When Father Zhang heard the word "daughter," a flicker of struggle and anguish crossed his eyes. He knew the poisonous gas had entered his body and that he had little time left to live, but when he thought of Zhang Lexuan still waiting for him outside, a fierce desire to survive surged through him.
"Young man, I can't just abandon you and leave on my own." Even though he had found hope of getting out alive, Father Zhang still spoke gravely to Toji. "If I leave, what will happen to you?"
Toji cursed inwardly and hurriedly said:
"I can handle him alone. Hurry up and go. I'm afraid you'll die here if you stay any longer. Don't let down the task your daughter entrusted to me."
Although he couldn't pierce the Soul Power protecting the Soul Emperor's body, Father Zhang's desperate counterattack had left the man gravely injured, and his protective Soul Power was gone.
As long as the Soul Emperor didn't have the protective Soul Power of his cultivation level, Toji was confident he could deal with him, thanks to Immunity to a Hundred Poisons.
After all... he just happened to have a Soul Skill that countered him.
Against an ordinary Soul Emperor, he wouldn't have stood a chance.
"...I'm sorry, young man. Please be careful. I'll use my Soul Skills to support you from outside." Seeing how resolute Toji was, Father Zhang nodded with difficulty and forced himself toward the exit of the hall. His steps were unsteady, each one as though he were treading on the tip of a blade, but he gritted his teeth and pressed on, refusing to fall.
Toji watched Father Zhang leave, then locked his gaze back on the Soul Emperor.
By now, the Soul Emperor's sixth Soul Skill had erupted in full. Thick poisonous gas shrouded the entire hall, and the air was filled with the suffocating breath of death.
Meanwhile, Toji was using every ounce of strength he had to pin the Soul Emperor firmly to the ground.
This was where the benefits of physical cultivation showed themselves.
Although his cultivation was only at the Three-Ring Soul Elder level, his combat strength was top-notch.
"Boy, just who are you?" The Soul Emperor's voice carried a trace of fear and anger.
He had never encountered anything like this. His poison was completely ineffective against someone without Soul Power.
And despite his Soul Emperor cultivation, he was actually no match for this man in a contest of sheer strength!
Toji sneered and put more force into his grip, making the Soul Emperor howl in pain from the knife wound in his shoulder.
"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that you're probably going to meet your end here today."
"Arrogant!"
The Soul Emperor's face twisted savagely. His six Soul Rings flashed in turn as he thrust a palm laced with poisonous gas at Toji.
Toji hastily released the knife's hilt and leaped backward, his figure vanishing into the purple poison mist.
More frightening still, the mist was his Soul Skill and was laced with his Soul Power, so he could clearly sense everything inside it.
Yet after Toji disappeared from sight, he couldn't sense where he was.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" The Soul Emperor's eyes widened, his face showing that he couldn't accept the truth.
His poisonous gas had never failed before. Even a Seven-Ring Soul Sage wouldn't dare step lightly into his poison mist.
Yet this youth had slipped into it without suffering the slightest harm, and the Soul Emperor couldn't even find his shadow.
"Just what kind of exalted figure are you?!"
The Soul Emperor's face darkened. He actually changed his earlier attitude, pulling the long knife from his shoulder and throwing it to the ground, where the poisonous gas quickly corroded the ordinary weapon.
Strangely enough, the weapon had withstood the poisonous gas while Toji held it, but once it left his hand, the gas quickly corroded it.
Toji noticed this too, but the battle was urgent, and he had no time to dwell on it.
"You might as well give me your name, so we don't end up flooding the Dragon King's temple."
The Soul Emperor's mind was racing, searching for any information about the youth before him.
When had Heaven Dou City produced such a figure?
Such terrifying concealment, the ability to ignore his poisonous gas, and the strength to contend with him despite his Soul Emperor cultivation.
His opponent was at least a powerful Soul Saint.
More frightening still, he couldn't detect the slightest fluctuation of Soul Power from him.
Either his opponent really was an ordinary person without Soul Power, or his cultivation surpassed his own, making it natural that he couldn't see through him.
The Soul Emperor's imagination ran wild, and the gravity on his face grew more apparent. To stay alive, he cast all concern for face aside and hurriedly cupped his fists toward the air, full of reverence.
"Sir, I didn't know someone like you stood behind the Zhang Family. I'm willing to offer compensation. Please show mercy and spare my life."
A note of pleading entered the Soul Emperor's voice. He knew he had run into a ruthless character, and if the other man truly wanted to kill him, he would probably be hard-pressed to resist.
Father Zhang had taken a vicious bite out of him with his desperate counterattack, leaving him gravely injured and in considerable discomfort.
Toji's figure flickered in and out of sight within the poison mist.
"Compensation? What can you offer?"
The Soul Emperor was delighted to hear that.
It seemed he had a chance to live:
"What do you want, sir? I have money, resources, and some heavenly and earthly treasures..."
"Do you have an antidote for your poison?" Toji asked coldly.
"An antidote? Of course I do." The Soul Emperor nodded hurriedly. Hearing that Toji wanted an antidote, some other thoughts arose in his mind.
The next second, Toji was already behind him, having slipped there at some unknown point, with a long knife pressed tightly against his neck.
"Don't try anything clever. Your antidote isn't essential. The only reason I haven't killed you yet is that you're useful."
Toji appeared calm, but he was actually a little nervous.
After all, threatening a Soul Emperor stronger than himself... took the kind of boldness that came with great skill.
The idea had only occurred to him because he saw that the Soul Emperor was actually begging for mercy.
He had been prepared to fight for his life. Who would have thought his opponent would actually lose his nerve?
Then again, everyone only had one life. Who wanted to die?
"Of course I know what you're capable of, sir." The Soul Emperor forced a faint smile. Feeling the cold blade against his neck, he was visibly panicked. "Even with you this close to me, if I dared attack, you could either take my life or retreat unscathed. Our situations are quite different, so naturally I'm more than willing to cooperate."
With that, the Soul Emperor took a bag out of his storage space.
"This is the antidote you wanted..."
Whoosh. The bag vanished from the Soul Emperor's hand.
That made him even more afraid of the unknown "expert" behind him.
So fast that even he had some trouble following it.
It seemed surrendering was the right choice after all.
The Soul Emperor swallowed instinctively.
"Your poison really is strong, but it relies too heavily on Soul Skills. Do you have a simpler but still potent way of using poison? For example... making poison to use on other people? I have a use for it," Toji asked.
"Yes, brother, I do. With poison as strong as mine, of course I have more than one way to use it. I have nine ways to poison someone to death alone."
The Soul Emperor forced an ingratiating smile and spoke hurriedly.
"Which kind would you like?"
"The kind I just mentioned."
"All right, please wait a moment..." The Soul Emperor wore a miserable expression as he pulled another bag from his Storage Soul Tool. "The poison you wanted..."
"Mm."
Toji slowly drew back the long knife.
"Can the antidote you gave me cure this kind?"
"Of course it can." The Soul Emperor breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mm, you can get lost. Remember, next time you run into someone like me, someone whose Soul Power you can't sense, and you dare call them trash, watch out or you might capsize in a ditch one day."
The Soul Emperor's face lit up with joy.
"Yes, yes, yes. Reclusive experts like you tend to keep a low profile, I understand. I spoke out of turn. But please allow me to thank you for sparing my life. I'll certainly do as you say! In that case, allow me to take my leave first..."
With that, the Soul Emperor fled the hall in utter disarray, never once looking back.
He had never wanted to throw his life away here, even if he had a chance to take his opponent down with him.
How much was he paid a month? Why risk his life?
Toji looked at the bag of poison pills and the bag of antidote in his hands:
"Today's haul was pretty good. This poison should come in handy."
He wasn't greedy enough to try robbing the man of his Storage Soul Tool. If he went after someone's wealth, that person might just take him down with them.
Toji didn't want to die yet. Scaring the man was enough.