The black-clad woman was none other than Mu Yingxue, the poison master from the True Heaven Palace of the Western Lands. Though young in age, her body beneath the black garments radiated youthful vitality. Her skin, contrasted against the dark fabric, appeared remarkably fair—snow-white and delicate, perfectly matching her name, as if her complexion could reflect the snow itself.
She reached out to catch the jade vial, and Qin Mu finally noticed that she wore black silk gloves—exceedingly thin, yet capable of protecting her skin from exposure to the air.
These gloves were no ordinary items. Those who habitually refined and used poisons needed extreme caution to avoid accidental contact with toxins. Qin Mu was certain that these black silk gloves were not made of silk at all—they were airtight, allowing not even air to circulate through them.
Her chest did not rise and fall with breath. Instead, she relied on the pores of her skin to respire and exchange air, preventing any chance of poisoning herself.
Clearly, her strength did not lie in her cultivation level or spirit weapons, but rather in her poisons.
Cultivation realm had never been the standard for judging a poison master's prowess. Even with a low realm, it was entirely possible to poison a god to death!
Mu Yingxue examined the jade vial but did not directly sniff the Lost Fragrance inside. Instead, she lifted her arm and allowed her skin to sense it, absorbing just a wisp of the Lost Fragrance. Instantly, she felt half her arm go numb, losing all sensation.
"Excellent poison!"
Her eyes lit up. She sealed the jade vial and tossed it back to Qin Mu, praising: "Though it cannot incapacitate a Celestial Being realm powerhouse, it can severely restrict their movement. Truly remarkable anesthetic."
Qin Mu flipped his palm, surging primordial qi to cradle the jade vial without letting it touch his hand. He then produced a three-legged Jade-Eyed Toad from his Demon-Devouring Bag.
The toad opened its mouth and swallowed the vial with a gulp, then closed its mouth before spitting the vial back out.
Qin Mu set the toad down, and it hopped over toward Mu Yingxue.
Xiong Xiyu and the others stared wide-eyed. They knew Qin Mu had been gathering herbs in the basin, but they had no idea when he had caught a Jade-Eyed Toad and stored it in his Demon-Devouring Bag.
"Sister Mu's poisons are also extraordinary," Qin Mu praised.
"However, your poisons are merely a minor art—not yet refined enough for elegant company, hardly worthy of being called unparalleled in the world."
Mu Yingxue's eyes gleamed bright as snow. Watching the toad hop toward her, she flicked her finger lightly, sending a thread of primordial qi that transformed into a flying insect buzzing about. The three-legged toad shot out its tongue, snatching the insect into its belly. It croaked twice, then began swelling like an inflated balloon. In the blink of an eye, it had grown as large as an ox.
Qin Mu produced a spirit pill. With a light划 across its center, the pill split open. A buzzing sound emerged—from within the hollow center flew a mosquito.
The mosquito beat its wings and alighted on the toad's back. Before long, the toad shrank progressively while the mosquito grew ever larger. Its abdomen swelled like a massive water sac, filled not with red blood but with thick green fluid.
Once it had drunk its fill, the three-legged toad returned to its original size, hopping about and flicking its tongue at the foot-long mosquito hovering in the air. But it was simply too small to swallow it.
Mu Yingxue was intrigued. "Raising insects within spirit pills? How interesting."
She lifted her arm, revealing fair skin. The massive mosquito immediately flew over, landing on her arm to bite. The moment its proboscis pierced her skin, the mosquito shrank rapidly as if deflating, its color shifting to red. Bursting into flames, it flew back toward Qin Mu.
Qin Mu's pupils narrowed. He drew several spirit pills of varying sizes and colors from his Demon-Devouring Bag.
Swiftly, he cut the pills into pieces of different sizes, selecting portions according to precise weight ratios. A ball of flame erupted from his palm, instantly fusing the medicinal properties of the different pills, catalyzing them, transforming them into another type of pill.
Qin Mu swallowed the newly formed pill and activated its medicinal effects, pulling back the sleeve on his arm.
The red, flame-wreathed mosquito flew over and landed on his arm to bite and draw blood. Qin Mu's face suddenly flushed crimson. The muscles and bones of his face warped and twisted, transforming into a red-faced, fanged visage with slanted brows and upturned eyes, like a fearsome ghost.
Having drunk his blood, the mosquito returned to its original color and wobbled unsteadily toward Mu Yingxue.
Mu Yingxue sneered: "You poisoned it, didn't you?"
Qin Mu's nose suddenly elongated enormously, the nostrils flipping upward in grotesque ugliness. He laughed heartily: "If I hadn't poisoned it, would the mosquito fly straight toward you upon catching your scent?"
Mu Yingxue frowned slightly, staring at the approaching mosquito, trying to identify which poison Qin Mu had used.
After a moment, the woman produced several medicinal ingredients from her sleeve pouch and deftly mixed an antidote, then smeared it on her own arm, allowing the mosquito to bite.
The mosquito bit her once, and Mu Yingxue's hair suddenly exploded outward, growing wildly in all directions like a porcupine's quills within moments.
*Pfft.*
A soft sound. Mu Yingxue felt an itch at her backside as a thick, sturdy tail burst through her trousers and dragged along the ground behind her.
Mu Yingxue's face turned somewhat green. Having drunk her blood, the mosquito's internal toxins changed, immediately losing interest in her. It buzzed upward and flew toward Qin Mu.
Qin Mu's expression shifted. He hurriedly produced dozens of spirit pills from his Demon-Devouring Bag, cutting and mixing them. By the time the mosquito arrived, he had already finished compounding the pills.
This time, after swallowing the pill, the fiery effects on his face vanished instantly, his features returning to normal.
The mosquito bit him once more and took flight again. From within Qin Mu came booming sounds like thunder. Then lightning and thunder suddenly erupted in the sky, bolt after bolt striking down upon him. In moments, he was charred black.
Mu Yingxue was also busy refining poison, mixing a small vial of liquid medicine which she swallowed. Her wild, bristling hair immediately fell away, not a single strand remaining. The tail behind her also dropped off.
The girl pulled up her trousers, her face ashen, and offered her arm for the mosquito to bite again.
Mu Yingxue let out a muffled groan and collapsed backward. From beneath her came cracking sounds as eight legs sprouted from her body from head to toe, making her resemble a large, hairy spider.
"Your poisons are potent!" she exclaimed.
Mu Yingxue, exasperated, cried out shrilly: "Taste my poison!"
The mosquito flew toward Qin Mu again. His expression changed drastically as he frantically mixed medicines, first neutralizing the insidious poison within his own body. He shouted fiercely: "You think I'm afraid of you?"
Their poison duel was quite unprecedented, leaving Xiong Xiyu, Xiong Qi'er, and the others utterly dumbfounded. Their initial exchange had been through the jade vial. Then Qin Mu had used the three-legged toad to neutralize the poison while simultaneously altering its toxicity.
The toad, affected by the potent poison, had perceived Mu Yingxue as something delectable and charged toward her laden with toxins.
Mu Yingxue had used her primordial qi to create a flying insect infused with yet another deadly poison. After the toad consumed the insect, the toxins within it shifted once more. Qin Mu had then released a rare species of flying mosquito captured in the Western Heaven Palace basin, using its original toxicity to drain the toad's blood. This triggered a mutation, and the mosquito was sent to bite Mu Yingxue and poison her.
After neutralizing the poison, Mu Yingxue had then poisoned the mosquito and sent it to bite Qin Mu, testing his abilities.
They went back and forth, each exhausting every means—simultaneously needing to解毒 the opponent's poison, ensuring the mutant mosquito wasn't killed by the toxins, while also poisoning the other party. This demanded extraordinarily high proficiency in poison refinement and detoxification. A single misstep meant not only failing to poison the opponent but potentially being killed by one's own poison.
Qin Mu watched the approaching mosquito and frowned, raising his hand: "Wait. Our abilities in poison refinement are roughly equal. Since we must determine a winner, why continue poisoning ourselves?"
Mu Yingxue was also reaching her limit. Hearing this, she immediately looked toward Xiong Xiyu and the others, giggling: "In that case, you poison Yu Bochuan, and I'll detoxify him. I'll poison Nai Kui, and you detoxify him. Don't worry—Yu Bochuan is the current young master of the True Heaven Palace, his status no less than Nai Kui's."
Xiong Xiyu and the others' faces changed dramatically. Even the immobilized Yu Bochuan groaned inwardly.
Their duel of poisons had been dazzling to witness. Even the poison master Mu Yingxue had resorted to her famously feared insidious poison, yet she still couldn't overcome Qin Mu. This proved that Qin Mu's mastery of poison theory was no less than a true poison master's.
"If they use poison on me and the poison master can't detoxify it, won't I die?" He wanted to flee, but the effects of the Lost Fragrance remained unbroken, his soul still paralyzed.
Qin Mu laughed: "Using poison on our own people is no true skill. Neither of us is weak in the dao of poison. Since that's the case, we should naturally target something stronger—poisoning the most powerful being is what counts as true skill."
Mu Yingxue's eyes lit up with curiosity, eager to try: "Nai Kui is one of the most powerful beings in the True Heaven Palace. I stripped its cultivation with Entangling Silk Poison—surely my poison dao isn't strong?"
Qin Mu patted the great tree beside him: "That's nothing. If we're to duel in poison, let's choose this great demon as our target! This demon is a Root Demon that has absorbed divine blood and demonic blood, possessing the bloodlines of both gods and demons, combining their power—an extraordinarily formidable being. To poison it, one must create a toxin capable of overwhelming the divine and demonic blood, possessing the means to poison even gods and demons!"
Mu Yingxue's eyes instantly brightened. She sized up the tree transformed from the Root Demon, her spirit stirred: "For those who walk the path of poison, poisoning a god or demon is the ultimate lifelong goal. Poisoning a Divine Bridge realm powerhouse is hardly notable. Very well, I accept! Whoever succeeds in poisoning this Root Demon first shall be the victor!"
A Celestial Being realm expert from the True Heaven Palace turned pale with despair, struggling: "Poison Master, the important matters at hand..."
Mu Yingxue glanced at him coldly and sneered: "I don't concern myself with your True Heaven Palace's power struggles. In my eyes, poison is the important matter. I've found a kindred spirit in this young man, and naturally we must duel to our hearts' content—not in waste of a lifetime of learning!"
Suddenly, everyone collapsed to the ground. Even Dragon Qilin, Xiong Xiyu, and the two White Bats fell. The three Celestial Being realm experts also succumbed to the poison and lost consciousness.
Mu Yingxue turned to Qin Mu, speaking earnestly: "It's rare for me to meet a fellow daoist like you. Today, I must give it my all. I brought few medicinal herbs and must gather more from the Great Ruins. Two days—we shall meet beneath this great tree in two days and each display our skills!"
Qin Mu agreed readily: "Good!" With that, he set down a jade vial with its stopper half-open. The Lost Fragrance would continuously diffuse over the next two days, preventing anyone from approaching the area.
The two immediately set off in different directions to search for medicinal herbs, leaving Dragon Qilin, Xiong Xiyu, and the others behind.
After they departed, the great tree shook violently, attempting to uproot itself and escape. But it was pinned in place by the Azure Dragon Pearl, unable to move.