Poison

Chapter 21: Poison

After returning from Huaiyin Mountain, Ning Ye followed his routine of checking the surroundings to ensure everything was in order before taking out the Jade Ridge Stone.

As a spiritual material, the Jade Ridge Stone had many uses; the Black and White Divine Palace mostly used it for forging artifacts, especially for crafting alchemy furnaces.

However, the Heavenly Mechanism Sect had blazed a new trail, pioneering the way of the Jade Talisman.

Jade Talismans were not like paper talismans; they were not divided into three tiers but rather by material quality, and the greatest advantage of a Jade Talisman was that it could be used repeatedly.

The method for crafting Jade Talismans was not necessarily unique to the Heavenly Mechanism Sect, but across the Nine Continents, few could craft talismans from jade. If this item were to surface, the Black and White Divine Palace could easily guess his origins. Therefore, Ning Ye was extremely cautious, using the Kunlun Mirror to scan repeatedly to ensure no one was watching before he dared to act.

As the Carving Knife continued to descend, a Jade Talisman gradually took shape; it was the Escape Light Talisman that Li Guiling had used that day.

The difficulty of crafting an Escape Light Talisman was extremely high, and with Ning Ye's current level, he could only barely manage to produce a ninth-grade talisman.

After finishing the talisman, Ning Ye took out the Demon Bead and the three blade-bones from the Blade-Bone Demon, performing a ritual refinement on them as well, forging them into a pair of oddly shaped claws.

This was the Earth-Breaking Claw; when paired with a Pass-Breaking Talisman, it could significantly enhance the terrain-traversing and destructive capabilities of the Ground Rat Puppet.

Since the last theft, the storehouse had strengthened its defenses, and Ning Ye was upgrading his puppets accordingly.

Stuffing the Jade Talisman into the belly of the Ground Rat and equipping it with the Earth-Breaking Claws, Ning Ye patted it and smiled, "Old friend, with greater power comes greater responsibility."

As the Hall Master of the Inspection Hall of the White Hall, for Fu Dongliu, the fewer things to deal with, the better.

But trouble never fails to arrive just because you don't want it to.

In the blink of an eye, another two months passed.

Fu Dongliu was in the middle of cultivation when a disciple rushed in, kneeling with a look of terror: "Hall Master!"

"What is the cause for such panic?" Fu Dongliu opened his eyes.

"A... a major disaster has occurred!" The disciple knew Fu Dongliu disliked panic, but he could not help himself.

"Speak."

"One hundred and twenty-eight disciples have been poisoned; eighty-four of them are dead, and the rest are unconscious."

"What?"

Fu Dongliu jumped to his feet.

White Hall, Inspection Hall.

Nearly a hundred corpses lay across the hall, a truly shocking sight.

With so many disciples of the Black and White Divine Palace dying at once, the situation was undeniably grave.

"How did the poison get in?" Fu Dongliu roared loudly.

"It was placed in the medicinal pills; today was the day for pill distribution," a subordinate replied, trembling.

"Medicinal pills?" Fu Dongliu was startled, suddenly recalling the incident of the missing medicine from several months ago.

"What kind of poison was used?" Luo Qiuzhen asked.

"Three-Wither Flower."

Luo Qiuzhen and Fu Dongliu both gasped, this time recalling the events from two months ago. Although Three-Wither Flower powder was not found only on Huaiyin Mountain, it was certainly the most convenient place to obtain it.

Most importantly, near the site where those five people fought to the death, there were traces of the Three-Wither Flower having existed!

Luo Qiuzhen whispered to Fu Dongliu: "Envoy Fu..."

"I know," Fu Dongliu interrupted him, "You are responsible for investigating this, but do not make any overt connections, understand?"

Luo Qiuzhen understood his meaning; if this were linked to the previous two incidents, Fu Dongliu would likely be held responsible for negligence. Therefore, while it must be investigated, it could not be linked to the past events.

Luo Qiuzhen said: "The people who went to Huaiyin Mountain eighty days ago are a lead."

"Investigate in secret!" Fu Dongliu said firmly.

No matter what, Fu Dongliu would not allow himself to be held responsible for negligence.

"Yes."

Luo Qiuzhen turned and left, heading off to find the records of those who had visited Huaiyin Mountain eighty days prior.

The Black and White Divine Palace was a massive organization with countless disciples; there were at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, people going to Huaiyin Mountain every day.

Finding the target among so many people would not be easy.

However, Luo Qiuzhen had his own ideas...

Inspection Palace.

Luo Qiuzhen thought aloud as he spoke: "Find everyone with strength below the mid-Cang Xiang Realm who is proficient in Wood Element Technique."

A disciple in charge of records was surprised: "Below the mid-Cang Xiang Realm?"

"Yes." Those responsible for execution were his trusted confidants, and he trusted them. Luo Qiuzhen said: "The five deceased were undoubtedly killed by a Blade-Bone Demon based on the cause of death and their injuries. However, based on the traces left behind, the five of them had gone through a period of fleeing before suddenly stopping for some reason to duel the Blade-Bone Demon; this is suspicious. Furthermore, all the trees near the site of the death match were destroyed. This does not look like the aftermath of a battle, but rather like someone used a wood-type technique to destroy the trees to eliminate traces. Therefore, this person likely lacks sufficient personal strength but used some kind of wood-type technique to trap the five of them, forcing them into a duel."

The disciple in charge of records immediately understood, nodding in admiration: "As expected of you, Senior Brother, your observation is truly keen."

Luo Qiuzhen did not mind: "It only has meaning if we find the person. Besides, this individual should possess some kind of ability to sneak and hide, and hmm, perhaps the ability to track as well, otherwise they wouldn't have found Li Guiling. Oh right, they should be someone quite outstanding among those of the same level."

Luo Qiuzhen continued: "If that person was picking the Three-Wither Flower at the time, encountering Li Guiling and the other four must have been an accident. To conceal the matter of the Three-Wither Flower, they killed them to silence them. Their style of conduct is cautious yet bold, remaining calm in the face of danger; such a person is certainly not ordinary."

A subordinate asked: "What if we still cannot find them under these circumstances?"

Luo Qiuzhen replied: "Then that would mean the opponent's abilities are likely being hidden... wait, no!"

Luo Qiuzhen suddenly thought of something, his expression changing drastically: "If it were a disciple in the early Cang Xiang Realm, they generally wouldn't have more than two types of methods. Yet the methods this person has displayed clearly exceed two."

Hearing this, everyone gasped in unison.

If a disciple possesses strength that does not belong to their current stage, there is usually only one explanation—a spy from an outer sect!

In that case, the nature of the matter would be completely different.

Luo Qiuzhen said with a gloomy expression: "It seems the situation is far more serious than I thought."

There was just one thing Luo Qiuzhen could not figure out: if it were an outer sect spy, why would they act so early? Generally speaking, the primary approach for an outer sect spy after infiltrating an enemy faction should be to first focus on cultivation, and only accept missions from within the sect to carry out sabotage once their strength reaches a certain level.

Yet now, a disciple who might not even have reached the mid Cang Xiang Realm is acting in such a rush; it really does not fit the style of conduct a spy should have.

Could it be that among those they poisoned, there was someone they absolutely had to eliminate?

Realizing this, Luo Qiuzhen said: "Thoroughly investigate those dead disciples, see who they usually associated with. If we can match them with those who entered and exited Huaiyin Mountain at the time, that would be for the best."

With a clear direction, everyone investigated quickly. In just a few days, they put together a long list, almost all of whom were in close contact with the poisoned victims, though some of the portraits had a red cross drawn next to them.

"What does this red cross mean?" Luo Qiuzhen asked.

"Oh, it just means they've been essentially cleared of any suspicion," a subordinate replied. "For example, this Ning Ye also entered and exited Huaiyin Mountain eighty days ago and held a grudge against one of the deceased, Chen Changfeng, but he was also among those poisoned—he just didn't die."

"Why didn't he die?"

"This person knows the Talisman Dao. After realizing he was poisoned, he promptly used a Detoxification Talisman on himself, which saved his life."

"I see, then there should be no problem." Luo Qiuzhen thought for a moment and then set the portrait aside.

But there were too many suspicious targets, and Luo Qiuzhen could not afford to be suspicious of every shadow and blade of grass.

Please recommend and add to your favorites to make the stats look better!