An Dongye and Dongfang Chaonan exchanged glances. They suddenly felt their own intelligence was insufficient, utterly baffled as to why Bai Shan Jun would agree to Ye Xiu’s excessive demands—even to the point of slapping the neutral faction leader across the face.

It wasn’t just them; everyone from Medicine King Valley present couldn’t fathom why Bai Shan Jun had agreed.

"Old Bai has been possessed!" Dongfang Chaonan said with absolute certainty.

Everyone present deeply agreed. Other than possession, they couldn’t explain why Bai Shan Jun had changed so drastically.

...

Ye Xiu and Bai Shan Jun walked ahead, with the leader of the neutral faction, Gu Mufeng, blathering on behind them.

"Bai Shan Jun, you’re a spineless coward, terrified of death! You don’t deserve to be the Valley Master of Medicine King Valley!

"Even if I die, I won’t let you give the Marrow Cleansing Pills to Ye Xiu!

"And you, Ye Xiu! You’re nothing but a robber, a bandit! You’re insatiably greedy! Getting two Heaven-Mending Pills and one Marrow Cleansing Pill isn’t enough for you. You still want to raid Medicine King Valley for all its Marrow Cleansing Pills! I won’t let you have your way unless you kill me..."

Ye Xiu’s head was starting to throb with annoyance. He said impatiently, "I’m not taking your Marrow Cleansing Pills for nothing."

Gu Mufeng, who had been cursing nonstop, was taken aback. "What do you plan to exchange for the Marrow Cleansing Pills? I must remind you, the Marrow Cleansing Pill is priceless, especially twenty-five of them! Unless it’s an equivalent exchange, I won’t let you succeed, even if it costs me my life."

Bai Shan Jun, however, was secretly overjoyed. Since Huang Quan said he wouldn’t take the Marrow Cleansing Pills for free, he would definitely offer Medicine King Valley some priceless compensation. Otherwise, it wouldn’t suit Huang Quan’s status and prestige.

"There’s a shortcut to awakening the Medicine King Valley’s Totem," Ye Xiu said. "Is this secret worth twenty-five Marrow Cleansing Pills?"

Hearing this, Bai Shan Jun began to breathe heavily with excitement. A shortcut to awakening the Totem was indeed far more valuable than twenty-five Marrow Cleansing Pills.

"Heh, the Medicine King Valley’s Totem has been passed down for more than two thousand years. If there were a shortcut, wouldn’t we know about it? You, an outsider who hasn’t inherited the Totem, how could you possibly know a shortcut to awakening it...?"

Gu Mufeng didn’t believe a word Ye Xiu said, thinking he was being tricked into handing over the twenty-five Marrow Cleansing Pills.

At that moment, the three of them arrived before a three-story wooden building built against a mountain. Standing guard at the door was a girl with a sword, about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, with a delicate and pure appearance.

Ye Xiu asked, "Who is she?"

Bai Shan Jun quickly replied, "She is Bai Mozhu, Bai Changqing’s Barrier. Her talent is average. At twenty-four, she only has the cultivation of a War God and hasn’t awakened the Medicine King Valley Totem, so I assigned her to guard the Pill Tower..."

BANG!

Before he could finish, they saw Ye Xiu’s palm strike Bai Mozhu on the forehead.

Bai Mozhu, staring with eyes as pure and unblemished as the full moon, looked incredulously at Ye Xiu before collapsing limply to the ground.

"This..."

The expressions of Bai Shan Jun and Gu Mufeng changed drastically. As experts in the Medicine Path, they saw at a glance that Bai Mozhu had stopped breathing.

Heartbroken, Bai Shan Jun swayed, almost fainting. A towering rage built inside him, yet he dared not question Ye Xiu.

Gu Mufeng was different. He roared, "Ye Xiu, you’re a butcher! Why did you kill Bai Mozhu indiscriminately? She never offended you, and she’s the purest, kindest girl in Medicine King Valley..."

"In about half an hour, she will awaken her Totem Power and come back to life," Ye Xiu interrupted, adding, "Death is the shortcut to awakening the Medicine King Valley Totem."

Bai Shan Jun and Gu Mufeng were startled.

"Really?" Bai Shan Jun asked excitedly.

"Is your head filled with dung, Old Bai? How can you believe such words?" Gu Mufeng cursed.

"I believe him!" Bai Shan Jun declared firmly. Huang Quan has no reason to deceive me, nor am I worth deceiving.

"You..." Gu Mufeng was at a loss for words.

"Gu Mufeng, dare to make a bet?" Ye Xiu asked.

Gu Mufeng ignored him, now hating this bandit and butcher to his very core.

Ye Xiu proposed the bet anyway. "If Bai Mozhu doesn’t come back to life in half an hour, I won’t take a single Marrow Cleansing Pill, I’ll return the two Heaven-Mending Pills, and I’ll kill myself."

Gu Mufeng was tempted. "Fine, I’ll take that bet."

"And what do I get if you lose?" Ye Xiu asked.

Gu Mufeng thought for a moment. "If Bai Mozhu really does come back to life and awakens her Totem Power, I will be at your mercy."

Ye Xiu laughed, then turned to Bai Shan Jun. "Do you want to place a bet as well?"

"I’ll take the same bet as Old Gu!" Bai Shan Jun said, not believing for a second that Bai Mozhu could be resurrected.

"Great!" Ye Xiu was overjoyed. "If you both lose, I want you to lead the entire Medicine King Valley in pledging allegiance to me as your master."

"No problem!" Bai Shan Jun and Gu Mufeng readily agreed.

Thus, the three of them stood by Bai Mozhu’s body and waited quietly.

More than ten minutes later, an overpowering aura suddenly emanated from Bai Mozhu’s body, escalating rapidly.

Bai Shan Jun and Gu Mufeng were shocked. Could Ye Xiu know the Bone Clan’s Corpse Control Technique? Is he planning to cheat by making Bai Mozhu’s body stand up and falsely claiming he won the bet?

The two waited patiently.

About twenty minutes later, the aura radiating from Bai Mozhu reached its peak and then abruptly vanished.

Another five or six minutes passed. Bai Mozhu’s eyelids twitched, and her chest began to rise and fall with the first signs of breath.

Then, Bai Mozhu opened her eyes.

"This..."

A chill went down the spines of Bai Shan Jun and Gu Mufeng, and goosebumps erupted all over their skin.

"Huh? Why am I lying on the ground?" Bai Mozhu stood up, puzzled. Suddenly remembering what happened, she turned to Ye Xiu indignantly. "Who are you, and why did you suddenly hit me?"

Ye Xiu didn’t respond.

Bai Shan Jun and Gu Mufeng had already rushed over. Bai Shan Jun took Bai Mozhu’s pulse, while Gu Mufeng made a shallow cut on her arm.

"Sh-sh-she really came back from the dead!" Bai Shan Jun exclaimed.

"The wound is healing rapidly! Sh-she... she really has awakened her Totem Power!" Gu Mufeng said in shock.

Bai Mozhu looked bewildered, not understanding what they were talking about. Suddenly, she felt something unusual within her body.

"Great-Grandfather," she said in surprise, "my strength seems to have surpassed that of a War God."

Bai Shan Jun: "..."

Gu Mufeng: "..."

Now they were completely convinced. Bai Mozhu had awakened her Totem Power and returned from the dead. It turned out what Ye Xiu said was true: death really was the shortcut to awakening the Medicine King Valley Totem.

"So, will you two honor the bet?" Ye Xiu asked with a smile.

The expressions on Bai Shan Jun’s and Gu Mufeng’s faces were priceless. Especially Gu Mufeng. He had desperately tried to stop Bai Shan Jun from giving Ye Xiu the twenty-five Marrow Cleansing Pills, only to lose the entire Medicine King Valley because of their bet. If only I’d known this would happen, I should have just agreed to give him the pills! We’ve suffered a huge loss this time!

"I accept my defeat," Bai Shan Jun said bitterly, thinking to himself, Submitting to Huang Quan doesn’t seem so disgraceful, does it?

"And you?" Ye Xiu asked Gu Mufeng with a smile.

Gu Mufeng dropped to one knee, his face grim as he said reluctantly, "Master!"

Ye Xiu laughed. With the powerful backing of Medicine King Valley, his plan to corner the global medical market was now on much firmer ground.

He asked with a smile, "Now that Medicine King Valley is mine, shouldn’t you tell me what you’ve been guarding for over two thousand years?"