I Have Medicine

Chapter 572 - (The Mystery of the Stone Forest) Someone’s up to no good.

Upon hearing this, Gu Zuo’s heart tightened.

Something strange was afoot… though he didn’t know what kind of strangeness it was.

Immediately, Gu Zuo extended his psychic power, carefully observing the area.

However, the moment he released his psychic power, he suddenly felt an invisible force that caused it to tremble slightly. This force was bizarre, possessing a powerful corrosive quality. If Gu Zuo’s psychic power hadn’t been far stronger than that of others at the same psycherealm, it might not have recovered so quickly under such erosion.

In an instant, a hint of astonishment flashed across Gu Zuo’s face.

No wonder they said something was off—this is downright abnormal!

Undoubtedly, that strange force was also psychic power. Could it be that a pharmacist of a similar psyche realm is here, launching an attack against him?

Instinctively, Gu Zuo grew wary.

Noticing something amiss, Gongyi Tianheng spoke gently, “Ah Zuo, what’s wrong?”

Gu Zuo frowned. “Big Brother, just now… I was attacked.”

Gongyi Tianheng’s gaze turned cold. “Attacked?”

Gu Zuo nodded. “A psychic power attack. It came from…” His eyes settled on the stone trees in the forest, and he said cautiously, “…those stone trees.”

By now, Gu Zuo had recovered from his initial shock and quickly pinpointed the source of the strange force—it was indeed the stone trees.

After a brief moment of thought, Gu Zuo asked, “Big Brother, what exactly did the scouts mean when they said this place was strange?”

Gongyi Tianheng replied, “Whenever scouts came here, they couldn’t enter the stone forest, and upon returning, they had no memory of it. Fortunately, this stone forest was discovered by several scouts together. Though the ones who went in to investigate lost their memories, the others who didn’t knew where they’d been, which is why word of something strange got back to us.”

Gu Zuo understood. “Then the scouts who lost their memories must have been attacked by the weird force in this stone forest, causing them to forget. What we don’t know is whether this force is naturally generated by the forest or man-made.”

Gongyi Tianheng raised an eyebrow slightly. “What does Ah Zuo think?”

Gu Zuo said, “Whether it’s one or the other, it doesn’t seem to be able to do much to me yet. So, let’s give it a try.”

Gongyi Tianheng smiled. “As Ah Zuo says.”

The Tianlong Guards and battle slaves split into two formations, positioning themselves on the left and right.

Gu Zuo instructed, “Each of you send two people to come with me.”

The Tianlong Guards and battle slaves had no objections. Soon, two from each group stepped forward—all at the entry level of the Immortal Realm—and flanked Gu Zuo on both sides.

Gu Zuo had the four walk alongside him, heading straight into the stone forest.

After traveling several zhang, they drew closer to the stone forest. Unsurprisingly, that strange force came at them again. This time, it didn’t even need Gu Zuo’s psychic power to provoke it—it radiated automatically.

Gu Zuo quickly released a wave of his own psychic power, shielding himself and keeping the strange force at bay. At the same time, he didn’t forget to observe the reactions of the four others, staying ready to assist them if needed.

Sure enough, the four were also hit by the strange force. In an instant, they froze in place, their eyes glazing over with a dazed, unfocused look.

Gu Zuo was startled.

Psychic power battles typically only occurred between Psyche Realm cultivators—meaning pharmacists. When psychic power targeted martial artists, those with higher realms and stronger willpower had greater resistance, sometimes even remaining completely unshaken by it.

The scouts relied mostly on agility. While their willpower was decent, their constant role as investigators meant their cultivation realms were low. Thus, their willpower couldn’t compare to the warriors of Eight Desolations City, making it understandable that they’d collapse under a psychic power attack. But the four people beside him now were all Immortal Realm martial artists. Whether Tianlong Guards or battle slaves, their willpower was exceptional. Especially the Tianlong Guards, whose loyalty to Gongyi Tianheng bordered on faith, possessed a purity of will that most battle slaves couldn’t match. Yet even they, under this psychic power attack, hadn’t lasted long before showing signs of succumbing?

Gu Zuo couldn’t just stand by and let his eldest brother’s subordinates have their memories wiped—or worse, be tampered with unknowingly. Swiftly, he released his own psychic power, diving into the dantian of the four. It transformed into countless soft hands, expelling the invasive foreign psychic power completely!

Though the foreign psychic power had strong corrosive power, it didn’t resist stubbornly under Gu Zuo’s assault. With a slight push, it was driven out of the four’s dantian.

In an instant, a sharp glint flashed through their eyes, and their consciousness returned.

Gu Zuo let out a sigh of relief.

At least he wouldn’t have to face his big brother with no explanation…

Since the four hadn’t lost their memories, they recalled what had just happened and quickly expressed their gratitude to Gu Zuo.

Gu Zuo waved it off. “I was the one who asked you to try it, so helping you was only natural.”

Then, Gongyi Tianheng approached, beginning to question the four about their experience during the attack.

One Tianlong Guard, upon seeing Gongyi Tianheng, flashed a look of fervent devotion before speaking. “Reporting to Young Master, when I approached the stone forest, I suddenly felt dizzy. Though I noticed something was wrong and tried to snap out of it, for some reason, I couldn’t. It was as if a pair of eyes suddenly appeared on the stone forest, locking gazes with me. I tried to pull my consciousness away from those eyes, but I couldn’t.”

At this point, his face was full of shame.

For someone with his willpower to be overpowered by this strange psychic power emanating from the stone forest—it was utterly humiliating.

The other three shared the same experience. The moment the psychic power struck, they felt dizzy and realized something was off, but that realization was useless. They were immediately ensnared by the “eyes” on the stone forest, unable to employ any countermeasures, and fell into a daze.

Gu Zuo fell into thought. “It seems that to come here, one would need a pharmacist with psychic power at the Nurturing Psyche Realm or higher to withstand the stone forest’s automatic attacks and preserve their memory.”

The Nurturing Psyche Realm was the hallmark of top-tier Profound-Level pharmacists. Such individuals were treasures to iron-ranked forces. Most iron-ranked forces, however, couldn’t attract highly skilled Profound-Level pharmacists. Typically, they’d only have Core Psyche Realm pharmacists—entry-level Profound-Level practitioners barely capable of refining pills suited for Celestial Realm martial artists. After all, people aimed higher. Profound-Level pharmacists were honored guests in bronze-ranked forces. Unless their psyche realm was truly lacking, why would they stay with a iron-ranked force instead of moving up? For a place like Eight Desolations City, constantly embroiled in warfare, the greatest need was for skilled Human-Level and Golden-Level pharmacists. The demand for Profound-Level pharmacists was far lower, and their numbers were exceedingly rare.

Thus, the pharmacists of Eight Desolations City could never venture into the depths of these borderlands on their own—otherwise, what if they encountered a foreign race and something happened?

It was precisely because of this that warriors who came here would be attacked and lose their memories, while pharmacists wouldn’t dare approach. As a result, it was perfectly normal for this place to remain undiscovered.

Gongyi Tianheng, of course, quickly pieced together the clues as well. After a brief moment of thought, he waved his hand. “All subordinates, listen up! Form groups of ten and approach the stone forest separately!” Then, with a smile toward Gu Zuo, he added, “Next, it’ll be up to you, Ah Zuo.”

Gu Zuo, perfectly in sync with him, nodded. “Don’t worry, Big Brother. Leave it to me.”

The next moment, ten people from each side stepped forward, advancing toward the stone forest.

At three zhang from the stone forest, the ten stiffened, their steps halting.

Gu Zuo immediately unleashed his psychic power, rescuing them.

The ten returned, ashamed. Another group of ten followed, brimming with determination to test it again, but unfortunately, they too faltered at the three-zhang mark.

Gu Zuo rescued them time and again as the hundred subordinates took turns testing the boundary.

After the final attempt, it became clear they couldn’t cross the three-zhang distance or return consciously without Gu Zuo’s intervention.

Finally, Gu Zuo let out a breath. “It seems that if we want to enter this stone forest, I’ll have to go in myself.”

Gongyi Tianheng looked at him. “Ah Zuo wants to go in?” After a brief pause, he said, “If Ah Zuo wishes to proceed, you must let me come with you.”

Gu Zuo nodded. “I wasn’t planning to go alone anyway.”

Though his psychic power gave him some ability to protect himself, he was still focused on conserving it to break through to the Spirit Psyche Realm. Naturally, he didn’t dare expend too much.

With his big brother by his side to guard him, he could feel completely at ease.

Hearing this, Gongyi Tianheng smiled faintly. “Then is there anything else we need to prepare?”

Gu Zuo’s expression turned serious. “Before we go in, I’ll use my psychic power to shield you, Big Brother. I believe your willpower can resist the stone forest’s attacks, but I’m still worried that if this forest is controlled by someone, they might detect you if you resist. It’d be better if I use my psychic power to cloak us, and we slip through instead.”