Beyond his injuries, Shangguan Lei’s most serious issue was the plague poison.
But for Ling Xiao, this was no trouble at all.
He absorbed all the plague poison, using it to nourish his Plague Demon King Martial Soul.
Soon after, Shangguan Lei awoke from his coma.
Seeing Ling Xiao, Shangguan Lei let out a sigh of relief, then asked in surprise, “Junior Brother Ling, what about the Plague Demon King?”
Ling Xiao replied calmly, “Dead!”
He offered no explanation, and Shangguan Lei didn’t dare press further.
Shangguan Lei knew well that his junior brother harboured many secrets. The less he knew, the better it was for him.
He resolved never to oppose Ling Xiao again. Though he didn’t know how the Plague Demon King died, it was surely by Ling Xiao’s hand.
Before passing out, he had felt an overwhelmingly terrifying aura.
It wasn’t the Plague Demon King’s, leaving only one possibility: Junior Brother Ling was hiding his true strength.
To think he had been foolish enough to make an enemy of this monster—he must have been tired of living.
Perhaps Ling Xiao’s potential surpassed even Hei Suo’s, and his future achievements might rival Meng Yuan’s.
He needed to choose his side carefully.
“Senior Brother Shangguan, about your leg—do you want a puppet prosthetic, or would you prefer to regrow it?”
Ling Xiao wanted Shangguan Lei to owe him a favour, ensuring that if the sect investigated, Shangguan Lei would lean in his favour.
Fewer enemies, more friends.
He had no real grudge with Shangguan Lei, so there was no need to let Hei Suo and Meng Yuan drive a wedge between them.
“Regrowing it would be better, of course, but I don’t have that ability,” Shangguan Lei said with a wry smile.
“Easy enough,” Ling Xiao said lightly. “I once cultivated a technique that uses gold to regenerate limbs. It was originally for myself, but I’ve studied and modified it to work on others. The catch is, it consumes ten times the true essence.”
“Junior Brother Ling, you’ve already saved my life. If you can heal my leg, even if I were utterly heartless, I’d never turn against you,” Shangguan Lei said, overjoyed. “After we return to Moonlight Sect, I’ll cut ties with Meng Yuan and Hei Suo completely.”
“No need for that,” Ling Xiao said with a smile. “Just keep things as they are with Hei Suo and Meng Yuan.”
“I understand!” Shangguan Lei was quietly astonished. Ling Xiao, not yet fifteen, was so mature in his thinking. This was a request to have him monitor Hei Suo and Meng Yuan.
Impressive!
Shangguan Lei admired him deeply, thinking how Ling Xiao had achieved so much despite Hei Suo’s constant suppression. His intelligence was remarkable; otherwise, he’d likely have died mysteriously long ago.
An hour later, beads of sweat dripped from Ling Xiao’s forehead, his face pale.
But Shangguan Lei’s leg had fully regrown.
This was Ling Xiao’s first time using the technique on another, so his inexperience led to significant energy drain.
“Junior Brother Ling, rest here. I’ll go find some food,” Shangguan Lei said, seeing Ling Xiao’s exhaustion.
“Go ahead. Also, gather all the slaves. They’ve been implanted with plague seeds by the Plague Demon King. If they leave the underground demon lair, they’ll die from the poison. I need to remove the seeds from their bodies.”
Ling Xiao nodded, closed his eyes, and began recovering.
Though the process was draining, he was thrilled to sense signs of a breakthrough in his cultivation.
After Shangguan Lei left, Ling Xiao swallowed a “Soul Essence Pill.”
The potency of this low-grade yellow pill was indeed formidable.
If he had taken it during the Martial Vein Realm, he might have bled from all seven orifices and died.
But now, at the early stage of Mortal Realm Second Layer, it posed no issue.
Coupled with the suppression from his Ancient Golden Dragon Bloodline and Mountain River Martial Soul, the pill didn’t dare misbehave.
Half an hour later, Ling Xiao’s eyes snapped open, two beams of golden light shooting out like tangible rays.
Breakthrough!
In one leap, he advanced from early Mortal Realm Second Layer to its peak, just a step away from the Third Layer.
This mission had been immensely beneficial.
Not just because of the Soul Essence Pill—his gains from combat were substantial.
Especially against the Plague Demon King, where a single mistake could have been fatal, he was on edge, his true essence under immense pressure, constantly surging and growing.
The breakthrough came naturally.
Beside him, Shangguan Lei sat cross-legged, guarding him.
In front, over a thousand valley residents knelt, trembling with fear, especially shaken by the golden light in Ling Xiao’s eyes.
“No need to fear. I am Ling Xiao, a disciple of Moonlight Sect. I came to this valley to rescue you all. The Plague Demon King you feared has been slain by me!” Ling Xiao said with a smile.
“A master from Moonlight Sect!”
“We’re saved!”
“But is the demon king really dead? The plague seeds in our bodies haven’t disappeared.”
The crowd buzzed with excitement and worry.
“Extract!”
Ling Xiao didn’t explain. With a wave of his hand, a faint shadow of the Plague Demon King Martial Soul appeared behind him.
Only Shangguan Lei could see it; Martial Vein Realm warriors and ordinary people couldn’t.
Ling Xiao did this to avoid trouble.
Being mistaken for the Plague Demon King’s incarnation would be problematic.
As the Plague Demon King Martial Soul appeared, over a thousand plague seeds turned into green light, flying out from the slaves’ bodies and merging into the Martial Soul.
Once done, the Martial Soul faded away.
“Long live Moonlight Sect!”
“Long live Master Ling!”
The slaves, originally valley residents, some even Martial Vein Realm warriors, had thought their lives were doomed to darkness and despair.
But Ling Xiao’s arrival changed everything.
They were freed from the terrifying plague seeds, restored to normal.
“Who among you can take charge?” Ling Xiao asked.
Three people stepped forward from the crowd.
An elder and two youths.
“I am an elder of Green Valley. These two are the heirs of the Green Valley Lord,” the elder explained.
“Good,” Ling Xiao said, waving his hand. Tens of thousands of silver taels appeared from his Mountain River World.
“Take this silver to rebuild the valley. The plague is gone. I hope Green Valley can be as beautiful as it once was.”
A mere tens of thousands of silver meant little to Ling Xiao, but it could earn goodwill and do good. He was happy to do it.
