The Immortal's Poison

This was the Hua family’s campsite, which was located on top of the snow-covered peak. Although Wen Leyang’s telegnosis ability could not detect the embodiment of true water of the Hua family disciples, the white-robed youths naturally had their own way of finding their kin. However, within Hua Xiaoyao’s current telegnosis ability, there was only emptiness around them. Not only were there no enemies, their own elders were also not there. Even the disciples who were dispatched earlier were not there...

Hua Xiaoyao could not find anybody. He waved at his clansmen behind him. A white-robed youth took a shallow breath. Then, he turned and flipped upwards out of the ice cap. The way the Hua family disciples moved and acted, including their sign language, was an obvious show of their well-organized training. They were not similar to ordinary obscure cultivators but more similar to special troops who hid in the snow-covered peak. Wen Leyang could not help but glance at Hua Xiaoyao in surprise. Unexpectedly, Hua Xiaoyao’s body shook. His colors suddenly turned pale, whiter than snow.

The white-robed disciple, who Hua Xiaoyao sent, immediately vanished from Wen Leyang’s telegnosis ability the moment the disciple broke through the surface!

Then, a light knock penetrated the thick ice layer and propagated into everyone’s ears without a pause. The knocking sound shifted continuously. Wen Leyang was hit with a sudden realization after a while. Someone was moving about above them. The person would knock every time he stopped on top of a Hua family disciple’s head! In no time, the few dozen Hua family disciples including Wen Leyang, the lama and the pangolin were ‘roll-called’ by the person.

The white-robed youths, who had the embodiment of true water, could not escape from the opponent’s telegnosis ability!

The knocking sound paused for a brief moment. The person above them seemed to know that they were reluctant to come out and started a second round of knocking. However, the sounds this time were clearly much more impatient. It had a hint of urgency. The ice layer beside Wen Leyang was quickly tinted with cold killing intent with the knocking sounds. Countless bone-piercing coldness condensed into invisible knives and pressed on them mercilessly from every direction!

The force of the cold ice surged everywhere. Although the jade knife Guo Huan was deep in his shackles and could not move, nobody could compete with his experience. He suddenly squalled, “Get the f*ck out! You can forget about getting out at all if you dally any longer!”

Hua Xiaoyao made a split-second decision. He howled, “Break!”

Every white-robed youth responded in unison. They followed their leader and flipped onto the ice cap! Wen Leyang shuddered. The power of the Poison of Life and Death rolled with the Faulty Punch. He followed closely beside Hua Xiaoyao and rushed outside! Rangjung and the pangolin Po Tu also flexed their magic powers. They broke out of the ice amidst loud crackling sounds.

Not only could the person above them notice the Hua family youths who had the embodiment of true water, the person could also activate his magic without making a sound. Even a great demon, such as the giant pangolin, was forced out of the ancient ice by him.

They had nowhere to run. Even if it was Xiang Liu’s true soul above them, they had no choice but to risk their lives.

In the blink of an eye, Wen Leyang only felt his head feeling light, he had already broken the surface. He was about to look for the enemy when his entire body tensed. An extremely thick and heavy force enveloped him in layers and firmly imprisoned him. Wen Leyang felt that he was like a big rooster, which was spreading its wings to leap but was suddenly cast with the Immobilization Spell. His swift and fierce aura stopped abruptly. He was suspended in mid-air and could not move a muscle.

The roar of the Hua family youths around him, the lama’s mantra, the giant pangolin’s squall also vanished abruptly the instant they broke the surface.

Wen Leyang was frustrated and angered. He did not have the time to think about what was going on. He desperately urged the Poison of Life and Death, which curled up within his limbs and bones. Just when he was about to break the spell with the Faulty Punch and break free of his shackles, a magnificently beautiful, yet strange sight suddenly projected into his eyes!

It was a forest of towering icicles, which pointed straight at the blue sky like graceful and sharp spears. Every icicle was a dozen of meters in height. Their base perimeters were the hugs of five people. There were not even any dents on them as if every cone was carefully crafted by the most outstanding craftsmen. Under the shine of the sun, they looked like lines of simple and sophisticated poems, which twinkled with flowing light, like live spirits, they giggled and winked at him. There was a person who bared his teeth within each icicle!

Some wore white robes with savage and angry expressions, some were in tatters and had cold, lifeless gaze. When Wen Leyang saw a bald head lama, he was hit with a sudden realization. They had just broken through the ice surface and they were frozen within the icicles.

The Tibetans, the Hua family elites who were sent up to the snow-covered peak, the white-robed youths who accompanied him just now, even the head lama, the pangolin and Wen Leyang were frozen into huge ice lamps!

It was acceptable for the Tibetans but even the Hua family members who knew the Art of Water Escape and spent their lives shuttling within the ice cap became frozen in an ice shell. The level of surprise was equal to a giant carp who wore a wetsuit and swam in the water with an oxygen mask.

The icicles seemed to also have the ’embodiment of true water’. They were clearly displayed before Wen Leyang’s eyes. However, when he scanned the area with his telegnosis ability, there was only emptiness on the snow-covered peak.

At this moment, a clear scream like a nightingale’s was heard. It brought with it a trace of genuine apology and a trace of cute playfulness. It came behind Wen Leyang. Then, a fair finger knocked lightly on his icicle.

With a ‘pa’, the icicle shattered into pieces. Wen Leyang only felt his body went light and dropped to the ground. Then, a mild fragrance that was quietly elegant wafted with a pitiable young lady who appeared before Wen Leyang. She seemed to want to caress Wen Leyang’s face with her small hands as she asked in a heartbreaking tone, “I hope I didn’t hurt you?”

Wen Leyang’s heart almost jumped out of his mouth. He swayed and retreated backwards as fast as lightning. He could not help but exclaim in surprise, “Cone Nail!”

No wonder the embodiment of true water of the white-robed youths was exposed. No wonder even Hua Xiaoyao could not detect any movements when people were frozen into icicles. Compared to Cone Nail, the Hua family was nothing but a mud fish, she was the true dragon here. Whether it was magical powers or their selling price according to their weight, the Hua family could not even compare.

In Cone Nail’s white dress, she appeared frail and weak amidst the biting cold wind of the snow-covered peak. When she saw Wen Leyang’s look of hostility, her eyes reddened immediately, “Why... why’re you like this, I won’t hurt you...”

Since the day Wen Leyang met Cone Nail, she always had this pitiable look. Not long ago, Wen Leyang even fought Cone Nail with Grand Master Chang Li at the Miao stockade village. He dared not have an ounce of carelessness, “Why are you here?”

At the Miao stockade village, Cone Nail escaped with heavy wounds and went missing. Unexpectedly, she appeared on the snow-covered peak.

Cone Nail blinked. A sparkling tear rolled sadly down her cheek. It fell heavily and shattered into crystals.

Wen Leyang snorted, he shook his head resolutely as he vowed not to be moved. He hesitated. He worried that he had not made a strong point so he added superfluously, “It’s useless even if you cry!”

Cone Nail stomped her feet in anger. She suddenly floated. Wen Leyang almost fell backwards with fright. His cultivation base was not bad but it was nothing in the face of Cone Nail. The exertion of force and a thunderous strike was only a show to make himself feel braver.

Luckily, Cone Nail did not pounce on him but lifted her leg and gave the thickest icicle near them a flying kick.

Amidst the clear shattering sounds, the giant pangolin squalled. It dropped to the ground and ran! Cone Nail’s voice was as cold as cutting gold and breaking jade, “Hold it!”

Po Tu froze on the spot as if it was just cast with the Immobilization Spell. It dared not move as it said with a pleading face, “Grandaunt, please unfreeze me!” Po Tu was not the smartest one around but it clearly understood. Cone Nail wanted to use it as a punching bag. That was why she released it.

Cone Nail yelled again enraged, “Come back!”

Po Tu took step after careful step in front of Cone Nail. It glared at Wen Leyang with its big eyes and cursed in a muffled voice, “You should learn from me, do whatever the immortal tells you!” It even had the preparation to die. If it knew that Cone Nail was here, it would not have followed even if it were beaten to death.

Cone Nail was unaffected by that trick. When the giant pangolin stood in front of her, like a little girl who was just bullied, she mercilessly grabbed Po Tu’s body. Po Tu was like a giant prawn that had its tail cut off. It wailed and leaped into the air as its body tensed up.

Cone Nail was also startled by it. She opened her jade-white palm, it was empty. Then, she looked at Wen Leyang as if she was wronged, her tears flowed with clicks, “I haven’t removed its scales, it’s... it’s not a good thing!” Then, she pointed with a finger. A huge icicle abruptly appeared. It froze the giant pangolin, which was doing a summersault in mid-air in an instant.

Wen Leyang almost cried. He relaxed his body and shook his hands, “Don’t... don’t you trouble anyone else. What do you want?” Wen Leyang had understood the moment Cone Nail’s body swayed. Even though she was heavily wounded, it would not be difficult for her to defeat him. The giant pangolin had been frozen twice in such a short span of time. It had no chance whether it fought or ran.

As Cone Nail saw that Wen Leyang no longer stored his energy for an attack, joy appeared on her face. After she heard Wen Leyang’s words, her eyes bulged as if happiness came too suddenly to her and she could hardly believe it herself, “Are you serious? I can do whatever I want?”

Wen Leyang had not spoken when Cone Nail pouted, “I don’t want anything. I just wanted to ask if I’ve hurt you by mistake just now!”

Wen Leyang said with a bitter smile, “You already knew that I was under the ice surface. You were the one who froze me and now you’re asking if you’ve hurt me. You think this is funny?”

Cone Nail let out an ‘eh’. She stopped her crying in shock. She changed into a smiling expression as if she had just swapped faces, “You’ve gotten smarter!”

Wen Leyang took a deep breath. The cold air on the snow-covered peak cleared his mind. He said with a straight face, “I have something to ask you!”

Cone Nail nodded strongly as she was overwhelmed by this unexpected favor. Her delicate face was full of the glow of excitement.

Although Wen Leyang was used to seeing her like this, he still felt strangely happy. He could not help but show a hint of a smile. However, his question did not even have a trace of happiness, “You know it well that I would return you to Black and White Island to restore the demon-subduing great formation even if it meant my own destruction. Why did you not kill me?”

in shock, “Why would you think that I’d want to kill you? If I had wanted to kill you, you would’ve died over ten times in the Gold-Consuming Lair and another ten times at City God Temple of Shanghai...”

Wen Leyang snorted and shook his head, “Please stop counting... I know that you didn’t kill me, that’s why I’m confused!”

There seemed to be a helplessness in Cone Nail’s smile, “I wanted to kill Chang Li to get revenge for her breaking me two thousand years ago; I hunted Hanba because he almost killed Tian Shu; as for Leyang Shoujin... hehe, that geezer did not treat me as a human, why should I treat him as a human? But you saved me before and was willing to talk to me with a smile. Why would I want to kill you?”

As she said this, Cone Nail paused before she continued, “I didn’t kill you before because you were a nice person with disappointing abilities but you saved me before. No matter what, I am a divine beast formed by the condensation of positive energy of the world by the embodiment of heavenly water. As long as I’m not provoked, I won’t simply kill someone. As such, I won’t kill you now. Let me ask you, if somebody wanted to kill me, of course you won’t agree to it, am I right?”

Wen Leyang nodded. Of course he could not let Cone Nail die. Although the true soul had escaped now and the situation was more complicated than before, Cone Nail’s importance was beyond a doubt. The great condition for re-subduing Xiang Liu was to protect her.

“The one who wants to kill me the most under the heavens is Xiang Liu.” As she said this, Cone Nail pointed at the Tibetans, “These living dead were all Xiang Liu’s subordinates. There might be more who will be willing to do Xiang Liu’s bidding. You have helped me kill those who want to kill me. Besides, your cultivation base is disappointing, you won’t trouble me but you can help me settle my troubles. I don’t understand why you’d think that I would kill you.”

Wen Leyang pondered for a while. He felt that he was more of a benefit to Cone Nail than harm. He smiled bitterly and nodded.

Cone Nail paused briefly. There was a hint of curiosity in her expression and tone as well as some confusion, “How could Xiang Liu... also have subordinates now?” She was originally the demon-subduing water element Heaven’s cone nail. She could sense that the other eight Heaven’s cone nail still existed and she could detect that there was Xiang Liu’s aura on the living dead people’s bodies. She did not understand, if the Heaven’s cone nails still existed, it was impossible for Xiang Liu to escape Black and White Island and recruit subordinates. That was why she had that question.

She seemed to have thought of something fun as she asked carefully, “Could it be... Wicked Soul had taken control of Hanba? It’s natural for these living dead to treat Hanba as their boss!” Although her voice was soft, she could not conceal the secret joy of seeing people’s misfortune no matter what.

Wen Leyang understood that Cone Nail was still unaware of the happenings on Black and White Island. He shook his head and diverted the topic, “Why are you here?” Last time, when Tian Shu was badly injured in City God Temple of Shanghai, Cone Nail was mad with rage. Wen Leyang was worried that if he told her about the deaths of the three enlightened persons right now, Cone Nail would go berserk and kill everyone present. This woman had a violent streak all along. He dared not be careless.

Cone Nail frowned slightly. She seemed to notice that Wen Leyang was hiding something on purpose. She stared at him intently. In a flash, she started pouting and spoke as if she was wronged, “Chang Li and Hanba almost killed me when they set me up the last time! I have only managed to suppress my wounds after cultivating these few months ...”

Wen Leyang smiled bitterly. Cone Nail was still wounded, she had only suppressed her injuries but she could easily freeze so many people including great cultivators like Rangjung and the giant pangolin. Among the cultivators, the difference between every level was as wide as the world. The difference in quality could never be substituted with quantity.

“Although that cat demon Chang Li is hateful, her cultivation base is indisputable. Even if my wounds have fully healed, I might not even get my revenge.” When Cone Nail spoke about Chang Li, she did not use naming taboo in front of Wen Leyang, “That’s why I came here to try my luck and see if I can find the heavenly water spirit.”

Cone Nail was the embodiment of true water. If she could find the heavenly water spirit, not only would her wounds heal, her prowess and magical powers would improve tremendously. She and Chang Li were elites on the same level, but strictly speaking, she was slightly inferior to Chang Li. Other aspects aside, her experience in fights was greatly behind Chang Li’s.

As for tricks like plotting and sneak attacks, she was even more inferior to Chang Li. Cone Nail had an easy time when she plotted against Wen Leyang but she was the one who fell to all plots at the Miao stockade village. She had not realized that she had fallen into Chang Li’s trap long ago.

That was why, whether it was for healing or increasing her powers to get revenge, finding the heavenly water spirit was the easiest way to achieve it. Hence, she came to the highlands.

As she said this, a perplexed look suddenly appeared in Cone Nail’s gaze, “There are heavenly water spirits in every river, stream and lake, but I had only thought of coming here when I was wounded...” As she said this, she shook her head. It was obvious that she, herself, did not understand why had she wanted to find the heavenly water spirit on Tanggula Mountains. Wen Leyang coughed. Cone Nail seemed to wake up from her dream. She smiled apologetically at Wen Leyang and explained softly, “It’s always comfortable to be talking to you.”

Wen Leyang was wary from his experience of being tricked by Cone Nail, his gaze was filled with suspicion, “You told me directly that you wanted to find the heavenly water spirit to fight Grand Master Chang Li...”

Cone Nail’s expression was slightly exaggerated. These acts had turned into a cuteness of a young girl on her beautiful face, “It’s only right that you’d help Chang Li, why should I lie to you about such things...” After she finished, she saw that Wen Leyang still did not understand. She added another truth, “Besides, you can’t stop me, you can’t foil my plans!”

Wen Leyang was extremely dispirited. He did not know whether he should cry or smile. He mumbled as he stated his determination, “If you want to fight Chang Li, I’ll have to...”

Cone Nail smiled again without waiting for him to finish and there was an unprecedented pity on her face. This made Wen Leyang suddenly feel that the Cone Nail now was genuine and filled with truth, like a snow saussurea that bloomed happily under the sun. It wafted a fine fragrance which can be felt but could not be smelled, “It’s precisely because you’ve said that that I like... like to talk with you! I’m not going to Black and White Island because I want to see what it feels like to be a person, be it a good person or a bad person. I’ll laugh when I’m happy, cry when I’m sad, beat and curse when I’m angry. If I’ve done all those, then I’ll be satisfied! Besides...”

Cone Nail smiled even more brilliantly, “I’ve finally understood one thing. The experience of being a person is sweet precisely because it didn’t matter if you were right or wrong, all that matters is that if you’re close or not! For those who are close to me, anything they do is right, even if he did crimes that were past forgiving, as long as he treats me well, then he’s emperor! Chang Li treated you well, she’s your empress. It’s only natural for you to help your empress.”

The crisp laugh ended abruptly. Cone Nail suddenly retracted her smile. She muttered with some quietness amidst the wind on the snow-covered peak that was colder than a blade, “But... who’s my emperor?” Then, she blinked. Her eyes regained the pitiable feeling, “You’re also here to find the heavenly water spirit?”

Wen Leyang had not spoken. Cone Nail stretched her fair palm and patted Wen Leyang’s shoulder lightly, “Then you’re in luck. If you come with me, you can at least have a glance of the heavenly water spirit!” As she said this, she stuck out her tongue playfully again, “But you can only see it, I won’t share it with you!”

Wen Leyang exclaimed in surprise, “How did you know about the heavenly water spirit?”

Cone Nail nodded with pride. She stretched out a finger like a spring onion and counted the white-robed Hua family disciples who were frozen in icicles, “These obscure cultivators are fools! They were so close to the heavenly water spirit for a thousand years but all they cared about was foolishly looking after the bugs. However... at least they did one thing right, they managed to breed so many bugs. Actually, you can find the heavenly water spirit if you just follow the bugs!”

After she finished, Cone Nail hastily shook her head at Wen Leyang, “Don’t ask me how I knew about this trick. I just know...” As she said this, she wore a perplexed and puzzled expression again, “I was dizzy after I was heavily wounded. I first thought of coming here then I thought of this way. I have never heard of these bugs before this!”

During this meeting, Cone Nail would expose her true natures every now and then.

Wen Leyang chuckled and said to Cone Nail, “Let me discuss with you about...”

He had not finished when Cone Nail puffed up her beautiful chest suddenly. Her face was full of excitement. She replied loudly, “Sure!”

Wen Leyang was startled by her. He could not help but laugh. If he could put their differences aside, he would admit that Cone Nail was cute. He pointed at Cone Nail who froze Rangjung, “Can you release master lama? He’s a learned man, he knows a lot about reincarnations and past lives. He might just be able to decipher your situation.”

Cone Nail cheered, “Alright! We’ll beat him up if he can’t!” Then, she tapped with her slender finger. The icicle shattered and the head lama Rangjung jumped to the ground.

Wen Leyang was terse and concise. He told the head lama about Cone Nail’s situation.

Cone Nail was very anxious. She quickly opened her mouth after Wen Leyang finished, “Master, why did I want to find the heavenly water spirit? Why did I know the way to search for this treasure?”

Rangjung smiled and did not say anything. He folded his arms behind him and paced. Wen Leyang was slightly puzzled at first. The lama was clearly pondering about this matter, but normally, his brows were tightly knitted when he wracked his brain, yet he pondered with a smile this time. After a while Wen Leyang understood. Rangjung was worried that Cone Nail would not be confident in him and beat him up...

Rangjung then asked Cone Nail about the things that happened after her rebirth and retention of the memories of Black and White Island. He finally smiled happily. Wen Leyang also sighed deeply as he knew that the lama would not be beaten up.

Master Rangjung cleared his throat before he opened his mouth slowly, “The demon-subduing Heaven’s cone nails cannot move but were called divine beasts and not divine instruments. The most important factor is that divine beasts have souls and are living whereas divine instruments, though they have primordial spirits, they did not have living souls. Hence, divine instruments can only be counted as non-living things. They would have instinctual reflexes when they meet their masters but they can never think for themselves, nor would they have a will or memory of their own!”

At the Gold-Consuming Lair, whether it was the Leyang disciples or Cone Nail herself, everybody referred to her as a divine beast. It even made Wen Leyang misunderstood for a while that they were talking about the giant pangolin Po Tu.

After Cone Nail was reborn, she retained all her memories of being a demon-subduing Heaven’s cone nail on Black and White Island. It was precisely because of this that she did not want to return to the great formation. Nobody would have picked a life where one could only think and see but could not move.

Rangjung spoke very slowly. It was not that he could not decipher Cone Nail’s strange memories but he had trouble picking the words, “There’s only two factors that can make the demon-subduing Heaven’s cone nail into a divine beast. One is form, the other is soul. One can only be counted as successful if one had the form and the soul. About these two things... the way I see it, the person who refined the Heaven’s cone nail had first refined the Heaven’s cone nail’s soul before refining their form!”

As he said this, a sudden terror rose on Cone Nail’s small face, “You’re saying, that the things I remember, are... are... back then... are...”

Cone Nail ‘are-d’ for half a day and did not finish her sentence. Wen Leyang was anxious for her sake. Master Rangjung unexpectedly nodded and said confidently, “That’s right, exactly!”