Battle Through the Heaven: Purple Heaven

Xiao Bai stood by the stone table, selecting a key and sliding it into the first box's lockhole. Halfway in, it met resistance.

Not this one. He swapped it for another, which glided in smoothly. If this doesn't work, my luck's truly cursed.

With a gentle twist, a click echoed through the stone chamber.

Unfazed by potential traps—his soul force had already scanned the box for poisons or mechanisms—Xiao Bai lifted the lid. Inside lay a vibrant, multicolored scroll.

He recognized it instantly: the famed Seven-Colored Poison Scripture.

Picking it up, he examined it, noting the small characters on its side, confirming its identity. Unfurling it, he found detailed recipes for various poisons, their toxicities meticulously explained. Remarkably, it ranked poisons like pills, with the highest being sixth-tier, potent enough to threaten a Dou Zong.

In the Dou Qi Continent, poison masters were a specialized profession that evolved from physicians. Those unable to become alchemists but fascinated by herbology and pharmacology often turned to this path. Initially healers, they began crafting poisons for self-defense or greed in this might-makes-right world, forming the poison master trade.

The northern Outcloud Empire was their haven, where poison masters, rare elsewhere, were commonplace. Unlike revered alchemists, poison masters were reviled, occupying the opposite extreme—shunned and despised.

"Xiao Bai, you're not interested in becoming a poison master, are you?" Yao Lao's voice cut through, alarmed, seeing Xiao Bai engrossed in the scroll. With his unmatched alchemy talent, he can't waste it on this crooked path.

To Yao Lao, alchemists were a thousand times nobler than poison masters, incomparable. Alchemy is a grand avenue; poison mastery's barely a goat trail.

"Your alchemy talent is unmatched in my lifetime. Don't chase short-term thrills with poison mastery—it's a dead end!" Yao Lao pressed, anxious.

"Don't worry, Senior. I'm just curious, not diving into it," Xiao Bai said warmly, a flicker of gratitude in his eyes.

"Good," Yao Lao sighed, relieved. As a potential heir to his alchemy legacy, Xiao Bai turning to poison mastery would be a tragedy.

Fully unrolling the scroll, Xiao Bai reached the end, finding the entry on the Calamity Poison Body as expected.

Calamity Poison Body: A rare physique in the Dou Qi Continent, requiring no cultivation. By consuming poisons, it converts them into poison Dou Qi, rapidly boosting strength. Identification: A small, seven-colored line on the lower abdomen, growing with poison Dou Qi. When it reaches the heart, the body peaks but suffers the agony of ten thousand poisons devouring the body.

"Senior, this Calamity Poison Body—can it really boost strength so easily without cultivation?" Xiao Bai asked, feigning confusion.

His interest in the scroll was partly curiosity, but mostly a calculated move to prompt Yao Lao to reveal his knowledge of the Poison Pill Method. This would make requesting it later seem natural, not suspicious.

"Heh, miraculous?" Yao Lao scoffed, his voice turning grave. "Nothing in this world comes free, kid. Such rapid gains exact a heavy toll. The Calamity Poison Body can skyrocket strength with poisons, but poisons are poisons. Early on, the physique suppresses backlash, but when poisons accumulate beyond control, the agony of ten thousand poisons devouring the body brings a slow, excruciating death."

"No solutions?" Xiao Bai probed.

"One: never touch poisons, and the physique stays dormant," Yao Lao replied.

"What if it's activated? With the continent's long history, surely some genius found a fix," Xiao Bai pressed.

"Someone did, once," Yao Lao said after a pause.

Xiao Bai nodded, dropping the topic. That's enough. He had his pretext to approach Yao Lao later.

A small head poked into view, peering at the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture. Catching Xiao Bai's glance, Xiao Yi Xian jerked back, thrusting out her chest to show the jade boxes in her arms. "Here! All the herbs, dug up and packed!" she chirped.

Her arms cradled over a dozen boxes, nearly reaching her chin, looking adorably overburdened. Xiao Bai stifled a laugh. She loves these herbs so much, she could've left them there, but no—she's hugging them like treasure.

Xiao Yi Xian, showing him the boxes, then eyed the scroll longingly, hesitating. "Um… that scroll. If you don't need it… could I have it?" she asked softly, nervously rubbing her foot on the ground, glancing at him.

Fearing he'd think her greedy, she raised her head, waving a hand. "Don't misunderstand! It's not that I want everything. I can't become an alchemist due to my constitution, so I have to rely on this instead."

Her eyes dimmed. A weak girl with mediocre talent, she'd only reached ninth-stage Dou Zhi Qi after years of effort. Becoming a revered alchemist would've secured her safety, but that path was closed.

In Qingshan Town, her early years were fine—too young to draw attention, her kindness in treating all comers earned respect. But as she matured into a striking beauty, some gazes turned predatory. Her reputation protected her for now, but who knew when someone might take a risk? To protect herself, she'd turned to the despised path of poison mastery, a choice that pained her kind heart.

Xiao Bai looked at her and nodded.