Ever since the Myriad Poison Ancestor became a Poison Assimilating Ghost King, going from a living creature to a ghost, it became extremely easy for him to hide himself. Ru Xin had already guessed the worst possible outcome when she visited Gong Yuan, so why wouldn’t she make some preparations?
“Hmph, Myriad Poison Ancestor! This is a matter of our royal court. You even want to interfere with something like that?”
Gong Yuan saw the Myriad Poison Ancestor, but not only was she unafraid, but she even swung her fishtail and immediately approached the Myriad Poison Ancestor. Her eyes became as deep as an abyss. She refused to believe that everyone had the same wondrous ability as Li Qingshan.
Sure enough, the Myriad Poison Ancestor was slightly taken aback, sensing the iciness and deathly stillness of Ruin’s End. Because ghosts had no bodies, it was much easier for them to be influenced by these mental attacks.
Gong Yuan turned into a streak of blue light and detoured around the Myriad Poison Ancestor, going straight for Ru Xin. At this exact moment, an inhuman howl erupted by her ear.
The Myriad Poison Ancestor returned to his senses. His expression twisted, and his body swelled up, going from a dignified, sinister old man to a terrifying evil spirit. Immediately, he swung his huge ghost claws at Gong Yuan.
Gong Yuan responded with a palm strike without even looking back. The flowing water condensed into ice, but it could not stop the ghost claw. Countless broken fragments shot out, but it directly passed through the ghost claw.
Gong Yuan shivered inside. Not only has his cultivation not weakened after becoming a Ghost King, but his strength in close combat has actually become so powerful! But it’s all mere tricks! How can they stop me?
Rumble!
The entire Giant Ship island shook gently. The residence of the merpeople shattered, and the lakewater churned, surging into the air.
The Poison Assimilating Ghost King also stumbled backwards slightly with its colossal body. It was covered in a layer of frost, and even the poisonous flames in its eyes dimmed momentarily. Although he could make himself intangible and avoid the direct attack of the ice fragments, the coldness within could directly freeze his soul.
Gong Yuan used this opportunity to capture Ru Xin. Looking back, she said coldly, “Myriad Poison Ancestor, I’ll show you some respect in consideration of the fact that you’re a great cultivator, so don’t bite off more than you can chew! I’m definitely keeping her!”
“There still hasn’t been anyone who’s managed to steal from me. If you don’t care about the lives of these trash fish, feel free to keep her! Hehehehe!”
The Poison Assimilating Ghost King’s eyes burned with poisonous, brutal-green flames, and it produced a sinister, eerie laughter.
“Oh no! There’s poison, your majesty!” Gong Kun said with difficulty.
His lips had blackened. The merpeople in the surroundings all lost their consciousness as well, all dyed with a brutal-green colour. Even the Merfolk elders circulated their powers desperately, holding it off with difficulty.
Since he was a Poison Assimilating Ghost King, he obviously did not focus on close combat, but controlling poison and killing unknowingly. The Myriad Poison Ancestor knew he was not Gong Yuan’s opponent, so he treated these merpeople as targets when he freed Ru Xin from the ice cage, silently scattering the poison.
After becoming a ghost cultivator, he had become even more deceitful and crafty with his methods of using poison. Even Asura Commanders could not withstand his poison, and not everyone possessed a body as tough as Li Qingshan’s.
“You-” Gong Yuan also felt her hand grow numb. Looking down, it had also turned green. The poison that the Myriad Poison Ancestor had silently unleashed was alarmingly powerful, let alone the fact that she had forcefully received a palm strike from him.
“You otherfolk call yourselves ‘godfolk’ or something, but you’re nothing in my eyes. If you dare to touch my disciple, I’ll butcher all of the elders here. If you think you’re so capable, come to the Mist province and attack the Myriad Poison cult! Hmph, I doubt you have the courage! Cut the bullsh*t and release her, or I might just change my mind and make them all die from the poison!”
The Myriad Poison Ancestor reverted to his original form, standing with his hands behind his back and demonstrating his true nature as a demonic cultivator.
“You cure them and I’ll release her, or your disciple will die with them!”
Gong Yuan grabbed Ru Xin’s shoulder with her left hand and pressed down gently. Immediately, the sounds of ice shattering rang out. Her right hand condensed into ice before shuddering gently. The ice shattered, and the colour of her hand turned back to normal. The other merpeople clearly did not have the same ability as her. If it were not for the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s intentional control, the weaker merpeople would have turned into puddles of liquid a long time ago.
“You still have the courage to threaten me. It’s just a disciple, so even if she dies, she dies! I’ve already poisoned her, so even if you don’t kill her, I’ll kill her. How can I just give away what she developed for free? I’ll count to three. If you still don’t release her, then I’ll go right now. Do you think you can make me stay?”
This was the “strength” of demonic cultivators. Concepts like humanity, justice, propriety, wisdom, feelings, and virtue were nothing to them. Let alone capturing a disciple of his, even capturing his son would be useless. If Ye Duanhai had been a demonic cultivator, Li Qingshan would have never discussed a deal with him. It was not without reason that the ruthless feared the even more ruthless.
“You might be able to leave, but do you think the head caretkare of the king’s estate will be able to?”
Gong Yuan asked with a frown. She understood extremely well that a person like the Myriad Poison Ancestor was definitely capable of something like that. Although she could defeat him, killing him was virtually impossible. Once she fell out with him, he would poison all the merpeople present to death before running back to the Myriad Poison cult. No matter how powerful the Merfolk were in the South sea, there was nothing they could do about him.
“All that matters is I can leave. What’s it got to do with me if you want a bitter feud with the King of Southern Yue’s estate?” The Myriad Poison Ancestor left absolutely no room for discussion. He began to count. “One!”
“Is this what you wanted?” Gong Yuan stared straight at Ru Xin. Her familiar face remained calm and cold just like before. Even when the coldness had frozen and cracked her shoulder, she did not show the slightest pain.
“What do you think?” Ru Xin replied with a smile.
“Two!” The Myriad Poison Ancestor was ready, not to continue fighting or to save Ru Xin, but ready to leave.
“You can piss off, you wretched spawn!” Gong Yuan gritted her teeth and struck Ru Xin in the back. Originally, she wanted to heavily injure her, but a face suddenly floated before her eyes, making her heart soften and only planting a cluster of coldness within her.
Hmph, looks like you have some sense in you!” The Myriad Poison Ancestor was pleased. He did not even look at Ru Xin.
“You’re not going to cure the poison?” Gong Yuan said coldly, “I’ve already planted coldness within her body-”
“I’ve already said. It’s just a disciple, so even if she dies, she dies! Don’t make me repeat myself. Before I cure them, let’s finish the deal first! If the deal doesn’t work out, there’s no point keeping her around anyway, so feel free to kill her!”
“You still want to make a deal with me? What do you want?”
Gong Yuan was both surprised and furious. Normally, regardless of their alignment, great cultivators still had some sense of honour, but she never thought the Myriad Poison Ancestor would be so shameless, making her grit her teeth. Never had she suffered such humiliation.
“The Lost Stalks of the King of Yue!”
“So it really is that ram pulling strings! Alright, I’ll give you the Lost Stalks of the King of Yue, but only after this ‘disciple’ of yours upholds her promise and kills a hundred thousand fire devourers. I want all hundred thousand, without a single missing.”
As soon as Gong Yuan heard the words “Lost Stalks of the King of Yue”, she became confident that this was mister Ram’s scheme. After all, the item was useless to regular cultivators. She also resented herself for becoming mentally perturbed and lowering her guard after seeing this “wretched spawn”, which was why he managed to poison them successfully.
“Mister Ram is going to be leaving very soon. I want it right now!” The Myriad Poison Ancestor extended his hand.
“Your majesty, we can die, but you must never bow your head to the humans! Spurt!” A Merfolk Elder propped himself up, but he spat out a mouthful of poisonous blood as soon as he finished talking, collapsing on the ground and falling unconscious.
“And you still talk nonsense?” The Myriad Poison Ancestor sneered.
“Never bow your head!” “You old monster, feel free to kill us!” The merpeople all called out before coughing up blood and fainting one by one. They still reminiscenced over the glory of the ancient times. They would rather die than yield to the despicable, shameful, and contemptible humans.
“Don’t worry! If you die, I’ll immediately destroy the Lost Stalks of the King of Yue so that it can be buried with you! Since the king’s estate wants to restart the war, then come!” Gong Yuan calmed down and gazed at the Myriad Poison Ancestor coldly.
“Hehe, why would that be necessary? My ‘Stoneheart’ isn’t fake. You should be able to tell. I’ve spent numerous years researching and developing away arduously, and I’ve returned duty-bound, to help the Merfolk exterminate their powerful enemies. Compared to these elders, I’m far more ‘loyal and devoted’. You should be rewarding me instead, your majesty!”
Ru Xin stood up on the surface of the lake and arrived before Gong Yuan step by step, staring right into her eyes.
“Don’t you consider yourself to be calm and collected? Don’t you consider for the entire race? Aren’t you incapable of making a decision based on your feelings? Come, give the Lost Stalks of the King of Yue to me, and I’ll help you kill a hundred thousand fire devourers, or just kill me. It’s fine. I have a group of merpeople dying with me anyway. Oh right, you’ll have to withstand the King of Yue’s wrath too, which is a disastrous event to the race! C’mon, think, your majesty! Come!”
After the residence of the merpeople had shattered, it rapidly recovered its original form. The entire hall was silent. Only the pouring rain and the echoes of Ru Xin’s voice were audible in the hall, growing louder and louder until she was almost howling at the end.
Gong Yuan sank into a moment of silence and took out a handful of cleromancy stalks. The black were dragon horns, and the white were dragon bones. Despite the passage of so many years, they still emanated with the heavy, unfathomable might of dragons.
Ru Xin accepted the Lost Stalks of the King of Yue and turned around, arriving before the Myriad Poison Ancestor. The Myriad Poison Ancestor examined them and confirmed they were real, but he raised his head and asked, “Why are there two missing?”
There were a total of forty-nine to the Lost Stalks of the King of Yue. The king’s estate had thirty stalks, so Gong Yuan should have been in possession of nineteen, but there were only seventeen there. A black stalk and a white stalk were missing.
It was just like how a single hole on the bottom of a bucket made it broken. It could still be filled up with water, but it was much less effective. The Lost Stalks of the King of Yue were no different.
“I’ll give you the last two once you’ve upheld your end of the deal.” Gong Yuan shut her eyes, no longer willing to see them, as she was afraid she would lose control and attack them.
“Alright, that’ll be that then!”
The Myriad Poison Ancestor was about to continue, but Ru Xin could tell they had already pushed Gong Yuan to her limit. If they pushed her any further, they would only end up parting with a disagreement, so she beat him to it. The Lost Stalks of the King of Yue were only for holding the king’s estate at bay anyway. Whether the entire set could be assembled was for the King of Southern Yue to worry about.
As a result, the Myriad Poison Ancestor said nothing more. With a wave of his hand, specks of poisonous fire flew out of the merpeople, and they all awakened.
Gong Yuan suddenly realised this wretched spawn definitely was not as simple as just the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s disciple. Otherwise, since when could disciples make decisions for their master without any objections from their master?
However, it was already too late for all that, and she truly did need the “Stoneheart” to destroy the Fire Devouring Folk.
“Very well. You’ve once again defeated your own feelings and made the correct decision, which I find admirable. Farewell, your majesty. Await my good news! Someone once said to me that even the debt from a glare will be paid back a hundred fold, so I feel a hundred thousand fire devourers is still a little less. The rest will be up to you.”
Ru Xin calmed down and said that to Gong Yuan right before she left the palace.
Gong Yuan shivered inside. She also imagined how the fire devourers would respond after the Stoneheart was used. This battle would probably never end until one side died out completely.
Little sister, is this your blessing, or is this your curse?
