Monarch Pillrabbit turned toward Gan Xuehua with a smile. “Silent Madness Poison isn’t particularly strong, and it takes a long time to take effect. However, once enough poison accumulates in a mortal cultivator’s body, the ability to absorb and use qi will be impaired. With enough time, it can turn a genius into a cripple, causing them to go mad. Even an immortal will find it hard to cure this poison, but it’s nearly impossible for a mortal cultivator.”
“Moreover, it has another characteristic. It is nearly untraceable, and even a monarch would find it hard to detect the poison. Although it’s undetectable, the amount of poison needed to affect a true immortal is astronomical. So, it’s mainly aimed at crippling up-and-coming cultivators.” Monarch Pillrabbit’s smile deepened. “Lass, how did you discover it?”
Gan Xuehua ignored the frightened Dufeng and saluted Monarch Pillrabbit. “Answering Monarch, I didn’t detect anything, but I know my body. Upon sensing an incompatibility between my thoughts and movements, I thought of the only logical solutions after eliminating all the impossibilities. If there was nothing wrong with me, it can only be done by someone else. And that someone is most likely my opponent, Dufeng.”
At this time, Dufeng could no longer keep silent. “You lie! You just wanted to eliminate me without fighting. That’s why you purposely poisoned yourself and blamed me! There’s no way you can detect a poison even an immortal monarch cannot!”
Monarch Pillrabbit chuckled. He glanced at Gan Xuehua with some expectations and asked, “Lass, although he isn’t very smart, his words do have some logic. How exactly did you detect it?”
“I know this body,” Gan Xuehua said. In order to master her new body, she constantly explored during cultivation to reduce the incompatibility as soon as possible. She raised her arm, allowing the sleeve to slide down and reveal her milky white skin. “Although I cannot say that I can sense the change of every cell in my body, but I can definitely detect any abnormal changes, even if it is less than one percent. I could feel the circulation of my qi stagnate slightly, hence my judgment.”
“You’re quite confident,” Monarch Pillrabbit said. “When I said an immortal monarch cannot sense the Silent Madness Poison, that wasn’t completely true. They can’t detect it outside their body, but once they detect any abnormal changes inside their body, poisoning them becomes impossible.”
A few spectator’s eyes widened at Monarch Pillrabbit’s words. Didn’t this mean that Gan Xuehua possessed an immortal monarch’s ability? However, they soon calmed down. He only compared Gan Xuehua’s method to an immortal monarch’s ability. Still, that comparison caused her potential to rise in the eyes of many.
“Great Immortal, please investigate clearly!” Dufeng practically shouted. If this continued, his name would be synonymous with insidious, and his future would become bleak.
However, the other people in the arena ignored him. Monarch Pillrabbit and the true immortal referee saluted to the grand elders sitting at the seats of honor. “How should we deal with this rule breaker?”
Dufeng wanted to say more, but no words escaped his lips. More harrowing, he discovered he was frozen in place like a sculpture. His five senses still worked, but he could only wait for his judgement.
Grand Elder Xi and Grand Elder Zhang didn’t pay attention to the battle, preferring to stay silent. On the other hand, amusement twinkled in Grand Elder Nine Heaven’s eyes, but he also said nothing. Instead, it was Grand Elder Xia who seemed to contemplate the problem seriously.
“The disciple of the Black Halo Sect does not respect the spirit of the competition. I decree that he and the Black Halo Sect shall be expelled from the Immortal Court,” Grand Elder Xia said with majesty. His words permeated every corner of Primordial Mountain, as if he was speaking in front of each person.
“Please wait, Emperor Xia!” the leader of the Black Halo Sect said, standing up. “This is an independent decision of Dufeng, not the Black Halo Sect’s intention. Expelling all of us for a mere core formation master’s mistake, aren’t you going too far?”
Grand Elder Xia sneered. After learning about how powerful the Silent Madness Poison was, who would believe that a core formation master had the ability to get it? Nine out of ten, Dufeng was nothing more than the Black Halo Sect’s scapegoat.
“A sect that can’t even teach their disciple well has no place here.” The Black Halo Sect Master still wanted to argue, but a massive pressure emanated from Grand Elder Nine Heavens, drawing everyone’s attention.
Grand Elder Nine Heavens waved his hand, and the next thing everyone knew, everyone from the Black Halo Sect disappeared. The remaining people couldn’t help but stare at Xi Tianyi in awe. Teleporting wasn’t hard for someone who mastered the Law of Space, but teleporting unwilling people was. And the difficulty increased exponentially the more people teleported.
Elsewhere in the Southwestern Region of the Trinity Continent, the leader of the Black Halo Sect and the rest of the members looked around them in confusion and fear. They weren’t teleported to an unknown region, but into their own headquarters. This only made their fear increase.
“Grand Elder…” a true immortal timidly called out.
“Shut up!” the Black Halo Sect grand elder said. His irritation was obvious to all.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit!” he muttered as he bit his thumb. “I should have never accepted those bastards’ request, no matter how high of a price they paid.”
That’s right, the Black Halo Sect grand elder never expected Dufeng’s little actions to escape the Immortal Court’s eyes. The only thing out of expectations was that his opponent sensed the Silent Madness Poison, but he had achieved his initial goal.
The Black Halo Sect didn’t originate from the former Heaven Continent or Earth Continent, but one of the many islands that dotted the endless seas. If Tianyi hadn’t shifted their island to merge with the current Trinity Continent, they would have likely never discovered the wider world.
They thought their territory was a continent, but in front of the Trinity Continent, it could only be considered a bigger island. Not only that, but they transformed from the overlord to an ordinary third-rate force. No longer could they summon wind and rain with a flip of their palm. Instead, they had to act carefully and not offend any force stronger or equal to them.
Unfortunately, while they didn’t trouble anyone, someone found trouble with them. Although the Black Halo Sect was classified as a third-rate force, their foundation couldn’t compare to the forces that have existed on the continents for hundreds of thousands of years. As a result, a single, unknown immortal monarch subdued them.
After that event, the Black Halo Sect acted as an untethered force. As the years passed, many people even began to think that was the truth. However, that time only lasted a few hundred years. When the Immortal Court summoned them, the unknown monarch summoned them and ordered them to probe the Immortal Court’s power.
The Black Halo Sect never thought that the Immortal Court would be so direct and expel them. The grand elder’s eyes revealed a trace of fear. Although the mysterious immortal monarch had forced them to submit, he also allowed them to taste sweetness. Thanks to the benefit, the grand elder had actually become a half-monarch.
Yet, he sensed nothing when the grand elder of the immortal court took action. He was standing on Primordial Mountain one moment and appeared here the next. And this was just a casual move from that grand elder. If he wanted to Black Halo Sect to perish, the effort needed wouldn’t be much more than that.
It was only at this moment the grand elder discovered the disparity between a third-rate force and the hegemon of the Huang Realm. If he had such knowledge, he would have never probed the Immortal Court, no matter the benefits or threats.
Finally, the Black Halo Sect grand elder sighed, and a sense of weakness flowed off of him. “Hurry and gather the most precious treasures we have and send them to the Immortal Court as an apology.”
After the Black Halo Sect’s expulsion, the tournament resumed as normal as if the incident had never occurred. However, many forces that originated from the endless seas couldn’t help but secretly glance at the high echelon of the Immortal Court.
As for Gan Xuehua, she returned to the Gan Dynasty. At this, the Gan Emperor had a furious expression on his face. “Who is it? Who wants to cripple the future pillar of my dynasty?!”
In his eyes, the Black Halo Sect wasn’t probing the Immortal Court, but wanted to cripple the Gan Dynasty’s genius. Although the Black Halo Sect publicly proclaimed no loyalty to any stronger force, who would believe it? Although a third-rate force was among the top one percent of all forces in the Trinity Continent, they were still weak in comparison to the first-rate forces. The only way for a third-rate force was to attach themselves to a stronger power. Even the Gan Dynasty had become a vassal force.
The Gan Emperor scanned the second-rate and first-rate forces, wondering who propagated such an insidious plot. However, even if he knew, he didn’t have the power to carry out revenge. He sighed and turned to Gan Xuehua. “I’m sorry, Xuehua.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Gan Xuehua said. Before she came down, Monarch Pillrabbit had already given her the antidote. Luckily, she had discovered it early, so detoxification was still possible.
“You don’t have to surrender anymore. Fight to your heart’s content and aim for number one,” the Gan Emperor continued.
“Huh?” Gan Xuehua uttered. Shouldn’t he convince her to surrender and not continue to fight? “Didn’t Emperor-Father say I should surrender?”
The Gan Emperor sighed. “It’s too late. Since someone already wants to kill you, there’s no point in staying low key anymore. Fight! Win! And show your power to all today! If you’re lucky, someone might take you as a disciple. I saw that Monarch Pillrabbit looks at you favorably. Maybe you have a chance at becoming his disciple.”
‘No, I really want to surrender,’ Gan Xuehua thought. Although getting sturdy backing was a good idea, the problem was that her current strength didn’t even enter the top one hundred. ‘Forget it. I’ll just surrender the next chance I get.’
Alas, Gan Xuehua couldn’t fulfill her wish. The next moment she stepped into the arena, her opponent surrendered before she could even open her mouth. ‘What’s wrong with you people? Aren’t you all proud geniuses? Why are so many of you eager to surrender?!”
Gan Xuehua did not know the reason, but that didn’t stop her mood from souring. Although she tried to rein it in, it eventually leaked out. Her aura resembled that of a snake, waiting for a chance to strike and kill its foe.
Many of her opponents guessed that she must be very unhappy right now. The Young Heavens Tournament is a place to show your strength, and although Gan Xuehua showed her strength, no one was her opponent. No one had forced her to make more than one move, and more than that, someone tried to poison her. If they were her, they would vent their frustrations on their next opponent.
Thus, the weaker and smart people who didn’t have the confidence to fight Gan Xuehua decided to give up. Unfortunately, these people haven’t heard of the idiom, ‘too clever by half.’
As a result, Gan Xuehua would receive an automatic victory whenever she met these people, but she knew her winning streak wouldn’t last long. She would eventually meet the talented disciples not afraid of her, however, her luck turned out to be abnormally good. Before these people met her, they would have fought a long and hard battle that depleted their strength. Gan Xuehua would just need one or two strikes to defeat her weakened opponent.
At the end of the tournament, Gan Xuehua could only watch in a daze as she was crowned the winner of the Young Heavens tournament - Master division.
Even after she returned to their guest residence for the night, Gan Xuehua still didn’t know how she won. The Gan Emperor had thrown a banquet in celebration, and Gan Xuehua could only mutely accept everyone’s congratulations. Without realizing, she drank too much and became drunk.
Upon seeing this, the Gan Emperor, who had flush cheeks, ordered a maid to help the thirteenth princess back into her room. He knew that he would eventually face troubles in the future, but for now, he allowed himself to bask in the glory. His mood was so good, he even unsealed Gan Linyou’s ability to speak.
After the maid laid Gan Xuehua on her bed, she quietly left. A few minutes later, Gan Xuehua opened her eyes with no signs of drunkenness. She stood up and opened the door before walking to an uninhabited courtyard. Before long, a man in black and red robes appeared.
Gan Xuehua saluted the man. “Divine Flame Monarch.”
