Chapter 146: Eradicating the Hidden Poison

If the spiritual energy enters from a place where no dark poison has gathered and encounters no dark poison along the way, it will flow into Yun Qing’s meridians, circulating through the Great Cycle.

If it encounters dark poison, it will immediately work to eliminate it, sacrificing itself if necessary until the poison is fully cleared.

As the spiritual energy moves through the meridians, it also encounters some dark poison clinging to them; the energy will bravely and relentlessly purge these poisons.

The sun climbed higher, and the luminous spiritual energy in the air grew more active. Increasing amounts of this radiant energy were drawn into Yun Qing’s body, shattering and expelling more and more dark poison.

All day long, Yun Qing absorbed spiritual energy and fought the dark poison within her.

As the sun neared sunset, after countless spiritual energies sacrificed themselves, finally one particle of energy completed a full Great Cycle through her meridians, settling in her dantian.

This entire Great Cycle took a whole day to complete, and countless spiritual energies perished along the path to the dantian, but at last, all the dark poison in her meridians was eradicated.

Throughout the day, Yun Qing endured the pervasive itching and pain within her body, her consciousness continually examining her internal state and observing the spiritual energy in the air. Her vitality was nearly depleted, and her spirit was utterly exhausted.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself surrounded by swirling black mist, an aura of death permeating her.

Had she been near the village, she might have been mistaken for a spirit corpse and killed.

That day, she heard no warning sounds from Liuliu, nor saw the dog’s shadow—likely driven off by her own foul odor.

Yun Qing rose, grabbed her Qi-gathering cushion, and jumped into the river to thoroughly cleanse herself.

The dark poison within her was not yet completely eliminated; after washing, her body no longer emitted black mist or stench. Judging by her skin, her vitiligo had worsened—more white patches, fewer black.

Though she cared little for her appearance, she still hoped not to face her ugly reflection every day and comforted herself silently: this ugliness was temporary; once the poison was fully cleared, she would be beautiful again.

She removed her clothes and placed them in her system backpack, then tossed them into the energy converter to gain some energy. She retrieved a coarse cloth and animal-hide outfit she had made and put it on.

After resting, she would continue cultivating. The coarse cloth and animal-hide clothes could be converted directly into energy when dirty, no washing needed.

After cleaning her cushion and greeting the great eagle, she entered her cave dwelling. Though extremely tired and yearning for sleep, her stomach was empty. After a day’s work, her hunger level had dropped to 30.

Upon reaching hunger level 41, it had risen to 150, leaving her ravenous.

Since the villa had a dining room with tables and chairs, she could now eat at a proper table.

She ate three servings of roasted meat, each restoring 40 hunger points, bringing her hunger back to 150. Feeling her stomach, she thought she could manage two more servings.

Her hunger was full; eating more would be wasteful. Exhausted, she sank into the cozy pastoral double bed and fell asleep.

Since acquiring the comfortable pastoral bed, Yun Qing no longer woke with back or waist pain, recovering her energy faster.

Two hours later, refreshed, she awoke from the bed.

Her stomach grumbled loudly. After only two hours of rest, her hunger had dropped below 20. She felt painfully hungry, dizzy; if she didn’t eat soon, she might start losing blood.

Yun Qing scratched her head, wondering if she had dreamed about eating three servings of meat before sleeping.

But the table clearly showed three fewer servings of roasted meat.

Strange indeed—could her body have other issues besides coexisting with dark poison? The merchant caravan had cultivators in the Qi Refining stage, and they didn’t eat much in a day!

Man is flesh and food is steel; going hungry for a while made her miserable. She sat back on the simple wooden chair and grabbed a still-warm piece of roasted meat from the table—a delicacy rated with a taste value of one, restoring five health points.

Even on a simple wooden table, food did not cool over time.

The rich aroma of meat filled her nostrils. She took a big bite; the full-bodied flavor and juice burst in her mouth, and her brain sent a message she had never experienced before—this was the most delicious thing ever, urging her to eat quickly.

Like a starving ghost, Yun Qing devoured a portion of roasted meat in a few bites. With 40 hunger points restored, her hunger rose to 59, and the burning discomfort in her stomach eased. Yet her brain kept urging her to eat more.

Peering inward with her consciousness, Yun Qing noticed her stomach immediately began working, secreting digestive enzymes and gastric acid to churn and grind the partly unchewed meat, absorbing water and nutrients with astonishing speed and efficiency.

Wasn’t it said that meat could remain in the stomach for half a day? Why did she feel, with her stomach’s efficiency, that the meat could barely last half an hour?

Following the nutrients absorbed by her stomach, her consciousness saw them being transported to the battlegrounds within her meridians where spiritual energy and dark poison had clashed, aiding in repairing damaged meridians. Upon closer observation, many of these battlefields had been restored during her sleep.

Her hunger level was gradually decreasing; at this moment, it had dropped to 55.

Having found the reason for her rapid hunger, Yun Qing ate another piece of roasted meat.

Though she ate a fair amount, there were still many areas in her body requiring repair; it seemed the food might not be sufficient.

Yun Qing glanced at the Body Refining Pills in her system backpack. These pills were mainly crafted to gain production experience, some auto-refined by the alchemy platform, others manually made. They contained rich nutrients and should have a similar effect.

She took one Body Refining Pill and found its effect faster and better than food. The nutrients were absorbed directly in the stomach, with only a minimal amount of impurities passing into the intestines, unlike roasted meat where the stomach absorbed only a small portion of nutrients, most passing into the intestines.

Watching the nutrients slowly circulate through her meridians to repair her body, she realized waiting passively was not a good strategy. With a thought, she left her cave dwelling to cultivate while healing.

It was already dark; she could no longer see the little black-feathered eagle perched on a distant tree.

She still had plenty of fish in her system backpack; she could roast some for the little black-feathered eagle. If she didn’t take the Body Refining Pills, she could eat a heap of roasted fish instead.

Yun Qing communicated with the eagle: “Great Eagle, are you hungry? Want some roasted fish?”

Having eaten well in the morning, the eagle could certainly eat another meal now, though it could go three days without food after that morning feast.

But recalling the cook’s rank stench today, it lost its appetite.

The little black-feathered eagle said, “You smell too bad. No thanks.”

Yun Qing sniffed herself. Huh? How could she still smell bad? She was sure she no longer stank.

Her consciousness scanned the environment and discovered the foul odor was from where she had been meditating. Her dantian’s spiritual power was very low; her cleansing technique was in a gray state and couldn’t be used. Unwilling to cultivate in a stinky place, she moved further away.

Having already practiced once during the day, she was now more experienced. Yun Qing silently recited, “Run the Infinite Dao.”

One second to memorize 114 Chinese characters.