As Fan Wubing plunged into the poisonous river, he immediately felt a sensation like being pricked by needles. Every inch of skin immersed in the water tingled painfully, as if being bitten by countless fire ants.
It was itchy and painful, with a burning sensation.
At the same time, a notification popped up before his eyes,
[You are suffering from poisonous erosion, Life Points -5]
[-5]
[-5]
Losing 5 life points per second.
Fan Wubing quickly began calculating in his head,
"I currently have a total of 1200 life points. The Unwarranted Qi Creation Skill restores 1.2 life points per second, so I'm actually losing 3.8 life points per second. This means I can stay in the toxic water for about 320 seconds. There's a chance!"
He immediately shouted out,
"Junior Sister Luo, quickly get on my back, I'll carry you across the river!"
On the bridge, Luo Qingyao was extremely anxious,
"Senior Brother, you can't do this, hurry and come up. This poisonous miasma will ruin your foundation if it enters your body, and continued immersion will cost you your life! This is just a freshman trial, no need to take it so seriously! Hurry and come up…"
Fan Wubing frowned,
"Trust my judgment, it'll be fine."
Fan Wubing was well aware that because he had a health bar, his life form was different from ordinary people. As long as he didn't die, he would definitely be able to fully recover. Ordinary people, however, had to worry about damaging their foundation, leaving hidden injuries, or incurring irreversible damage.
"But—"
"Junior Sister!"
Being directly addressed as "Junior Sister," what else could Luo Qingyao do but grit her teeth and climb onto Fan Wubing's back.
Fan Wubing set his direction and began to move.
He actively operated the Unwarranted Qi Creation Skill to further stabilize the circulation of his internal energy, keeping his core steady to avoid stepping into any potholes and falling.
While he could withstand the miasma's poison, Luo Qingyao might not be able to.
"Senior Brother…" Feeling Fan Wubing's life force gradually weaken, Luo Qingyao's body tensed up, "It's all my fault… If only I had broken through the illusion sooner, this wouldn't have happened…"
Sensing the young girl's tension and suppressed emotions, Fan Wubing smiled to comfort her,
"It's okay. During the points challenge, you carried me to safety, and now it's just my turn to carry you."
"This is different…"
"It's the same, Junior Sister Luo. It's the same as long as it's for each other."
As Fan Wubing continued to be poisoned and lose blood, his life points fell to less than half, and his breath gradually became unstable, starting to pant.
Luo Qingyao hurriedly said,
"Senior Brother, let's go back to the bridge!"
"No, look ahead, we're almost there. The end is just ahead."
At this moment, not only was Luo Qingyao anxiously worried.
In the Immortal Performance Hall, many elders who witnessed everything were also on edge.
An elder couldn't help but say,
"Absurd, absurd! Does that Fan Wubing have no common sense at all? Even we wouldn't dare to easily cross the poisonous water, and he's actually walking right in it? Never mind foundation damage, this could be fatal!"
"But, if you all look closely. Even though the poison has entered Fan Wubing's body, and his skin has turned green, he still appears lively."
"Not just green, his skin has started to rot, yet his spirit remains surprisingly robust."
Mei Jinqiu frowned,
"This is truly too reckless. Elder Lin Xing, be ready, and if anything goes wrong, step in to save them right away! These two children have wild imaginations, first attracting an entire herd of Barbaric Blood Pigs, and now this…"
"Yes, Sect Leader."
Elder Lin Xing concentrated his aura, allowing celestial energy to flow from his Dantian through his meridians, fully prepared.
Luo Qingyao said with a tearful voice,
"But you, you've turned green!"
"Huh?!"
Fan Wubing was startled. He quickly looked at the back of his hand and found his skin had not only started to wrinkle but had also taken on a pus-like green hue.
He let out a breath,
"So I'm really green, huh? I thought I had 'greened' up."
"Huh? Senior Brother, what are you saying, are you delirious?"
"No, I'm perfectly clear-headed!"
As a player with status attributes displayed through a health bar, the advantage of expressing life force this way is that as long as the health bar doesn't drop to zero instantly or plummet drastically, even if only one life point remains, you can maintain your sanity.
If it were a normal person, their consciousness would have been lost long before reaching the brink of death.
Luo Qingyao suddenly started crying,
"Wuuu— Senior Brother, you're falling apart."
The flesh on Fan Wubing's body began to rot. At this point, he only had 300 points of health left.
"Junior Sister Luo, it's okay, it's only the last ten zhang! Watch me muster all my strength and send you ashore!"
He took a deep breath, locked his waist and back, stabilized his core strength, and took a large stride forward.
The rotting flesh on his body began to fall off in large chunks into the poisonous water.
Luo Qingyao saw this, feeling extremely frightened and anxious, but she didn't dare to speak loudly, fearing it might affect Fan Wubing. She could only bite her lip, silently shedding tears. For a young lady who had lived in a large family all her life, this was too incredible, too shocking.
She had never thought that someone could do this much for her.
At the same time, she scolded herself in her heart. Why did she linger in the illusion mist, greedily indulging in fake beauty, wasting time, and neglecting the senior brother who truly cared for her in reality? Whenever she thought of how she even compared the fake senior brother with the real one, she wished she could slap herself.
"Junior Sister Luo, we've arrived!"
Fan Wubing's voice brought Luo Qingyao back to her senses. He pushed her onto the shore,
"Get up!"
[... Current health 172.2 points]
Luo Qingyao quickly grabbed the edge of the shore and climbed up. She immediately turned around, reaching out her hand,
"Senior Brother, hurry, grab my hand!"
Fan Wubing reached out his hand.
Luo Qingyao held on tightly and pulled with effort.
Everything was as Fan Wubing calculated. With 1200 health points, plus the Unwarranted Qi Creation Skill, there was enough time to cross together.
But he overlooked one thing, or rather, it was something that couldn't have been anticipated from the start.
Soaking in the miasma-poisoned water for too long would cause the body to lose its resilience and become very fragile. Just like rotting flesh, it would tear apart easily.
When Luo Qingyao was pulling him ashore, his arm suddenly... broke in the middle.
[You lost half of your right hand, health -69, current health 81.2 points]
Fan Wubing suddenly lost his right hand, immediately losing balance, and fell into the miasma-poisoned water. The ripples he caused lasted only a moment before fading away, and in the blink of an eye, the water's surface returned to a dead silence.
Luo Qingyao was momentarily stunned, then came back to her senses, screaming desperately,
"Senior Brother!"
At that moment, she lost her reason, not caring about anything, ready to jump in and search for Fan Wubing.
But as she jumped, she was restrained by a force, her body falling back to where it was.
The Immortal Performance Peak Master, Lin Xing, appeared in time to stop her,
"Don't take unnecessary risks!"
Luo Qingyao immediately grabbed his robe,
"Elder, quickly save Senior Brother Wubing, he fell in, quick, save him!"
"Don't be anxious."
Though Lin Xing said this, he was also very anxious inside. Because he had designed this trial, and if a disciple got into trouble in one he had designed, the consequences would be unimaginable.
He clapped his hands, then crossed them, and suddenly, celestial energy erupted, diving into the poisonous pool, removing all the miasma-poisoned water in an instant, condensing it into a giant toxic ball suspended in the air.
Luo Qingyao quickly jumped in to search. After a while, she lifted her head, crying,
"Nothing, nothing at all..."
Seeing this, Lin Xing sighed. He was straightforward and said whatever was on his mind,
"I'm afraid, he's been completely eroded by the miasma-poison."
At this moment, Luo Qingyao felt the world spinning around her.
Inside the Immortal Performance Hall,
the crowd was silent.
This time, it wasn't some bizarre operation leaving them speechless, but no one wanted to be the first to speak at a time like this.
In the end, it was Wei Changkong, who, losing control of his emotions, spoke first,
"How could this happen? No remains? This... why..."
He was a bit dazed, not knowing whether to be saddened or regretful.
The Fulu Peak Elder Zhang Jingwei shook his head with his eyes closed, saying,
"Young and reckless. Overestimating oneself... Even if he didn't die in this miasma-poisoned pool, he would have died elsewhere. Not worth lamenting... I just fear that when Fu Ming returns, she'll go mad. There's truly no one normal atop Enlightenment Peak."
Sect Leader Mei Jinqiu furrowed his brows tightly, remaining silent.
Beside him, the young girl Fu Manman stared wide-eyed at the Water-shaped Immortal Mirror, hardly blinking.
She thought to herself, something's not right... From the time Fan Wubing fell into the pool to Elder Lin Xing draining it, it was only a matter of three breaths. How could there be no remains at all?