Chapter 218- Race Against Time
"Little Abdu, it's not your fault. You've been looking after Little Zeel all this time."
Ever since Little Abdu had revealed Little Zeel's condition to Sol, he kept sending out his Divine Sense at regular intervals to check on Little Zeel.
The one who was to blame for this was the Academy Leader.
If Sol had been stronger, he might have immediately killed him on the spot. Nothing he said to justify his actions would have stopped him. But once again, he was too weak to protect anyone.
Sol bit his lip, and more of the six elements were pulled towards Little Zeel.
Yoon-Jae, who was standing over Sol, saw the stream of Aether Energy, and he hesitated to say something, but eventually, he spoke up.
"Sol, be careful."
"It's fine."
"No, it's not. Be careful."
Sol didn't respond, and he didn't lessen his usage of the six elements.
Yoon-Jae's brows furrowed in worry.
Little Abdu, seeing this, asked.
"What is it?"
"He-"
"I said it's nothing! If this is going to help Little Zeel, then so be it. I can't lose him."
Sol started by shouting, but by the end of his sentence, his voice was barely above a whisper.
Yoon-Jae sighed, but he no longer said anything.
Mar-Dule and the others were kind of starting to get worried because of this.
Abdu looked between Yoon-Jae and Sol before his eyes settled on Sol. He then observed his usage of the six elements, and his eyes narrowed.
His Divine Sense suddenly swept out and entered Sol's body.
Little Abdu's expression immediately changed.
"Sol, stop!"
Little Abdu saw that the five elements were mixing with the Wood Element in Sol's body, but that was causing a similar result to what was happening to Little Zeel.
Aether Poisoning.
The more Sol used the six elements, the more unstable the Aether Energy inside of him would become. And because he never cultivated the six elements together before, and they were now being forcibly circulated in his body, his meridians were even tearing.
"But if I don't do this, Little Zeel might die."
"Idiot! When did I say that? Stop before your situation gets worse."
"It's fine if I stop?"
"Yes, trust me, the elements in his body are already stabilized. You can stop Sol."
Sol paused, but ultimately, he withdrew his hand from Little Zeel's stomach. The six elements being gathered soon scattered back into the surroundings.
"Damn it, I didn't know something like this would happen to you. I don't understand. Is this something that happens to everyone? How do you cultivate then?"
"I don't think there's anyone else in this world with an Innate Dharma that can cultivate all six elements at once. At most, there would be someone who can cultivate both at once, and that's only if they had a twin Innate Dharma with different elements."
Yoon-Jae said this, and Little Abdu was even more confused.
"I thought it was only natural for this Innate Dharma thingy to cultivate the six elements, why only one? Is it the same for you guys?"
Little Abdu turned to Mar-Dule and the others, who nodded.
"When you asked Sol to gather the six elements, you didn't know he was the only one who could?"
Little Abdu nodded his head at Byeong-Ho's question, but in his heart, he was frightened, because if Sol wasn't able to gather the six elements, Little Zeel might have been dead already.
'Let's not tell him that.'
Abdu thought before he turned to Sol and said.
"Right now, Little Zeel's condition is stabilized, but he needs a constant supply of the six elements so they don't become unbalanced. Especially the Fire Element, his Wood Element is too strong."
Sol rubbed Little Zeel's green fur as he said.
"I don't understand. Why is this happening? Why does he need to harmonize the six elements in his body? Can't his Wood Aether stay as the dominant one?"
Little Abdu shook his head.
"To be honest, I have no clue. You should know by now, he may look like a Spirit Beast, but his autonomy is that of a medicinal plant. Similar to that Jinji boy in the Dimension."
"What happens if he can't harmonize the six elements inside of him?"
"…"
Abdu went silent, but Sol knew what that meant, and he released a sigh.
"I won't let that happen."
Sol was about to supply Little Zeel with the six elements, but Little Abdu stopped him.
"No, you don't have to do it. We can use medicinal plants instead. In fact, it would be more beneficial if we use medicinal plants and herbs to supply him with the six elements."
"Then it's a good thing we have plenty of medicinal plants. Just tell me which ones are needed."
Byeong-Ho said as he stepped forward.
Mar-Dule and the others all nodded.
"That's not the issue, I'm sure there are plenty of high-quality medicinal herbs from Immortal Dai Shen's stash that have the six elements, but the real issue is finding a medicinal plant strong enough to counteract his Wood Aether Energy. Even your manipulation of the Fire Aether Energy is too weak. The same goes for you."
Abdu said that last sentence as he turned to Yoon-Jae.
"Then what type of medicinal plant would be needed?"
Cheong-San asked after hearing Little Abdu's worrying words.
"That Jinji brat would be the ideal medicinal plant to be used. Maybe not his entire body, but a stem with a few leaves on it would be good."
Upon hearing this, everyone's faces changed. They couldn't go back into the dimension, and they couldn't contact Ji-Hoon and Heon-Tae either.
"What type of medicinal plant is that, brat? Is it hard to find outside?"
Yoon-Jae asked, and Mar-Dule suddenly said.
"Ah! That's right, your Master is the Alchemy Pavilion Headmaster; he must know about this plant."
"I don't know what it's called now, but its original name is Hellfire Grass. As for its rarity, I'm not sure either, but they only grow in environments filled with Fire Aether Energy, or next to the Ancient Hellfire Tree."
"Hellfire Grass? I've never heard of it before."
Yoon-Jae said, but Sol suddenly formed a hand seal and released his Heavenly Samsara Formation.
"It looks like this."
Using its illusory abilities, Sol recreated the Hellfire Grass he saw inside Jinji.
Yoon-Jae's eyes flashed when he saw it.
"It's called Deep Autumn Flower. I saw it in one of Master's catalogs as an Unclassified Divine Plant."
"The name sounds a bit familiar to me. But what's an Unclassified Divine Plant? Does that mean it's beyond the 9th Tier?"
Mar-Dule asked, and Yoon-Jae responded.
"Medicinal plants and herbs like that are just too special to be categorized into a Tier. But if Master knows about it, then he either has it or knows its location. I just hope it isn't among the extinct Divine Plants."
"That would be horrible."
Cheong-San said, and Little Abdu chimed in.
"Then we need to go to that Master of yours; we don't have time to waste."
Yoon-Jae nodded but then added.
"Instead of giving Little Zeel the raw medicinal plants, I'll have Master concoct pills from them."
Little Abdu perked up.
"That's even better."
"Alright, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Dae Han's voice was suddenly heard from Little Abdu. It was kind of strange, and it threw the others off a bit.
Byeong-Ho flipped over his palm and retrieved a jade slip from his storage ring.
After a second, he said.
"We can take my Huashan Sect's ship. It's smaller, so it will travel faster than the Academy's ship."
Sol carefully picked up Little Zeel.
It was a bit of a race against time to get to the Academy.
"Let's go."