"Retract."
Lu Changsheng imdiately withdrew his blood qi. The entire sequence—from the mont he had released his blood qi and woven it into silken threads to the instant he had slaughtered dozens of foes—had lasted no more than a breath or two.
Within those fleeting monts, his imnse reserves of blood qi had been almost completely depleted. He would need a long period of rest to recover.
Combining the silken threads of blood qi with Deathflash truly yields formidable power and incredible results! Maybe one day I could create a martial art centered on projecting blood qi for wide-scale, long-range attacks.
In that mont, a spark flickered in his mind. Inspiration was the root of every martial art. With his sharp Perception and the solid foundation built from countless martial techniques, it was only a matter of ti before he succeeded in this endeavor. As long as he put in the effort, Lu Changsheng would one day forge a powerful martial art of his own.
Perhaps one day, but not today. After clearing out the Xu Manor martial artists, Lu Changsheng walked straight to the headless corpse of the iron-armored man, Zhao Xing. He grasped the body with both hands and pulled.
Crack.
The ground cracked as Lu Changsheng forcibly hefted the corpse out of the earth. He stripped off the armor and searched the body carefully. This man had been the Left Envoy of the Myriad Poison Cult, one of the strongest martial artists Lu Changsheng had ever encountered—far stronger than the likes of Li Ji, the Saber-Dragging Heavenly King, or Chen Sanjiu, the Ghost Mask.
In terms of physical resilience, Zhao Xing stood leagues above any ordinary martial artists at the Organ Refinent Stage. With such a powerful body, Zhao Xing's cultivation technique naturally drew Lu Changsheng's interest.
After a careful search, Lu Changsheng found a rolled sheepskin parchnt. It was covered in densely packed, tiny characters.
"The Myriad Poison Scripture?"
The faint inscription caught his attention at once. This was a martial arts manual. As he tried to read further, a familiar voice reached his ears.
"My lord, do not cultivate the Myriad Poison Scripture. It is an evil art of the Myriad Poison Cult!"
"Hm?" Lu Changsheng looked up and turned to see Shen Ying.
Shen Ying still had the bolt lodged in his shoulder; he didn't dare to remove it. Even so, he struggled to his feet, staggered to Zhao Xing’s corpse, bowed deeply to Lu Changsheng, and said respectfully, "Thank you, my lord, for saving my life.
"I know the Myriad Poison Cult well. They possess an evil art known as the Myriad Poison Scripture. It's the sect's sacred canon. Everyone in the sect practices it, for it allows direct advancent to the Divine Strength Realm. However, this thod is utterly perverse. One must temper the body with poisons from a young age. Without that foundation, anyone who attempts to practice it will die without question."
Lu Changsheng was slightly taken aback, though he didn't think Shen Ying was lying to him. Regardless, he could judge for himself whether it was an evil art.
"Thank you for the warning," he said calmly. "I will consider it carefully."
Lu Changsheng put away the sheepskin scroll, then looked at Shen Ying. "There are still many imprisoned physicians and apothecaries here, as well as those harmful Blood-Strengthening Pills. Since you are familiar with the Myriad Poison Cult, I'll leave the rest to you."
With that, Lu Changsheng prepared to take his leave. He had no desire to ddle in this any further and risk exposing himself. With so many dead, the aftermath would involve the authorities and various factions, a burden he didn't wish to carry.
Placing the matter in Shen Ying's hands seed the most practical decision. After all, the enmity between Shen Ying and the Myriad Poison Cult ran deep. That kind of hatred would only be settled with death, and Shen Ying would surely not fear the sect's revenge.
"My lord, you’ve saved so many lives. May I at least know your na?" Shen Ying asked hurriedly.
Lu Changsheng didn't even look back as he entered the passage, leaving only his voice behind. "A fleeting encounter does not warrant nas."
His voice echoed through the underground hall as he disappeared from sight, and by the ti the echo faded, he was already above ground. The Xu Manor, once lively with the bustle of a wedding celebration, now lay in utter ruin. Chaos had swept through the manor, and many of its people had already scattered to their hos.
Lu Changsheng had not forgotten about Master Xu. Xu Yuanwai, the so-called Great Benevolent Xu, had long stood as the pillar of the manor, the one everyone trusted. And yet, no one had imagined that he was actually a mber of the Myriad Poison Cult.
Lu Changsheng burst straight into the bridal chamber, where the terrified bride and groom clung to each other in fear.
"Where is your father, Xu Yuanwai?" Lu Changsheng asked.
"I... I don’t know."
Lu Changsheng studied the groom carefully. The man was Xu Yuanwai's son, yet it didn’t seem like he was lying. He turned his gaze to the bride, whose face was pale with terror. Without another word, Lu Changsheng turned away.
He searched the manor from corner to corner, but there was no sign of Xu Yuanwai. The conclusion was clear—the man had fled. Only soone with a ruthless heart could abandon both family and wealth so decisively. Xu Yuanwai had fled alone, even leaving his own son behind.
A faint sigh left Lu Changsheng’s lips. "There's no catching him now..."
There was nothing he could do about Xu Yuanwai’s swift escape. Still, he had managed to achieve his goal here at Xu Manor. With Apothecary Cheng and the others out of harm's way, he could return to Miaoshou Garden the following day.
Once back to his dwelling, Lu Changsheng took out the sheepskin scroll from his robe, the one containing the "Myriad Poison Scripture."
A martial art with "Scripture" in its title was bound to be special. The na alone spoke to its depth, and though the scroll was small and its text short, its contents were exceptionally detailed.
Lu Changsheng examined the scroll closely, and the more he read, the more delighted he beca. He could tell that this Myriad Poison Scripture was the real thing.
It wasn't just one art, but rather four combined into one. The scripture was divided into chapters for the Blood Strengthening Stage, Bone Tempering Stage, Organ Refinent Stage, and the Divine Strength Realm. All four complete stages of martial cultivation had been ticulously recorded on this single scroll. Such a comprehensive scripture spoke volus about Zhao Xing’s rank and standing as the Left Envoy.
Lu Changsheng started reading from the Blood Strengthening Chapter. After all, the Myriad Poison Scripture was a continuous lineage of cultivation that began at the Blood Strengthening Stage. From that point onward, practitioners were required to ingest poisons from a young age. They would start with mild toxins while following the scripture's Blood Strengthening thods to temper the body, gradually allowing it to adapt before moving on to increasingly potent poisons.
The process was extrely dangerous, and the chances of survival were no more than thirty or forty percent. Out of every ten practitioners, perhaps only three or four would manage to endure the grueling process. However, if the practitioner did survive the early stages, the subsequent cultivation of arts in Myriad Poison Scripture posed little further danger.
With countless poisons fused into their body, the constant stimulation would drive physical growth far beyond ordinary limits. The sa principle applied at the Bone Tempering and Organ Refinent Stages, where practitioners' physical strength far surpassed that of typical martial artists.
That was why Zhao Xing could wear such heavy iron armor without losing agility. It was the Myriad Poison Scripture that had granted him a physique far superior to that of most practitioners at the Organ Refinent Stage.
If one managed to advance into the Divine Strength Realm through this scripture and underwent marrow transformation and Blood Replacent, there was even a chance to forge the legendary Myriad Poison Body.
Once that body was forged, every move and strike in battle would be infused with deadly poison when the blood qi was activated. Even martial artists in the Divine Strength Realm might not be able to withstand such terrifying toxicity.
Of course, achieving the Myriad Poison Body was exceedingly difficult. Even practitioners who had cultivated the scripture since childhood and advanced step by step to the Divine Strength Realm rarely succeeded. There had been very few martial artists throughout the history of the Myriad Poison Cult who had successfully achieved it. Naturally, whenever such a figure erged, the Myriad Poison Cult would invariably enter a period of brilliance and prosperity.
"Simply incredible... This scripture is formidable, but the mortality rate is too high, and unless one begins cultivating it from the Blood Strengthening Stage, there is no way to start later. Forcing yourself to start midway would almost certainly lead to death."
Lu Changsheng let out a long breath. The Myriad Poison Scripture was not sothing he could cultivate at present. Even so, his study of it had not been without reward. Within its pages, he had co across ntion of a remarkable pill known as the Myriad Poison Pill. Once ingested and combined with a Bone Tempering secret art recorded in the scripture, it could trigger a transformation of the marrow.
"The Myriad Poison Pill..."
The na stirred a faint sense of familiarity in Lu Changsheng's mind, as though he had heard it sowhere before.
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