Kill one monster, stack one poison, and I alone will poison my way across the world!

After leaving Lin Xiaotian's office, Su Chen and Lin Shiqing parted ways and headed straight for the Assassin Academy.

To the northeast of the Assassin's Academy lies the Forest of Dead Bones.

The trees here are all grayish-white, their branches twisted like bone claws reaching for the sky.

There was no grass on the ground, only a thick layer of dark purple humus that emitted a pungent odor.

Su Chen stepped on the humus and walked all the way to the depths of the Bone Forest.

A crooked wooden house appeared ahead.

The wooden house was surrounded by unusually brightly colored flowers and plants, and a half-meter-long colorful centipede was dozing on a carnivorous flower.

A withered, thin old woman sat in a rocking chair in front of the wooden house.

She was dressed in a drab, coarse linen outfit, her face was covered in wrinkles like walnut shells, and her hair was sparse.

He looked like an ordinary, lonely old man standing on the street.

"Young man, are you lost?"

The old woman saw Su Chen, and a kind light flashed in her cloudy eyes.

She waved with a smile, "Come, come sit down. No one has come to this Forest of Dead Bones for many years. This old woman can hardly speak anymore."

Su Chen walked to the front of the wooden house, pulled over a wooden stool with a missing leg, and sat down.

"Are you the Poisonous Granny?"

"A mother-in-law is a mother-in-law; adding the word 'poison' sounds awful."

The old woman's eyes narrowed into slits as she laughed.

She shakily picked up a chipped, rough porcelain teapot from the low table beside her, poured a cup of steaming tea, and pushed it in front of Su Chen.

"Here, have some tea. The air in this forest is thick with miasma. Have something hot to warm yourself up."

The tea has a light amber color and a faint, unique fragrance.

Su Chen looked at the cup of tea, then glanced at the Poison Granny's incredibly kind face.

That's it?

Lin Xiaotian's description sounded so mysterious; he thought it was some kind of freakish NPC with three heads and six arms.

Su Chen picked up his teacup and habitually cast a detection spell on it.

[Item: Mother-in-law's welcoming tea]

[Rank: ???]

[Effect: A liquid containing extremely potent toxins. Drinking it will deduct 5000 health points per second for 10 seconds.]

……

Su Chen's hand, holding the teacup, froze in mid-air.

5000 damage per second?

Lasting 10 seconds?

Is this supposed to be a cup of tea?!

Even the nuclear wastewater from Japan isn't this toxic, is it?

Based on the current average stats of those who change jobs, a level 25 warrior with all points allocated to Strength will have a maximum of 10,000 HP.

If you drink this tea, even a shield warrior won't last three seconds before melting on the spot.

Su Chen was speechless.

He looked at the Poison Granny, and the Poison Granny looked back at him, her smile still so kind and gentle.

"Why aren't you drinking?"

The old woman urged, "It won't taste good if it gets cold."

That old woman is really ruthless.

A single cup of tea is a test of 50,000 true injuries; no wonder no one has been able to become her disciple for decades.

Who can stand this?

"Okay, I'll drink it."

Su Chen tilted his head back and drank the amber-colored tea in one gulp.

The tea went down my throat.

[Warning: You have ingested an unknown liquid and are now in a state of poisoning!]

"-5000!"

"-5000!"

"-5000!"

"..."

Ten consecutive, glaring red damage numbers flashed wildly across Su Chen's retina.

The dragon robe on Su Chen's body glowed with a layer of dark golden shield light, and the shield value dropped rapidly at a visible speed.

Ten seconds passed, and the damage stopped.

Su Chen let out a long breath.

That was fucking exciting.

Immediately afterwards, a new system notification popped up.

[Hint: Temporary buff gained: Toxicity Affinity.]

[Effect: Increases all your DoT (Damage Over Time) effects by 20%. Duration: 24 hours.]

Su Chen's eyes lit up instantly when he saw the notification.

A cup of tea grants a 20% DOT damage increase buff?

Lasting for 24 hours?!

Holy crap, this might be useless to others, but it's an epic upgrade for him!

After watching Su Chen finish his tea, a barely perceptible glint flashed in the old woman's murky eyes.

"Good! Good lad!"

The old woman stood up with a smile, and gently patted Su Chen's shoulder twice. "You have a really good physique. I haven't seen such a robust young man in a long time."

Snapped.

Snapped.

Just as the Poison Granny's hand left Su Chen's shoulder.

[Warning: You have been exposed to an unknown substance and are now in a state of poisoning!]

"-500!"

"-500!"

"-500!"

"..."

Su Chen's smile froze.

He stared blankly at the debuffs in his status bar.

No way, a pat on the shoulder can poison someone?!

Is this old woman possessed by poison?

"Oh dear, look at my memory."

The old woman seemed completely oblivious to Su Chen's frantic blood loss. She sighed and sat back down in her rocking chair. "This tea is delicious, but we're almost out of ingredients. My legs aren't strong enough to walk far."

She looked up at Su Chen: "Young man, now that you're here, could you do this old woman a favor and go gather some raw materials for tea making?"

coming!

Su Chen's spirits lifted.

Lin Shiqing once said that some mentors would give some challenging tasks.

"No problem, Mother-in-law, what do you need?" Su Chen asked.

"It's not far."

The old woman pointed deeper into the Bone Forest, "There's a place called the Cave of Ten Thousand Poisons at the foot of this mountain. Go there and find me ten 'Abyss Heart-Rotting Grasses.' Remember, you must uproot them completely, as the poison is most potent on the roots."

"The Cave of Ten Thousand Poisons, right? Okay, I'll go there now."

Su Chen accepted the task and stood up.

"Young man, be careful on the road."

The old woman chuckled from behind and said, "The insects in that Ten Thousand Poison Cave are far more potent than this cup of tea."