Chapter 19: Heart-Erosion

The cave mouth was deep and nearly vertical, a full hundred zhang in depth. The handsome youth leaped down, using his innate true essence to make himself as light as a feather, occasionally grabbing the dark cave walls to slow his descent. After quite a while, he finally reached the ground.

"This is really deep. Hmm, where is Master's secret chamber?" The handsome youth looked around, carefully advancing along the winding passage. Ahead, a dazzling green light was already glowing. Soon he saw an open stone door, beyond which was a sea of green light, along with pulses that made one's heart tremble.

"Master." The handsome youth called out from outside the stone door.

"Enter." A shrill voice commanded.

"Yes." Suppressing his fear, the handsome youth walked in. This was a sealed stone chamber about ten zhang in diameter. In the center was a huge rock, on which sat a man in a loose black robe with long black hair, his face gaunt and pale. His eyes emitted a faint green light, and his entire body exuded an almost tangible aura of evil.

Before him was a large tripod, atop which burned green flames that radiated a chilling cold. Above the green flames floated an ancient, blood-red cloth banner, on which faint, ferocious faces appeared, silently screaming and roaring as they fought and devoured each other.

The entire banner was enveloped in a visible layer of black light.

"Karmic sin!" The handsome youth's heart trembled. "Great karmic sin."

Doing good deeds brings merit; doing evil deeds brings karmic sin.

Those with great karmic sin naturally exude a chilling aura of evil, but for the banner to manifest visible karmic sin was truly terrifying.

"This is a treasure born from endless karmic sin!" The handsome youth felt both fear and an irrepressible greed. He knew well that refining such a treasure of great karmic sin would make the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations incredibly dreadful, but the power of the treasure itself was also astonishing. This was why, despite the immense karmic sin, countless cultivators still flocked to learn evil arts.

Because the path of evil offered faster progress, even allowing one to fight above one's level.

"No wonder Master said that once his treasure is complete, even a Wanxiang Adept would not be feared." The handsome youth held his breath.

"Xiao Qi." The man with disheveled hair, sitting cross-legged, spoke in a shrill voice. "Gan'er was my first disciple, like a son to me! This Ji Ning killed my son, how could I, Bo Zishan, forgive him?"

The handsome youth lowered his head.

"I am refining a treasure and cannot leave." Bo Zishan's green eyes glanced at the handsome youth. Refining such a treasure of great karmic sin was itself extremely dangerous; during the process, one might be counterattacked and devoured by countless vengeful spirits, losing one's soul. Of course, one could forcibly stop, but the cost would be great.

"Xiao Qi, I grant you one dose of 'Heart-Erosion Powder.'" A porcelain bottle appeared in Bo Zishan's left palm, and he casually tossed it to the handsome youth.

The handsome youth caught it, looking at the bottle in his hand with dread: "Heart-Erosion Powder?"

He had heard of the infamous Heart-Erosion Powder.

This single bottle of Heart-Erosion Powder was more valuable than an ordinary ranked magic treasure. Countless Zifu Disciples had died from it, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. His master, having connections from his sect, was able to acquire this terrible poison.

"If I weren't unable to leave, would I waste a dose of Heart-Erosion Powder?" Bo Zishan said shrilly. "Remember, smash the bottle within ten zhang of Ji Ning, and he will be poisoned. Once the Heart-Erosion Powder enters the body, the poison acts slowly, taking three full days. But once poisoned, it is nearly impossible to expel. Even if he is a Divine Body Refining innate lifeform, even if he cultivates the legendary first Divine Body Refining method, the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens, he will surely die!"

The handsome youth nodded.

"Remember, be careful yourself. Stay far away. If you get poisoned, come to me, and I will give you the antidote." Bo Zishan said.

"Just releasing the poison, I can manage." The handsome youth said.

"Go." Bo Zishan's gaze fell back on the blood-red banner burning under the green flames. Countless vengeful spirits emerged from the banner, silently screaming and roaring at Bo Zishan, but his green eyes remained cold.

The handsome youth withdrew respectfully, then quickly leaped up along the deep cave, occasionally grabbing protrusions on the walls. Soon he was out of the cave mouth.

Crack, crack, crack...

Iron plates rotated, and the cave mouth sealed shut again.

...

Black mist filled the air.

Water and fire lotuses swirled around Ji Ning's soul as it rapidly deduced. Array models appeared in his sea of consciousness, their structures constantly changing. In this frenzied study, Ji Ning's insights into the art of formations were steadily improving.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning suddenly felt a pang in his heart.

With a soul as powerful as his, he could sense impending danger on a subconscious level. The last time he had such a feeling was before attempting the third trial in the ancient water mansion. This time, the sensation was even stronger, as if no matter how he struggled, he could not escape the approaching crisis.

"Danger?" Ji Ning opened his eyes and looked around.

Suddenly—

The black mist to his left and front parted on its own, and as it parted, countless white threads shot toward him. In the distance, the handsome youth held a whisk in one hand and a talisman in the other. The white threads from the whisk closed in on Ji Ning.

"Hmph." Twin swords appeared in Ji Ning's hands, and the water and fire lotuses moved to block the white threads.

"Bang!"

As the thousands of white threads collided with the water and fire lotuses, something seemed to explode. Ji Ning then noticed that the white threads were wrapped around a porcelain bottle, which shattered upon contact. The moment the bottle broke, the overwhelming sense of danger from his soul intensified, making Ji Ning's face change.

"There must be something in that bottle." Ji Ning was no fool, but he saw nothing—it was colorless and odorless!

The distant handsome youth, the moment the bottle shattered, immediately withdrew his whisk and activated his escape talisman, vanishing in an instant.

"This, this bottle..." Ji Ning felt uneasy.

"Ah."

Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed at his heart. Ji Ning's face turned pale as he clutched his chest. The Crimsonbright divine power within him immediately began to examine his body, but no trace of poison could be found. Yet his heart ached in waves, and pain spread gradually throughout his body, unstoppable, even his head throbbing.

"What to do? The poison is侵蚀 my whole body. My Crimsonbright divine power can't sense it, and my divine sense can't detect it either." Ji Ning recalled the words of the black ox in the water mansion: never underestimate any opponent, especially cultivators.

Cultivators had various means. A single dose of poison could kill you; no matter how powerful you were in battle, they simply wouldn't fight you.

This was the way of cultivators!

No one knew what tricks they might have...

"Hahaha." A triumphant laugh came from afar. "Ji Ning, no matter how genius you are, you are doomed."

Inside the great formation, Ji Ning's face was grim. Though his Crimsonbright divine power and divine sense could not detect the poison, the pain in his body told him that the invisible toxin was slowly but steadily侵蚀 his entire being. It was slow, but relentless, and the powerful vitality of his divine body could not expel it.

"What a potent poison, colorless, odorless, and undetectable." Ji Ning was alarmed. "Though it doesn't act instantly like common poisons, it seems to have taken root in every cell, impossible to eradicate. At this rate, my body will be finished in two or three days."

"Two or three days?"

Ji Ning's eyes blazed with madness.

"In these last two or three days, even if I die, I must break the formation." Rage burned in Ji Ning's heart. "Kill them all, and maybe I'll get lucky and find an antidote on them."

"There's no turning back."

"I must break the formation!"

Ji Ning sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and surrounded himself with protective lotuses. He frantically pushed his deduction of the formation to the limit.

...

Inside the mountain belly.

The handsome youth walked in and glanced at the furious faces of Meng Yu, Ji Wuyu, and other Ji clan members, as well as those from the Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Ancestral branches of the Ji clan, all glaring at him.

"What are you looking at? Your Ji Ning has been poisoned and will die within three days." The handsome youth said confidently. "Don't think he can survive. Even a Zifu Disciple would die from this poison."

"Our Ji clan ancestor will surely come."

"He will kill you all and save Ji Ning."

Meng Yu and the others refused to believe Ji Ning would die.

"Hahaha, your ancestor?" The handsome youth laughed arrogantly. "How could a small tribe like yours in Yanshan have such poison? Even within my sect, this poison is hard to obtain. Don't stare at me—I won't tell you what poison it is."

"Go to hell."

"You will all die."

The Ji clan members cursed one after another, and even the other bound innate lifeforms cursed in despair.

...

In the inner city of the Ji clan's Western Manor.

Ji Yichuan was accompanying his wife, Weichi Xue, occasionally glancing out the door.

Suddenly, through the door, he saw two figures on the back of a green flame bird in the distant sky. One was Ji Honghua in red, and the other was a gray-robed old man with fiery red hair. Ji Yichuan recognized him at once—the true pillar of the Ji clan, the clan leader, Ji Jiuhuo!

"Xue'er, Xue'er, the clan leader is here." Ji Yichuan called out.