Druid Fairy

Chapter 193 Killing and Punishing the Heart

The pills entered their stomachs, one black and one yellow, one signifying life and one death, within their bodies.

Time seemed to slow down drastically at that moment, yet it was also incredibly agonizing.

Tens of thousands of eyes below the stage were fixed on the two people on the stage, and people even subconsciously held their breath, afraid of disturbing this silent life-or-death struggle.

The atmosphere on the high imperial viewing platform was as heavy as iron.

Prince Yong's usually steady hands were now gripping the armrests so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

He didn't care about the dynasty's reputation, nor did he care about any duel between geniuses. He only cared about one thing—Li Mengze couldn't die!
This young man is his hope for the rest of his life!

"Li Mengze, you absolutely cannot be harmed! My Seven Treasures Soul-Stabilizing Pill is still counting on you!"

The emperor, standing to the side, had a calm and unreadable face, but the tapping of his fingers on the armrest of the dragon throne betrayed his inner turmoil.

His bestowal of the title of Princess upon Li Mengyue and his generous reward of Li Mengjin were a way of declaring to the world how highly he regarded her.

In this battle, Li Mengze represents not only himself, but also the face of the royal family and the face of the Great Yu Dynasty!
If he were to be defeated by a Daqian alchemist under the watchful eyes of the masses, where would he, as the emperor, put his face?
The Empress Dowager, however, had long lost interest in watching the drama unfold. She held Li Mengyue's cold little hand tightly, her aged face filled with worry.

"Crescent Moon, don't be afraid. Your elder brother is a lucky man, he'll be alright." Despite her words, her trembling brows betrayed her anxiety.

Sikong Jin sat cross-legged, a cruel yet gleeful sneer on his face.

He had already activated his unique cultivation technique to protect his soul, while carefully sensing the changes in the amber-colored pill within his body.

"Ok?"

The pill entered my stomach, but instead of the expected deadly poison, it transformed into an incredibly pure and warm life force!

This power was so pure, like a long-awaited rain after a drought, that it frantically nourished his limbs and bones, repairing the hidden injuries he had sustained from practicing poisonous arts.

"Playing tricks!" Sikong Jin sneered inwardly.

In his view, this must be some kind of slow-acting poison disguised as something else, first using vitality to paralyze the opponent, and then revealing its true intentions to unleash a deadly attack.

He leisurely awaited Li Mengze's tragic death from the poison, as if he could already see the other's soul being torn apart by thousands of vengeful spirits in the Netherworld Fire, bleeding from all seven orifices, howling in pain, and finally becoming a soulless walking corpse.

Li Mengze did indeed feel a difference the moment he swallowed the "Immortal's Fall".

A chilling aura, as if from the deepest hell, surged into his consciousness!

Countless twisted and tormented ghostly faces emitted silent shrieks, transforming into a black tide that threatened to completely devour and tear his soul apart!
In that instant, Li Mengze's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

This subtle movement was immediately noticed by someone with a keen eye.

Prince Yong's breathing almost stopped at that moment.

Seeing Li Mengze frown, I felt as if my heart was being gripped by a cold hand, and even my old wounds began to ache faintly.

"It's over!" Han Youwei's heart sank to the bottom in an instant.

"ended."

At the Great Qian delegation's seat, the Third Prince, Qian Tianyi, smiled knowingly. He knew all too well Sikong Jin's "Immortal's Fall" poison; once it took effect, the soul would instantly dissipate, leaving no chance of survival.

"This Great Yu alchemist is ultimately young and impetuous, and easily defeated. Once his soul is devoured, I will order his tragic fate to be spread throughout the world. This will be enough to greatly enhance the prestige of my Great Qian Dynasty, and make the Great Yu alchemy world unable to hold its head high for ten years!"

On the other side of the crowd, Sha Qianli, the "Smiling Buddha" from the ancient Jinsha Kingdom, was leisurely waving his pure gold folding fan, his small, squinting eyes gleaming with nothing but business.

"Tsk tsk, it seems that the Dan Kui of Da Yu is going to fall." The guard beside him whispered.

"What a pity. The death of a talented person who could improve the formulas and provide us with a stable supply of goods cuts off one of our sources of income."

Sha Qianli said it was a pity, but his smile grew even brighter. "However... if he dies, Prince Yong's old life will soon be over, and his businesses will probably be in chaos for a while. Send down the order to have our people keep a close eye on the movements of Prince Yong's residence!"

For him, the fall of a genius and the dignity of a dynasty were not as tangible as hard-earned silver.

In an inconspicuous corner, Aman, a girl from the Baiyue tribe, frowned as she looked at the sinister resentment on the stage and said, "Master, the methods of that man in white are so vicious, just like the 'Ten Thousand Soul Gu' from our swamp. Do these dynasties also use these things?"

The old priest's withered lips moved slightly, and a glint of insight flashed in his cloudy eyes: "Their methods are no less numerous than our Gu, and they are also better at disguising themselves. Look, they call it 'Dan,' which sounds so elegant, but in reality... it is no different from ours."

"Is that alchemist from the Great Yu Dynasty going to die? He looks so weak." Aman curled her lip, somewhat disdainfully.

The old priestess did not answer; her aged eyes were fixed on Li Mengze, and suddenly, her pupils contracted slightly.

“No…something’s not right.” She said hoarsely, “That resentment…disappeared too quickly! This young man’s soul…it seems…it seems like something is hidden inside…”

Just as the endless resentment was about to engulf Li Mengze, a vast and vibrant world suddenly unfolded in his sea of ​​consciousness!

That was not a battlefield of flashing swords, nor a place of wrathful gods and Buddhas.

It was an endless grassland bathed in warm sunlight. The wind blew, the grass rippled, and the air was filled with the purest fragrance of grass and trees.

At the edge of the grassland lies a lush forest, where every tree is brimming with life.

Deep in the forest, a spiritual realm formed by the natural growth of countless rare medicinal herbs appears and disappears, which is the epitome of the "Hundred Herbs Spirit Realm"!

Those hideous vengeful spirits, the moment they rushed into this world, collectively "brought themselves to a halt."

The fragrance of those herbs and trees, the natural aroma of countless medicinal plants, is like a pair of the gentlest hands, soothing the wounds deep within their souls, turning into specks of light and rain, willingly dissipating into this warm world, finding true peace.

The outside world is but a fleeting moment.

Li Mengze slowly opened his eyes, his gaze clear and bright. Not only did he show no signs of poisoning, but because he had purified the overwhelming resentment, his spiritual power had even subtly improved.

"This...this is impossible!"

Sikong Jin's smile froze completely!
He was mentally connected to his poison pill and could clearly feel that the resentment of countless souls, which was enough to give even a Nascent Soul cultivator a headache, had actually... vanished into thin air?!

It was like a clay ox sinking into the sea, not even a ripple was made!

What exactly is going on? !
Just as he was trembling with shock and couldn't figure it out, an extremely ominous feeling suddenly erupted from the depths of his dantian!
"Gurgle...gurgle..."

A loud, strange sound, like a summer thunderclap, came out of his flat stomach without warning.

Sikong Jin's handsome face instantly turned green. The immense vitality that had surged into his body seemed to "anger" upon discovering that his body had completely adapted to the poison and evil, becoming like a stagnant pool!

Li Mengze's "Nameless Pill" has an extremely simple and brutal pharmacology—it strengthens the body's resistance and eliminates pathogens, forcibly elevating your bodily functions to an absolutely healthy peak state!
For a normal person, this is a highly nourishing medicine.

But for Sikong Jin, a "poison person" who has been surrounded by poisons for many years and whose body is already imbalanced in yin and yang and disordered in the five elements, this overly "healthy" power is the most domineering and ferocious poison!
That immense life force surged through his body, like a cleaner with a high-pressure water gun, forcibly expelling all the accumulated "garbage" and "toxins" from his body!

"puff!"

An indescribable stench erupted uncontrollably from behind him, loud and carrying a strange fragrance—the smell of countless poisonous herbs fermenting together.

Sikong Jin's body trembled violently. He felt as if a hundred thousand alpacas were galloping inside him, his internal organs were churning, and a primal and irresistible primordial power from the depths of his soul was frantically assaulting his last line of defense!

"No...no...I can still endure it..."

He gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, his already pale face turning a deep purplish-red, and large beads of sweat rolling down his face.

He tried to suppress this "evil fire" with his profound cultivation, but the power was like a flood that had burst its banks, growing stronger and stronger, and was impossible to stop.

The audience below the stage was stunned.

"What...what's going on? Could it be the poison taking effect? ​​But I've never heard of any poison that works like this!"

"Look at his face, turning pale and then red, he looks so painful! Master Li's poison is indeed silent yet incredibly potent!"

"This...this smell...it's a bit intoxicating!" A nearby cultivator sniffed hard.

"What...what is he doing? It feels like he's about to explode!" Han Youwei asked Li Mengjin, looking completely bewildered.

Li Mengjin's lips twitched almost imperceptibly. He had a rough idea of ​​what his elder brother was refining, and a sense of admiration rose in his heart.

Brother's methods are truly deadly, killing without shedding blood, destroying both the mind and the body.

"I...I admit it..."

Sikong Jin finally couldn't hold on any longer. He wanted to admit defeat, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the pent-up primordial power found an outlet!

"puff!!!"

This time, it's not a gas.

With a deafening roar, a brownish-yellow water arrow, like a volcanic eruption, shot out from behind him, tracing a beautiful and evocative parabola before landing precisely in the center of the alchemy arena.

At this moment, the whole world seemed to have been muted.

You can hear a pin drop.

Immediately afterwards, an indescribable, extremely strong, and unique aroma, a blend of the essence of hundreds of herbs and the cycle of the five grains, spread wildly outwards in a circle from the center of the alchemy platform!

"vomit!"

The audience in the front row were the first to be affected, and hundreds of people couldn't control themselves and bent over to vomit.

"My God! What kind of poison gas is this?!"

"Run! Someone's going to die!"

The square, which had been packed with people, instantly descended into chaos. People cried out for their parents and fled in panic, creating a scene even more chaotic than encountering a beast tide.

On the Daqian delegation's side, the Third Prince Qian Tianyi's face was so black it could drip ink. He used all his cultivation to barely manage to set up a protective aura in front of him, isolating him from the deadly smell.

Tuoba Xiong, a body-refining fanatic standing beside him, was so overwhelmed by the smell that he had to back away, tears streaming down his face. As he retreated, he shouted, "This...this is even worse than the latrine in our military camp that's been blown up for a hundred years! I can't take it anymore!"

Looking at Sikong Jin on the stage, his eyes rolled back and he foamed at the mouth. After delivering that earth-shattering blow, his body went limp and he was knocked unconscious by his own fumes, collapsing straight to the ground.

Only one person in the entire room remained calm and composed.

Li Mengze slowly rose, walked to the unconscious Sikong Jin, glanced down at him, then raised his head and, in a compassionate tone, addressed everyone loudly:

"Alas, Fellow Daoist Sikong's poison pill is indeed domineering. It can actually draw out the full medicinal power of my pill to cleanse the toxins and impurities that have accumulated in my body for many years."

"Unfortunately, the toxins in his body were too accumulated to be removed, so the 'detoxification' process was a bit too intense."

"This battle was not a failure of the war effort, but rather the will of Heaven. I have won."

His words were spoken with righteous indignation.

Han Youwei, who had just recovered from the taste, was stunned for a long time before bursting into a wild and earth-shattering laugh.

"Hahahaha! He's absolutely divine! He's devastatingly cruel!"

He laughed until tears streamed down his face, pointing at the horrific scene on stage, laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight.

After the initial shock and disgust, the people of Dayu finally came to their senses.

They looked at Master Li Dan on the stage, who was as calm and collected as a war god, and then at the unconscious "poisoned man" on the ground, as well as the indescribable mess beside him. They all burst into thunderous cheers and laughter.

"Master Li Dan is awesome!!"

"We won! We won! It was a beautiful victory!"

"This isn't a fight to the death, it's a display of national power!"

At this moment, the face of the Great Yu Dynasty was not only preserved, but also elevated to an unprecedented height in an extremely outrageous way!
Qian Tianyi's face was so dark it looked like a storm was about to break.

He lost.

Total loss.

They lost face utterly.

They lost so badly that they couldn't even find a reason to get revenge!
You can't exactly say, "Your Great Yu alchemists are shameless; they actually used laxatives to win the battle of dead pills," can you?

That would only be more embarrassing!

He took a deep look at the smiling, harmless young alchemist on the stage, and felt a strong sense of dread and killing intent towards this seemingly gentle opponent!
(End of this chapter)