Chapter 81: Reflection

Seeing the unicorn horses still languishing in the flames, Chu Tian’s brow furrowed. Could it be that the horses’ condition was impervious to fire? Was it truly not foot-and-mouth disease, or was this entire situation man-made?

Ever since the unicorns first developed problems, Ludi III had been furious, ordering Best to station high-level magical beasts at the camp every day. Recently, at least two eighth-level beasts had been guarding the camp daily, and both Kuata and Chi Yan frequently patrolled the area. The Imperial Intelligence Bureau had blanketed the surroundings with undercover agents; any movement in or out of the camp was immediately reported to Ludi III. Furthermore, the cavalry camp was manned by the elite Royal Guards—troops whose strength was formidable and whose loyalty was beyond reproach.

Under such tight security, could anyone really interfere with over a hundred thousand warhorses? The Caesar cavalry was invincible, and the unicorns were the foundation of the Empire. The Caesar Empire had poured immense effort into protecting them. Under these circumstances, surely even a ninth-level magical beast couldn't harm them?

Chu Tian had a massive headache. He had set a fire earlier, but it had yielded no results. He had also tried lower-grade medicines, which proved equally ineffective. The horses' illness was manageable; he had already sent men to retrieve medicine extracted from Kuata’s bezoar. With Kuata’s powerful brand, these third-level unicorns should recover immediately. Although he would lose some ninth-level medicine, as long as he maintained his reputation as an Ancient Holy Priest, he could earn it back later.

What truly troubled Chu Tian was the chain of events since his arrival on the Fantasy Beast Continent. Linking everything together, he felt as if he were being drawn into a grand conspiracy. First, there was Chi Yan’s blood stasis. According to Kanas, the dragon had felt weak before the battle—but could a dragon actually fall ill? And to fall ill during the most critical battle? That was far too coincidental.

Then there were those hundred thousand warhorses. Could horses catch foot-and-mouth disease? Even if everyone else believed it, Chu Tian—a veterinarian—knew it was impossible. And the fact that he was targeted for assassination immediately after curing the horses suggested that his actions had obstructed someone’s plans.

Though Chu Tian did not fully grasp his true significance to the Caesar Empire, he could surmise part of it. Ludi III had elevated him, a fake priest, to the rank of Imperial Duke within a single year and had even married his own sister to him. This could only mean that Chu Tian held immense value to the Empire—a value that made him a stumbling block for certain people.

On the road to Mount Agula, Chu Tian had been intercepted by the Beast Clan Prince Basten, yet only a handful of people in the entire continent knew his itinerary. Andor, the most suspicious suspect, had even been ruled out by Basten himself. So, how did the orcs know his route?

After his return from Mount Agula, just as Ludi III was preparing for war and Chu Tian had developed the medicine, the horses fell ill again. This not only delayed the war but also struck a direct blow to Chu Tian’s prestige. Or perhaps, the intention was simply to diminish the influence of the Empire’s strongest priest before the war began.

All signs pointed to the Reis Empire. Only Reis, directly threatened by the Empire, had sufficient motive. But how could they have managed it? The Imperial Intelligence Bureau was no pushover, and the horses and Chi Yan were high-priority targets. How could Reis, thousands of miles away, reach out so far? Finally, there was the assassination attempt—while Andor’s butler, Dirk, had appeared quite coincidentally and possessed the strength of an eighth-level Sword Saint, the Intelligence Bureau had concluded that the killer was an expert from the Elf race.

"Boss, the medicine has arrived." As Chu Tian fretted, Barbosa brought the ninth-level medicine. Due to timely isolation, only about ten thousand horses had shown symptoms, and they were now quarantined in a temporary enclosure.

"Big Brother, have your men prepare a large cauldron and boil a pot of water," Chu Tian said to Kanas, his heart aching as he looked at the pile of medicine Barbosa had set on the ground.

Before long, everything was ready. Chu Tian took a bottle, gritted his teeth, and poured it into the pot. His products typically came with ten pills per bottle, but in a cauldron over ten meters in diameter, ten pills were useless; the boiling water remained clear.

"Praise the Goddess of Life!" Chu Tian rolled his eyes. *Damn it, I’m going bankrupt this time.* He hardened his heart and poured in another bottle. Still no reaction. "Barbosa, you do it!" Chu Tian couldn't bear to watch. Even if Kuata’s bezoar was large, this was too much.

Barbosa looked at his boss with sympathy and began tossing the medicine in bottle by bottle. He was reluctant, too; his own hard work—and his commission—was in those bottles. Finally, after more than a hundred bottles, the boiling water turned a dark yellow. "Alright, one bowl of medicine per horse..." Chu Tian waved his hand, and after picking out a few unicorns, he began the experiment.

With a howl, the once-languid unicorns stood up immediately after drinking the medicine. The blisters and sores on their bodies vanished rapidly, and thick, foul blood began to drain from their mouths and nostrils.

"Vladino, it works!" Kanas’s eyes lit up.

"Heh, of course. For such a minor problem, Ancient Priest Arts are naturally a guaranteed cure." Chu Tian boasted proudly, but his heart was bleeding. Over ten thousand horses—if he cured them all, it would take hundreds of bottles of ninth-level medicine! He had only extracted a thousand bottles from Kuata’s bezoar in total! *Sigh... for the sake of the Holy Priest title, I’ll take the hit.*

Trembling, Chu Tian contributed pile after pile of medicine. After a busy day, all the warhorses had recovered.

"Praise the Goddess of Life!" Looking at the lively unicorns, Chu Tian smiled at Kanas. "Big Brother, leave the rest to you. Make sure nothing else happens. This time, your brother has gone bankrupt to cure them."

"Rest assured, I will guard this place personally until the war begins," Kanas nodded. If anything else went wrong, no one could withstand Ludi III’s wrath.

"By the way, Big Brother," Chu Tian narrowed his eyes and asked tentatively, "Do you think... the horses' illness could be man-made?" Everything was too coincidental; he couldn't help but suspect human interference rather than a natural disaster.

"Man-made? That’s impossible!" Kanas thought for a moment before replying, "When the horses first fell ill, the Intelligence Bureau suspected foul play and investigated, but found nothing. After you cured them, His Majesty used all his power to protect them. Look," Kanas pointed to the heavily guarded Royal Guards outside, "under these conditions, no one could infiltrate the camp." Kanas lowered his voice, "The entire camp is being monitored by the Intelligence Bureau. For the past month, everyone entering or leaving has been thoroughly vetted."

"Then could it have been done by an ultimate expert of the continent, or a high-level magical beast?" Chu Tian wasn't ready to give up. If it were proven to be a natural disease, it would imply the existence of diseases on this continent unlike those on Earth, which would render his skills as a veterinarian useless. Could he maintain his status then?

"Heh," Kanas laughed, "Vladino, you are also an ultimate expert of the continent. Tell me, could you do it with your strength?" Kanas found it amusing; surely Chu Tian knew better than he did.

"Praise the Goddess of Life!" Chu Tian feigned sadness. "Sigh, Big Brother, you know as well as I do. Although I possess the magic of an Ancient Holy Priest, I cannot release it..."

"Oh, my apologies." Kanas realized he had made a mistake based on common assumptions. Chu Tian was truly an anomaly among the continent’s supreme powerhouses. "I asked Chi Yan, and she said that even though she could force her way into the camp to kill the horses, she could not do it silently, without anyone noticing."

"Then..." Chu Tian wanted to ask more, but was interrupted by Barbosa.

"Boss, there are some matters at home that require your attention," Barbosa said, stepping in front of Chu Tian with a somber look and a meaningful glance.

"Ah, yes, I am a bit tired and need to go back and rest." Chu Tian’s body, transformed by the Dragon Emperor’s blood, would never actually feel fatigued, but he had never seen Barbosa act so abnormally. Something bad must have happened. He followed Barbosa’s lead. "Big Brother, I shall take my leave then."

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On the way back to the Imperial Capital, Barbosa had the guards follow at a distance and rode his horse close to Chu Tian’s side. "Boss, take a look at this." He handed Chu Tian a vial containing not medicine, but a dark green liquid. "This is the foul blood I collected from the unicorns earlier."

"What’s wrong with this blood?" Chu Tian examined the vial. It was normal for foul blood to appear after a virus was expelled, so he hadn't paid much attention to it. "What did you find?"

"Boss, these horses weren't sick. They were poisoned." Barbosa’s words were shocking, but coming from a master necromancer, Chu Tian had to believe him.

"Poisoned?" Chu Tian’s eyes narrowed. Just as he suspected—it was man-made. He had once again obstructed someone’s plan; his safety was no longer guaranteed. "Barbosa, are you certain?"

"Absolutely!" Barbosa confirmed. "Although I haven't identified the specific virus, I can sense that this foul blood definitely contains a dark virus!" Barbosa had studied viruses for decades. Even without his magic, his accumulated experience was invaluable.

"Go and call Anna and the mages from the laboratory. We are going to visit the Right Prime Minister."