The Solution

"Such a mischievous little girl."

Looking at Xiao Yi Xian's delicate figure, Xiao Chen spread open his palm, revealing a pinch of brown powder.

The powder's composition was simple: Hundred Itch Flower, a flower that even Demon Beasts were unwilling to touch.

It had only one effect: making one's entire body itch unbearably. Without the strength of a Da Dou Shi, it could not be suppressed.

However, Xiao Yi Xian had not used much poison on Xiao Chen. The itching would end after roughly half an hour.

After resting, the group set out once more. This stretch of the journey was much quieter than the previous one. Although they still encountered two waves of Demon Beast attacks, neither caused much commotion.

As the sky gradually darkened, the group finally arrived safely at the herb-gathering party's destination: a sunken basin carpeted with medicinal herbs. All kinds of herbs grew within the basin. Upon entering, the fragrant medicinal scent drifting through the air made one feel refreshed after taking a deep breath.

"Everyone, set up camp here. Be careful not to damage the herbs around us." Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Xiao Yi Xian turned and smiled gently at everyone.

At Xiao Yi Xian's words, the surrounding mercenaries immediately responded loudly before enthusiastically setting up their tents.

"Tsk, tsk. This girl really is a little enchantress."

Xiao Chen clicked his tongue inwardly. Xiao Yi Xian's standing among these mercenaries was even higher than he had imagined.

"If sir has no other important matters, you may also gather some medicinal herbs. There are also five thousand gold coins in this card, which shall serve as payment for your trip. It is not much, so I hope sir will forgive us."

Just as Xiao Chen was preparing to leave without saying goodbye, an alchemist from Ten Thousand Medicine House came up to him and spoke respectfully.

"Alright, then thank you."

Xiao Chen did not refuse. He directly reached out and accepted the black card, then thanked him.

"Oh, right. Give this to Miss Xiao Yi Xian."

With that, he tossed a finger-sized jade bottle into the alchemist's hand. Before the other man could ask anything, Xiao Chen waved his hand, turned, and left.

Watching Xiao Chen depart without the slightest hesitation, the alchemist felt somewhat helpless.

He had originally wanted to befriend him, but it now seemed that Xiao Chen had no such intention at all.

"What is this?"

Carefully examining the jade bottle in his hand, the alchemist muttered curiously.

However, he did not dare open it. Instead, he headed straight toward Xiao Yi Xian, who was gathering herbs.

"Miss Xian'er, the Dou Shi asked me to give this to you."

"Ah! Thank you for the trouble."

Taking the jade bottle from the alchemist, Xiao Yi Xian's brows knit slightly as unease rose in her heart. She then removed the stopper.

A trace of embarrassed anger appeared on her beautiful face.

Inside the jade bottle was the very brown powder she had used on Xiao Chen not long ago.

As the bonfires burned, night slowly descended over the mountains. Darkness shrouded the forest, and the stretching branches and leaves resembled ferocious beasts baring their fangs and claws.

As night fell, the camp gradually quieted. Aside from the mercenaries keeping watch, only the faint crackling of firewood bursting in the flames remained. In the silent darkness, a tent suddenly stirred slightly. A graceful black shadow quietly slipped out, then noiselessly passed through a gap in the guards' watch and onto the dark, steep cliff.

Under the faint moonlight, a slender figure flickered in and out of sight within the forest.

It was none other than Xiao Yi Xian.

She crouched down and gathered some dry branches from the ground, then swiftly tied them together into a torch. She sprinkled a little pale yellow powder over it, took out a fire starter from her clothes, and lit it.

Next, she took out a long rope and secured it to the cliff.

After tugging hard on the rope and confirming that it was sound, she finally relaxed. Holding the torch aloft, she tied the rope around herself and began climbing down the cliff.

After more than half an hour, Xiao Yi Xian finally reached the middle of the cliff.

She swept her gaze over her surroundings, pondered briefly, then circulated her Dou Qi and leaped toward a dark corner in the distance.

Another half hour later, Xiao Yi Xian appeared before a cave.

The cave entrance was not wide, only enough for two or three people to pass through. The interior was pitch-black, yet a faint glow seeped out from within, giving it a mysterious, secluded air.

There were many marks around the cave entrance that looked as though they had been carved by blades. Perhaps due to the passage of time, they had become extremely blurred. If not for Xiao Yan's sharp eyesight, they might truly have gone unnoticed.

Walking through the quiet, dark cave, a faint chill wrapped around her. Within the silent passage, only the subtle footsteps of two people could be heard.

The gloomy surroundings made Xiao Yi Xian involuntarily wrap her arms around herself.

However, when she saw the faint halo of light in the distance, panic suddenly seized her heart. Ignoring her fear, she hurried forward.

"Since you're here, come in!"

Just as Xiao Yi Xian bit her red lips in despair and stared at the slightly opened stone door, from which dazzling light spilled, preparing to quietly leave—

A somewhat familiar voice suddenly rang out from within the stone door.

"That voice... it's him."

Xiao Yi Xian recognized the owner of the voice almost instantly.

Without the slightest hesitation, she turned around, circulated her Dou Qi, and quickly fled.

"Sigh, disobedient little girls deserve a spanking."

Boom!

The stone door flew open, and a terrifying suction force swept out from within. It directly caught Xiao Yi Xian as she fled, then, amid her scream, dragged her into the cave.

"Don't come any closer! You may be a Dou Shi, but Ten Thousand Medicine House isn't easy to provoke either."

The moment she entered the cave, Xiao Yi Xian landed steadily within a stone chamber.

The stone chamber looked simple and spacious. Moonlight stones used for illumination were embedded in the walls. At the center of the chamber stood a chair, upon which sat a skeleton. Its sunken skull had fallen onto its pale thigh bone, and in this quiet atmosphere, the sight was particularly eerie.

Before the chair stood a long, broad bluestone table. Three opened stone boxes were neatly arranged atop it. Clearly, the items within had already been taken.

Furthermore, in the three corners of the stone chamber were piles of glittering gold coins and other valuable treasures. The number of gold coins alone was likely no less than several hundred thousand.

Seeing the young man in the cave smiling as he looked her up and down, Xiao Yi Xian panicked. A clump of black powder appeared in her jade-like hand.

This was her greatest trump card. The poison within was potent enough that even a Dou Shi expert would be caught off guard if careless.

"Put away those useless little tricks of yours. You should know they are useless against me."

The young man spoke helplessly.

The young man was naturally Xiao Chen. With his habit of never leaving empty-handed, the moment he left the group, he came straight to this cave containing the remnant map of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame from the original story.

"Finders keepers. This belongs to you."

As he spoke, Xiao Chen casually gave the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture to Xiao Yi Xian.

"What is this?"

Suppressing the panic in her heart, Xiao Yi Xian reached out and caught the scroll Xiao Chen had tossed her, instinctively asking the question.

"A poison scripture that records how to concoct poisons."

Before his words had even faded, Xiao Yi Xian's beautiful eyes suddenly lit up. Without questioning him, she hurriedly began flipping through it.

"Turn to the last page."

Xiao Chen suddenly said coldly.

Xiao Yi Xian froze slightly. She glanced at him, but did not ask anything or refuse. She directly turned to the final page.

"Calamity Poison Body, a strange poison constitution capable of rapidly increasing one's strength by consuming poisons. The way to identify a Calamity Poison Body is a thin, hidden seven-colored line on the lower abdomen. The seven-colored line will grow according to the concentration of poison contained within the body. When it extends to the heart, it will mark the strongest stage of the Calamity Poison Body. At the same time, one will suffer the agony of Myriad Poisons Devour Body."

Below this line of small text, the harm caused by the Calamity Poison Body was also listed in great detail.

"You... already knew, didn't you?"

After a long while, Xiao Yi Xian closed the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture, her pretty face devoid of all color.

"What... are you planning to do with me?"

Since he could see through the fact that she possessed a Calamity Poison Body, Xiao Yi Xian would never believe that Xiao Chen was merely a Dou Shi.

Even so, she had no intention of meekly awaiting death.

"What else would I do? Save you, of course! I can't just kill you for no reason, can I?"

Xiao Chen looked extremely helpless upon hearing Xiao Yi Xian's words.

"You... what did you say? Save me? You really have a solution?"

Xiao Yi Xian could not believe it, yet her eyes still looked toward Xiao Chen hopefully.

"I do, but how do you plan to repay me?"

At those words, Xiao Chen's eyes lit up as he spoke.

"Shameless scoundrel."

At the same time, a woman's disgusted rebuke sounded in his mind.

"Then what do you want? Let me make this clear first: giving myself to you is absolutely impossible. I would rather die than suffer such humiliation."

Xiao Yi Xian froze for a moment, then bit her red lips and spoke with some difficulty.

"You're overthinking it. I'm really not interested in you."

Black lines appeared across Xiao Chen's forehead. Then, under Xiao Yi Xian's embarrassed and furious, murderous gaze, he pointedly glanced at the rather flat peaks on her chest.

For a moment, Xiao Yi Xian was overcome with humiliation and anger. If she could defeat him, she would not have minded teaching Xiao Chen a proper lesson.

She was not some peerless beauty, but no man had ever dared say he was not interested in her—especially not with the disdain in Xiao Chen's gaze.

Who are you looking down on? I'm just young. It's not that I can't grow; I simply haven't grown yet.

Xiao Yi Xian could only scream such words in her heart. In truth, she could never possibly say them aloud.

"This is the solution. Take a look."

With a flick of his finger, a dark gray scroll appeared in Xiao Chen's palm, and he tossed it to Xiao Yi Xian.

The scroll landed in her hands. Excitement flashed through Xiao Yi Xian's eyes, and she carefully unrolled it.

"Calamity Poison Body is a particularly strange special constitution. It is born with deadly poison, and anyone who touches it dies. One must rely on consuming poison to survive. However, the more poison consumed, the denser the toxins within the body become. Once the toxins gather to a certain extent, they will erupt completely. When that happens, all life within a thousand miles will be extinguished. This poison constitution is exceedingly rare and comes in two forms: innate and acquired. The innate form is present from birth, while the acquired form is artificially created. Naturally, the former is more powerful and has no method of cure. Yet, if one encounters the right opportunity, the poison constitution can be completely controlled, allowing the poison within the body to be manipulated as one wishes.

"This method of control is called the Poison Pill Method. It gathers all the toxins accumulated within the body and ultimately condenses them into a Poison Pill. Once the Poison Pill is formed, the Calamity Poison Body will become a truly terrifying constitution. There have been several disasters on the continent caused by Calamity Poison Bodies, but none of those who possessed them had ever reached this stage. The reason was simple: the materials required for the Poison Pill Method were too difficult to find."

"To refine a Poison Pill, three things are broadly required. First, three kinds of Heavenly Flames. Second, the Demon Core of a seventh-tier Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast. Third, Bodhi Body Transformation Saliva."