Chapter 89: The Underground Royal Palace, Part Eight

After Patriarch Luo rescued the others, he found a safe place to settle them. Only then did he discover that all of them were on the brink of death. He had no choice but to take out the finest antidote pill he had refined.

But his antidote pill could only temporarily suppress the poison in their bodies. If he wanted to save their lives, they would probably have to leave the forest of magical beasts and seek a more powerful antidote pill.

After giving each of them an antidote pill, he also gave them blood-restoring pills and marrow-creating pills. After sitting in quiet meditation for an hour, they gradually recovered their strength.

The crown prince had originally wanted to kill the Luo sisters, but this time, having received Patriarch Luo’s generous rescue, he could only swallow his anger for the moment.

“Thank you, Patriarch Luo, for saving us.” Though the crown prince was deeply dissatisfied with Patriarch Luo, he still had to maintain appearances. Patriarch Luo was an alchemist; if he slipped a slow-acting poison into the antidote, that would be disastrous.

Patriarch Luo looked at the crown prince, his voice faint. “I saved the crown prince for Yiyi’s sake. I hope Your Highness will treat Yiyi well in the future.”

His meaning was plain enough: if you do not cherish her, someone else naturally will.

The crown prince was already cursing Patriarch Luo to heaven and back in his heart, but on the surface he forced a smile. “Yiyi is this prince’s consort. Of course I will treat her well.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Luo Yi and gave her a warning look.

If Luo Yi dared to say anything out of turn, she would be dead for sure.

Luo Yi was a clever person, so naturally she would not mention what had just happened.

Since Luo Yi would not speak of it, Luo Mei could only keep her mouth shut as well.

When he remembered that his subordinate had once encountered an earth serpent during training ten years ago, and that even a single one had led him to many treasures, Chi Zifan suddenly spoke up.

His voice was low, yet it still reached Patriarch Luo’s sharp ears.

“Are you certain those were earth serpents?” Patriarch Luo asked. His voice was light, but it carried the unmistakable pressure of a strong expert.

Among all those present, he had the highest cultivation, and he was also an alchemist.

“I only suspect it,” Chi Zifan said honestly.

“It is said that the treasures of the forest of magical beasts were all seized by earth serpents. Yet for tens of thousands of years, no one has ever encountered one—or else anyone who did encounter them died. If what we met just now were earth serpents, then following them would surely lead us to treasure.”

Patriarch Luo’s words landed like a bomb among the crowd.

Everyone was instantly stirred.

For wealth, men will die; for food, birds will too. An eternal truth.

The crown prince made up his mind at once. “Then let us hurry back?”

Patriarch Luo gave him a cool glance. “Go back? Is the crown prince not afraid of death?”

Those words extinguished everyone’s fervent excitement in an instant.

After barely surviving a brush with death, who would dare provoke earth serpents again? That would be nothing but courting death.

“Your Highness, if those snakes truly were earth serpents, then by now they should have no more fighting strength. According to the records, they can fight for at most six hours before they must rest,” said one of the imperial shadow guards at the peak of the seventh level, assigned by the emperor to protect the crown prince.

The crown prince was overjoyed. “Are you sure?”

“If they were indeed earth serpents, this subordinate can be certain.”

The crown prince’s spirits soared. “Excellent!”

Then he turned to Patriarch Luo. “Patriarch Luo, shall we go seek the treasure?”

At the thought of obtaining treasure, the crown prince’s mood lifted even further. He felt that surviving such a trial had been worth it after all.

Even if he failed to obtain a spirit fruit this time, at least he would have treasure to report back to the emperor with.

It was a pity that the crown prince’s dream would ultimately come to nothing.