The Rise of a General's Daughter-in-Law Doctor

After another half-month's journey, Li Muxia and Xiaoyaozi finally met up with Bai Qingshi and Shangguan Jingye before reaching the snow mountain.

After resting for a few days in Zhengding County and preparing their things for the mountain, they set off for the snow mountain early the next morning.

Along the way, we encountered several groups of people who were also heading to the snow mountain, and coincidentally, we saw Nangong Yufeng.

Li Muxia waved enthusiastically to Nangong Yufeng and said, "Young Master Yufeng, what a coincidence!"

Nangong Yufeng was also surprised to run into Li Muxia and the others here. To be honest, when he saw Li Muxia, he didn't even realize that the corners of his mouth were turned up high. It turned out that he really wanted to see her.

He rode up to Li Muxia and the others and said respectfully, "Senior, it's nice to see you again, Doctor Xia."

Xiaoyaozi didn't say anything, but Bai Qingshi asked in confusion, "Who is this young master?"

Upon hearing this, Li Muxia quickly introduced, "This is Yu Feng, whom my second master and I rescued on the road."

After saying that, he continued to introduce, "Young Master Yu Feng, this is my master Shi Qing, and this is my senior brother Ye Jing."

After listening to Li Muxia's introduction, Nangong Yufeng bowed and said, "Yufeng greets Senior Shi and Young Master Ye."

Bai Qingshi smiled and nodded, saying, "Is Young Master Yufeng also going to the snow mountain?"

Upon hearing this, Nangong Yufeng quickly replied, "Yes. I need the Nine-Leaf Snow Lotus as a medicinal ingredient to save my mother's life."

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Jingye said, "Then why don't we go together? We're going too, and we can look out for each other along the way."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Yufeng quickly agreed, "That's exactly what I was thinking too."

Upon hearing this, Li Muxia quickly said, "That's right, we can cooperate. There's strength in numbers. I heard that there are seven mature nine-leaf snow lotuses this time. Judging from the situation, there are probably quite a few people coming to collect the snow lotuses. Cooperating might increase our chances of success."

The group of people became somewhat serious upon hearing Li Muxia's words. Indeed, they had already encountered more than a dozen groups of people on their journey, not to mention those they hadn't yet met.

Bai Qingshi looked at the people around him and said, "Alright, let's talk as we go. The nearest Nine-Leaf Snow Lotus will bloom in just three days, so we need to get there as soon as possible."

The group exchanged glances, not daring to delay, and quickly spurred their horses to gallop.

They soon arrived at the foot of the snow-capped mountain, where a large crowd had already gathered. Li Muxia roughly counted at least a hundred people.

They spontaneously formed a circle, with an old man standing in the middle, talking incessantly.

Li Muxia and the others only heard it when they got closer.

"Gentlemen, I am Tong Xiuyuan from Jade Peak Mountain. I am honored by your honor to preside over this year's Snow Mountain Treasure Hunt. As we all know, every year when the Nine-Leaf Snow Lotus matures, it attracts heroes from all walks of life to compete for it. Of course, this also causes casualties and the loss of rare and precious materials."

One of the people in the audience couldn't help but say, "Leader Tong, we all trust you as the leader of the martial arts alliance to preside over this snow mountain treasure hunt. However, not all those who come to hunt for the treasure are martial arts practitioners. If we decide the winner according to the rules of the martial arts world, it may not be convincing to the public."

Tong, the leader of the alliance, was not angry. He smiled and said, "What this young friend said is very true. Therefore, we have also invited the third prince of Nanling Kingdom, Prince Huai, Nangong Huaijin, to serve as the referee for this treasure hunt. I hope everyone will have no objections."

Those around them began to whisper amongst themselves upon hearing Tong's words. Li Muxia and the others frowned slightly, realizing that obtaining the Nine-Leaf Snow Lotus this time would not be so easy. They hadn't expected the martial arts alliance leader and members of the royal family to get involved.

Nangong Yufeng, standing to the side, looked even more grave: the third brother had actually come too, this was troublesome.

At this moment, someone in the crowd asked, "How will Alliance Leader Tong preside over this Snow Mountain Treasure Hunt?"

Tong Xiuyuan seemed to be waiting for someone to ask him a question. Hearing the person's words, he smiled slightly and said, "Please follow me to the arena."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion upon hearing Tong Xiuyuan's words: "A ring? Where did you get a ring?"

Seeing the confusion in everyone's eyes, Tong Xiuyuan offered an explanation, saying, "Please follow me."

The group followed Tong Xiuyuan for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and in a grove of trees they saw more than a dozen wooden houses, with a large arena in the middle, which looked like they had only been built a few days ago.

Tong Xiuyuan stood in the middle of the arena and looked at the crowd who were looking around, saying, "These were all temporarily made by the soldiers of Nanling Kingdom for everyone, just for this snow mountain treasure hunt. They were all completed yesterday."

Having said that, he looked at the crowd below and continued, "I know that you are all very curious about the rules of this treasure hunt, and you all want to obtain the treasure."

"As the saying goes, there are too many monks and not enough porridge, so there will inevitably be fighting. In order to avoid casualties and to ensure that the rare treasures can be used by more people who need them, we hope that everyone can abide by the rules of this treasure-hunting arena and not cause trouble."

"As you can see, the snow mountain and the arena are guarded by soldiers from the Eastern Ling Kingdom and people from Jade Peak Mountain."

No one objected after hearing this. One of the men, who had a thick beard, said, "I am Zhou Junpeng from Qianli Gang. I would like to ask Alliance Leader Tong to explain the rules to everyone so that we can all understand them."

Those around Zhou Junpeng echoed his words, "Yes, yes, what exactly are the rules?"

Seeing this, Tong Xiuyuan quickly said, "Please be patient, everyone. I will have my disciples explain it to you."

After speaking, he looked to his left. A young man, who had caught Tong Xiuyuan's gaze, stepped onto the stage: "Everyone, I am Feng Siyan. I will now introduce the rules of the treasure hunt to you."

Li Muxia and the others listened attentively to what the person on the stage said, and roughly understood the rules of this treasure hunt:

There are three matches in total: one is a literary contest, one is a martial arts contest, and the last one is an overtime match. Both sides can use various means to drive the other off the stage. Each round of the match is to the point of no return and no one can be killed. Anyone who maliciously injures another person will be disqualified from the match. The best two out of three matches will be selected. The top seven will go up the mountain to collect snow lotus and snow silkworms. After they return, the snow lotus and snow silkworms will be distributed to everyone according to their ranking in the match.

After explaining the rules, everyone was asked to go to a wooden hut to register whether they wanted snow lotus or snow silkworm. Each person could only register one, and whoever registered would participate in the competition. Li Muxia and the others did not know martial arts, but they were not necessarily going to lose. After all, their medical and poison skills were admired and feared by people in the martial arts world. What if they were just lucky and happened to run into someone who did not know martial arts?

So all four of them signed up this time; two signed up for snow lotus and two signed up for snow silkworm.

After registering, Bai Qingshi said to Li Muxia and Shangguan Jingye, "Don't push yourself too hard in tomorrow's match. If you can't win, just surrender. Don't force it, or you might get injured."

Li Muxia and Shangguan Jingye both nodded in agreement. However, Li Muxia still had her own considerations. She gave Bai Qingshi and Shangguan Jingye each a porcelain bottle and instructed them, "Master, Senior Brother, this is a Dissolving Power Powder that I refined in Wan Du Mountain. It is colorless and odorless. It can be administered to people unknowingly through breathing and skin, causing them to lose their internal energy. Moreover, it is not easy for others to detect. However, the effect does not last long, only about fifteen minutes, so we must act quickly."

Bai Qingshi and Shangguan Jingye's eyes lit up when they heard this; it was a good thing.

After everyone had registered, the people from Yudingshan arranged accommodations for everyone. With everything ready, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.