Chapter 4775 — On One Condition

Ren Zhongyuan was consumed with resentment, but matters had come to this pass and he could no longer keep goading the crowd against Wei Zhao—if he truly pushed Liu Ziqi too far, he himself would be the one left with a mess he could not swallow.

"Vice Chancellor Liu, if that's how you put it, there's nothing I can do—but if I can cure everyone of the poison, surely by then you won't be able to keep sheltering this brat? The matter of the poisoning must be investigated to the very end!" Ren Zhongyuan immediately began to haggle.

"You can neutralize the poison?" Liu Ziqi glanced at him.

"Indeed. Have you all forgotten that I am a fifth-rank alchemist? Now that we've confirmed it's heart-piercing anemone venom, I have a way to refine an antidote pill. Once everyone takes it, they'll naturally be safe and sound!" Ren Zhongyuan said smugly.

At these words the crowd rallied once more, every gaze fixed on Ren Zhongyuan with burning fervor—if he could refine the antidote, it would amount to saving all their lives.

"Then how many can you refine?" Liu Ziqi asked with a frown.

"This antidote pill is a little complicated, but the ship has stores of every ingredient. I can refine one pill per hour!" Ren Zhongyuan's face still wore that smug look. The venom of the heart-piercing anemone was no trifling thing, and the corresponding antidote reached a full fifth rank; that he could produce one in an hour was already astonishing.

"One pill an hour? Then how long can all these people hold out?" Liu Ziqi's brow furrowed at once. There were nearly a hundred Eastern Continent disciples present—relying on Ren Zhongyuan alone, would they have to wait a hundred hours? And that was assuming he never slept!

Only two hours had passed and already three were on the verge of succumbing. Never mind a hundred hours—at this rate, it would not take even ten before most of them were dead!

"Huh? Well, that..." Ren Zhongyuan was struck dumb. He had been wholly bent on framing Wei Zhao, thinking that once the boy was done for he would simply step forward and cure everyone, and had overlooked this crucial point: how was he to cure so many?

At once every face in the hall turned ashen. They had finally grasped at a last straw, only to find it truly was just a straw—it could not save their lives. At this rate, were they simply to sit and wait for death?

Seeing that blank look on Ren Zhongyuan's face, Liu Ziqi, who had still harbored a shred of hope, was left utterly speechless. They had been away from West Island for more than a day; turning back now was out of the question. This time the situation really had grown grave.

With her strength, Liu Ziqi was confident she could suppress the venom, but the others could not. The longer things dragged on, the more Eastern Continent disciples would succumb, and then they would surely die in whole swathes.

If so many perished at once, Liu Ziqi would have no face to answer to the various Eastern Continent academies upon her return. With such a blot on her record, she would never again be entrusted with any weighty charge.

The crowd sighed and lamented; over the already stifling air spread a mood of despair, and Liu Ziqi's expression turned grave as well. When people are driven to desperation they will do anything, and once someone resorted to desperate measures, this affair could never be settled amicably.

Just then Wei Zhao gave a faint smile and said, "Why not let me try?"

"What?" Everyone started at his words. Ren Zhongyuan looked at Wei Zhao as though at an idiot and sneered with contempt, "Try? Do you know what you're saying? My antidote is a fifth-rank pill—what would you try it with? Don't tell me you're a fifth-rank alchemist too?"

"A fifth-rank alchemist? No, I'm really not." Wei Zhao shook his head faintly—but before Ren Zhongyuan could laugh aloud in triumph, he added in that same mild tone, "Still, if it's only fifth-rank pills, I can refine a hundred in an hour. Curing everyone shouldn't be difficult."

The hall erupted. Everyone stared at Wei Zhao in disbelief—a hundred fifth-rank pills in a single hour? Just what was this fellow?

"Huh?" Ren Zhongyuan froze, then jabbed a finger at Wei Zhao's nose and shrieked, hopping with rage, "Impossible! You're talking shit! A hundred fifth-rank pills in an hour—even a seventh-rank alchemist like my father couldn't do it. Who do you think you are, a god? You're dreaming!"

"Heh, talk is cheap. Anyway, we've no other choice—might as well treat a dead horse as a live one. What harm is there in letting me try? Who knows, it might actually work?" Wei Zhao laughed, unbothered.

The others thought little of it, but Liu Ziqi's eyes lit up. In all the hall, only she, Huo Yudie, and Ning Xuefei knew Wei Zhao's true mettle—this was the formidable fellow who had refined eight Thunder Mystery Pills in a single day. A hundred fifth-rank pills in an hour sounded outrageous, but for Wei Zhao it was not necessarily beyond reach.

And even if he could not, he was still better than Ren Zhongyuan with his one pill an hour. Only if Wei Zhao stepped in would the many Eastern Continent disciples here have a glimmer of hope; otherwise they could only sit and wait for death.

"In that case, let the two of you each refine pills—however many you can produce, so be it. All our lives rest in your hands; you must give it your all," Liu Ziqi decided on the spot.

Wei Zhao naturally had no objection. Ren Zhongyuan shot him a cold glance. Today, thanks to Liu Ziqi's protection, he could not put the boy to death—but matters having come this far, the situation was not without its uses.

His eyes darting about, Ren Zhongyuan had paper and brush brought, and with sweeping flourishes listed a number of ingredients upon it. Then he said coldly to Wei Zhao, "I don't care what scheme you're cooking up, but since it's come to this, I'll say no more. This is the antidote formula."

Wei Zhao reached out to take it. Though antidote pills all broadly follow a template, there is no such thing in this world as an absolutely universal antidote—to truly neutralize a poison one must treat the specific cause. Wei Zhao had never even heard of the heart-piercing anemone before; to refine a cure he could only rely on the formula Ren Zhongyuan provided.

But Ren Zhongyuan suddenly drew the formula back and snorted, "This is a fifth-rank formula—something you couldn't buy on the open market. And you want to just take it so casually? That's hardly knowing how to deal with people."

Liu Ziqi was about to speak, but Wei Zhao silenced her with a look, and regarded Ren Zhongyuan with easy composure. "Then what do you want? Don't tell me you expect me to pay spirit jade for it?"

"Hmph, as if I'd care about your pittance of spirit jade!" Ren Zhongyuan curled his lip in disdain, then proposed with ulterior motive, "How about this: I'll give you the formula, but you must agree to one condition."