"Take this pill," the Seven Rainbows Moth King said. It was a Gu worm in the form of a giant pill, half of which was red and the other half yellow. "This is Rank 4 Poison Purging Gu," the Land Spirit said. "It has already been refined for you. You may use it to treat that woman of her condition."
Fang Yuan activated it, pouring his primeval essence into it. Even if he was only Rank 3 within this dream realm, with the Land Spirit's assistance, he was able to use this gu.
It turned out that the person didn't have to 'consume' the pill in question to use it, rather, just placing it over Xie Han Mo's sickly frame was enough.
The color began to reappear on Xie Han Mo's cheeks as the poison seemed to have dissipated.
"Mo'er, are you all right?" Fang Yuan asked.
"It's best to let her rest, Master," the Seven Rainbows Moth King said. "There are gu worms which can help with her healing, however, giving her too many pills can have nasty side effects and potentially harm the liver or kidneys. The best thing to do now that her life is no longer in danger is to let her recover naturally by resting."
Fang Yuan carried Xie Han Mo to a recovery room where she lay down, weakly opening her eyes. "It's okay, Mo'er. We escaped from them. You can rest now," Fang Yuan said. Xie Han Mo nodded weakly before going to sleep.
Fang Yuan stared at her face for a moment before leaving.
The Fang Yuan within the dream realm admired her beauty even while she slept - her slender nose, the prominent collarbones, her long silky black hair - and was filled with feelings of longing and admiration.
Fang Yuan went to see the Seven Rainbows Moth King.
The Land Spirit began to explain that the Blessed Land belonged to the Immortal Apothecary, a Rank six Gu Immortal who had been killed by a tribulation. Since he was a Pill Path Gu Immortal, the majority of the resources within the aperture reflected this, with most of them being plants or medicinal herbs useful in making pills.
Of course, there were animals as well.
There were Four-Toothed Elephants, whose tusks could be ground into a rich paste as a excipient without interfering with most other ingredients.
There were Blue Skinned Tigers, whose hide could function as coating for most pills to bind them.
Then there were White Ivory Rhinos, which Fang Yuan had thought had gone extinct - though they had formed within this Blessed Land, whose horns could stabilize many other pill ingredients.
The Pill Path was an esoteric path - barely developed even in the future where Fang Yuan had once been. As such, his knowledge of it was basically non-existent, only that it based itself partially off of the Wood and Food Path.
The Pill Path specialized in taking ingredients to form pills, most of which could give buffs to the user or be used in healing, though there were a few offensive options. Pill Gu Worms were special in that many of them did not need to be fed once refined. Additionally, they could be stacked on top of one another.
A person could use multiple Rank 3 pills, for example, and find an effect equivalent to a Rank 4 pill.
Another advantage was that pills were not hard to refine - they had to be mixed in appropriate ways but the risk was far lower than that of conventional refinement and also the success rate higher as well.
The main drawback to the Pill Path was that while one could consume a large number of pills at once, thereby amplifying their effect, pills also had waste that needed to be excreted. Once a certain limit was reached, using more pills would instead poison the user and lead to things like liver failure. The were also Pill Path methods to reduce this drawback, but they could not be entirely avoided.
That was why the Seven Rainbows Moth King had advised letting Xie Han Mo recover naturally.
Additionally, nearly all Pill Path gu worms were consumable, and were quite resource-intensive in order to make. That might be fine if one had a Pill Path Blessed Land, but an ordinary mortal Gu Master would not be able to keep up with the expenditure. On top of which, though it lacked the traditional dangers of gu worm refinement, there were risks when one was handling poisonous chemicals.
Lastly, the offensive options were quite limited, which is why the Immortal Apothecary had also tried to cultivate the Wood Path on the side as per the documents he had left behind.
As for who the Immortal Apothecary was, Fang Yuan did not know. No name was left behind in the inheritance, only that he had studied under a great teacher which had allowed him to grasp the roots of the Pill Path, something he could otherwise not have done.
Not all of his research seemed to come from himself, additionally, as the Immortal Apothecary seemed to already have access to some kind of foundation in the Pill Path before he had started. What this source was however, was undocumented.
While reading the texts, Fang Yuan found a Seven Star Ladybug of Fortune Gu among some of the stored Gu worms. Ladybug of Fortune Gu worms could increase a Gu Master's aptitude by 3% per star on their backs, and a Seven Star Ladybug of Fortune Gu worm could increase his aptitude by 21%, catapulting his talent from B-grade to A-grade instantly, which Fang Yuan did.
In addition, there were several Red Steel Relic Gu and Golden Yellow Relic Gu, which Fang Yuan could use to increase his cultivation rapidly if he wished.
"Fang Yuan!" Xie Han Mo called out to him as he was studying some of the texts, interrupting his study. She looked far better than before.
"How are you feeling, Mo'er?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Amazing," she said, dazed. "This is not a dream, is it? We really managed to survive?"
"Indeed," Fang Yuan said, explaining where they were and how he had managed to become the owner of the Immortal Apothecary's Blessed Land.
"Incredible," Xie Han Mo said, her eyes sparkling, "to think that we would be saved that manner, and that you would gain an Immortal's inheritance. But oh, Fang Yuan," she said, eyes downcast, "there's no way that I can return to being a Saintess again."
Fang Yuan understood her pain. She had spent her whole life working towards that goal, forsaking her own happiness as the Saintess could not marry and had other restrictions as well.
Of course, nothing in life ever came without strings attached - and so she had endured. Fang Yuan had even aided her to retain the position, and yet despite all of this effort she had still lost it.
"However, even though I know I can no longer be a Saintess," Xie Han Mo said, "I do not feel any regret in my heart regarding it, Fang Yuan."
"And why is that?"
"Because," Xie Han Mo said, embracing him in her arms, "the position of Saintess was a wall between the two of us. Oh, Fang Yuan, I said this already, but I love you. I could have never been with you because of the position of Saintess, because of society's restrictions among the mermaids, but now... with that gone, I can see the loss of it as freeing my from the chains that it was. There's nothing else that I want more than to be with you. I love you. I know that there is no longer anything that I can offer you. My position is gone. I am just a mermaid - an outsider shunned by my own kind. And you've already saved me this time, so I cannot even count the time I saved you in my favor. But Fang Yuan, I wish to sing every evening with you for the rest of my life - even if my song is the only dowry I have. Tell me, will you accept me as your bride?"