While lonely and stroking the dragon, Shu Tiantian gradually realized the seriousness of the problem.

In just a few short months, the miasma had already begun spreading wildly.

Originally, once the black fog miasma reached the boundary of Void Abyss, it should have gradually thinned. But whenever Shu Tiantian lifted the carriage curtain, all she saw was black—dense black miasma covering the sky and blotting out the sun, faintly already spreading beyond Void Abyss.

Shu Tiantian recalled what the envoy from the Upper Realm had said when they first met—the miasma really had begun to spiral out of control. Before, the miasma targeted only Longlong to drain him, at most expanding as far as Void Abyss; now, well, it had begun attacking indiscriminately.

Thinking about how even a being as powerful as the Dragon God had his vitality constantly drained for a thousand years under the miasma’s assault, until he became her little broken dragon now. Even now, although the little broken dragon’s external injuries were healing, the parts eroded internally by the miasma still remained, endlessly supplying vitality to the Upper Realm without pause…

Then what about ordinary cultivators?

What Shu Tiantian could do was refine pills, letting patients take some with them when they left—whether to sell or to give to friends and relatives, saving one was still saving one.

In the afternoon, Shu Tiantian found a place to plant a signboard, preparing to wait for patients to come just like in the morning.

As usual, she chattered to the little black dragon about the people of the Upper Realm and Yu Fenji: those flying giant leeches lacking in virtue deserved to be caught by the Old Ancestor and sliced into skewers; it was just that Yu Fenji was too cunning, and who knew what magical artifact he had used to evade tracking… Thinking about it, with Yu Fenji’s cultivation so high, just how much vitality had he stolen from her precious dragon!

The little broken dragon lay quietly beside her hand, listening to her complaints, flicking his tail in agreement from time to time.

Yes, when he caught that enormous flying leech Yu Fenji, he would crush him to death countless times!

Who would have thought that just as her words fell—

Yu Fenji, who had used a Heaven-Grade concealment artifact and endured countless hardships crossing mountains and rivers, darted straight into the carriage marked with the words “Treat Illness.”

The handsome man, covered in wounds, endured the pain of his shattered divine soul and gave a few instructions, then wanted to lower his head to examine his newly damaged divine soul.

The medical cultivator maintained an extremely strange silence. Only after a long while did she ask, “In this lifetime, have you ever been toyed with by fate?”

Yu Fenji thought, what nonsense is this? Sensing something wrong, he lowered his head—and met the gaze of a little black dragon wearing a bow.

The air fell silent.

Yu Fenji: …..

Although I might be finished, why are you wearing a bow??

Because the keyword [bow] was detected—ding—your Old Ancestor has come online.

The Void Abyss Old Ancestor, who had rushed “back” with sword in hand, let out a cold laugh. “Are you mocking me?”

With a crash, one sword strike nearly split Yu Fenji in two.

This time, Yu Fenji died even more miserably than last time. Last time, at least he had crashed into a mountain peak, and his body had still been intact. This time, the Void Abyss Old Ancestor directly beat Yu Fenji into tattered strips.

Shu Tiantian hugged the bow-wearing little black dragon, stroking his dragon horns as she watched the Old Ancestor violently beat someone up. Especially when beating Yu Fenji, whom Shu Tiantian disliked, she watched without blinking.

Because the little medical cultivator was watching, Yu Fenji could originally have died quickly. This time, however, he was forcibly beaten for an extra hour by this sinful dragon.

Yu Fenji, second round, deceased.

Yu Fenji still did not die. At the critical moment, he escaped with a fragment of his divine soul. With the continuous supply of vitality, he quickly restored a complete form but this time, his human form appeared even weaker than before.

“Impossible, how could he…”

Ji Wushu’s divine soul had clearly been injured, yet this time he had not sunk into a dying slumber. Like everyone else, Yu Fenji had grown accustomed over two thousand years to Ji Wushu’s condition of suffering severe injuries and declining day by day. His recovery now felt both unfamiliar and terrifying.

Yes—it must be that little medical cultivator!

Yu Fenji coughed up a mouthful of blood and sneered to himself, “Ji Wushu, do you think you can kill me?”

As long as Ji Wushu did not die and his vitality continued endlessly, so what if that sinful dragon was triumphant for a time? Was he not very concerned about that little medical cultivator?

Yu Fenji thought darkly. As long as he left Void Abyss, he could soon find people from the Eight Great Sects, soon receive treatment… and once he contacted the Upper Realm, that would be Ji Wushu’s death! He would tear that little medical cultivator apart right in front of him!

Yu Fenji ground his teeth. Just as he was about to lift his foot and continue into the dense forest, he suddenly remembered something. His steps stiffened, and he immediately turned around, staggering toward the nearest marketplace outside Void Abyss.

Because he roughly realized that he might, perhaps, be a little… unlucky.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Soon, the luxurious convoy exited Void Abyss.

Outside Void Abyss, the black fog miasma had not diminished at all. Though it had not yet reached a dense concentration, black vapors lingered faintly in the air.

Shu Tiantian sighed, carrying the bow-wearing little black dragon as she went to the marketplace, preparing to continue treating patients.

Who would have thought that recently, rumors had spread everywhere near Void Abyss, saying… that a female demon was pretending to be a medical cultivator and capturing people everywhere to refine pills?

Shu Tiantian’s reputation as a medical cultivator collapsed.

She was quick-witted. Taking the little black dragon to a clothing shop, she transformed herself by changing into the yellow robe of the Divination Sect. Even the bow on the little black dragon’s head was replaced by Shu Tiantian with a Qian-Kun Eight Trigrams ornament.

Setting up a stall boldly with the sign “Guaranteed Cure for All Illnesses,” the number of people coming for treatment indeed surged.

Sure enough, in the marketplace closest to Void Abyss, the medical halls were recently packed to bursting, all with people suffering from miasma invading the body. The originally cheap Yellow-Grade Qingxin Pills had doubled in price. Many families had relocated entirely. Those remaining in the marketplace were either wealthy or too afflicted by miasma to move.

However, after all, they were cultivators. They still had some ability to resist this level of miasma invasion—only… how long they could resist was hard to say.

She looked up at the miasma on the horizon, and her mood gradually grew heavy.

This time, Shu Tiantian’s business was so good that a long line had formed. But her pills were no longer enough, so she ground them into powder and diluted them with water to distribute to those who came.

After all, they were Profound-Grade pills; even diluted, their effects far surpassed Yellow-Grade. Sure enough, word spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred, and many people in the marketplace came to line up.

Fortunately, the Old Ancestor had left many evil cultivators to protect her, and the little black dragon beside her was highly intimidating. No disturbances arose.

In order to avoid Ji Wushu, Yu Fenji observed their route and deliberately detoured to the marketplace. When he saw the robes of the Divination Sect, a surge of wild joy rose in his heart.

He had long expected that the Eight Great Sects would have support ready, which was why he had deliberately come to this chaotic marketplace. Even after seeing people of the Eight Great Sects, he remained extremely cautious this time, hiding in the shadows and observing for a long time. After all, with such severe injuries, his divine sense could not perceive much aura for the moment.

But as the line of people grew longer and longer, each person leaving with “talisman water,” Yu Fenji’s heart gradually relaxed. It seemed they truly were people of the Divination Sect and had nothing whatsoever to do with medical cultivators.

He changed into a black robe and very discreetly joined the very end of the line. He waited until nightfall, until everyone else had left, before it was finally his turn.

The Divination Sect disciple looked ethereal and sage-like. Pinching his fingers in calculation, he said, “Benefactor, I observe that your glabella is dark. Presumably, you will not live past…”

The Divination Sect disciple extended one hand.

Yu Fenji sneered. “Five days? I think you—”

“Four.”

Yu Fenji’s expression changed.

Before Shu Tiantian could finish her countdown, Yu Fenji was already blocked by the Void Abyss Old Ancestor with a single sword strike.

Yu Fenji, triple kill.

This time, he left in great pain. A true man sheds blood and sweat but not tears—Yu Fenji was a tough man, but…

Every sword strike from the Void Abyss Old Ancestor was accompanied by Shu Tiantian’s soul-searching question: “Why is he so unlucky?”

She even very sincerely suggested that Ji Wushu stop going out to kill him and just squat in the carriage with her and lounge like Ge You. Running around killing people was so tiring—who knew when Yu Fenji might deliver himself to their door again? After all, someone as unlucky as him was quite rare these days.

When she invited the Old Ancestor to come into the carriage to hang out, her tone sounded as if she were saying, “Your Majesty, come play~”

What was the highest humiliation to an enemy? This was it!

Yu Fenji sneered. This salted-fish mentality of sitting back and waiting for the enemy to come to them was simply ridiculous. Only such unambitious cultivators would think this way.

He and Ji Wushu were rivals, but also the same kind—relentless, seizing every chance, determined to exterminate each other completely, bound for a world-shattering life-and-death clash. How could Ji Wushu possibly agree to such a salted-fish suggestion?

But Ji Wushu paused, cast Yu Fenji a strange glance. This deeply scheming, blood-soaked killing god seemed to think this terrible idea made sense. He actually nodded and said, “What you say is reasonable.”

The implication: in three thousand years, this was also the first time he had seen someone this unlucky.

Yu Fenji: …..

This dog pair of dragon and woman!

Yu Fenji was so angry he self-destructed.

This time, the Void Abyss Old Ancestor caught a fragment of the ashes of Yu Fenji’s divine soul, handed it to a little paper figure, looked in the direction Yu Fenji had fled, and smiled.

Night fell.

Yu Fenji condensed his soul body once more, his entire being still trembling with rage.

Comrade Shu Tiantian, relying solely on heaven-defying luck and verbal attacks, had already become a formidable figure on Yu Fenji’s hatred list, sharing equal standing with Ji Wushu.

One must know, back then Ji Wushu had killed his elder brother a thousand times before ascending to the number one spot on the Sword Saint’s assassination list.

Shu Tiantian achieved it with just a few mocking remarks.

After all, compared to the tyrant, the enchanting, scheming concubine at the tyrant’s side—always offering wicked stratagems—might be even more infuriating. And she especially liked to use that astonished tone to press relentlessly on your sorest wounds.

Yu Fenji struggled to think about how he would capture that dog pair of dragon and woman—how one would be roasted char siu, how the other braised red; they could not even be stewed in the same pot. That dog man and woman must not share the same grave even in death, only then could he vent the hatred in his heart.

In the mountain forest at night, Yu Fenji had just staggered to his feet when something tripped him. His footing slipped, and he tumbled straight into a pit.

He struggled to climb up, looked up at the moonlight in the sky, grief and fury rising in his heart—when suddenly, over eighty little paper heads popped up neatly along the rim of the pit.

More than eighty cute little paper Tiantian spoke sweetly, “Tiantian found you!”

Yu Fenji: …..

That night, the Sword Saint became afraid of Tiantian.