After being poisoned, tears fell like rain. This was called "sorrow."
The whole body went limp, unable to move. This was called "crisp."
The poison gas had no taste or color. When released, it drifted over the body like a gentle breeze. This was called "breeze."
The poison Mu Chen had used was none other than Sorrowful Crisp Breeze.
This poison was a colorless, odorless gas, refined from several rare spiritual ingredients.
It was usually kept in a bottle sealed with a wooden stopper.
When used, the bottle was shaken gently, turning the poison into vapor that mingled with the air, undetectable to anyone.
By the time its victims felt their eyes sting, the poison had already reached their brains, and there was no cure.
The telltale sign of Sorrowful Crisp Breeze was its victims' streaming noses and tears.
The Hundred Spirit Continent's foremost alchemist, a human mid-grade spiritual medicine master who had emerged from the Endless Fire Domain, had learned that His Highness the Heir was heading out on an expedition to the Spirit Road, so he had given him this substance as a gift.
He had also explained that he hadn't invented it, but had merely happened to know how to refine it.
It had been created by the master of the Endless Fire Domain, the Flame Emperor.
Since his surname was Xiao and he was descended from the Dou Emperor Clan behind the Flame Emperor, he had been lucky enough to copy this unusual pill formula from his clan's archives.
As for why one of the Flame Emperor's casual creations from his youth shared its name with a strange medicine from the martial arts novels of my previous life, well, I wouldn't dare ask.
Ji Xuan had been fortunate from a young age. He once strayed into a mountain valley and swallowed several strange spiritual fruits, gaining a miraculous ability to resist most of the world's deadly poisons.
Thus, ever since entering the Spirit Road, he had never feared villains poisoning him.
Who could have guessed he'd fall victim to poison here today?
Even if it was merely a youthful experiment by the Flame Emperor, how could it be so easy to dispel?
Gradually, even Ji Xuan felt his whole body go limp, his hands and feet no longer obeying him.
Mu Chen's face showed sudden understanding. "So that's how it is~"
Thump, thump. As the two spoke, the last few kings who had been holding on through sheer physical strength finally gave in, swaying before pitching headfirst to the ground.
Only Ji Xuan remained standing, struggling to hold on.
As early as when Mu Chen had lured the enemy to the mountainside, he had secretly begun releasing the poison.
He had chosen this mountain for the ambush not because it was the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast's territory, but because of the wind direction. The northeast wind would conveniently carry the poison to his targets.
Of course, if a high-level spirit beast could finish off the enemy, that would be even better.
Ji Xuan had always been exceptionally alert, making it difficult to act.
So Mu Chen had exposed the boy's greatest secret. While Ji Xuan's mind was in turmoil, he had quietly dispersed the Corrosive Poison Water into the air, letting the mountain wind carry it to him. With that, he had succeeded in one fell swoop.
"An opening! Hand it over!"
Just then, a sudden shout rang out. A mysterious black shadow sprang up from among the fallen members of the crowd, moving with incredible speed straight toward Mu Chen, who seemed not to have noticed.
Whoosh! The crowd saw a flash of black, and the attacker had snatched the item and retreated.
"Hahaha, you fool! This is the antidote, isn't it?"
Qiu Beihai emerged into view, clutching the porcelain bottle. He couldn't help but rejoice.
His body swayed, as though he might fall over at any moment.
Clearly, this peak-level king was using some kind of secret method to forcibly suppress the poison.
When Mu Chen had taken a light sniff of the mysterious porcelain bottle, Qiu Beihai had already begun to suspect that it might contain the antidote to the strange poison.
But he hadn't acted then and there.
Instead, he had chosen the moment when everyone was most relaxed to launch a sudden attack. He'd pulled it off in one stroke, then retreated without hesitation. What a perfect plan.
"It seems I underestimated the heroes of the Spirit Road."
Though the item had been snatched from his hand, Mu Chen showed none of the emotions he had never revealed before—not even embarrassment or anger.
Instead, he gave another glance to Qiu Beihai, who had kept his intentions hidden all along.
When this man had led a team to hunt down the two of them, Luo Li had used the Luo God Sword to cut off three of his fingers. Mu Chen had thought he was all but crippled. Who would have thought he'd be so badly injured yet still retain his fighting spirit, even managing to surpass himself for once?
"Brother Qiu, give me the antidote!"
"My combat strength is the greatest. Only by saving me first can you save everyone."
Ji Xuan froze briefly, then was overjoyed. He called out in a deep voice.
"All right. I'll come save you once I've cured myself."
After a moment's hesitation, Qiu Beihai decided to restore his own ability to move first, then save Ji Xuan and free the strongest fighter on their side.
Quite a few of the poisoned victims looked delighted. They were saved.
Having spoken, Qiu Beihai, fearing that any delay might bring trouble, raised his head and tipped the contents of the porcelain bottle into his mouth, gulping them down.
Splash! At that very moment, a large volume of mysterious black liquid surged through the bottle's mouth into Qiu Beihai's stomach, entering his bloodstream, corroding his intestines and stomach, and melting his internal organs.
What Qiu Beihai had gotten wasn't an antidote at all. It was a death warrant!
"Ah! Ah!"
The porcelain bottle slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. Gripping his throat, he screamed wildly, letting out the roars of a wounded beast as he pounded the ground with all his might.
Within seconds, his body slumped to the ground and stopped moving.
Seeing this, a deep chill welled up inside Ji Xuan.
If Qiu Beihai had truly put everyone else before himself and saved him first...
At the thought, he couldn't help shivering.
"Ah, brother, I'm sorry. I think I took the wrong antidote."
Mu Chen cupped his hands and bowed, entirely without sincerity.
The antidote to Sorrowful Crisp Breeze did indeed come in a bottle as a strange gas with an unbearable stench, but he had long since stuffed solid material into his nostrils, which worked just as well.
The porcelain bottle in his hand had always been bait.
The porcelain bottle that had fallen to the ground was actually a spatial Spirit Artifact. For some reason, it shattered, and a large stream of black liquid poured down the slope.
It happened to wash over the people lying scattered across the ground.
"Ah! No, don't come near me!"
"King Xuan, save me!"
The human geniuses at the front were limp and powerless. Only their eyes and mouths could move. Now they stared in terror, desperately calling for help.
The mysterious black water flowed over them, turning several of them into corpse-water that sank to the bottom.
Ji Xuan, who had witnessed it all, felt his hands and feet turn ice-cold.
He murmured, "Corrosive Poison Water. It's Corrosive Poison Water. Mu Chen, you madman—you're completely insane."
At the southernmost end of the Spirit Road's world lay a strange river called the Dark River.
It divided the world and stopped all living beings from approaching, let alone crossing.
The strange substance flowing through it was Corrosive Poison Water, with its bizarre hue.
It was pitch-black all year round, had an intensely fishy stench, devoured living beings, and was highly corrosive, as though it had been forged from the myriad poisons beneath heaven and earth.
Whether human or spirit beast, anything that fell into it was quickly broken down until not even bone fragments remained, let alone a corpse.
Once, a human genius who refused to believe the warnings had tried to cross it on a Spirit Artifact and catch a glimpse of the world beyond the Dark River. In the end, both man and weapon vanished without a trace.
From then on, the Dark River became forbidden ground to all living beings. No one dared set foot there.
It was said that only vessels made with Rootless Stone could hold Corrosive Poison Water.
That was why the spiritual porcelain bottle, despite its high grade, had been corroded and shattered.
"I've been to the world beyond the Dark River~"
As if something in his memory had been stirred, Mu Chen spoke in a leisurely tone.
P.S. There's a brother called Shadow of the Journey who tips 100 coins on time every day. Can you really afford that?
You really don't need to spend so much. Wouldn't it be better to save those coins for when the novel goes premium, so you can subscribe? There's no need to tip every day.
Before you continue