Chapter 146: One-sided Poisoning

"Are you sure that's everything you need, Master Duyao?" Shen Rong seemed to flinch every time he spoke to the old woman. I guess his primal fears were overreacting to the point that they find this frail old lady a threat.

Considering that she could easily kill everyone here in the arena with a mere wave of her hand, then I guess Shen Rong was right on his approach.

And here I was, sitting opposite of the old woman as we both faced the table. Apparently, she just wanted to test me out with her Poison Element and our competition wouldn't involve fighting. We would just exchange Poisons with each other and try to neutralize it with an antidote. If one cannot do it, then they would immediately lose the match.

Considering all that, it's probably impossible for me to lose right now... unless she knows of an out-of-this-world poison that even the System doesn't know.

Also, I just remembered something... she's called the Hundred Poison Lady, right? I guess I'll just call her that instead of 'old woman'.

The Hundred Poison Lady smirked at me as she pulled out an old jar from her rucksack. "We'll start off with an easy one. If you can drink this without having any difficulty, then you can challenge me with your poison. Now, are you going to go through all this suffering or are you willing to give up on my disciple?" The Hundred Poison Lady asked as she clicked her tongue.

Seriously, if she spat out another gum from her mouth one more time, I might give her the most potent poison I have in my arsenal.

"It's not like I was trying to steal your disciple away from you. She was the one who wanted to come under my wing." I casually shrugged as I pulled out a bottle of water from my inventory. Well, not exactly my inventory since I bought it from the System Shop for ten shop coins.

And since I have most of the ingredients I need in my Storage Rings, I didn't have to gather herbs in the fields just to concoct one potion for the Hundred Poison Lady.

A few meters from where we were, the semi-finals were already starting. From what I heard, the match would be between Yuan Han and Wu Jia. Honestly, I don't know who the first one was, but the latter belonged to the party that won third place during our joint subjugation this morning. Something in my guts tells me that it would be Wu Jia who will win but I didn't want to conclude just yet. I mean, Yuan Han looked strong as well but I've never heard about him until now. Even his hunting party is unknown to me.

"Kid, are you listening to me?" The Hundred Poison Lady looked more irritated than before so I decided to pay attention to her this time. It would be bad news if she goes through a rampage, especially when there are thousands of people in the audience who came from other neighboring shelters.

It would really put us in a bad light if a massacre were to happen in Red Sea Shelter.

Without further ado, I glanced at the antique jar and gave it a good whiff. Just from that one whiff alone I already knew what type of poison it was. It was the basics of the basics when it comes to poison and a lot of Poison Element users are probably immune to it, judging by the commonness of it.

"This is a Flame Tongue Poison, one of the most common poisons found in the saliva of a Flame Tongue Lizard. This Flame Tongue Lizard is a Spirit Beast that is known for burning its victims into ashes. However, it doesn't burn them using fire, it burns them using an acid that is secreted in its tongue. The Flame Tongue Lizard got that name because the poison in its saliva makes the victim erupt into flames as soon as it touches its body." After that brief summary. I got the jar of the Flame Tongue Poison and stood up.

"When it comes to the Flame Tongue Poison, any Poison Element user could easily obtain resistance from it. But the type of resistance they develop involves the stomach. A normal Poison Element user would have no problem drinking the Flame Tongue Poison, to say the least." I continued.

"Yes, but that's useless knowledge. A beginner like you could never hope to— " The Hundred Poison Lady commented but I cut her short.

"BUT! A Cultivator of the Poison Element wouldn't spread this Poison on their skin. Why? Because they could never develop a resistance to it. Sure they can drink it, but they cannot let their skin touch it. That's why the Flame Tongue Poison is a complicated type of poison."

A series of ooh's resounded all throughout the Coliseum as the audience finally realized the gravity of the situation. Simultaneously, I opened the jar in my hand and put the Poison in my hand.

<Notice: You've come in contact with the Flame Tongue Poison>

<Poison has been removed with Poison Nullification and Healthy Body>

<Skill: Poison Nullification has leveled up!>

<Skill: Healthy Body has leveled up!>

"Are you crazy?! What are you doing?" The Hundred Poison Lady exclaimed as she pounded her fists on the table. She watched in horror as I continued to spread the poison all over my skin. 

Lathering my skin with the Flame Tongue Poison as if I was putting on lotion, I instantly felt the burning sensation on my skin as if it was being turned into ashes. But funnily enough, the excruciating pain disappears in a split second and the Poison seemed to evaporate in thin air after that. "The Flame Tongue Poison is one of the most basic poison in the book. This much wouldn't amount to nothing." 

"Lies! You're using a cheap trick! I get it, you put something on your skin to cover it, didn't you?" The Hundred Poison Lady accusingly pointed a shaky finger at me as she sneered. She probably thought that she had seen through my tricks but she was completely wrong about it. Whatever it is she was thinking, it was obvious that her thoughts were misplaced. It wouldn't even take a keen eye to know that I'm not using any cheap tricks. 

"Suit yourself, Hundred Poison Lady," I said as I approached her. "Touch it and see for yourself." I challenged. 

The Hundred Poison Lady gasped as she slowly reached his fingers on my skin. Her eyes widened. "I-impossible!" She interjected. 

However, I knew that it was a front. From the moment she touched my skin, I received a notification in my head. 

<Notice: You've come in contact with the Flame Tongue Poison>

<Poison has been removed with Poison Nullification and Healthy Body>

"My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined." I sighed in slight annoyance as I stared at her in the eyes. "Look who's accusing me of such cheap tricks when you're the one who's using them yourself. Just now, you tried to poison me with one of the most potent high-grade poison, didn't you? If I could recall, the poison is called the Thousand Death Poison, right? Why do you have such deadly poison on your fingertips? Are you trying to rid this world of a talented Poison Master like myself?" 

To state the obvious, the Thousand Death Poison is one of the most advanced poison any Poison Element user can learn. Learning it requires partaking in the mentioned poison every day. Daily, one has to drink a small portion of the Poison and cultivate one's core with it. Even with just a small dosage, the Thousand Death Poison makes its victim experience a thousand deaths in a split second. Most of the Poison Element users who tried learning this Poison committed suicide after experiencing a thousand deaths in their minds. That's why most Poison Element users choose not to learn this certain poison. But if one were to succeed in learning this, they could immediately become a Poison Master because of how powerful it is. 

And if you're wondering why this poison needs to be ingested to be learned, then you might as well know that the Thousand Death Poison is just the saliva of a Poison Master. (It may make the smell of your breath good, but suffering a thousand deaths is not worth it, honestly.)

The Hundred Poison Lady didn't know what to do as the crowd went deathly silent. Even Shen Rong sensed what happened when the Hundred Poison Lady touched me. There was definitely foul play there and what's more— she used one of the deadliest poisons on me.

"I-It's my loss... " The Hundred Poison Lady continued as she gave a sincere smile. 

Hey, you won't get out of this even if you smile like that!

While I was contemplating whether to forgive the old lady or send her to oblivion with my Space Element, she pulled out a flask from her pocket containing a clear liquid. Upon seeing it, I immediately realized what it was.

It was the antidote for the Thousand Death Poison.