Zhu Yanyi pointed to another herb nearby. "Then, add the juice from the Diany root. This makes a poison that destroys a person from the inside out. But this is for daily use."
She paused, her small face serious. "If we wait for that poison to work against evil spirits, it is too slow. So, I added Huachuan bark, Zhizi heart, Gen'en leaves, Luogui, and Ami tree juice. Now, the poison is stronger and faster. But remember, each of these herbs is safe on its own."
To show them, Zhu Yanyi poured a little of the finished liquid onto a piece of animal skin used for testing. The skin vanished instantly into nothingness.
"Of course, this is liquid. We cannot splash water on people. That is not good," she explained simply. "Liquid is hard to carry. We need solid powder. So, we must refine it again."
She added some Immortal Golden Pill powder to the mixture. "I place it on the fire to refine. I have special fire, so it is fast. If you have special fire, use it. If you have fire magic, that works too. If not, normal fire is okay. It just takes longer."
With the help of her ice-blue flame, the mixture solidified in just one minute. Zhu Yanyi took the solid block and crushed it into fine powder with a grinder.
"Crush it as fine as possible. The finer it is, the harder it is to find when you use it."
She put on a cloth glove. "Remember to wear gloves when using this powder. Cloth gloves are fine. This poison burns living animals, but gloves keep you safe."
She took some powder with her gloved hand and dropped it on another piece of skin. The skin melted quickly. "The effect is the same."
Zhu Yanyi looked at everyone. "But I suggest you take the antidote first, at the same time."
She scanned the crowd. "Yes, this poison has an antidote. Do not think it does not. Every time I make a poison, I make the antidote first. Then I make the poison."
She showed the remaining herbs. "The antidote is made from green tea seeds, Su Tie roots, Pikun, Yema stems, and blue date skins. Crush them into powder. Mix with rootless water to make small pills, like your finger size. Steam them until soft, then dry them on fire. That is it."
To prove it, she put the antidote powder on a piece of skin, then added the poison powder on top. The skin stayed perfectly fine.
"That is how it works. I have written down all the steps for making the poison and the antidote. Go back and follow them step by step. Do not mix up the order. If you put the herbs in the wrong order, the medicine will not work well. I think you all know this."
Zhu Yanyi smiled gently. "I do not care about others. But students of the Sage Academy are healers. You will never make this mistake."
Elder Chen laughed at her words. "You praise them so much, they will find it hard to make mistakes. Do not worry. They will be very careful. You showed them how to do it live and gave them the steps. If they still cannot make the medicine, they are too stupid. They would shame the Sage Academy. Then, let them just fight evil spirits with swords."
The thirty-five people looked at Elder Chen, unhappy. One of them said, "Elder Chen, we are smart, but do not praise us like that. I think it is better if we try making it now. With Little Junior Sister here, we can ask if we do not understand."
Zhu Yanyi thought this was a good idea. She nodded. "That works too. Let’s do what this Senior Brother said. Elder Chen, please provide the herbs."
"There are plenty of herbs. Enough for you to use," Elder Chen smiled. He sent someone to prepare them.
Soon, Elder Chen brought the herbs. Everyone took their share in order and started making the medicine nearby. If they did not understand something, they asked Zhu Yanyi right away. Soon, all thirty-five people successfully made both the poison and the antidote.
"You all did very well," Zhu Yanyi said. "But because your techniques are different, you might notice that the poison works a second or two slower for some of you. When you use it against evil spirits, you must calculate the time carefully. Do not let yourselves be in danger because the poison has not worked yet."
She had to say this. It was about their lives, so she had to be careful.
"Little Junior Sister, do not worry. We remember," they replied.
They had noticed this too. Some medicines worked faster, some slower. But they knew that if they planned their time well, the effect would be good. After that, they returned to their own teams to teach others.
The sixth team to learn was led by Wen Ziyuan. She knew Zhu Yanyi, and she knew the process well. So, when she returned to her team, she taught everyone quickly.
After learning how to make the medicine, the next step was to buy herbs.
Yes, buy herbs. They had to buy them from Elder Chen. There was no other way. These herbs could not be given for free. Also, the elders needed time to buy and transport them.
Fortunately, as students of the Sage Academy, they got a discount. This was a big blessing in an unlucky situation.
Because of this, the students of the Sage Academy became even busier. But the number of injuries dropped greatly.
Watching people come and go, all happy when they left and happy when they returned, Elder Chen felt a bit sad. "If I had met Zhu Yanyi earlier, our students would have suffered less."
Elder Hong said, "Do not dream. Zhu Yanyi appeared because of the Heavenly Dao’s arrangement. If she had appeared earlier, things would not be as they are now."
No one knew the true meaning of the Heavenly Dao. That did not matter. What mattered was that the Heavenly Dao had its reasons.
As cultivators, they knew they could not go against Heaven’s will. So, Elder Chen did not worry too much. "Anyway, we must prepare a reward for Zhu Yanyi."
"We must prepare a reward. The problem is, what kind of reward should we give her?" Elder Hong sighed.
While Elder Chen and Elder Hong worried about the reward, Zhu Yanyi was already setting out with everyone else. They were going to the rotating location to face the evil spirits.