Chapter 326 — Using Poison to Slay the Demon Root
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
The Alchemist, masterly as his pharmacology was, had never deliberately taught him the arts of poison; these were skills he had learned from Fu Yuanqing, the Little Poison King, and he had then fused the way of poison with the way of healing. Shen Mu set the poison insects to slaughtering one another; they devoured each other until a single Insect King remained. Then he compounded various deadly pills from different poison pills and fed those pills to the Insect King.
Before nightfall Mu Yingxue finally returned. The girl rode a white elephant that came swaying along, unhurried, and behind the elephant trailed a host of flowers and grasses, along with birds and beasts.
Shen Mu was dumbfounded: flowers and grasses, birds and beasts, even insects all followed at the girl's heels, inseparable from her. "All things have spirit, and poisons have spirit too. Her art of gathering medicine is far above mine; she can make even poisons follow her of their own accord.
" This was indeed a formidable rival of lofty attainment in the way of poison!
Shen Mu felt the pressure. In their contest two days before, Mu Yingxue and he had each won and each lost, both taking losses; this time, surely, would be the true duel!
Mu Yingxue came beneath the tree, and the flowers and grasses, the poisonous birds and beasts, the venomous insects and fish came beneath the tree as well. Those lying beneath the tree shuddered with dread, their eyes fixed on Shen Mu and Mu Yingxue full of alarm.
These poisonous things were common enough to Shen Mu and Mu Yingxue, but to anyone else they were flood and savage beast, to be fled from at all costs. Mu Yingxue at once set to work, rousing her arts; the poisonous creatures grew of themselves, and when their venom reached fullness each plucked off its own most venomous part and offered it to her.
The girl was utterly earnest, meticulous to the last hair, wholly absorbed in cultivating her poisons.
Her poisons differed somewhat from those of the Central Plains: they struck chiefly at the primordial qi, which is a person's first breath of life. When the primordial qi is insufficient the body is depleted, blood dwindles, spirit dwindles, complexion fades, bones grow weak; and if the primordial qi is emptied out, the person dies.
The same held true for cultivators.
Her poison theory seemed bent on seeking out the very source of life and slaying that source with venom, a most exalted approach.
Shen Mu raised his brows and likewise bent himself wholly to cultivating his poisons.
The two vied with each other in bitter refining through the night; the great tree beside them trembled and shook, swaying back and forth all night long, and still it could not escape. At last the sky grew bright.
Shen Mu finished his poison, and Mu Yingxue straightened up; each held a small jar, and each looked toward the other.
"What medicine has Elder Sister refined?
" Shen Mu asked curiously.
Mu Yingxue did not open her jar. She smiled and said, "Your medicine is vicious indeed, but your tongue is as sweet as honey, and it warms a girl's heart.
As for my medicine, it had no pill formula to begin with; I created it anew against the blood of gods and demons, and it has no name yet.
It has one virtue: it dissolves the blood of gods and demons and destroys the very source of the primordial qi. Once swallowed, within an hour or two the primordial qi is emptied out, spirit and qi scatter, and the victim is dead on the spot!
" Shen Mu's eyes lit up.
"Sister, since your medicine has no name, let me name it for you.
Let us call it the Spirit-Vanishing Three Wonders Powder, how is that? " Mu Yingxue was overjoyed, gave him a delighted glance, and praised him: "Good little brother, who would have thought you had learning in you?
If it were left to me, I could never have thought up such a fine name. And what medicine is yours?
" Shen Mu patted his jar and laughed.