Mu Wenyan didn't say much. He simply shed his outer robe quickly, revealing a three-inch-long wound at his side.
The bleeding had stopped, and the edges of the wound were tinged with a faint green, but otherwise, nothing seemed unusual.
"Fortunately, it's just a flesh wound." Feng Qingping breathed a sigh of relief. She took out a jade bottle and poured out several green pills. "These are cleansing heart pills. They can dispel any foreign energy from your body."
Duan Xianxing leaned in to take a closer look. "It doesn't seem like there's a problem?"
Li Nanzhu, however, noticed that Mu Wenyan's brow was furrowed, his expression frighteningly grave. He took the pills but did not swallow them immediately. Instead, he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to perform an internal inspection.
The group immediately fell silent.
Zhu Yinxi set up another defensive barrier in the room. Jiang Yifan, having just heard the commotion, stepped out of the inner chamber holding Suisui. Seeing the situation, he understood instantly and stood silently by the door on guard.
An hour passed before Mu Wenyan finally opened his eyes. His face was even paler than before, and fine beads of sweat had broken out on his forehead.
"Eldest Senior Brother?" Li Nanzhu carefully handed him a teacup.
Mu Wenyan took the cup, his knuckles white from his grip. "When we clashed just now, I clearly felt something trying to invade my body..."
"What was it?" Duan Xianxing's voice shifted in pitch. "Was it poison? Or..."
"It wasn't poison." Mu Wenyan shook his head. "It was more like a specific spiritual energy fluctuation. But the strange thing is, I can't find a single trace of it now."
Feng Qingping immediately took out seven array flags. "I'll use an array to see if I can detect it."
With a flick of her wrist, the seven array flags flew out like shooting stars, carving seven green trails through the air before landing precisely around Mu Wenyan in the shape of the Big Dipper.
The moment the flags touched the ground, seven pillars of green light shot up, converging above Mu Wenyan's head into a complex array diagram.
Feng Qingping formed hand seals with both hands, a green spiritual light condensing at her fingertips as she slowly infused it into the center of the array.
"Eldest Senior Brother, relax your mind," Feng Qingping said in a heavy voice.
Mu Wenyan nodded slightly and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
The array diagram rotated slowly, projecting countless fine threads of light that enveloped his entire body.
Li Nanzhu held her breath. She watched as those light threads twisted slightly at the wound on Mu Wenyan's side, forming a tiny vortex.
"There really is an anomaly!" Duan Xianxing shouted, pointing at the vortex.
Feng Qingping's brow furrowed deeper, the spiritual light at her fingertips intensifying. "It's not a physical foreign object... it's a trace left behind by some kind of spiritual energy. It would be stranger if there was nothing at all."
Zhu Yinxi also brought his jade flute to his lips. Just as everyone instinctively moved to cover their ears, no sound came from the flute.
Instead, ripples of invisible waves surged from the flute's holes, creating a wondrous resonance with Feng Qingping's array.
"So Second Senior Brother had this kind of trick... Why hasn't he used it before..."
Duan Xianxing hadn't even finished his sentence before Feng Weilan covered his mouth and dragged him away.
The light in the array diagram suddenly brightened. Under the vibration of the silent flute notes, the tiny spiritual energy vortex gradually revealed a clearer outline.
"The lingering spiritual energy fluctuation is actually dissipating on its own," Feng Qingping murmured. "There's nothing strange about it at all."
Mu Wenyan opened his eyes. "Can you see the source?"
Feng Qingping shook her head and put away the array. "It will be completely gone in two hours at most."
"Could it be a hallucination?" Duan Xianxing scratched his head. "After all, Mo Lin's cultivation technique is so sinister..."
Jiang Yifan suddenly spoke up. "Try this."
He pulled a lustrous white jade pendant from his robe. The front of the pendant was carved with an ancient character for 'light,' while the back was covered in intricate array runes.
Mu Wenyan took the jade pendant. The moment he infused it with spiritual energy, the pendant lit up with a soft white glow that covered his body, finally lingering slightly at the wound on his side.
"It's reacting!" Duan Xianxing exclaimed.
Jiang Yifan concentrated on sensing it, then also shook his head. "My judgment is the same as Fifth Junior Sister's. It's a trace left by some kind of spiritual energy."
"But it's already so faint it's almost gone."
The group finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhu Yinxi put away his jade flute. "It seems it was a false alarm."
"It's better to be cautious." Mu Wenyan stood up. "I'll keep an eye on my spiritual energy circulation these next few days. Don't let word of this get out, especially..."
His gaze swept toward the window, the implication clear.
The others understood.
The Sword Heart Sect and other major sects were all watching the Five Elements Dao Sect. Any sign of trouble could be blown out of proportion.
"I'll go prepare some pills," Feng Qingping said, standing up. "We need plenty of cleansing heart pills and mind-concentrating powder."
Zhu Yinxi put away his flute. "I'll check the ancient texts to see if there are any similar records."
Jiang Yifan silently pulled out a pile of magic tools and added three more layers of protection to the room.
Duan Xianxing patted his chest. "I'll go scout for news! See how that Mo Lin is doing."
Li Nanzhu, holding Suisui, suddenly had a thought. "Eldest Senior Brother, do you want Suisui to..."
Mu Wenyan shook his head. "No need. The residue is very weak; it won't affect a soul body."
"I didn't mean..."
As they were talking, a communication jade slip suddenly lit up.
Feng Qingping took it out, and several lines of text appeared on it:
-- Qi Yunze defeats Yun Wuya.
-- Due to the suspicious nature of Mo Lin's cultivation technique, a thorough investigation is required.
-- The Nascent Soul finals are postponed by ten days.
"Postponed?" Duan Xianxing's eyes widened. "This..."
"It's a good thing," Zhu Yinxi said calmly. "It buys time for Eldest Senior Brother to recover."
Feng Qingping looked thoughtful. "It was likely Qi Yunze's idea. After all, everyone else is itching for the match to proceed as quickly as possible. Only he, as one of the contestants, has the authority to make such a call."
Li Nanzhu looked at Mu Wenyan. "Eldest Senior Brother, what do we do now?"
Mu Wenyan pondered for a moment. "Prepare according to the original plan. I'll spend these few days in closed-door recovery. You all..."
Before he could finish, his body suddenly swayed.
"Eldest Senior Brother!" Li Nanzhu rushed forward to support him.
Mu Wenyan waved her off. "It's nothing. Just excessive spiritual energy consumption."
Li Nanzhu looked at his pale face with worry. "Are you really okay?"
"Don't worry." A sharp glint flashed in Mu Wenyan's eyes. "A bit of lingering spiritual energy won't affect anything."
In the dead of night, everyone had gone off to their respective tasks.
Li Nanzhu sat alone by the window, staring out at the moonlight in a daze. Suisui squirmed restlessly in her arms, its soul fire flickering.
The soul-stabilizing lamp from before had long since been extinguished by Mu Wenyan himself.
"Little Junior Sister." Mu Wenyan's voice suddenly came from outside the window. "Not asleep yet?"
Li Nanzhu looked up to see Mu Wenyan standing in the moonlight. His white robes were as pure as snow; only the faint green mark at his side served as a reminder of the day's danger.
"Eldest Senior Brother, I just feel like..." She hopped out of the window and sat down beside him. "That Mo Lin was coming for you."
Mu Wenyan's expression shifted slightly. "Why do you say that?"
"From his initial disrespect to his subsequent madness in burning his lifespan..." Li Nanzhu's brow furrowed. "If it were just for the tournament ranking, it seems far too extreme."
Li Nanzhu recalled, "I feel like his purpose in sacrificing his lifespan was simply to wound you. It was almost like..."
"He was gambling everything on a single throw."
Rate on N.U.
