Xiao Yan: "..."
Just as she was about to offer a few words in her own "defense," a very rotund middle-aged man came hurrying out of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion. "Please wait, my lady!"
"Ahem!" Xiao Yan nearly tripped over her own feet.
Fortunately, it wasn't a certain Lord Leopard's classic "Fellow Daoist, please wait," but she still had a feeling nothing good would come of this.
Xiao Yan turned around and sized up the rotund middle-aged man. "What is it?"
"Er..." The man was clearly startled by Xiao Yan's "presence," but he remained true to his original purpose, his face wreathed in an ingratiating smile.
"My lady, I am the owner of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, commonly known as Mr. Yao. I hear you are a distinguished Alchemist?"
Xiao Yan looked at Mr. Yao, who was much shorter than her even standing straight and still kept himself slightly bowed. She said nothing, merely giving a small nod.
Having received Xiao Yan's "answer," Mr. Yao became even more deferential. "If you would do us the honor, my lady, please rest at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion. We have guest rooms as well."
Xiao Yan thought it over and didn't refuse. After all, passing up a freebie... ahem. Mr. Yao was only a Dou Zhe, so she wasn't afraid of him trying anything.
Besides, the continent's inhabitants generally held Alchemists in unimaginable respect and awe. The odds of Mr. Yao causing trouble were slim.
Staying at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion would also put her closer to her "prospective disciple," Xiao Yi Xian-though that didn't seem particularly useful.
"Lead the way."
"Yes, yes, of course. Please follow me..."
Mr. Yao arranged the best room for Xiao Yan, along with two maids and two high-level Dou Zhe to "protect" her at the door.
Then Wang Gang stayed, while everyone else... ahem, everyone was "invited to leave" by Xiao Yan.
She was a Dou Shi. Did she need Dou Zhe to "protect" her? What a joke.
Besides, though she was the Xiao Clan's third young lady, she was used to being alone and had none of the "habits" or "hobbies" common to young masters and young ladies.
After all, those years of doing homework hadn't been for nothing.
Having "maids" attending to her every need would only make her uncomfortable. Being alone was much more relaxing.
After preparing a medicinal bath and settling into it, Xiao Yan started chatting with Apothecary. "Teacher, what special constitution does Xiao Yi Xian have? You can tell me now, right?"
She no longer felt like arguing with Apothecary over the absurdity of "You actually spoke like a human." Instead, she went straight to the question that concerned her most.
"Oh, right, lass. I was just about to tell you-if I'm not mistaken, that lass should have a woeful poison body."
"...Teacher, could you use a different name? If we're both 'lass,' I can't quite tell who you mean..."
"Hmm... true." Apothecary thought it over. "Then you're 'lass,' and she's 'little lass.'"
Xiao Yan: "..."
Her forehead was covered in black lines.
Xiao Yi Xian, Little Lass-with Little as her surname, huh?!
Still, she could tell Apothecary probably had a bit of a hopeless naming streak, so she didn't dwell on it-as long as she knew whom Apothecary meant.
"A woeful poison body? What's that?"
"On the Dou Qi Continent, there is an extremely unusual constitution. People call it the 'innate poison body,' or the 'woeful poison body,' because..."
And so on, and so forth.
"...The more potent the poison, the more it benefits the growth of their strength..."
"Uh..." Xiao Yan's lips twitched.
With this special constitution, they didn't even need to cultivate to get stronger? They just needed to snort... ahem, take drugs?
And that wasn't all. As long as they had enough of the stuff, they could turn "quantitative change" into "qualitative change" and break through levels without any bottlenecks?
Wasn't this constitution... a little too ridiculously powerful?
"Of course, nothing in this world is absolutely perfect," Apothecary continued explaining to Xiao Yan. "Although a woeful poison body lets someone rapidly increase their strength by taking drugs..."
"Once they can no longer suppress the poison Dou Qi within their body, the toxins will turn on them, and they will die amid the pain of ten thousand poisons devouring the body."
Apothecary spoke lightly, yet her words made Xiao Yan shudder involuntarily.
"Then if we keep Xiao Yi Xian from using poisons to increase her strength, can she avoid that ending?" Xiao Yan asked.
"In theory, yes," Apothecary sighed.
"But you must understand that, for someone with a woeful poison body, the more potent a poison is, the greater its allure."
"Unless you prevent them from coming into contact with any toxins whatsoever, once the woeful poison body awakens..."
"Deadly poisons are several times more alluring to them than heavenly flames are to Alchemists. When they see a deadly poison, even if they end up like moths flying into a flame, they will throw themselves at it without the slightest hesitation..."
"Getting someone with a woeful poison body to stop consuming poisons-do you think... that's possible?"
Xiao Yan fell silent.
What the hell... why did this sound so much like those... "rock candy enthusiasts" from her previous life?
Except this was inborn, and the poison was real.
"Then once the woeful poison body awakens, is there any way to resolve it?" Xiao Yan continued asking.
If she wanted to train Xiao Yi Xian into a "high-level enforcer," she would certainly have to make use of her special constitution.
Otherwise, with the talent Xiao Yi Xian currently displayed-"seventh stage Dou Qi at seventeen or eighteen"-even if she became an Alchemist, she could never become any sort of "enforcer."
But Xiao Yan was certainly unwilling to send Xiao Yi Xian down a path to certain death for her own "selfish interests."
She might not count as a good person, but she would never "scheme against" and "exploit" an unsuspecting girl like that.
"There is a method, but it requires three heavenly flames, the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva, and the magic core of a seventh-rank Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast. Naturally, you have no hope of gathering all those right now," Apothecary said with a relaxed expression.
"...╬"
"But your big sister here has another method!" Looking rather pleased with herself, Apothecary raised a finger and waved it before Xiao Yan.
"...Go on." Xiao Yan decided to "forgive" Apothecary.
It was only right for a disciple to show a little more tolerance toward an unreliable teacher.
"Only a woeful poison body that finally becomes impossible to suppress and is 'forced' to erupt will die from the backlash, leaving not even a soul behind."
"In fact, the place where they perish will become a poisoned land stretching a thousand miles because of the massive eruption of toxins."
"But we can separate her soul before she loses control of her woeful poison body!"
Apothecary shaped a translucent little figure, then "pulled" an even more ethereal figure out of its head.
"A Dou Zong can absolutely leave behind a soul body. As long as we have Xiao Yi Xian abandon her original body before the backlash and leave the toxins inside it, they won't turn on her!"
Apothecary-the soul body herself-dispersed the little figures and spoke "enthusiastically."
"Then we'll give her a new body. Even if her soul carries a few toxins, they'll be easy to deal with! It'll only take a few pills!"
"Of course, changing bodies means she won't retain a rare constitution like the woeful poison body. But her Dou Qi cultivation won't drop much, and might even rise. She'll still be able to cultivate afterward."
"Besides, this is only a 'backup plan.' If you can gather three kinds of heavenly flames, the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva, and the magic core of a seventh-rank Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast, you can use the Poison Pill Method to bring the woeful poison body under control directly."
"Then the woeful poison body won't erupt, and she can continue enjoying the benefits of this special constitution."
Xiao Yan nodded. The first method clearly offered every benefit and no harm, but its materials were truly difficult to find.
Aside from the three kinds of heavenly flames, she had never even heard of the other ingredients, though her knowledge was still limited.
The second method also counted as a "fallback." Not only could it save her life, it would let her enjoy the woeful poison body's early advantages and rapidly reach the Dou Zong realm.
Even after changing to a new body, as long as its talent wasn't too poor, her future achievements wouldn't be too low. It was a decent solution too.
But...
From what Apothecary had said, it seemed every person with a woeful poison body in the past had "met a grim end"?
And this second method...
Although Xiao Yan very much wanted to ask Apothecary whether this method had been "inspired" by her detoxification of Nalan Jie-"cutting away" every "poisoned" part...
After a moment's hesitation, she chose to spare a thought for her own backside instead.
If she annoyed Apothecary enough, the woman might bring out that little leather whip again...
Before you continue