Chapter 195: Universal Detox Pill

Sunfire Essence, Crimson Flame Stone, Golden Crow Down, Moonlight Three-Purity Water, Starfate Aetherite…
Right after the Chiwu Furnace finished speaking, a string of terms suddenly popped into its mind.
These words seemed chaotic, but they all shared one common feature:
They were the materials used to forge the Chiwu Furnace.
The Chiwu Furnace suddenly had the terrifying thought that it might become material itself, and shivered involuntarily.
“Maybe I’ve just been refining pills too much lately and started hallucinating?” The Chiwu Furnace’s lid wobbled twice, giving itself a solid excuse.
“Is there any Heartcalm Herb nearby?”
The attendant looked troubled. “Replying to the Human Sovereign, the main use of Heartcalm Herb is as an antidote for Dissolution Powder, but ever since you suggested our Pill Refining Peak release the Universal Detox Pill, most poisons can be neutralized by it. Dissolution Powder might sound terrifying, but it only works on cultivators below the Golden Core Stage—it’s a basic poison and still within the effective range of the detox pill.”
“Moreover, the Heartcalm Herb grows in the Southern Borders. Once uprooted, it’s hard to preserve. It has to be soaked in Rootless Water, which is quite costly.”
“Because of that, almost no one needs Heartcalm Herb anymore. Even the major trade unions don’t keep it in stock. Only our Pill Refining Peak, hoping to explore its other uses, kept some in the herb repository. But now, you heard it too—our Peak Master ate it all.”
“If you really want Heartcalm Herb, maybe the Spirit Herb Sect still has some stored. If they don’t, the only option left is the Southern Borders.”
When the attendant mentioned the Universal Detox Pill, Jiang Li suddenly remembered—yes, that was a thing.
Back when he was only at the Golden Core Stage, he was ambushed and poisoned. Fortunately, he broke through in a desperate moment, pushed past his limits, shattered his core, formed his Nascent Soul, and resolved the poison tribulation.
From that point on, Jiang Li started taking poisons seriously.
He thought, he had been lucky enough to break through and survive the path to immortality because of his exceptional talent. But how many other talented cultivators before and after him died from poison?
What a waste.
Poison cultivators were like Gu cultivators—one wrong move and you’d fall into demonic cultivation.
But Jiang Li couldn’t just ban toxicology studies just because they could lead to the demonic path.
Poison cultivators could use themselves for testing and eventually develop Ten Thousand Venoms Physique without ever harming others.
So after Jiang Li became the Human Sovereign, he allocated Human Sovereign Hall funds to hire both the Pill Refining Peak and the Spirit Herb Sect to research a pill that could neutralize all poisons.
The funds came from spirit stones submitted by various imperial dynasties and major sects to the Human Sovereign Hall, used to maintain the Hall’s expenses, support cultivation of its members, and maintain peace across the Nine Provinces.
Though called universal, the detox was really only effective for poisons that work on Golden Core Stage and below.
Poisons targeting the Nascent Soul Stage could seep into the spiritual platform and soul, requiring tailored treatment. There’s hardly a single pill that could cure all of that.
In the end, the Pill Refining Peak lived up to expectations and developed the Universal Detox Pill, capable of neutralizing all poisons under the Golden Core Stage—at a steep price.
Predictably, the Spirit Herb Sect came up with the Hundred-Use Detox Pill, which could handle most poisons below the Golden Core Stage and was more affordable.
This thoroughly pissed off many shady poison cultivators. They spent a whole afternoon being incredibly furious.
They went from plotting Jiang Li’s assassination, to planning escape routes, and finally ended up discussing corpse market prices with the Corpse-Driving Sect, having calmed down.
“Kong Hu, are we close to the Southern Borders?” Jiang Li called out to the Human Sovereign Hall commander.
At the time, Zhang Konghu was deep beneath the Northern Sea, refining his body without using any cultivation, even canceling his Three-in-One state to endure deep-sea pressure with sheer physical strength, seeking a breakthrough into the Tribulation Stage.
The North Sea Dragon King stood nearby, humbly observing, trying to gain inspiration from Zhang Konghu’s body cultivation methods to improve Jiang Li’s Human Sovereign Strength.
“Southern Borders? I just got back from visiting family there,” Zhang Konghu said. “Brother Jiang, you want me to go again?”
“Forget it.” Zhang Konghu had just gone from the Southern Borders to the Northern Sea. No need to run him around like a dog.
Only then did Jiang Li remember—Zhang Konghu’s hometown was in the Southern Borders.
Three specialties of the Southern Borders: Gu, poison, and shamanism.
“Marshal Ma, how about you two? Are you near the Southern Borders?”
Marshal Ma lowered his voice and said to Jiang Li, “Brother Jiang, what is it? My wife and I are at a lecture at Hehuan Sect.”
Jiang Li faintly heard the lecture in the background.
“Today we’re learning two idioms: ‘Hit the nail on the head’ and ‘Roots twisted like an old tree’…”
Jiang Li decisively cut the connection.
“Commander Mu, are you… in the Southern Borders right now?” Jiang Li noticed the scenery on Mu’s side and was surprised by the coincidence.
Lush greenery, dense jungle, poisons and spirit herbs growing together—freedom under a frosty sky. That was the Southern Borders’ hallmark.
Of course, Jiang Li recognized the location for another reason.
Commander Mu was eating one of the Southern Borders’ local dishes—white-cut chicken—in the jungle.
“Yeah, I’m in the Southern Borders,” Commander Mu said, putting down his bowl and chopsticks.
“I’ve got a task for you. Go find white-cut chick—cough, Heartcalm Herb. Let me know when you find it.”
“Leave it to me!” Commander Mu accepted the task.
Seeing that he finally found a useful commander, Jiang Li felt a little more at ease and ended the remote talisman call. With a Fusion Stage cultivator on the move, finding Heartcalm Herb would be a breeze.
…
What Jiang Li didn’t know was that after Commander Mu hung up, he shouted to a teammate nearby, “Qin Luan, where the h*ll did you go? We were just eating, and now you’re gone—and you brought back a girl?”
Qin Luan replied, “I just heard from a local that there’s a Gu Immortal’s secret realm nearby.”
“You mean this girl is the ‘local’?”
“Yeah, I saw she was in danger in the jungle and saved her. She says she’s the daughter of a hidden Gu Clan high priest. But the Gu Clan is so secluded, she ran off to have fun and forgot how to get home.” Qin Luan introduced the dark-skinned Southern Borders girl beside him.
“She said her father, the Gu Clan’s high priest, should be inside that Gu Immortal secret realm. We might find him there—and she says her father will definitely reward us generously.”
The girl wore very little, most of her skin exposed, exuding youthful energy. Her abdomen, arms, and thighs bore white markings—quite enticing.
Commander Mu had heard about these distinctive patterns from Zhang Konghu—they were unique to the Gu Clan.
The Southern Borders girl cheerfully greeted Commander Mu, and he nodded in return.
“Well, if you’re going, let’s go together.” Commander Mu didn’t mind at all. Heartcalm Herb grew all over the Southern Borders—he’d probably come across it while helping the Gu girl find her father.
…
After ending the call, Jiang Li still felt uneasy, sensing that Commander Mu might fail and not find the Heartcalm Herb.
“That can’t be. A peak Fusion Stage cultivator can’t possibly run into trouble in the Nine Provinces, right?”
“The Spirit Herb Sect… I haven’t visited them in ages. Might as well take a trip.” Still uneasy, Jiang Li left the Pill Refining Peak, planning to search for Heartcalm Herb at the Spirit Herb Sect himself.