Chapter 18: Poison King
\n\u201cThis standoff won\u2019t solve anything.\u201d
\n\u201cThe Poison King could come at any time. Even with your skill, you\u2019re no match for him. Let\u2019s stop fighting now and settle things after dealing with him.\u201d The tall, thin middle-aged man spoke gravely. At the mention of Poison King, fear flashed across all three men\u2019s faces.
\nPoison King?
\nZuo Meng glanced at them and sheathed his Long Sword.
\nThese three posed no real threat to his current strength. He could kill them before they attacked if he wanted. What intrigued him was the Poison King mentioned by the thin man. Earlier, he\u2019d noticed poisoned animal carcasses along the path. Clearly, a poison master lurked in these woods. Fierce Tiger Stronghold\u2019s “One in a million” had no rules\u2014survival was all that mattered, poison included.
\n\u201cPoison King\u2019s the strongest in Southwest tribes. His unique poisons have no cure\u2014victims always die!\u201d
\n\u201cHad I known he\u2019d come, I\u2019d never have joined this competition!\u201d
\nThe other two chimed in, voices trembling with dread.
\n\u201cMove out. More are coming.\u201d
\nZuo Meng\u2019s sharp senses detected approaching figures.
\nThe group vanished into the jungle.
\nMinutes later, a barefoot man with giant gourd arrived, green mist swirling around him. He crouched by the dwarf youth Zuo Meng had killed, examining the wound.
\n\u201cOne-stroke kill!\u201d
\nHis grating voice scraped the air. Standing up, he rasped, \u201cSwordsman? Doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d
\nWhen his hand left the corpse, white smoke erupted from the body. Within seconds, only bubbling pus remained.
\n\u201cFew left alive now.\u201d
\nThe Poison King sniffed twice, then stalked toward Zuo Meng\u2019s group.
\nEmerging from jungle, the four found more carcasses\u2014over five hundred beasts and humans, all poisoned. Thick toxic fumes hung over the rotting heap.
\n\u201cAll poisoned!\u201d
\n\u201cThis makes five groups I\u2019ve seen. Poison King\u2019s killed nearly eight thousand beasts. Most entrants are dead.\u201d The thin man looked grim.
\nOne in a million!
\nEvery survivor was an enemy. Their temporary alliance against Poison King would shatter once he fell.
\n\u201cPoison here\u2019s this powerful?\u201d
\nZuo Meng studied the corpses. Such mass poisoning felt fantastical. When he\u2019d stolen dust powder from Heifeng Zhai, he\u2019d sensed this world\u2019s martial might surpassed Liuhe Sect\u2019s disciples\u2019 capabilities. His old assumptions had been naive\u2014perception shifts with experience. That green-robed elder at Heifeng Zhai had exuded overwhelming power with one palm strike, yet was merely first-class here. What horrors might top-tier experts wield?
\n\u201cThirty-five years\u2019 energy isn\u2019t enough. I\u2019d die in direct clash… but there\u2019s a way.\u201d
\nLaw chains materialized in Zuo Meng\u2019s vision.
\n\u201cReturn ten years\u2019 energy.\u201d
\nHis power dwindled as eight years\u2019 worth condensed at his fingertips. Through prior experiments, he\u2019d found he could convert energy like game respec\u2014some loss, but manageable.
\n\u201cBoost poison resistance.\u201d Zooming into law chains, he saw human-shaped figures bound by microscopic chains\u2014laws governing life, death, elements. Only creators understood these. Ancient legends spoke of those severing chains to escape Three Realms and Five Elements.
\n\u201cThis one.\u201d
\nHe tweaked a hair-thin chain. Energy drained as mystic force flooded his veins.
\nPoison resistance: Advanced!
\nDanger spiked. Zuo Meng slapped ground, launching backward. His three companions scattered\u2014green dart embedded where they\u2019d stood, earth blackening around it.
\n\u201cFound you rats! Your deaths make me victor.\u201d
\nGourd-bearing figure emerged from shadows.
\n\u201cPoison King!\u201d
\nThe thin man paled. The other two bolted into dark woods\u2014only to scream moments later.
\n\u201cTraps and poison surround us.\u201d Poison King\u2019s raspy gaze fell on remaining duo. \u201cWill you…\u201d
\n\u201cDIE!\u201d
\nThe thin man exploded into motion, robe swirling open to unleash hidden weapons.
\n\u201cStorm Barrage!\u201d
\nThousands of needles sprayed like metallic rain, targeting both Poison King and Zuo Meng. No allies here\u2014only one would survive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chapter 18: Poison King \u201cThis standoff won\u2019t solve anything.\u201d \u201cThe Poison King could come at any time. Even with your skill, you\u2019re no match for him. Let\u2019s stop fighting now and settle things after dealing with him.\u201d The tall, thin middle-aged man spoke gravely. At the mention of Poison King, fear flashed across all three men\u2019s faces. Poison King? Zuo Meng glanced at them\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[3],"tags":[],"fcn_genre":[],"fcn_fandom":[],"fcn_character":[],"fcn_content_warning":[],"class_list":["post-1396","fcn_chapter","type-fcn_chapter","status-publish","hentry","category-dreaming-to-become-a-creator"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_chapter\/1396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/fcn_chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_chapter\/1396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1396"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_genre?post=1396"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_fandom","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_fandom?post=1396"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_character","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_character?post=1396"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_content_warning","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_content_warning?post=1396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}