April tilted the bowl back and swallowed the remaining soup in one breath, not stopping for even a heartbeat.
Her eyes shone with fierce resolve, as if she had already steeled herself for whatever awaited her.
The room froze.
Every single person stared at her in disbelief.
Tears streamed freely from her eyes, yet she didn't hesitate in the slightest.
'Is she… that emotional?'
Some of the onlookers exchanged stunned glances, utterly unable to comprehend what they had just witnessed.
Only Su Wen knew the truth.
And even he was momentarily taken aback.
He hadn't expected her to actually drink it all in one go.
A deep, genuine respect welled up from the bottom of his heart... for her courage, her resolve, and her sheer endurance.
Few cultivators could have endured everything she had faced today.
The pain from the poison alone was enough to make many cultivators lose consciousness.
Then... The fire finally exploded inside her.
This time, she couldn't control it and cursed out loud.
"FUCK!!"
April's scream tore through the hall.
"It's so spicy! I feel like I'm burning alive, what the hell did you put in this?!"
Lance: "…"
Everyone else: "..."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Now they understood.
Every gaze slowly turned towards Su Wen, filled with a mix of shock, disbelief, and dawning horror.
They all remembered the ingredients Su Wen had requested.
Even Lance stood there, utterly stunned, his mind struggling to process what had just happened.
Su Wen, still looking up at the ceiling, spoke calmly.
"You said you like spicy food. So don't blame me now." He paused, then added evenly, "Forget the pain and focus. Guide the medicinal energy into your arm."
He was very clearly trying to divert her attention.
The physicians and alchemists looked at April with complicated expressions.
This wasn't soup, it was torture.
They could only silently hope she could endure it.
Du Yue and Young Master Bai finally understood why Su Wen had stopped them from tasting it earlier.
The silver-eyed swordsman by the wall looked at the soup as if he had finally found something interesting.
After several agonising breaths, April's shouting faded into ragged gasps as she clenched her fists, forcing herself to regain control.
Tears still streamed down her face, but her eyes hardened with focus.
She began to guide the violent, Yang-rich qi through her meridians, pushing it towards her poisoned arm with everything she had.
At her shoulder, where Lance's fire intent formed a blazing barrier, the two energies met.
Lance sensed it instantly.
With extreme care, he opened a narrow gap in the fiery wall... just enough for the medicinal energy to pass through, but not enough for the poison to escape.
The moment the medicinal qi surged into her arm, the corrupted poison let out a faint, sizzling resistance.
The detoxification had truly begun.
The medicinal power from the soup finally reached the rotting flesh.
The instant it made contact, a violent surge of pain exploded through April's arm, sharp enough to make her whole body tremble.
Her fingers dug into the bed, yet she did not cry out again. She clenched her teeth and endured it head-on.
The soup's power flooded the corrupted area like a blazing tide.
Where blackened flesh and blistered veins had once spread, the corruption was forcibly driven back.
The dark, ink-like lines receded inch by inch, washed away as if filthy dye were being rinsed clean by a torrent of pure water.
Beneath it, healthy skin slowly resurfaced, regaining its natural tone and vitality.
The physicians stared, stunned.
This wasn't suppression.
It was purification.
After the time it took an incense stick to burn, the searing pain in her arm finally dulled.
April's strained expression loosened, her breathing gradually evening out.
Suddenly, as if her body had reached its limit, April's eyes widened.
A violent nausea surged through her.
She staggered to her feet and rushed out of the room, barely making it to a corner of the courtyard before doubling over.
"Ughh!"
She vomited violently.
Thick, black, tar-like impurities spilled from her mouth, reeking of decay and corrupted qi.
The moment the foul substance hit the ground, it hissed and sizzled.
Grass withered instantly.
The earth blackened and cracked, turning barren within a one-metre radius.
A collective chill ran through everyone watching.
Lance frowned and turned sharply toward Su Wen."Brother… this-"
Su Wen remained perfectly calm.
"The medicinal soup is working," he said evenly. "The poison inside her body has already been neutralised. What you're seeing now is simply her body expelling the remaining impurities on its own."
The words landed like thunder.
The physicians and alchemists gawked, eyes wide with disbelief and awe, as though they had just witnessed a living medicinal miracle.
Only now did Lance truly relax.
He let out a long, shaky breath, tension finally leaving his body."Thank you, brother," he said sincerely. "If it weren't for you… I don't even want to imagine what would have happened to her."
Others quickly followed, voices overlapping with praise and awkward flattery, each hoping to earn even a sliver of favour.
Su Wen waved them off lightly, uninterested.
His gaze shifted back toward April as he spoke to Lance,"You should attend to her. She won't be able to stay conscious for much longer."
As if on cue, April's strength finally gave out.
Her knees buckled, her eyes fluttering shut as she began to fall backward.
In a flash, the blushing, dragonoid-eyed young man caught her gently in his arms.
Holding her as if she were something fragile beyond measure, Lance carried her back into the emergency room without another word.
Su Wen nodded to everyone and left, paying no mind to the rest.
Behind him, everyone remained silent... witnesses to something they would never forget.