Poison Kills Lei Potian

(Note: The original webnovel rank announcement at the beginning has been omitted as per instructions.)

"That's it right there. There are traces of artificial excavation inside that cave. I went in to check it out; that's where an Asura Sect disciple went into seclusion to break through to the Refining Qi to Spirit realm, only it seemed he suffered a Qi deviation in the end. There are many good things left inside, but there's a One-Star High-Grade Monster Beast within, so I could only escape. It's great meeting you all now—with so many of us, a One-Star High-Grade Monster Beast is nothing."

Lei Potian led Zhuge Xiang and the others for a little under half an hour before finally arriving in front of a cave. Zhuge Xiang and the others looked over. The entrance of this cave was square and upright, indeed not looking naturally formed, but rather seemingly chiseled out by human hands. This gave them a few more fractions of belief in Lei Potian's words.

"A One-Star High-Grade Monster Beast? Haha, I'm coming..." Zhuge Xiang waved the Blood Refinement Saber in his hand and impatiently charged out ahead of everyone else. Lu Yuling and the others were long accustomed to Zhuge Xiang's fervor for combat, especially his craze for One-Star Mid-Grade and High-Grade Monster Beasts. Seeing Zhuge Xiang's demeanor, they merely smiled and followed after him.

For Lu Yuling and the others, who had already successfully slain a Two-Star Monster Beast, a One-Star High-Grade Monster Beast could no longer pose any threat to them. After all, a One-Star High-Grade Monster Beast was utterly incomparable to a Two-Star Monster Beast. What was more, they now had an imposing helper like Lei Potian with them. Naturally, they didn't take a One-Star High-Grade Monster Beast seriously at all.

The group of several people filed into the cave one after another. However, just as everyone walked inside, a slab of Dragon Breaking Stone at the cave entrance suddenly descended. With a loud thud, it sealed off the cave's entrance and cut off everyone's retreat.

"Rest assured, the mechanism on this Dragon Breaking Stone slab seems to have malfunctioned. It opens and closes automatically every hour; it will open on its own after an hour," Lei Potian said, clearly sensing everyone's unease when the Dragon Breaking Stone slab suddenly dropped.

Lei Potian had been in here once before. Since he was able to get out, there shouldn't be any problem. Besides, Lei Potian himself was locked inside here too; if he wasn't worried, what did they have to be worried about? Thinking it over, the group relaxed.

Zhuge Xiang gripped the Blood Refinement Saber, still taking the lead at the absolute front. Although the cave was sealed, many glowing pearls were embedded along the walls. These were Fluorescent Orbs universally used for illumination within cave chambers. Legend had it that they were crafted by using depleted spiritual stones to capture and collect sunlight. Though not particularly high in value, they were extremely practical.

The cave wasn't very deep. Evidently, needing only a quiet environment for seclusion and breakthroughs, great depth was unnecessary. However, after walking for a short while, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a chamber roughly seven or eight zhang across.

At the far end of the chamber sat a platform and a table. A straw cushion rested on the platform, and a pale white skeleton sat atop it—evidently, the person in seclusion had already died. In the central part of the chamber lay a pool of water, except the pool water was a chilling, eerie purplish-red, giving off a deeply bizarre sensation. A stone-paved path cut across the pool water, connecting to the platform at the very back...

"This is a pool of poisonous water," Niu Geng said, looking at the pool water that occupied nearly half the space within the chamber.

Gurgle, gurgle...

At that very moment, bubbles suddenly surged up through the purplish-red poison pool water. At the same time, ripples stirred across the surface, churning violently as though something was about to burst out from within. Zhuge Xiang and the others hurriedly readied themselves for battle. Simultaneously, Lei Potian spoke up: "Be careful. The Monster Beast inside is coming out."

Two thick, long antennae first pierced the water's surface and emerged, followed by a head covered in fine fuzz. A pair of compound eyes locked tightly onto Zhuge Xiang and the others. As this Monster Beast floated entirely to the surface, the complexions of Zhuge Xiang and the others altered drastically.

This was a massive moth, its build comparable to an elephant's. A pair of wings unfurled, kicking up billows of purplish-red poisonous mist. Clearly due to soaking in this poison pool water, the moth's body had also turned purplish-red, mutating into a highly toxic entity.

Of course, that wasn't the most crucial part. The most crucial thing was that the rolling demonic Qi radiating from this Poison Moth was completely beyond what a One-Star High-Grade Monster Beast could possess. This was fundamentally a Two-Star Demonic Beast.

"Lei Potian!!!" Zhuge Xiang turned his head sharply, his expression gloomy as he looked at this newly appeared Two-Star Demonic Beast, the Poison Moth.

At this point, how could they not realize that everything had been calculated by Lei Potian? No matter how flawed intelligence gathering could be, it was impossible to be so absurdly off as to mislabel a Two-Star Demonic Beast as a One-Star High-Grade one!

"Why did you do this? You won't be able to escape yourself either," Zhuge Xiang said with a dark expression, staring intently at Lei Potian.

"Haha, you can rest easy about that. Several months ago, I acquired a Breath Concealing Pearl. As long as the distance is beyond five meters, no one can sense my aura. After you die, I can safely return to collect your magical treasures. Using this method, I've already successfully tricked and killed two passing teams of disciples and harvested three magical treasures. I never expected to run into you all this time—what a truly bountiful harvest," Lei Potian laughed out loud, a smug smile hanging on his lips upon hearing Zhuge Xiang's words.

"You guys stay here and play slowly with the Two-Star Demonic Beast. I'll be leaving first, and I'll come check on you later—though by then you should already be corpses, haha..." Watching the anger grow increasingly heavy on the faces of Zhuge Xiang and the others, Lei Potian prepared to withdraw and retreat, unwilling to become entangled with them.

"Ah..." However, at that precise moment, Lei Potian let out a sharp cry of pain, reflexively slapping at the back of his neck. A Poison Bee flew away from his neck, circled once, and landed inside the Yin Gu Pot in Niu Geng's hand. It was precisely a Poison Bee cultivated using worm-raising arts.

"When?" Clutching the back of his neck, Lei Potian stared in disbelief, finding it unthinkable. With his own sensory perception, if this Poison Bee had drawn near him, he should have detected it.

"When? Naturally, before entering the cave. In the forest, everything is surrounded by trees; making a Poison Bee secretly lurk on your body isn't difficult. When Zhuge Xiang told me to do this earlier, I didn't understand why, but now I finally know—he'd long since seen that something was wrong with you," Niu Geng answered, listening to Lei Potian's shocked words.

"He'd long since seen something was wrong with me? That's impossible!" Lei Potian stared wide-eyed, clutching the back of his neck, utterly refusing to believe it.

Yet within moments, Lei Potian felt his neck grow completely numb, losing virtually all sensation. Hundreds upon thousands of venomous creatures—specifically Poison Bees produced through worm-raising techniques—clearly possessed venom of an exceptionally domineering nature.

"Zhuge Xiang, how did you see that something was wrong with him?" At that moment, Lu Yuling beside him also looked at Zhuge Xiang with astonishment and asked. The others looked at him with equal confusion, clearly having failed to notice anything amiss about Lei Potian.

"Ever since I first laid eyes on him, I already suspected something was wrong with him," Zhuge Xiang answered, meeting the perplexed gazes of Lu Yuling and the others. "Earlier, we were heading in the direction of the Aurora Asura Tower, yet we collided with him head-on. Don't you find that strange? Asura Sect disciples should be heading toward the Aurora Asura Tower, right? Even if we crossed paths, we should have been catching up to his pace rather than bumping into him head-on."

Pausing slightly at that, Zhuge Xiang continued, "Moreover, he had a few extra magical treasures on him. Why would he inexplicably have extra magical treasures? Right now, everyone is in the middle of fleeing; how could he possibly have time to go on adventures? So I suspected back then that Lei Potian must have spotted us long ago and purposely came forward to intercept us. Looking at it now, he must have been guarding a vantage point. Whenever he saw passing disciples, he would kill them and seize their treasures. If it was a team of disciples, he would use this method to lead them here and ambush them."

"So that's how it was." Hearing Zhuge Xiang's words, Lu Yuling and the others nodded in sudden understanding. Analyzed like this by him, things indeed didn't add up. Everyone else was journeying toward the Aurora Asura Tower, yet he was traveling in the exact opposite direction, crashing head-on into their group. This in itself was highly suspicious.

"Impossible... impossible... I don't want to die... Save me..." Clutching his neck, Lei Potian's voice grew hoarse. In mere moments, the spot where he had been stung by the Poison Bee swelled up, black blood oozing out. His neck was completely paralyzed with no sensation left, and even breathing became difficult. Barely an instant later, he died of the poison.

Watching Lei Potian, who had been poisoned to death, Hua Nongying and the others felt a secret sense of emotion in their hearts. This was the Asura Sect, and this was a Demonic path sect. For the sake of magical treasures, they engaged in killing and robbing without feeling the slightest pressure even toward fellow sect disciples. At the same time, they secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Zhuge Xiang had seen through his scheme.

"Even so, seeing through his scheme is too late now," Lu Yuling said, her expression turning much more solemn as she turned her head back to look at the Poison Moth hovering above the poison pool.

The complexions of Hua Nongying and the others turned grim as well. Indeed, although they had seen through Lei Potian's scheme, it was too late to say anything now. They had already been locked inside, and a Two-Star Monster Beast was not so easily slain. The Demonic Bear from earlier had already given them a profound appreciation for the terror of Two-Star Monster Beasts.

The group turned back, staring solemnly at the Poison Moth. Yet this Poison Moth merely hovered above the pool water, making no rush to launch an attack. Instead, a deeply humanized look of amusement flickered in its eyes as it watched the infighting among Zhuge Xiang and the others with interest.

"This Monster Beast has actually gained a measure of intelligence." Lu Yuling caught the humanized look in the Poison Moth's eyes, and her complexion turned even uglier.