Chapter 317: Is This Your Home

Chapter 317: Is This Your Home

Zhao Changhe ignored Yang Qianyuan and quickly entered the stone chamber.

The outer room had been emptied by Tian Lingzi, leaving the hidden passage, which should have been hidden behind a secret door, clearly visible. After going through the passage, he found himself in a larger space. In the center stood a pill furnace, the fire of which had been long extinguished. Surprisingly, however, even with the copper furnace being sealed with a lid, it still emitted a faint glow, suggesting the presence of a treasure within.

If the furnace contained any pills, they were definitely extraordinary pills.

Next to the furnace sat a skeleton sitting cross-legged. Its bones were a deep green, resembling black jade. It almost looked as if the skeleton had been sculpted from jade rather than being the remains of a person... It appeared that whoever the skeleton had once been had died from poison. It was also possible that they had died while refining some poison.

A pill refiner, on the brink of completing their work, suddenly dying from poison, leaving behind the pills in the furnace...

When the era collapsed, was it the power of the pill or pills in the furnace that preserved this isolated space? That would be a bit terrifying, wouldn’t it? Just what kind of pill can even achieve such an effect? Or could there be something else at play here?

Whether the skeleton had anything else on it was unclear, as the numerous members of the Jinqian Gang, including Gang Leader Qian, were writhing and wailing around it, obscuring the view.

None of them could get within a zhang of the skeleton and the pill furnace.

It seemed precisely calculated that the poison in the air would fully penetrate anyone’s body by the time they reached within a zhang of the furnace, its effects fully taking effect at that point.

Due to her knowledge and expertise in poison, Tarantula had been able to sense the danger upon entering the passage, allowing her to retreat right away in relative safety. She was then able to capture others to test the poison inside the secret realm. Unfortunately, Gang Leader Qian and those in his gang were nowhere near as adept at handling poison as Tarantula. By the time they realized they were poisoned, it was already too late.

In the short time that Zhao Changhe and Xia Chichi had been observing, the members of the Jinqian Gang had gone from wailing in pain to rolling on the ground, and now most of them lacked even the strength to roll, only faintly groaning.

They’re all done for...

Even Xia Chichi, who had broken through to the Profound Mysteries, could not detect any poison in the air. The poison in the secret realm was colorless, odorless, and undetectable by any special means. It was only by continuously inspecting her internal condition that she was able to notice that poison had seeped through her skin, which Zhao Changhe immediately neutralized before it could do her any harm using the Rejuvenation Art.

Zhao Changhe was not an expert in poison either, but he was prepared, and the Rejuvenation Art made it easy for him to sense the poison. At the moment, the poison in the air had already been significantly weakened. Even if he did not use the Rejuvenation Art, he and Chichi could probably handle the poison for quite some time due to their high poison resistance.

He estimated that if a few more people came and absorbed the remaining poison, it would completely dissipate.

Just as he thought this, Yang Qianyuan exclaimed from outside, “Tian Lingzi! You... Ah!”

His voice was abruptly cut off.

Zhao Changhe and Xia Chichi quickly pretended to be affected by the poison, curling up on the ground and lying still.

Moments later, screams echoed as, one by one, the members of the Jinqian Gang who stood guard outside were thrown into the stone chamber.

Tian Lingzi searched outside for Tarantula but could not find her. He was extremely puzzled by that. Without Tarantula, how could he judge whether the poison had dissipated? Was he supposed to go in and test it himself?

But then he suddenly thought, Isn’t it a good thing if Tarantula is gone? That’s one less person to share the spoils with. What would we have done if there was only a single pill left inside?

With a new plan, Tian Lingzi returned and threw those guarding the entrance inside to test the poison levels.

Sure enough, the people he threw in were taking longer and longer to show signs of poisoning. This indicated that the poison was nearly gone.

Elated, Tian Lingzi threw Yang Qianyuan in last.

Yang Qianyuan, seeing the people lying all over the place, felt his face turn ashen. He thought that his life was over. But after a few breaths, he was completely fine. He waited a few more breaths, and still nothing happened to him.

“Where nonsense are you spouting?” Tian Lingzi did not believe him. “Are you just pretending and not using any strength?”

Zhao Changhe glanced at him speechlessly, then said, “Why don’t you just try hitting it from a distance and see for yourself?”

Tian Lingzi picked up Qian Gang Leader’s sword from the ground and threw it at the gap between the furnace and the lid.

Ding!

The sword bounced off, and the lid did not budge at all.

Tian Lingzi was also surprised. “Was that not strong enough?”

Zhao Changhe silently thought to himself: Mm-hm, you’d need the strength of a dragon elephant to open it.

With his “acupoints sealed,” Zhao Changhe had no strength. There was no way that Tian Lingzi was going to unlock Zhao Changhe’s acupoints, so he gathered his true qi, figuring that he had to try opening the furnace directly.

But when he gathered his true qi, a sharp pain surged through his meridians. The poison lurking in his body, which had been dormant until now, erupted violently, wreaking havoc in his body.

Tian Lingzi had no idea where the poison came from, and he let out a grunt of pain as he bent over.

At the same time, he felt a chilling sensation from behind him. Xia Chichi, who he thought was unconscious, suddenly thrust her sword at his back, while Zhao Changhe, whose acupoints he thought he had sealed, nonchalantly drew his Dragon Bird and slashed at his neck.

Despite the intense pain and disorder in his meridians caused by the poison, Tian Lingzi still managed to counter with a palm strike, deflecting Dragon Bird. He even managed to sidestep Xia Chichi’s attack, demonstrating extraordinary cultivation that surpassed even Tarantula’s!

However, Xia Chichi was no longer the same as she had been before. Although Tian Lingzi dodged, he could not avoid her attack completely. Iceheart followed him relentlessly, slicing through his ribs and leaving a long gash. The fierce white tiger sword qi burst forth, causing Tian Lingzi to scream in pain and retreat to the corner, clutching his wound as he gasped for air.

This couple advanced toward him, weapons at the ready, closing in on him from both sides.

“Your acupoints were never sealed!” Tian Lingzi exclaimed in disbelief. “Your acupoints were never sealed, and neither of you were poisoned! What the fuck, are we in your home or what?”

Zhao Changhe was stunned by what he said and chuckled. “Maybe.”

Tian Lingzi was exasperated, “Since neither of you were poisoned, why didn’t you strike me earlier? You even let me seal your acupoints, or well, I guess you let me think I sealed your acupoints. Wasn't that all pointless?”

“Old man...” Zhao Changhe smiled slightly. “Tarantula is ranked fifty-eighth on the Ranking of Man, and she possesses extraordinary poison techniques. Why would someone like her cooperate with you and listen to your arrangements to ambush Chichi, as if you were the one with greater authority?”

Tian Lingzi found himself speechless.

Zhao Changhe continued, “That only proved that you’re far more powerful than you appear. At the very least, you had to be stronger than Gang Leader Qian, and your real strength had to be at the same level as Tarantula. My wife and I weren’t confident in ambushing such a skilled expert, so we had to let you weaken yourself further.”

Tian Lingzi inspected the poison within him, utterly baffled. “But how did I get poisoned?”

Zhao Changhe pointed to the jade token that Tian Lingzi held in his left hand. “Now that you know we’re immune to the poison here, can’t you figure it out? Obviously, I can handle some things here, but you can’t. Hah, using me to test for poison, brainless.”

Tian Lingzi furiously threw the token to the ground. The jade token clattered, a crisp sound echoing in the room, but it remained completely intact, not even a corner having chipped off.

Zhao Changhe said calmly, “Chichi despises you quite a bit. We never did any of this to obtain anything. This was all just about killing you.”

1. This is not an actual book; I just switched out “medica” from “Classic of Materia Medica” for “toxica.” ☜