Chapter 320 The Antidote is Completed
Of course, death also has its uses.
By observing the different ways Tan Zheng died, Zhong Cai could determine which specific poison had failed to work in Tan Zheng's body, and then continue to make adjustments.
However, this adjustment is not easy.
It's not as simple as reducing the destructive power of one particular poison; rather, it's a matter of affecting everything. If one part is adjusted, the original balance of the medicinal properties will be disrupted, and all the poisons' properties will need to be adjusted again to establish a new balance.
The adjusted mixed medicine solution was then poured into the new Tan Zheng replica.
This process is repeated, repeated, and repeated again.
The number of various simulated medicinal materials consumed was countless.
Besides the fact that he used a huge amount due to multiple attempts, even though Zhong Cai himself was exceptionally talented, it did not mean that he had a 100% success rate. There were also times when his hands were not steady enough or other reasons caused him to fail in refining the medicine.
Failure is a waste; you have to start over.
·
Zhong Cai's mind was racing.
Each adjustment to the mixed medicine consumed a great deal of his energy, prompting him to consider and refine various ideas in his mind.
Zhong Cai himself didn't remember exactly how many times he had tried, but there was no doubt that the more he practiced, the more skilled he became, the faster his inspiration came, the faster his fingers moved, and the faster, more efficient, and more successful he became in refining the medicine.
The fatigue naturally crept in faster and faster, to the point that Zhong Cai had to take a Rainbow Pill every few hours or half a day to recuperate.
Wu Shaogan practiced his cultivation technique while keeping an eye on Zhong Cai's condition.
If Chung Tsai is overworked, Wu Shao-gan will step forward to stop her, and if necessary, forcibly hold Chung Tsai down to rest.
Time slowly passed...
Before we knew it, three or four days had already passed.
During this time, Wu Shaogan left the quiet room for a while. After opening the door, he stood at the door, greeted the Liu sisters, and informed You Su that the current research progress was that they had found a mixed medicine solution with balanced medicinal properties that was almost identical to Tan Zheng's internal environment.
Upon hearing this, You Su and the Liu sisters relaxed a little.
The subsequent research and development was indeed complicated, but they all believed that since Master Zhong Dan could distinguish such complex poisons, he could certainly use this well-mixed venom to develop an antidote to counteract it!
Seeing that Senior Wu was about to enter the meditation room again, You Su mustered his courage and asked, "Excuse me, Senior, where is my elder brother now...?"
Wu Shaogan said calmly, "His life is not in danger."
You Su was slightly relieved and did not ask any further questions, but solemnly thanked him again.
Wu Shaogan turned and went inside.
After the gate closed again, You Su and the others couldn't help but exchange glances.
The group were good friends and had a good understanding of each other.
At that moment, they both understood each other's thoughts—
When Master Zhong was not by Senior Wu's side, Senior Wu gave off a very... subtle feeling.
It makes people want to stay away from it.
Especially You Su, if it weren't for the fact that Zhong Danshi's research couldn't be disturbed, he wouldn't have seen him for several days and wouldn't have known about his sworn brother's situation. He wouldn't have dared to call out to ask questions before.
Liu Jinlan lowered her voice to an extremely low hue, almost a whisper, and said, "I wonder how someone as kind as Senior Zhong managed to become Senior Wu's Daoist partner..."
Liu Jinmian responded in a similar voice: "But the two seniors are indeed a very good match."
Liu Jinlan nodded as well.
You Su listened to the two sisters' conversation but did not join in. He just stared at the door and kept thinking about his sworn brother.
He eagerly anticipated that he would be able to see his sworn brother again in a few days.
·
Zhong Cai's meticulously researched balanced venom has a light blue hue.
Upon closer inspection, one can see tiny, hair-like worms moving nimbly within, demonstrating the venom's potency and its ability to remain stable even with the constant movement of these snow silkworms.
This is still a simulation, and it is the final product obtained after several fine-tunings after the simulation. In the end, it can enter the body of Tan Zheng's replica without any error and without affecting the balance of his body.
Next, he will use his own actual medicinal herbs to prepare the formula.
Zhong Cai had a sudden thought.
In the entire alchemy simulation room, all the materials used for refining, the concocted poisons, and other miscellaneous items disappeared.
Next, Zhong Cai exhaled, took Wu Shaogan's hand, and walked out of the ancient city together.
Wu Shaogan gently rubbed Zhong Cai's temples and said tenderly, "You've worked hard, Cai."
Now that there were no outsiders around, Zhong Cai no longer needed to pretend, so she chuckled and said, "It's not that hard, this research is quite interesting. Once I try it on Tan Zheng and it works, it will be easier for me to make the antidote."
—Mainly because when he was researching interesting things, his husband, Mr. Wu, was always by his side, which made him feel at ease and able to concentrate.
Thinking this, Zhong Cai winked at Wu Shaogan again.
Wu Shaogan couldn't help but chuckle, and changed his technique, giving Zhong Cai a shoulder massage.
Zhong Cai squinted her eyes, enjoying the moment.
After resting for a while, Zhong Cai enthusiastically took out the actual medicinal materials she needed and processed them in combination with the residue she had extracted earlier.
The finished product he obtained was exactly the same as the one he had refined in the simulation room!
Zhong Cai nodded in satisfaction: "Very good."
Then, he came to the body of the burly man who exuded a chilling aura.
As Zhong Cai's research progressed, over the past few days, the ice flowers blooming on Tan Zheng's body had grown slightly larger. While not excessively so, they had indeed increased the extent of the damage to Tan Zheng.
Zhong Cai has already successfully tested this on replicas; now it's time to confirm it on the real Tan Zheng.
We can't use too many; we only need to verify that they work on a small scale...
Zhong took out a very small amount of the mixed venom, flicked it with his finger, and sent it into Tan Zheng's body.
Tan Zheng's physical body remained unchanged.
Zhong used his spiritual sense to completely envelop Tan Zheng, observing every subtle change in him, and confirmed that the venom had successfully integrated into his body without any new changes.
The verification results were exactly the same as those on the replica in the simulation room.
This extremely small amount would slightly increase the toxins in Tan Zheng's body, but the amount is almost negligible and has almost no effect on Tan Zheng himself—something that Zhong Cai had also confirmed extensively on the replica.
Zhong Cai then took samples from Tan Zheng again for examination and confirmed that the situation had not changed.
At this moment, Zhong Cai was finally able to begin researching the antidote and returned to the alchemy simulation room.
If the antidote he develops can neutralize the mixed venom, then it should be the correct antidote. He will test it on a clone and confirm it multiple times before feeding it to Tan Zheng.
Zhong Cai was confident.
He might have been worried when he didn't know the ingredients, but once the ingredients and prescription were confirmed, he became confident!
He believed that with his abilities, he could definitely do it!
Wu Shaogan stayed by his side the whole time.
At this moment, looking at Zhong Cai's radiant appearance, a smile appeared on his face.
When A-Cai was studying alchemy, he seemed to be glowing.
It's always so bright and beautiful.
·
Zhong Cai devoted himself to the research, neglecting sleep and meals.
When he was refining the mixed venom, he had already gained a very deep understanding of this poison, and it could be considered that he had mastered another poison formula.
Of course, this was not something he figured out; it was a coincidence that happened by some unknown accident and ended up on Tan Zheng, who was probably an unlucky guy.
But it's not a big problem.
Tan Zheng was the one who got the poison, and the poison formula was deduced by Zhong Cai.
In the future, Zhong Cai can also refine some of this mixed poison so that others can "have some fun" when needed.
Zhong Cai was single-minded, except for Lao Wu.
So whenever he felt blocked up or lacked energy, he would occasionally look up and give Wu Shao a dry smile, which would give him a lot of strength to continue his research.
As Zhong Cai became increasingly focused on his research, Wu Shaogan would give him some pills or other supplements at appropriate times to ensure that Zhong Cai's mind was always highly active, verifying his ideas one by one.
Zhong Cai had already considered many ways to detoxify the poison when he was deducing the poison formula.
Then discard some things and improve others...
Now, Zhong Cai is steadily on the right track in researching the antidote.
How do you neutralize each toxin individually, how do you neutralize them when they are combined in pairs, and what if you mix several different types together...?
Each poisonous substance cannot be treated with just one remedy. What Zhong Cai had to do was to find out from these remedies that did not conflict with each other, or even that were perfectly combined and whose medicinal effects could be superimposed, and then carefully combine them.
Zhong Cai's thinking was very clear.
So far, he has a rough prototype of the antidote.
The reason why cultivators poisoned by mixed toxins are prone to death is that their internal environment is in a state of imbalance in most cases, which leads to a chain reaction of all the toxins.
If there are only a few, perhaps three or five, a skilled alchemist might be able to use various complex prescriptions and methods to stop the chain reaction and eliminate different poisons one after another.
However, the more toxins there are, the less you should do this, because some toxins can even react in pairs or multiples together.
Zhong Cai had studied the poison formula so carefully in order to understand such a complicated situation.
Now, in his research, many alchemists, when faced with the study of mixed poisons, will try their best to deduce the venom and attempt to eliminate all the toxicity at the same time.
After developing an antidote, their verification method often involves collecting materials from patients again, neutralizing them one by one, and collecting materials multiple times to repeatedly check the effects.
Of course, other experimental methods will also be used, but the final step will always be to take samples from real patients for small-scale verification.
This makes it easy for patients to become even weaker during the verification process due to insufficient medical records... and there's nothing that can be done about it.
To get rid of the poison, you have to suffer.
On the other hand, Zhong Cai can conduct most of the verification in the simulation room. Although the final verification will still take material from Tan Zheng, it is not necessary to collect a large amount of material. It will only be necessary to verify it a few times.
·
For Zhong Cai, the approach to researching antidotes was clear, and each individual toxin was easy to deal with. The difficulty lay in simultaneously eliminating all the medicinal properties and ensuring that all antidotes did not conflict with each other.
It took him six or seven days.
Wu Shaogan checked on Tan Zheng's condition and found everything to be normal, with no other changes.
But as a considerable amount of time had passed, the ice flowers on Tan Zheng's body had grown larger, and his unicorn had shrunk somewhat.
Fortunately, after verification, this unicorn horn was found to be a manifestation of a beast transformation effect that had not been fully subdued, and it was not a major problem with the primordial soul—although the primordial soul was also contaminated with some poisonous substances, the problem was not too serious.
However, Tan Zheng was constantly weakening, but he had a very strong will, so he continued to persevere.
It was this persistence that finally allowed Zhong Cai to complete the refining of the antidote.
·
Wu Shaogan put his arm around Zhong Cai and carried him into the quiet room.
In Zhong Cai's hand was a small, pointed bottle about the length of a finger.
The small bottle was transparent and contained a strange, deep purple liquid. As Zhong Cai slightly turned her wrist, the liquid actually displayed a colorful effect.
It even seemed to emit a faint glow, making it quite beautiful.
Zhong Cai glanced at Tan Zheng and smiled.
Very good, the aura is still there.
Wu Shaogan had no interest in Tan Zheng, only glancing at him before continuing to look at Zhong Cai's profile.
Zhong Cai sighed, "This guy has persisted until now; he must have some obsession that he's unwilling to let go of."
Wu Shaogan nodded and echoed, "He and You Su are brothers."
Zhong Cai raised an eyebrow: "Isn't it just deep affection?"
Wu Shaogan nodded again: "Just like you and me."
Zhong Cai couldn't help but laugh.
Wu Shaogan's gentle expression told him that A Cai wanted to say this.
After exchanging a few jokes, the two stopped talking.
Because they also knew that in the past few days, You Su had placed all his hopes on Zhong Cai, and must be extremely anxious.
Zhong Cai didn't delay and said to Wu Shaogan, "Let them in."
Although the antidote has been developed, the timing of the detoxification and whether the family should supervise Tan Zheng's detoxification process still require confirmation from the family.
Wu Shaogan nodded again, said nothing more, and simply flicked his sleeve.
As the array flickered on and off, the door to the quiet room opened.
At the same time, Zhong Cai's gentle voice was transmitted through his soul.
"The antidote is ready, come in, everyone."
·
Outside the quiet room, You Su and the Liu sisters remained steadfast in their guard.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that the Liu sisters' expressions were filled with anxiety and concern for You Su, while You Su himself paced back and forth, his once handsome face now appearing haggard, with dark circles under his eyes.
The torment he suffered was far greater than that of the Liu sisters.
The group of people were now almost all unsure of how long they had been waiting.
For You Su, every day felt like an eternity, every moment seemed incredibly long, and countless thoughts tormented him.
The mood among the group grew increasingly somber.
Until now—
The door to the quiet room opened, and the news that the "antidote had been successfully prepared" reached their ears.
You Su was stunned for a moment.
The antidote has been prepared.
He didn't hear wrong, did he? It wasn't the illusion he'd occasionally hallucinated in his dreams these past few days, but the real reality, right?
You Su was incredulous, yet desperately wanted to believe it; he was almost unable to process what was happening.
The Liu sisters quickly came to their senses and gave You Su a push.
"The antidote is ready! Senior Zhong wants us to go in!"
"Hurry up and go in! We'll go in with you!"
You Su took a deep breath, as if he had finally confirmed that it was not a dream, and his face showed an expression of ecstatic joy!
He strode forward, using his fastest movement, and swept into the quiet room like the wind!
Seeing that You Su had finally come to his senses, the Liu sisters were happy for him, but worried that he might lose his composure in the quiet room because he was too excited, so they hurriedly followed him in.
·
You Su and the others entered the quiet room.
The Liu sisters closed the door again.
Everyone saw that the two seniors were standing in front of the ice bed, and Zhong Danshi was playing with a small bottle in his slender fingers.
They immediately made a guess.
Could what's in this bottle be—
You Su tried to run over, but Liu Jinlan quickly pulled him back.
Liu Jinmian also coughed lightly as a reminder.
This reminder brought You Su back to his senses. He quickly composed himself, then quickened his pace to the ice bed. Together with the Liu sisters, he first paid his respects to the two seniors.
You Su suppressed his eagerness and said first, "Thank you for your help, seniors. You two have worked hard."
As he spoke, his eyes lingered on the small bottle with an insatiable hunger, his thoughts unreadable, but undeniably filled with anticipation.
Zhong Cai said directly, "No need for formalities." He gently shook the bottle. "This is the antidote. You can decide when to give it to your sworn brother."
As he spoke, he handed the bottle to You Su.
You Su was taken aback and wanted to raise his hand to take it, but before he could actually raise his hand, he curled his fingers up again.
His fingers were trembling slightly.
You Su opened his mouth, "Senior, please forgive me..." He couldn't suppress his emotions at all, and could only weakly explain and plead, "This junior is incompetent, and now... I really cannot personally feed my elder brother the medicine. I'm sorry to have made you laugh at me, senior. This junior begs you to administer this antidote to my elder brother..."
As they talked, You Su became somewhat embarrassed.
Zhong Cai glanced over at it.
You Su was trembling so badly that he was completely unable to feed Tan Zheng the medicine himself. It was even conceivable that if he were to actually try to feed him the medicine, the entire bottle of antidote would probably spill out before it even reached Tan Zheng's lips.
Zhong Cai didn't find You Su's appearance disgusting and generally understood his feelings, so she casually nodded and said, "Then I'll force it down his throat."
You Su: "...Thank you, senior."
Zhong Cai was already standing in front of the ice bed. Now, taking a step or two closer, she placed the pointed end of the small bottle near Tan Zheng's mouth and, with a little force, slipped it through his lips.
The small bottle was soft, and with a pinch of Zhong Cai's fingers, all the antidote was sent down Tan Zheng's throat.
It was very quick.
You Su stood at the head of the ice bed, his face full of tension.
Every time he saw his older brother covered in ice flowers and frost, his heart was filled with bitterness. He dared not look at him for long, but he forced himself to keep looking because of his worries—if he looked any longer, his heart would clench and he would find it very unbearable.
This time, You Su watched with great eagerness.
He wanted to see his older brother recover with his own eyes.
And all the expectations we've had these past few days have not been in vain.
When the antidote entered Tan Zheng's mouth, its effects were so rapid that they were astonishing.
The Liu sisters almost cried out in surprise, but the occasion was inappropriate, so they both swallowed their shock and didn't utter a sound.
·
The antidote neutralized all the toxins in Tan Zheng's body extremely quickly.
Everyone heard a slight "crackling" sound within a breath of the antidote entering their throats.
Everyone's eyes quickly searched.
The reason why the Liu sisters were the first to notice and exclaim in surprise was that they had witnessed the largest ice flower on Tan Zheng's body crack!
In an instant, the ice flowers dimmed, and their original crystalline brilliance vanished. The entire cluster of ice flowers seemed to have turned into the most ordinary ice blocks, losing their original magnificent and eerie brightness.
Immediately, the ice flowers shattered and turned into many tiny ice cubes.
The ice blocks landed on Tan Zheng's body and slid down the frost, but they quickly dissipated before they even reached the ground.
"Click! Click!"
"Smack!"
With countless cracking sounds, the entire cluster of ice flowers visibly shattered.
This is just the beginning.
The next instant, all the ice flowers on Tan Zheng's body began to crack.
They cracked open in a rush, and then quickly disintegrated and disappeared.
In just a short while, Tan Zheng's skin became completely smooth, and not a single ice flower could be seen anymore.
At that moment, everyone suddenly realized that as the ice flowers collapsed, the frost on his body was also fading.
The icy white and pale blue hues faded away, and the layers of frost seemed to have melted into water, flowing down Tan Zheng's body and accumulating on the ground to form small puddles.
At the same time, Tan Zheng's true skin color was faintly revealed.
His skin had turned somewhat pale due to the prolonged freezing, but it gradually recovered, revealing his human form, probably because the toxins in his body were still dissipating.
Tan Zheng, who used to look like an ice sculpture, now seems to be simply asleep in a large bed.
His breathing was steady, no longer weak, and he looked normal and peaceful.
The ordinary bed, which had been frozen due to the constant cold emanating from Tan Zheng, now seemed to have had its ice melted by the powerful heat, shedding its ice layer and returning to the shape of an ordinary bed.
The Liu sisters were shocked to discover that while they were observing the collapse of the ice flowers, in addition to the frost fading away, Tan Zheng's single horn—which had become only an inch long—had also completely disappeared.
This disappearance, unlike its previous abnormal melting and shrinking, represents the complete elimination of the abnormal state...
·
Tan Zheng's recovery was really fast.
You Su stared intently at Tan Zheng, his mind and eyes completely focused on him. He had no other emotions, only one thought—hoping that his sworn brother could recover quickly, quickly…wake up!
It was as if it were fulfilling You Su's wish, or as if it were hearing You Su's call.
Just a few breaths later, Tan Zheng's eyelids twitched slightly.
After another breath, he opened his eyes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
