Chapter 1003: I Am Your Founder
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric
His goal of coming to the Poison Hall wasn"t to make a name for himself or to battle with the poison masters.
It was to save Wei Ruyan, who was plagued by the Innate Poison Body.
Yet, before he could finish reading their books, his body had already killed fourteen of the other party"s elders and left the hall master in such a state... If Wei Ruyan"s treatment were to be delayed due to this, how could he face her deceased father?
It was not that he didn"t consider letting his clone out to replace his physical body, but his clone was even more unreliable than it. If he were to let it out, there was a good chance that all of the elders, vice hall masters, and even the hall master himself might have been dead by now.
As for letting out the Violetleaf King and the Byzantium Helios Beast... considering that Zhang Xuan had come alone, it would be difficult for him to explain the additional guests. Since the Poison Hall had isolated itself on and island in the midst of the Viridian Cloud Sea, even going to the extent of casting a huge Hidden Formation over the island, it was natural that they didn"t welcome guests.
If it was found that he had brought others in on his own accord, it might strain his ties with those of the Poison Hall.
He had thought that since he was only out to study for a brief moment, considering his ident.i.ty as Elder Xu"s guest, no one should dare to cause him trouble. That was also the reason why he had chosen to left his body in the room, or else his sudden disappearance would be hard to explain as well.
Who could have thought that his "careful considerations" would end up resulting in this huge conflict?
Looking at the raging poison masters before his eyes, Zhang Xuan felt his hair stand on ends.
If everything were to fail, perhaps he could release the Violetleaf King and the Byzantium Helios Beast to help rid society of this poisonous tumor?
As soon as this dangerous thought popped into Zhang Xuan"s head, he hurriedly shook it off.
He was a master teacher, not a butcher. Even though poison masters were generally snubbed in society, they hadn"t caused any significant damage or harm to others. Not to mention, it would be utterly wrong to stereotype poison masters just by their occupation. Putting aside morals, he wouldn"t be able to even get past his own conscience.
After contemplating for a moment, Zhang Xuan asked, "May I know where Elder Xu is?"
Under such circ.u.mstances, he could only rely on a familiar face to speak up on his stead and mediate this situation.
"Elder Xu has brought a threat amongst us, resulting in the death of our elders. For his betrayal of the Poison Hall, I ordered my men to apprehend him. He shall be dealt with shortly later!" Hearing Zhang Xuan"s question, the hall master replied through gritted teeth.
Had it not been for Elder Xu bringing this man of unknown background here, their Poison Hall wouldn"t have suffered such staggering losses. Regardless of how they dealt with "Sun Qiang" eventually, Elder Xu must be punished for his actions!
"Betrayal of the Poison Hall? T-this... Elder Xu"s loyalty to the Poison Hall is clear for all to see! Don"t you think that it"s a little too extreme to make such a decision?" Zhang Xuan stood up in agitation and hurriedly spoke up for Elder Xu"s behalf.
It was one thing for the other party to hold him accountable for this matter; after all, it was a fact that his physical body did cause devastating damage to the Poison Hall. But... Elder Xu had nothing to do with it!
The other party deeply trusted him and even offered him advice out of concern, fearing that he might meet with danger in the Poison Hall. If the other party were to be implicated by his actions, he would be guilt-ridden.
"You are indeed strong, but we can"t the deaths of so many of our elders to go unavenged. Even if our Poison Hall has to fight down to the very last man, we won"t back down!" the hall master roared furiously.
At this point, it didn"t matter whether the other party had done it unintentionally due to his sleepwalk or not anymore. The deaths of the elders had already created an irreconcilable grudge between them, and this was not something that could be resolved without spilling blood!
There was no way the Poison Hall could let the murderer of fourteen of their elders get away scot-free. The other party might be a powerful adversary, but the Poison Hall"s dignity was at stake!
They couldn"t let the reputation of the Poison Hall collapse in their generation, or else they wouldn"t be able to face their predecessors!
"Men, bring Xu You up here. We will first execute him before dealing with this fellow!" Waving his hand, the hall master bellowed.
"Yes!"
The elders hesitated for a moment before two of them flew away. A short moment later, they arrived with Elder Xu locked between them.
Looking at the destruction around the Poison Hall, Elder Xu"s lips quivered as self-reproach crept into his eyes.
In his view, if he hadn"t brought Sun Qiang over, such a matter wouldn"t have happened. At this point, he couldn"t help but wish that the man who had died back then was him and not Elder Xue!
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" the hall master asked coldly..
"I…" Elder Xu"s body stiffened. A moment later, he sighed deeply and said, "For causing such deep trouble, I am willing to accept any punishment…"
It was due to his inability to discern people properly that resulted in such a situation. Even a thousand deaths wouldn"t absolve him of his sins.
"It"s good that you admit to your crimes!" Turning his face away from Elder Xu, the hall master commanded, "Execute him!"
In truth, he also didn"t want to execute Elder Xu. After all, they had spent centuries together with one another. However, if he didn"t do anything after all that had happened, he could very well lose the hearts of the poison masters.
As the head of the Poison Hall, this was a painful decision that he had no choice but to make.
"Yes!" The other elders nodded before turning their gazes to Elder Xu with a complicated expression on their faces.
"There"s no need for you all to make a move. I will do it myself…" As old friends, Elder Xu couldn"t bear to allow his friends to bear the burden of killing him. Thus, gritting his teeth, he began channeling his zhenqi, intending to direct them towards his heart to crush it.
However, before he could do so, "Sun Qiang"s" voice sounded.
"Wait a moment."
Lifting his gaze, he realized that, at some point, the anxiety on "Sun Qiang"s" face had been replaced with absolute composure. His head was slightly tilted upwards, and his hands were placed behind his back. With an air of majesty around him, he gazed deeply into the sky.
"Since it has gotten down to this, there is no need for me to conceal my ident.i.ty as further…"
"Ident.i.ty?"
Everyone frowned in bewilderment...
The hall master also couldn"t help but turn his gaze over, curious to see what that fellow was up to.
"Indeed!" Nodding, Zhang Xuan continued with a calm but powerful voice. "Do you know what kind of const.i.tution the founder of the Poison Hall has?"
"Our founder possesses the Innate Poison Body, fearing no poison in the world. It is due to this that our founder was able to create the Poison Hall and bring it to glory…"
Not knowing what the other party was up to, the hall master replied. He strongly desired to kill the fellow before him, but considering the latter"s strength, he knew that there was no way he could win without careful preparation. Thus, he could only rein in his rage for the time being.
As a poison master, he wasn"t foreign to the matters surrounding their founder.
"Indeed. It is the Innate Poison Body!" Zhang Xuan nodded. "Then, do you know why the poisons you have used against me is completely ineffective?"
"This…"
The crowd fell silent.
In truth, this was also something which they were perplexed about.
To be able to neutralize all of their poisons and even the hall master"s beetles, could there really be such a powerful antidote in the world?
"Could it be... Could it be that you also possess the Innate Poison Body?" The hall master"s body stiffened as he turned his gaze over.
The other party first spoke about the founder of the Poison Hall before pointing out how he didn"t fear poison... Clearly, he was trying to drive at something!
"No, I don"t." Zhang Xuan shook his head.
"You don"t?" The crowd glanced at one another, speechless.
If you don"t possess the Innate Poison Body... what the h.e.l.l are you spouting all of those c.r.a.p for?
"To be more exact, I am not too sure either. It"s just that whenever I start cultivating, I will fall into a peculiar state. It would be as if another soul has taken over my body, leaving me unable to control my actions. In that state, I will be completely immune to all poisons, similar to that of the Innate Poison Body…" Zhang Xuan said.
"Another soul has taken over your body?"
"Completely immune to all poisons?"
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Are you trying to tell us a horror story here?
"That"s right!" Zhang Xuan shook his head with a bitter smile. "I know that what I am saying might sound ridiculous, and I don"t blame you for not trusting you. However, this is the truth... Previously, when I fought with you all, despite the dangerous situation I as in, I didn"t open my eyes at all, right?"
Hearing those words, the crowd nodded.
Indeed. The other party hadn"t opened his eyes once in the duration of the entire battle, as if he was sleepwalking.
"In truth, it is not that I didn"t want to open my eyes, but that my body was being controlled by another will... And if I am not mistaken, the will is the founder of the Poison Hall!" Zhang Xuan said.
"There is another will inside your body... the founder of the Poison Hall?"
"You must be joking!"
Everyone frowned.
The founder of the Poison Hall was a figure who shared the same era with Kong s.h.i.+, and it had been several dozen thousand years since then. There was no way the other party could still be alive at this point, so how could the other party possibly possess this fellow here?
"I know what I am saying might sound ridiculous, but such is the truth. Since that is the case, why don"t I continue cultivating and allow him to control my body? Perhaps, he could answer the doubts you have!" Shaking his head, a look of difficulty surfaced on Zhang Xuan"s face. After a moment of hesitation, he clenched his jaws in determination and sat cross-legged down on the floor.
Hong long!
As soon as he sat down, everyone immediately felt the formation surrounding the entire island buzzing into life, seemingly driven by someone.
Following which, "Sun Qiang"s" eyes slowly opened, and a heavy and ancient voice came out of his mouth, "Why? Are you doubting my ident.i.ty?"
The voice was very different from the tone which "Sun Qiang" took earlier. It harnessed domineering authority which exerted immense pressure on one"s soul. While it wasn"t as intense as the killing intent of the Otherworldly Demons, there was no doubt that one"s soul could shatter if placed under such pressure for extended periods of time.
Upon hearing the voice, everyone"s eyes narrowed in astonishment.
Be it the voice or the aura, it was vastly different from the "Sun Qiang" from a moment ago. Without a doubt, they were two completely different people!
Furthermore, the aura emanated felt ancient, reminiscent of someone who had lived through many eras.
"Elder, you said that you are our founder... but do you have any evidence to prove so?" With cold sweat trickling down his forehead, the hall master gritted his teeth and asked respectfully.
"Are you saying that I need to prove myself to you? Who do you think you are?" the seated "Sun Qiang" uttered coldly.
"It"s not that we are doubting elder"s ident.i.ty, but... our founder has disappeared from the world for more than several dozen years, so it"s really difficult for us to comprehend how you can be sharing a body with this person over here…" the hall master replied hurriedly.
"Hmph, I shall give you the benefit of the doubt and pardon you this once!""Sun Qiang" harrumphed coldly. At this point, he paused for a moment, seemingly reminiscing the sorrows of the past before continuing, "In truth, I am only a remaining soul fragment of my former self. It is out of sheer coincidence that I managed to latch myself onto a Seven Hearts Lotus and survived. It is Sun Qiang over here who found the Seven Hearts Lotus and brought me out of the ancient domain I was in.
"Eventually, I latched myself to his body, but I am only able to appear while he"s cultivating... Otherwise, do you think that a mere Nascent Saint lad will be able to see through this formation, remain impervious to all poison, and defeat you all easily?""Sun Qiang" harrumphed.
The hall master was stunned.
To be honest, even at this point, he still could hardly believe that he had lost to "Sun Qiang".
He could tell that the other party was indeed only as Nascent Saint, so how could a Saint 3-dan pinnacle expert like him lose to the other party?
Even if his Lifebound Venomous Bugs had been killed, resulting in a significant decline in his strength, he was still able to draw forth might comparable to a Saint 2-dan pinnacle!
For a Nascent Saint to be able to stand toe-to-toe with him... Not once in his long life had he ever met such a formidable genius before!
But what was the most frightening of all was that the other party"s zhenqi seemed to be endless. After killing fourteen elders, wounding a vice hall master, and fighting with him for so long, the other party didn"t seem to be weakened in the least... That was completely inconceivable!
And on top of that, the other party was completely immune to poison!
Not only was the other party fine after being bitten by his Darkgold Venom Beetles, the other party even managed to poison his beetles to death instead... There was something clearly very peculiar about this situation.
Not to mention, there was still the matter concerning the formation...
To be able to comprehend and even wrestle control over the formation from him, that was definitely not a feat a Nascent Saint cultivator was capable of.
"Elder, is there any concrete evidence you can provide to prove that you are indeed the soul fragment of our founder?" the hall masters asked doubtfully.
This was a matter concerning their founder, and as the hall master of this Poison Hall branch, he had to deal with this matter prudently.
"Hmph, if it was just me, I would have killed all of you without any hesitation for doubting my words... You are fortunate that Sun Qiang is unwilling to see any more bloodshed and advised against it, so I will overlook this matter!"
"Sun Qiang" harrumphed coldly. "The founder of the Poison Hall possesses not only the Innate Poison Body but the Poison Soul Const.i.tution as well... As poison masters yourselves, surely I need not say anything more on how one can verify the Poison Soul Const.i.tution?"