Absolute Poison Pill

Only people from Shushan should be able to be inside Tianzhu Peak of Shushan. But this man's attire is bizarre, and he looks sinister and terrifying. He calls Dan Lingsheng an old ghost, yet he is clearly not a Shushan disciple. From his expression, he does not seem to mean well either.

That thought flashed through Luo Bei's mind in an instant.

"Who are you?"

Luo Bei's body instinctively tensed as he questioned the black-robed stranger who had suddenly appeared.

"Who am I?" The black-robed stranger suddenly let out a shrill, eerie laugh. "Who I am, that old ghost Dan Lingsheng knows better than anyone. The scar on his face was left by my Five Poisons Thunderlight Arrow."

This man is definitely no good! He must be plotting something!

At those words, every hair on Luo Bei's body stood on end. Without the slightest hesitation, he bit down on the tip of his right index finger.

Luo Bei's actions could truly be called extraordinarily bold and decisive.

By instinct alone, Luo Bei knew this man was absolutely beyond his ability to handle. He did not hesitate in the least and immediately prepared to unleash the Flying Flame Talisman.

"Flying Flame Talisman?"

But the black-robed stranger in the white bone mask merely sneered. A gleaming green streak instantly struck Luo Bei. He felt a chill in his chest, and his entire body stiffened, unable to move.

"Though you are young, you reacted quickly. If I had acted a little slower, you might have caused me quite a bit of trouble." The black-robed stranger stepped forward two paces, his green-glinting eyes scrutinizing Luo Bei fiercely.

"Who exactly are you?" Though Luo Bei could not move, he could still speak, and he cried out.

"Excellent natural constitution, unruffled in the face of danger—truly fine aptitude. What a pity you became a Shushan disciple." The black-robed stranger's gaze suddenly settled on the cloth pouch hanging at Luo Bei's waist. "There is no harm in telling you. I am Lu Yu of the North Yin Sect of Mount Jiwang."

"North Yin Sect of Mount Jiwang, Lu Yu?" Luo Bei looked at the black-robed stranger. "You infiltrated Shushan and restrained me. What exactly do you want?"

The black-robed stranger, Lu Yu, did not answer Luo Bei immediately. He reached out, seized the pouch at Luo Bei's waist, and opened it. "Zhu Yu Grass, coral tree, Water Chestnut Fruit, Liudan Wood, Xishen Leaf..." He named every medicinal herb in Luo Bei's pouch one by one. Only after naming them all did Lu Yu raise his eyes to Luo Bei, cold light flickering within them. "I came to Shushan for only one reason: revenge."

"Revenge? Revenge for what?"

"Revenge for what?" Lu Yu, enveloped from head to toe in black robes, stamped his foot and sneered. "Dan Lingsheng wiped out my North Yin Sect. Of more than a hundred members of my sect, I alone survived. What revenge do you think I seek?"

Luo Bei asked, "You intend to kill some Shushan disciples for revenge?"

"I have always been clear in gratitude and vengeance. My North Yin Sect has a grudge against Shushan and Dan Lingsheng, but I will not harm a child like you who has only just entered the sect and does not even count as an official Shushan disciple. The only one I intend to deal with is Dan Lingsheng." Lu Yu glanced at Luo Bei. "I will let you move freely. Do not make any rash moves."

As soon as he spoke, Luo Bei felt a numb tingling in his hands and feet, and he could move again.

Before Luo Bei could speak, Lu Yu cast him another cold glance. "Did Dan Lingsheng tell you why he had you gather these herbs?"

Luo Bei shook his head.

He truly did not know.

"Then let me tell you." Lu Yu gathered the five medicinal herbs, including Zhu Yu Grass, into his left hand. With his right hand, he repeatedly formed hand seals. Out of thin air, a fireball roughly three feet across suddenly appeared between him and Luo Bei. It was white with a faint blue tint, and its heat was astonishing. Luo Bei felt as if his hair were about to scorch. He unconsciously retreated two steps, and only then did the searing heat lessen somewhat.

Lu Yu's left hand moved again, tossing the five herbs, including Liudan Wood, into the floating fireball one after another, along with the Poison Arrow Orchid in his hand—a plant with emerald-green branches and leaves but black blossoms.

Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!

Each of the six herbs vaporized into a cloud of different color the instant it entered. Yet strangely, an invisible force seemed to bind the outer edge of the white-blue fireball. The six colored clouds could not disperse. Instead, they tangled and twisted within the flames, slowly merging together.

"This is a method your Shushan learned long ago from the Emei Sect. When you Shushan disciples cultivate at the Foundation Establishment stage and temper your tendons and bones, you rely on the Foundation Establishment Fist Technique, with pills as supplementary aid to speed your progress. The herbs you seek yourselves are used to refine those supporting pills. The process of searching for medicinal ingredients tempers the heart and hones the will, while the refined pills serve as assistance. It can truly be called killing two birds with one stone."

"With these five herbs of yours, plus this somewhat rarer Poison Arrow Orchid, you can refine a Purple Palace Pill. Taking one allows you to go without food for three days, circulate qi and invigorate the blood, and expel some illness qi and impurities from the body."

As Lu Yu spoke, Luo Bei saw the six differently colored clouds slowly condense into one, forming a fist-sized mass of purple gel. It constantly changed shape in the fireball and grew smaller and smaller, clearly becoming increasingly pure.

"You can refine pills like this without a pill furnace?" Luo Bei's face could not help filling with astonishment.

"Our North Yin Sect chiefly cultivates the Outer Elixir Dao. Naturally, our pill-refining methods are beyond anything your Shushan can compare with." Lu Yu seemed to see through Luo Bei's thoughts and explained coldly, "However, my Suspended Furnace Fire can only refine pills with simple formulas. The vast majority of pills require precise control of heat, timing, even the refining furnace and storage vessels. They cannot be refined this way."

"So pill refinement contains such profound principles as well." Luo Bei was momentarily drawn in by Lu Yu's words and could not help saying this.

"Outer elixir and inner elixir are merely different cultivation methods. In the end, do they not all arrive at the same destination by different paths?" Lu Yu looked at the purple gel slowly condensing into a pill and sneered coldly. "Naturally, the principles of pill refinement are profound and complex. Take these few herbs as an example: if even one portion of Liudan Wood is missing, the pill refined will have no effect whatsoever. If this Poison Arrow Orchid is missing, it cannot neutralize the fierce, wolf-and-tiger properties of the other medicines. After swallowing it, one will vomit from above and purge from below. It will not be fatal, but a serious illness will be unavoidable. Even the order in which the herbs are added during refinement has an enormous impact on their medicinal properties."

Amid his cold laughter, Luo Bei suddenly saw another strange blood-red flower appear in Lu Yu's hand.

This blood-red flower was as large as a bowl, with seven petals. Black seeped from the area near its core, while the flower core itself glimmered purple.

Its fragrance was rich and intense, but the moment Luo Bei inhaled it, he felt his head grow somewhat dizzy.

"What herb is that?"

"This is Dan Du Flower." Lu Yu tossed the strange blood-red flower into the fireball as well. "This Dan Du Flower is a hundred times rarer than the Poison Arrow Orchid. It was not easy to obtain. That old ghost Dan Lingsheng is getting off cheaply."

"Getting martial uncle Dan Lingsheng off cheaply? What do you mean?"

Luo Bei sensed hidden meaning in Lu Yu's words. He immediately raised his head, his gaze fixed tightly upon Lu Yu.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Lu Yu suddenly burst into wild laughter. The blood-red Dan Du Flower instantly vaporized, and the moment its red cloud merged with the purple gel, the gel turned a dark purplish red. "The pill refined from those six herbs is nothing more than an ordinary Purple Palace Pill. But add this single Dan Du Flower, and what emerges is a peerless deadly poison. An ordinary person would die upon touching it. Someone with Dan Lingsheng's cultivation should be able to endure for a short while. This deadly poison is called the Absolute Poison Pill by our North Yin Sect."

Still laughing wildly, Lu Yu swiftly tossed out a lump of white wax with his left hand. Upon reaching the edge of the fireball, the wax immediately melted. By then, the dark purplish-red gel had also condensed, shrinking into a thumb-sized pill. Lu Yu flicked both hands through the air, and the fireball vanished out of thin air. The dark-purple pill fell neatly into the white lump of wax, which sealed it within.

"I distinguish gratitude from enmity in all that I do. Dan Lingsheng slaughtered my entire sect, so I will use the Absolute Poison Pill of my North Yin Sect against him." Having completed the refinement of the pill in less than the time it took to burn two incense sticks, Lu Yu stared at Luo Bei. "I will not make things difficult for you. You need only deliver this pill to Dan Lingsheng and tell him it is from an old acquaintance."

"You want me to poison him for you?" Luo Bei finally understood Lu Yu's intentions. He immediately shook his head hard. "That is absolutely impossible!"

"Have you thought it through?" A sinister green gleam burst from Lu Yu's eyes, and the temperature within several dozen yards seemed to drop by several degrees. "I have exposed my whereabouts before you. You should know the consequences of refusing me. I understand that you are a Shushan disciple, but I will not have you work for me for nothing."

Lu Yu's right hand, clutching a string of bone prayer beads, slowly emerged from his black robe. He held out a black leather-bound manual before Luo Bei. "This is the Bei Yin Elixir Art of my North Yin Sect. It contains methods for refining all kinds of pills, from the crudest to the most abstruse. Your Shushan has one thousand four hundred and twenty peaks. Tianzhu Peak alone contains countless medicinal herbs. If you learn my elixir art, you can gradually refine pills on your own, beginning with the simple and advancing to the profound. Your Shushan cultivates inner-elixir arts, but in the refinement of outer-elixir pills, it is a hundred times inferior to my North Yin Sect. If you cultivate Shushan's inner-elixir arts while learning my elixir art as well, refining pills for your own use in your daily practice, inner and outer supporting each other, your advancement will surely become the greatest in Shushan. I guarantee that among Shushan's disciples, no one will be able to compare with you in the future!"

Luo Bei was deeply shaken.

For anyone, this could be called an enormous temptation.

And if he refused Lu Yu, he might face a life-threatening calamity right before his eyes!

Seeing that Luo Bei seemed hesitant, Lu Yu intensified his tone and said heavily, "Think carefully. You have only just entered Shushan. What does Dan Lingsheng's life have to do with you? If you agree to my request and merely deliver this pill poison to him, Shushan will at most assume that I coerced you and will not make things difficult for you. But once you obtain my elixir art, you can become Shushan's foremost figure in the future and count among the few at the very peak beneath heaven!"

Lu Yu seemed certain that Luo Bei would not refuse. Yet what made his entire body shudder was seeing Luo Bei look directly at him and shake his head in firm refusal. "That is absolutely impossible!"

There was no denying that, in that instant, Luo Bei had also felt the immense temptation and understood that this was a choice between life and death.

But at this moment, only one sentence of Yuan Tianyi's echoed in Luo Bei's mind: "We disciples of Luofu must act without betraying our own hearts!"

Although he had been in Shushan only a short time, asking Luo Bei to help poison one of his own teachers was something he could never do, no matter what.

"Have you truly thought it through?!" Lu Yu stepped forward two paces and faced Luo Bei directly, speaking in an icy voice. "You truly will not accept my terms and give this Absolute Poison Pill to Dan Lingsheng?"

Luo Bei nodded without the slightest fear.

With a whoosh, a red gleam shot into the sky and burst into dozens of brilliant rays of rosy light.

Judging by the sky and the direction, Dan Lingsheng was summoning all the disciples to return and gather.

After raising his head for a glance at those rays of light, Lu Yu lowered his eyelids coldly again. "In that case, I cannot allow this pill to have been refined for nothing. I will give you one final choice: either you take this pill to Dan Lingsheng, or you swallow it yourself!"

"I will not give this pill to martial uncle Dan Lingsheng!" Luo Bei stared straight at Lu Yu. "Your actions alone show that there must have been a reason Dan Lingsheng destroyed your entire sect. Even if you kill me today, Shushan will surely avenge me!"

His words rang like metal, his backbone standing tall and unyielding!

At this moment, Luo Bei unexpectedly carried a trace of Yuan Tianyi's pride!

Luofu had never had a rule of bargaining with others!

"Good! Good! Good!"

Lu Yu, shrouded in black robes, said "good" three times in succession. Then he raised his hand, seized Luo Bei, and Luo Bei's entire body stiffened, unable to move. With his other hand, Lu Yu stuffed the Absolute Poison Pill he had refined into Luo Bei's mouth!

The moment the pill entered his mouth, its wax shell shattered.

The pill dissolved as soon as it entered his mouth. Luo Bei felt a scorching line of heat rush down his throat and straight into his abdomen.

With a roar, it seemed as though a ball of fire exploded within Luo Bei's body. Along with an uncontrollable cry of agony, a cloud of purplish-black vapor erupted from his mouth. The medicinal power rampaging madly through every meridian in his body struck him at once, knocking Luo Bei unconscious.