Chapter 307: Poisoning to Death
Yooi Xiao looked at Zhao Li with an expression of severe disappointment, "All you know is to play your little tricks, so short-sighted."
Being rebuked by his own sect master, Zhao Li sniffed, "Disciple has made a mistake."
The attitude of admitting his mistake was quite good.
"Disciple will immediately contact Fellow Daoist Ye and tell him not to come," Zhao Li said.
"Having already sent out the invitation, can we tell people not to come? Would the disciples of the Tianyan Sect not be seen as those who break their promises?"
Zhao Li said, "Fellow Daoist Ye is very easy to get along with. If I explain the situation to him, he should understand. After this storm passes, he can come over stealthily in the future."
"No need, he has already arrived at the station," said Yooi Xiao, waving his hand. He had already received a message from the sect disciples a moment ago, indicating that Lu Yiye from the Righteous Blood Sect had already arrived at their station and had been settled in.
"It's no problem, I will go find him now," Zhao Li said, turning to leave.
"Come back!" Yooi Xiao called out sharply.
At the same time, the little old man Bai Qian stretched out his foot to trip him. Zhao Li was so taken aback that he nearly stumbled. He quickly turned around and stood obediently.
"As disciples of the Tianyan Sect, we cannot be those who break our promises, no matter what. Once Ten Thousand Demons Ridge finds out the young man is at our headquarters, they will surely target us. If it comes to it, we'll abandon the station."
"Sect Master..."
Yooi Xiao's stern gaze softened slightly, "I know you are considering our sect. Our station's location in the Spirit Stream battlefield is not good, surrounded on three sides by Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. It has indeed been difficult to develop over the years. You have great ambition, but remember, in the future, think thrice before acting."
"Yes."
"Furthermore, our sect actually has some history with the Righteous Blood Sect. Many of our sect's strong practitioners once followed orders under someone from that sect. If it weren't for that person's care, our sect wouldn't have the status it has today, a 5th grade sect, which isn't bad."
Zhao Li didn't know exactly who the sect master was referring to, but he understood the meaning behind his words. This was to ensure he didn't bear too great a mental burden; even due to the connection with the Righteous Blood Sect, Tianyan Sect would not drive Lu Ye away.
"Go to the station now and prepare early. Our sect might be facing a calamity," Yooi Xiao waved his hand.
Zhao Li bowed and left.
After he left, Yooi Xiao sighed. Although he had made up his mind, as the moment approached, he couldn't help but feel heartache. If things turned out as he anticipated, his station would surely be lost.
"Is it very serious?" Bai Qian asked.
"I've heard some rumors," Yooi Xiao nodded, then suddenly asked, "Veteran Bai, how do you rate that Lu Yiye's talent in the Array Path?"
After a moment's contemplation, Bai Qian said, "Based on what Zhao Li said, that young man's talent is not ordinary, and he has many ingenious ideas. The only thing that confuses me right now is..."
"What is that?"
"That young man is only at the Spirit Stream Level 8 in cultivation, how did he manage to discern the critical nodes of the big array? All his methods must target the nodes to be effective. Logically, even if he has decent talent in the Array Path, without finding the nodes of the big array, it's useless. It's quite a mystery."
"Perhaps Veteran Bai could test him personally?"
"That's what I was thinking. Let's wait for his visit. When he comes, have him meet me," Bai Qian said.
At the Tianyan Sect station.
In the Lowe where Lu Ye was staying, Zhao Li arrived late. He promptly apologized, and then had his disciples quickly prepare a table for a feast, to welcome and clean Lu Ye from the dust of travel.
Although Lu Ye was keen to see the Hundred Arrays Pagoda, with the other party being so hospitable, it was difficult to refuse, so he let Zhao Li have his way.
Soon the feast was ready, Lu Ye and Giant Armor sat down, with Zhao Li accompanying them.
As an apology, Zhao Li first punished himself with three cups, and then offered a toast.
Lu Ye drank with him, and as for Giant Armor, he was already beginning to eat ravenously...
"Brother Yiye, was your journey here peaceful?" Zhao Li asked while pouring wine.
"It went smoothly enough, but..."
Lu Ye began to speak but suddenly stopped mid-sentence, frowning.
He felt something off in his body and quickly immersed his consciousness to check. On internal inspection, he saw the Talent Tree rooted within his Root Spiritual Orifice, its leaves blazing fiercely, and a gray aura continuously spreading around the tree.
Normally, this wasn't unusual.
Every time Lu Ye consumed an elixir pill, the Talent Tree would react in this way, burning up the pill poison from the pill and providing him with extremely pure spirit force.
But it was clearly abnormal for this to happen now, as he hadn't consumed any elixir pills at all.
And as he watched, the gray smoke rising from the Talent Tree was exceptionally dense, not at all like the reaction from burning pill poison.
This was the first time Lu Ye had encountered something like this.
"Brother Yiye?" Zhao Li looked at him, puzzled, not understanding why Lu Ye's expression was becoming increasingly grave.
Lu Ye raised his hand to stop Giant Armor's chopsticks and looked towards Zhao Li. After a brief analysis and hesitation, he said in a deep voice, "There's poison in the wine!"
Furthermore, the poison was very potent, but judging by Zhao Li's reaction, it didn't act quickly since Zhao Li didn't show any abnormal signs.
Of course, it was also possible that Zhao Li was the one who had administered the poison, although the likelihood was slim. After all, this place was Tianyan Sect headquarters, and Zhao Li was the governor. If he poisoned Lu Ye, the consequences would be severe, which was why Lu Ye was frank with him.
It was also Lu Ye's way of testing him.
Under his scrutiny, Zhao Li's expression clearly showed some astonishment before he weakly asked, "Is Brother Yiye joking?"
Lu Ye remained silent.
"But I don't feel anything odd," Zhao Li started to panic.
Lu Ye turned to look at Giant Armor beside him. Giant Armor slowly shook his head; he didn't feel anything either. However, Giant Armor hadn't drunk any wine, he had only been focusing on eating, and he didn't know if there was poison in the food as well.
Lu Ye continued to examine his Talent Tree. The thick gray fog around it dimmed very quickly, which evidently meant that the poison was being burned off.
He truly didn't know that the Talent Tree had such a peculiar effect, but thinking about it, it wasn't strange at all. Since the Talent Tree could burn off pill poison, it naturally could burn other toxins as well.
In just a dozen or so breaths, no more gray fog drifted out, and for a moment, Lu Ye could not confirm whether his conjecture was correct.
After thinking it over, he poured himself another cup of wine and then downed it in one gulp.
Zhao Li stared at him with a stunned face: "Brother Yiye?"
He couldn't understand what Lu Ye was doing. Just now, Lu Ye had told him the wine was poisoned, but now he had drunk another cup. Was this... really just a joke?
"There really is poison," Lu Ye once again saw the dense gray fog drifting beside his Talent Tree.
Zhao Li was completely dumbfounded. His mind couldn't quite catch up, and his thoughts were a mess. He didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but he felt like his whole body was not quite right...
Then he saw Lu Ye pick up another chopstick-full of food and eat it, and after a moment, he said, "The food is poisoned too."
"Brother Yiye!" Zhao Li almost cried out.
"Spit it out!" Lu Ye turned to look at Giant Armor, who immediately got up and went to the side.
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Lu Ye then pressed on his battlefield marking and sent a message out before turning to Zhao Li, "Brother Zhao, please order a lockdown of the headquarters. No one is allowed to leave, and also check if anyone has left in the past two hours. If there has been, please send trustworthy people to bring them back!"
Hearing this, Zhao Li recognized the seriousness of the issue. It seemed that Lu Ye was not joking, and there really was poison in the food and wine.
With a slight shock, Zhao Li quickly sent the message.
At the Righteous Blood Sect headquarters, Shui Yuan rushed into the sect master's residence, disturbing the meditating sect master.
"Lu Ye has been poisoned!"
A glint of cold ferocity flashed in the sect master's eyes as he asked in a deep voice, "Where is he?"
"At the Tianyan Sect headquarters!"
The sect master immediately got up, and within just a few breaths, two figures turned into streaks of light and soared into the sky.
At the Tianyan Sect headquarters, Yooi Xiao received the news with a green face. He slapped the armrest of his chair to pieces and growled through clenched teeth, "Dammit!"
Lu Yiye from the Righteous Blood Sect had only been at their headquarters for a short while and had already been poisoned. Clearly, someone had made their move in secret. What Yooi hadn't anticipated was that there were people from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge within the Tianyan Sect, and their actions had been swift.
The two camps had been in opposition for many years, and it was common practice to plant spies within each other's ranks. No one could guarantee that their disciples were free from internal threats.
Some spies might never reveal their identities in a lifetime, but once they struck at a crucial moment, they could inflict significant damage on the enemy.
Take, for instance, the incident when the sect master was returning to the Righteous Blood Sect headquarters with Lu Ye and they were ambushed midway. A spy from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge played a role in that too, and that spy was a True Lake Realm cultivator. Although Pang Zhen later found clues and eradicated them, if it weren't for good luck, Lu Ye would have already been dead by then.
Both sides spent great effort and paid a high price to groom spies. Even if they managed to place them successfully, the spies might still get discovered. Those who remained hidden were extremely important and wouldn't be used lightly unless it was absolutely necessary.
But this time, Ten Thousand Demons Ridge must have been desperate. To deal with a cultivator of Spirit Stream Level 8, they didn't hesitate to use a spy they had placed within the Tianyan Sect.
Soon, the Great Elder Bai Qian returned, the old man's expression somber: "What's the situation now?"
"It's confirmed that he's been poisoned. As for who did it, we are still investigating, but we have narrowed down the suspects," Yooi replied.
"We must find the poisoner no matter what. Only then can we determine which poison was used and find the right antidote," Bai Qian said gravely.
"I have the same thoughts. Moreover, Lu Yiye has already arranged this immediately, and Zhao Li is acting according to his plans," Yooi said.
"So young and yet so calm?" Bai Qian was somewhat surprised, "How are they now?"
"Zhao Li said the symptoms aren't obvious. It seems to be a very covert poison, but the toxicity is fierce."
"Symptoms not obvious, but the toxicity fierce?" Bai Qian frowned. This was clearly not right. If the poison was sufficiently potent, the symptoms should be evident. These two characteristics shouldn't coexist.