How to Prove a Colorless, Tasteless Poison

The Shangguan Family had originated from the Iron Sword Sect. Once some disciples reached a suitable age, they would descend the mountain, marry, and have children, then later send their offspring into the Iron Sword Sect, creating a mutually beneficial arrangement.

The Iron Sword Sect provided them with protection, while they paid over a share of their profits every year.

This gave the Iron Sword Sect a steady stream of money and resources. The Shangguan Family was not the only family under the Iron Sword Sect's protection; there were quite a few of them.

They had come this time to lend their support, which was why they had passed through here.

Thus, Meng Hu and Shangguan Ru were actually fellow disciples, though Shangguan Ru had not yet formally entered the Iron Sword Sect.

But she would be leaving with them this time as well, to formally receive instruction in the corresponding martial arts.

In the end, Lu Xingshi agreed to travel with them to Saibei. He did not think this was a coincidence; more than likely, the Imperial Court had once again conscripted the major sects.

Meng Hu and the others simply did not know it.

It would not sound good if word got out. They were one of the Five Veins Under Heaven, yet they were being dispatched by the Imperial Court. It was simply absurd. After all, they had always called those martial artists who pledged allegiance to the Imperial Court the Imperial Court's hawks and hounds, its lackeys.

Naturally, they claimed to the outside world that they were upholding justice.

And that was not entirely wrong. The people they were dealing with were not rebels, but those Heretical Practitioners.

That made it perfectly legitimate.

Lu Xingshi followed them into the Shangguan Residence. The Shangguan Family dealt in highly profitable businesses such as medicinal herbs, furs, and cosmetics. With the Iron Sword Sect backing them, they had both secured their footing and amassed considerable wealth. Lu Xingshi could tell just how rich the Shangguan Family was from the residence alone.

After entering, Meng Hu led Lu Xingshi to meet the Iron Sword Sect's martial uncle. Lu Xingshi had asked around on the way and learned that the man was known in the martial world as the Breeze Swift Sword, Cui Xuan.

After hearing Meng Hu's account, Cui Xuan thanked Lu Xingshi and patted his chest as he guaranteed that, by traveling with them, Lu Xingshi would reach Saibei without hindrance.

There was no condescension or suspicion. Instead, Cui Xuan was genial and amicable, presenting a harmonious demeanor. Meng Hu, on the other hand, received a harsh scolding.

After all, he was Cui Xuan's martial nephew. Luckily, nothing had happened. If something had, Meng Hu would have been blamed for the rest of his life.

There was indeed scheming and infighting within sects, but that was only when dealing with internal matters. When facing outsiders, they were still united. Malicious internal conflict was rare; once it appeared, it became sectarian turmoil.

Most of it was healthy competition.

Just like that, Lu Xingshi brazenly slipped into the Iron Sword Sect's seats.

Once the birthday celebrant, Shangguan Zhe, emerged in festive attire, the birthday banquet officially began. Lu Xingshi and the others had waited for about half an hour.

Shangguan Ru stood among Shangguan Zhe's many children, at the very end of the line. She was clearly his youngest child.

It made sense. No matter how energetic Shangguan Zhe was, he could not possibly be that prolific.

Then came his wives and concubines, though they merely showed their faces before returning to the inner hall.

Once the formalities were over, cups began to pass around the tables. Naturally, Lu Xingshi picked up his chopsticks as well. Since he was already here, it would have been rude not to eat.

But the moment the food entered his mouth, he found that his Health Points had dropped by 1%, only to recover again.

"This food... seems to be poisoned?" Lu Xingshi said softly.

Everyone from the Iron Sword Sect at their table stiffened at once.

Lu Xingshi was powerful, so the poison was nullified by his Inner Force and Physical Constitution the moment it entered his body. The others might not be able to do the same.

"Do you have proof?" Cui Xuan immediately asked. He had already noticed that Lu Xingshi came from an extraordinary background, so it was indeed possible that he had detected something.

"It is colorless and tasteless. There are too many poisons of this sort, so I cannot identify which one it is right away," Lu Xingshi said.

This was clearly some kind of high-grade poison. Lu Xingshi possessed max-level abilities related to such things, but a colorless, tasteless poison was not so easy to identify.

Otherwise, the term colorless and tasteless would be meaningless.

In truth, the main reason Lu Xingshi had failed to identify it was because his body metabolized the poison too quickly. It was gone before he even had time to examine it.

"How certain are you?" Cui Xuan asked.

"Wait a moment." As Lu Xingshi spoke, he stuffed another mouthful of food into his mouth. After sensing it for a moment, he said, "Try circulating your Inner Force to a point one inch below your navel."

Rather than answer how certain he was, he simply told Cui Xuan to try it himself.

Cui Xuan did not hesitate in the slightest. The instant he followed Lu Xingshi's instructions, he felt agony in his abdomen and spat out a mouthful of black blood.

"It is indeed poisoned. Everyone, use Young Friend Lu's method to expel the poison!" Having vomited that mouthful of black blood, Cui Xuan had expelled the poison, so he immediately instructed the other disciples to do the same.

But Cui Xuan vomiting black blood naturally drew attention. Then the Iron Sword Sect disciples began vomiting one after another, and the expressions of everyone attending the banquet changed.

"Someone poisoned the banquet. Everyone..." Cui Xuan rose to his feet and told the crowd how to expel the poison.

"B-but we have no Inner Force. How are we supposed to detoxify ourselves?" someone asked with a mournful face.

"Please, heroes, save us! We are willing to offer a hundred gold pieces as payment!" another person said, attempting to tempt them with money.

Most of those who had come to the Shangguan Residence for Shangguan Zhe's birthday banquet were local Powerful Clans, business partners, and the like. Very few of them practiced martial arts.

Their family legacies lay either in literature and scholarship or in commerce. They were not the sort who could endure hardship. It was better to hire guards than practice martial arts themselves.

They had simply never expected to be poisoned here.

"Go help them," Cui Xuan told the Iron Sword Sect disciples.

Only then did he look toward Shangguan Zhe. The eighty-year-old man rose to his feet shakily, seemingly intending to explain something.

But the moment he opened his mouth, black blood spewed from it. He had clearly been poisoned as well, and unlike them, who had only suffered mild poisoning, his poison had penetrated deep into his organs.

"Young Friend Lu, do you have a way to save him?" Cui Xuan naturally did not want Shangguan Zhe to die. Shangguan Zhe was the Shangguan Family's main pillar. Without him, how the Shangguan Family would develop in the future would become an unknown.

"We can't save him. He's old and frail, and the poison has been in his system for too long. There's nothing we can do." Lu Xingshi shook his head.

There was indeed a treatment method. He had seen it in a medical book from the Jade Library, but its success rate was less than ten percent.

Success would be fine, but if it failed, who knew whether they would try to extort him?

Besides, he did not believe the other party would happen to get that less-than-ten-percent chance, so saying there was no way was the best solution.

"Still, this matter is probably not so simple. It was a premeditated act," Lu Xingshi said.

Cui Xuan looked over the gathered guests, his expression equally grave. He did not know whether this was aimed at them or at the Shangguan Family. If it was the latter, that would be better.

If it was the former, it was likely the work of unorthodox figures from Saibei, intended to prevent them from reaching Saibei.

That meant the situation in Saibei was likely hanging by a thread.