Night fell, and darkness surged in from all directions. But when it reached the great tree that was the Root Demon's true body, divine light emanated from its surroundings.
This was the Root Demon's main body. To ward off the darkness of the Great Ruins, it had gone to great lengths to protect itself—stealing or seizing divine statues from other places to shield its life.
Its root system extended over a vast area, but its true form was a mass of roots. During the day, it merely spread its roots in all directions, transforming into women to lure prey to its branches. At night, it would draw its roots inward, retreating into the protective glow of the divine statues to survive.
The White Bat brothers, along with Dragon Qilin, Xiong Xiyu and her daughter, and the others all lay near its roots, within the radius of the divine light. So the night was relatively safe.
The only problem was that everyone was either poisoned or paralyzed by the Lost Confusion Incense, unable to move, forced to lie there obediently.
That night, ghosts wailed and spirits howled outside. In the darkness, enormous shadows moved about. Demonic whispers drifted endlessly, as if murmuring in their ears. Divine statues suddenly revived, uttering words of no recognizable meaning.
At times, light would burst forth in the darkness, and the shadows would suddenly retreat, revealing a world of green mountains and clear waters. It seemed the Great Ruins overlapped with another world, and someone in that other world was curiously observing the darkness of the Great Ruins.
At other times, a world as lifeless as rusted iron would materialize around them, gray and utterly devoid of vitality.
A night of bizarre and fantastical sights kept everyone beneath the tree on edge.
Finally, the sun rose, hanging high in the sky. Dragon Qilin lay sprawled on the ground with all four legs in the air. He had been poisoned by Mu Yingxue but could still speak, muttering, "The Cult Master hasn't fed me today..."
Another day passed. By evening, Qin Mu arrived, dusty and travel-worn, refining medicine as he walked. He had gathered some fine jade and forged an Eight Trigrams Five Elements Furnace, more exquisite and complex than the one at the Imperial Academy.
As a master artificer, forging such a pill furnace was no difficulty.
Qin Mu reached the base of the tree and continued refining without pause.
With a sealed furnace, the poisonous fumes would not escape. His methods had changed from before—ever since his contest with the Little Poison King Fu Yuanqing, his mastery of poison-craft had grown tremendously.
This time, the poison pills he was refining employed a fundamental approach.
Just as swordsmanship had fourteen basic techniques, he had distilled poison-craft down to its most fundamental one thousand and twenty-four basic poison pills. Different base pills combined in different arrangements would yield different poisons. The dosage and proportions varied, producing distinct results.
Not only that, he had also refined many basic strengthening elixirs to amplify the potency of the poisons, capable of increasing their power by dozens of times.
After finishing the base pills and strengthening elixils, he took out several seeds and over a dozen insect eggs. He planted the seeds at the base of the tree, using the Creation Earth Origin Art and similar techniques to catalyze rapid growth, producing stalks of spiritual herbs.
Simultaneously, the insect eggs hatched, releasing swarms of small bugs.
Qin Mu fed the strengthening elixirs to the poisonous insects, fattening them up, then let the insects crawl onto the spiritual herbs and devour them, further enhancing their toxicity.
Though the Herbalist possessed godlike knowledge of medicine, he had never deliberately taught Qin Mu poison-craft. This knowledge came from the Little Poison King Fu Yuanqing, and Qin Mu had since merged the way of poison with the way of healing.
He made the poisonous insects fight each other until only one insect king remained, then administered various supreme poisons to it for consumption.
Before nightfall, Mu Yingxue finally returned.
The woman rode a white elephant that swayed along at a leisurely pace. Behind the elephant followed an entourage of flowers, grasses, birds, and beasts.
Qin Mu was stunned—every plant, bird, beast, and even insect trailed behind her, inseparable.
"All things possess spirit, and poison is no exception. Her herb-gathering technique far surpasses mine. She can even make poisons follow her of their own accord."
This was truly a formidable rival with supreme mastery of the way of poison.
Qin Mu felt the pressure. In their contest two days ago, he and Mu Yingxue had traded victories. This time, the real battle was about to begin.
Mu Yingxue arrived at the base of the tree, and her following of poisonous plants, birds, beasts, insects, and fish came with her.
The people lying beneath the tree were terrified, staring at Qin Mu and Mu Yingxue with fear-filled eyes.
These poisons were ordinary to Qin Mu and Mu Yingxue, but to everyone else, they were floods and wild beasts to be avoided at all costs.
Mu Yingxue immediately set to work, activating her technique. The poisonous creatures grew on their own, and when their toxicity reached its peak, each one plucked its most venomous part and offered it to her.
This girl was utterly focused, meticulous in cultivating her poisons.
Her poisons differed from those of the Central Plains, targeting vitality qi primarily. Vitality qi was the body's primordial energy—when depleted, the body wasted away, blood and spirit withered, bones weakened. If vitality qi was completely drained, death followed.
For cultivators, the same principle applied.
Her theory of poison essentially sought to trace the very source of life and destroy it at its origin—a supremely elegant approach.
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows and began his own focused work. The two competed all night, and the great tree beside them trembled and swayed, trying desperately to escape.
At last, dawn broke. Both Qin Mu and Mu Yingxue had finished their poisons. Each held a small jar, and they looked at each other.
"What medicine have you made, sister?" Qin Mu asked curiously.
Mu Yingxue didn't open her jar, but smiled, "Your medicine is deadly, but your tongue is sweet as honey—what you say warms my heart. My medicine has no existing formula. It's a new creation I developed specifically against the blood of gods and demons, and I haven't named it yet. It has a wonderful property: it dissolves divine and demonic blood, destroys vitality qi at its core. Once consumed, within moments, vitality qi is utterly drained, spirit dissolves, energy disperses—you're dead!"
Qin Mu's eyes lit up. "Sister, your medicine has no name. Let me give it one—how about the Divine Dissipation Triple Scattering Powder?"
Mu Yingxue was overjoyed, looking at him with a bright smile. "What a clever brother—you're more learned than I imagined. I could never have come up with such a fine name. And what's your medicine?"
Qin Mu patted his jar and laughed, "Mine is equally unique. My master never taught me poison formulas, only the principles of medicine. I learned poison-craft from my senior brother. This particular medicine has a special quality—it inverts yin and yang, scrambles the five elements. Great nourishment becomes great poison; great nourishment feeds great poison, destroying the physical body and the primordial spirit. After taking it, first the body shatters, then the spirit shatters. And my medicine incorporates the sorcery poison from the Loulan Golden Palace, which can scatter the soul. Hence, it has three stages of destruction."
Mu Yingxue said, "Why not call it the Triple Destruction Powder? The name may not sound elegant, but it's apt."
Qin Mu laughed, "That's an interesting name, sister. The Triple Destruction Powder it is."
The people lying on the ground didn't know whether to laugh or cry. These two were clearly mortal enemies, both trying to poison the other, both striving to surpass the other's mastery of poison. Yet here they were, exchanging pleasantries—she calling him "brother," he calling her "sister," all warmth and fondness.
Moreover, the way they praised their own poisons, one might think they were divine elixirs that granted instant godhood upon consumption.
"Dear sister, shall you poison first, or shall I?" Qin Mu asked.
Mu Yingxue hesitated. There was strategy to the order of poisoning.
If she poisoned first and failed to kill the Root Demon, she would at least severely damage its vitality qi, and the second person would reap the advantage. But going first also meant seizing the initiative—if the poison killed the Root Demon, she would win, and the other could only concede.
She found herself in a dilemma.
Qin Mu noticed and opened his own porcelain jar, saying with a smile, "I'll go first, how about that?"
As the jar opened, a plume of black smoke drifted out. From within it rose a poisonous creature—its body shimmering with radiance, resembling a spider yet not quite a spider. Eight legs, an elongated body, a abdomen like a wasp, and eight eyes—all tightly shut.
This was no ordinary insect but a phantom manifestation of concentrated poison. It seemed that once those eyes opened, the ensuing toxicity would be catastrophic.
Mu Yingxue glanced at it and shuddered. "I'll go first!" she quickly said.
Qin Mu stepped back. Mu Yingxue stepped forward and opened her jar. A cloud of green smoke rose, and within it, the Divine Dissipation Triple Scattering Powder took the form of a green seed.
Mu Yingxue channeled her energy, and the seed shot forward with a whoosh, vanishing into the great tree.
One could faintly see the seed taking root and sprouting within the trunk, growing with incredible speed.
Mu Yingxue performed her ritual, driving the poison's full power. Suddenly, the earth trembled. The Root Demon seemed to feel excruciating agony—the tree shook violently. Thick roots as large as dragons snapped one after another. Tendrils of root decayed rapidly, and from the flower buds at their tips came piercing screams. The women inside the buds thrashed about, then one by one the flowers withered, buds fell to the ground, and the women within turned to charred husks!
Above, the first layer of the great tree's canopy collapsed with an earth-shattering crash, slamming down onto a distant hilltop and splitting it apart!
"Such poison! Such a potent medicine!" Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration.
Mu Yingxue frowned slightly. Though the first canopy had collapsed and the bark showed signs of decay, something unexpected had happened—the Green Dragon Pearl.
The Root Demon had swallowed the Green Dragon Pearl into its belly. While the pearl suppressed the Root Demon's mobility, it also granted it unparalleled vitality!
Moreover, the power contained within divine and demonic blood exceeded her estimates. Her Divine Dissipation Triple Scattering Powder would likely not be enough to kill this Root Demon.
Mu Yingxue waited for an hour. The Root Demon gradually ceased struggling, and new roots began to grow again. The canopy regenerated, old bark sloughed off, and fresh bark appeared.
"I've lost," Mu Yingxue said, her expression somber, shaking her head.
Qin Mu stepped forward and said with a smile, "I may not necessarily beat you either."
He erupted with vitality qi, forming an altar. Qin Mu placed his porcelain jar at its center and performed his ritual around it. The insect in the jar grew larger and larger, then suddenly flew up with a whoosh, landing on the tree and gradually seeping into its trunk.
Qin Mu paced the celestial steps, hair unbound, performing his rite without pause. His Triple Destruction Powder contained sorcery poison, so he needed to perform a ritual to activate the poison from Ban Gongcuo.
The Root Demon remained unmoved. Then the poison erupted. The great tree rumbled and shook, cracking and splintering as countless fragments rained from the sky, creating a storm of wooden debris.
The earth churned like a boiling cauldron. Countless roots burst from the ground like massive serpents, thrashing about.
With a deafening roar, a colossal black sphere composed of countless roots burst from underground. The roots withered and snapped, crumbling to the ground, and the black wood piled up into a small mountain!