"You answer."
Xiao Chen turned his gaze toward He Meng.
The sudden turn of events left He Meng's face filled with horror.
This boy, who looked only in his teens, had killed their leader with a single stroke?
While he stood there stunned.
Squelch!
Sword light flashed.
He Meng's throat was slit, and his body crumpled to the ground.
His eyes were wide open, unable to close even in death.
"Who exactly are you? Why are you killing people for no reason?"
Gan Mu, the only one left, shouted in shock and fury. He had already been frightened out of his wits, his mind collapsing.
Xiao Chen answered him with a merciless stroke of his sword.
Squelch!
His head flew high into the air, while his body crashed to the ground.
"Do I need a reason to kill you?"
Just then, Xiao Chen's gaze shifted, and he turned to look toward the front hall.
There stood Xiao Yi Xian, her delicate hand lightly covering her rosy lips, her pretty face filled with shock.
Xiao Chen recognized her at a glance.
She had always been a lingering regret in Xiao Chen's heart.
"So you were preparing to save yourself?"
Xiao Chen smiled faintly.
Xiao Yi Xian, however, seemed too frightened to speak at all.
Knowing Xiao Yi Xian would be afraid, Xiao Chen put away his sword, his expression gradually softening. "I came specifically to find you."
Half an hour later, after finishing the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture in her hands, Xiao Yi Xian looked up at Xiao Chen, her eyes moist.
"So... I have the woeful poison body?"
"The woeful poison body?" The unfamiliar term left Xiao Yan, who stood nearby, utterly bewildered.
Xiao Chen glanced at Xiao Yan and said softly, "On the Dou Qi Continent, there is an extremely special constitution known as the innate poison body, or the woeful poison body..."
"Because its appearance essentially heralds calamity."
"The way people with this poison body cultivate is rather strange. They don't need to spend years cultivating Dou Qi. To become stronger, all they need to do is..."
At this point, Xiao Chen's expression grew slightly odd. "Eat poison."
"Eat poison?!" Xiao Yan froze for a moment, then his expression abruptly changed, horror spreading across his face.
"Yes, that's right... eat poison. Once they swallow poison, their woeful poison body converts the toxic power it contains into an extremely special poison Dou Qi through a bizarre process."
Xiao Chen paused before continuing, "The more potent the poison, the more it benefits their strength. So they don't need to cultivate painstakingly. They only need to keep eating poison to rapidly increase their strength."
"What an... absurd constitution." Xiao Yan sighed softly with a bitter smile.
Xiao Chen shook his head and sighed. "Of course, nothing in this world is absolutely perfect. Although the woeful poison body allows them to rapidly increase their strength by eating poison, poison is still poison. While their woeful poison body can stop its toxic power from devouring them, as they consume more and more poison, it will eventually reach a point where even their woeful poison body can no longer suppress the poison Dou Qi within them. When that happens... the agony of ten thousand poisons devouring their bodies will make them die slowly amid the most excruciating torment."
At the thought of that agony worse than death, Xiao Yan shuddered slightly.
Looking with some sympathy at the downcast Xiao Yi Xian before him, he hurriedly asked, "Isn't there any way to resolve it?"
"Naturally, gaining strength so quickly comes at a price. Nothing in this world comes without effort," Xiao Chen said mildly.
His eyes shifting, Xiao Yan asked, "Then if she gives up gaining strength by consuming poison, could she avoid that ending?"
"In theory, yes."
Nodding, Xiao Chen looked at Xiao Yan's slightly relieved expression and sighed. "Unfortunately, you must understand that for those with the woeful poison body, the more potent a poison is, the stronger its attraction becomes. They will even kill and rob others to obtain deadly poisons. In their eyes, deadly poison is as alluring as Heavenly Flames are to alchemists. They will try every possible means to obtain it. Even if they end up like moths flying into a flame, they will plunge in without hesitation... you want her to stop consuming poison. Do you think that's possible?"
"If she has never consumed poison, her woeful poison body won't awaken. But once she consumes it, even by accident, her woeful poison body will truly awaken. After that, the situation I described will arise..." Xiao Chen sighed regretfully.
Xiao Yan's expression brightened, and he hurriedly turned to Xiao Yi Xian. "You haven't taken any poison, have you?"
A bitter smile appeared on Xiao Yi Xian's face as she said softly, "Just now, knowing I couldn't escape Mu She's clutches, I intended to kill myself with poison, so..."
His mouth slightly open, Xiao Yan's expression shifted repeatedly.
After a long while, he lowered his head dejectedly.
According to the ancestor, Xiao Yi Xian's woeful poison body had already awakened. Those deadly poisons would be as alluring to her as drugs were to an addict.
There truly seemed little chance of making her give them up.
Xiao Yi Xian opened the final volume of the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture and stared blankly at it.
A particularly conspicuous passage was written there.
"The woeful poison body is an unusual poison constitution that allows one to rapidly increase one's strength by consuming poison. It can be identified by a thin seven-colored hidden line on the lower abdomen. This seven-colored line grows as the concentration of toxic power within the body increases. When it extends to the heart, the woeful poison body reaches its strongest state, but its bearer will also suffer the agony of ten thousand poisons devouring the body."
A trace of bitterness gradually crept onto her lips. A moment later, it deepened, and broken, choked sobs slowly began to sound.
"So... I'll become a poison woman who brings calamity."
"I'll bring misfortune to everyone."
"Everyone will be afraid of me..."
Listening to those faint, soft sobs, Xiao Yan's heart grew somewhat heavy.
Xiao Chen, however, gently patted Xiao Yi Xian's back and chuckled. "Why are you crying? I never said I couldn't help you control your woeful poison body."
At those words, Xiao Yan immediately froze.
That's right, the ancestor must have a way!
Xiao Yi Xian immediately raised her head as well, her beautiful eyes widening considerably.
She hurriedly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and asked, "Is there really a way?"
Xiao Chen gave a mysterious smile. "There is, and more than one."
"Would you be willing to take me as your master?"
Xiao Yi Xian looked into the deep eyes of the boy before her, her gaze gradually growing resolute.
"I'm willing to take you as my master!"
Xiao Yan glanced at the two of them and hurriedly offered his congratulations. "Congratulations on finding a successor, Ancestor!"
Xiao Yi Xian froze slightly. "Ancestor?"
Xiao Chen smiled faintly. "You can learn about all that gradually later. First, take us to see that valley you discovered."
"Teacher, how... did you know about that?" Xiao Yi Xian was stunned.
Xiao Yan said with a smile, "My ancestor knows everything."
Xiao Chen smiled and called, "Little Gold."
"Got it. Have this little girl lead the way."
As Little Gold spoke, his body instantly grew larger.
Xiao Chen took the utterly astonished Xiao Yi Xian up onto his back.
Xiao Yan followed close behind.
Xiao Chen gently patted Little Gold beneath him. With a reluctant look, Little Gold rolled his eyes, then shot into the sky and flew off into the distance.
Not long after Xiao Chen wiped out the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, news of Mu She's death quickly spread throughout Qingshan Town.
Everyone was dumbfounded by the shocking news.
Especially when they learned that the one who killed Mu She was merely a boy in his teens, their astonishment instantly turned to horror.
Before you continue