Chapter 325 — Heroes Admire Heroes

Shen Mu released the strange breed of flying mosquito he had caught in the basin of the Western Heaven Palace; with its original venom it drank the toad's blood, underwent a mutation, and went to bite Mu Yingxue, poisoning her.

After Mu Yingxue cured herself, she planted poison in the mosquito and sent it to bite Shen Mu, testing his skill. Back and forth they went, each straining every trick: each had to undo the other's poison, keep the strange mosquito from being poisoned to death, and at the same time poison the other.

It demanded the highest mastery of compounding and countering poisons — one slip, and if you failed to kill your opponent, you might well be killed by your own poison.

Shen Mu looked at the approaching mosquito, frowned, and raised a hand.

"Wait. Our skill in poisons is about equal.

If we mean to settle this, why poison ourselves? " Mu Yingxue was finding it hard to bear as well.

At his words she turned to look at Xiong Xiyu and the others and laughed prettily.

"In that case, you poison Yu Bochuan and I'll cure him. I'll poison Nai Kui and you cure him. Rest assured, Yu Bochuan is the young lord of the True Heaven Palace today; his standing is no lower than Nai Kui's.

" Xiong Xiyu and the others went pale, and Yu Bochuan, lying helpless on the ground, cursed inwardly.

Their poison duel was dazzling to behold; the poison master Mu Yingxue had even brought out the famed yin poison, and still could not get the better of Shen Mu — proof that his mastery of toxicology was no less than a poison master's. "If she uses poison on me and the poison master can't cure it, won't I die? " He wanted to flee, but the Bewildering Incense had not worn off, and his very soul was numbed.

Shen Mu laughed. "Poisoning your own people is no skill at all.

We are both accomplished in the way of poison; so of course we should set our sights higher. Only poisoning the strongest of beings counts as skill. " Mu Yingxue's face showed curiosity, and she was eager to try. "Nai Kui is one of the mightiest beings in the True Heaven Palace, and I used my Entangling Silk Poison to whittle away his cultivation.

Is my way of poison not strong?

" Shen Mu patted the great tree beside him and laughed. "That is nothing.

If we are to duel with poison, then let us choose this great demon as our target! This demon is a root-tendril monster; it has absorbed god blood and demon blood, carries both god and demon lineage, and wields the power of both — a most extraordinary creature.

To poison it, one must be able to make the poison overpower god-and-demon blood, to have the means to poison gods and demons alike! " Mu Yingxue's eyes lit up at once.

She studied the great tree the root-tendril monster had become, her heart racing. "For one who wields poison, to poison a god or demon is the highest goal of a lifetime; killing a Spirit Bridge realm expert is no great feat.

Very well, I agree! Whichever of us can poison this root-tendril monster to death wins! " One of the True Heaven Palace's Heaven-Man realm experts wore a look of despair and struggled to speak. "Poison Master, the real business is what matters.

. . " Mu Yingxue shot him a glance and sneered.

"I don't concern myself with your True Heaven Palace's squabbles over power.

In my eyes, poison is the real business. This young fellow and I admire each other; naturally we must duel to our hearts' content, and so be worthy of all we have learned in our lives! " Suddenly the whole group toppled over, thud after thud — even the dragon qilin, Xiong Xiyu and the two white bats fell to the ground, and the three Heaven-Man realm experts too were overcome by poison and sank into unconsciousness.

Mu Yingxue looked at Shen Mu and said gravely, "It is rare for Yingxue to meet a fellow Daoist; today I must hold nothing back. I did not bring many spirit medicines with me, and must go gather herbs in the Wild Ruins.

Two days — let us meet beneath this great tree in two days, and each try our hand! " "Good! " Shen Mu said with spirit.

With that he set down a jade bottle, its mouth half open, so that the Bewildering Incense would seep out over the next two days and keep anyone from approaching the place. The two of them set off at once, each to seek spirit medicines elsewhere, leaving the dragon qilin, Xiong Xiyu and the rest lying where they were.

After they left, the great tree shook with all its might, trying to tear itself up by the roots and seize the chance to flee — but it was pinned fast by the Azure Mystic Water Dragon Pearl and could not move.