171: General's blood, ironclad rules

Just as Qin Feng was racking his brains for a way to enter Medicine King Valley, the peace of Luoxia Town was suddenly shattered by a flurry of urgent hoofbeats and panicked shouts.

"Move! Get out of the way! Save him!!" A desperate, hoarse cry echoed from the town entrance.

A troop of dust-covered cavalry, their armor stained with blood and reeking of gunpowder and gore, escorted a makeshift carriage as they galloped into town, heading straight for Hundred Herbs Hall. The carriage had been hastily converted into a stretcher, upon which lay a middle-aged man dressed in tattered golden armor. His face was a purplish-gold, and his breathing was as thin as a thread. The armor on his chest was caved in, with faint wisps of black energy swirling around it. Even in his unconscious state, a lingering sense of sharpness and majesty remained between his brows, though it was currently overshadowed by agonizing pain and Death Qi.

"It's General Long Teng! General Li Ju!" someone in the crowd cried out in shock, clearly recognizing this pillar of the Empire whose name was renowned along the borders.

"Heavens, even General Long Teng is injured to this extent? Just how much has the situation at the border deteriorated?" The onlookers' faces paled as discussions broke out everywhere.

"I heard that last time, it was just an alliance of five core Barbarian tribes that broke through the Northern Defense Line, and even... even the Late Emperor... This time, the Tuoba Royal Court has unified fifteen major tribes and come out in full force!" a well-informed traveler said with a trembling voice.

"The situation at the front is dire; I heard that generals are being killed or heavily wounded every day... I didn't expect even General Li to..."

The crowd automatically parted to make a path as the cavalry troop escorted the stretcher to the front of Hundred Herbs Hall. A commander who looked like a Lieutenant leaped off his horse, his eyes welling with tears as he shouted urgently into the hall: "Mayor! Alchemist! Help! General Long Teng was ambushed by a Barbarian Shaman's Poison Curse! His Meridians are shattered, and he needs immediate treatment!"

Soon, an elderly man dressed in a dark purple robe, with a lean face and an aura clearly at the Mid-stage Martial King level, walked quickly out from the back hall of Hundred Herbs Hall. He was the Mayor of Luoxia Town and an Outer Sect Elder of Medicine King Valley.

He took one look at General Li Ju's condition on the stretcher, and his brow immediately furrowed. He knelt down to carefully examine the pulse and used his True Qi to sense the internal condition of the body, his expression growing increasingly grave.

"How is it? Mayor, the General..." the Lieutenant asked anxiously.

The Mayor withdrew his hand and said in a heavy voice, "Evil Qi has invaded the heart Meridians, a Poison Curse is corroding the Meridians, and there is a kind of frigid, destructive energy continuously devouring his life force... The injuries are extremely severe; his life hangs by a thread."

"Then... then what Medicinal Pill is needed? We will pay any price!" The Lieutenant felt as if he had caught a life-saving straw.

The Mayor pondered for a moment before slowly uttering a few words: "We need the 'Sacred Jade Meridian-Protecting Pill' as the primary medicine to stabilize the heart Meridians and expel the evil poison, supplemented by the 'Nine Yang Soul-Returning Soup' to slowly recover. Only then might there be a sliver of hope."

The Sacred Jade Meridian-Protecting Pill! An Earth Rank Advanced Medicinal Pill!

The Lieutenant had clearly heard of this pill's great reputation. His face turned pale, but he immediately said, "Please grant us the pill, Mayor! Whatever the price, the Imperial Court and my Northern Border Army will not hesitate!"

However, the Mayor slowly shook his head, a business-like expression of regret on his face. "Regrettably, refining this pill is extremely difficult, and the primary material, 'Ten-Thousand-Year Warm Jade Marrow,' is even rarer. Even if there is stock in the Valley, it must be reported through the levels and personally approved by an Inner Sect Elder or even the Valley Master before it can be used. These are the rules; even I have no authority to act on my own."

"Rules?!" The Lieutenant's eyes instantly turned bloodshot as he pointed at the increasingly weak General Li Ju. "Mayor! This is General Long Teng! This is the General Long Teng who defended the borders for the country and is now critically injured and dying! A human life is at stake! Can't you make an exception just this once? Use the medicine first and complete the procedures later?!"

The surrounding commoners, Martial Artists, and even people from other factions showed looks of pity. General Li Ju was renowned and had guarded the Northern Frontier for many years; now that he was so heavily injured, was he to be barred by rules?

The Mayor sighed, his tone remaining steady but unyielding. "The General is loyal and brave, and I admire him. But rules are rules. If an exception is made for one person, how can we command the public in the future? How can we manage the thousands of medicine seekers every day? I have already made an exception by diagnosing him first, and I will immediately report to the Valley with the utmost speed. But approval takes time, and the retrieval of Medicinal Pills also requires a process."

Upon hearing this, the Lieutenant and the cavalrymen were struck as if by lightning, their faces filled with despair.

Qin Feng stood on the outskirts of the crowd, quietly watching the scene with a deep frown. The strictness of Medicine King Valley's rules exceeded his imagination. Even a critically injured Empire General at the Late Stage Martial Emperor level could not cause them to bend the rules in the slightest.

Minutes and seconds ticked by. The Mayor had already sent someone to send an emergency message into the Valley through a special channel. The atmosphere in front of Hundred Herbs Hall was oppressive, filled only with General Li Ju's faint gasps and the cavalrymen's suppressed grief and indignation.

Half a day later, the messenger returned and whispered a few words to the Mayor.

A complex expression appeared on the Mayor's face. He looked at the Lieutenant, who was waiting with bated breath, and said slowly, "The reply from the Valley... the quota for this month's 'Sacred Jade Meridian-Protecting Pill' has been fixed. Any further use must wait for... next month's review."

"Next month?!" The Lieutenant nearly collapsed, his voice rasping, "The General... the General has reached his limit traveling all this way! He might... he might not last more than a few days! Mayor! Can... can I see the Valley Master? I will plead with him in person!"

"The Valley Master is in seclusion and sees no outside guests. Not to mention you, even a Royal Special Envoy would have to wait according to the rules," the Mayor shook his head. "I have done my best. Not making you wait in line for months is already out of respect for the General's sacrifices for the country. Look at this town—how many life-and-death matters are there every day? All must wait according to the rules."

He pointed to the crowds waiting in line outside Hundred Herbs Hall—some anxious, some numb, some despairing. Among them were many who were heavily injured or seriously ill, all bitterly waiting for that one slim, distant hope.

An Empire General at the Late Stage Martial Emperor level might actually die before the gates of Medicine King Valley because of 'process' and 'rules'.

A chorus of suppressed sighs rose from the surroundings. There was sympathy for the general, helplessness toward the rules of Medicine King Valley, and a silent resignation to the cruel reality of the world.

Qin Feng's heart sank as well. The iron walls of Medicine King Valley were colder and harder than he had imagined. If even someone of General Li Ju's status and situation couldn't move them at all, the hope of saving his master through official channels was virtually zero.

Could it be that he really had to find another way, or even... take a risky gamble?

His gaze involuntarily turned once more toward the distant, mist-shrouded mountains. The outline of Medicine King Valley loomed indistinctly in the clouds, like an unattainable celestial palace in the sky.

In this oppressive and hopeless atmosphere, no one noticed that as Xiao Chun looked at the black energy swirling around General Li Ju's wounds and the frigid energy devouring his life force, the Myriad Medicine Body within her faintly produced a strange resonance and... an impulse.