I Have 10 Equipment Slots

Chapter 412: Chapter 236: Your Excellency is Wise

Unless such a being moved, it was fundamentally impossible to detect.

...

Bo Xiu led the way.

They passed through a belt of icebergs, then crossed a vast, frozen plain.

As they entered another belt of icebergs and flew toward one that was thousands of feet high, two figures shot toward them.

"Bo Xiu! Where is the Lord? Is the Lord..."

"Bo Xiang pays his respects to the Lord!"

"Bo Ai pays her respects to the Lord!"

The two approaching figures saw Gu Zheng following behind Bo Xiu and immediately stopped, overcome with excitement as they performed a deep, respectful bow.

"...A pleasure to meet you both." Gu Zheng clasped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute.

"We are not worthy, we are not worthy." Bo Xiang, who was covered in corded muscle and had a rugged face, quickly sidestepped the gesture.

Bo Ai was a woman with a delicate appearance and bright eyes. She bowed deeply and said, "This way, my Lord. The Clan Leader is already waiting in the cave."

After speaking, she seemed to remember something and quickly added, "Um, please forgive us, my Lord. It’s not that the Clan Leader is unwilling to greet you herself, but her ’Cold Poison’ has begun to act up, and she has been unable to move recently."

"It’s no matter."

Gu Zheng raised a hand and began flying forward again, asking casually, "The ’Cold Poison’ acts up? Does this happen to every one of you?"

"Your insight is brilliant, my Lord!" Bo Xiu replied. "Yes, every member of our four races suffers from an outbreak of ’Cold Poison’ about once every ten years."

’Is it born from the accumulated Ice Cold Qi they inhale?’ Gu Zheng wondered.

"You are incredible, my Lord," Bo Xiang answered. "You saw the root of our problem at a single glance. That’s right. From the time we are in the womb, the people of our four races constantly inhale Ice Cold Qi. This Ice Cold Qi accompanies us from birth until death. And the ’Cold Poison’ outbreak every ten years is a life-or-death trial. If we overcome it, we can live for another ten years. If we fail, we turn into ice sculptures on the spot."

As he finished, the excitement in his voice vanished, replaced by a profound sense of loss.

Sorrow also clouded the faces of Bo Xiu and Bo Ai.

Gu Zheng fell silent.

An outbreak of Cold Poison every ten years. Failure to endure it meant death, transformed into an ice sculpture.

It was no wonder these four races had been unable to flourish.

Compared to the Cold Poison, their lack of food was a secondary problem.

As they spoke, the four of them reached the midway point of the iceberg ahead. Bo Xiang and Bo Xiu led the way into a cave whose main entrance was concealed by a thick sheet of ice, with the actual passage on the side.

Gu Zheng followed them inside.

The interior was incredibly spacious; it was unclear whether it was a natural formation or had been expanded later.

A little deeper in were numerous grottos, with Three-Eyed Race People milling about their entrances. There were men and women, old and young, and every single one of them had a powerful aura.

Most were at the Super Body Realm, and there were quite a few at the Heroic Body Realm.

’If they survive an attack of the Cold Poison, their strength increases?’

Gu Zheng watched these Three-Eyed Race People, lost in thought.

Unlike Bo Xiu, whose third eye was in the palm of his hand, the third eyes of the Three-Eyed Race People in the cave were in different locations. Some had them on their foreheads, others on their necks, and some on their shoulders.

Clearly, the location of the third eye varied from person to person.

Bo Xiang’s was on the top of his head.

As for Bo Ai, Gu Zheng couldn’t see hers; at the very least, it wasn’t exposed.

Dozens of the Three-Eyed Race People had gathered at the mouths of their grottos. Upon seeing Gu Zheng, they all grew very excited, their faces filled with exhilaration. They clustered in small groups, chattering in the language of the Ancient Times.

Despite their excitement, no one approached. Their gazes merely followed Gu Zheng’s every move.

This continued until Gu Zheng entered a rather large, guarded ice chamber and finally met the Clan Leader of the Three-Eyed Race.

She was a woman in her thirties, sitting cross-legged on a stone bed. The upper half of her body was encased in frost, making her look like an ice sculpture.

She was more beautiful than Bo Ai, but right now her face was deathly pale, and the aura emanating from her body fluctuated between weak and strong, extremely unstable.

But the fluctuations she gave off were enough to startle Gu Zheng.

King’s Body!

The Clan Leader of the Three-Eyed Race was, shockingly, an expert at the King’s Body Realm.

At this moment, with her Cold Poison acting up, Gu Zheng could feel the sinister, bone-chilling toxic qi even from ten paces away.

"Clan Leader, the Lord has arrived," Bo Ai said softly, approaching the stone bed.

"My Lord, this is our Clan Leader, Bo Taixing," Bo Xiu introduced from the side.

’Bo Taixing?’

Gu Zheng considered this, then took two steps forward and gave a fist-and-palm salute. "Greetings, Clan Leader."

"Forgive my current state, my Lord."

Bo Taixing’s lips did not move. She used Divine Strange Sound Transmission, her bright eyes fixed on Gu Zheng with a hint of a smile. "My Cold Poison is acting up, so I am unable to offer a proper greeting. I hope you can forgive me, my Lord. Please, make yourself comfortable in the cave for a while. Once the Clan Leaders of the other three races arrive, we can discuss important matters with you."

"It’s no matter."

Gu Zheng raised a hand. "The discussion can wait. Clan Leader, your Cold Poison is exceptionally pure. I have a few pearls with detoxifying properties, and I wonder if they might be able to alleviate it somewhat. If you trust me, Clan Leader, you could give one a try."

As he spoke, Gu Zheng’s hand flickered, and a Bone Pearl appeared within it.

This was a Bone Pearl he had obtained from slaying the Skeleton Lizard Demon Fiend on the island in the Nine Heavens Shadow Realm.

It possessed the abilities of Detoxification and purification.

"An Antitoxic Pearl?"

Bo Ai, Bo Xiu, and Bo Xiang were stunned by his words.

Bo Taixing was also taken aback, but a second later, she replied decisively, "Yes! Thank you, Lord Gu!"

Seeing this, Gu Zheng wrapped the Bone Pearl in his Divine Wondrous power and sent it floating toward Bo Taixing, where it stopped in front of her neck.

With a slight prod from his Divine Wondrous power, the Bone Pearl immediately burst forth with a faint, heroic light.

The next moment, it began to rotate slowly, drawing out the Cold Poison qi from Bo Taixing’s body.

"This..."

The eyes of Bo Xiang, Bo Xiu, and Bo Ai were wide with disbelief.

Immediately after, the three of them began to tremble slightly.

"It’s... it’s working! It’s really working!" Bo Xiu stammered, his voice trembling.

"Good, this is wonderful." Bo Xiang took a deep breath, clenching his fists.

Bo Ai sniffled, quickly blinking back the tears that had welled up in her eyes.

The Bone Pearl Gu Zheng had provided could actually draw out the Cold Poison qi. For the Three-Eyed Race, and indeed for the other three races, this was an event of immense joy.

Over the past thirty thousand years, countless members of their race had died from the Cold Poison outbreaks.

Although those who survived could live another ten years, this decennial trial of life and death was like a trip to the gates of hell every time it came. The mental ordeal was something no one who hadn’t experienced it could possibly imagine.

You could say that the longer one lived, the more trials of life and death one had to face.

Before the Cold Poison, those at the Super Body, Heroic Body, and King’s Body Realms were all treated equally.

In fact, for those at the King’s Body Realm, the accumulated Cold Poison was even greater, making the outbreaks all the more painful and difficult to endure.

This single pearl from Gu Zheng was nothing less than a second life for them.

"Thank you, my Lord!"

Bo Ai turned directly to Gu Zheng and knelt.

Bo Xiu and Bo Xiang, snapping back to their senses, knelt as well.

"The three of you, there’s no need for this."

Gu Zheng raised a hand, and a surge of Divine Wondrous power made Bo Ai, Bo Xiu, and Bo Xiang rise to their feet one after another.

"I have several of these Bone Pearls. The fact that a single one can alleviate the Clan Leader’s suffering just means we’re all quite lucky."

In truth, Gu Zheng had far better methods for detoxification.

Source Fruits!

A single Antitoxic Source Fruit could probably eliminate ninety percent of the Cold Poison from the bodies of people like Bo Ai and Bo Xiu.

It might even eliminate all of it—one hundred percent.

But the thing about Source Fruits was that, as had been known since the Ancient Times, no one knew their effects before eating them.

If Gu Zheng openly mentioned an Antitoxic Source Fruit, it would be the same as exposing his secret.

He wasn’t that foolish.

The relationship between them was still in a phase of mutual understanding and probing; it wasn’t that deep yet.

His second option was the Great Sun Golden Silkworm. The Silkworm could also consume poisonous qi.

As tyrannical as the Cold Poison was, the Great Sun Golden Silkworm’s special ability could still draw it out and absorb it.

However, the Great Sun Golden Silkworm was a rare Exotic Insect, and he only had one.

The Three-Eyed, Two-Eared, Toothless, and Hidden Spirit Races, however, numbered in the hundreds.

Relying on the Silkworm wouldn’t be enough to help everyone, and it would also expose the existence of the Insect Tower.

The Bone Pearls from the Skeleton Lizard Demon Fiend’s body, on the other hand, were no problem.

Gu Zheng had hundreds of them!

...

"This is bad, this is bad!"

Suddenly, an alarmed shout came from outside the ice chamber, spoken in the language of the Ancient Times.

Hearing it, Bo Xiu quickly rushed out and snapped in the same language, "What’s going on? Don’t you know the Lord is here with us?"

"Bo Xiu, I have important intelligence! A new, powerful Demon Fiend has appeared!"