Huang Quanwei stared sharply at Li Qiye, even to the point of being aggressive. This was clearly a provocation.
He wouldn’t miss this chance of showing off in front of his crush, to let Yalan know that he alone is the best master of poison.
He was completely confident that in the entire system, no one could surpass him in this regard. If he couldn’t cure it, no one else could. Thus, he had no problem challenging this First Disciple who got lucky enough to become Longevity Sage’s student.
“Well…” The elder hesitated.
Though Miaozhen recommended Li Qiye and said that the guy was a master of everything, he had never heard of him, let alone seeing the guy’s abilities. This wasn’t the case for the Poison King who was world-renowned.
Yalan was the one to speak: “Brother Huang has learned about poison for several decades on top of traveling quite far to get here. I’m sure he can do it.”
She had no prejudice against Li Qiye, only thinking that this was the best route. One had evidence of his skill while she had never seen the other before. Risking the elder’s life was too much to ask.
“Don’t worry, Junior Sister, I will cure Elder Yang, he’ll be up and jumping in no time.” Quanwei became excited after seeing Yalan picking him.
Her recognition of his skill was the greatest boost of confidence. He believed that it wouldn’t be long before he could take the beauty home.
“That sounds amazing.” Elder Yang said. He didn’t want to risk his life and was very skeptical. Alas, he didn’t dare to refuse out of consideration for Miaozhen.
So now, Yalan had done him a huge favor.
Meanwhile, Li Qiye stood there without expressing his attitude. Miaozhen glared and elbowed him. The guy didn’t respond to her at all.
“Elder, let me have a look.” Quanwei was eager to get started.
The elder opened his robe to reveal the wound on his chest. It was quite serious, the size of a palm with burn marks all around and a sulfuric scent.
He had ointment applied but it was useless. The black marks on the wound were spreading, showing that the poison wanted to move on to the rest of the body. Fortunately, Yalan was talented enough to stop it for now.
“So strong.” Quanwei was surprised to see this wound.
“This is…” Even Li Qiye took another glance.
“Senior Brother, you got a clue?” Quanwei noticed his interest and asked with an arrogant expression.
“It’s not just poison.” Li Qiye chuckled.
“Do you have an antidote?” Miaozhen smiled and asked.
Quanwei sneered and said: “I’m afraid you are misdiagnosing it. This is indeed poison, and a strong one at that, able to spread all over the body in the blink of an eye.”
“Yes, yes.” Elder Yang added: “I was picking some medicine that day but something ambushed me, piercing me right on the chest. I turned black but I sealed all of my veins and meridians. Later on, Miss Mu forced the poison back to the chest and saved my life.” [1]
“Did you get a good look at the creature? Is it the size of a fist with sharp fangs, plated head, and a stinger?” Quanwei inquired.
“You’re completely right, when I took it off my chest, my energy had killed it but its appearance is just as you described, you know what it is?” The elder was excited.
“Senior Brother, do you know what it is?” Quanwei didn’t answer the elder but asked Li Qiye instead.
Li Qiye only smiled and didn’t care for the provocation.
“Looks like you don’t know much about it.” Quanwei assumed that he didn’t know anything and continued on: “It’s a Devilclaw Louse, born in places with high temperature and humidity. I bet you were at the mouth of a volcano, or near one.”
“Yes, completely right!” Elder Yang knew that he had met a master.
“These lice hide in the dark, very good ambushers with lightning speed. Just one sting is usually fatal due to the fast-spreading poison.” Quanwei elaborated.
“No wonder why you’re the current Poison King, I’m definitely saved.” The elder became ecstatic.
Quanwei looked over at Li Qiye to show his superiority. This was his time to show off before Yalan. As for this so-called First Brother? He was only a stepping stone.
He carefully looked at the wound before concluding: “It’s a louse indeed, but the strange part is that the poison seems to be sealing you. Maybe when you sealed off your veins, the poison also sealed you off, or maybe too much time had passed and the poison had spread all over, or both.”
Yalan added: “Makes sense. When the elder called for help, despite sealing off his veins, the poison had already spread all over. Later on, I forced it back to his chest but probably not in entirety. This poison is sealing his true fate, resulting in this painful state.”
The elder smiled wryly and said: “If it wasn’t for the seal, I would have abandoned this flesh already. Please utilize your masterful ways and remove the poison.”
For cultivators, being poisoned was a difficult task, especially ancestors who were strong enough. They were virtually impervious to poisons. However, in the rare case of affliction, they could instantly abandon their flesh and destroy the body, running away with their true fate.
As long as the true fate was around, they could rebuild their body. It would only be a great loss but no real threat to their lives.
This wasn’t the case for the elder. His true fate was sealed inside his own body by the poison, so a physical abandonment was out of the question. His true fate was bound to his body right now.
“Don’t worry, this louse is fierce but it can’t trouble me. I just need half a day to take care of this.” Quanwei was completely confident.
“Virtuous Nephew, you’re my savior.” The elder was in a great mood.
“It’s too early for a conclusion.” Li Qiye gently shook his head and reminded Quanwei.
“You have a different perspective? I’m listening, Senior Brother.” Quanwei said impolitely.
“This poison is very strange, you need to rethink then rethink it again before making a decision.” Li Qiye repeated.
“That’s probably the case for you, but I am the Poison King. A Devilclaw Louse is nothing, no need to waste time thinking.” Quanwei said.
“I’m confident in your abilities, please act fast to avoid further complications.” Elder Yang agreed.
“Junior Sister, what do you think about his opinion? Do you think we need more time thinking?” Quanwei wanted to show off and asked Yalan, ready to listen to whatever she says.
1. Now that we know it's a sting, poison should really be changed to venom to match the English usage. I looked back at the previous chapters and found that changing it to venom/venomous would make the text looks weird, since I'll be using the word poison to describe most of the things here. Seeing venom randomly in a sea of poison would be strange. There is no distinction in Chinese for venom/poison in a single word, as far as I know.