Cooperation and Trade (Part 1)

Xiao Family Back Mountain

"Brat, what was that just now?"

Not long ago, when Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian arrived at the back mountain, he had clearly sensed that this girl possessed only the cultivation of a Dou Zhe.

Then what was that pressure just now?

Was it a secret technique?

Or some life-saving method?

Seeing Medicine Elder's puzzled expression, Xiao Yi Xian knew that he had already noticed something. After all, if a former peak Dou Venerate could not even see through this, he might as well truly be useless.

What was more, Medicine Elder had been observing Xiao Yi Xian's every movement all along, his soul force firmly locked onto her.

Xiao Yan, standing nearby, was equally bewildered.

What was all this about?

Why could he not understand any of it?

Had he fallen behind the times?

Xiao Yi Xian twirled a lock of her long hair around her finger. Her deep eyes seemed filled with stories as she let out a soft sigh and said:

"I truly only have the strength of a Dou Zhe, but that does not mean I cannot unleash powerful strength. And finding Medicine Elder was the only method my master mentioned before he died."

Medicine Elder still had many questions after hearing Xiao Yi Xian's explanation. Although he had no idea what secret technique she might have used, his doubts remained.

He lightly scratched his chin and asked Xiao Yi Xian, "Brat, do I know your master? And how did he know I was here?"

Though he did not know whether Xiao Yi Xian could truly erupt with such strength, the Sword Box on her back was undeniably mysterious. For now, he needed to determine the relationship between them.

Xiao Yi Xian looked at Yao Chen and said somewhat sadly, "The old man did not know you, Senior, but he used his life to divine a path to survival for me. That path was you, Senior Medicine Elder!"

"Me?"

Yao Chen fell silent at those words. Someone capable of divination was certainly no ordinary expert, so why would such a person need his help?

Xiao Yi Xian looked at Yao Chen. Her sorrow faded as a faint smile appeared on her face. "I possess the Calamity Poison Body."

"What?"

Yao Chen instantly lost his composure. His soul body nearly fled into the Storage Ring in fright.

Seeing his reaction, Xiao Yi Xian smiled. "Do not worry. My Calamity Poison Body has only just emerged. It has not reached the point of exploding yet!"

"Oh, so that is it!"

Yao Chen immediately relaxed upon hearing that. His poor heart could not take it—surely this was not another case of someone about to explode coming to seek him out?

"Um, may I ask what the Calamity Poison Body is?"

Although Xiao Yan still had questions about the Dou Zhe realm and the pressure from before, he was even more curious about this Calamity Poison Body. What kind of constitution could make these two take it so seriously?

Medicine Elder pondered for a moment, then explained to the confused Xiao Yan, "Even the most skilled Poison Master may be poisoned to death by his own poisons. Yet there are always exceptions. On the Dou Qi Continent, there exists an extremely special constitution.

This constitution is known as the 'Innate Poison Body' or the 'Calamity Poison Body.' The appearance of such a poison body basically brings calamity."

"Innate Poison Body? Calamity Poison Body?" The unfamiliar terms left Xiao Yan completely baffled.

"You have spent all year cooped up in Wu Tan City, so naturally you do not know some of the secrets of the Dou Qi Continent. Back when I still had my body, a woman with the Calamity Poison Body once appeared on the Dou Qi Continent.

During one fit of rage, that woman turned an entire empire into poisonous land stretching for a thousand miles. Above that poisoned land, hundreds of thousands, perhaps even more, wandering souls lingered."

"Hiss..." Xiao Yan sucked in a sharp breath. That woman was far too ruthless, was she not? Hundreds of thousands of lives, harvested without the slightest mercy? Was she slaughtering chickens?

"You must understand that on the Dou Qi Continent, experts have rules of their own. What that woman did undoubtedly violated those unspoken rules.

After all, many experts had risen from that empire as well... Thus, the matter erupted. One expert after another went to seek revenge against that woman, yet one after another fell. Oh, and the weakest among those experts were at least Dou Ling.

Some were even stronger. There was a nine-star Dou Emperor on the verge of entering the Dou Zong realm." Medicine Elder spread his hands. "Unfortunately, every last one died at that woman's hands."

"Gulp..." Xiao Yan swallowed with difficulty and wiped away a cold sweat. That woman was too fierce. She truly killed people as easily as chickens and dogs.

"In the end, this matter finally drew out those old monsters living in seclusion. After a world-shaking battle unknown to outsiders, that woman, whose strength was only at the five-star Dou Emperor level, fled far away with grave injuries.

Meanwhile, one Dou Zong-level super expert among those old monsters spent a full ten years purging the poison before finally recovering completely."

"Impressive..."

Xiao Yan's throat bobbed. A Dou Emperor actually dared to challenge a Dou Zong expert, and it seemed she had even left a deep mark on her opponent. For someone like that, Xiao Yan could only use those two words to describe her.

More than twenty years after that woman fled, she appeared once again. By then, however, she had already entered the Dou Zong realm.

Having suffered a hidden loss once, those old monsters no longer dared to come out and pass judgment carelessly. They could only pretend not to know of her whereabouts.

"Twenty years... Rising from a five-star Dou Emperor to a Dou Zong in that time. That speed is downright monstrous, isn't it?" Xiao Yan said, shaking his head.

Upon hearing that, Xiao Yi Xian looked at Xiao Yan with utter disdain in her eyes. Did he know how fast his own cultivation speed was?

Devouring Heavenly Flames was like consuming vast quantities of experience medicine. Once he finished cultivating, his strength shot upward with a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

"Mm... That woman was indeed someone of astonishing talent." Medicine Elder nodded, then turned his gaze toward Xiao Yi Xian and softly said, "After that, while I was gathering a spiritual herb, I ran into that woman. A conflict broke out between us, and in the end... we fought."

Xiao Yan's eyes gradually widened. Hearing Medicine Elder vaguely reveal one of his past exploits, he hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

"What happened..."

Medicine Elder gave a soft chuckle and raised his head. A trace of wistful recollection appeared in his clouded eyes. After a long while, he smiled faintly. "The result was that I narrowly defeated her."

"..."

Xiao Yan drew in a deep breath, his heart filled with shock!

Meanwhile, Xiao Yi Xian silently indicated that this was the terrifying strength of the Calamity Poison Body, but...

"Mm." The smile on Medicine Elder's face slowly faded. He stared at Xiao Yi Xian for a long time before sighing softly. "I once fought that woman, so I have a deep impression of this Calamity Poison Body."

"The cultivation method of this poison body is rather strange. They do not need to cultivate Dou Qi over many years. If they wish to grow stronger, they only need to..." At this point, Medicine Elder's gaze turned to Xiao Yi Xian, his expression becoming somewhat strange.

"Eat... poison?" Xiao Yan was initially stunned by Medicine Elder's gaze, but then his expression abruptly changed as he cried out in horror.

"Mm, that is right... Eat poison. As long as they consume poison, their Calamity Poison Body will use a bizarre method to transform the toxic energy contained within it into an extremely special Poison Dou Qi."

Medicine Elder clicked his tongue in amazement and continued, "The more potent the poison, the greater the benefit to their strength. Therefore, they do not need arduous cultivation. As long as they keep consuming poison, they can rapidly increase their strength."

"What a... monstrous constitution." Xiao Yan sighed and gave a bitter smile.

"Of course, there is nothing absolutely perfect in this world. Although the Calamity Poison Body can rapidly increase strength by consuming poison,

poison is still poison. Relying on the Calamity Poison Body, they can suppress the poison from devouring their bodies. But when the poison they consume in the future becomes greater and greater, so great that even the Calamity Poison Body can no longer suppress the Poison Dou Qi within them,

then... the agony of ten thousand poisons devouring their body will make them slowly die amid the most painful torment." Medicine Elder shook his head and sighed.