Chen Ping did not join the pursuit. He stood before Snake Elder’s headless corpse, condensing a strand of pure baleful qi at his fingertip and probing into the opponent’s dantian.
A moment later, he withdrew his finger. A faint golden light lingered at his fingertip. “Found it.”
That was the unique spiritual essence of the Hu clan. Clearly, it was left behind by the treasure Snake Elder had plundered back then.
“Master Hu, it seems your clan’s ancestral relic is most likely in the Myriad Poisons Hall.”
Upon hearing this, Hu Mazi’s hand holding the talisman trembled slightly. “My ancestor’s possession… I must retrieve it!”
The three of them passed through the ground littered with corpses and headed towards the Myriad Poisons Hall.
Along the way, the poisonous miasma automatically retreated in the face of Chen Ping’s baleful qi. Those poisonous insects originally hidden in the shadows were so frightened that they burrowed into the soil and dared not show themselves.
The hall door of the Myriad Poisons Hall was crafted from the skull of some gigantic beast. Dried human skins still hung from its fangs.
Eight guards clad in scale armour stood on either side of the hall door. Their skin displayed a eerie bluish-purple hue, and they gripped long spears embedded with poison crystals.
“Halt, intruders!” The leading guard shouted sternly, his spear pointing straight at Chen Ping. “Those who trespass in the Myriad Poisons Hall will die!”
Chen Ping could not be bothered with idle talk. He casually swung the Dragon-Slaying Sword.
A sword beam over three metres long, golden and black, burst forth through the air. It not only cleaved the eight guards in half along with their spears but also smashed into the skull hall door with momentum to spare.
“Crack…”
The sturdy beast bone door shattered like porcelain, revealing the sinister great hall inside.
Within the hall, poisonous mist ten times denser than outside permeated the air. On the high platform in the very centre sat an old man in green robes. Before him, a bronze cauldron boiled with churning ink-green liquid, emitting a nauseating odour.
It was none other than the Valley Lord of Myriad Poisons Valley, Wan Du Zi.
Wan Du Zi slowly raised his head. His face seemed woven from poisonous vines, with pale green veins entwining the surface of his skin. His eyes were pure ink-green, showing no trace of pupils.
“Snake Elder is dead?”
His voice resembled two pieces of rotten wood rubbing together. “You have some skill. No wonder you dare to intrude into my Myriad Poisons Valley.”
Chen Ping stepped into the great hall. Baleful qi formed an invisible barrier around his body, isolating the poisonous mist outside. “Hundreds of years ago, the Hu clan was exterminated. You were one of the main culprits.”
It was not a question; it was a statement.
Wan Du Zi let out a cackling strange laugh, the sound accompanied by the teeth-grating drip of viscous fluid. “Indeed. That old Hu fellow’s ‘Myriad Poisons Immunity Body’ was truly excellent material for refining poisons. It’s a pity he self-destructed it; otherwise, this old man would have long broken through to the Earth Immortal realm and ascended to higher realms.”
Upon hearing this, Hu Mazi trembled with rage, nearly crushing the talisman in his hand. “You beast! I will kill you!”
“What’s the rush?” Wan Du Zi licked his lips, his ink-green tongue forked like a snake’s. “Once I refine you three into poison pills, it will make up for the regret from back then. Especially you.” His gaze fell on Chen Ping. “Possessing baleful qi yet not eroded by it; perfect for refining a ‘Yin-Yang Poison Baleful Pill’.”
“Too much nonsense.” Chen Ping’s figure blurred, and the Dragon-Slaying Sword thrust towards Wan Du Zi’s face with a whistling sound through the air.
Wan Du Zi neither dodged nor evaded; he merely lifted a hand and pointed at the bronze cauldron.
The churning ink-green liquid in the cauldron suddenly surged, transforming into a poison dragon. It opened its massive maw full of fangs and lunged towards Chen Ping. Wherever the poison dragon passed, the air corroded with a sizzling sound.
“Petty tricks.” A cold light flashed in Chen Ping’s eyes. His sword momentum abruptly accelerated, the golden-black intertwined sword beam directly piercing through the poison dragon’s head.
“Puff…”
The poison dragon instantly disintegrated, turning into a sky full of poisonous rain falling down.
But before these poisonous liquids could approach within a metre of Chen Ping, they were incinerated into nothingness by the baleful qi.
“Eh?” A trace of surprise flashed in Wan Du Zi’s eyes. “Your baleful qi can actually restrain my myriad poisons? Interesting…”
