Chapter 15: Investigate, Investigate Thoroughly! (Please Follow)

"Yi Er, endure it!"

Chen Taixing's forehead was sweating as he carefully manipulated the True Yuan within Chen Yi's body, navigating through his meridians, while reminding him to bear the pain.

He had gone through Foundation Establishment and naturally knew the sensation of when one's meridians were being widened by the True Yuan of a martial arts expert.

But this was a necessary beginning to Foundation Establishment, and also the most optimal method discovered by the Wei Dynasty nobility over thousands of years.

Only by widening the twelve primary meridians in the human body, and then strengthening muscles, bones, skin, and even the internal organs from the outside in with medicinal liquids for Body Refining, could the speed of advancement in cultivation be comparable to that of demons.

As for the final Foundation Establishment evaluation—superior, excellent, average, and poor—these corresponded to the Saint, Absolute, Heavenly, and Earthly levels of demon bloodlines.

Although this method of rating martial arts potential was not entirely accurate, it was still able to reflect a child's aptitude sideways, thereby matching them with corresponding resources.

"Hiss!"

Chen Yi clenched his teeth and endured severe pain.

He could feel a stream of air inside him, starting from the top of his head and travelling down his spine before spreading into his limbs and bones.

Each part it passed through brought waves of pain like needle pricks, causing his body to shiver.

No wonder Big Brother screamed like a pig about to be slaughtered—it truly damn hurts!

In order to distract himself, Chen Yi summoned the light screen panel, repeatedly looking at the prompts on it.

Eventually, he no longer felt the pain, just numbness.

Pain to numbness!

It wasn't until Chen Taixing uttered the word "finished" that Chen Yi's eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

"Yi Er, Yi Er?"

Seeing the unconscious Chen Yi, Chen Taixing was shocked and hurried outside, shouting:

"Quick, get Pharmacist Li here!"

Xia Wanwan, who was anxiously waiting outside Fanghua Garden, turned pale when she heard the noise.

"Yi Er..."

Zhou Wanyi's face was also grim as she abruptly stood up and scolded: "Why aren't you going in to find out what happened!"

People outside the garden immediately became frantic.

It wasn't until the afternoon that everyone gathered in the main hall of the central courtyard.

At this time, Old Madam Chen had lost her previous kind and gentle appearance; her ancient face was deeply furrowed.

Xia Wanwan and Zhou Wanyi sat together, looking slightly better but also angry.

The other elders looked okay, but most were confused and puzzled.

Only Chen Taixing knelt in the middle of the hall, his head bowed, saying nothing.

After a long while, Old Madam Chen slowly said, "Just now the pharmacist checked; Yi Er has only suffered meridian damage and needs two days of rest before he can receive the medicinal liquid for Body Refining."

"Although Yi Er is not in grave danger, the strangeness of this incident has caught my attention!"

By the end of her speech, her face was icy cold.

"Tai Xing, do you have anything to say?"

"Grandma, I..." Chen Taixing said bitterly, "I don't know why the Nourishing Meridian Pill was ineffective."

"If I had known, I would never have dared to let Yi Er take it, causing his meridians to be injured."

"Is that what I'm asking you?" Old Madame Chen glared at him.

Beside her, Chen Lixin reminded, "Tai Xing, Mother is asking you where that elixir came from."

"The pill," Chen Taixing realized and hastily replied, "was given to me by the guard of our household."

"Who?"

"Zhao Xing, it was Zhao Xing who brought the Nourishing Meridian Pill from the storeroom!"

"Bring him here!"

"I'll go." Chen Lixin stood up, taking a few guards with him to leave.

Old Madam Chen didn't respond, her expression remaining frosty as she surveyed the crowd and continued:

"Since the establishment of the Chen Family in the Wei Dynasty, this is the first time a descendant has been attacked during Foundation Establishment."

"Good, very good, cough cough..."

"Grandma, please calm your anger, your health is important."

Chen Taixing crawled forward a few steps, his rugged face filled with guilt: "Grandchild promises you, we will definitely find the culprit who attempted to assassinate Yi Er!"

Old Madam Chen coughed for a while to calm down, waved her hand tiredly:

"Yuan Er, how is Yuan Er doing? Did he also suffer meridian damage?"

"Reporting to Old Madam, Mr. Yuan's condition is somewhat better than Young Master Yi's, but his meridians also have two points of injury," Pharmacist Li answered from a corner.

Zhou Wanyi's complexion changed slightly, and she tightened her grip on Xia Wanwan's hand.

Xia Wanwan hurriedly comforted her in a low voice, to prevent her from disturbing the fetus.

At this moment, Chen Lixin hurried back with an ugly expression, saying:

"Zhao Xing is dead!"

The entire main hall suddenly fell silent, and only after a long time did Old Madam Chen's voice come through, resounding like thunder:

"Find out, investigate thoroughly!"

...

When Chen Yi regained consciousness, it was already night.

He opened his eyes groggily, surveying his surroundings; he was still in his own wing room.

His eldest brother, Chen Yuan, was also lying on a bed nearby.

Beside him, Xia Wanwan and the wet nurse Lu Luo were sitting with their backs towards him, seemingly lost in thought.

Chen Yi closed his eyes again.

"What happened? Wasn't I at the stage of Foundation Establishment?"

After a moment of recollection, he remembered passing out at the end of the meridian opening process of his Foundation Establishment.

It was then that Chen Yi felt a faint pain in his body.

"Am I injured?"

"I wonder if this counts as a successful Foundation Establishment..."

It seems that the Nourishing Meridian Pill is still essential; although he avoided the poison of the Shattering Meridian Pill, he was still injured in the meridian opening process.

Thinking of this, Chen Yi opened his eyes again.

"Mother."

"Yi Er?"

Xia Wanwan quickly came over and embraced him, bursting into tears, "You're finally awake, you've scared me to death."

"Mother, what happened? Was my Foundation Establishment successful?"

Xia Wanwan hesitated for a moment and said, "The Foundation Establishment went smoothly, but you've injured your meridians and need to rest quietly for a couple of days."

Chen Yi breathed a sigh of relief in his heart; as long as his Foundation Establishment wasn't affected, he was relieved.

Then he looked at Chen Yuan lying beside him: "What about Big Brother?"

"Yuan Er is the same as you, he needs to rest as well."

"Big Brother's meridians are also injured?" Chen Yi paused.

"Mm, but Yuan Er's condition is a bit better than yours."

Seeing that he was in good spirits, Xia Wanwan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and squeezed out a smile: "Fortunately amidst the misfortune, both you brothers have successfully completed your Foundation Establishment."

"That's good..."

Not good at all!

Chen Yi was well aware that it was the Shattering Meridian Pill he had ingested, not the Nourishing Meridian Pill.

If it weren't for the fact that the panel had absorbed the poison for him, he probably would have ended up crippled by now.

And Chen Yuan was injured too?

Could it be that woman, to harm him, made Big Brother also ingest the Shattering Meridian Pill?

However, after some thought, Chen Yi shook his head in secret.

There was something strange about all this.

A simple "poisoning by swapping pills" involved complicated preparations behind the scenes.

If anyone handling the matter in between had noticed the problem, it would have been impossible to carry out.

Chen Yi did not believe that using ordinary methods would deceive his second uncle, Chen Taixing.

Especially since the traces of the Shattering Meridian Pill, compared to the previous Gluttony Pill and Soft Bone Powder, were too obvious.

Was such a blatant sabotage of his Foundation Establishment really the doing of the always cautious Zhou Wanyi?

"Yi Er, rest for a while first."

"Mm."

When the room quieted down, Chen Yi thought hard but could not figure it out.

He could only temporarily place the blame on Zhou Wanyi.

One thing could be ascertained — they did not want Chen Yuan to have an accident.

Even if it wasn't Zhou Wanyi's doing, it must be related to her!