Chapter 312: The First Poison Demon, Jia Baihe

Jia Star Mountain.

The second tallest peak in the Threefold Heaven Star Continent's Ascension Realm.

Moreover, this mountain's midsection bears a natural aerial prohibition—divine perception cannot reach its summit.

After Ding Huan and Cang Yongqian arrived, Shanfeng, Xun Youshan, and Mu Chengzi, who had been waiting here, received word and immediately rushed over.

Standing at the foot of Jia Star Mountain, Ding Huan remarked, "This is truly a fine place for a cultivation cave."

"Ding Zongzhu, didn't you invite Cen Huan and Qi Qi Yonghan?" Seeing Ding Huan had come only with Cang Yongqian, Mu Chengzi asked with a hint of helplessness.

If Ding Huan could solve this, we would've solved it long ago.

Ding Huan smiled and said, "On the way here, Cang Yongqian told me the creature living on Jia Star Mountain is supposedly a legendary figure of the Threefold Heaven Star Continent, right?"

"Yes, I suspect he's the Old Poisoner, Jia Baihe. I never imagined he's still alive, hasn't left the Threefold Heaven Star Continent, and has settled on Jia Star Mountain," Shanfeng sighed.

Cang Yongqian also sighed, "When I first became aware, Jia Baihe was already a legend of the Threefold Heaven Star Continent; when I entered the Opening Heaven Battlefield, he was still that legend."

No matter what, he's smarter than us—at least he didn't choose the Opening Heaven Battlefield, but stayed in the Threefold Heaven Star Continent."

"Because you sealed a cosmic vortex, you angered this poisoner?" Ding Huan asked again.

On the way, Cang Yongqian had told him Jia Baihe had imprisoned Fei Zhankong precisely because they blocked a cosmic vortex here.

"There may be other reasons—ask Fei Zhankong directly—but I feel this guy's just making an excuse," Xun Youshan said.

He and Mu Chengzi had little impression of Jia Baihe, since they were from an even earlier era.

Ding Huan nodded: "Let's go up and ask."

Saying this, Ding Huan walked straight toward Jia Star Mountain.

"Wait, Ding Huan—we're fine standing here at the foot, but the moment we step onto this mountain, our cultivation will be instantly sealed by poison. If we wait too long, we might never be able to retreat," Xun Youshan hurriedly called out.

Ding Huan waved his hand: "Since we came, we must go up."

Before cultivating the Great Cosmos Art, he already feared almost no poison. As his cultivation advanced, his resistance to all extraordinary poisons grew stronger.

If Ding Huan possessed only these abilities, he truly wouldn't dare ascend Jia Star Mountain.

He dares to ascend now because, after cultivating the Great Cosmos Art, he constructed a specialized Poison-Transforming Zhou Tian.

In Ding Huan's view, ordinary poisons meant nothing to him.

The most potent poison is rule-based poison—only that is truly terrifying.

But any rule-based poison, so long as it doesn't surpass the world's own rules or his Great Cosmos Art's Dao rules, harms him not at all.

Even if this poison's rule surpasses his Dao rule and the world's rules, it's still not fatal to him.

At worst, he'd simply use the Great Cosmos Art to construct a new Poison-Transforming Zhou Tian.

With this confidence, what does he fear from Jia Baihe, the First Poison Demon of the Threefold Heaven?

"I'll go up with you," Shanfeng said—he trusted Ding Huan most, and when Ding Huan had gone to the Fourfold Sea Canyon, he'd followed without hesitation.

And Ding Huan hadn't boasted—he not only humiliated Wu Zhanxia at the bottom of the Fourfold Sea Canyon, but successfully led him out of the Opening Heaven Battlefield.

These weren't even major feats.

What truly earned his admiration was that he himself had fled to the Opening Heaven Battlefield only because Jiuyuan was too powerful.

But after Ding Huan returned, his first act was to destroy Jiuyuan's stronghold, Jiuyuan City, and rename it Threefold Dao City.

Moreover, Ding Huan forcibly drove out the Divine Clan, leaving Jiuyuan's people too terrified to seek revenge on the Threefold Heaven Star Continent to this day.

These were the things that made Shanfeng truly revere him.

Remember, Ding Huan hasn't even reached the Human Immortal realm—if he ascends to Human Immortal or even Earth Immortal, where would the Divine Clan and Jiuyuan have any room to boast on the Threefold Heaven Star Continent?

Luo Bei was once a legend of the Threefold Heaven Star Continent, but in Shanfeng's heart, Ding Huan's ceiling far surpassed Luo Bei's.

He decided: if Ding Huan believed something feasible, he'd follow without question—it would never be wrong.

Even if it were wrong, so what?

Shanfeng had lived this long, accomplished so much—he was satisfied.

"Then I'm coming too," Cang Yongqian followed without hesitation.

Mu Chengzi and Xun Youshan, both legendary figures whose names had echoed for centuries, also stepped forward.

If word got out they'd dared not follow Ding Huan up Jia Star Mountain, they'd be utterly humiliated.

The moment Ding Huan stepped onto Jia Star Mountain, waves of poison surged toward him.

Ding Huan extended his Star Domain, accelerating further.

Soon, Mu Chengzi and the others beside him felt that beneath Ding Huan's domain, not a single poison could touch them.

All of them looked at Ding Huan with admiration.

No wonder he'd breached the Fourfold Sea Canyon, kicked Wu Zhanxia's face, and driven out the Divine Clan, leaving Jiuyuan too afraid to retaliate.

This Ding Zongzhu is truly formidable—his cultivation isn't the strongest, but his methods are unmatched.

Shanfeng glanced at Xun Youshan and the others; though silent, his meaning was unmistakable.

To doubt Ding Huan? Your courage is pathetically small.

The others saw Shanfeng's look and fell silent—what could they say? They'd thought Ding Huan had no solution.

As Ding Huan sped up, the poison streams transformed into lethal Dao rhythms—but Ding Huan didn't slow a fraction.

The lethal Dao rhythms multiplied, forming poison waves crashing toward Ding Huan and the others.

It was useless—Ding Huan still surged forward at breakneck speed toward Jia Star Mountain's summit.

A peak so towering, its summit was unreachable even by divine perception.

Along the way, countless deadly poisons and aerial prohibitions barred the path.

With his group, Ding Huan reached the summit's open ground in less than half a stick of incense.

Standing atop Jia Star Mountain, white clouds lay beneath their feet, emerald spiritual herbs and plants surrounded them, and before them stretched a vast starlit lake—truly a sight to soothe the soul.

"Your strength is great," said a middle-aged man atop the summit, gazing at Ding Huan with a calm tone, his voice unnaturally hoarse.

His appearance was ordinary, a scar across his face, long hair tied into a cultivator's topknot, hands clasped behind his back—anyone who saw him immediately sensed an aura of prestige.

Ding Huan, however, fixed his gaze on the man's scar; ordinary cultivators' scars were easily removed.

This man's scar did not seem deliberately left unremoved—it truly could not be removed. Even now, Ding Huan could still sense a strange energy flowing within the scar.

Seeing Ding Huan ignore him, the man asked again: "Who are you?"

Ding Huan finally spoke: "I am Ding Huan, Sect Master of Zong Sect. Are you the former First Poison King of the Third Heaven Star Continent, Jia Baihe?"

"Why don't you call me the First Poison Demon?" Jia Baihe looked at Ding Huan.

"What is a demon? One who acts without consequence, disregards all life, and bases everything solely on personal whim and caprice. I observe you do not seem such a person," Ding Huan said coolly.

Jia Baihe paid no heed to Ding Huan's words and continued:

"I once slaughtered two sects, four clans, and one thousand seven hundred thirty-one who surrounded me to kill me. Let me tell you this: whether then or now, I remain the First Poison Demon of the Third Heaven Star Continent."

Ding Huan was speechless; he had merely said "you were once the First Poison King," and the man had taken offense.

"Enough idle talk. I heard my friend is imprisoned here, so I came up to see."

Ding Huan felt the surrounding poison mist's Dao rhythm surge violently, like a raging tide—not the sporadic pulses they'd encountered climbing the mountain, but a flood bursting its dam, sweeping toward them.

Any other person would not be standing here—they would have long been transformed into poison-ni by the toxin's rules.

Yet these waves of poison, beneath Ding Huan's domain, were like tiny streams, ruthlessly barred from entering.

"Old Dan, this guy lives in his own world and won't stop talking. Just subdue him."

Ding Huan lost patience with Jia Baihe and directly told Shan Beishu:

Before Shan Beishu could move, Cang Yongqian, long already displeased, drew his long blade—its furious sword intent locking onto Jia Baihe.

A wave of death swept over Jia Baihe; he froze.

How could this be? Under his Ten Thousand Poisons Dao rhythm, why were these people unaffected?

To gather these Ten Thousand Poisons Dao rhythms, he had risked death, lurking for one hundred sixty-seven days at the most dangerous rifts of the cosmos.

His survival to this day was luck beyond luck. Those one hundred sixty-seven days—he could have been torn apart by spatial rifts with every breath.

Cang Yongqian's blade curtain cut short his thoughts; he frantically summoned a great cauldron.

He sought to block Cang Yongqian's blade curtain.

Even if Ding Huan did nothing, Jia Baihe was no match for Cang Yongqian.

Jia Baihe could indeed kill Cang Yongqian invisibly—but only if Cang Yongqian was locked by his Poison Dao rhythm.

Otherwise, Cang Yongqian's Sword Dao was a hundred times stronger than his.

In terms of strength, he was not merely inferior—he was leagues below Cang Yongqian.

Moreover, Ding Huan had given him Dahan Yi Dao.

"Boom!" Cang Yongqian slashed once—and shattered Jia Baihe's defensive domain.

As Ding Huan's Dahan Yi Dao slammed into his spiritual technique domain, his great cauldron offered not the slightest resistance.

Crack! The cauldron was split and flung away by Cang Yongqian's blade.

A spray of blood erupted; a deep gash appeared on Jia Baihe's scalp.

Ding Huan frowned—Cang Yongqian's blade had aimed for Jia Baihe's third eye.

Yet Jia Baihe's third eye was untouched; the wound was on his scalp.

Remembering the strange-energy scar on Jia Baihe's face, Ding Huan concluded: Jia Baihe wore a mask, and its rank was unprecedentedly high.

Cang Yongqian did not press further; he glanced at his blade, then at the blood groove on Jia Baihe's scalp, puzzled.

His blade had merely begun its spiritual momentum—the true Sword Dao technique had not even been unleashed—and Jia Baihe was already done?

This man had such a fearsome reputation—why was he so weak?

If Jia Baihe knew Cang Yongqian's thoughts, he would leap up and curse: I'm already far weaker than you—and now someone's using a spiritual-nexus technique to ambush me while you're attacking!