Twenty minutes later, a small Shadow-Eating Soldier hopped out of Moonscar's shadow, its body the size of Thumbelina bumping against her ankle.
"Is someone coming?"
Moonscar, who had her eyes closed to browse through memories, lifted her eyelids. This was the shadow soldier she had sent to monitor the situation outside the door.
With a thought from Moonscar, a raccoon Stelle emerged from the shadow on the wall and unlocked the internal door latch. Moonscar urged Fenghuang Down to blur Vermilion Hibiscus's memories from just before she fainted.
Moonscar and Li Sushang had coordinated their attack with extreme speed; Vermilion Hibiscus hadn't noticed anything amiss from start to finish. The hazy memory was just to ensure that when she was woken up later, she would believe she had simply fallen asleep from mental exhaustion.
After cleaning up the scattered traces, Moonscar sank into the shadows and left the room.
"Shangshang! You're finally back!"
During the time Moonscar was away, Guinaifen and Bailu had felt somewhat guilty and nervous, remaining in a state of high alert.
"Did you find anything?"
Facing Little Gui's inquiry, Moonscar nodded. "Let's change locations before we talk."
Saying this, Moonscar took their hands and led them through the shadows to the medicine warehouse she had seen in Vermilion Hibiscus's memories.
Rising from the shadows, Moonscar looked at the purple-haired little loli beside her and asked, "Bailu, have you ever heard of the Ascension Elixir? Or Ascension Elixir Powder?"
"Ascension Elixir Powder?"
Bailu looked confused. As she muttered thoughtfully, she seemed to recall something. Her eyebrows suddenly shot up, and her small face filled with shock.
"Ascension... Ascension... Could it be that Ascension Elixir!"
"Sister Sushang, did you discover the Ascension Elixir?"
"It's Ascension Elixir Powder, and quite a lot of it."
Moonscar rested her pale hand on her exquisite chin.
"How much?" Bailu asked urgently.
Moonscar smiled and pointed ahead.
Bailu's anxious little face gradually stiffened, turning pale inch by inch. She turned her head stiffly, only to see the bundles piled up like a mountain in the warehouse.
"Ah!!!"
Bailu let out a scream like a marmot.
Her entire person bounced up, her tiny body exploding with immense strength as she dragged Moonscar and ran backward.
Feeling unsafe even at a distance, Bailu climbed onto Moonscar, her tender arms tightly hugging her neck as she hung from her body.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?"
Startled by Bailu's actions, Guinaifen looked around left and right. She didn't see anything, but she followed the two of them to the edge of the warehouse.
"Lady Dragon, what is that Ascension Elixir Powder? Is it a pill that can make people become Immortals?"
"It's not an Immortal Pill at all!"
Bailu shook her head vigorously to show her firm denial—a denial strong enough to cause a concussion.
"That is a poison from the High Antiquity era!"
"Huh? High Antiquity? Poison? Why is it named that?" Guinaifen scratched her head.
"Do tell." Moonscar tilted her head to look at the little loli resting her head on her shoulder.
Bailu took a deep breath to steady her mind. After calming down, she began to explain to the two of them:
"The so-called Ascension Elixir..."
The transition of all Xianzhou people into long-life species was not due to the personal action of the Abundance Aeon, Medicus. He only bestowed the Ambrosial Arbor, perhaps incidentally helping a portion of the people.
But the ones who truly made all Xianzhou people immortal were the alchemists of the Alchemy Commission in the past. Those alchemists researched all sorts of inconceivable technologies from the Ambrosial Arbor.
The Longevity Pill was one of the most famous results.
In ancient times, envoys from many civilizations in the galaxy traveled billions of miles to the Xianzhou to seek medicine—specifically, the medicine of longevity.
As they became long-life species, the alchemists remained unsatisfied. If they could obtain a lifespan of a thousand years, why couldn't they obtain a lifespan of ten thousand years?
Research into the Ambrosial Arbor was like drinking poison to quench thirst; the deeper they went, the more they craved.
Many alchemists who were interested in longevity and life, gradually becoming mad, gathered together. Various pills that modified genetics, manipulated life, and challenged ethics popped up like bamboo shoots after rain.
"Many pills from that era have long been designated as forbidden drugs by the Xianzhou, and the Ascension Elixir is one of them. The powder is considered a derivative."
"The effect of the Ascension Elixir is to allow a Xianzhou native to further fuse with the power of the Ambrosial Arbor. If a Mara-struck monster consumes it, their power in various aspects will increase."
"The powder doesn't have much effect on those already Mara-struck, but for Xianzhou natives, it is a deadly poison capable of inducing the Mara-struck state."
Bailu muttered in a low voice, "This Lady finally knows why those bad guys from the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus occupied the Elixir Research Terrace."
"Almost all forbidden ancient pills require the metaphysical roots and branches of the Ambrosial Arbor as raw materials."
And on the Luofu, the only place where one could access the Ambrosial Arbor's metaphysical roots relatively easily and openly was the Elixir Research Terrace of the Alchemy Commission.
Fine beads of sweat faintly seeped out on Bailu's forehead.
"But I remember that the vast majority of forbidden pill recipes should have been completely destroyed. I've never heard that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus possessed the recipe for the Ascension Elixir before, either?"
If the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had it, they would have used it long ago.
"Oh, this recipe seems to have been perfected by them based on a remnant fragment."
Moonscar pulled an antique-looking wooden box from her skirt pocket. Opening the lid, a pill and a rolled-up piece of paper lay inside.
"...!!"
Bailu's eyes widened abruptly, her trembling, tender finger pointing at the wooden box.
"That... could that be?"
"Mmhmm, this is the Ascension Elixir and the recipe."
"Where did you get it!?"
"I just grabbed it conveniently a moment ago."
Moonscar took out her phone and snapped a photo of the recipe, then handed the recipe to Bailu.
"This pill seems quite difficult to refine."
In the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, only high-level members who had made major contributions to the organization possessed it.
Following the mindset of a sect in a fantasy novel, rewards are normally only pills; they wouldn't give out the recipe. But the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus was not a sect.
Having perfected a remnant recipe with great difficulty, if they didn't spread it among the high command and make more backups, they would have nowhere to cry if they were caught and it was destroyed.
"! D-Don't give it to me!"
Bailu acted as if she had caught a hot potato.
Contacting and researching forbidden pill recipes was a felony!
Sister Sushang was trying to get her in trouble!
She couldn't look; she was here to establish merit!
"You don't want it? Then I'll keep it as a souvenir."
Moonscar took it back amidst Bailu's hesitant expression.
"The urgent matter isn't the Ascension Elixir, but the Elixir Powder!"
Bailu spread open her tender palm.
"Just this tiny palmful of powder is enough to cause hundreds or thousands of Cloud Knights to fall into Mara."
"Huh? That powerful?"
Guinaifen was shocked.
She was not a Xianzhou native and wouldn't fall into the Mara-struck state, but having lived on the Xianzhou for so long, she had a very clear understanding of the Mara that everyone turned pale at the mention of.
Moonscar rested her chin on her hand, her eyes revealing deep thought.
She learned from Vermilion Hibiscus's memories that there was half a warehouse of this stuff!
Thinking from the perspective of Gin, currently one of the high-level members of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus...
"Based on the existing reserves, if the utilization rate reaches 80%, it might be able to wipe out more than half of the Cloud Knights."
Half was no small number.
Bailu and Guinaifen looked at Moonscar with horrified eyes.
What is with that tone of yours?
Don't forget you are a Cloud Knight too!
Bailu shook her head to dispel the strange feeling, her milky voice carrying anxiety:
"We have to leave here quickly and report the news to the Seat of Divine Foresight. Otherwise, if the Elixir Powder is spread, it will be terrible!"
Countless people would be affected then. Even if all the healers of the Alchemy Commission were pulled in to work overtime, they probably couldn't handle it.
What was more tragic was that Bailu didn't even know how many people would be left in the current Alchemy Commission after removing the spies of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
"No, there's no time."
Moonscar shook her head.
There was not a single bar of signal inside the secret Grotto-Heaven; phones and Jade Abacuses were unusable. This was the first thing she confirmed after entering the Grotto-Heaven.
Rush back immediately to notify them?
Setting aside the fact that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus's plan would start very soon, even if Jing Yuan knew there was Elixir Powder here, could he send Cloud Knights to besiege the place?
There were people from the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus within the Cloud Knights too, and the secret Grotto-Heaven didn't just have the entrance at the Alchemy Commission. Whose important base only has one entrance and exit?
"Shangshang, then what should we do?"
Guinaifen no longer had the mind to ponder why her bestie's usually clever-ish head could now think of every aspect; she just asked.
"Need you ask? Of course we directly destroy these guys' tool for harming people! Watch me burn this warehouse down with a single fire!"
She spoke with a spirit full of reckless bravado.
"Huh?"
At this moment, Guinaifen seemed to see her familiar best friend: cute, lovable, and missing a brain.
Bailu also widened her eyes, her expression looking like she had seen a ghost.
Who destroys poison using fire?
Once that Grotto-Heaven opens, wouldn't the entire Alchemy Commission get high on the fumes!?
"Just kidding~"
Moonscar shrugged, and the familiar bestie image in Guinaifen's mind shattered again.
"Oh my, at a time like this, you're still joking? Hurry and think of a way."
Guinaifen tugged at Moonscar's arm.
"But I don't understand pills at all. Bailu, it's time for you to act. Is there any way to neutralize the Elixir Powder?" Moonscar plucked Bailu off her back.
"No."
Bailu's small face turned bitter.
Leaving aside that she didn't know the composition of the Elixir Powder, even if Sister Sushang got the formula now, it would be impossible to produce a neutralizing agent in a short time.
It would take at least a few months, or even years.
"Then the Xianzhou will probably become the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus's territory."
Moonscar also felt a headache for a moment.
But regardless, these Elixir Powders must be disposed of today!
It wasn't that she was overly worried about the country and people of the Luofu, but that she had triggered Bailu's commission task. The reward for solving these Elixir Powders was a full 160 Crystals.
Absolutely cannot miss it!
"Think again. Is there really no way to destroy the Elixir Powder? Any method is worth a try."
Bailu looked miserable, scratching her ears and cheeks. Finally, she muttered softly, "The only thing that can quickly destroy the Elixir Powder is probably the water of the Ancient Sea."
"Water of the Ancient Sea?"
"Mmhmm. According to ancient records, the Ancient Sea on the Luofu is a part of the Primordial Sea that the Vidyadhara brought from their homeland. It is unsullied and pure. This is one of the reasons the ancient High Elders used the water of the Ancient Sea as a container to seal the Ambrosial Arbor."
"But where do we go to find the water of the Ancient Sea now?"
Moonscar's eyes revealed contemplation, and she suddenly thought of something.
"Wait, I remember that the various Grotto-Heavens of the Luofu are floating, right?"
The Xianzhou Luofu was a flagship, a ship, not a spherical planet. The various Grotto-Heavens were inside the flagship; they were the cabins of the Xianzhou.
"Yeah, what about it?"
Guinaifen and Bailu were surprised. Why was Sushang suddenly bringing up such common knowledge?
"Is the Ancient Sea in a separate Grotto-Heaven?"
"There is a separate Grotto-Heaven, but in reality, the Ancient Sea has already paved the entire bottom of the Luofu."
After all, the Ancient Sea seal suppressed the Ambrosial Arbor, and the Arbor's root system spread throughout the entire Xianzhou.
"So, that means, as long as I break this Grotto-Heaven, I can lead the water of the Ancient Sea in, right?"
Moonscar raised a finger and drew a circle in the space before her.
"How is that kind of thing possible?" x2
Guinaifen and Bailu looked at each other, speaking in unison.
Grotto-Heavens were the masterpiece of the Xianzhou Alliance's spatial folding technology. They were extremely stable and impossible to break; otherwise, could people live in them with peace of mind?
"Even if the General came personally, he wouldn't necessarily be able to do that kind of thing, right?"
The Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Hunt might be able to destroy a Grotto-Heaven, but to destroy it with precision... the difficulty was too high!
"The General can't do it, but who said I can't do it?"
The smile in Moonscar's eyes was hidden by her lowering eyelids. She happened to want to try something.
[I'll leave it to you, the other me.]
Peerless Freedom Sect, Head Disciple Li Sushang, Logging in!
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