"Junior brother, you seem rather wary of me!"
The Poison Prince smiled, "Though we are fellow disciples, we've never actually met. We ought to be close, don't you think?"
Quinn Shepherd lowered his arm. He'd heard of the Poison Prince before, mostly from the Dowager Empress, and knew that his grandfather Apothecary had been forced to carve off his own face and retreat into the Great Ruins because of this man.
The Poison Prince was Apothecary's most gifted disciple, but he betrayed his master by exposing that the elegant Jade Young Lord and the infamous Poison King were one and the same.
Jade Young Lord and Poison King were seen as two different people in the martial world. The Jade Young Lord was a strikingly handsome, elegant man—tall, dashing, gentle as a spring breeze, charming everyone he met. Even men admired him, finding it hard to hate such a figure.
The Poison King, on the other hand, wore a blue-faced, fanged mask and was infamous for his cruelty. He'd poisoned countless experts and even wiped out a renowned sect, killing every last person—even the animals.
Even Dao Gate and Great Thunderclap Temple lost many accomplished Daoists and monks to his poisons.
Though the Poison King's cultivation wasn't high, his skills were unmatched. His mastery of poison and gu-worms reached the peak, and even after repeated joint hunts by both orthodox and demonic sects—including several Cult Master–level experts—none could bring him down. Many died to his toxins instead.
The Poison King always wore his blue-faced, fanged mask, hiding his true appearance. Only when the Poison Prince revealed the truth did people realize that the infamous Poison King was actually the charming Jade Young Lord.
The consequences of this exposure were complicated—some sought to kill him, while many women fought over him. Even powerful figures like the Dowager Empress joined the fray, forcing Apothecary to carve off his face, abandon all emotion, and hide in the Great Ruins, never daring to leave again.
But the Poison Prince's own life wasn't easy either. The Dowager Empress and other female generals vented their anger on him, chasing him everywhere. He nearly had to flee into the Great Ruins himself, but was saved when the Imperial Preceptor took him in.
Quinn only knew Apothecary's story from hearsay and didn't know the full truth, but he was aware the Poison Prince had inherited Apothecary's poison arts, and his skill in toxins was nearly equal to his master's.
Emperor Evan smiled, "Cult Master, I invited you and the Poison Prince here because you are both disciples of the Jade-Faced Poison King. One of you excels at poison, the other at healing; working together, perhaps you can cure both me and the Imperial Preceptor."
Quinn grinned, "As you command. I'm curious to see my senior brother's skills myself."
The Poison Prince examined the emperor's wounds and checked the results of Quinn's recent treatments. The pockmarks on his face looked even more terrifying as he smiled, "Your skills aren't bad—you unraveled the Thousand-Mechanism Poison in a single night."
Quinn, meanwhile, examined the Imperial Preceptor. Since returning to the capital, the Poison Prince had been treating the Preceptor's injuries. Quinn remarked calmly, "You're not bad yourself—the Thousand-Mechanism Poison was used quite cleverly."
Suddenly, the pockmarks on the Poison Prince's wrist burst open with a popping sound, and tiny transparent spiders crawled out. They sprayed silk, sticking to Emperor Evan's brow, then followed the threads and crawled right into his forehead, entering his Spirit Embryo Treasury.
"I never intended to kill her. With my skills, killing a Cult Master would be no trouble at all."
The Poison Prince said leisurely, "No matter what sect they lead, killing a Cult Master is no difficulty for me."
Without raising his eyebrows, Quinn's eyes flashed with two layers of heaven. He used his Azure Firmament Heaven-Eye to examine the Imperial Preceptor's wounds. "Even if you killed her body, I could preserve her soul and revive her after detoxification. Besides, a true Cult Master isn't so easily killed by poison. As a Cult Master, she could kill you without ever meeting face-to-face. Especially in demonic cults, there are a thousand ways for you to die mysteriously yet inevitably. One day, when you end up dead in a filthy gutter, you'll understand."
"Is that so?" The Poison Prince's face twisted, his smile uglier than a cry.
"It is." Quinn smiled as brightly as a flower.
The two locked eyes. Emperor Evan and the Imperial Preceptor both felt a chill—these two, even in conversation, were dueling with words, and the killing intent was rising fast!
Lynn Ling blinked, her gaze darting between them. Sensing things might spiral out of control, she laughed, "Poison Prince, Cult Master Quinn, healing comes first!"
The Imperial Preceptor coughed, and Emperor Evan did the same. "Yuxiu, you may leave for now."
Lynn Ling acknowledged and left the great hall.
The pockmarks on the Poison Prince's face burst open, releasing worm-like insects that darted into Emperor Evan's other divine treasuries to check their condition. "You're not bad—you've removed the hidden ailments from His Majesty's treasuries, and his flesh and soul are fully healed. It's just a pity your medical skill can't cure the treasuries themselves."
Quinn watched as the remnants of divine power inside the Imperial Preceptor were entwined by the Poison Prince's dissolving-power spirit threads, which tried to erode the lingering god arts. These threads could dissolve others' divine arts and even cultivation, but were much less effective against actual godly powers.
"Your poison arts are truly refined—your dissolving-power spirit threads are subtle and lethal. But you could still go higher." Quinn smiled.
Their eyes met again.
Emperor Evan and the Imperial Preceptor felt their scalps tingle. If these two started dueling, they'd probably use poison and medicine right on them!
The Imperial Preceptor said, "Both of you are divine physicians, disciples of the same master. Do you have a solution?"
The Poison Prince quickly replied, "I have some confidence in treating His Majesty's wounds. His divine treasury is ruined, but I can transplant a living treasury from another person into him."
Emperor Evan frowned, "How confident are you?"
"Well..."
The Poison Prince hesitated, glanced at Quinn, and said, "I'm skilled at poison, but it's hard to guarantee the outcome."
Quinn said, "The Preceptor's wounds can't be solved by dissolving-power spirit threads alone—the main problem is the lingering god arts are too strong. I think we should gather dozens of Cult Master–level experts to suppress the remnants together, so the Preceptor can use his own cultivation to refine them away."
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The Imperial Preceptor shook his head, "There are dozens of Cult Master–grade experts in Everpeace, but I can't command them all. You two are both divine physicians—one uses poison, one uses medicine—maybe you can complement each other."
Quinn glanced at the Poison Prince, who looked right back at him.
"My master, the Jade-Faced Poison King, was supreme in both medicine and poison. He could use medicine to enhance poison, or poison to strengthen medicine."
The Poison Prince asked, "How many times can you amplify my poison?"
Quinn replied coldly, "That depends on how potent your poison is. I can use medicine to greatly boost His Majesty's vitality and yuanqi, letting his own life force and energy heal his divine treasury wounds. But is your poison strong enough to amplify my medicine's effects thirty or fifty times over?"
"As fierce as you want!"
The Poison Prince retorted coldly, "I'm afraid your tonics can't handle my venom! To refine away the Preceptor's lingering god arts, I'd have to raise the toxicity of my dissolving-power spirit threads thirty or fifty times. At that level, even gods would be poisoned to the bone. Can you manage that?"
Quinn gritted his teeth, "Let's give it a try!"
Venomous insects crawled out of Emperor Evan's body and burrowed back into the Poison Prince's pockmarks.
"If you can't make medicine strong enough, I'll poison you myself," he chuckled darkly.
Quinn answered calmly, "If you use the wrong poison, I'll vouch for your life to the emperor and take you back to the Great Ruins."
The Poison Prince's face changed dramatically. He snorted and began writing a long list of poisons.
Quinn wrote out a prescription as well.
"Your Majesty, please have someone fetch the medicines!" Both tossed down their brushes and sat in silence.
Emperor Evan and the Imperial Preceptor exchanged glances. These two had such strong tempers, they hardly seemed like healers—more like executioners.
Emperor Evan coughed and summoned several court physicians waiting outside. "Hurry and fetch the medicines."
The physicians quickly left with the prescriptions.
"Your prescription is fierce," the Poison Prince sneered.
Quinn ignored him. After a long wait, the physicians finally brought all the poisons and tonics. Quinn immediately began refining the medicines, activating the Overlord Three-Core Art. Sometimes he transformed into the bull-headed, human-bodied Fire Star Lord; sometimes the tiger-headed Metal Star Lord; then the Water Star Lord, Wood Star Lord, and Earth Star Lord—each form shifting his body and yuanqi to refine the medicinal power.
Meanwhile, the Poison Prince bred his insects with poison, feeding them toxic substances and then refining poison pills, which he fed back to the insects. After several cycles, he raised a jet-black, red-eyed spider whose venom lingered thickly in the air.
Quinn took out several seeds and planted flowers right inside the hall, embedding them in the refined spirit pills. Using the Creation Earth Origin Art, he let the plants absorb the medicine's power, and soon the flowers bloomed and bore fruit.
He picked the needed spirit fruits and roots, refining them repeatedly. In the end, he turned the mountain of ingredients into seven spirit pills and one red pill.
Quinn put away the pills and looked at the Poison Prince.
The Poison Prince killed the giant spider, refining it into nearly invisible spirit threads and a small vial of venom.
They exchanged glances. Quinn tossed the red pill to the Poison Prince, who threw the vial of venom to Quinn.
Quinn managed a faint smile and gently said, "Your Majesty, it's time for your medicine."
Emperor Evan's heart raced as he eyed Quinn's seven spirit pills and the vial of venom. "Minister, this poison..."
"It's very potent."
Quinn glanced at the Poison Prince. "If Your Majesty should perish, I'll avenge you myself!"
The Imperial Preceptor hesitated at the red pill and spider silk before him. The Poison Prince reassured, "Don't worry, Preceptor. It'll be fine."
Quinn's body turned into a shadow and slipped into Emperor Evan's divine treasuries, placing a spirit pill in each of the seven treasuries, each with a few drops of venom, then withdrew.
The Poison Prince injected the spirit threads into the Imperial Preceptor, then drew a strand of spider silk from the Preceptor's mouth, planted it in the red pill, and stuffed the pill into the Preceptor's mouth.
A thunderous noise erupted inside Emperor Evan. Suddenly, his hair and bones grew madly; his legs lengthened, his head swelled, and his beard sprouted like wild grass, with hair shooting out in every direction.
Leg hair, chest hair, body hair—all grew thick and strong, shredding his dragon robe.
Soon, Emperor Evan became a giant over ten zhang tall, lying helpless on the floor, half the hall buried in hair, the emperor lost in a tangled jungle.
"Your poison is a bit much, Senior Brother," Quinn said, his eye twitching.
Meanwhile, transparent spider silk erupted from the Imperial Preceptor, streaming from his eyes, ears, nose, and even pores, wrapping him up like a giant rice dumpling.
The Poison Prince looked grave. "Your medicine is a bit too nourishing."
They exchanged another glance, each wrote a new prescription, then tossed their brushes, expecting the emperor to call for medicines—only to remember he was buried in hair.
They both coughed and summoned the court physicians outside to take the prescriptions.
The waiting physicians were terrified, watching thick hair creep out from the hall and cover the steps.
Soon, the physicians returned with the medicines. Quinn refined them again, while the Poison Prince hurried to raise more insects.
Quinn drew two butcher knives and hacked through countless hairs, struggling to reach the emperor and administer the medicine. Meanwhile, the Poison Prince's pockmarks burst open, sending drug-laden insects into the cocoon to deliver medicine to the Preceptor.
"This is bad!"
They each examined the results, faces turning ashen. "Looks like the ruler-minister balance is off..."
On the emperor's side, the hair stopped growing but toxins surged out, while the Preceptor's hair began to grow.
The two hurriedly grabbed their brushes and wrote new prescriptions.