# 1407
Chapter 1408 - Cleansing with Pills
Upon hearing Baili Pangpang's casual remark, everyone froze.
"Tianzun?!" Lin Qiye reacted first, quickly turning to look in the direction of that figure.
On the churning waves, the Taoist priest with his hair bound and hairpin inserted vanished in a flash, and when he reappeared, he was already before Lin Qiye and the others!
At such close range, Lin Qiye could clearly see that familiar face - it was indeed Yuanshi Tianzun, with whom he had crossed paths several times before!
Yuanshi Tianzun stood upon the sea's surface, gazing at Lin Qiye and the others dog-paddling in the water. This Great Xia Tianzun, who understood the secrets of past and present, had an extraordinarily rare expression of confusion and bewilderment in his eyes...
"You all... what are you doing?"
Lin Qiye: ...
In the awkward silence, Lin Qiye remained quiet for a long while before finally forcing out a response:
"We're... training."
"That's right, we're training!" the others quickly echoed.
Yuanshi Tianzun's expression was somewhat peculiar. After a moment of contemplation, he waved his sleeve, and the wide garment directly enveloped Lin Qiye and the others.
"I have something to discuss with you. Training can wait."
With a flick of his sleeve, Lin Qiye and the others felt the world spin around them, and their bodies were lifted from the sea, landing softly on the sand.
"Hm? How did you all..."
Li Kengqiang, who had been waiting on the beach, was startled to see Lin Qiye and the others materialize out of thin air. Before he could finish his sentence, a Taoist priest appeared beside him.
Li Kengqiang's words died in his throat.
He gazed at the Taoist priest, quickly discarding his playful demeanor, and spoke with solemnity:
"Spirit Soldier Li Kengqiang, pays respects to Yuanshi Tianzun."
"Rise." Yuanshi Tianzun gave a slight nod, then recalling the strange scene he had witnessed earlier with Lin Qiye and the others, asked in puzzlement, "By the way, what were they doing just now? They said they were training?"
"Um... this, well..."
Li Kengqiang coughed awkwardly, momentarily at a loss for words.
"It's 'Heart Trial' training that Senior Li prepared for us," Baili Pangpang spoke with a hint of grievance, "Besides the 'Slowest Dog-Paddling Competition for All Participants,' there's grass-skirt dancing, handstand racing, and Three Card Monty..."
As Baili Pangpang's voice dripped with quiet resentment, Yuanshi Tianzun's expression grew increasingly odd. He glanced at Li Kengqiang, who kept his head lowered, and chose not to pursue the matter further.
"Lin Qiye." Yuanshi Tianzun turned to Lin Qiye and produced a medicine box from his robes.
"This is the pill that Yang Jian and Sun Wukong obtained for you from the morality Tianzun.贫道来转交给你."
Lin Qiye stood frozen.
"But... my ears are almost healed." Lin Qiye accepted the medicine box.
When in Asgard, Lin Qiye had been injured in the ears by the creature summoned by the Holy Grail. After returning to Great Xia, Yang Jian and Sun Wukong had gone to Heavenly Court to seek medicine for Lin Qiye. However, so much time had passed that Lin Qiye's hearing had already largely recovered.
Yuanshi Tianzun shook his head. "Regardless of what that creature that injured you truly was, its origins are far from ordinary. Your injury isn't merely a ruptured eardrum...
Not only you, but after Yang Jian and Sun Wukong returned to Heavenly Court, though their wounds appeared healed, both of them have been left with extremely peculiar ailments deep within their souls. Had the poverty not been discovered by 贫道, the two of them would still be completely unaware."
"You're saying that everyone attacked by that sound was unknowingly planted with an ailment?" Lin Qiye's brow furrowed tightly. In his mind, the image of that massive vortex-mouth emerging from the clouds flashed once more.
In truth, Lin Qiye had been puzzled as well. That sound had indeed shattered his eardrums, temporarily robbing him of his hearing. But given that his body had eaten the Peaches of Immortality and undergone the baptism of fortune and qi, such minor injuries should have healed quickly.
Yet even after returning to Great Xia and consuming spiritual medicine, the injury still hadn't fully healed. If it were merely a conventional eardrum wound, such a result would have been impossible.
"That's correct." Yuanshi Tianzun nodded. "Now that the ailments in Yang Jian and Sun Wukong have been completely purged, if the one in your body is left untreated, it won't cause problems in the short term. However, someday in the future, it may pose a fatal threat.
This pill was specially refined by the morality Tianzun for you. Besides being able to completely drive out the ailment in your body, it will also benefit your physical constitution. Go ahead and take it."
Lin Qiye nodded, then opened the medicine box in his hand.
Swirling spiritual energy flowed from the seams of the box, and a milky-white pill lay quietly in the center. A rich medicinal fragrance wafted into Lin Qiye's nostrils.
Lin Qiye picked up the pill, his eyes filled with curiosity.
This was the first time he had encountered an actual Heavenly Court pill. He wondered if it was like the elixirs described in books - one bite granting ascension and immortality, sharing eternity with heaven and earth?
The moment this thought appeared in his mind, he dismissed it. Mythological legends were, after all, merely legends. If Heavenly Court could casually produce elixirs of that caliber, Great Xia wouldn't even need a month to utterly dominate the other divine kingdoms.
Heavenly Court pills may indeed possess extraordinary properties, but they certainly weren't as exaggerated as the legends claimed. After all, Lingbao Tianzun had spent several thousand years and immeasurable effort to refine only two pills - [Eternal Life] and [Immortality].
Lin Qiye swallowed the pill, and immediately felt a warm current flowing to every part of his body. He sat cross-legged on the spot and began to sense the direction of this warmth.
To the others' eyes, faint rays of light surged from Lin Qiye's body surface, rapidly spreading throughout... An Qingyu beside him adjusted her glasses, utterly fascinated by this scene.
Bang—!
Suddenly, a crisp sound rang out from within Lin Qiye's body!
Lin Qiye's eyes flew open as he hunched over and retched. After a moment, a large puddle of viscous black liquid gushed from his throat.
Cao Yuan and the others instinctively stepped back half a pace, their brows tightly knit.
"What the hell is this?"
As this liquid splattered onto the beach, it didn't spread like water. Instead, it quickly gathered together, merging into a writhing shadow that desperately lunged toward the nearby sea!
It was as if Yuanshi Tianzun had anticipated this. With a flick of his finger through the air, a ball of transparent flame engulfed the liquid, burning fiercely!
Eerie, mournful wailing echoed from within the flames. The liquid writhed violently, as if a living thing in agony, struggling desperately. But as the fire burned hotter and hotter, it ultimately dissipated into wisps of smoke and vanished without a trace...
As this liquid left his body, Lin Qiye's complexion visibly flushed crimson, then, harmonized by the pill's residual power, returned to a healthy pallor.
His heavy breathing steadied, and within the remaining medicinal force, his spiritual power rapidly increased!
Some time passed before Lin Qiye slowly opened his eyes, his gaze bright and piercing!