This Meal Is Poisonous

"Who are you?" The Immortal Fairy looked at the four newcomers warily. All four of them were at a higher level than her, all being Golden Core cultivators.

Lu Chang's smile widened.

The four of them often roamed the dense forest, outwardly appearing to be like everyone else, fighting Demon Beast and collecting heavenly materials and earthly treasures. In reality, however, they were all Demon Beast in disguise, secretly killing and robbing people, taking their storage rings, looting them, and trading with humans who were after their ill-gotten gains, thus obtaining huge profits.

They had originally come to discuss their next steps with the lake's owner, but unexpectedly, they encountered a little girl here.

She was Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator with a cute and innocent appearance. Her clothes were disheveled, and she was barefoot. She was probably a young lady from a noble Aristocratic Clan who had come here for training and had gotten separated from her guards.

This is quite common; after all, in such a vast forest, the highest level of cultivation couldn't possibly be limited to the Golden Core stage.

As far as they knew, there was a powerful elephant demon nearby, with a Nascent Soul Realm cultivation level and terrifying strength.

Lu Chang was not knowledgeable enough to recognize what the Immortal Fairy was wearing, but he was certain that the material was of extremely high quality.

A young lady from the Aristocratic Clan goes out on a training expedition; she'll undoubtedly carry many valuable items. Even if the noble Aristocratic Clan catches up with her, it's not a problem. This is a dense forest; life and death are in the hands of fate. Who can guarantee that nothing unexpected will happen during her training?

At worst, we can shift the blame onto humanity itself; after all, humanity has done this kind of thing quite often.

And this little girl is even cooking here; she's obviously carefree and easy to fool.

Lu Chang considered all the possible scenarios to ensure there was no danger before coming out to inquire about the Immortal Fairy's origins.

"We are cultivators who came to the lake to collect medicinal herbs. We didn't expect to meet you here, young lady. It's very dangerous here; there are Golden Core stage Demon Beast lurking around. Even we dare not stay here for long."

The Immortal Fairy recalled the lake master she had casually killed with a single punch earlier; he was utterly weak and posed no threat whatsoever. She shook her head. "Danger? Not at all."

"Then you haven't met them yet. Where are your parents? It's very dangerous here!"

"He went to challenge Golden Core stage Demon Beast. I was feeling a bit bored, so I ran away... Oh wait, he's not my master!" Immortal Fairy instinctively followed Lu Chang's words, but after realizing something was wrong, she quickly corrected the logical contradiction.

Lu Yang was just a junior; she was the elder.

Lu Chang and the other three exchanged glances, certain that the little girl had run away by stealth.

"Fish King, are you here?" Lu Chang secretly communicated with the lake's owner using his Divine Sense, wanting to inquire about the little girl's situation and whether they should cooperate to pull off a heist.

"Not here?"

Lu Chang called out several times with his Divine Sense, but the Fish King did not respond.

Could it have transformed into human form and gone ashore to hunt prey elsewhere?

Since that's the case, then it's just that the lake owner was unlucky enough to let the four of them enjoy this windfall all by themselves.

"Are you looking for fish?" The Immortal Fairy's words startled Lü Chang. He was communicating with the lake's owner using his Divine Sense; how could an outsider have detected it?

"Let's eat then, it's freshly made."

The immortal fire burned the tree branches to ashes, and then used the residual heat of the ashes to heat the beggar's fish.

The Immortal Fairy pulled a large chunk of mud from the ashes, cracked open the outer layer of mud, and tore open the middle layer of lotus leaves. A refreshing fragrance filled the air, causing Lü Chang and the other three to take a deep breath.

Having survived in the wild for so long, this is the first time I've smelled food that smells so good.

Is this the heritage of a large Lineage? Even the food they eat in the wild is different from what we eat here.

"Eat up, this is the fish you found." The Immortal Fairy's words seemed to come out of nowhere.

Don't let her status as a celestial chef fool you; she's still a chef. A chef's greatest joy is serving their dishes to guests.

Therefore, the Immortal Fairy generously shared the freshly made beggar's fish with the four of them.

The four of them thought the little girl was carefree and didn't suspect she would poison anything, plus the beggar's fish smelled really good.

They decided to finish their meal before sending the girl on her way, so they could be gentler with her.

The four of them found a large rock, sat around it, and enjoyed their meal.

Lu Chang took out chopsticks from his storage ring and gently picked up a piece of fish. Unexpectedly, the fish was too soft and broke easily with a little force. Helpless, he had to adjust his strength and carefully pick up another piece.

The fish melts in your mouth, feeling like a slurp of water; you can't even taste anything before it slides right down your throat.

The immortal fairy picked up two small twigs, rinsed them in the lake, and used them as chopsticks.

She carefully picked up a piece, put it in her mouth, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Mmm, delicious."

"Speaking of which, why do you Demon Beast transform into human form?" the Immortal Fairy suddenly asked. "Isn't it said that Demon Beast forms are more agile in dense forests?"

The four of them stood up abruptly, looking down intently at the Immortal Fairy.

"You know we are Demon Beast?!"

"I figured it out a long time ago."

"Then why didn't you react at all?"

Why should there be a reaction?

Just as Lü Chang was about to praise his courage, he felt as if the fish that had slid into his stomach had turned from water into fire, burning inside him and causing his meridians to break, leaving him weak all over, with large beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

Thump--

Lu Chang collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach and writhing on the floor. The other three also lay on the ground, staring at the seemingly harmless Immortal Fairy with disbelief.

The four revealed their true forms: Lü Chang was a fox, and the other three were a hedgehog, a snake, and a lynx.

The Immortal Fairy discovered that the fish meat was quite poisonous, even capable of corroding Lu Yang's wooden clone. If this continued, she would soon have to return to Lu Yang's side.

She secretly activated her Immortal Dao Fruit to dispel the poison from the fish meat.

"What kind of fish is this?! How did you poison it?!" Lu Chang's eyes widened as he tried to distract the Immortal Fairy, secretly circulating his internal energy to resist the poison.

After seeing through their disguise, he pretended to be nonchalant and even invited them to dinner, where he secretly poisoned the food.

This person is incredibly cunning!

"It's the fish king you're looking for! It tried to eat me, but I ate it instead," the Immortal Fairy said innocently. "You're looking for it, aren't you? It's a bad Demon Beast, don't look for it anymore."

The Immortal Fairy wrinkled her little nose, displeased with the Fish King's rudeness.

In High Antiquity times, what Demon Beast would dare to treat her like this? It was an act of blasphemy, deserving of death.

"Isn't the Fish King a pufferfish?!" Lu Chang was shocked. The Fish King was the master of this lake, a pufferfish at the peak of the late Golden Core stage, whose entire body was poisonous!

Most importantly, this little girl is only in the Foundation Establishment Late Stage; how could she possibly defeat the Fish King?

"Go! Kill her! She ate the fish and is fine, she must have the antidote on her!" Lu Chang and the other three temporarily suppressed the pufferfish poison with their cultivation and launched a sudden attack.

"And her storage ring, take that too!"

Four Golden Core cultivators ganging up on one Foundation Establishment Realm —he simply couldn't believe this little girl could win.

"So you're all evil Demon Beast like the big fish!" The Immortal Fairy was very dissatisfied with the four's attitude.

She was about to give the four people an antidote when she didn't expect them to try to kill her.