Chapter 43: Poison Masters of Chu Yun Empire

"Stupid snake, do you know what Ice Heart Pill is? Eight Extremes Crash!"

Even with his face caked in dirt, Xiao Yan's triumphant smile could not be hidden by the mud.

With all his strength concentrated in this punch, Xiao Yan closed the distance in an instant; no matter how hard the black steel giant snake's scales were, they could not protect its scaleless belly, nor could it evade Xiao Yan's meticulously planned strike.

With a long roar, Xiao Yan's arm unleashed a fatal punch, the Eight Extremes Crash energy charging forward with fearless might.

With a thunderous boom, the punch struck true; finally, the massive black steel giant snake was punched high into the air, the eight layers of hidden force striking eight times in succession before it fell from the sky.

With a heavy thud, the black steel giant snake crashed to the ground, blood spurting from its eyes and mouth, its entire skeleton shattered by Xiao Yan's Eight Extremes Crash, its internal organs reduced to pulp by the hidden force.

After twitching a few times, it died unwillingly.

Xiao Yan plopped down onto the black steel giant snake's body, pulled out a cloth from his storage ring, wiped off the dirt, and changed into a fresh set of clothes.

"Second-tier Magic Beasts really are tough to deal with—I had to use an Ice Heart Pill."

No one said I couldn't use elixirs, did they!

The Ice Heart Pill is a Second-Rank Pill, and its effect is quite peculiar: upon entering the body, it immediately generates a freezing current that chills one to the bone. It doesn't just make the spirit feel this icy sensation to calm the mind, but more importantly, the cold current rapidly lowers the temperature of the body's SpiritFlesh and Meridians.

This was the backup elixir Xiao Yan prepared for absorbing the Strange Fire.

You can't just swallow a Strange Fire whole—if you do, you'll burn to death before you even swallow it.

From the master's notes on absorbing Bone Spirit Cold Fire stored in his storage ring, Xiao Yan learned that absorbing a Strange Fire requires three preparatory items to increase the success rate.

The first is a Five-Grade Pill called Blood Lotus Pill, which continuously generates blood scabs to protect the body, allowing Xiao Yan to approach the Strange Fire. The second is Spirit Storage—a item Xiao Yan was lucky to already possess within the mysterious storage ring. The third is the Ice Spirit Cold Spring.

If the Blood Lotus Pill protects the exterior, then the Ice Spirit Cold Spring guards the interior. It protects you during the Refining of a Strange Fire from being incinerated into nothingness by its destructive Infernal Heat.

But Xiao Yan was unlucky: at least the Blood Lotus Pill had a Pill Formula—if desperate, he could ask someone to refine it. He had never even heard of the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, so he made his own inferior substitute: the Ice Heart Pill.

If he truly couldn't find the Ice Spirit Cold Spring and encountered another Strange Fire, he would use large quantities of Ice Heart Pills instead.

Unexpectedly, today the Ice Heart Pill proved unexpectedly effective—it lowered his internal temperature, preventing the black steel giant snake's heat perception from detecting Xiao Yan hiding underground, allowing him to launch a successful ambush.

Xiao Yan didn't immediately head to the next challenge; instead, he sat on the ground and began skinning and dismembering the black steel giant snake.

"Yay! There really is a Magic Core—a Second-Tier Magic Beast's Magic Core! I've hit the jackpot!"

Xiao Yan wiped the Magic Core clean and tossed it into his storage ring; he obtained his practice pill materials exactly this way. He wasn't in Wutan City anymore—not a single coin could be wasted.

Swallowing a Second-Rank Soul-Replenishing Pill and applying some wound ointment, Xiao Yan slowly activated the Burning Decree. He had used the Eight Extremes Crash twice; though it didn't consume much Qi Circulation, his body was extremely fatigued.

Xiao Yan didn't rush—haste makes waste. He chose to restore his condition first. Fortunately, as a Two-Rank Alchemist, he had a decent stockpile of pills in his storage ring.

"Phew, combat is indeed the fastest way to cultivate—my Qi Circulation has increased a bit."

People eat greedily only when they're starving; cultivation is the same.

Xiao Yan stood up, stretched, took the black steel giant snake's meat as raw material, boiled it into soup, ate his fill, then headed toward the passage entrance.

Although this passage had always been open here, his powerful Soul Force told him it was constantly changing its destination.

"I wonder who the next opponent will be."

Xiao Yan himself didn't notice—he had a faint smile of anticipation on his lips! From the cautious demeanor he had when first entering, he had begun to feel a hint of anticipation. He was looking forward to battling an opponent of equal strength!

As Xiao Yan entered the passage entrance, a sudden sense of danger struck—shhh! Just after he stepped in, a cloud of Poison Powder shot toward him.

Xiao Yan had frequently entered and exited the Magic Beast zones in Wutan City, even faced death—such sudden attacks were nothing new to him, and he felt no fear.

He activated all his Qi Circulation and rolled sideways to dodge the ambush.

"Huh? You dodged my Poison Arrow?" A voice of surprise came. Xiao Yan looked up to see a pale-faced man staring at him with a look of disbelief.

Clearly, he had never expected Xiao Yan to dodge his ambush.

"You're a Poison Master!? From Chu Yun Empire?"

Generally speaking, although Alchemists can also refine poisons—like Hun Xu Zi once did—that was because Hun Xu Zi was of extremely high rank. Normal low-level Alchemists never refined poison, and didn't even possess Poison Formulas.

Only Poison Masters routinely used poison.

The profession of Poison Master had a poor reputation on the Dou Qi Continent. Many feared dealing with Poison Masters because their stealthy, undetectable poisoning methods could make any opponent—or even a friend—unable to sleep or eat in peace.

Chu Yun Empire, neighboring Jia Ma Empire, was a nation dominated by Poison Masters—indeed, Chu Yun Empire could be called the gathering place of Poison Masters.

Every time the two empires went to war, many Jia Ma Empire soldiers died from the deadly poisons of Poison Masters.

"You've got good eyesight. I'm Zhang Chuanwu, from the Poison Sect. Knowing my name will let you die in peace." Zhang Chuanwu smiled coldly, brimming with confidence.

Upon hearing Zhang Chuanwu's introduction, Xiao Yan remained calm, looked at him, and spoke slowly: "Xiao Yan, from Wutan City in Jia Ma Empire. I'm a Two-Rank Alchemist."

!!!!

Upon hearing the word "Alchemist," Zhang Chuanwu's eyes burned with murderous hatred, filled with venomous resentment.

Xiao Yan had said it on purpose—ninety percent of Poison Masters became Poison Masters because they failed to become Alchemists.

On the Dou Qi Continent, being an Alchemist was a career everyone wanted. Because of its unique barriers, most people were deterred; those with Alchemy talent but unable to become Alchemists usually chose to become healers, saving lives.

But some, consumed by jealousy and hatred, chose the path of Poison Master, crafting poisons that mirrored the Alchemists' elixirs.

Xiao Yan was an Alchemist. To Zhang Chuanwu, who had once wanted to become an Alchemist but failed, it was like someone had stolen his beloved woman and was now kissing her right before his eyes.

"Hehehe. Good. Very good. I'll make you experience what it's like to lose all sensation in your limbs while your mind remains clear, as someone slowly cuts off your SpiritFlesh, slice by slice!"

Xiao Yan shrugged helplessly and said calmly: "That's just Anesthesia Surgery. But you don't seem to have an Anesthesia Surgeon's license."