills, in order to maximize the success rate of the pills, our Lin family spared no expense to invite a third-grade alchemist."
"Even so, some elders in the clan were still uneasy, after all, the difficulty of refining this fourth-grade pill was extremely high for a third-grade alchemist."
"To ensure everything goes perfectly, we think we need to find another Rank 3 alchemist. Only with the cooperation of three Rank 3 alchemists, pooling their wisdom, can we have any hope of successfully refining this Soul-Cleansing and Detoxifying Pill."
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