79: The incurable poison and the meaning of the gun master

The sudden appearance of the Spear Cultivator in tight-fitting attire interrupted the dark shadow's fatal blow, and the situation in the arena instantly became subtle.

The dark shadow held the jade box, his eyes scanning between the Spear Cultivator and Liu Qingtian with a sinister glare. He feared the Spear Cultivator's domineering and fierce strength, yet he was unwilling to let the treasure he had obtained slip away, and even less willing to give up Liu Qingtian's Demon Willow body, which he considered a top-grade Artifact Refining Material.

"Friend, this is a private grudge between me and this demon. This Demon Willow is cunning and vicious, and carries strange treasures. Why must Your Excellency stick your neck out for him? How about we join forces? We can split the treasure, and the Demon Willow body will be yours as well. How about that?" The dark shadow attempted to recruit him, belittling Liu Qingtian in his speech while dangling bait.

Upon hearing this, the young man in tight-fitting attire sneered. He slung his bright silver long spear casually over his shoulder and tilted his head to look at the dark shadow. "Let me tell you, not only are your methods dark, but your skin is also quite thick. I just saw you clearly trying to kill someone to steal their treasure, and even planning to wipe out their entire nest. How did it become a private grudge in your mouth? And split it equally? The box is in your hands right now; are you really willing to give me half?"

His words were straightforward, mercilessly piercing through the dark shadow's hypocrisy, making the dark shadow's expression even uglier.

"As for this tree demon's body..." The Spear Cultivator turned his gaze toward Liu Qingtian, looked him up and down, and a trace of imperceptible surprise flashed in his eyes before he immediately returned to his playful, cynical manner. "He looks quite pleasing to my eyes, and is much better than a guy like you who hides his head and shows his tail. So, while I'm still in a good mood, leave the box and get lost. How about that?"

Although his tone was relaxed, an unquestionable, domineering aura permeated the air. A cold glint flowed faintly on the bright silver long spear, locking onto the dark shadow.

Knowing that a peaceful resolution was impossible, a fierce look flashed in the dark shadow's eyes. "If you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit, then let's see what you're really made of!" Although he was wary, he relied on his profound cultivation and his possession of poison arts, believing he might not lack the power to fight!

Before his words had even faded, his figure suddenly transformed into a wisp of black smoke. He did not charge at the Spear Cultivator, but instead lunged straight at Liu Qingtian! Clearly, he wanted to first control this immobile "bargaining chip"!

"You're courting death!" The Spear Cultivator's expression darkened; he hated these kinds of people who played little tricks. Moving his body, he acted after but arrived first. The bright silver long spear, like a Dragon emerging from the sea, carried a sharpness that could tear through everything, instantly piercing in front of the black smoke and forcing it back!

The two immediately engaged in battle! The dark shadow's movement techniques were bizarre and his poison arts were ruthless. Black Qi permeated his body, carrying a strong corrosive nature; if an ordinary Kaishan Realm Cultivator were to touch even a little, their dao foundation would likely be damaged.

The Spear Cultivator, however, used brute force to overcome ten thousand techniques. His spear style was wide open and unrestrained, incomparably fierce and powerful. Each spear strike contained the terrifying power to collapse mountains and split the earth, and the scorching spear light evaporated and purified the incoming poisonous Qi!

For a time, the roaring sounds of energy colliding were endless, and the entire Star Iron barrier was trembling violently, as if it would collapse at any moment.

Liu Qingtian leaned against the cold Star Iron, trying his best to restrain his aura to avoid being affected by the aftermath of the battle. His state at this moment was extremely terrible.

The backlash from forcibly interrupting his Breakthrough had damaged his tree soul, and the dark shadow's strike had caused multiple cracks in his demon body, from which pale green sap flowed. But the most fatal thing was the bizarre "Soul-Locking Spirit-Scattering Incense" within his body!

This strange poison was like gangrene attached to the bone, deeply penetrating into his Demonic Power, Bloodline, and even his tree soul, forming countless invisible shackles that tightly imprisoned his power.

He tried to mobilize the Qi of Life and Death to flush it out, but found that the toxin was exceptionally stubborn. When the Qi of Life and Death came into contact with it, it was like a clay ox entering the sea—the effect was negligible. Instead, because he forcibly channeled his energy, it caused the toxin to spread faster, and waves of weakness and dizziness constantly assaulted him.

"I cannot just sit here and wait for death!" Liu Qingtian's tree soul tightened. The Spear Cultivator appeared to be helping, but his motives were unclear; he absolutely could not entrust his life and death entirely to the hands of others. He had to find a way to save himself!

His gaze involuntarily fell upon the jade box that the dark shadow was tightly clutching. Inside it were three petals of the bone-eroding demon flower! This object contained a lethal poison, and even Late-stage Kai Shan Realm Cultivators were terrified of it; its toxicity was far beyond that of ordinary poisons.

An extremely bold, perhaps even crazy, idea flashed through Liu Qingtian's mind—fight poison with poison!

The toxicity of the bone-eroding demon flower was incomparably domineering; perhaps he could use its stronger toxicity to impact and disintegrate the shackles of the "Soul-Locking Spirit-Scattering Incense"? This idea was extremely risky, no different from drinking poison to quench thirst, but for the moment, he seemed to have no better choice.

He did not have a deep understanding of pharmacology or toxicity; at this moment, he was acting entirely based on an instinctive intuition regarding his own Dao of Wither and Flourish—extreme death might be able to break through this layer of shackles that bound his vitality.

Just as his thoughts were racing, the battle in the arena changed!

The Spear Cultivator seemed tired of the entanglement, and his spear momentum changed abruptly, becoming increasingly fierce and swift! A cold glint arrived first, and then the spear struck like a Dragon! The bright silver long spear seemed to transform into countless bolts of lightning, piercing toward the dark shadow from all directions!

The dark shadow was exhausted from coping and was in constant danger. In a moment of carelessness, his arm holding the jade box was grazed by the spear light. Although he wasn't injured, the jade box flew out of his hand, tracing a parabolic arc, and as luck would have it, it landed not far in front of Liu Qingtian!

An opportunity!

A trace of determination flashed in Liu Qingtian's eyes! He used almost all the mental power he could muster at that moment to urge a willow branch that was closest to the jade box and still intact—like the final struggle of a dying person—to violently coil around the jade box!

"Snap!" As the willow branch exerted force, the jade box opened with a sound! Three petals of the bone-eroding demon flower, shimmering with an eerie purple-black light, were exposed to the air, and the corrosive, strange fragrance instantly intensified several times over!

"What are you doing!" Both the dark shadow and the Spear Cultivator, who were in the heat of battle, noticed the disturbance here and exclaimed simultaneously! The dark shadow was shocked and angry, while the Spear Cultivator was surprised.

Liu Qingtian ignored them; he was gambling with his life right now! The willow branch coiled around one of the bone-eroding demon flower petals and, without hesitation, slapped it onto his tree trunk (main body)!

The moment the petal touched the bark, it transformed into a bone-chilling, highly corrosive purple-black venom that quickly seeped inside!

"Argh—!"

An indescribable, excruciating pain instantly swept through Liu Qingtian's tree soul! The toxicity of the bone-eroding demon flower was indeed incomparably domineering, far beyond what the "Soul-Locking Spirit-Scattering Incense" could compare to! Wherever the venom passed, the bark quickly turned charred and withered, and the internal wood fibers were as if being gnawed by billions of poisonous insects, his vitality being crazily stripped away! This pain was a hundred times more intense than being struck by swords and blades!

The "fight poison with poison" he had hoped for did not appear immediately. The two toxins met within his body and did not cancel each other out; instead, it was as if two Vicious Beasts had launched a brutal slaughter inside him! The imprisonment power of the "Soul-Locking Spirit-Scattering Incense" still existed, while the toxicity of the bone-eroding demon flower was like a wild horse off the leash, charging around inside him and destroying all signs of life!

Not only did his Demonic Power not resume circulation, but it was eroded by the entanglement of the two toxins, becoming even more chaotic! The spiritual ripple vortex at the tree heart had almost come to a standstill, and its color had turned dim. His consciousness began to blur, and layers of phantoms appeared in his vision, as if he saw countless twisted demon flowers blooming before his eyes.

The situation was worse than before! Not only had he failed to detoxify, but he had added frost to snow, contracting an even more fierce and lethal strange poison!

"Idiot! How could you possibly withstand the toxicity of the bone-eroding demon flower! You are seeking your own death!" Seeing this, the dark shadow could not help but mock him, yet he felt relieved in his heart; this tree demon had brought this upon himself, which saved him some trouble.

The Spear Cultivator also furrowed his brows, watching Liu Qingtian's tree trunk rapidly turn gray and even begin to partially rot, and shook his head. "Tsk, I wanted to save an interesting little fellow, but I didn't expect him to be a brainless brute. Now this is troublesome."

Liu Qingtian's heart was icy cold. Damn it, the "fight poison with poison" that often appears in novels was actually useless; he had lost the bet... Was the price death? He was not reconciled! A strong desire to survive supported his consciousness, which was on the verge of dissipating.

He tried to communicate with the visualization diagram in his Sea of Consciousness, to communicate with the willow leaf grotto-heaven, and even tried desperately to sense the burying netherworld again... but all his efforts were like a stone sinking into the sea.

The shadow of death was thicker than ever before, as if it was about to swallow him completely.

Just at the final moment when his consciousness was about to sink completely, he seemed to hear the Spear Cultivator sigh, and then a gentle yet majestic force was injected into his body from afar, temporarily protecting his tree heart, which was on the verge of collapse.

"Forget it, meeting is fate. You tree demon are quite interesting; it would be a pity if you died just like this. I will help you stabilize your injuries first; whether you can pull through depends on your own fortune."

Immediately after, he felt the Spear Cultivator's aura explode violently, as if he had launched an all-out attack on the dark shadow, and the roaring sounds of battle became even more intense.

But all of this, to Liu Qingtian, had become distant and blurry. His tree soul, like a candle in the wind, slid slowly toward an endless abyss of darkness under the torture of the dual toxicity of the bone-eroding demon flower and the Soul-Locking Spirit-Scattering Incense...