385: Chapter 385 Invulnerable to all poisons? No, it's because they look down on it.

The Cultivator in the plain robe retreated to the east side, stood still, and maintained a calm expression, acting as if nothing had happened. However, on his way back, his Divine Sense probed Su Changge once more.

Su Changge sat there without any abnormalities.

After the Withered Vein Poison Pill enters the body, the poisoner's Divine Sense can usually detect the subtle fluctuations of damaged Spiritual Veins within two quarter-hours. Even if the opponent's cultivation level is far above one's own and they can suppress the spread of the poison, a faint, abnormal aura will remain. This is what distinguishes the Withered Vein Poison Pill from ordinary poisons; it acts upon the Origin of the Spiritual Veins, and in theory, the fluctuations of Spiritual Veins can be perceived by any Divine Sense, regardless of the opponent's cultivation level.

But there was nothing on this person.

Probing inside, there was still that unfathomable perception. That perception gave him no information about the state of the Spiritual Veins, as if the poison pill had never entered this person's body, as if there was simply no target within this person's body that the poison pill could affect.

The Cultivator in the plain robe stood on the east side and retracted his Divine Sense. The force in his knuckles as he held the wine vessel increased by a fraction.

Tu Lie continued speaking on the opposite side, steering the topic toward the distribution of the terrain near the Seal. His tone remained that of a relaxed host, but in the intervals of his speech, he glanced toward the Cultivator in the plain robe. That glance received a slight nod from the Cultivator in the plain robe. The nod was extremely subtle, but Tu Lie caught it, swept his gaze back, and continued speaking, his facial expression unchanged.

Ye Qingyao held her teacup, listening from the side. She took both Tu Lie's glance and the Cultivator in the plain robe's subtle nod into her Divine Sense. She set down her teacup, spoke up, and interjected, her voice steady as she cut to the core of the topic.

"Senior Tu just said that the cracks in the Seal have expanded by another twenty percent. Is this speed accelerating, or is it linear?"

Tu Lie turned his gaze to her, paused for a moment on her face, went over the question in his mind, and answered.

"My judgment is that it is accelerating. Three months ago, the monthly expansion was about five to eight percent. This month, it reached twenty percent directly. If this trend continues, I cannot say for sure how long the Seal will last."

Ye Qingyao nodded, placed the teacup back on the table, and did not pursue the questioning further.

During this time, the Cultivator in the plain robe on the east side probed Su Changge twice more with his Divine Sense. Each time he probed, the result was the same: there was no substantial information to bring back, only that boundless, unfathomable depth.

He began to look for an explanation for this phenomenon in his heart.

The Withered Vein Poison Pill had no effect on this person; there were only two possibilities: First, this person had long known the wine was poisoned and had neutralized it in advance in some way, which would require extremely brilliant methods and precise knowledge of the Withered Vein Poison Pill. Second, this person's Origin Realm far exceeded the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, to such an extent that the Withered Vein Poison Pill did not even need to be noticed within his body before it was naturally digested, just like dropping a single drop of water into the vast ocean; the water entered, and the ocean surface didn't even ripple.

He weighed these two possibilities in his mind and leaned toward the second one.

Because when this person drank the wine, there were no deliberate actions to neutralize it, no signs of circulating magic power, and no movements of Divine Sense probing within his body. He simply picked it up, tilted his head back, drank it, and then commented on the taste.

He drank that cup of wine as if it were no different from drinking a cup of ordinary water.

That poison pill entered his body, and then nothing happened. It wasn't that it was neutralized; it was that it didn't attract any of this person's attention at all, because in front of this person's Origin, a single Withered Vein Poison Pill was so insignificant that it wasn't worth perceiving. To say "immune to all poisons" would be an understatement; in his eyes, that thing didn't even warrant the need to deal with it.

The moment this conclusion landed, the Cultivator in the plain robe, standing on the east side, retreated half a step. The retreat was silent, but his position after stepping back was nearly half an arm's length further from the stone table.

Ye Qingyao took that half-step into her Divine Sense. She did not move, holding her teacup, looking at the tabletop, the teacup in her hand slowly turning.

Zhao Tian sat next to Su Changge, observing every detail during the time after Su Changge drank the wine. He did not hear the voice transmission between Ye Qingyao and Su Changge, nor did he clearly perceive the Cultivator in the plain robe's Divine Sense probing. However, he saw the Cultivator's movements of approaching and then retreating, as well as the momentary pause of the hand holding the wine vessel by Tu Lie. He connected these points in his heart, suppressed a thought, and did not let it come out.

That Junior Martial Uncle of his truly has no boundaries.

At this moment, Tu Lie set down his wine vessel and fixed his gaze on Su Changge. He paused for a moment, then spoke, his tone carrying an unconcealed certainty. That certainty was not an evaluation of something, but a confirmation after judgment.

"Senior, I will arrange for people to send out the invitation cards for the Four Directions Conference today. After the banquet, Senior may stay in the canyon temporarily. I will have someone prepare a guest courtyard."

Su Changge listened to this, stood up, and walked out. He passed by the stone table, passed by Zhao Tian's chair, walked to the east side, and passed two steps from the Cultivator in the plain robe. He did not look at him, his steps steady. As he walked past, he spoke, his words landing neither heavily nor lightly.

"As for the Withered Vein Ancient Cave, Senior Tu need not trouble yourself to invite them."

Tu Lie's hand paused on the tabletop.

As Su Changge walked past, he delivered the second half of the sentence. There was no special emphasis in his tone; it was just a statement.

"Tell him to go back and pass on the message: seven days from now, we meet at the Seal."

That sentence fell before the Cultivator in the plain robe, landing clearly, without any buffer. The Cultivator in the plain robe stood there, receiving the words. At this moment, a fine line appeared on his face. That fine line was not a frown, but a vibration that could not be completely suppressed. He stared at Su Changge's retreating back, stood in place for two breaths, then suppressed the vibration, bowed, performed a salute, and spoke.

"I shall obey."

Zhao Tian followed Su Changge, passed by the saluting Cultivator, glanced in that person's direction, and spoke in a low voice next to Su Changge.

"Junior Martial Uncle, do you know him?"

Su Changge walked forward without looking back and gave two words.

"I don't."

Zhao Tian shut his mouth, walked forward, compared this sentence with the scene just now, and decided not to ask any more questions for the rest of the day.

Ye Qingyao walked out last, passed by the Cultivator in the plain robe, swept a calm glance at him, and took the fine line on his face—which had not yet completely smoothed out—into her eyes. She followed Su Changge, walked two steps, turned her head, and transmitted her voice, her tone very low.

"Revered Master, well done."

Su Changge walked forward without transmitting back.

"Well done, are you sure?"

"I just drank a cup of Withered Vein Poison Pill. I was just lucky that this thing is useless against me, not because I have any ability to deal with it."

"And I just casually said we'd meet at the Seal in seven days. I have no idea what the situation with that Seal is, I don't know what's inside, and I don't know what will happen at that place in seven days..."

"I just said a whole bunch of big talk, and then that Cultivator saluted and said he would obey. I've taken on a huge trouble."

He went over these thoughts in his mind, his facial expression strangely calm, his steps steady as he walked toward the exit of the canyon.

Above the canyon, the dark red sky light cast a somber outline over the entire canyon. The Evil Qi in the ground fissures was still seeping out thinly, moving along the ground and leaving a faint warmth on the soles of his boots.

Tu Lie stood where he was, watching the three walk out. He did not put down the wine vessel in his hand, holding it and standing for a long time. It was not until the three figures disappeared into the shadows of the mountain pass that he placed the wine vessel back on the table, turned around, and spoke in a low voice to his trusted aide beside him.

"Send two people to follow them. Don't get too close, just see where they are heading."

The trusted aide bowed, accepted the order, and retreated silently.

Tu Lie sat back down in his chair, picked up the wine vessel, but did not drink. He just held it like that, his gaze fixed on the tabletop for a long time.

Seven days from now, we meet at the Seal.

When that person casually said these seven words, there wasn't even a pause, nor was there any need for a reaction. He just let the words fall, pushing the direction of the entire situation toward a new path.

He went over these words in his mind, drank the wine in the vessel, put the vessel down, and spoke in a low voice, as if speaking to the air.

"Seven days."