The Immortal's Poison

The blazing sun had just risen. Wen Leyang was severely injured by the prohibition spell in the campsite. Nevertheless, he managed to completely heal himself in a day and a night and the strength of his body had been fully restored. Hence, he was in a splendid mood. He even felt that the white-robed youth's extremely hoarse and broken-gong like voice sounded much more pleasant. 

The white-robed youth paid no attention to Wen Leyang's change in his physique and his expression, as he continued on his own accord, "The 'firecracker' was a species of spiritual bug found on the great snow mountains. It was supposed to come in small amounts and was very rare and precious but we learned from the erudite people from the Miao stockade village in the middle of Shu State on how to breed, grow and control the bugs…" When the white-robed youth mentioned of the Miao Bujiao, his tone of speaking to his expression was filled with admiration and gratitude, "My family opened up a cave then we sent over a batch of disciples that were specially tasked to be in charge of caring for the 'firecrackers'. For over a thousand years, our family had been breeding a few thousands of 'firecrackers'!"

Wen Leyang knew that when the other party was explaining a crucial point, yet there must be a reason why he suddenly diverted the topic of discussion onto the 'firecracker'. Wen Leyang was trying to be patient as he waited for the white-robed youth to continue talking. However, when he heard of the amount of 'firecrackers', he was still startled and could not help but to ask, "Why are there so many of the bugs? How many people are there in your Hua family?"

There could only be one 'mutualistic relationship' formed between a person and a 'firecracker' in his entire lifetime. Now that the Hua family was growing thousands of 'firecrackers', could it be that the Hua family was made up of thousands of people as well? This amount seemed to be a little too huge right. 

The white-robed youth was startled by Wen Leyang's question, he hastily shook his head, "Of course, there are not so many people in my family! But for us, the firecrackers are our best companions; they are the enemy's fatal opponent. Moreover, the bugs are very spiritual and obedient, naturally, the more the merrier. So we try to breed as many as we can!"

The 'firecracker' possessed exceedingly strong 'pet' instincts. The firecracker without a master would pounce on a human the moment it met one. It was naturally a blessing for the person who was pounced on by the firecracker but once the creature had pounced into the body, if it was summoned by the Hua family's people using a whistle, the end result would be awful. If someone were to try to cause harm to the Hua family, the Hua family had utterly no need to attack. They would only need to release the bugs then all was well and safe. Let alone a cultivator of ordinary cultivation sects, even the head lama Rangjung, who possessed profound cultivation base, was almost taken down by a 'firecracker'.

Wen Leyang was suddenly enlightened at this point. He squinted his eyes and stared at the white-robed youth with a spurious smile, "When you release the 'firecrackers', was it to deal with the Tibetan people or the Kunlun disciples?"

The dozen Taoist priests at the bottom of the ice fissure earlier and the hundreds of Kunlun disciples on his side were all attacked by the bugs. Needless to say, this was the trick launched by the Hua family.

Yet, unexpectedly, the white-robed youth shook his head, "It is true that these Taoist priests were raided by the 'firecrackers' but it was not controlled by our Hua family!" As he was saying that, he stopped for a moment, "Now that you have roughly understood the bugs and the Hua family's sequence of events, the rest of the matters would be much easier to explain!"

Wen Leyang hastily nodded, he understood that he was about to reach the climax of the topic. 

Recently, first came the Tibetan people of the small town exuding with evil energy, then came the Kunlun disciples that were filled with a murder intent, following that it was Wen Leyang's group of eccentric people that entered the mountain. Even though the Hua family disciples did not acknowledge the matter, as it was unrelated to them, this white-robed youth could no longer suppress his curiosity. He jumped out to block Wen Leyang and his people's way, in an attempt to ask for an explanation as to why they entered the Tanggula Mountains. It was at that moment the Hua family's warning sign of a long whistle echoed through the entire mountain valley. The white-robed youth knew that something happened at home, he immediately treated every outsider that entered the mountain as his enemy as well. 

Of course, due to Wen Leyang and the rest's way of conduct back then, anyone would be treating them as the enemy. 

The white-robed youth snatched back his robe. He could no longer care about pestering them anymore but hastily rushed back home. He found out that the cave that they used to breed the 'firecrackers' was raided. Over twenty Hua family disciples who were guarding and caring for the bugs were killed. The people who committed the murder was the Tibetan people. 

After the Tibetan people destroyed the cave, they released all the 'firecrackers'. They rapidly evacuated themselves as well. By the time the rest of the Hua family's master cultivators arrived, there was only a stretch of ruins and their tribesmen's corpses that were left behind. 

At this point, the white-robed youth explained to Wen Leyang, "The 'firecrackers' are able to escape through water and ice inherently, that is why we use the treasured weapons of the fire element to separate the area between where the 'firecrackers' are bred and the outside's ice sheet. This way we can prevent the firecrackers from escaping. After those Tibetan people killed our people, they destroyed the treasured weapon and connected the ice sheet to the cave, releasing all the bugs. 

Wen Leyang frowned, "So the Tibetan people were actually scheming for these strange bugs on the snow mountain? Did the bugs leave together with them? Were they aware of the method that was used to disperse these 'firecrackers?"

The white-robed youth shook his head ferociously, "No! They were not trying to seize the bugs, but they released the bugs. It is of the same concept as unlocking a cage, such that the wild beasts inside are set free!"

The white-robed youth's expression was a combination of infuriation and puzzlement, "We did not understand why were the Tibetan people opposing us and we did not understand why did the firecrackers that pounced onto a human the moment it saw one did not attack them!"

Wen Leyang did not speak. Yet, the jade knife Guo Huan hanging under his neck suddenly sneered and spoke, "Why is it so difficult to figure that out! Those Tibetan people are the living dead that opted out of being reborn! Your family's 'firecrackers' only pounce on the living human. They are not interested in these walking dead people."

The white-robed youth gave out a 'huh'. It was unknown whether he was startled by Guo Huan or he was startled by Guo Huan's words, it took a moment before he muttered and asked, "So those Tibetan people…they are all zombies?" As he was saying that, the expression of enlightenment appeared on his face. Even though the 'firecrackers' had a peculiar temperament and the Poison of Water was powerful, they did not pose an ounce of threat to the Tibetan people. 

Guo Huan scoffed with slight contempt. It enunciated clearly to emphasize its speech, "The living dead!" Apparently, there was some difference in between the zombies and this small town's living dead that opted out of being reborn, but Guo Huan was too lazy to explain. It urged the white-robed youth to continue his story. 

With such a critical event that took place, the entire Hua family was in a rage. Other than the disciples that were engaging in a mutualistic relationship with the bugs in the ice sheet, everyone came out to chase after the enemy, simultaneously searching for the 'firecrackers' that had escaped. 

There was a huge difference between an obscure cultivator and the cultivators that engaged in cultivating in a sect. The obscure cultivator cultivated purely in the cultivation method to ascend to the heaven. Their method of cultivation did not involve too many tricks that were useful in battles and resisting the enemy. Just like Wei Mo from the Heaven-teller Sect, his entire capability lied in the skill of counting and telling. Any insignificant disciples of the Five Blessings that had engaged in the cultivation for a few years would have the ability to strike him so hard he would need to look for his teeth on the ground. While an orthodox cultivator of a sect, when engaged in the dispute and enmity of the cultivation world, he would often pursue the great power and great supernatural power in his cultivation method, and even to a certain degree, the act of cultivating for the ascension to heaven to become an immortal was just a minor detail for the disciple of the great sects. 

The obscure cultivators had a higher percentage of achieving the possibility to ascend to the heaven as an immortal. Nevertheless, the probability to become an immortal was small on its own, whether it was one in a million or one in a hundred, even though the difference was by a hundred times, both appeared similarly unreachable. Let alone being compared to the orthodox sects, most of the obscure cultivator's cultivation method was far less inferior to the Giantbull or the Red Grandaunt. 

The Hua family disciples possessed the embodiment of true water. Their movements and tracks were harder to be traced than a ghost. As such, it would improve their cultivation method's combat capability. They were more than capable of dealing with cultivators of Ji Song's level. However, once they encountered the Tibetan people that were corroded by malevolent energy and had since opted out of being reborn, they lost immediately.

The principle of this situation was akin to the falcon that was far agiler than the bear but the falcon could never succeed at killing a bear. 

That was why it was not a difficult task for the Hua family disciples to locate the Tibetan people. When both parties fought, the Hua family never manages to avenge themselves. On the contrary, a lot of the Hua family disciples were injured. 

The moment Guo Huan displayed his weapons, Yin's Error and Yang's Mistake, the treasured weapons smashed dozens of Tibetan people into pieces. However, the Yin's Error and Yang's Mistake were the incisive treasured weapons with indescribable powers. Even Chang Li attempted to steal this pair of treasure in the past, provoking Guo Huan. 

At this point, Wen Leyang laughed as he shook his head. He consoled the white-robed youth, "Your Hua family's supernatural power was rather remarkable as well. The flash freeze that was launched by your Uncle Quan almost froze all of us into ice pillars!"

The white-robed youth gave a forced laugh as he shook his head, "That was the largest treasured weapon that was refined by our Hua family laboriously all these years. It was not supposed to be used to attack humans…even if it was used to deal with the Tibetan people, I am afraid that its effectiveness was still far less inferior."

Wen Leyang smiled but no longer spoke. Frankly, if none of the three persons Wen Leyang, Po Tu or Rangjung were injured at that time, they could firmly withstand the supernatural power of flash freeze.

A powerful enemy had confronted the Hua family. Even though they were counterattacking laboriously, they still managed to separate a portion of their people to hunt for the 'firecrackers'. These strange bugs were the foundation of their cultivation. Should they delay their time to hunt for the 'firecrackers', it would be extremely difficult for them to capture these bugs later that were capable of escaping in the ice sheet and swim everywhere and capable of escaping a cultivator's telegnosis ability. 

Moreover, the rainy season had arrived. It would not take long before the entire highland would be covered by heavy snow. By then, no one knew if these bugs would be escaping out of the Tanggula Mountains with the ice and snow. If they were to truly escape into the mortal world, another chaos would break out. 

Fortunately, the 'firecrackers' possessed the collective animal behavior to live in a group. Hence, they did not disperse in all directions like birds. Other than a very small amount that was separated from the big group, the rest of the bugs gathered together. As they were trapped in the cave for too long, when they could finally see the light of the day, they started moving at ease everywhere on the snow peak. 

"I supposed the dozen of Taoist priests under the ice fissure of the west slope encountered a small pack of independently-travelling 'firecrackers'." The white-robed youth's tone of speaking sounded a little sorrowful. 

It was unknown which method did the Kunlun Sect use, enabling them to follow the Tibetan people from the small town of Tuer all the way into the Tanggula Mountains. Their orthodox school's disciples possessed significantly high attainment in their cultivation. Of course, they would not be surging in a chaotic ball of mess onto the mountain peak like the obscure cultivators when they were marching forward. Other than the battalion's disciples, there were also a dozen troops of disciples that were wandering around the peripheral areas. They were in charge of finding new paths and giving out warning signs. One of the Kunlun disciple troops had encountered the dozen of 'firecrackers' that were traveling independently. Unfortunately, Wen Leyang and his group found the location randomly. Even though they did not have the intention to harm others, they accidentally destroyed the Kunlun disciples' lives. 

Every time Wen Leyang thought of this matter, he felt apologetic from the bottom of his heart. He heaved a sigh and pointed to the two sides of surrounding ice walls, "So they…were raided by a large group of 'firecrackers' at their campsite?"

The white-robed youth was at a loss whether to laugh or cry as he nodded. This was an unlucky year for the Kunlun gang that offended the Tanggula Mountains. Their small troop of soldiers encountered a small group of strange bugs, while their large troop of soldiers encountered a large stretch of bug tide…

Wen Leyang was still a little confused, "The Kunlun Sect's disciples possessed rather remarkable cultivation base. Even if a large stretch of bugs were to arrive in a swarm, perhaps they would still be 'seized' in the end, they would never surrender without a fight. The campsite was all neat and tidy, there was utterly no signs of a struggle or fight.

The white-robed youth smiled as he explained to Wen Leyang, "This species of bugs are the embodiment of true water and the snow mountain's legendary beasts. You can think of it as a drop of water…a drop of water that fuses with another drop of water, it is still a drop of water, but it is slightly bigger."

Wen Leyang pondered for a moment before he was filled with fear, "So you are telling me that these bugs can fuse together with one another…and turn into a gigantic bug?"

The white-robed shook his head then nodded, "In reality, there are thousands and millions of tiny 'firecrackers', but on the outside, it appears just like a large-sized bug. Thousands of 'firecrackers' squeezing together can give free reign to their water element vividly. At first glance, it appears just like a lake."

Wen Leyang finally figured out what happened. The bugs did not arrive one by one, or troop by troop, or gush by gush, but they formed into a stretch of water and sprung out from underneath the ice sheet soundlessly, annihilating the entire campsite in the blink of an eye!

The 'firecrackers' inherently fancied pouncing on humans. They met an entire campsite's worth of 'hosts' in the middle of their sightseeing tour…

"Thousands of 'firecrackers' and almost a thousand of Kunlun disciples. How many of the bugs were left afterwards?" Wen Leyang did not forget to calculate the numbers despite being in the midst of astonishment. 

The white-robed youth laughed bafflingly for a moment, there was a sense of gloating over others' misfortune in him, "The 'firecrackers' that managed to pounce onto its hosts, immediately brought along the humans and escaped into the depth of the ice sheet." As he was saying that he stretched out his hand and pointed to the rest of the Kunlun disciples with different expressions in the ice wall and then he continued, "The rest of the 'firecrackers' did not leave. Perhaps there was still unwillingness in their hearts. They wanted to wait for the next person's return to the campsite. So, all of them settled down in the ice sheet underneath the campsite!"

Wen Leyang drew in a cold breath, "When we arrived at the campsite, they…were underneath our feet? How was it that they did not bore out from the ground and pounced on us?"

The white-robed nodded strenuously, "The 'firecrackers' do not like the sunlight, unless they are startled and stimulated or that we intentionally disperse them. Otherwise, they seldom pounce onto humans during the day. Actually, my Uncle Quan had already discovered the large group of 'firecrackers' before your arrival. He was preparing the treasured weapon and the magic spell. However, when all of you came, you all triggered the campsite's prohibition spell…"

The Kunlun campsite's prohibition spell could not detect the true water's formless 'firecrackers' but the prohibition spell was exceptionally sensitive at picking up Wen Leyang and the rest's presence. The moment they entered the campsite, they immediately drew in the Kunlun magic spell's heaven-splitting and earth-shocking baptism, simultaneously startling the thousands of 'firecrackers' lying in dormant underneath the ice. The large group of bugs was eager to take action. They were watching the few hosts above joyously, as they started ascending to the surface of the ice sheet slowly. 

When the large group of bugs was floating upwards, the bugs triggered the magic spell that was laid down by that Uncle Quan from Hua family, triggering the treasured weapon, thus triggering the Art of Freeze.

The 'firecrackers' were the water element legendary beasts of the snow mountain's ice river and there was only this form of freezing magic spell that was capable of suppressing them temporarily. Then the Hua family's master cultivators would conjure the Art of Moving Ice and Water to transport the bugs back to the prohibition spell formed by the fire element treasured weapon. Only then the task would be considered complete. 

Wen Leyang finally understood the situation. He asked out of astonishment, "Uncle…Uncle Quan launched the magic spell, in order to capture the bugs? Not because he was trying to attack us?"

Before the white-robed youth could speak, Wen Leyang suddenly complained, "I am sure that he can at least inform us beforehand, right? Anyhow, he ought to wait for us to retreat out of the scope of the freezing spell. Your Hua family truly does not treasure the lives of the others!" At the end of his speech, his tone of speaking had already turned from dissatisfaction to interrogative.

The white-robed youth refused to show weakness. His bright eyes widened as he looked into Wen Leyang's eyes directly, "The first time we met all of you, you were attempting to attack me. Naturally, you were an enemy and not a friend. Let alone Uncle Quan, anyone would consider all of you in the same category as the Tibetan people. It would not be an injustice for us to freeze all of you into pieces!"

Wen Leyang's gaze was no longer as determined as before. His gaze started drifting away gradually. He thought of the moment they entered the mountain they had attempted to capture the white-robed youth. It was not an injustice for the other party to misunderstand their intention and considered them as the enemy. 

The white-robed youth's expression calmed down, "It is true that Uncle Quan had the intention to kill all of you, but what is done is done. It is not worthwhile for us to deny! However…heh, I did not expect that all of you are capable of breaking Uncle Quan's magic spell!"

Uncle Quan's Art of Freeze could not cover that entire stretch of snow peak. Their Hua family's treasured weapon was weaker than Guo Huan's Yin's Error and Yang's Mistake by a few grades. The magic spell failed to take form in the end and was countercharged by the power of Yang's Mistake. The Hua family's treasured weapon was shattered. Hence, the large group of 'firecrackers' was only frozen for a while before it could move freely. These bugs were exceedingly intelligent. They knew that someone was coming after them. They could not care about 'capturing hosts' anymore and immediately started fleeing for their lives. 

The white-robed youth was also pursuing the 'bug tide'. He was utilizing the collective animal behavior of this species of strange bugs. He released his 'firecracker' that had already recognized its master and pursued all the way. By the time he arrived at the area near the campsite, he was just in time to catch up with Xiao Sha who was about to extort confession by torture. He did not even consider before he jumped out and rescued Uncle Quan. As he was greatly startled by Guo Huan's crescent blade, he dared not seek revenge or launch his escape method but continued to pursue the bug tide under the guidance of his own 'firecracker'.

Wen Leyang was completely enlightened. He was at a loss whether to cry or laugh as he drew a huge circle on the ground, he asked Tutatunte, "So that huge circle that you drew is the combination of all the bugs?"

Tutatunte looked at this familiar huge circle. His mouth cracked into a smile as he laughed in an honest manner. 

Wen Leyang gave him a thumbs up and gave a heartfelt praise, "You are extraordinary!"

Tutatunte was virtually a radar with high sensitivity. He could foresee danger. He could discover these water element strange bugs that could even render the cultivator's telegnosis ability useless. Of course, the radar would still be short circuited upon banging his head. The two rounds of cloth used to wrap around the wound on Tutatunte's head right now made him appeared like a Somali soldier. 

Even though the bug tide fled swiftly after it was startled, it did not flee in any path out of fright. It was fleeing towards its companions that had just abducted almost a thousand hosts. The 'firecrackers' possessed strong animal collective behavior. Once they noticed the approaching danger, they immediately gathered with the bugs that had just 'recognized its master' in order to protect its companions that were engaged in the assimilation process. Under Tutatunte's guidance, Wen Leyang rushed all the way to this spot. 

Wen Leyang was startled again. He clenched his teeth in fear as he glared at his surroundings, "So this nearby region…is infested with thousands of 'firecrackers' without masters?! They…how is it that they are not pouncing onto us?" The sky had just brightened outside. However, when they arrived at this spot it was still nighttime. How could the bugs not pounce on them?

The white-robed youth's face was glowing with pride, "Of course it is because of us! Before the both of you arrived here, our family's brothers and sisters had already rushed over to this spot. We exerted laborious efforts but finally managed to pacify the bugs, however… that group of Tibetan people still refused to give up!" As he was saying that, his face was filled with cruelty but the gaze that he used to look at Wen Leyang was filled with slight expectation. 

The Hua family's people managed to rush over in time. They succeeded in controlling the large batch of firecrackers. However, the dozens of Tibetan people appeared at the same time. They dived under the ice fissure in an attempt to break the Hua family's shackles on the bugs. At that moment, Wen Leyang arrived at this spot. Tutatunte was bustling about up and down and finally dove head first into the wasp's nest, drawing out the Tibetan people. Guo Huan launched his Demon Body Breaking spell twice, instructing the Yin's Error and Yang's Mistake to launch its great martial prowess and annihilated all the Tibetan people at one stroke. 

The Hua family disciples finally understood that Wen Leyang and the Tibetan people were not the birds of a feather. The white-robed youth encountered Wen Leyang on two occasions. Every time they met the situation was filled with hostility. It was also because of that, the white-robed youth's appearance would mean that they were most earnest and sincere. That was why he appeared now. 

The white-robed youth finally finished telling about the course of events that took place. He exhaled a long breath, "It was not wild talks and lies when I told you earlier that I could deal with you. If I wanted to harm you earlier, I would only need to unlock the magic spell and release the thousands of bugs. Even if you had three heads and six arms, you would not be able to run out of here alive." As he was saying that, the white-robed youth suddenly remembered 'You've Got Me'. He hastily stretched out his hand and pointed towards Wen Leyang's chest, his tone of speaking was filled with solemnness, "Be sure to keep your eyes on that fire element bug of yours. The water and fire element inter-restricts one another. If it was released, it would easily stimulate the 'firecracker's' temper, such that the 'firecrackers' can truly struggle free from our magic spell…"

The white-robed youth suddenly laughed, "Actually it is fine as well. At the worst, consider it as a bargain for yourself. The embodiment of the true water shall be a gift for you! You annihilated the Tibetan people earlier. That is considered a great help to us!"

Wen Leyang hastily shook his head, "Small matter, there is no need to thank me." The matter of the embodiment of true water was too incredulous. No one knew if the Hua family disciples would wait for the 'firecracker' to bore into his body and blow the whistle to draw the firecracker out…

The white-robed youth could not read Wen Leyang's narrow-mindedness. He continued, "The tribe's elders were trying to figure out a way to deal with the enemies. Those that came rushing over to suppress the bugs were the juniors that were almost the same age as me. Our supernatural power was no match for those Tibetan people. The 'firecrackers' were ineffective towards them. If it was not you who came rushing over in time, we could only run away and allow them to free the 'firecrackers' at will. Moreover…" As he was saying that, the white-robed youth pointed to the Kunlun disciples, "the odds were against these Taoist priests."

Wen Leyang stretched out a hand and rubbed onto the area between his brows that he frowned so hard it turned sore, "So the Tibetan people from the small town of Tuer was not trying to deal with your Hua family but only wanted to release the bugs?"

The white-robed youth could not judge this situation as two separate matters as well as Wen Leyang could. He sneered boldly, "Releasing the bugs, is equal to driving the Hua family to its death!"

Wen Leyang coughed. He asked the old demon in the jade knife that was filled with schemes, "Do you think the Tibetan people releasing the bugs was related to that water element treasure that they were looking for?"

Now that Guo Huan understood the sequence of events, its tone of speaking sounded pompous and pretentious, "What else can there be other than that? They are all the living dead. They will not be so fussed to travel a long distance to the great snow mountain just so they can set the 'firecrackers' free because they pity the 'firecrackers'!"

The white-robed youth interrupted out of curiosity, "What is the water element treasure?"

Without waiting for Wen Leyang to speak, Guo Huan spoke in an unpleasant tone, "What an idiotic young lad! Other than the heavenly water spirit, is there anything else that is a water element treasure?"

The white-robed youth's expression was filled with astonishment. His mouth widened as he shook his head absent-mindedly, "So you are saying that they can locate the heavenly water spirit through the 'firecrackers'? Impossible! It is true that the Hua family spent over a thousand years in breeding 'firecrackers', but we have never given up on the idea to seek the heavenly water spirit…"

Guo Huan did not wait for him to finish talking before it sneered in an icy cold manner. Its voice sounded more rigid than the hardest million-year-old glacier in the depth of the snow peak, "That is why I said all you young lads have no knowledge at all! Just depending on a great snow mountain, you think that you can grow out such strange and eccentric bugs? Call it 'firecrackers' or tadpoles, this species of legendary bugs of the utmost element is most certainly related to the heavenly water spirit!"

The white-robed youth was both surprised and joyous. He could not hold himself back as he inquired closely, "So…if I am to release the bugs now…and follow them, I would be able to find the heavenly water spirit?" His voice was initially unpleasant and hoarse. Due to his intense tone, his voice turned sharper all of a sudden, making Wen Leyang felt uneasy in his heart.