The Immortal’s Poison

The dwarf Taoist priest and head lama Rangjung leapt up and caught the divine beast Po Tu. Even though Po Tu was passed out, there seemed to be no physical wounds on its body. The dwarf Taoist priest fed the divine beast a potion and measured the beast’s life force, but Po Tu remained unresponsive.

The red monkey sniggered and reminded the priest, “Every time you pull out its scales, it will wake up for a brief second. Why don’t you try that?”

The dwarf Taoist priest was deranged. He wanted to jump up and charge the monkey but was stopped by Qin Zhui. Head lama Rangjung stared towards the red monkey with dread, “What did you do to-”

The red monkey did not even allow the head lama to finish his sentence. It shrugged impatiently. “I had only forced it to eat some bugs. It ate a few before wailing and passing out after that.”

The dwarf Taoist priest was shocked upon hearing this. He looked at Qin Zhui and asked, “Are those dung beetles poisonous?”

Qin Zhui hollered at Wen Leyang. “He was asking you!”

Wen Leyang shook his head. “The dung beetle’s mild toxicity should not have been a problem to the divine beast. My guess is that he passed out from rage.” It was the Immortal Sect’s divine beast after all. Being forced fed by a monkey to eat huge beetles, nobody would have been able to withstand such humiliation.

The red monkey shook its head innocently. “Pangolins are supposed to eat bugs right? That’s half the reason why I caught him and brought him here. Half was because I was bored, half was cause I thought it would be fun, the final half was because he’s supposed to eat bugs.”

Qin Zhui spat ferociously, “That’s three halves already!”

Head lama Rangjung asked coldly, “Why don’t you kill those bugs yourself? With your powers and the thousands of years you have spent here, it shouldn’t be a problem for you.”

The monkey shook its head again. “It’s an extremely complicated explanation. Once I tell you the reason, you’ll probably have more questions than answers. Hence, I shall put this matter aside for now and come back to it later.”

Qin Zhui waved his Tang knife in a rage. “Since you want to put this matter aside for now and explain everything later, what else is there for us to ask?! You might as well start with telling us about yourself, from the beginning. Start with whether you are a human or a monkey!”

The red monkey nodded in agreement. It was about to start its story when it suddenly thought of something. It strolled it Wen Leyang, relaxing its hands and clasped them behind his back. “So, can you really kill the bugs?”

This time, even Gu Xiaojun grew impatient. He stomped his foot and cursed, “You really are a m*therf*cking, long-winded monkey! Why do you keep asking that question?!”

The red monkey completely ignored Gu Xiaojun. It stretched out its hand and grabbed onto Wen Leyang. He ran towards the direction of the decaying chest cavity, pulling Wen Leyang with him. The rest of the elites exclaimed in surprise and gave chase, leaving Gu Xiaojun behind.

Wen Leyang only felt a tremendous force pulling at his wrist, he barely even had time to react. He was powerless against the monkey’s pull. His ears were filled with the howling of the wind as the monkey dragged him along. He could barely keep up, flying behind like a kite. The speed that they went was far faster than if he had run on his own.

Just as Wen Leyang thought he was being attacked and wanted to retaliate, the sound of the monkey’s laughter reached his ears. “Do not be frightened, do not be frightened! I just want to see you launch your trick against these bugs. When I see that you can deliver, our deal can proceed. If you really can kill these bugs, I will not harm you.”

The three elites went chasing after the monkey and Wen Leyang. Gu Xiaojun could not hope to keep up with them. He stomped his foot and cursed as everyone disappeared over the horizon. He was left behind with the giant pangolin.

The moment they disappeared from sight, the giant pangolin’s eyes flew open, startling Gu Xiaojun. “Did you just wake up or were you feigning a coma?”

Po Tu chided softly, “What do you think? Can such a coincidence happen? Me waking up just as the monkey is leaving?”

Other than cutting through the mountains and burrowing holes, the pangolin had a special tactic which was feigning his own death. This was among some of its most useful tricks and innate abilities. Nobody could tell that it was acting because it was just an instinctive behaviour, not a Taoist magic art. Not even the red monkey could see through the pangolin’s trick. It chose that moment when everyone had left to open its eyes.

Po Tu was not acquainted with Gu Xiaojun but it was aware of everything that had happened earlier. He did not waste any time and spoke directly to Gu Xiaojun in a low and urgent tone, “This monkey has profound magic roots, only slightly inferior to Chang Li. We are running out of time, they will be back shortly. You must instruct Wen Leyang and the Taoist priest to not act recklessly. Should their sneak attack fail, the entire group will perish as well!”

Gu Xiaojun checked on his pistol. He took out a few bullets from his pocket. As he refilled the bullets, he shook his head and heaved a sigh. “Why bother with a damn sneak attack? When the monkey returns in a while, I will risk my life to fight him! It is possible that the monkey has already ripped Wen Leyang apart…”

The giant pangolin shook its big head. “Do you think it would be necessary for him to pick a specific spot to kill all of you? He’s just planning to use that Wen family youngster to kill the bugs. As long as the young Wen lad can pass the test, they will return in a while.”

Gu Xiaojun was no fool, he understood what the pangolin was telling him. He laughed as he nodded in agreement.

Po Tu continued, “I will wait for the opportunity to launch a sneak attack but until then, no matter how annoying the monkey gets, you must prevent the young Wen lad and the rest from pouncing the monkey are they will surely be doomed. Wait for me to launch the attack, then we will all revolt together!”

…

Tugging Wen Leyang along behind him, he and the monkey ran for a while before coming to a halt. Wen Leyang raised his head and saw that they had returned to the foul-smelling, decaying chest cavity. The red monkey stretched out its hand and pointed forwards. “Show me how you plan to kill the bugs!”

Wen Leyang possessed the ability of the Metal Poison Stream under his feet and the Poison of Life and Death had remoulded his meridian point and bones. He was now considered a top-tier master practitioner in the magic realm. There was no need for him to use the usual tricks of the Wen Bucao against normal enemies but he still kept himself fully equipped with tools and materials to launch his poison attacks. The was the symbol of the Wen family disciples after all and he would never abandon this tradition so easily.

From his leather bag, Wen Leyang took out a chunk of grey, withered grass, a pinch of red coloured medicinal powder, a dried up black bee, and a leaf so green it looked like it had just been plucked off a tree. He pinched off a little of each material and placed them into his palm. He then started to rub them together.

The monkey stood on tiptoe as it observed Wen Leyang’s hands, asking curiously, “What is this?”

Wen Leyang has forgotten how long it’s been since he had the need to refine a poison recipe. From his heart, came an unspeakable sensation that was familiar and melancholic. He could not help but relax and enjoy the process, he patiently explained to the monkey, “The withered grass is called The Terrified Heart. Once it is ignited, it will give out a scent that will terrify anyone. Any bug that may be sleeping soundly will be immediately awakened. The dried bee is called the Sweet-Scented Honeybee. Any worm, insect, ant, bird or beast will not be able to resist its sweet honey scent. The tree leaf is called The Bewitching Eye. It will mercilessly enchant anyone who comes into contact with it.”

The monkey listened to Wen Leyang’s explanation with great interest. It could not help but ask Wen Leyang, “Where can I obtain these items?”

Wen Leyang scoffed and laughed, he answered, “You will not be able to obtain these items easily anywhere. These things are made through long and hard labour. Take for example the Sweet-Scented Honeybee. It comes from a bee that has fed on royal jelly for six full years. It can only eat the royal jelly secreted and produced by the queen bee.”

The monkey nodded but there was something strange about Wen Leyang’s explanation. It then shook its head. “That’s not right! A honey bee doesn’t take that long before becoming fully grown. How will the queen bee continue to feed it royal jelly then? Also, bees do not live up to six years… neither does the queen bee… right?”

Wen Leyang burst out laughing. “Of course they don’t live that long. That is why we will have to employ a special recipe to allow the queen bee to live longer and keep the young larvae from mottling. Only after the young larvae has been fed six years worth of royal jelly, we will then change the recipe again, allowing the larvae to turn into adult bees in just three days. Then, we will have successfully refined the Sweet-Scented Honeybee! The recipes used can’t be easily explained in one or two sentences. Even if everything goes smoothly in the beginning, we still need to be careful during the refinement process. We only feed the bees dews collected within the hour, distributing them out to three honeycombs that are located in the wild mountain peaks and using lots of honeydew… In short, it’s an extremely troublesome process.”

The monkey stared at Wen Leyang in bewilderment and shook its head. It stretched out its hand and pointed towards the red coloured powder. “What is this then?”

Wen Leyang swelled with pride. “It’s just plain chilli powder! Combine this with the Terrified Heart, the Sweet-Scented Honeybee, and the Bewitching Eye, it will lure every single bug out of hiding. The combination isn’t toxic. However, once I add in a little bit of chilli powder… hehe…” His hand opened and closed abruptly. He nodded satisfactorily. “It is done. This recipe is called The Enchanting Soul.”

Qin Zhui and the rest only arrived then. Upon seeing Wen Leyang unharmed and chatting with the monkey in a carefree manner, they heaved a long sigh of relief.

Wen Leyang had rubbed the materials into a fine powder between his palms. He took out a fist-sized jade pot from his leather bag and carefully poured the powder into the pot. He selected a location and put the pot down on the ground. Wen Leyang then proceeded to heat the pot.

The monkey raised its nose to the air and took a whiff before asking Wen Leyang suspiciously, “Why do I not detect any smell?”

Wen Leyang laughed slyly. “It is meant for bugs, not monkeys!”

When the jade pot was sufficiently heated, the blood and flesh swap suddenly became agitated. In a heartbeat, countless gigantic dung beetle bore out of the decaying flesh, one after the other and made a mad dash for the pot. The beetles paid no attention to Wen Leyang and the rest. Every single bug that made their way towards the pot looked like they were suddenly overcome with seizures. They squeaked and squealed in agony as they withered on the spot. Their six, powerful legs shook madly, followed by a gushing of yellow-green pus from their mouths. The dung beetles fell dead.

Living beetles took up position behind their fallen comrades. They merely stepped over the dead corpses, still attempting to get to the jade pot. The entire episode took place in just a few minutes. Hundreds of beetle corpses piled up around the pot!

The Enchanting Soul poison in the pot eventually evaporated into nothingness from the heat. The giant dung beetles that had exited from the decaying flesh and had yet to die shook their heads. The remaining beetles broke out of their trance. They turned and surrounded the group, malicious intent dripping off of them.

The monkey’s eyes filled with excitement. It raised its head and looked at Wen Leyang, “Continue!”

Wen Leyang chuckled and shook his head. “Give us the story first.” He raised up his Metal Poison Stream from under his feet and dispersed the beetles before bending over to retrieve the jade pot.

The reason he was so patient earlier, slowing explaining the wonders of the Wen family poison recipe was so that so could reminisce, and more importantly, let the monkey understand the complicated process better so that the monkey would feel confident in his skill. There were millions of giant dung beetles in here, depending solely on the medicinal herbs on Wen Leyang would be far from enough.

The red monkey did not seem disappointed, in fact, he seemed glad. It burst out laughing as it tugged at Wen Leyang’s wrist again. “We shall talk about this after we return to the better ground.” It spread its legs and ran back towards Gu Xiaojun and the giant pangolin.

Qin Zhui, the head lama, and the Taoist priest groaned as they turned around and chased after them once more…

Gu Xiaojun was getting nervous from the wait. Suddenly, a blur ran past him. The monkey had returned with Wen Leyang right behind him. After a while, Rangjung, Qin Zhui and the rest reached as well, panting laboriously.

The monkey’s mood had become elated after having witnessed Wen Leyang’s miraculous method of killing the beetles. It scratched its ears and cheeks nonstop, beaming in joy.

Qin Zhui was angry from having to run back and forth. He stared at the monkey with an unpleasant expression. “Hey monkey, now that you have seen our plan to kill the bugs, you ought to tell us your story right about now.”

The red monkey nodded delightedly. “I was human initially, my given name was…” The monkey grew silent. The event had taken place so long ago that it had forgotten its own name.

The monkey’s face took on an agonized expression. It stretched out a finger and rapped it against his forehead. Nobody dared to make a sound. A few minutes later, a joyful looked spread across the monkey’s face, it burst out laughing. “Qian Ren. My given name was Qian Ren!”

The sound of its violent and wild laugh gradually faded away. The monkey’s expression turned mournful, even pitiful. It continued, “I was living in seclusion and was practising in the Ending Cave in Mount Hua. I have lost count of the numbers of years since then.” The monkey rolled its golden-coloured eyeballs towards the group. “Have any of you ever heard of the Ending Cave?”

The dwarf Taoist priest was directly descended from a famous sect and had a profound knowledge in the history of magic. He nodded upon hearing the monkey’s words. “Mount Hua’s Ending Cae is the same as the Qilian Mountain’s Gold-Consuming Lair. It is one of the five perfect, elemental lands. The Gold-Consuming Lair was bound to the metal element while the Ending Cave was of the wood element. What a waste though…” The dwarf Taoist priest’s expression turned into one of pity. “It is now deserted.”

The monkey named Qian Ren peered at the dwarf Taoist priest, trying to appraise the priest. “It seems that you, little child, knows quite a bit.” The dwarf Taoist priest sneered nastily at the monkey. The rest of their faces grew odd, desperately trying to resist the urge to laugh.

Qian Ren continued, “I did not care for worldly affairs. I concentrated only in the cultivation of my wood element magic in the Ending Cave. In there, nothing could distract me from my craft. However, I was dissatisfied with my progress, I had hoped that I could improve faster. I was already in the Ending Cave, the task to find an even better wood element conductor proved to be difficult.”

Qin Zhui who stood at the side shook his head in a disapproving manner. “You are a senior from a line of obscure practitioners. How do you not understand that any engagement in heaven’s power should be done in a gradual manner? An impatient heart will only accomplish the opposite. Monkey, even I am waiting to reach the peak of my powers-” Before he could finish his sentence, a sharp howl exploded from the red monkey Qian Ren’s mouth, a red shadow flew towards Qin Zhui. The monkey raised its fists and started pounding on Qin Zhui’s chest.

Qin Zhui screamed out in pain. He did not even have time to react before he was struck by heavy blows from the monkey. He fell to the ground.

Wen Leyang and the rest turned pale from fear. Some of them tried to assist Qin Zhui, launching their powers and pounced towards the monkey. Old Gu stomped his foot in rage, he cursed at the giant pangolin in his heart. With all this fighting, how could he not step in?

Fortunately, Qin Zhi was not severely injured. He turned around and leapt up. He raised his knife and was about to dash forward to fight when he saw that the red monkey had returned to its spot, hands clasped behind its back. It paid utterly no attention to the few master cultivators who were staring at it in contempt, merely telling them in an icy tone, “Earlier it was fine that all of you were addressing me by the name of monkey but now that you know my name, if you dare call me a monkey again, I will make sure to rip your corpse into a million pieces after you’re dead!”

It raised its head and shot its gaze at Qin Zhui.

When Qin Zhui heard Qian Ren’s words, he was stunned. He lowered his Tang knife and sniggered. “Sorry, it was my fault. You had every right to hit me.” Qin Zhui may be an honest and straightforward person with a simple mind but he was also reasonable.

The red monkey Qian Ren waved its hand. “Forget about it.” It continued, “Back then, I had a close friend. His name was Kong Nuer.”

Qian Ren took a long while to recall his friend’s name but upon mentioning it, he did not hesitate at all. That proved that they had a most intimate friendship.

The Ending Cave had been the same as the Gold-Consuming Lair. Both of these places were lands where the purest energy of the five elements gathered. Qian Ren was an obscure practitioner but the fact that he had cultivated in a treasured land of the wood element like the Ending Cave, his supernatural powers must be unspeakably high.

He had no concern for the rest of the world. Other than the other practitioner known as Kong Nuer, he had no other relatives or friends. His entire heart and mind were devoted to the refinement of his practice. Despite taking up residence in the land of the wood element like Ending Cave, Qian Ren was still unsatisfied with his progress. He made every effort to search for other methods that may have assisted him in improving his powers. One day, Kong Nuer paid him a visit, bringing with him a piece of Gou Mang’s Seed.

The dwarf Taoist priest gaze turned into one of shock as he asked the red monkey Qian Ren in earnest, “Was it truly the seed of Gou Mang?”

Qian Ren’s expression grew puzzled. It looked towards the Taoist priest as it asked, “Are you talking to me?” The Taoist priest’s gaze was not looking straight at Qian Ren but was looking away from its face at a thirty-degree angle instead, seeming to look away in the distance.

Wen Leyang inquired, “What is Gou Mang’s seed?”

“Gou Mang is known as the eastern wood deity.” The Taoist priest’s tone of speaking sounded like he was dreaming. His entire person was completely enraptured by the thought of this precious seed of Gou Mang. “Gou Mang was a legendary deity. He was in charge of the world’s wood element. Before he achieved mastery in his practice, he stood as an immortal tree in the Land of Sunrise. The seed of Gou Mang is said to be a seed from this immortal tree.”

Wen Leyang smiled weirdly. The Taoist priest’s other words were reliable but Wen Leyang was not sure about this ‘Land of Sunrise’.

The red monkey paid no attention to Wen Leyang’s turn of expression as it continued, “No one has ever seen Guo Mang’s Seed. No one knows if the deity was even real or not but the seed that was brought to me by Kong Nuer was as flawless as jade and glowed with immortal radiance. The moment the seed entered the Ending Cave, the ancient trees that blocked the sky all bowed in submission towards the seed! I used my physic abilities and prodded into its depths. The power of the wood element contained within it was as pure as the sky and as vast as the sea.”

Qin Zhui’s expression turned peculiar. He hesitated as he interrupted the red monkey Qian Ren in his retelling, “Mon- Qian Ren, there is something I do not know if I should say aloud.” He hastily continued, forgetting all pretence of courtesy from earlier. “If this Guo Mang’s Seed was truly a rare artefact that was so hard to find, why would Kong Nuer just gift it to you..” Qin Zhui shut up then. He knew his silence spoke louder than his voice at that moment.

Qian Ren revealed a smile, as if he was expecting that very question. “Firstly, Kong Nuer was my only intimate friend. Secondly, Kong Nuer cultivated in the Art of Heaven and Earth, he studied the stars and its positions, watched the sun and moon’s crossing through the skies. My studies were important to him. Thirdly… heh! When this Gou Mang’s Seed is placed right in front of your face, how could anyone not be attracted to it! Naturally, he would think of the best way for this seed’s power to be utilized.”

Qin Zhui sniggered. After being punched by Qian Ren, he felt something akin to friendliness this monkey. “Why do you even bother to mention this in relation to me? This matter is unrelated to me. Please, continue.”

Red monkey Qian Ren inhaled a deep breath, trying very hard to control the excitement in its heart. “I was disappointed by the slow progress of my practice. Upon seeing such a treasure before my eyes, I did not care for anything else. I could not express to Kong Nuer how grateful I was for his gift, I would have given him my life if he had asked for it.”

Qian Ren was not a crude or impetuous man. After receiving the Gou Mang’s Seed, he made sure to study the treasure thoroughly. He confirmed that the seed contained the purest and the most intense power of the wood element. Drawing on its powers should only prove advantageous to him with no drawbacks or side effects. He started to syphon power from Gou Mang’s Seed in an effort to refine his own body.

With the extra power from Gou Mang’s Seed, Qian Ren made vast improvements in his practice far faster than ever before. It had turned out even better than he had hoped, he was delighted. He promised himself that he would pluck a star from the sky and gift it to his best friend when he finally ascends to heaven as an immortal…One day, he lost control of the seed. He could not stem the flow of power from the spiritual seed, it overflowed like the great ocean. There was utterly no way to stop the flow of overwhelming power as it surged into his body.

Within a night, the entire force contained within the treasured seed had been forcefully stuffed into Qian Ren’s body!

The whole group which was was made out of magic experts, apart from Gu Xiaojun, was shocked upon hearing this. There should only be one outcome of such an event. Anyone who absorbed such an overwhelming load of power would explode and die, not even his ashes would remain.

In the eyes of the group, the red monkey’s smile translated into unspeakable ghastliness.

Qian Ren’s body could not contain the tremendous force flowing into him from the seed but he was still a top practitioner with many skills. He dominated the entire wood element magic scene. Despite being under such agony from the seed’s power, he managed to launch a spell which combined his physical body to the Ending Cave. He hoped that the boundless magic in the Ending Cave would help him to exhaust and absorb the power of Gou Mang’s Seed and save him.

The forest around the Ending Cave grew in size overnight, almost swallowing half of Mount Hua. The winds and clouds glowed with strange colours, gigantic rocks were smashed apart by the rapidly growing trees. Mountain creeks and waterfalls were buried under curtains of long, wild grass. The immortal trees in the sacred land burst forth and up to the heavens.

Most of the power in Gou Mang’s Seed had successfully been transferred into the Ending Cave but a small sliver still remained within Qian Ren’s body.

Qian Ren had utterly no way to extract the immortal power from himself and it ate away at his body. It would take about three months, maybe even six, before his body wasted away. When Qian Ren could no longer suppress the immortal power, he would then close his eyes and accept his death.

Qian Ren had failed in using the power within the Gou Mang’s Seed for his refinement. On the contrary, he suffered great losses because of it. He had yet to acquire the level of mastery he needed to become an immortal, and now, he only had a few months left to live. The Ending Cave, that was flowing with pure wood magic, had rapidly grown overnight. This explosion of spiritual energy startled every practitioner in the magical realm.

Everyone thought that the phenomenon on Mount Hua signalled the rebirth of a heavenly treasure. Master practitioners from all over the world made their way hastily over to Mount Hua. Even some unorthodox practitioners arrived, like flocks of migrating birds. They hoped to use the power for their own selfish means and gains.

After suffering greatly from this event, Qian Ren became ruthless and tyrannical. He could not stand anyone stepping onto his Mount Hua and killed anyone who dared to do so.

Back in the present, the red monkey Qian Ren laughed maniacally. “Even though I had been harmed by the spiritual seed and suffered greatly, at least I gained something out of it. The Ending Cave had grown enormous from all the power of Gou Mang’s Seed and my body was now one with this place. I had unintentionally bound my life force to the Ending Cave. If I were to die, the Ending Cave would wither away in the blink of an eye.” It paused for a moment before repeating in a hoarse and strained voice. “If I were to die, that place would surely die along with me! Haha!”

The sound of Qian Ren’s laughter was ecstatic and wild.