Chapter 749: Sudden Turnabout
Pill Master Yu was secretly full of glee when he noticed the state his opponent was in. He’d deployed several layers of poisons there. He hadn’t been completely thorough because he’d been short on time, but the blend of all the various poisons would have an even stronger and more immediate consciousness-sealing effect. It would destroy a man’s consciousness as soon as it penetrated inside, making him living dead!
Judging from the situation over there, could his opponent have failed to spot even a consciousness-assaulting poison like this? Pill Master Yu couldn’t stop himself from silently shouting in glee. Poisons striking at the consciousness were usually easy to spot, because pill masters usually had a very keen consciousness. However, by the looks of it, his opponent had clearly failed to notice it. His consciousness seemed to have been sealed already! Hence, Pill Master Yu was simply overflowing with pride. The allotted time of fifteen minutes was also about to end!
Just when Pill Master Yu was strutting with assurance, a warning sign suddenly came from consciousness. What’s going on? Pill Master Yu’s heart quailed. Why had his consciousness suddenly produced a warning for no rhyme or reason? He hurried to check, then almost leapt upwards.
Ominous clouds had unexpectedly appeared some time around his consciousness, like thick, black clouds darkening the sky before a rainy day. Pill Master Yu was almost frightened out of his wits. He’d still been proud and complacent just moments ago. He’d thought his opponent so weak to fail to even notice the consciousness-assaulting poison. He’d then discovered the following instant that his own mind had been imperceptibly surrounded by dark clouds! On top of that, the power of this encirclement was surprisingly dreadful. It even seemed it could devour and annihilate his consciousness at any time!
No! Pill Master Yu finally felt a glimmer of fear.
Just then, Elder Feng proclaimed the end of the allotted quarter of an hour. As though a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders, Pill Master Yu leapt outside the formation.
Wei Jie laughed heartily. “Pill Master Yu, does that mean you’re conceding defeat?”
Pill Master Yu snapped, “Concede defeat? Let’s first see if he’s still alive!”
Everyone froze. What did that mean? Did Pill Master Yu mean that his opponent was already dead? He sat down cross-legged without expounding and tried a variety of methods to blockade his consciousness and defend himself against the invasion of these dark clouds. Only, no matter what he did, the invasion of the dark clouds still pushed inexorably on forward after a slight delay. Pill Master Yu sprang violently to his feet and went inside the formation he’d arranged.
Wei Jie yelled, “Pill Master Yu, you’re breaking the rules!”
Pill Master Yu didn’t have time to spare in wasting words. He walked towards Jiang Cheng. He wanted to locate the antidote on Jiang Chen. His opponent had already become the living dead, so wasn’t he allowed to do as he pleased?
Just as Pill Master Yu drew near, Jiang Chen suddenly opened his eyes and stretched lazily, standing up slowly with an exaggerated yawn. He had an apologetic expression on his face, “My bad, how long has it been? I accidentally fell asleep. It was actually a pleasant nap.” He nodded at Pill Master Yu with a faint smile. “Pill Master Yu, did you even set up anything? Why didn’t I feel any danger? It made me nap instead.”
Everyone almost fell to the floor with shock. No one was a fool. Everyone could see Jiang Chen was only dissembling. He was simply purposefully smacking Pill Master Yu on the face! Weren’t you well prepared? Weren’t you going to send your opponent to the afterlife? And now look, your opponent’s perfectly fine and dandy, he didn’t even lose half a hair, and he also had a good nap!
Pill Master Yu swayed on his feet and almost fainted from anger. Wei Tiantong and his son were even more dumbstruck. Proud and complacent as they had previously been, they hadn’t even had time to retract their smiles before countless slaps rained down on their faces in this extreme turnaround. The duo had been sprouting “counterfeit” and “swindler” just moments ago. In the end, Pill Master Yu was the one who looked more like a counterfeit, more like a swindler!
Wei Tiantong was utterly astonished. He saw Pill Master Yu pounce on Jiang Chen and was secretly taken aback, you wouldn’t be losing your cool so easily, would you? You can’t fly into such a rage even if you lost the contest! “Pill Master Yu, please stop now!” Wei Tiantong yelled in hurry. One had to look at the bigger picture. Wei Tiantong very much wanted to choke the sudden appearance of this so-called Pill Master Zhen to death. But reason told him that were he to fall out with Wei Tianxiao now, the things he’d schemed might all become as fleeting as clouds if by any chance Wei Tianxiao were to kill Pill Master Yu out of anger.
“Pill Master Yu, keep the bigger picture in mind!” That clan elder who was Wei Tiantong’s confidant also shouted, “Even if we lose this round, we merely need to bet another few rounds. How could a fourth rank pill king lose to a second rank pill king?”
Pill Master Yu would never lose reason so badly in ordinary times, but it was currently a matter of life and death for him! If he couldn’t get his hands on the antidote, then he would be met with an untimely death the moment the dark clouds penetrated his consciousness. How could he still keep his composure when he thought of that? What would he still care about the bigger picture? No bigger picture was worth his own life!
Jiang Chen didn’t show any fear when he saw Pill Master Yu pounce on him. Pill Master Yu’s martial cultivation was merely at the earth sage realm. Although he hadn’t broken through the earth sage realm yet, with the number of sky sages he’d already contended against, what did he have to fear from a mere earth sage?
Besides, Jiang Chen could tell that Pill Master Yu’s talent in martial cultivation was far below his talent with poisons. Without the assistance of his poisons, there was no need to fear him at all. Jiang Chen had at least seven or eight methods available if he wanted to kill Pill Master Yu right now. Only, the time for his opponent to die was already drawing near. What did he need to take action himself for?
The more he used his internal energy like this, the faster the toxicity of the Divine Befuddlement Miasma would flare, and the quicker he would die. Back then in Infant Shriek, even a powerhouse at the fourth level emperor realm like Gong Wuji couldn’t bear the Miasma’s toxicity, to say nothing of a trivial Pill Master Yu. Jiang Chen had gathered a great amount of poison from the Miasma in Infant Shriek. The toxicity might not have been as overwhelming nor as thick and omnipresent, but it was more than enough to deal with one pill master inside the formation.
Wei Tiantong also vaguely felt that something was out of place when he saw Pill Master Yu rampage like an enraged tiger. He hastily stepped up and clamped onto Pill Master Yu’s wrist. “Pill Master Yu, please calm down.” Wei Tiantong’s plans still required Pill Master Yu’s assistance. How could he let the pill master continue to run wild?
Pill Master Yu was belching fire from his eyes. “Calm your f*cking ass! Wei Tiantong, if it weren’t for all your f*cking complicated chickenshits, I’d have poisoned everyone in your house already. Why would we be here today?” He swore like a sailor, looking like he’d gone insane.
Wei Tiantong was struck dumb. He’d never have imagined how someone usually rather calm would act so crazed all of a sudden. Had the fellow been hit by some poison that’d made him lose his mind? Wei Tiantong berated him with a frown, “Pill Master Yu, what insane nonsense are you sprouting? Shut the hell up!”
Pill Master Yu swore even more viciously: “Wei Tiantong, you coward! I’d have stuck to my own plans if I’d known beforehand. It’s my rotten luck to partner with useless trash like you!” He then fixed Jiang Chen with a ferocious stare, “You, Zhen, I don’t care where a pill king like you comes from, just know your place and hand over the antidote! There won’t be a slightest foothold left for you inside Veluryiam Capital otherwise!”
What? Antidote? The crowd finally faintly understood another implication from these words. Could Pill Master Yu have already fallen victim to Pill King Zhen’s poison? Had he unwittingly fallen into a trap? What on earth was going on? Even Wei Tianxiao felt incredulous. This turnaround had come too fast. It was simply a great, wild and unrestrained ride up and down.
Pill Master Yu had previously been free and easy, as though he could wield the butcher’s knife even blindfolded, while Pill King Zhen had been sitting cross-legged and not making a sound, leading everyone to believe he’d already succumbed to the poison and died. But in the end, Pill Master Yu was the one poisoned and was now raving like a madman, while the previously quiet Pill King Zhen hadn’t lost a single hair and had even enjoyed a very pleasant nap instead!
Now that things came to such a head, even the most dim-witted person could tell that Pill Master Yu’s skills were far worse compared to Pill King Zhen. What fourth rank pill king? He was simply a charlatan with a false reputation! How could a fourth rank pill king be so weak? But how would they know that this Pill Master Yu was no charlatan at all. Rather, he’d met too fearsome an opponent, an existence far above a second rank pill king. Even a high-level pill king might not be a match for this “Pill King Zhen” when it came to pills!
Wei Jie was suddenly delighted. He shared a look with his father Wei Tianxiao. Both of them could see the gratification in each other’s eyes. They’d wagered on the right person in gambling on Jiang Chen!
Wei Tiantong stared at Jiang Chen with a frown, “Pill King Zhen, this is a mere learning exchange. You won due to a fluke, and you better hand over the antidote now.”
“Indeed, how about a couple more rounds if you’re so sure of your skill?” Wei Xiu also chimed in.
Jiang Chen smiled in contempt. This father and son duo was really quite naive. Hand over the antidote? Why would he ever? “Both of you are laymen, so don’t speak in your ignorance. Contests between poison masters are all struggles of life and death. If this pill master you invited had defeated my humble self, I would never have begged for pity.” Jiang Chen’s smile was faint, but his expression was unyielding. You want the antidote? Dream on!
Pill Master Yu shrugged off Wei Tiantong’s arm when he heard this, “Wei Tiantong, why are you still foolishly standing there? Hurry up and grab this kid! Force him to cough up the antidote! You know the consequences if I die!”
Wei Tiantong humphed coldly at this naked threat right to his face, yet he was caught between a rock and a hard place. This Pill Master Yu was indeed a mole sent by the Majestic Clan. It would be hard for Wei Tiantong to gain control of the house without powerful backing. So he’d wanted to borrow this opportunity and switch his allegiance. He believed that the Coiling Dragon Clan, the great clan that House Wei relied on, had already lost its glories of yesteryear. The Majestic Clan would supplant it sooner or later as the premier great clan. If he could obtain the position of house lord and switch to the Majestic Clan’s banner in one go, that would be killing two birds with one stone.
That was the only reason why he’d hit it off from the beginning with Pill Master Yu and made so many plans. He’d never imagined that Pill Master Yu’s life would hang by a thread because of a trivial contest. This threw all his plans out the window without a doubt.
One had to remember, he was grasping Elder Zhuo and Elder Feng by the throat, and only Pill Master Yu could solve their problems. It was a given that these two elders would fall out with him as soon as Pill Master Yu died. Why would they still stand by his side then? An ominous expression dawned glinted on Wei Tiantong’s face as he pounced on Jiang Chen.
