Zhu Xian

Qing Yun Hill, TongTian Peak.

The tea fragrance curled upwards, continuously from the spotlessly white tea cup with greenish black tip and green cover, the tea which had just been steeped was steaming with traces of white steam, dispersing into the room.

This was the one of the secluded room in the rear rooms of the Crystal Hall, the current day most powerful and prestigious three masters, were gathered in this room, calmly sipping tea and discussing.

The Qing Yun disciples who had served the tea, had quietly retreated, leaving only Reverend DaoXuan, PuHong Master and Yun YiLan the three of them.

Reverend DaoXuan was the first to speak, smiled and said, "This tea is a specialty from a place near Qing Yun Hill, although it is nothing rare but it is also considered an fragrant quality produce, both has tried it, what do you all think?"

Yun YiLan put down his cup, nodded and said, "The fragrance remains in the throat, like flowing ceaselessly from the mouth into the stomach, it is indeed a good tea.”

Reverend DaoXuan laughed and said, "If Yun senior brother likes it, in the future after this evil beast calamity is over, just bring some of it back to FenXiang Valley."

Yun YiLan smiled, nodded and said, "That will be the best, Reverend, you can’t go back on your words when the time comes."

The two of them smiled at each other, PuHong Master instead chanted beside them, Reverend DaoXuan looked over at him and said, "What is it Master?"

PuHong Master sighed and said, "Actually I also know that when facing such calamity, we have to maintain a calm state of mind so that we can deal with it with composure. However the Buddha is compa.s.sionate, once I think of the common people right now are in such dire straits, I cannot help but feel anxious, I have forget myself, both please do not mind."

Yun YiLan’s face slightly changed, a glint also flashed past Reverend DaoXuan’s eyes but his face too turned solemn soon after.

Looking at PuHong Master, Reverend DaoXuan slowly said, "Master is right, since we claim ourselves to be the Good Faction, naturally we should take up the responsibility of the common people, excuse me for my impropriety."

PuHong Master placed his palms together and shook his head, quietly said, "You’re too kind Reverend, I did not mean to blame Reverend just now."

Yun YiLan’s face expression by now had returned to normal, smiled and said, "Alright, alright, look at both of your genteel behaviour, isn’t it more unbearable, we better not say anymore superfluous words, quickly get to the main topic.”

Reverend DaoXuan and PuHong Master laughed, Reverend DaoXuan nodded and said, "Yun senior brother is right. In fact I invited both here today for discussion, is for this evil beast calamity, there seems to be strange changes."

Yun YiLan and PuHong Master were surprised, Yun YiLan said, "What changes, Reverend please say?"

Reverend DaoXuan looking solemn, said, "A few days ago I sent Xiao YiCai, Lin JingYu and other capable disciples to investigate on the evil beasts situation, in the end they only just came back yesterday night but reported a very unusual thing."

Master PuHong saw Reverend DaoXuan’s solemn face with some puzzlement, could not help but ask, "What happened?"

Reverend DaoXuan paused and said, "According to YiCai, those demon beasts that came from the south and attack Central Plains, has always headed straight here, ma.s.sacring along the way. But recently for some reasons, suddenly a large number of beasts stopped and started to head southwest, and the number of beasts that continue to move to our north direction, seems like there are only forty percent of the original numbers."

Yun YiLan pondered a moment, said, "The southwest direction, isn’t there where the Evil Sect has always been running wild?"

Reverend DaoXuan nodded and said, "That’s right, now that the Evil sect is separated into three factions, Wan Du Clan, Ghost King sect and HeHuan Sect fighting interminably, even though we do not know where their headquarters are but from the clues, the three headquarters are all at southwest, therefore that is where the evil sect’s power has always concentrated in. And this time the evil beasts suddenly headed towards that direction in a large group, I wonder what had exactly happened?”

PuHong Master frowned, said, "Could it be that the demon beasts and the evil sect already have some conflicts and has some losses, therefore they are heading there in forces to give support?"

Reverend DaoXuan, his expression heavy, said, "It is not clear at the moment but if it is so, it would be the best, both the demon beasts and the evil sect are scourge, if they fight with each other, it is to the benefit of the common people."

Yun YiLan suddenly shook his head, said, "Both sect heads, I think it is not as simple as it seemed.”

Reverend DaoXuan glanced at him and said, "Oh, Yun valley master please enlighten."

Yun YiLan said, "You and I are well aware that the people of evil sect have been selfish, to say that they are fighting with the demon beast for the sake of the common people, I think this is impossible..."

Seeing both Reverend DaoXuan and PuHong Master also nodding slightly, Yun YiLan smiled, then said, "On the contrary, from my understanding of the evil sect, now that they know the mighty force of the demon beast, not to mention being their foe, even if the demon beasts inadvertently hurt them, I"m afraid they would rather bear it quietly and retreat, better to let us the Good Faction handle these savage demon beasts."

Reverend DaoXuan nodded and said, "Yes, Yun valley master is right but a large number of demon beasts did head to southwest, in Yun valley master’s opinion, why is this so?"

Yun YiLan was silent for a moment, in a deep voice said, "From the past behaviours of the demon beasts heading into the Central Plains, they do not have any specific objectives and have only been killing along the road, all the way north. So this time they changed direction suddenly, there must be something odd, it must be one of the demon beast near southwest suffered some big disadvantage and that evildoer called Beast Deity mobilize a large number of beasts to the southwest. But in the southwest, other than Central Plains Evil sect, there are no other powerful figure, therefore I guessed, most probably within the Evil sect, some unusual change has happened?"

PuHong Master’s white brows frowned, said, "Unusual change, what does valley master means?"

Yun YiLan [he he] laughed, said, "This, is not something I can know."

PuHong Master smiled, shook his head, "After speaking for half a day, Yun patron, aren’t you speaking in vain?"

All of a sudden, all three of them laughed but after a moment, Reverend DaoXuan after contemplating, said, "Actually it seems to me that not all Yun senior brother says doesn’t matter, no matter what, now that a large number of demon beasts headed to the southwest, the pressure before us has also reduced much, at least we can save some time. Now that the world is looking towards us with hope, we have to take some action to let the world see."

Yun YiLan glanced at Reverend DaoXuan, said, "Oh, is it that Reverend want us to take advantage of the weakened demon beasts force and give a good fight?"

Reverend DaoXuan with a grim expression said, “Yes, one less demon, the world will have less of a misery, such responsibility is naturally our Good Faction."

PuHong Master quietly chanted, a mocking expression quietly flashed past Yun YiLan’s eyes and then turned awe-inspiring, said, "Reverend is extremely right and so we will follow Reverend’s arrangement, my FenXiang Valley is willing to be the vanguard."

Reverend DaoXuan smiled and said, "With Yun valley master this sincerity, why should we worry the demon beasts being unbeaten! However over at the southwest, I have pondered for a long long time, I feel there is something mysterious about this, although we can not rashly intervene but if we ignore it, it seems unappropriate."

PuHong Master nodded, said, "Yes, I am thinking the same thing, after all the demon beasts calamity has plunged the world into misery, what had exactly happened in the southwest, we should at least know what’s going on."

Yun YiLan said, "Since so, why don’t we send some higher skilled disciples, secretly follow over to get some information."

Reverend DaoXuan nodded his head and said, "Alright, let’s decide it that way then."

At this moment, Yun YiLan seemed to recall something, suddenly said to Reverend DaoXuan, "Oh right, there is one more thing, that still need to seek a favour from Reverend."

Reverend DaoXuan said, "Yun valley master is too polite, what is it, you can speak your mind!"

Yun YiLan smiled and said, "I heard that your honourable sect Small Bamboo Valley disciple, Lu XueQi, has been punished to face the wall and reflect on herself at Small Bamboo Valley Full-Moon platform, after I knew about it, my heart really felt disturbed, and..." He smiled and said, "That useless disciple of mine has been coming to see me every few days and pleading with me, said that he does not bear to see Miss Lu being punished because of our request. Moreover, now that the demon beasts are causing misery to the world, it is a time where talented people are needed and Miss Lu is an outstanding disciple of Qing Yun, why don’t Reverend on my behalf, temporarily exempt Miss Lu from her punishment."

Reverend DaoXuan sighed and said, "It is all because of my lax discipline that this turns out into a joke in front of Yun valley master."

Yun YiLan smiled and said, "Reverend you are too polite, it is only my foolish disciple wishful delusion only, and the matters between the junior generations, it is better if we simply don’t meddle, we have less things to worry." After speaking, he laughed out loud.

Reverend DaoXuan contemplated for a moment, said, "Since Yun valley master personally pleaded for her, I definitely have to give this face. Why not like this! Today I will let XueQi come back, at the same time pick a few disciples to go with her to southwest to investigate, considered it as redeeming her mistakes!"

Yun YiLan’s lips showed a hint of smile, said, "Ah! What a coincidence, I just wanted to say that I want to let my useless disciple, Li Xun, to go to southwest to gain experience!"

Reverend DaoXuan looked at him, lightly said, "Then let them go together!"

Yun YiLan laughed loudly, cupped his hands together, said, "Then I first thank Reverend on behalf of my useless disciple.”

Reverend DaoXuan turned around, picked up the teacup from the table, slowly drank a mouthful, his eyes changed into an unpredictable look, slowly said, "Valley master is too polite."

Southwest Venomous Serpent Valley.

This huge valley was surrounded by dense ancient forests, most of the year, when it was dawn and evening, a miasma-similar would emit from the forests, those were actually the valley’s numerous poisonous snakes’ breaths.

n.o.body knew the reason for the abundant number of poisonous serpents in this valley, their number had reached to a point where they were everywhere in the trees and on the ground. Only that Wan Du Clan residence within the valley, because of the secret spell of Wan Du Clan, forced these snakes to stay away.

And these mountain-full of snakes also turned into a natural barrier for Wan Du Clan and an inexhaustible treasure of poison.

At the moment, it was one of the days’ dawn, above the dense forest of the valley, a faint colourful miasma could be seen rising indistinctly, it looked at the morning mist in the early morning but if an ignorant person walked near it, a moment later his face seven apertures would bleed and he would die from the toxic, finally buried with the snake’s kiss.

In the usual days, other than these snakes guarding the valley, Wan Du Clan had always had disciples patrolling the place, guarding against intruders, however for the past few days for some reasons, there was no disciples, seemed like the internal conflicts in Wan Du Clan had already turned white-hot.

[Pa], a gentle sound, a small stone rolled over, outside the valley from that only, at the same time already dilapidated, overgrown with weeds ancient path, jumped twice and rolled into the gra.s.ses beside and disappeared.

And then, following a light footstep sounds, three tall, big but strange beasts appeared on the road, they were all savage wolf heads but their bodies were of a panther, looking extremely strange.

These three monsters looked to be careful, their noses constantly twitching, as if sniffing something in the air, slowly approaching the Venomous Serpent Valley. And the valley was quiet, like completely caught off guard against the arrival of these three uninvited guests.

Suddenly, one of the monsters’ wolf head startled, like it had discovered something and followed by a low roar, the other two monsters immediately stopped and looked towards the most st.u.r.dy tall monster standing in the middle.

The wolf-head-monster’s eyes flashed with menacing glare, its nose sniffing constantly but it did not walk into the valley, instead slowly walked towards an area of dense patch of gra.s.ses beside the path, a faint smell of blood, slowly emanating from the gra.s.ses.

The monster with a low roar, stepped into the gra.s.s, looking from the outside, the monster"s body kept moving, as if rummaging in the gra.s.s to find something.

After a while, a stir of movement from the gra.s.ses, that st.u.r.dy monster jumped out and back to the path, and in its mouth, it was biting a strange thing.

It looked like a long whip, like some kind of monster"s tail, the top of its fur had begun to rot, its colour dull, the smell of blood constantly emanating.

The other two monsters at the same time growled, apparently surprised and angry, their eyes flashing with menace.

The monster placed the thing on the path, suddenly lifted its head up and gave a long howl, like a wolf’s howl, sharp and mournful, straight up the sky.

A moment later, that monster again held the thing in its mouth, disregarding the other two, ran swiftly towards the back, leaving the valley.

And the other two monsters after roaring a few times, suddenly dashed into the valley, the ancient path was twisted and narrow, stretched ahead, brambles grown thickly on both sides of the forest, faint colourful miasma drifted among it.

The beasts dashed straight ahead, looking at them gashing their teeth, if there was someone in front of them right now, most likely they would be torn to pieces.

The colourful miasma gently floated, slowly gathering in the forest, the two beasts roared again and again, not even a glance and directly rushed into it. Initially nothing happened but for some reasons, their roars gradually became softer, running slower and slower, in the next moment their bodies started to shake.

Realizing something was wrong, the two beasts stopped and with difficulty turned their heads around, wanted to leave this forest but before they could walk out a few steps, they collapsed, blood flowed out of the seven apertures on their faces, looked like they would not survive.

In the middle of the forest, distantly [si si si si] hair-raising sounds were heard approaching, within a short while, numerous snake heads appeared from the branches of the trees, hissing sounds accompanied, big and small snakes slithered over.

And while these snakes were happily vying for their food, suddenly, many stopped their actions, raised their heads in alert and then moved towards the entrance valley.

On that desolate ancient path, a faint low drum sounds could be heard from afar, the entire earth slowly began to tremble, strange sounds like thousands of troops moving, came from the far distance.

In the early morning of the valley, suddenly it plunged into a deadly silence.

[Hu!]

Letting out a long breath fiercely, the first disciple of G.o.d of Poison, FanXiong, fiercely swung his hand, throwing aside a Wan Du Clan disciple’s corpse whose skull had been smashed by him. The body flew through the air, with a [pong] sound, slammed onto the offering table in the mourning hall and dropped down.

Like a devilish sneer in the world of spirits, or maybe it was intended to make an offering to the G.o.d of Poison, this Evil sect clan leader who killed people like flies, at the mourning hall where the G.o.d of Poison coffin laid, right now had turned into a river of blood, thousands of disciples’ corpses lying everywhere.

The thick smell of human blood, floated in the air.

Right now, the three disciples of G.o.d of Poison, FanXiong, Cheng WuYa and Duan RuSan’s men had already been fighting for several days, other than a few higher skilled leaders leading, half of the ordinary disciples were dead or injured, and these days of fighting had already caused these three who vying for power, their eyes to turn red, almost turning berserk.

And on the offering table in the mourning hall, the box which contained the clan seal, was still lying there quietly, coldly watching it all.

Seemed like they were tired from killing, the battles inside and outside the hall gradually subsided but the swords drawn bow bent tense atmosphere instead turned even more tensed.

Lao san, Duan RuShan, cl.u.s.tered around by four strange-looking elders, his eyes glaring, looking at FanXiong and Cheng WuYa in front of him, sneered, "I say two senior brothers, still refusing to stop? now apart from those old men beside you, who else do you still have?"

FanXiong and Cheng WuYa looked at each other, both saw a trace of despair in each other red eyes, ever since from the night of the seventh day, the strange sounds from the mourning hall, the three factions who were already on standby immediately rushed into the mourning hall in force, for fear that they might be one step too late and the official deal would be taken by someone else.

And in that chaotic situation, countless people burst into the hall, naturally each thought the other party had already premeditated to undermine their agreement and came to rob the seal, within two or three words the fight had already started.

And so far, the results of the three factions battle, finally started to become clear, lao san Duan RuShan who had always been the one with poorer skills, with the solid strength in his hands, slowly suppressed FanXiong and Cheng WuYa.

Now, other than those standing behind them, Bai DuZhi, Blood-sucking Demon, Elder Duanmu etc less than ten people, they had no more chips in their hands.

And Duan RuShan not only had [Poison Clan Four Elders] as bodyguards, in light and dark, he had at least hundred over men, among them many were elites, the solid power of Wan Du Clan, sixty percent was actually all on Duan RuShan’s hands, even more than what he had before the battle, it was really beyond their expectations.

Watching helplessly as the situation had been decided, FanXiong and Cheng WuYa’s eyes were full of reluctant but in the end they had nothing to say, looking at his two senior brothers’ expressions, Duan RuShan could not help laughing out loud, above him he always had two overbearing senior brothers and below, that Qin WuYan whom his teacher G.o.d of Poison doted more than anything, only he was ignored, for so many years, finally he had his day, how could he not be ecstatic.

Duan RuShan swagged with arrogance forward, the Poison Clan Four protectors around him, FanXiong and Cheng WuYa watched him walked to the offering table, standing before the box, one clenching his fist, another gritting his teeth, obviously full of resentment.

But to Duan RuShan, their anger at the moment undoubtedly were the victor"s favorite, he even felt that with such a moment where he ruled over all of the people, he did not live in vain.

Duan RuShan laughed, his att.i.tude conceited, proudly reached out his hand and grabbed the green box in his hand.

FanXiong and Cheng WuYa made low growls at the same time, stepped forward one step but four elders immediately turned towards them, at the same time Duan RuShan’s men with a [hu la] sound rushed over, surrounded them, both of their eyes looked like fire was about to spew out, watched that box from a distance.

Duan RuShan laughed even more conceitedly, proudly twisted opened the lock, opened the box, inside the box, golden silk lined the bottom, a dark brown small seal sat in the middle, a lifelike snake engraved on top of the seal, although he did not flip it over but everyone there including Duan RuShan knew, underneath the seal, four words were engraved

G.o.d of Poison Seal.

Duan RuShan arrogantly looked around, pausing longer on FanXiong and Cheng WuYa’s faces, soaking in the delight of a victor, Duan RuShan smiled, although the smile looked weird and savage because of the blood on his face, he picked up the seal, turned it over. He wanted to take a good, good look at this symbol representing the highest power and authority of the Wan Du Clan.

At that moment, other than FanXiong and Cheng WuYa’s angry pants, there was no sound in the hall, watching, the birth of the new generation of Wan Du Clan clan leader.

Suddenly, when the crowd was holding their breaths, Duan RuShan uttered a piercing roar, the box and that important seal fell to the ground. Everyone was shocked, looked towards him and all gasped with astonishment.

Duan RuShan who was just being insufferably arrogant, right now his entire body was quivering, his face devoid of colour, especially his two hands, in a blink turned into an extremely strange colour of dark black.

The next moment, a low insect wing flapping sound emitted from his hands, a strange flying insect flew up from his fingers.

Not one present was not a veteran of Wan Du Clan, the insect flew extremely fast but almost all could see it clearly, Bai DuZhi was the first to exclaim, "Seven-tailed centipede, seven-tailed centipede!"

This cry, like a soul-stirring roar, shocked everyone, all of them looked at Duan RuShan, the shaking in his body had turned worse, an elder beside him intended to pull him but his fingers had only slightly touched his clothes, suddenly his body shook, with a scream flew back out, the next instant his right hand had turned black.

Standing in the distance, Blood-Sucking Demon’s pupils contracted, roughly said, “[Rotting Flesh Liverwort]...”

The elder who was poisoned cried out in surprise, an elder next to him without hesitation, grasped beside him a broken leg of some chair, struck down his right hand, with his high skills, that chair leg, like a solid sword tip, chopped off that poisoned elder’s right arm and then immediately threw that chair leg away, as if a second late and his own hand would also suffer the same fate.

The chair leg flew in the air and everyone scrambled to avoid it.

Right now Duan RuShan’s face was full of black energy, everyone clearly saw that the two hands which had turned completely black, with a pop sound, the skin ruptured, even the blood that flowed out was already black.

In the next moment, the hair-raising [puff, puff, puff] sounds unceasingly, Duan RuShan who was poisoned with the most toxic venom in the world, his skin and flesh burst opened, black blood spewed out, he fell slumped to the ground, after struggling for a moment, never moved again.

FanXiong stared blankly at this junior brother, who was just a moment ago extremely savage and right now dead, suddenly turned back and shouted, "Qin WuYan, you this treacherous beast, get out!"

Everyone suddenly realized with a start, [Rotting Flesh Liverwort] was highly toxic, one of the world most hypertoxic thing, even in Wan Du Clan, only G.o.d of Poison himself could handle it, FanXiong, Cheng WuYa, Duan RuShan with their limited skills could not use this item.

And the seven-tailed centipede was an absolutely rare poisonous thing and had always kept close to G.o.d of Poison, now that the two most hypertoxic things appeared at the same time, and in thi G.o.d of Poison Seal small box, without asking, it must be Qin WuYan who had fooled everyone, secretly placed the poison.

All of a sudden, people in the mourning hall were on the alert, looked around them, fearing Qin WuYan might suddenly appeared beside them. Duan RuShan’s death was too horrifying, not one was not terrified.

At that moment, n.o.body dared to even breathe loudly, only where Duan RuShan’s corpse was, drops of black blood slowly fell, when it hit the ground, it made a slight hissing sound, burning a small dent, in a blink, around the body were small holes, showing that the toxicity of the poison.

"He he, what is it, two senior brothers, various honoured elders, we have only not meet a few days, it is rare that everyone missed me so much!" A calm voice, suddenly from outside the hall travelled in, everyone was shocked and looked out, Qin WuYan had changed, removed the hemp garment mourning clothes, put on his usual clothes, smiling and unhurriedly walked in. And those sharp-eyed people had already saw, on his shoulder, a tiny strange insect was there, it was the seven-tailed centipede.

FanXiong bitterly said, "You put the poison?"

Qin WuYan at the moment ignored everyone, swaggered forward, came to Duan RuShan’s corpse, in full view of everyone, stretched his hand and picked up that hypertoxic seal.

FanXiong and Cheng WuYa’s eyes shrank, Cheng WuYa sneered, said, "Good! Little junior brother, the three of us really have underestimated you."

Qin WuYan smiled and said, "Two senior brothers must be joking, actually with three senior brothers’ strength, it is no effort at all to take junior brother’s life, junior brother also do not dare to resist. However teacher had instructed before he left, said that the Ghost King sect, HeHuan Sect are like a tiger eyeing its prey, three senior brothers are also not capable, said I must take on the clan leader position, to prevent the hundred years of Wan Du Clan be destroyed in one day. Junior brother me have been brought up by teacher, I am in debt to teacher and do not dare to disobey, therefore had to resort to tricks and made three senior brothers suffered."

FanXiong angrily said, "Pei, so you a.s.sume that you have won, I tell you, the first person lao zi want to kill is you!" After speaking, he turned to Cheng WuYa, "Lao Er, this fellow is too vicious, let’s join forces to kill him first then we will share the world."

Cheng WuYa immediately said, "Good, let’s go!"

Among the clamour, both of them looked to about to charge and behind them, Bai DuZhi, Blood-Sucking Demon also about to follow, Qin WuYan indifferently said, “Elders, you have seen now, these senior brothers of mine really cannot hold their patience, all of you are coming over to kill me, not to mention just with Seven-tailed centipede and Rotting Flesh Liverwort whether can you all defeat me. Even if you all join forces to kill me, following these two useless things, do you all think your lives would be better in the future, can you all win against Ghost King sect and HeHuan Sect, can you all escape the besiegement of the Good Faction?"

Bai DuZi and Blood-sucking Demon, Elder Duanmu paused stunned, that two hypertoxic poisons on Duan RuShan, only the person who received Wan Du Clan Poison Sutra could use it, although they were in the clan for so many years but they still could not reach that stage, in their hearts in fact they were already in fear of this young Qin WuYan, Now that they heard his words, they hesitated and did not dare to go forward.

And many following Duan RuShan, firstly would not follow FanXiong and Cheng WuYan and right now looked at each other, lost at what to do. Qin WuYan looked at the crowd, smiled and said, "Everyone, I guarantee, as long as I take over the clan, I will definitely not bear grudges, how everyone was previously in the clan, I would definitely treat you the same."

Under FanXiong and Cheng WuYa’s glares, the people looked at each other for a long time and then Bai DuZhi was the first to back away, followed by Blood-sucking Demon, Elder Duanmu and the four elders etc also started to walk to the side, leaving only Qin WuYan, FanXiong and Cheng WuYa the three brothers standing there.

FanXiong’s face revealed despair, knew the situation was hopeless, Cheng WuYa looked ashen. Qin WuYan still maintained a faint smile but in his heart he was still feeling indignation, right now he was not angry at his two senior brother but at Cang Song Taoist. He had already set his plan and let the three brothers killed themselves but not in such a large-scale fight, as long as his three senior brothers were removed, he would easily take over the clan position.

Unexpectedly with Cang Song Taoist’s meddling, triggering a big battle with the three factions, destroying the clan’s main strength. Qin WuYan right now was angry, agonized and regretful, really wished to cut Cang Song Taoist into half however he could only think, Taoist Cang Song had disappeared, Qin WuYan could only quietly bore it down.

But in any case, Qin WuYan had control of the situation, with a victory smile, he looked at the two brothers, leisurely said, "Two senior brothers, are you still not going to seek forgiveness before teacher’s spirit tablet…."