Infant Shadow Poison

Chapter 18: Infant Shadow Poison

For Cai Di, who was at the Middle Stage of the Body Integration Realm, dealing with two cultivators who were at most at the Division Spirit Realm was as easy as reaching out to grab something.

Nangong Shenyao and the pretty young girl were tossed unceremoniously in front of Chen Xiao by a rather sullen Cai Di, who then stood to the side, nursing his irritation.

As a grand master of the Body Integration Realm and a generation's Poison Immortal, he had actually resorted to the tactics of a street thug, ambushing people from the shadows. If word of this got out, he might as well quit the business entirely.

Chen Xiao stood on no ceremony; he immediately stripped the storage ring from Nangong Shenyao's finger and said to Cai Di, "Do you have any particularly vicious chronic poisons on you? Feed some to this Nangong Shenyao."

At this, a smile finally appeared on Cai Di's face. Poisoning was his old trade, and it was far better than playing the thug.

Following Chen Xiao's instructions, Cai Di set up an isolation array within the room, sealed the young girl's six senses, and then suppressed Nangong Shenyao's cultivation base, forcing him to regain consciousness.

"Who are you people?"

The moment Nangong Shenyao came to, a flicker of terror crossed his eyes before he steadied himself. As a man in power within the Nangong Family and the younger brother of Nangong Shenhe, he was not so easily broken.

He was not foolish enough to use his status in the Nangong Family to threaten them; since these three masked figures dared to come here, they naturally did not fear the Nangong Family.

A sinister smile spread across Cai Di's face. He flipped his right hand, and a black pill appeared in his palm. With a flick of his finger, he shot the pill directly into Nangong Shenyao's body.

Nangong Shenyao's expression changed violently. The moment the pill entered his body, it transformed into a black flame that began to burn within his Nascent Soul. In an instant, his originally golden Nascent Soul turned pitch black.

"Infant Shadow Poison! You are the Poison Immortal, Cai Di!"

Feeling the change in his Nascent Soul, Nangong Shenyao let out a sharp cry, his tone filled with horror.

Infant Shadow Poison followed the soul like a shadow; it did not harm the physical body, only the Nascent Soul. Once the poison took effect, the victim's three souls and seven spirits would be permanently imprisoned within the Nascent Soul, never to be reincarnated, and the physical body would become a puppet—a Poison Chief for the poisoner.

"Nangong Shenyao, you have some insight to recognize this Seat's Infant Shadow Poison. Since the last great war, this Seat's stock of Poison Chiefs has been depleted, and I am in dire need of new ones to replenish them."

The Poison Immortal, Cai Di, let out a cackling, eerie laugh.

Hearing the Poison Immortal's words, even Chen Xiao and Mengmeng could not help but shiver. This old man was truly terrifying; the fact that he could refine living cultivators into Poison Chiefs explained why he was so intolerable to the rest of the Immortal World.

However, despite his words, the Poison Immortal did not take further action. After all, this Nangong Shenyao was of great use to Chen Xiao. If he were refined into a Poison Chief, he would become a mindless corpse, useless for anything other than combat.

By now, Nangong Shenyao's eyes were vacant, and his entire body was trembling like a sieve. It was likely that even Nangong Shenhe would be unable to maintain his composure in such a situation.

There was no cultivator who did not fear death; otherwise, why would they cultivate? For most, the ultimate dream of becoming an immortal was simply to live a little longer.

Yet, there were things in this world far more terrifying than death: being unable to live, yet unable to die. Clearly, being refined into a Poison Chief was one of them.

"However, this Seat is a man of mercy. Considering how difficult it is to reach the Division Spirit Realm, I do not intend to truly refine you into a Poison Chief."

Following this, Cai Di's tone shifted as he spoke.

Before Nangong Shenyao could even heave a sigh of relief, he heard Cai Di continue to himself, "But the Infant Shadow Poison is already within your Nascent Soul. With a single thought from me, I can turn you into a Poison Chief at any time."

Nangong Shenyao rolled his eyes back and collapsed limply to the floor.

"Lord Poison Immortal, is there anything you require me to do?" After a while, Nangong Shenyao regained his senses. He was no fool; being sent here by Nangong Shenhe meant he possessed his own measure of capability.

After a brief moment of thought, Nangong Shenyao realized that the Poison Immortal was likely trying to control him to serve some purpose.

"You're a smart one." Cai Di casually tossed the storage ring Chen Xiao had stripped earlier back to Nangong Shenyao and said, "Put all the Heavenly Mystery Stones mined by your family at Mingyu Mountain into this. Then, break the blood contract on the ring."

Hearing this, Nangong Shenyao felt the world go black, and he nearly fainted. Though he was extremely reluctant, he feared becoming a Poison Chief even more. He followed the Poison Immortal's orders, gathering all the Heavenly Mystery Stones from the mine and placing them into the ring.

Nangong Shenyao felt like weeping; between his own life and the family's interests, he chose his life.

"Not bad, not bad. Very good."

The Poison Immortal nodded in satisfaction. Throughout this, Chen Xiao and Mengmeng remained masked, following Cai Di like attendants without speaking a word, letting Cai Di lead the entire affair.

He feared that if their identities were exposed, it would trigger a backlash from Nangong Shenyao. After all, the Poison Immortal Cai Di had no personal grudge against the Nangong Family, and Nangong Shenyao likely assumed he was merely short on Heavenly Mystery Stones and had come to rob them.

However, the Nangong Family had been plotting against the Chen Clan from the start. If Nangong Shenyao discovered the shadow of the Chen Clan behind this, it would risk the annihilation of their entire family. Who knew if he would fight to the death and leak the information?

If that happened, the situation for both the Chen Clan and Chen Xiao would become dire.

Everything had to be accomplished through Cai Di's hands.

"Lord Poison Immortal, can you remove the poison from my body now?"

After finishing the task, Nangong Shenyao asked cautiously.

"Remove it? Why would I do that?" Cai Di let out a cold snort. "This Seat requires a vast amount of Heavenly Mystery Stones for my cultivation. From today on, I will come here to collect on this day every month. Just give me ninety percent of the mine's monthly output."

"Don't try any tricks, or this Seat will turn you into my Poison Chief immediately!"

At this, Nangong Shenyao could no longer bear the blow; his eyes rolled back, and he fainted completely.

Yet, in the moment before he lost consciousness, he felt a secret sense of relief. Fortunately, the Nangong Family's main mines were not located here. If they were, it would have severed the foundation of the entire family, and he would have chosen to detonate his Nascent Soul rather than agree.

The Nangong Family could afford the loss of a single mine at Mingyu Mountain.

However, Nangong Shenyao did not know that from this moment on, he had become a nail driven into the Nangong Family by Chen Xiao. With the Infant Shadow Poison in his system, a single thought from Cai Di could turn him into a terrifying Poison Chief.

"The Nangong Family is truly wealthy."

Chen Xiao inspected the Heavenly Mystery Stones in the ring, his expression slightly grim. There were seventy thousand high-grade Heavenly Mystery Stones alone—more than the total annual output of the several large mines belonging to the City Lord's Mansion.

This could only mean one thing: the Nangong Family had clearly tapped into the main vein of Mingyu Mountain.

"The Nangong Family, they are certainly not simple."

Chen Xiao pondered inwardly. The Immortal Martial Sect seemed to hold some fear of this family, and now they dared to touch the spiritual veins of Mingyu Mountain. Could it be they did not fear the Glazed Heaven Palace coming to cause them trouble?