Chapter 152 - 150: The Pill-Poison Dispute
At this time, beneath the entire Martial Arts Arena, the array connected to the Shennong Cauldron was faintly glowing.
After Chen Yuan killed Yan Jiuyi, large gouts of black blood splattered across the Martial Arts Arena.
The Poison Power in this black blood was incredibly potent, yet it bizarrely began to fuse with the array beneath the Martial Arts Arena.
The Poison Power had already stained the array’s channels pitch-black, and by now, it had extended all the way toward the Shennong Cauldron!
Seeing that something was amiss, Chen Yuan immediately returned below.
’If things really take a turn, I’ll need to find an opportunity to act.’
Returning to Cui Xuanye’s side, Chen Yuan immediately asked, "Brother Cui, why is the array changing like this?"
Cui Xuanye was an expert in arrays. He stared intently at the array on the Martial Arts Arena and gasped.
"Medicine King Valley... they’ve been set up!
The array beneath the arena is meant to collect the True Qi that dissipates from our fights, using it as fuel for alchemy.
But those people from the South Sea Pavilion cultivate Poison Techniques. Their techniques have strange properties, and the Poison Power that dissipates from them can also fuse with the array, just like True Qi.
Look at the array’s channels—they’re pitch-black. This obviously wasn’t caused just now when you killed Yan Jiuyi, Brother Chen. The Poison Power has been seeping into the array during the fights since yesterday.
And when you killed Yan Jiuyi just now, an excessive amount of Poison Power seeped into the array, causing it to become visible.
A Divine Pill that enhances cultivation is what’s naturally produced when True Qi is used as fuel. But what do you get when you use Poison Power as fuel?
A lethal Poison Pill!"
Meanwhile, over with the South Sea Pavilion group, Pavilion Master Yan Yuanming, who had remained expressionless until now, suddenly burst out laughing.
"Who am I? Don’t you recognize me, Senior Brother?"
As he finished speaking, Yan Yuanming’s face began to twist grotesquely. A bizarre, flesh-colored, butterfly-shaped insect dropped from his face, revealing a horrifying visage beneath.
Half of the face was that of a man in his sixties, but the other half was pitch-black and covered in mottled scars, as if black-and-red earthworms were coiled over it.
"A Face-Changing Gu!"
The more knowledgeable people in the crowd immediately recognized the extremely rare Miaojiang Gu Insect.
Zong Siyuan stared at the face, his own expression changing drastically. "Ming Gongqiao! You’re still alive!"
Most of the people present were stunned. Who was this person? It seemed Zong Siyuan knew him, though.
A look of shocked excitement flashed in Xu Que’s eyes. "So it’s him!
Ming Gongqiao was the disciple of the previous Valley Master of Medicine King Valley. Strictly speaking, he was the true heir, while Zong Siyuan was merely the disciple of a common Elder.
But later, for some unknown reason, internal strife seemed to break out within Medicine King Valley, and a number of Alchemists even died.
In the end, Ming Gongqiao was reported to have died, and his name was expunged from Medicine King Valley’s records for the crime of sectarian treason.
To think he didn’t actually die back then and has now returned for revenge.
Heh heh, this trip was worth it. Definitely worth it!"
Xu Que was visibly excited.
He had originally planned to just use a Top Grade Spiritual Medicine as an admission ticket to do a little self-promotion at the alchemy conference, but he never expected to witness such a major event.
The news of the last internal struggle was suppressed by Medicine King Valley, so no one ever found out what exactly happened.
But this time, it was all being dragged out into the open. Just obtaining this firsthand intelligence was enough to raise his status in the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower by another level.
"Are you very disappointed that I’m not dead, Senior Brother?"
Ming Gongqiao looked at Zong Siyuan with a vicious grin. "You usurped the position of Valley Master for so many years. Today, it’s time you returned it!"
Zong Siyuan sighed. "Junior Brother, why do you still not understand? I never wanted the position of Valley Master. It was because your actions were so perverse that I had no choice but to step up and lead Medicine King Valley.
For all these years, our Medicine King Valley has lived by the Alchemy Dao, diligently researching the arts of alchemy and pharmacology. Yet you insisted on walking the path of the Poison Dao. If you had taken control of Medicine King Valley, I fear our entire heritage would have been destroyed!
Back then, you were the Valley Master’s chosen successor. You were a dazzling talent who could refine a Divine Pill in your early twenties. I, on the other hand, was mediocre. When I first joined Medicine King Valley, even refining the most basic Qi Nourishing Pill would cause my furnace to explode.
Now the world calls me the Three Cauldron Medicine King, but little do they know, the only reason I use so many pill furnaces at once is that I figure if two of them explode, I’ll still have one left as a failsafe.
For someone of my level to end up leading Medicine King Valley, while you’ve become what you are today... don’t you see it clearly yet?
It was because no one in the entire Medicine King Valley wanted you to be Valley Master! No one wanted Medicine King Valley to become the Poison King Valley!"
"Nonsense! Such a silver tongue!"
Ming Gongqiao said coldly, "Every medicine has a trace of poison. An ingredient that fails to become a pill becomes a poison. Elixirs and poisons are but two sides of the same medicinal coin. My great success in the Poison Dao is one and the same as great success in the Alchemy Dao!
Medicine King Valley has a legacy of over a thousand years and even possesses a Divine Artifact, yet we live in the Jianghu without a shred of dignity.
Do you think people respect the Alchemists of Medicine King Valley because of our status? No! It’s only because they need our elixirs!
Without Martial Power, one is ultimately an ant. The Great Brightness Sect wanted to borrow our Shennong Cauldron, so they just took it. They used it as they pleased. Did they ever once consider the dignity of Medicine King Valley?
Why was our Junior Brother Bai Ting killed by the Great Xia Royal Family? Only because he failed to concoct an elixir that would allow the Noble Consort to bear an heir.
Martial Uncle Li Jing refused to perform alchemy for the Ten Thousand Demon Sect, so they stormed our valley, broke his four limbs in front of everyone, and crippled his cultivation!
All of this happened because Medicine King Valley has no power! We’re just a group of Alchemists at the mercy of others!
If Medicine King Valley had the power of the Nine Martial Sects, or the backing of the Eight Great Noble Families, would the Great Xia Court dare to kill our Alchemists so wantonly? Would the Ten Thousand Demon Sect dare to humiliate us like that?
It’s because they know Medicine King Valley is powerless that they can slaughter and humiliate us at will!
What’s so wrong with me researching the Poison Dao? I just want Medicine King Valley to live with a little more dignity!"
"You know, I kind of think this guy has a point," Gu Lichuan whispered to Chen Yuan.
Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes. "He does have a point, but he’s ignoring the reality of the situation. The only reason Medicine King Valley is listed on the Jianghu Wind and Cloud Rankings is because its alchemy is unparalleled.
Medicine King Valley’s standing in the Jianghu isn’t actually low. The Righteous Sects are all very polite to them, and their Alchemists are respected when they go out.
It’s one thing for the Great Xia Court to kill a Medicine King Valley Alchemist, but the real question is, which power has the Court *not* killed someone from?
Didn’t our own Breaking Army Divine General from Zhenwu Hall, Xie Wenyan, also die at the hands of the Court? Unless you’re prepared to fight the Court to the death, you just have to tolerate it.
As for the Ten Thousand Demon Sect, they’re just a bunch of madmen. Forget Medicine King Valley; they’ve even attacked the Three Buddhist Ancestral Courts before.
Even if Medicine King Valley switched to the Poison Dao, it still wouldn’t be able to stand against powers on the level of the Court and the Ten Thousand Demon Sect. People who want to kill you will kill you anyway.
In fact, Medicine King Valley might even be destroyed for embracing the Poison Dao. Zong Siyuan wasn’t wrong on that point."
"Why? It’s not like they can’t perform alchemy if they follow the Poison Dao."
Chen Yuan shook his head. "A person’s energy is finite. Ming Gongqiao’s talent is astounding; he could refine Divine Pills at the age of twenty. That’s why he was able to attain such incredible achievements in both the Alchemy Dao and the Poison Dao.
But what about the other Alchemists of Medicine King Valley? Most of them can only walk a single path.
Even if only half of Medicine King Valley’s Alchemists took up the Poison Dao, the valley’s elixir output would plummet.
Most Jianghu Sects respect Medicine King Valley only because it commands a large supply of elixirs, and they need to trade with them.
Once Medicine King Valley no longer has those elixirs, what will they be worth? Why would anyone continue to give them face?
And once they start practicing both alchemy and poison, do you think the major powers won’t become wary of Medicine King Valley?
Who’s to say whether you’ve poisoned the elixirs? Would the major powers really entrust their lives and well-being to Medicine King Valley’s reputation?
Besides, the Poison Dao that Ming Gongqiao developed is indeed formidable, with an extremely potent corrosive effect on Qi Blood and True Qi.
But the problem is, once a Martial Artist reaches the Eighth Realm Divine Platform, their power source isn’t just Qi Blood and True Qi, but also their Primordial Spirit.
His Poison Dao can, at best, only affect Martial Artists below the Divine Platform Realm. Its effectiveness is greatly diminished against those in the Divine Platform Realm.
And it is precisely these experts at the apex who determine the rise and fall of a Sect.
This man is an extremist—arrogant and stubborn. No wonder he lost to Zong Siyuan during Medicine King Valley’s internal conflict.
Within the entire Medicine King Valley, anyone with an ounce of sense wouldn’t stand on his side."
Zong Siyuan gazed at Ming Gongqiao and let out a deep sigh. "Junior Brother, your ideas are still so extreme."
"And you, Senior Brother, are still as useless as ever!"
Ming Gongqiao sneered, "Under your leadership, Medicine King Valley has become even more pathetic than before.
I modified the array last night and added some things to the Shennong Cauldron, yet none of you even noticed. So lax and negligent. You’re the epitome of useless!
But that’s fine too. Once the Shennong Cauldron finishes refining my Heaven-Devouring Poison Pill, my Poison Dao will have reached Great Success.
Besides, refining poison is much easier than refining elixirs. I just found some worthless Loose Cultivators and had them fuse with the Heaven-Devouring Poison Pill, and now they have power comparable to the prodigies on the Hidden Dragon Rankings.
In the future, with a group of guards like this, who will dare to underestimate Medicine King Valley?"
Zong Siyuan’s expression changed drastically as he looked toward Yan Wuqi and the others from the South Sea Pavilion.
"You’re depraved! How could an ordinary Martial Artist possibly withstand that Heaven-Devouring Poison Pill? Even if they force the fusion, the poison has already invaded their bodies. How long can they possibly live?
You secretly killed countless Jianghu People back then to refine this Heaven-Devouring Poison Pill. So they’ve succeeded now, but how many people died for it?"
Only then did the people present understand why the names Yan Jiuyi and Yan Wuqi were so strange.
They weren’t names at all, just numbers assigned by Ming Gongqiao.
Only three had survived to this point, but how many had failed to make it?
"A single general’s victory is built on a pile of ten thousand bones. How can you achieve success without people dying? Besides, if I hadn’t saved them, trash like them would have been killed long ago in the brutal struggles Overseas."
Ming Gongqiao looked at Zong Siyuan with cold eyes. "Senior Brother, you don’t have a chance this time. Surrender without a fight. I don’t want to cause too much of a massacre, either. After all, these Alchemists in Medicine King Valley are still useful to me."