Chương 60: Chapter 60: Remnants of a Poison Master

"Hmm?" Little Fairy Doctor furrowed her brows upon hearing this, and after stepping past Xiao Yan, she saw a thick stone door blocking their path.

"This must be it. The room behind this door is likely that of the powerful figure," the Little Fairy Doctor said in a deep voice as she ran her hand over the stone door.

Xiao Yan gently tapped the stone door, noting that it wasn't very hard. A Dou Master should be able to break it forcefully.

'Using the Octane Burst should break the stone door,' Xiao Yan opened his mouth and asked after making some calculations, "Should we force it open?"

Little Fairy Doctor pursed her lips and gave Xiao Yan a sideways glance, "Always resorting to brute force. What if the tomb is rigged with a self-destruct mechanism that activates upon strong vibrations?"

She gently tapped on the stone door and found a hidden latch. After carefully turning it, a creaking sound slowly echoed through the cave.

Xiao Yan looked at the Little Fairy Doctor with slight surprise and gave her a thumbs up. He hadn't expected that she was not only proficient in medicine but also knew how to manipulate mechanisms.

"It's nothing special. Just follow along, Xiao-Yan-Zi."

TL/N: Xiao-Yan-Zi is a nickname, the Xiao here means "little."

"Huh?"

...

The two of them walked into the cave a little bit back to back, and inside, numerous, small special gemstones emitted a faint glow.

Beyond the stone door was a spacious stone room with a large stone chair in the center, upon which sat a skeleton. In front of the chair, a rather wide and long bluestone table was arranged. Three locked stone containers were neatly placed on it.

Besides these, large piles of gold and silver treasures could be seen nearby, roughly estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins.

However, what truly captured Xiao Yan's and Little Fairy Doctor's attention was not these items, but the herb garden behind them, which was filled with all kinds of precious medicinal herbs and exotic flowers.

Little Fairy Doctor and Xiao Yan hurried into the garden. The former exclaimed, "Red Star Grass, Celestial Elephant Nine-Leaf Flower, Triple Joint Bamboo! There are many high-grade herbs here! Could this be a tomb of an alchemist?"

Her pretty eyes widened in amazement as names representing rare and elusive high-grade medicinal materials tumbled out of her rosy lips.

Xiao Yan expanded his Spiritual Strength to sense and shook his head, "This seems to be the tomb of a physician or a poison master; there are no pills here. Typically, an alchemist would have pills and recipes."

He looked at the strange herb in the middle of the medicinal garden and said, "I want this Ice Spirit Blazing Grass, and you can have two-thirds of the other herbs."

It was only after hearing this that Little Fairy Doctor's face softened slightly. She nodded lightly and conceded the most precious Ice Spirit Blazing Grass to Xiao Yan.

Then, like bandits, they scrambled for the herbs, grabbing whatever they could get their hands on first.

"Hey! I saw that one first!"

"Finders keepers!"

"Are you even a man!"

Xiao Yan quickly gathered his share of the herbs and was the first to approach the skeleton. Glancing back at the Little Fairy Doctor, who was carefully picking herbs, he positioned his body to block her line of sight.

"What's wrong?"

Mao Wu, appearing from the Acceptance Soul across the void, seemed as if it had encountered an enemy. Its fur bristled as it stared intently at the skeleton.

Meow! Suddenly, Mao Wu spat out black flames that instantly enveloped the entire skeleton in a terrifying blaze, as if intending to reduce it to ashes.

"Huh?!" Feeling the intense heat behind her, Little Fairy Doctor turned to Xiao Yan with a wary expression and exclaimed, "What are you doing setting a fire?!"

Xiao Yan quickly controlled his Spiritual Strength to withdraw all the black flames, then picked up three keys from the ground and offered a faint smile. "I was searching for the keys to open the stone boxes."

Little Fairy Doctor was left speechless, and couldn't help but 'admire' Xiao Yan's methods; searching for keys, yet in the process reducing someone's bones to ashes? Wasn't that a bit too extreme?

When Xiao Yan saw Little Fairy Doctor turn around to continue gathering herbs, his expression immediately turned serious. He slowly opened his palm, revealing a piece of paper about half the size of a palm!

He had done more than just pick up the keys; he had also taken the opportunity to hide a piece of paper in his palm. The keys were merely a distraction!

Mao Wu snarled at the strange paper while perching on Xiao Yan's wrist. It turned out that Mao Wu's hostility was not directed at the skeleton itself, but at the paper hidden within the bones!

'What kind of paper is this that can provoke such hostility from the Nihility Devouring Flame's Seed Flame, and yet cannot be burned by the black flame?'

Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly. This small piece of paper in front of him might be the most precious treasure in the tomb.

Little Fairy Doctor wiped the sweat of hard work from her forehead with the back of her hand, then turned to see Xiao Yan standing in front of the stone box. Noting that he hadn't opened it himself, she playfully chided, "I can see that you still have a bit of a conscience for not opening the box without me."

Xiao Yan touched his nose, slipped the paper into his pocket without showing any blush or embarrassment, and did not bother to explain further. If that's what you want to believe, then so be it.

When Little Fairy Doctor hurried over to the three stone boxes, Xiao Yan finally used the key to open the first one with a click.

Just as she was about to open it, Xiao Yan quickly pulled her back a few steps, picked up a stone, and flicked it with his finger. The forceful impact burst open the box, revealing an ancient, colorful scroll inside.

"You are being overly cautious."

"Better safe than sorry," Xiao Yan said with a smile, touching his nose again.

Little Fairy Doctor rolled her eyes in resignation. If Xiao Yan was thrown into the depths of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, he'd probably be able to thrive better than the magical beasts themselves.

Both of them leaned closer to examine the stone box and saw that the colorful ancient scroll was clearly titled with four large characters: "Seven Colored Poison Scripture."

"It's just as I thought; the owner of this tomb was a poison master," Xiao Yan confirmed upon seeing the poison scripture.

Little Fairy Doctor said after pondering for a moment, "I want the Seven Colored Poison Scripture. I can't become an alchemist, so I have to rely on these things."

"Suit yourself. I'm already too busy with my Qi Method and Dou Techniques. But you should put away what you have in your hand first," Xiao Yan said with a grin.

Her pretty face turned slightly red as she opened her right hand to reveal a pinch of green powder. She had discreetly prepared some sleeping powder while gathering herbs earlier, just in case Xiao Yan tried to ambush her.

Seeing the Little Fairy Doctor at a loss for words, Xiao Yan teased, "Who was it that said I was being overly cautious?"

Blushing even more, the Little Fairy Doctor turned her head away, unable to meet Xiao Yan's gaze. That was quite a slap in the face...

"What's wrong?" Xiao Yan noticed that her expression became a bit unnatural the moment she grasped the Seven Colored Poison Scripture.

"It's nothing, I might just be a bit tired."

Without giving it much thought, Xiao Yan used the key to open the second stone box. However, he was somewhat disappointed to find that it contained just another scroll with the words "High Xuan Class" barely visible on it.

For Xiao Yan, such a level was practically useless. Even the Hall of Souls might not bother to accept such a low-level thing.

He turned the black scroll over to check the name after taking it out of the box. However, his pupils slowly dilated in shock the moment he saw it, and he exclaimed in astonishment, "Flying Dou Technique: Eagle Wings?"

Too soon, he realized he had spoken too fast!

A Flying Dou Technique, as its name suggested, naturally allowed the practitioner to fly. Normally, those at the Dou Spirit realm could only glide briefly, and only Dou Kings could transform their Dou Qi into wings for flight. However, the Flying Dou Technique could break this rule, allowing both Dou Masters and Dou Grandmasters to fly.

Seeing Xiao Yan smiling at her, Little Fairy Doctor mimicked him by touching her nose and said, "Alright, this one's yours."

"Hehe, thanks," Xiao Yan grinned, the night's haul almost splitting his face with joy. He would probably sleep with a smile on his face tonight.

"There's one more. Let's hurry up and get it done so we can head back," Little Fairy Doctor urged as she turned her attention to the last stone box.

"Ke ke, Little Fairy Doctor. Thanks for showing us the way. It seems the information I received was indeed correct!" Just as Xiao Yan was about to insert the key into the lock, loud laughter erupted from outside the door.

A large group of people burst through the stone door and quickly surrounded the duo.

"Mu Li! How could this be?!" The Little Fairy Doctor immediately gritted her silver-like teeth when she heard this voice. She couldn't understand how Mu Li could have known!

She had even drugged the mercenaries who had been sent by Mu Li to guard her when she had left, and made them pass out!

Little Fairy Doctor tugged at Xiao Yan, who was still fiddling with the keys, and asked anxiously, "Xiao Yan, what do we do now?"

"I don't know. The key might have been damaged by the fire earlier; it won't turn the lock," Xiao Yan didn't seem to be aware of the danger. He continued to focus on the lock and didn't even spare a glance at Mu Li.

Mu Li's gaze turned icy as he chuckled darkly, "Ke ke, chop off this kid's hand. Don't let him die too easily! And make sure not to hurt Little Fairy Doctor, heh heh, she's mine."

Xiao Yan shook his head and sighed, "Little Fairy Doctor, you take over. This delicate task suits you better."

Then, calmly facing the group of mercenaries surrounding them, he drew his Heavy Xuan Ruler and swung it with a whoosh of breaking wind. He said indifferently, "Leave the rough stuff to me."