AGM 353 – Using poison against poison
Chu Mang and Fan Le didn’t care for Mu Feng’s word. Be it a case of mistaken identity, or just a misunderstanding, nevertheless, Mu Feng must die.
“SCRAM!” Chu Man roared at the young girl in front of Mu Feng. Fan Le’s arrow had already broke the space apart, fired forth at a speed akin to lightning.
“Wait.” Suddenly, Qin Wentian’s voice drifted out. Fan Le’s countenance faltered, and the trajectory of the fired arrow was shifted at the last instant. Fan Le had a puzzled look on his face when he turned to glance questioningly at Qin Wentian, but upon seeing a hint of color returning to Qin Wentian’s darkened features, his eyes couldn’t help but widen in surprise.
“Don’t kill him first.” Qin Wentian’s eyes were still tightly closed, the golden strands of blood were currently circulating around his body, cleansing away the black-colored poisonous blood, and slowly rejuvenating Qin Wentian. Gradually, the darkness on his countenance dissipated, to the great joy of Bailu Yi and the rest.
Qin Wentian had recovered—he had fully neutralized the corrosive poison within his body.
“Hu…” Qin Wentian spat out a mouthful of foul air as he opened his eyes. Qing`er, who was staring at him with concern, couldn’t mask the fleeting happiness that flashed past her eyes when she saw that he’d recovered. It was as though she was sincerely happy for his well-being.
But when she noticed Qin Wentian staring back at her, her face immediately reverted back to its normal state, with no fluctuations to her expressions.
“Qing`er, you look really nice when you smile.”
Qin Wentian laughed. Qing`er’s brows twitched, yet she remained silent, purposely shifting her gaze towards another direction, paying no mind to his comment.
As to her behaviour, Qin Wentian was long used to it. In fact, if Qing`er were to constantly maintain a smiling expression, that would truly be abnormal.
Standing up, Qin Wentian walked towards Mu Feng, who had an expression of dumbfounded astonishment on his face. How was this possible, Qin Wentian had survived the onslaught of his blood’s poison?!
“Are you certain that I am the person who killed your entire clan?” Qin Wentian looked directly at Mu Feng, as he stood right in front of the young girl between them, allowing Mu Feng to look clearly at his features.
Mu Feng seriously contemplated Qin Wentian from head to toe, focusing specially on Qin Wentian’s eyes.
“There’s something wrong, this.. this is impossible. You have the same features, yet your aura is clearly different. Your physique as well, how can this be? What’s happening?” Mu Feng turned pale, the impact of his mistake caused a rush through his brain as he involuntarily coughed out even more black blood.
“Other than the Azure Continent, I’ve spent the past year here in Ginkou. It’s impossible for me to have killed your clan, and earlier when we were fighting, I didn’t even know why you wanted to kill me. If you’re not lying, it means that the Qin Wentian you knew must have been someone else impersonating me. What was his cultivation level?”
Qin Wentian wanted to clear this up, he wanted to know who had impersonated him and implicated him in all those atrocities. That conniving bastard was the one that deserved death.
“I’ve only exchanged blows with him briefly, but I could tell that he was truly powerful. His cultivation level is the same as mine, at the ninth level of Yuanfu.”
“I’m still at the seventh level of Yuanfu.” Qin Wentian released his aura, “Regardless of friend or foe, everyone is aware of this.”
“Shu Ruanyu, you should be able to verify this point for me. A year ago when I was still in the Moon Continent, my cultivation base wasn’t even at the fifth level of Yuanfu yet.” Qin Wentian stared at Shu Ruanyu, who stood nearby, his sudden words causing her to be stunned. Initially she wanted to seek Qin Wentian out for revenge, but upon witnessing his fight, she understood clearly that she had no way of matching Qin Wentian’s strength.
Not only that, even Chu Mang and that fatty had grown many times more powerful compared to before.
When she realized Qin Wentian had discovered her presence, her countenance momentarily grew somewhat unsightly to behold.
“Mu Feng, you were tricked by someone. This man might be a worthless cad, but I can attest to the fact that he’s not some demented freak. When I was held captive, he didn’t touch me inappropriately in the slightest. And besides, just look at how beautiful his female companions are, why would he resort to mistreating your sister?”
Shu Ruanyu stared at Mu Feng as she spoke, surprising Qin Wentian with her words. Why was this woman suddenly so kind-hearted and then willing to help him out in this situation?
Back then, her hatred for him reached her very bones, but after pondering it for a moment, Qin Wentian understood why she suddenly changed her attitude. It must be because rumours had spread after her capture, and thus she needed him to clear her name.
Mu Feng cast a glance at Luo Huan and Bailu Yi. All of them were women of remarkable beauty. Although his sister wasn’t bad looking, she still couldn’t be compared to the two women currently standing in front of him. And when he turned his gaze onto Qing`er, even someone of his steely will could feel his heart being moved by her beauty.
In that case, had he really been fooled by someone else?
Thinking of this, an expression of agony flashed through Mu Feng’s face. Who was his enemy then?
He didn’t mind sacrificing his life to kill Qin Wentian, but the problem now was that he’d almost killed the wrong man. Not only that, he didn’t even know the true identity of his enemy, the man who’d reduced him to his current state. Hatred was too small a word to describe the emotions he was currently feeling in his heart.
Thinking of this, the last bit of strength that was used to suppress his poison qi dissipated, causing noxious fumes to gush out of him. In an instant, his body was being ravaged by the poison, turning his skin completely black as the poison began to devour him in its backlash.
Upon witnessing the sudden scene, the spectators all retreated far away with none daring to approach the group. Their hearts were still pounding with shock—they never expected Mu Feng to come all the way here, using a single breath to hold back the venom in his blood. Now that it was totally spent, the seal of strength he used had collapsed.
In order to kill Qin Wentian, he didn’t mind sacrificing himself to the poison as well.
“Feng gege!” The young girl’s countenance turned pale-white as she rushed forwards. With a wave of Qin Wentian’s hand, a powerful source of strength enveloped her, restricting her movements.
Qin Wentian appeared beside her and pulled her back. “If you go any nearer, you will definitely die.”
“If Feng gege dies, I will die with him.” The girl’s tears flowed uncontrollably as she looked to Qin Wentian and sobbed, “I’m really very sorry about what happened, I hope you can forgive us. Feng gege may be a practitioner of the venom arts, but he’s not a bad guy! Otherwise, he would never have been fooled by that monster. The whole incident had too much of a psychological impact on him, and so in order to gain more power, he chose to cultivate a venom art, even though he can’t control it completely. He was planning to end his life once he killed you, which was why he kept chasing me away. I knew that he was acting fiercely to make me abandon him, this was all because he didn’t want me to follow him to the grave!”
Qin Wentian stared at Mu Feng as he sighed in his heart. Although Mu Feng had nearly killed him, he couldn’t blame him for it. So long as one was human, they would definitely go raving mad if such a thing had happened to them. Who could be so ruthless, willing to go so far to destroy both Mu Feng and him?
Not only that, that person had known that he would definitely come to Ginkou to participate in the ranking battle. This must be the reason why the imposter made an agreement with Mu Feng back then, saying to come to Ginkou together to fight as brothers. It was because of this that Mu Feng, with one bated breath of venom, traveled over a thousand miles to kill him.
And if their battle hadn’t ended with both him and Mu Feng on the brink of death, this matter would have never been resolved. It would have ended with either Qin Wentian’s or Mu Feng’s death. That imposter in the shadows was truly someone crafty and sinister.
“Let me take a look at him for you.” Qin Wentian placed the young girl into Bailu Yi’s care as he walked towards Mu Feng. At this moment, the poison qi in Mu Feng’s body had already run amok, yet he was still clear-minded.
“You cultivated the venom arts, yet why are you in this state now?” Qin Wentian asked.
“In a moment of impatience, I chose the most tyrannical of all venom arts to cultivate. However, I have no way to fully disperse the poison qi in my body, I can only use my strength to temporarily suppress it, allowing it to seep inside my bloodstream.” Mu Feng’s voice was extremely weak as he spoke to Qin Wentian, “I almost killed you. I don’t need forgiveness, yet I will never be at peace unless I kill that man with my own hands. If you discover the imposter’s identity, promise me that you’ll kill him for me. And don’t think too badly of Lumi, she’s young and has the heart of an angel. I hope that you won’t make things difficult for her.”
“I know of a set of needle techniques that can ignite one’s potential, allowing every part of your body to return to its most vibrant state of activity. However, this technique is exceedingly dangerous—if you can’t withstand it, it may even lead to death. Do you wish to give it a try?” Qin Wentian gazed seriously at Mu Feng.
Mu Feng stared back at him, silently studying him. At this moment, Qin Wentian could kill him as easily as a flip of his palms. He didn’t need to use such a roundabout method.
“Life and death are determined by the Heavens. Since, I’m already approaching death, what do I have to fear?” Mu Feng spoke in a low voice, as Qin Wentian lightly nodded his head in agreement.
Squatting in front of Mu Feng, Qin Wentian retrieved a set of silvery needles before he pierced one into the centre of Mu Feng’s brows, the back of his ears, his temples, his chest, his arms… Very swiftly, Mu Feng’s body began to tremble, as an expression of utter agony flashed on his face.
“You are right. Live or die, let’s leave it to the Heavens. Although the probability of death is higher, if you want revenge, you’d better survive this.” Qin Wentian spoke calmly, as though talking about a very ordinary thing. This set of needle techniques, named the Limit-Exhaustion Needle Art, had been taught to him by Uncle Black. Its main purpose was to ignite the potential of humans, allowing all their organs, and even their blood to shift to their most active state. If one couldn’t handle the burden of this technique, they were at risk of death via implosion. And even if they survived, they would still be in an extremely weak state after the enhancement effect ended.
This set of needle techniques were considered to be extremely dangerous, but since Mu Feng was close to being completely counter-devoured by the poison qi, the only remaining option was to use poison against poison.
After executing his needle technique, Qin Wentian withdrew, leaving Mu Feng’s body to convulse in silent pain. The needles inserted in him glowed with Astral Light as they transmitted Astral Energy into the various critical parts of his body.
“Feng gege.” The girl Bailu Yi was holding couldn’t help but sob at the sight. She wanted nothing more than to rush over to accompany him, yet how could Bailu Yi let her go? Several spectators stood afar as they watched on impassively.
The poison qi fog that surrounded him spread further outwards, and even Mu Feng’s countenance turned increasingly wretched. The pain was so intense that one would rather prefer death instead.Lumi’s tears dripped in an unbroken stream, stricken with worry as she stared on. Despite the involuntarily intense convulsions, Mu Feng was still holding on. No matter the pain, he would never give in.
Although blood-curdling screams echoed out from him, a heart-freezing look of determination could be seen in Mu Feng’s eyes. He had to live, he couldn’t die before finding out the identity of his true enemy.“The disciple of the Poison Monarch, the one ranked #7—Mu Feng’s in such a terrible situation where he could die at any moment.” Some in the crowd lamented.
“If he really did die, that just means one less fearsome competitor for the top three positions. This is a huge advantage for those contenders.”
Some among the crowd wished for Mu Feng’s death—if he died, there’d be no need to fight him. As a disciple of the Poison Monarch, Mu Feng was undoubtedly someone to avoid fighting against.
“ARGHHHHH” Finally, Mu Feng let out a earth-shattering roar. The poison qi that permeated the atmosphere around him was being frenziedly sucked back into his body. After which, his head slumped to the side as his struggles ceased.
“Is he dead?”
The expression on the crowd’s faces froze. Mu Feng died, just like that?
Qin Wentian walked forwards—he could sense Mu Feng’s breathing, he was still alive.
Qin Wentian squatted down, extended his hand and placed it on top of Mu Feng’s. However in an instant, he immediately retracted it when he realized that his entire hand was coated with a blackish-qi.
Qin Wentian’s heart pounded, it seemed as though the poison qi in Mu Feng’s body was even more terrifying compared to before.
it was then that Mu Feng opened his eyes. He stared at Qin Wentian, his gaze was still extremely cold, like that of death.
His body spasmed slightly before he managed to climb to his feet. Mu Feng swept his gaze over their surroundings before regarding Qin Wentian intently. After which, he walked away, his gait unsteady as he departed the area.“Feng gege.” Lumi rushed forwards, supporting him with her body. Qin Wentian noticed Lumi was unaffected by Mu Feng’s poison qi. This observation caused Qin Wentian to draw in a deep breath, Mu Feng’s attainment with poison just shot up by another level. It seemed that using poison against poison was an effective solution, and hadn’t weakened Mu Feng at all. In fact, he seemed to be stronger compared to before, to the extent that he could even walk on his own.
He had survived through this because he had a heart of steel, and a thirst for his unsated vengeance. He couldn’t die here.
His silhouette gradually walked further and further away, and eventually the crowd also dispersed. No one knew that in the future, this young man would become a character on the scale of the Poison Monarch, able to drive terror in the hearts of others. Not only that, he was even more terrifying compared to his master!
