Chapter 571: Poke’s Space

Chapter 571 -568: Poke’s Space

“Where am I?”

Xi had expected to find Poke immediately upon entering his Healing Space, but instead, he had arrived in an unfamiliar place.

It appeared to be a tropical rainforest, filled with lush green plants. Sunlight pierced through the canopy, forming distinct columns of light in the air. A gurgling stream flowed past his feet, its sound crisp and pleasant.

However, this rainforest was filled with incongruous objects.

‘There’s scattered medicine here, too…’

Floating fragments were visible everywhere in the rainforest. They were constantly shifting, assuming different forms.

The sight of these fragments immediately put Xi on edge. The medicine in his own Healing Space had been completely purged by a senior, but Poke’s hadn’t. Worse, Poke had spent so long in the maze that he was surely deeply saturated by it. These fragments had almost solidified, and they were constantly affecting the surrounding scenery.

Upon closer inspection, one could tell the rainforest was just a scene simulated by the Healing Space. But the floating fragments seemed as real as any physical object, and they had completely taken over.

Xi scanned the area for a while but saw no sign of Poke.

‘Where could he have gone?’

Xi carefully avoided the floating fragments and began to search the area. Soon, he found a group of furry, bear-like creatures.

‘Are these… the patients?’

This group of creatures looked to be the very patients Poke wanted to heal.

‘They look so familiar…’

Watching the creatures, Xi’s memories came flooding back.

‘He’d seen this kind of creature somewhere before…’

‘It’s those creatures that were infected with the parasitic plants!’ Xi remembered instantly. The impression they had left on him was a deep one.

‘But why are there so many of them here?’

Xi distinctly remembered that there had only been one creature infected with the parasitic plants back then. Yet here was an entire horde. ‘Does that mean this isn’t the Hua Sheng Islands?’

Just as he was pondering this, a ball of light emerged from within the group of creatures.

“Poke?” Xi couldn’t help but exclaim.

The Healer in the center of the creatures heard the voice and immediately looked over.

“Xi? What are you doing here?”

Poke rushed over to Xi excitedly and grabbed his arm. “I knew you’d come to help me!”

“I…”

Before Xi could get a word out, Poke cut him off, pointing to the creatures behind him. “Since I got here, I’ve already cured their entire population! They’re completely free of the parasitic plants now.”

“But I remember you said that the environment here might have been taken over by that parasitic plant, so I investigated…”

“It’s even more serious than we expected. Everything downstream in the patient population’s food chain is infected by that parasitic plant. Not only that, but their habitat is filled with the plant’s pollen. The slightest bit of carelessness and the entire population will get infected again. Completely eradicating this parasitic plant is going to be incredibly difficult…”

Listening to Poke ramble on, Xi immediately understood exactly where they were.

“This is the homeland of that one patient?”

“Yeah.”

Xi was confused. ‘Why was I brought here?’

“Poke, didn’t you already cure them?”

“Not yet. I still need to completely eliminate the parasitic plants. Only then will the cure be complete,” Poke answered truthfully.

“I’m still making preparations. It’s great that you’re here, now we can speed things up!” Poke pulled Xi along, passing through a patch of rainforest to the shore of a lake.

“I have a plan. I’m going to put the medicine in here,” Poke said, pointing at the lake.

“Here?” Xi didn’t understand what Poke was planning.

“Yes. This lake is the source of all the streams in the rainforest. I’ve investigated, and the parasitic plants haven’t spread too far. As long as we put the medicine that can kill them into this lake, we can completely wipe them out.”

“I’ve already worked out the formula: Suppression, Annihilation, Wither, and Constriction…”

Xi listened carefully to Poke’s formula and couldn’t find any issues.

“What do you think?”

“It’s a good plan, but you need to control the strength of the ‘Annihilation’ component. Otherwise, it might interfere with the growth of other, healthy plants. Also, you’ll need to use ‘Desiccation’ to deal with the existing pollen. Remember to add that to the formula,” Xi reminded him seriously.

“No problem! I knew I could count on you. You really are the best Healer when it comes to plants,” Poke said, patting Xi’s shoulder excitedly.

“Since the formula is good to go, I’ll start preparing it…” Poke said as he squatted down and dipped his hands into the lake.

Xi immediately understood that Poke had already begun using his healing power.

For now, Xi decided to play it by ear. He would help Poke finish the healing work here, and at the same time, investigate why he’d been brought to this place.

But then, disaster struck. The moment Poke activated his healing power, the chaotic fragments in the air were suddenly drawn in, plunging directly into the lake. Yet Poke, as if seeing nothing, continued to channel his power.

“Wait!” Xi yelled, trying to stop Poke’s healing.

But Poke was already lost in the flow of his power, completely unaware of his surroundings.

As the fragments sank, the lake began to glow with a chaotic light. A frenzy of different powers poured into the water, completely corrupting the original formula.

“Poke! Wake up!” Xi shook Poke’s body hard, but Poke didn’t react at all.

‘It’s over.’

All the surrounding fragments had fallen into the lake. After a flash of light, the water returned to its original calm. The clear lake looked no different than before, but Xi knew that its very nature had changed.

The gurgling stream carried the water far away. There was no telling what terrible consequences the chaotic concoction would bring.

“Is it over?” Poke asked, standing up in a daze.

“Didn’t you see all that medicine just now? Why didn’t you stop?” Xi demanded, his voice edged with anger.

However, Poke, looking as if he hadn’t noticed a thing, asked in confusion, “Medicine? What medicine?”

“Those,” Xi said, pointing to the fragments in the distance.

Poke followed Xi’s finger, then stared blankly for a moment.

“I don’t see anything…”

“You don’t see them?” Xi was stunned as well. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

He pulled Poke right up in front of one of the fragments.

“Do you see it now?”

“No,” Poke answered with certainty.

Xi could no longer remain calm.

“Even if you didn’t see them, didn’t you feel the chaos in the power when you were preparing the medicine? The formula changed, you should have stopped immediately!”

“The formula changed?” Poke still looked completely bewildered.

Watching Poke’s reaction, Xi suddenly realized something: Poke genuinely couldn’t perceive the medicine.

The only reason Xi was so angry was that he was worried about Poke. When a Healer is using their power, any interference from other forces can easily cause a backlash. A severe backlash could even kill the Healer. Xi was terrified that Poke would be affected by the medicine’s influence.

But now it seemed that Poke not only couldn’t see the medicine, but he was also immune to its effects.

However…

Xi looked at the clear lake water. Even if Poke himself wasn’t affected, his power had mixed with that medicine, and the consequences would be terrible.

‘Why is this happening? Is someone trying to use Poke?’

The moment he had this thought, Xi yanked Poke to his feet and dashed toward the lower reaches of the stream.