Chapter 158: Encounters with Fellow Disciples

Just as everyone walked out of the Profound Yang Hall, Qin Feng hurried to catch up with them. As he put it, he had nothing better to do anyway, so he planned to stay at the Yun family estate for a short while.

For an alchemist like Qin Feng, the Yun family welcomed him with open arms, and Yun Keke was overjoyed.

"You brat, you've got some good judgment. Don't worry, help me look after the Yun family, and I'll still let you watch me refine pills in the future!" Lin Xiaobao naturally understood Qin Feng's intention.

"You said it yourself!" Upon receiving Lin Xiaobao's promise, Qin Feng broke into a wide smile.

Lin Xiaobao used his spiritual power to lift Yun Keke into the air. Perhaps filled with yearning for the Dragon Soar Academy, their speed on the return journey was much faster than when they were ascending the mountain.

As they reached the foot of Blood Wind Mountain, the group suddenly came to a halt. They noticed someone lying motionless on the path ahead, and from the figure's back, it appeared to be a young woman.

Qin Feng took the lead and stepped forward cautiously, approaching with care. After all, his cultivation was the highest among them, and in the face of potential unknown dangers, he naturally had to scout ahead.

"How could it be her?" When Qin Feng turned the young woman over, Lin Xiaobao's brows furrowed slightly, and Wang Dashan's expression shifted subtly, looking at the unconscious girl with an extremely complicated gaze.

After confirming that the young woman was truly unconscious, Qin Feng placed his fingers on her pulse point and checked her carefully before saying, "Her injuries were caused by thunderous power. Her internal organs are nearly shattered, and eight or nine out of ten of her meridians are broken. I truly don't know how she managed to hold on until now!"

With that, Qin Feng turned to look at Lin Xiaobao, clearly waiting for his decision on whether to save her. However, Qin Feng noticed that Lin Xiaobao's expression appeared somewhat unusual.

"Brother Bao, please find a way to save her!" Upon seeing Nie Feiyan, Wang Dashan's intelligence seemed to rise sharply once again, and his words became much more coherent.

In fact, even without Wang Dashan's plea, Lin Xiaobao would have saved Nie Feiyan. Since she was the sole survivor of the Wind and Snow Pavilion, if he wanted to understand what had happened at the time, he could only get the answers from her. Lin Xiaobao walked over, examined Nie Feiyan's injuries once more, and reached the same conclusion as Qin Feng. Without hesitation, he took out some powdered medicine from his pouch and continuously poured it into Nie Feiyan's mouth.

Qin Feng furrowed his brows slightly and asked in puzzlement, "Could this powdered medicine possibly be more effective than refined pills?"

Although Qin Feng could sense that the medicinal strength within the powder's aura was not particularly potent, the image of Lin Xiaobao in his mind had already been elevated to infinite heights. Even if Lin Xiaobao were to pass gas while refining pills, Qin Feng would still ponder whether it was an accident or by design.

"Are you an idiot? Have you ever heard of a powder-refiner?" Lin Xiaobao retorted with a huff. "Isn't it just that I hadn't cultivated true fire back then and could only compound powdered medicine?"

Although the medicinal efficacy of powders was inferior to that of pills, the powders that Lin Xiaobao had compounded under Elder Mo's guidance back then—how weak could their medicinal power possibly be? After Nie Feiyan swallowed the powder, her pale face began to regain a hint of ruddy color.

The appearance of Nie Feiyan dampened the lighthearted mood the group had shared earlier. Lingering no longer, they headed straight back to the Yun family estate.

The most luxurious guest courtyard of the Yun family had already been prepared. The moment Lin Xiaobao and his companions returned, they went straight inside. After Wang Dashan gently placed Nie Feiyan on the bed and carefully tucked her in, he turned to look at Lin Xiaobao with a pitiful expression.

Seeing Wang Dashan, who was usually so rash, behave with such meticulous care, Lin Xiaobao knew that Wang Dashan had not yet given up on Nie Feiyan. He turned to Qin Feng and said, "Given your status, you should have some emergency pills on you, right?"

Although he sometimes liked to bicker with Lin Xiaobao, this matter concerned a human life, so Qin Feng simply nodded and produced a medicinal pill for Nie Feiyan to swallow.

One had to admit that compared to Lin Xiaobao, Qin Feng truly carried the air of a medicine boy; yet, for him to have earned his current reputation, he undoubtedly possessed genuine skill.

A short while after Nie Feiyan swallowed the pill, her breathing grew increasingly steady. Clearly, the efficacy of Qin Feng's pill far surpassed that of Lin Xiaobao's powdered medicine.

"Run..." Suddenly, Nie Feiyan's entire body convulsed. She curled up tightly into a ball, shivering continuously, and let out a cry of terror from her mouth, as if she were facing imminent and extreme danger.

Seeing this, Lin Xiaobao stepped forward in a flash, lifted Nie Feiyan, and channeled a surge of spiritual power into her body. Immediately afterward, he produced several fine needles and inserted them precisely into multiple acupoints on the crown of her head.

Instantly, Nie Feiyan grew calm. Sima Mengling had long since witnessed Lin Xiaobao's mastery of acupuncture on Nine Peace Mountain, and Wang Dashan had always held Lin Xiaobao in utter reverence, so neither of them found anything amiss.

However, Qin Feng stood by, dumbfounded. Although he knew his alchemy skills fell short of Lin Xiaobao's, as an alchemist, Qin Feng considered his foundation quite solid; his understanding of human anatomy certainly shouldn't have lost to Lin Xiaobao's. Yet, the miraculous and unfathomable technique Lin Xiaobao had just displayed completely transcended Qin Feng's comprehension.

Observing Qin Feng's expression, Lin Xiaobao chuckled inwardly: *Don't even mention yourself—even Elder Mo had to ponder over it for a very long time back then before he understood the principles of acupuncture.*

A short while after receiving Lin Xiaobao's acupuncture treatment, Nie Feiyan finally opened her eyes slowly.

"What on earth happened?" Seeing Nie Feiyan awake, Lin Xiaobao immediately asked. Although he had never voiced it aloud, he remained deeply concerned about the hidden enemy lurking in the shadows. After all, no one knew when that enemy might strike or from where they might suddenly bite.

"You..." Nie Feiyan's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz. Her pupils were unfocused, and she still wore an expression of lingering terror, as if she hadn't heard Lin Xiaobao's question at all, instead asking in return, "Where is this place?"

"This is the Blood Victor Empire, you're safe now." Realizing that Nie Feiyan had just regained consciousness, Lin Xiaobao felt he had been a bit too hasty.

After offering some soothing words and waiting until Nie Feiyan had finally calmed down completely, Lin Xiaobao once again inquired about the situation at the Wind and Snow Pavilion.

With her entire body trembling, Nie Feiyan finally recounted the events of that day.

On the day of the disaster, just like any other day, Nie Feiyan was in her room studying the array formations assigned to her by the Grand Elder. Suddenly, she felt a violent tremor shake the earth. When she ran out of her room, the entire sky and land had already been dyed a shade of deep purple.

Accompanied by peals of thunder, bolts of purple lightning plunged from the heavens, blasting every inch of the Wind and Snow Pavilion's grounds. Shrieks of agony echoed everywhere in an instant. Before she could even make any sort of reaction, Nie Feiyan felt a numbness spread through her whole body, and she completely lost consciousness.

She had no idea how much time had passed, but when she finally woke up, the entire Wind and Snow Pavilion was shrouded in a heavy stench of blood. The towering mountain peak had long since vanished, leaving behind only massive craters, deep ravines, and scattered fragments of corpses across the ground.