Woe Poison Body

"What did that brat Yun Li mean by that?"

In the guest room at the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion, Yao Lao said indignantly.

"Resources? How could I, a dignified alchemist, lack resources? Teacher, am I not better than that Yun Shan or Gu He?"

"Teacher, Big Brother Yun Li doesn't even know you exist. Why get worked up over him..."

Yao Lao's childishness left Xiao Yan smiling helplessly.

"I say he knew I existed, which is why he deliberately said those things!"

Yao Lao was still full of resentment.

Xiao Yan assumed Yao Lao was just sulking, unaware that the two of them had stumbled upon the truth...

"I'd like to see what's inside this Storage Ring."

Yao Lao sent his soul power into the High-Rank Dou Zong's Storage Ring. Finding it full of medicinal ingredients, money, and such, he smiled confidently. But just as he was about to withdraw his soul power, he suddenly noticed something.

"This... This is?!"

Yao Lao's illusory body trembled, and for the first time, wild delight appeared in his eyes. With a thought, two incomplete pieces of parchment, one large and one small, appeared before them.

"Little Yanzi, if I'm not mistaken, you're about to strike it rich!"

The two scraps of parchment floated before Xiao Yan, their faint lines crisscrossing like fragments of a map and pointing toward half of some image. Where the scraps joined, the broken pattern formed most of a hazy, dim, demonic lotus.

"This is the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame! It's the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame!"

Yao Lao excitedly studied the scraps, murmuring to himself.

"The third-ranked Heavenly Flame, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, said to be capable of purifying all things?!"

Xiao Yan was astounded too.

"That's right. Unlike the mysterious Nihility Devouring Flame, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame is the most ferocious Heavenly Flame known to us. It's also the one people covet most on the Heavenly Flame Ranking."

"You lucky little rascal. You actually got two scraps at once, and they might contain information about the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame."

Yao Lao marveled, just as stunned by Yun Li's luck.

"Big Brother Yun, if this really is the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, I'll never be able to repay this kindness in my whole life..."

"Hey, you..."

He was about to say something when a strange, vicious aura suddenly burst out not far away. Yao Lao's expression changed drastically as memories he had buried long ago resurfaced.

"Little Yanzi, relax your mind. Let me take control of your body for a while!"

Yao Lao waved the scraps away, then turned into a streak of white light and entered Xiao Yan's brow. His weathered, indifferent eyes appeared strangely on Xiao Yan's youthful face.

"The Woe Poison Body! I should have realized!"

The Black Robe Yao Lao, rushing out, sighed inwardly. He had been wondering why that young girl had seemed so strange today.

"Xiao Yan" swiftly formed hand seals. Bone Spirit Cold Flame surged out like waves of fire, transforming into an enormous shield of flames that trapped and incinerated all the purple poison mist drifting into the air.

"A Dou Emperor expert?!"

The Misty Cloud Sect disciples at the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion cried out in alarm. Yun Zimo spoke calmly, stopping the disciples who wanted to rush forward.

Yun Zimo moved swiftly, reaching the sky in an instant. Blue-white Dou Qi burst from his body, forming a huge illusory Dou Qi barrier that enveloped the entire Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion.

"May I ask which senior has come to our aid?"

Yun Zimo kept his distance and called out from afar.

Yao Lao had no mind to answer. With a flash, he passed through layer upon layer of poison mist and touched the fingertips of his hand, wreathed in a line of pale flames, firmly against Xiao Yi Xian's lower abdomen.

His hands flickered with countless afterimages of seals. Yao Lao directed Bone Spirit Cold Flame to weave around Xiao Yi Xian's body. Soul power mixed with the flames of Dou Qi, eventually gathering into a white-flame seal that sank into Xiao Yi Xian's brow and disappeared.

"Teacher!"

Yao Lao, controlling Xiao Yan's body, stumbled. Xiao Yan instantly regained control of himself. Sensing Yao Lao's soul had grown weak and listless, he couldn't help crying out.

"I'm fine. I just used up a little too much energy. Hurry back to your room, or that brat Yun Li will get suspicious!"

As he spoke, Yao Lao's voice gradually faded. No matter how Xiao Yan called to him, he received no reply.

"Teacher, you're not usually one to meddle in other people's business..."

Xiao Yan murmured with a wry smile. He couldn't understand why Yao Lao had suddenly intervened.

He glanced once more at Xiao Yi Xian on the bed, still surrounded by poison mist, then quickly circulated his Dou Qi and fled.

"Phew~"

Taking advantage of the commotion in the pavilion, Xiao Yan slipped cautiously back to his room. Only when he saw that it was empty did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Little Yanzi."

Yun Zimo's voice suddenly sounded. Xiao Yan had just changed out of his Black Robe and jumped in fright.

"B-Big Brother Yun?"

Xiao Yan managed a strained smile and greeted him, his expression unnatural.

Yun Zimo's gaze was inscrutable, but he said nothing. He merely nodded, then told Xiao Yan that a minor incident had occurred in the pavilion, that he needn't worry about it, and that he should get some rest.

"I thought he'd found me out..."

Xiao Yan closed the door and panted for a while before softly calling for Yao Lao again.

"T-Teacher, your body!"

Seeing Yao Lao's nearly transparent soul, Xiao Yan cried out in alarm.

"The Woe Poison Body really is difficult to suppress. I have less than a tenth of my strength left, and performing this kind of seal was too much for me..."

Yao Lao shook his head helplessly, but said nothing about the state of his soul.

"Teacher, you used up your soul power, didn't you?"

Xiao Yan's eyes were full of heartache and guilt. If he weren't so weak, why would Yao Lao have needed to use the little soul power he had left?

Yao Lao's nonchalant expression faltered. Then he simply summoned a scroll, on which the words Woeful Poison Scripture were inscribed.

"When an old friend of mine passed away, he entrusted it to me and asked me to find someone to carry on his legacy..."

Yao Lao's voice was filled with regret as he gently recalled the glory of days gone by.

"Woeful Poison Maiden, you've committed countless atrocities! Today, I'll carry out Heaven's will and rid the world of a fiend like you!"

An old man in a yellow robe shouted righteously as he flew through the air. Ahead of him, a gray-clad woman wreathed in purple mist fled desperately, dodging his pursuit. Drops of blood fell from the sky, trailing down to the ground. Wisps of purple mist rose from them, and swathes of plants withered and died in an instant.

"Damn it! If only my old injuries had healed..."

The Woeful Poison Maiden cursed inwardly and accelerated again. Her body twisted, and eight illusory figures wreathed in purple energy shot out, fleeing in different directions.

"Damn it! Woeful Poison Maiden, you can't escape!"

The old man in yellow roared as he pursued the wrong direction, but could only turn back, raging helplessly.

"Oh, there you are!"

Two voices rang out at once. The Woeful Poison Maiden followed the sound and saw a handsome young man in white robes edged with purple, looking surprised. His smooth, straight black hair fell casually over his shoulders, and the breeze lifted it as he stood there, carefree and dashing.

"You're the Woeful Poison Maiden?"

Yao Chen curled his palm and pulled. A medicinal herb was uprooted and instantly landed in his hand.

"You! You're Yao Chen?!"

The Woeful Poison Maiden recognized this alchemy master, whose fame had recently soared across the Central Plains Continent.

"A renowned alchemy master, and you still steal from a weak woman like me?"

"Weak woman? Ha. If you're a weak woman, then there isn't a more formidable woman anywhere on the Dou Qi Continent!"

Purple and white Dou Qi collided. In that instant, the purple figure was sent flying, stirring up a sky full of smoke.

"Cough!"

The Woeful Poison Maiden couldn't help coughing up a mouthful of poisonous blood. A horrifying sizzling sound rose where it splattered.

"Two-Star Dou Zong, and gravely injured. My apologies."

Yao Chen took out a bottle of holy medicine for healing. If she hadn't been hurt, today's fight might have been much more troublesome.

"Yao Chen, this isn't over!"

Watching Yao Chen turn away, his long hair fluttering gracefully, the Woeful Poison Maiden thought to herself.

Later, as Yao Chen traveled across the Central Plains, the two ran into each other many times, and every encounter ended in a great battle. Relying on her strange constitution, the Woeful Poison Maiden could actually fight the rising star of the Central Plains, Yao Chen, to a standstill. Perhaps they recognized a kindred spirit in each other; after every fight, they would sit down and drink together.

"Three Peak Dou Zongs? More than a dozen Dou Huang experts!"

The Woeful Poison Maiden quietly repeated what Yao Chen had casually said.

"Nothing to worry about. They're just a bunch of clowns."

Yao Chen laughed lightly. Once he broke through to Dou Zun, he would deal with them.

A few days later, news arrived that a Dou Zong family had been wiped out and numerous factions had been reduced to ashes. Rumors outside claimed that several Dou Zun experts were responsible, but only Yao Chen understood that the Woeful Poison Maiden had played a part.

"Yao Chen, I'm about to die."

One day, the Woeful Poison Maiden sat beside Yao Chen and spoke matter-of-factly, as though declaring someone else's death.

The flames in Yao Chen's hand trembled, and he let out a soft sigh.

"Was it still too late? Is the Woe Poison Body truly incurable?"

Hearing the unwillingness in Yao Chen's voice, she knew he had searched everywhere, even breaking into the Little Pill Tower, yet still failed to find a perfect solution to the problem of the Woe Poison Body!

The Woeful Poison Maiden, on the other hand, smiled freely. Her life had been brilliant. She should have died long ago, yet she had made it to High-Rank Dou Zong. What was there to regret?

As she thought this, the Woeful Poison Maiden looked at Yao Chen. Perhaps there was something...

"This is the Woeful Poison Scripture, compiled through the combined efforts of you and me. If you get the chance, find someone to carry on my legacy. And if you can, help her resolve the hidden danger of the Woe Poison Body too."

At last, a trace of regret appeared in the Woeful Poison Maiden's voice. She gently caressed the Woeful Poison Scripture in her hand. It was too late—far too late for her...