As soon as Jiang Huai stepped out of the room and onto the spirit boat, the scorching hot sun instantly enveloped him, leaving him dazed. He looked up, and the intense sunlight filled his eyes, making it difficult for him to open them.
Before him lay the Imperial City of the Snake Clan. Jiang Huai arrived outside the city gate, where Snake Clan cultivators stood guard. To his surprise, there were numerous makeshift tents erected outside the gate. Wails drifted from within, and a faint, fishy stench permeated the air. He paused for a moment, and just as he was about to approach the city gate checkpoint, two Snake Clan cultivators, their swords gleaming menacingly, headed towards him.
“Who goes there?”
Among the Monster Clan, individuals could naturally sense the aura of their own kind. As a pure Human Clan member, Jiang Huai was immediately met with vigilance the moment he appeared. Unhurriedly, Jiang Huai produced a jade token inscribed with the character “Jin.”
This was the jade token Bai Jin had given him previously, which now served as his pass to the Monster Clan territories. Upon seeing the token, the two Snake Clan cultivators sheathed their swords. Jiang Huai spoke softly, “I have come to visit an old acquaintance of the Snake Clan. I request your senior’s permission to pass.”
“Wait here for a moment. After I transmit a message, someone will come to escort you to the Imperial City.”
Jiang Huai nodded slightly and followed the two to the edge of the city gate. He looked out; the area outside the gate was a vast plain dotted with nearly a thousand tents. The fishy stench was almost nauseating. He hesitated for some time before asking softly, “Why are there so many tents pitched outside the city gate?”
“Plague,” the Snake Clan cultivator replied gravely.
“May I go and have a look?”
“The plague is highly contagious, and you have no cultivation. Be careful.”
“It’s alright.” Jiang Huai gently shook his head. The two Snake Clan cultivators before him appeared to be merely at the Foundation Establishment stage, yet they were stationed here. With his Overlord Art at the fifth level, he could already avoid most plague pathogens. Jiang Huai walked a short distance and approached a tent. Behind the tent flap, a slender Little Girl was watching him.
Jiang Huai gently extended his hand towards her, “Let me see your illness.”
The girl timidly stretched out her hand from behind the curtain. Large patches of festering sores covered her slender arm. With her heavy coughs, her shoulders trembled intensely. Jiang Huai placed his fingers on her pulse. The pulse of the Monster Clan was similar to that of humans. After a moment, he had a good understanding of her condition. This type of plague was recorded among humans, though it appeared more severe here.
Jiang Huai always carried some basic medicinal materials. In an instant, he took out several herbs, selected them, and plucked a leaf from each. He took out a small furnace and refined a batch of Pills. The batch contained thirty Pills. He took one, brought it to the girl’s lips, and said softly, “It’s sweet.” Coating each refined Pill with a layer of sugar was a peculiar hobby Jiang Huai indulged in when bored.
The girl timidly accepted the Pill, but before she could eat it, a woman behind her suddenly reached out and pulled the girl into her embrace, her eyes full of vigilance as she stared at Jiang Huai’s face. “Outsider? What do you want?”
Jiang Huai was not flustered by the vigilance in her eyes. He took out the jade token Bai Jin had given him and said softly, “I am a friend of Senior Bai Jin, here to visit an old acquaintance of the Snake Clan. I am also a physician myself. I observed your child’s pulse and refined a very mild medicine. Even if it cannot cure her, it will not cause her any harm. If you don’t believe me, I can eat one first.”
Jiang Huai swallowed a Pill in front of her. The gentleness in his eyes gradually eased the woman’s vigilance. She softly coaxed the girl in her arms to take the Pill. The girl obediently swallowed it. A moment later, her body convulsed, and after a tremor in her throat, she spat out a pool of black blood.
The black blood was the source of the illness, and the healing medicinal materials in the Pill began to slowly mend the girl’s skin. The process was not extremely fast, but the girl’s festering wounds began to scab and peel at a visible pace.
Jiang Huai placed his hand on the girl’s wrist again. Although her pulse was still somewhat weak, it had returned to normal. The woman behind her was so excited that she became incoherent. Jiang Huai, however, made a silencing gesture, handed her a Pill, and then went to the next tent.
He did not directly administer medicine but instead visited dozens more tents. After confirming that most had the same pulse, Jiang Huai returned to the city gate and began drawing up a Pill Formation.
Being on the road, relying solely on Spirit Stones for passage was inconvenient. Therefore, Jiang Huai had specifically exchanged two million Spirit Stones when he passed by the Ziyun Chamber of Commerce. The top-grade Spirit Stones provided the basic Pill Fire for the Blazing Fire Formation, while the remaining Spirit Stones supplied Spiritual Qi for each step of the Pill Formation. Jiang Huai took out the medicinal materials he had brought. The plague was a simple one, and many medicinal materials could be used. His refining was perfect, with no waste. In less than half an hour, all the Pills were refined.
And the person who was supposed to come and escort him to the Imperial City was now waiting patiently nearby. It wasn’t until Jiang Huai produced six hundred Pills and instructed the gate-guarding cultivators to distribute them one by one to the afflicted Snake Clan members, with instructions not to take more than one, that he finally entered the Imperial City accompanied by the attendant who had come to greet him.
The Imperial City of the Snake Clan was magnificent, grand, yet exuded an air of ancient simplicity everywhere. However, there were no pedestrians on the streets. It was only after Jiang Huai inquired softly that he learned the reason: the plague was airborne. Therefore, the Fox Emperor Bai Jin had decreed that no one should leave the Imperial City unless absolutely necessary.
On the way to the palace, Jiang Huai gradually learned about the severity of the plague from the attendant. Such low-level plagues had no effect on cultivators. However, for ordinary, non-cultivating demons, even the physically strong would fall severely ill. If their constitution was weaker, their chances of survival were slim. It was not as if there were no remedies, but the Western Region lacked alchemists. The Fox Emperor Bai Jin had invited many alchemists from the Southern Region, but this plague had nearly spread throughout the entire Snake Clan, and medicinal materials were still in short supply.
Those Snake Clan members outside the city were temporarily unable to receive medicine. They had to reside outside the city and could only return after confirming their recovery upon the arrival of the next batch of medicine.
As Jiang Huai traversed large areas within the Imperial City and entered the palace, he finally found Bai Jin in the forest behind the palace. Bai Jin was dressed in a gray robe, her silver hair tied back. Before her were over a hundred alchemical furnaces, with many Snake Clan cultivators guarding them, refining dark-colored Pills.
“Why are you here?”
Bai Jin had been frowning slightly, seemingly preoccupied. However, when her gaze fell upon Jiang Huai, her demeanor softened. Jiang Huai replied immediately, “I was planning to go to the Fan Hua Secret Realm. Before it opened, I thought I’d come and see Bai Li first.”
“She is still in the Ancestral Secret Realm undergoing the Ancestral Blood Baptism. she will come out in a few days.”
Jiang Huai nodded gently and walked to Bai Jin’s side. “Are you refining medicine to treat the plague?”
Bai Jin nodded slightly, her voice a little low. “The Monster Clan has never been skilled in alchemy. This plague has spread throughout the Snake Clan, and even with every city rushing to refine medicine, it’s still difficult to cure.”
Jiang Huai was puzzled. “The Western Region is vast and resource-rich; you should lack nothing in terms of herbs.”
“The consumption for refining medicine is too high, and some medicinal materials are not available in the Southern Region, requiring procurement from there.”
Jiang Huai approached an alchemical furnace, picked up a black Pill, crushed it, and brought it to his nose. In an instant, he knew its composition. He sighed helplessly and shook his head, saying softly, “There’s no need for such expensive Spirit Medicine. Removing a few components is also fine.”
He began to modify the prescription. Bai Jin hesitated for a moment before coming to his side and instructing the alchemists before her to follow his directions. Jiang Huai began to guide them through the refining details one by one. Watching the endless stream of medicinal materials being delivered and seeing green Pills dropping, Jiang Huai finally let out a long sigh of relief.
In terms of medicinal knowledge, he had received the inheritance of a Ninth Realm Alchemy Immortal Venerable from the Eastern Region, contemporary to Ji Shi Zhenren. Many basic Spirit Medicines had numerous hidden benefits when their dosages were adjusted. However, what many people didn’t know was that with his improvements, the cost of purchasing medicinal materials could be reduced by seventy percent.
“How did the plague become so severe?” Jiang Huai couldn’t help but ask.
“Great drought,” Bai Jin replied softly.
“How long has the great drought lasted?”
“A full year and a half.”
Jiang Huai remained silent. While he could contribute to the Snake Clan at this moment by improving the prescription, he was powerless against the great drought. The refining process before them was now properly arranged. Bai Jin glanced at him and then led him to the reception palace.
Bai Jin took out tea leaves from a jade box and personally brewed tea for Jiang Huai. Jiang Huai was flattered and accepted the teacup from her. He heard Bai Jin say softly, “A Li will be out in two to three days. The Fan Hua Secret Realm is in the Fox Clan territory. Do you need me to introduce you?”
Jiang Huai shook his head. “No need. I have a senior who has already introduced me. She is an old acquaintance of the Fox Emperor and told me to find her with a letter of introduction then.”
Bai Jin nodded slightly. “You can stay at the palace for these few days. You can sleep in my side palace. I will arrange for a maid to escort you there later.”
Jiang Huai nodded in agreement. The tea on the table exuded a fragrant aroma. He and Bai Jin chatted softly about recent events. He learned that after Bai Li returned to the Monster Clan, she had spent a lot of time in the Ancestral Secret Realm undergoing the inheritance of the Ancestral Snake Ancestor. She was now at the Sixth Realm cultivation level, which surprised Jiang Huai; her cultivation progress was much faster than he had imagined.
Since Bai Li needed to focus on her cultivation, Jiang Huai did not ask Bai Jin to notify her, intending to surprise her later. During their casual chat, Jiang Huai also gained a deeper understanding of the Snake Clan’s current situation.
Bai Jin was currently the Snake Emperor of the Snake Clan because she was the only Ninth Realm cultivator among them. The three elders who had originally governed the Snake Clan had no choice but to obey her, but according to Bai Jin’s words, those three clan leaders were clearly still unwilling.
The great drought had afflicted the Snake Clan for a full year and a half. Compared to the favorable weather in the Eastern Region, the entire Western Region seemed to be in a perpetual state of extremes, either experiencing severe droughts or continuous rains for nearly the entire year. There were rumors that this was because the Myriad Demon Emperor had issued a decree for the Snake Clan many years ago, angering the Heavenly Way, and thus the Western Region was cursed by the Heavenly Way.
In Bai Jin’s account to Jiang Huai, this was indeed the case.
She had tried to summon rain for the entire Western Region. For someone in the Ninth Realm like her, summoning a few showers to quench the thirst should not have been too difficult. However, the last time she had tried, while invoking a downpour, she had also triggered a crimson lightning tribulation. That was the punishment from the Heavenly Way, and even she, a Ninth Realm cultivator, could not easily withstand the tempering of the Blazing Fire Thunder Tribulation.
Therefore, she was completely helpless against this drought. The Snake Clan’s Imperial City did not suffer from a severe water shortage, but many other areas of the Snake Clan were already littered with corpses.
