Chapter 573: The Secret of Poison Martial Arts: Poison Spirit

"Lu Zhigang, do you dare to defy your Master?"

Fu Manlun spoke up upon seeing this, his voice trembling; this was an emotion of excitement.

He had long harbored the intent to kill this petty person who had snatched credit to climb the ranks, and he had endured until now.

During the Great War of the Sorcerer People, he had clutched his doll Gu and escaped the pursuit of the Sorcerer People's Martial Warriors with his life hanging by a thread, yet this man had picked up the bargain, brought the Transformation of Ten Thousand Wonders Book back to the Ten Thousand Poisons Secret Workshop, and leaped from a lowly material to become one of the Inner Disciples.

If not for the fact that Lu Zhigang had been soaking in the Desire-Immortal Cauldron ever since entering the sect, he would have long since torn him to shreds and thrown him into the poison pool to become excrement for the poisonous insects.

The scene before him was too wonderful; if Lu Zhigang dared not eat the meatball, it would certainly cause Du Taiyue to feel displeased. With just a word or two of instigation, Lu Zhigang would soon follow in the footsteps of the previously dismembered Disciple and be hacked to pieces on the spot.

Beside him, a ferocious look flashed across Ha Rugou's face. Having just been punished, he was impatient to drag someone else down with him: "Master, he wears a look of hesitation; he must have ulterior motives. He should be severely punished."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the thousands of swellings all over his body burst in unison, spraying juice everywhere; the pain was like being sliced by a thousand knives, and he fainted on the spot.

Du Taiyue on the throne retracted his fingertip nonchalantly: "Why are you interrupting? Did I tell you to speak?"

Seeing this, Fu Manlun shut his mouth! Fortunately, Du Taiyue's interest shifted to Zhou You: "Zhigang, what have you seen?"

"Master, I am not doubting, I am just reluctant to part with it!"

He held up the meatball and praised it with clicks of his tongue: "As a disciple who has only recently entered the sect, I have been fortunate enough to glimpse our sect's supreme poison canon, and I also have some slight knowledge of the Sorcerer People's Totems and Gu poisons."

"This object clearly fuses our sect's poison canon with the Sorcerer People's secret Gu poison methods; it is peerless."

As Fu Manlun listened, a cold sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth; this guy was like a half-full bottle rattling, only caring about showing off.

Although he didn't understand Totems, it involved the contents of the poison canon, heh!

Even the most unlearned Ha Rugou was a model of diligent study compared to him.

Poor thing, he had been soaked stupid in the Desire-Immortal Cauldron! Listening to Zhou You's explanation, Du Taiyue's gaze shifted, gradually softening.

"Lu Zhigang, your insights are quite unique; I, Old Poison, appreciate you very much."

Once these words were spoken, the Inner Disciples were in an uproar. How had he managed it? It was the first time the old man had praised a disciple.

Could it be that the old man had changed his nature and liked the refined, scholarly type? Should he go and capture a few tutors to come back and give instruction?

"Lao Chainu, go and take an egg of the Sore-Face and hand it to Lu Zhigang to hatch!"

Hearing this, Fu Manlun could no longer sit still. The Sore-Face was one of the Nine Insects, a treasure Du Taiyue kept to guard his house.

In the Wanli Zhaohai, with its countless species and billions of poisonous insects, only after generations of slaughter and mating had nine types of top-tier poisonous insects been bred, each comparable to a Sorcerer People's Gu King.

They, these Inner Disciples, had worked like horses and oxen for Du Taiyue for fifty years without earning a single insect egg, yet Lu Zhigang had obtained one with just a few words. Why? The next moment...

Zhou You held the meatball in his palm and circulated his Blood Qi slightly to refine it: "This disciple thanks Master for the reward."

In reality, just as Du Taiyue had said, the effect of oral consumption and skin contact was about the same.

After the meatball entered his body, it quickly turned into a warm current that dispersed to his limbs and bones. The internal composition was surprisingly pure; after digestion, there was not a trace of impurity, only the purest Blood Qi energy.

However, among those present, besides Du Taiyue, only he knew what this was. The surface of the meatball was an insect egg, but in reality, it was not; it was a fragment differentiated from a certain main body. The Totem on the surface of the fragment was also nothing else, but the content that Zhou You had seen many times, which the Sorcerer People used to tame and control Sorcerer Beasts.

As the meatball went deep into his body, the Totem took root in his Blood Qi in a specific form, establishing a close connection between master and slave.

From now on, with a single thought from Du Taiyue, all the Inner Disciples would become as submissive as Sorcerer Beasts, losing their independent consciousness. In a sense, this object had the same effect as Kunpengzi's bewitchment and Zhou You's Seal Character 'Control'.

Other Inner Disciples consuming this object was equivalent to a deep binding, and they would never be able to break free from Du Taiyue.

But Zhou You was not afraid; he possessed the two Seal Scripts of 'Bewitch' and 'Control', and was even more proficient in Totems. He could distort the binding ties brought by the Totem and look for opportunities to break free from Du Taiyue's control.

As for the meatball's characteristics as a Martial Warrior seed...

"."

Zhou You secretly observed Fu Manlun and the other Inner Disciples, discovering that as they experienced the subtle changes within their bodies, expressions of ecstasy appeared on their faces uncontrollably; clearly, they had obtained a tremendous benefit.

He sank his attention into his body and finally discovered the mystery.

"This is the path of the Nine-Unified Poison Spirit Profound Art; Du Taiyue has invested heavily."

Du Taiyue's poison art evolved from the Sorcerer People's Transformation of Ten Thousand Wonders Book, and its core was one word: 'Poison Spirit'.

Starting from practicing poison, he catalyzed various highly toxic Gang-Qi, turning dead poison into living poison, creating spirit from poison, and integrating the Poison Spirit into his fists and palms; this was the astonishing means by which he had killed a Martial Warrior that day.

From a high-level Martial Master to a Martial Warrior, the most critical point lay in how to turn dead poison into living poison.

The Sorcerer People's Gu, to be precise, had two forms: insect and poison. When it was an insect, it had a concrete form and was materialized; once it transformed into poison, it was the existence of negative energy, formless and substanceless.

Zhou You had one on hand, the Bewitching Heart Blood Qi Gu, which had both insect and poison forms, with infinite, ingenious changes.

In order to increase their strength and realm, Poison Martial Artists constantly refined various highly toxic substances into themselves, which were closely connected to their physical bodies, but in the end, they were 'dead poison'.

If one could elevate it to the level of a Gu Insect, switching between insect and poison at any time, it would become living poison.

Once one mastered living poison, it was the way to break through the barrier of a Martial Warrior.

Fu Manlun and the other Poison Martial Artists had all cultivated their own Poison Martial fist techniques to perfection, lacking only the final point of instruction.

The secret method obtained from Du Taiyue was enough for them to see the hope of that final step, and the look of ecstasy on their faces was beyond words.

If this were the case, since the Sorcerer People lived by raising Gu Insects, wouldn't Martial Warriors have no bottlenecks? But then again, although the Sorcerer People had Gu Insects and no bottlenecks regarding living poison, there was a trade-off for every gain...

They possessed a natural advantage and had no obstacles to living poison, but they were unable to synthesize a Poison Spirit.

The path of the Poison Spirit was a shortcut exclusive to Du Taiyue.

Living poison, Gu Insects, Totems...

Zhou You was also lost in thought; the various pieces of knowledge in his mind collided and gathered, forming various plans and strategies.

Suddenly, he discovered a cruel reality: to break through to Martial Warrior, one had to kill and plunder resources.

What was Du Taiyue's intention in releasing the bait at this time, making the Inner Disciples howl with excitement? "Disciples, the resources of the Wanli Zhaohai are limited and cannot support so many Martial Warriors; you must go out."

"This attack by the Thousand Faces Hall is an excellent opportunity; from the moment they surrounded our sect, the tacit understanding was already broken."

"I allow you to kill and spread poison to your heart's content; there is no need to show mercy to anyone related to the Thousand Faces Hall."

This murderous order immediately raised the curtain on a bloody storm.

(End of chapter)