He pulled the stopper from the bottle, tipped the pill into his mouth, and swallowed. His Adam's apple bobbed.
The next moment.
"Crack—"
A sharp sound came from inside Zhao Ming's body.
The whites of his eyes were quickly swallowed by black until they were entirely dark, no longer human at all.
He opened his mouth, but no human voice came out.
"Ghh... Ghhah..."
Black scales sprouted from his neck and quickly spread over his whole body. Countless insects crawled beneath his skin.
A rotten demonic aura spread outward from him!
The disciples below had never seen anything like it. They stumbled backward in terror, and the stands erupted into chaos.
"A monster... A monster!"
"Zhao Ming turned into a monster!"
"H-help!"
Li Pingsheng's pupils contracted.
Through Synesthesia, he "saw" that it wasn't just the medicine at work inside Zhao Ming.
The phantom of a black Gu Insect was in his dantian and qi sea, devouring his blood and qi, and his mind, turning him into a puppet who knew only how to kill and hate.
The pill had merely been the fuse.
Zhao Ming had long ago been turned into kindling, ready to be lit at any moment.
Li Pingsheng grabbed the stunned Yunmei and pulled her behind him, then shouted to Lu Qingshan, "Sorry to trouble you, Senior Brother Lu. Take Yunmei and get back! Quickly!"
Zhao Ming's strength had now far surpassed the Bone Refining Realm. This was no longer a fight between disciples.
But it didn't look at Li Pingsheng.
It stared fixedly at the Zhao Family's stand.
There was someone there it hated more than Li Pingsheng.
"Roar!!"
Zhao Ming suddenly lunged forward.
Straight at Zhao Zhentian!
"Men, stop that beast!"
"How dare you rebel against your superior?!"
The guards in front of the Zhao Family's stand were both frightened and furious. They could only draw their blades and charge.
But their usual swordsmanship was no better than paper before overwhelming strength.
Zhao Ming barreled into them, sending two guards flying. Their chests caved in, and they died on the spot.
The Zhao Family members were terrified and scrambled backward.
Zhao Zhentian stood there, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Only now did he finally understand.
That Black-Robed Gu Master had never had good intentions!
The help, the "good stuff"—it had all been a lie!
It was a rope that had long been looped around the Zhao Family's neck!
The Black Water Gang was kindling, the Zhao Family was kindling, and even the son he'd treasured was kindling!
It was all meant to start a great fire and offer it up to some unknown thing.
But he'd realized it too late.
"You beast! You beast! I'm your father. How dare you do this?!"
Zhao Zhentian forced down his fear, hoping to cow the monster before him by invoking his status as its father.
But Zhao Ming answered with a roar.
"Hmph, what bullshit. Didn't you just say... the Zhao Family had no useless son like me?"
"Then I... don't have a useless father like you either!"
"You forced me into this!"
"You never cared about how I felt, not once, from the time I was little!"
"All I ever wanted was to visit brothels and live quietly as a rich second-generation kid!"
"But no, you had to make me practice some cultivation technique!"
"I hate you!!"
Before he could finish, his arm came swinging down, trailing a foul wind.
Zhao Zhentian looked desperately toward the Hall Master on the high platform.
He wanted to beg for help, to expose the Black-Robed Gu Master's treachery.
But he couldn't get another word out.
Claws raked across his throat.
Blood poured out without end...
The Zhao Family patriarch had his throat slit by his own son, right before everyone's eyes!
Retribution had come so quickly.
The Martial Practice Field descended into utter chaos.
The disciples screamed and ran in every direction, turning the scene into a complete mess.
Li Pingsheng protected Yunmei and Lu Qingshan as they retreated to the edge of the Martial Practice Field.
The disciples' qi and blood were in disarray, and their fear had only grown. The formation, which had been steadily drawing qi and blood from every martial artist, had lost its rhythm.
Beneath the ground, something that had been suppressed seemed to have gained a chance to catch its breath.
This was the true goal of the mastermind!
Zhao Ming was a pawn meant to disrupt the sacrificial formation during the examinations!
Just then, a figure jumped down from the high platform.
He landed soundlessly in front of the transformed Zhao Ming.
The Hall Master of the Azure Cloud Martial Hall, Gu Zhenyue.
He wore a Bronze Mask.
Facing Zhao Ming, who was roaring wildly and exuding demonic energy, he merely raised a hand.
"Starting today, you're expelled!"
"Also..."
"The Azure Cloud Martial Hall isn't a place for you to run wild."
One punch.
A simple, unadorned punch.
All of the transformed Zhao Ming's roars stopped at once.
"Boom..."
Only a moment ago, Zhao Ming had been terrifyingly powerful, killing several people in a row.
Now his entire body split apart, inside and out, before turning into a cloud of black blood mist and scattering into the air.
Chunks fell everywhere...
Before the Hall Master, he hadn't even been worthy of a second punch.
Everyone was stunned by this power.
The Hall Master lowered his fist, as if searching for something.
The chaos on the Martial Practice Field had temporarily subsided, but Li Pingsheng's heart suddenly leaped.
His Synesthesia picked up something in the corner of the crowd.
The faint, chilly stench beneath Instructor Wu's sleeve hadn't faded when Zhao Ming was killed. Instead, it had suddenly grown stronger!
Instructor Wu had his head lowered, trying to slip away while everyone's attention was on the Hall Master.
Chen Tieshan, Zhao Ming, the poison, the hostages...
Everything connected in Li Pingsheng's mind in an instant.
That Instructor Wu!
Killing intent flashed in Li Pingsheng's eyes. He was just about to give chase.
"Vmmm—"
The Well-Guarding Bronze Talisman Old Qi had given him suddenly grew scorching hot against his chest. It was so hot it seemed ready to burn through his clothes!
His foot stopped.
The Dragon Locking Well!
The safety of the Dragon Locking Well mattered more than chasing Instructor Wu!
At almost the same moment, a deep boom came from the direction of the martial hall's rear mountain.
The entire Martial Practice Field trembled slightly.
Then a visible stream of black qi shot straight into the sky!
The Hall Master whipped around to stare at the rear mountain, his expression grave.
Old Qi wasn't here, which meant he was already fighting the enemy at the rear mountain!
Li Pingsheng hurriedly pulled out the Bronze Talisman from his clothes.
At some point, three small cracks had appeared on the scalding talisman.
One of the cracks pointed toward the Wealthy District in the Outer City!
Old Qi had said that if the earth-vein turbid qi went out of control, the Wealthy District, being an array point, would be the first to suffer.
That was where his home was!
"Pei Guang!"
The Hall Master ordered him, "Take all the disciples to the eastern wall and form a defensive array! Anyone who dares to run, break their legs!"
"If anyone gets black qi into their body, break their legs too, pin them in place, and don't let them move!"
Pei Guang loudly acknowledged the order and began to manage the panicked disciples.
After issuing his orders, the Hall Master turned his gaze to Li Pingsheng.
"What you're holding—is that the Well-Guarding Bronze Talisman?"
Li Pingsheng didn't answer. He only tightened his grip on the scorching talisman.
"If that old man chose you, then go."
Li Pingsheng stared straight at the Bronze Mask and asked the question that had been buried in his heart.
"You knew all along that the examinations used the disciples' qi and blood to feed the formation?"
The Hall Master answered.
"I knew."
Li Pingsheng suppressed his anger. "What about them? Did they know?"
"No."
"Then how is that any different from burning people as kindling?!"
The Hall Master was silent for a moment, then turned his Bronze Mask toward the black qi soaring into the sky.
"The difference is that if we don't burn this kindling, half of Qingyun County will die."
Before you continue