Departure

"Woeful poison body? What's that?"

Xiao Yan frowned. This was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing.

Seeing Xiao Yan's reaction, Xiao Yi Xian set down her grilled fish, slowly rose, and began undoing her clothes.

Her actions startled Xiao Yan so badly that he shot straight up from his wooden stool.

"Xiao Yi Xian, what are you doing?! We were just talking! Why are you suddenly taking your clothes off?!"

Xiao Yi Xian merely rolled her eyes at him. "What are you thinking?! You might have no shame, but I do."

With that, Xiao Yi Xian opened her outer garment, revealing a slender, fair belly beneath her pink undergarment.

"See it?"

"Yeah. Pretty pale."

"Where exactly are you looking?! I meant this thing on my stomach!"

Her lovely face flushed slightly as she pointed at her abdomen in embarrassed annoyance. A seven-colored hidden line lay there like a blood vessel.

"The woeful poison body is also called the innate poison body. Once it's awakened, all I need to do is consume poison to convert its toxicity into poison Dou Qi and improve my cultivation."

Under Xiao Yan's astonished gaze, Xiao Yi Xian slowly put her clothes back on.

"So you asked me to gather crystal cores from third-tier poison-type magical beasts to concoct poisons for you to take?"

Only now did Xiao Yan understand why she had entrusted him with that task.

"I'm not like you. I have no talent for cultivation at all, but there are so many things I want to do and so many places I want to see. That's why I took this path."

Xiao Yi Xian had originally thought this was her opportunity, a chance to turn her life around.

Yet only after truly setting foot on this path had she realized that the woeful poison body harmed not only others, but herself even more.

The more poison she consumed, the more toxic her body would become. Eventually, she would turn into a walking source of poison. Wherever she went, not a blade of grass would grow, and all living things would fall into deathly silence!

For Xiao Yi Xian, who longed to become an alchemist to heal the sick and save lives, this was the hardest thing to accept.

"Do you really have to follow this path?"

Xiao Yan did not react too strongly. Instead, he asked in a calm voice.

Xiao Yi Xian's expression dimmed. "Once you set foot on this path, it's almost impossible to turn back. I'm constantly trying to restrain myself, but I really can't!"

Xiao Yan could actually understand. Even on Earth, where he had once lived, plenty of people had been controlled by similar poisonous substances, ultimately ruining their lives.

"But nothing in this world comes that cheaply. Even a special poison body like yours must have its drawbacks."

Xiao Yan's mind was keen enough that he quickly guessed as much.

At the very least, her inability to control the toxins within her body showed that she could not fully master this constitution.

"That's right. Although consuming poison can convert its toxicity into Dou Qi and improve my cultivation, the woeful poison body still has a limit. As it develops, that seven-colored hidden line will keep growing too. When it reaches my heart, my poison body will reach full maturity. And that will also be... the day I die."

Xiao Yi Xian held nothing back, telling Xiao Yan every characteristic of the woeful poison body.

Once the woeful poison body reached its limit, all the toxicity that had been suppressed would erupt in an instant, leaving its bearer to die in agony as countless poisons devoured their body.

"Is there really no way to fix it?"

Xiao Yan already regarded Xiao Yi Xian as a kindred spirit. He did not want the beautiful, kindhearted girl before him to die such a miserable death at fate's hands.

Xiao Yi Xian shook her head. "No. And as my poison body develops, I'll become a monster everyone fears. When that happens, no life will survive wherever I am. When that time comes... will you hate me?"

This was the first time Xiao Yi Xian had shown Xiao Yan her vulnerable side. In the end, she was only a girl whose fate had been full of hardships.

"Don't be silly. As long as you're still the Xiao Yi Xian I know, I won't hate you, no matter what you become."

Xiao Yan reached out and took her hand. This time, he did not release his heavenly flames to protect himself, showing his trust in Xiao Yi Xian.

"See? You're not as frightening as you think. I'm still alive and perfectly fine, aren't I?"

Xiao Yan smiled faintly, stirring something deep within Xiao Yi Xian's heart.

"Even a great beauty like you doesn't look good wearing a miserable expression all the time. Come on, smile."

With Xiao Yan's encouragement, Xiao Yi Xian finally managed a faint smile.

"I've decided. Once I leave here, I'll visit the Misty Cloud Sect first."

Xiao Yan had been wavering between going to the Misty Cloud Sect first or the Tagor Desert. After learning that Xiao Yi Xian had the woeful poison body, he immediately made up his mind.

Xiao Yi Xian's brows shifted slightly. "The Misty Cloud Sect? It's the largest sect in the Jia Ma Empire. With your talent, they'll certainly devote plenty of resources to training you if you join."

"I'm not going there to join, of course. Earlier, in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, I met a Dou Huang expert. Since I helped her, she offered me a recommendation and told me to visit her friend at the Misty Cloud Sect to learn alchemy."

Apart from a few intimate moments, Xiao Yan told Xiao Yi Xian everything.

"An alchemist at the Misty Cloud Sect? Pill King Gu He!"

Pill King Gu He's name was renowned far and wide. Across the entire Northwest Continent, there were no more than five sixth-rank alchemists.

In fact, the only publicly known ones were Pill King Gu He, a guest elder of the Misty Cloud Sect, and Medicine Emperor Han Feng of the Black-Corner Region.

"That's right. Gu He is a sixth-rank alchemist. With his extensive knowledge and experience, he's bound to know how to cure the woeful poison body!

But before that, you have to promise me you'll try to take poison only when you truly can't restrain yourself anymore. Don't let yourself die too soon."

Xiao Yan was not actually certain, but to reassure Xiao Yi Xian, he had to appear completely confident.

Although she knew Xiao Yan was probably just comforting her, Xiao Yi Xian still nodded obediently. "Mm. I promise. I'll make sure to stay alive!"

The two made their promise in that little mountain valley, even though both knew it might take many years to fulfill.

With the matter of the woeful poison body set aside for now, Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian lived together in the little valley for a time.

Because Xiao Yan did not fear her for having the woeful poison body, Xiao Yi Xian opened her heart to him completely. There was almost nothing they could not talk about.

Their relationship grew closer during this time as well. They seemed to have moved beyond friendship without quite becoming lovers, more like kindred spirits.

In the blink of an eye, another

month or so passed. Xiao Yi Xian's body had fully recovered, and the poison Dou Qi within her had also been completely converted, allowing her cultivation to break straight through to Nine-Star Dou Zhe!

Both Xiao Yi Xian and Xiao Yan knew that the time to part had arrived.

"It's about time I left. Every moment of delay makes your poison body that much more dangerous. Hopefully, by the next time we meet, I'll have found a way to cure your constitution."

Xiao Yi Xian nodded, then took out a sachet and gave it to Xiao Yan. "I sewed this sachet using flowers and herbs from this valley. The fragrance inside won't spoil even after ten years.

If I become a little poison fairy someday, these flowers and herbs will probably wither at my touch. This is the last gift I can give you while I'm still Xiao Yi Xian."

Xiao Yan accepted the sachet without saying much, merely nodding to Xiao Yi Xian.

"Then this is goodbye for now. Make sure you stay alive."

With that, Xiao Yan unleashed his Flying Dou Technique, becoming a streak of light that gradually vanished into the horizon.