Chapter 68: Setting Off!

The change inside the patient’s body did not stop with that first violent eruption.

Under Damian’s <Divine Sense>, every lingering trace of Corpse Qi suddenly began moving.

The corruption buried within muscle, blood, organs and even bone seemed to receive the same invisible command at once.

GTFO!

Black strands tore themselves away from the places they had infected, the grey discoloration across the young cultivator’s chest receded rapidly, and the rotten root-like veins beneath his skin began draining inward, all of them converging toward a single destination... his throat!

The patient’s body convulsed violently as the remaining Corpse Qi rushed upward, then his eyes snapped open!

Everyone nearby recoiled slightly.

His pupils were completely black, and not merely dark irises, but pools of corruption that swallowed almost every trace of white within his eyes.

Yet even those began changing as blackness flowed inward like ink being sucked through invisible drains, shrinking second by second until the whites of his eyes gradually returned.

They remained heavily bloodshot, but human and unmistakably alive.

The patient sucked in one ragged breath, then his mouth opened wide.

WHOOSH!

A dense cloud of Corpse Qi burst outward that did not disperse normally.

Instead, the miasma twisted several feet above the bed and formed a small ghastly visage with blurred human features and two hateful crimson eyes.

The thing screamed loudly, its shriek carrying such agony that several weaker disciples outside the immediate treatment area instinctively covered their ears.

The spirit-like face thinned rapidly as traces of golden holy power clung to the black miasma and consumed it from within.

Then, even while dying, the creature turned and fixed its crimson eyes directly upon Damian.

In them, there was endless, burning hatred!

For one brief instant, Damian had the uncomfortable impression that something inside that mass genuinely understood who had destroyed it.

Then the final threads of Corpse Qi collapsed as the ghastly visage vanished, extinguished from the world.

The patient fell back against the bed, his body looking terrible with pale skin, weak breathing, and trembling limbs.

If Damian had to describe him, the fellow resembled a candle standing outside during a storm, one powerful gust away from going out.

But the Corpse Qi was gone.

Every last trace Damian’s <Divine Sense> could detect had disappeared.

The infirmary remained frozen until the lead healer suddenly came alive.

"What are you staring at?! Stabilize him! Check his pulse, meridians and organs! Bring a Blood Nourishing Pill and prepare a restorative decoction!" the old healer barked.

That snapped everyone out of their shock as three healers rushed forward.

One checked the patient’s pulse while another placed both palms over his chest, carefully circulating gentle Spiritual Energy through his damaged body.

A third began producing medicines.

The lead healer himself leaned over the patient, inspecting him with increasingly disbelieving eyes.

"The Corpse Qi..." he whispered.

"Gone," Damian confirmed.

The old man looked toward him. "Completely?"

"As far as I can detect."

The healer immediately checked again, then again, his expression becoming increasingly strange.

Damian rubbed his chin.

"Huh. That was basically an extremely aggressive chemotherapy treatment, except much more selective."

Nobody understood a single word, naturally.

Damian continued thinking internally instead.

Chemotherapy on Earth was not some magical cancer-seeking poison. Many forms worked because cancer cells divided rapidly, but healthy fast-dividing cells could also be damaged, which was why treatment could be brutally taxing on the body.

Basic Holy Water seemed almost opposite.

It had recognized the hostile supernatural corruption as the target and attacked it specifically.

The patient’s exhaustion appeared to come mostly from everything his body had already endured, plus the violent process of purging corruption that had infiltrated him so deeply.

The treatment itself had not indiscriminately scorched his organs alongside the disease.

This was a targeted purge, and that distinction was enormous.

Damian looked around.

The others had apparently reached similar conclusions.

And they looked...

Unwell.

Economically speaking of course, not physically.

Mu Qingyao stared at the recovering disciple with her lips slightly parted.

Lan Ruyue’s gentle composure had disappeared entirely.

Shen Xueyi’s normally emotionless eyes had sharpened to such a degree that even her icy temperament could no longer conceal what she was thinking.

The four youngsters were simply terrible at hiding anything.

Jian Rui looked ready to calculate how many bottles the Evergreen Sect could buy.

Bo Wen’s breathing had become rough.

Lin Meiyu seemed to have forgotten how blinking worked.

Shen Lian was staring at Damian as though reconsidering whether the young man was secretly some immortal playing among mortals.

And this time, Damian understood why.

The Potion of Growth was revolutionary because it could alter the foundation of Spirit Planting itself.

A medicinal herb that normally required ten years to become Grade Two had reached that stage in ten minutes.

That meant more herbs, more pills, more opportunities for Alchemists to practice, and more resources for disciples.

The entire cultivation economy of a sect could change if the product was supplied consistently.

The Potion of Comprehension was equally terrifying in another direction, specifically in Martial and Daoist Arts, cultivation techniques and eventually perhaps other compatible disciplines.

A sect could produce disciples who learned faster, fought better and reached useful mastery realms without spending years grinding the same forms.

Those two products could strengthen an organization from the ground upward!

But Basic Holy Water made those miracles feel strangely secondary because this was war.

And the Nightmare Corpse Sect’s greatest advantage was Corpse Qi!

The Vials of Healing had already proven capable of helping cultivators survive corruption by repairing the damage it caused.

If someone suffered torn flesh, damaged meridians or injuries caused while resisting Corpse Qi, the potion restored the body and gave that cultivator another chance to fight the invading energy personally.

Useful, extremely useful, but indirect.

It repaired the battlefield without actually killing the invader, but Basic Holy Water did.

It had ignored healthy flesh and attacked the Corpse Qi specifically.

Once the corruption disappeared, the patient was still injured, exhausted and weakened, but cultivators had countless ordinary methods for dealing with those problems like healing pills, rest, Spiritual Energy, medicinal food and time.

As long as someone still had a sliver of life left, cultivators were remarkably difficult creatures to kill permanently if competent healers reached them in time.

Why waste a Vial of Healing capable of restoring devastating physical damage, even ruined meridians or crippled cultivation foundations, just to help someone fight off Corpse Qi?

Use Basic Holy Water to purge the corruption, then use normal Shengyuan medicine to handle the remaining injuries.

The resource efficiency was not even comparable!

And there was something worse.

Or better.

That depended upon which sect one belonged to.

Mu Qingyao slowly looked upward toward the ceiling Damian had cleared earlier, and Lan Ruyue did the same.

They had both realized it.

Basic Holy Water was not merely defensive, as it could also be used offensively!

Damian glanced toward the empty bottle.

If a few drops produced that violent reaction against embedded Corpse Qi...

What happened if he smashed an entire bottle against a Nightmare Corpse Sect cultivator whose body was saturated with the stuff?

What about a corpse puppet? A Corpse Beast? Or one of those ghostly miasma constructs?

He almost laughed.

They might literally pull a Wicked Witch of the West.

One splash, one scream of "I’m melting!", and then an unpleasant puddle on the floor.

Obviously he needed battlefield data before assuming things would be that easy.

Different cultivation levels, resistance, and quantity all mattered.

Still...

The possibility alone was vicious!

Suddenly, Damian finally became aware that the infirmary sounded oddly loud.

There was heavy breathing from nearly everyone, and several healers were staring at him with faintly bloodshot eyes.

The lead healer looked as though he wanted to grab Damian by the shoulders and shake bottles out of him.

Damian’s mouth twitched. "Hey now."

The room focused on him.

"If I say this one isn’t for sale either, are all of you going to beat me up?"

Nobody answered.

Well, that was not reassuring.

Damian stared at them. "...I’m joking."

Still suspiciously little laughter.

He sighed. "This one I might sell."

The entire room seemed to inhale.

"But the terms will be harsh." Damian added with folded arms.

Mu Qingyao and Lan Ruyue looked at each other.

For perhaps the first time since Lan Ruyue arrived at the Evergreen Sect, there was absolutely no competition in that glance, only agreement.

"No matter the price, the Evergreen Sect can tolerate it!" Mu Qingyao declared resolutely.

"The Azure Water Sect can do the same!" Lan Ruyue added immediately.

Damian gave both women a pointed look. "You two may want to hear the price before making promises like that."

Neither backed down despite the warning.

Interesting.

Damian did not continue, placing the empty Basic Holy Water bottle away.

"We can negotiate after I return. The controlled tests here are finished."

The lead healer looked visibly disappointed.

Then Damian smiled. "Well... almost."

Mu Qingyao’s expression changed. "There is another item?"

"One."

He tapped the Storage Ring.

"The Potion of Berserk."

Lan Ruyue immediately remembered the earlier explanation.

A combat medicine that could induce an aggressive battle state while removing mental restraints without automatically producing the normal debilitating weakness afterward.

"Where do you intend to test it?" Lan Ruyue asked warily.

"The battlefield, of course." Damian answered simply.

Silence.

Damian smiled. "Kill two birds with one stone, and all that, right?"

Mu Qingyao’s face darkened instantly, but she said nothing, pursing her lips.

Lan Ruyue frowned. "Fellow Daoist Damian, that is unnecessary. Items like these can be tested by selected disciples under controlled conditions. Your value to both sects already far exceeds what could reasonably be gained from personally entering the fighting."

Damian waved the objection aside. "I’ve already decided."

Shen Xueyi stepped forward.

Her expression remained as cold as ever.

"That decision is inefficient. You possess resources capable of altering the balance of the war without exposing yourself. Entering personally gives the Nightmare Corpse Sect the opportunity to remove the source of those resources. Even if your combat ability exceeds your cultivation, the strategic exchange remains unfavorable."

Damian looked at her.

In truth, her reasoning was very good.

Unfortunately...

"That’s none of your business." He responded bluntly.

Shen Xueyi went silent, Lan Ruyue’s eyes widened slightly, and Mu Qingyao almost smiled.

Damian continued casually. "I appreciate reasonable advice from people responsible for me or people whose judgment I’ve chosen to rely upon. You and I only met today. I don’t need your approval for where I go."

Shen Xueyi stared at him speechlessly.

For the first time since appearing, genuine emotion flickered beneath her frozen demeanor.

Frustration.

No man spoke to her that way.

When Shen Xueyi offered an opinion, young men normally agreed before she finished speaking.

Some twisted themselves into knots trying to prove that whatever she thought had secretly been their own opinion from the beginning.

Others elevated every casual observation into profound wisdom merely because the words came from her mouth.

Damian Baines had listened, judged her point reasonable, then informed her that it did not matter.

Shen Xueyi found the experience unexpectedly irritating, but Damian had already turned away.

"Jian Rui. Bo Wen. Lin Meiyu. Shen Lian. We’re leaving."

The four youngsters stiffened.

Ah!

The terrible moment had arrived!!

Truthfully, they had enjoyed an enviable position since being assigned to Lord Damian.

While their peers rotated toward dangerous patrols, logistics routes and increasingly unstable frontline regions, their responsibility was to remain near one mysterious Guest Elder and assist with his business.

Wonderful, safe, and prestigious!

Now that said Guest Elder had personally decided to walk into the battlefield, their good fortune had somehow curved in a complete circle.

Damian noticed their expressions and rolled his eyes.

"Stop looking like you’re heading toward execution. Take these."

Four Storage Bags appeared and were tossed over, with each youngster catching one.

Then they checked inside, and froze.

Ten Vials of Healing, ten Vials of Restoration, ten Vials of Vigor, ten bottles of Basic Holy Water, two Potions of Berserk, three <Shield> Spell Scrolls, and several additional emergency supplies Damian had selected specifically for survival, retreat and battlefield contingencies.

Bo Wen swallowed. "Lord Damian... all of this is for us?"

"No, I’m lending it to the grass. Yes, it’s for you!" Damian retorted with amusement.

Lin Meiyu looked genuinely frightened by the value she was holding.

The children and disciples of sect elders probably did not walk onto battlefields carrying this many rare lifesaving resources!

Who were they in comparison?

Merely four lucky juniors who had been assigned to serve Damian less than a week ago.

Jian Rui tightened his grip on the Storage Bag.

Whatever fear remained in his chest did not disappear, but it was joined by resolve.

The other three felt much the same.

If Lord Damian valued their lives enough to equip them like this, then the least they could do was avoid becoming burdens.

They would remember this kindness and repay it!

Mu Qingyao eventually led them outside, where another surprise awaited.

A sleek Spirit Boat rested upon an open platform.

It was long enough to comfortably hold around ten people, its hull covered in elegant Evergreen Sect formations and faint green runes.

Mu Qingyao looked reluctant even while handing control to Damian.

"Take this. It is one of the Evergreen Sect’s better Spirit Boats. Do not push its formations unnecessarily, avoid any area where the enemy has prepared aerial interception arrays, do not remain stationary after revealing your position, and if you see a Foundation Establishment cultivator, leave immediately."

Damian blinked then smiled as she continued.

"Keep your Guest Elder token active for communication and tracking. Do not pursue retreating enemies beyond friendly observation range. Do not separate from the four of them unless absolutely necessary. Do not—"

Damian stepped closer while Mu Qingyao kept speaking.

"—and if the frontline situation changes, return at once regardless of what opportunity appears, because the Nightmare Corpse Sect absolutely will use bait if they know—"

His arm suddenly wrapped around her waist, causing Mu Qingyao to freeze.

Then Damian pulled her gently against him, making her eyes widen.

"Lord Dam—"

He gently kissed her, and everything in the world seemed to blur for the duo.

Bo Wen’s mouth fell open, Jian Rui abruptly found the Spirit Boat fascinating, Lin Meiyu turned bright red and looked away, and Shen Lian covered her mouth, though the delight in her eyes betrayed her completely.

Lan Ruyue raised an eyebrow while Shen Xueyi simply stared.

Mu Qingyao resisted for only the first heartbeat, entirely from surprise.

Then the tension left her body.

Her hand instinctively rested against Damian’s chest as she returned the kiss with shy, uncertain warmth.

It lasted only a few moments before Damian released her slowly.

Mu Qingyao’s face was crimson.

"I’ll return for sure. How could I not when such a beauty is waiting for me?" Damian promised with a shameless smile.

Mu Qingyao stared at him in speechless embarrassment.

Then she struck his chest lightly.

"Rogue!"

Another thump.

"Bandit!"

Damian laughed, completely unrepentant.

The four youngsters wisely hurried aboard the Spirit Boat before Mu Qingyao remembered they had witnessed everything.

Damian followed them and activated the formations right away.

As the Spirit Boat slowly rose, Mu Qingyao remained below with Lan Ruyue and Shen Xueyi.

Her embarrassment gradually faded, but the worry did not.

She watched Damian’s vessel turn toward the distant frontlines until it became smaller against the sky.

Deep inside, beneath all cultivation logic, sect politics and strategic calculations, Mu Qingyao formed one simple prayer.

"Come back safely!"

The Spirit Boat accelerated through the clouds, and Damian Baines headed toward his first true battlefield in Shengyuan.