Chapter 60: Poison Master

"Hmm?" Xiao Yixian furrowed her brows, stepping past Xiao Yan to find a thick stone gate blocking their path.

"This must be it—the tomb chamber of this powerful figure lies behind this gate," Xiao Yixian murmured, lightly tracing the stone door.

Xiao Yan tapped the stone gate gently; it wasn't particularly hard—a high-level Battle Master could smash it open.

"Using Eight Extremes Crash should break it," Xiao Yan calculated silently, then asked: "Can we force it open?"

Xiao Yixian pouted and shot him a glance. "All you think of is brute force—what if the tomb has a self-destruct mechanism triggered by strong vibrations?"

Xiao Yixian tapped the stone door a few times, found a hidden compartment, turned it gently, and a creaking sound slowly echoed through the cave.

Xiao Yan glanced at her in mild surprise, then gave her a thumbs-up—he hadn't expected she understood not only medical skill but also trap mechanisms.

"Child's play, little Yanzi."

"Click."

The two walked backward into the cave, step by step, as tiny special gems inside emitted a faint glow.

Behind the stone gate lay a spacious stone chamber; at its center stood a tall stone chair, upon which sat a withered skeleton. Before the chair rested a long, wide green stone platform, on which three locked stone boxes were neatly arranged.

Beside them lay piles of gold and jewels—easily tens of thousands of Gold Coins, at a rough estimate.

But what stirred Xiao Yan and Xiao Yixian most wasn't these treasures—it was the herb garden behind them, teeming with rare medicinal herbs and exotic flowers!

Xiao Yixian and Xiao Yan hurried into the herb garden. Xiao Yixian gasped: "Red Star Shore Grass, Immortal Elephant Nine-Leaf Flower, One-Horizontal Three-Joint Bamboo! So many Advanced Medicinal Materials! Is this really the tomb of an Alchemist?"

Xiao Yixian's beautiful eyes widened as one after another name of rare, hard-to-find Advanced Medicinal Materials spilled from her rosy lips.

Xiao Yan expanded his soul force perception and shook his head. "This is likely the tomb of a Pill Master or Poison Master—there are no pills here. A regular alchemist would always leave behind pills and pill formulas."

Xiao Yan pointed to the rare herb at the garden's center. "I'll take this Ice Spirit Flame Grass. You can have two-thirds of the rest."

Hearing this, Xiao Yixian's expression softened slightly. She nodded and yielded the most precious Ice Spirit Flame Grass to Xiao Yan.

Then, like bandits, whoever grabbed first got it.

"Hey! I spotted that first!"

"First come, first served."

"Are you even a man?!"

Xiao Yan quickly took his one-third share of the herbs and moved ahead to the skeleton. He glanced sideways at Xiao Yixian, who was still carefully plucking herbs, then blocked her view with his body.

"What's wrong?"

Mao Wu leapt through Space from the Spirit Vessel, his fur standing on end as he stared rigidly at the skeleton, as if facing an enemy.

"Meow!" Suddenly, Mao Wu spat Black Flame—terrifying flames instantly engulfed the entire skeleton, as if seeking to reduce it to ash.

"Huh?!" Feeling intense heat behind him, Xiao Yixian turned sharply toward Xiao Yan: "Why are you setting fire?!"

Xiao Yan retracted all the Black Flame with his Soul Force, picked up three keys from the ground, and smiled faintly. "Find the keys to open the stone boxes."

Xiao Yixian stared at him in disbelief. She was genuinely impressed—he'd burned the bones to ash just to find keys. How ruthless could he be?

Seeing Xiao Yixian turn back to collect herbs, Xiao Yan's expression instantly turned serious. Slowly, he opened his palm—inside lay a piece of paper, half the size of his palm!

Xiao Yan hadn't just picked up keys—he'd secretly slipped this paper into his palm while pretending to search. The keys were a decoy!

Mao Wu perched on Xiao Yan's wrist, baring his teeth at the strange paper. It wasn't the skeleton Mao Wu hated—it was this paper hidden inside the bones!

"What kind of paper is this? Why does it provoke such hostility from the Black Flame's offspring—and why can't even Black Flame burn it?"

Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly. He knew this small scrap of paper was likely the most valuable Treasure in the entire tomb.

Xiao Yixian wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, turned, and saw Xiao Yan standing before the stone boxes—without opening any himself. She pouted playfully: "You've got some decency after all. Didn't open them first."

Xiao Yan rubbed his nose, slipped the paper into his pocket, and showed no embarrassment, no blush, no explanation—let her think what she wanted.

As Xiao Yixian hurried over to the three stone boxes, Xiao Yan inserted the key and turned it with a sharp *click*, opening the first box.

Xiao Yixian reached to open it, but Xiao Yan yanked her back several steps, snatched a stone, flicked it with his finger—and a burst of force slammed the box open, revealing a colorful, ancient Scroll inside.

"Better safe than sorry," Xiao Yan said, rubbing his nose with a smile.

Xiao Yixian rolled her eyes. If you dumped him deep in the Mo Shou Shan Mai, he'd live better than the Mo Shou themselves.

The two leaned in to examine the box—the colorful ancient Scroll bore four bold characters: Seven Color Poison Classic.

"So it's confirmed—the tomb's owner was a Poison Master," Xiao Yan said, his certainty solidifying upon seeing the Poison Classic.

Xiao Yixian paused, then said: "I want the Seven Color Poison Classic. I can't become an Alchemist, so this is all I have left."

"Take it," Xiao Yan grinned. "I'm already swamped with Cultivation Methods and Dou Techniques. But first, put away what you've got."

Xiao Yixian's cheeks flushed. She opened her right palm, revealing a pinch of green medicinal powder—while collecting herbs, she'd secretly slipped some sleeping powder into her sleeve, just in case Xiao Yan tried to ambush her.

Watching her hesitate, Xiao Yan teased: "Who was it who just said I was too cautious?"

Xiao Yixian blushed furiously, turning her head away, unable to meet his gaze—this was a slap in the face.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Yan noticed her expression shift the instant she gripped the Seven Color Poison Classic.

"Nothing. Maybe I'm just tired."

Xiao Yan didn't press further. He used the key to open the second stone box. But he was slightly disappointed—the box held another Scroll, its label clearly reading: Arcane-Rank High-Level.

Arcane-Rank High-Level? Useless to Xiao Yan. He doubted even the Soul Hall would take such a low-tier item—five hundred Soul Points might not even be worth it.

As he pulled out the black Scroll and read its title, his pupils widened in shock: "Flying Dou Technique: EagleWings?"

Damn, I spoke too soon!

A Flying Dou Technique, as the name suggests, allows cultivators to fly. Normally, only Battle Spirits could glide briefly, and only Battle Kings could form Spiritual Qi Wings to fly. But a Flying Dou Technique breaks this rule—allowing Battle Masters and Great Battle Masters to fly through the air.

Seeing Xiao Yan grin at her, Xiao Yixian mimicked his gesture, rubbing her nose. "Fine. It's yours."

"Heh, thanks." He grinned broadly. Tonight's haul had nearly split his face wide open—he'd probably sleep smiling.

"Only one left. Hurry up. Let's go back after this." Xiao Yixian urged, turning her gaze to the final stone box.

"Heh-heh. Xiao Yixian. Thank you for leading the way. It seems my information was correct indeed!" Just as Xiao Yan inserted the key into the lock, a booming laugh echoed from outside the stone gate.

A crowd poured through the stone gate, surrounding Xiao Yan and Xiao Yixian in a tight circle.

"Mu Li! How could you?!" Hearing the voice, Xiao Yixian clenched her teeth—she couldn't fathom how Mu Li knew.

When she left, she deliberately slipped them a sedative, knocking out all the mercenaries guarding Mu Li!

Xiao Yixian tugged at Xiao Yan, who was still fiddling with the key, and asked anxiously: "Xiao Yan, what do we do now?"

"I don't know," Xiao Yan replied, as if he hadn't noticed anything, still focused intently on the lock, not even glancing at Mu Li. "Maybe the key got damaged from the heat—it won't turn."

Mu Li's eyes turned icy as he sneered: "Heh heh, cut off his hand—don't let the brat die too easily! But don't hurt Xiao Yixian—heehee, she's mine."

Xiao Yan shook his head and sighed: "Xiao Yixian, you handle it—this delicate work suits you better."

Whoosh! Xiao Yan drew his Black Weighted Ruler and swung it, calmly facing the circle of mercenaries surrounding him. "Leave the rough work to me."