"You want us to take poison?"
"That's going too far!"
The square erupted.
If they could stomach the earlier conditions, this one meant placing their lives in someone else's hands. Who could accept that?
Everyone who had come here was a genius, proud and unyielding, the sort who declared that their fate was theirs to command, not heaven's. They would not bow even to the heavens. Expecting them to swallow poison willingly was a pipe dream.
"I've said it before: this is not poison. Once you fulfill your contract, the Golden Leaf Merchant Group will not only provide the complete antidote, but also pay compensation. The sum may not sound like much, but it would let you live in luxury for ten thousand years! And if any of you wish to serve our merchant group afterward, we can provide enough cultivation resources to take you to heights none of the sixteen kingdoms could offer!"
The old man paid no mind to the uproar in the square. His brows drooped low.
"Don't believe him!" A young man suddenly stepped out of the crowd, his bearing bold. "Once we take that poison, our lives won't be our own. Then we'll have to do whatever they say!"
"That's Duanmu, the genius prince of the Nethermoon Kingdom! He's only a little over two hundred years old, and he's already reached the middle stage of the Heaven-Slaying Realm!"
"I heard he's the emperor's favorite son and might inherit the throne. I never expected him to come too!"
"Right? I heard the same thing. He must be here to temper himself. Once he's strong enough, he'll surely be the next ruler of the Nethermoon Kingdom!"
Duanmu was well known, and many people recognized him.
"We cultivators defy heaven, defy our enemies, and defy every form of