Against the Gods

NEW NOVEL: First and foremost, I'm delighted to announce that our long-time veteran translator littleshanks has finally launched his new novel, Rise!  Rise is a novel about the esports scene in Shanghai, the competitive gaming capital of China. It follows the story of Lin Feng, a boy who has just moved to the city for his last year of high school. He's a passionate gamer and dreams of being the best professional League of Legends player in the world. The twist? He almost achieved his dream, but failed at the...

Read More...

Chapter 1103 - Blackhanded and Blackhearted

The moment he entered the stone room, even greater cold abruptly assaulted his senses. It wasn’t the kind of cold one felt when they suddenly fell down a snow hole, it was the kind of cold one felt when entering a ghost’s domain. It was absolutely not profound frost energy.

Not only that, the light inside the stone room was unusually dark even though the place had holes here and there, and the doors and windows were wide open. When he went through the door, he actually felt like he had suddenly stepped into the night itself. This and the sudden change in the air, caused even someone as powerful as Lei Qianfeng to tense up. Both his haughtiness and edge actually shrank without him realizing it.

A man with a slightly crooked back, wrapped completely inside a bluish black colored cloak, stood inside the shabby stone room, revealing only half of his face. His half-face actually shared almost the same color as the cloak and it was as withered as a mountain rock that had been exposed to sunlight for hundreds and thousands of years.

He wasn’t sure if it was just his senses playing tricks on him but there was actually a faint, near indiscernible, black energy circulating around the cloaked man’s entire body.

The sudden change in the air and his shocking appearance were all proof that the person before him was absolutely no ordinary person.

Originally, Lei Qianfeng was both very anxious and angry. He was the king of a realm, so he had paid Poison Saint Blackheart no mind even if he turned out to be real… After all, Blackheart was but a small poison doctor; he wasn’t worthy of the attention of the king of a realm. Moreover, he was quite paranoid right now. He didn’t fully believe that Poison Saint Blackheart was really who he claimed he was.

It was because Poison Saint Blackheart had literally never appeared in Darkya Realm before.

However, his thoughts had rapidly changed since the meeting. It was because the Poison Saint Blackheart’s presence had truly struck fear in his heart… There was no way someone who could strike fear in his heart was a normal person… no, he should correct that further. The man before him must be an absolutely terrifying character!

At the same time, his doubts as to whether the man before was Poison Saint Blackheart were mostly quelled.

Lei Qianfeng quickly came to a standstill. The cold aura that ran wildly inside his body actually stopped him from approaching too close to Poison Saint Blackheart. While he was still in shock and doubt, Xiao Qingtong asked anxiously, “Senior… are you the famous Senior Poison Saint?”

“Hehehe…” The old man clad in black let out an absolutely unpleasant laugh. “You’ve already crossed my doorstep, so why did you bother wasting your breath on such a pointless question? I am Poison Saint Blackheart. You are the ones who come to me with a request, so don’t mind me being blackhanded and blackhearted. Hehehehe!”

Xiao Qingtong was worried about her sons’ safety, so she was going to kneel before Poison Saint Blackheart. “Poison saint, please save my son. If you can…”

“Wait!” But Lei Qianfeng stopped her from doing so before narrowing his own eyes. “How can you prove that you’re Poison Saint Blackheart?”

“...Prove?”

A pair of eyes slowly appeared under the bluish black cloak. The moment the poison saint’s eyes met Lei Qianfeng’s, the latter was so shocked that he trembled all over. It was because the poison saint’s eyes were gleaming with shockingly black light, “Who the hell do you think you are? You want proof? Here’s a suggestion: if you don’t believe who I am, then get the hell out!”

Lei Qianfeng, who ruled Darkya Realm with an iron fist, had never been belittled as badly as he was today. Anger immediately rose to his head but the fear and shock he felt when he saw Poison Saint Blackheart’s eyes and his six dying sons, kept him from acting in anger. Instead, he summoned his profound energy and conjured a terrifying pressure that spread hundreds of kilometers away. Then, he spoke in a dark tone, “Do you really know who I am?”

“Hehehehe!” Lei Qianfeng’s energy field failed to strike fear in the old man’s heart. Not only was the old man staring at him with contempt, he was even wearing a cold sympathetic laugh on his face. He lifted his arm and a withered palm slowly stretched out of the old man’s long sleeve. The palm was also surrounded by black aura that caused everyone who saw it to feel chilled all over. The coldness, that had already filled up their bodies and souls from the beginning, started moving even more wildly than before.

“I can’t remember the number of Divine Sovereigns I’ve killed with this one hand but decades of seclusion is apparently all it takes for people to forget all about me. To think that a little Divine King would dare to hoot right in my face… Tut tut tut, it’s no wonder people say that there are plenty of idiots among the lower star realms.”

Every word the old man uttered was like the sound of rubbing sandpaper. Not only were Lei Tiangang and Lei Qiandu completely stunned by his bold words, Lei Qianfeng’s own expression had taken a sudden dip. “You…”

That was all he said, however. Not only did he not charge the old man in anger, his body even swayed a tiny bit backwards.

Humans were such creatures. If the black clad old man had spoken amiably and meekly, Lei Qianfeng would have acted overbearingly and cast all kinds of suspicion on him. But when Poison Saint Blackheart treated him with eeriness, disdain, contempt, arrogance and ridicule, in barely a few sentences, Lei Qianfeng’s fear had actually skyrocketed in just ten breaths’ time after he entered the stone room. Although he was still frustrated inside, his imposingness had largely decreased. Not only was he afraid to act carelessly, he didn’t even dare to curse Poison Saint Blackheart right now.

Xiao Qingtong shot a glare at her husband before taking two quick steps forward, saying, “Senior Poison Saint, my husband has always been a rude and impetuous man but I assure you that he doesn’t hold you in disrespect in the slightest. My husband is the realm king of Darkya Realm and he has considerable wealth in his possession. If you can save my sons’ lives, we are sure to repay you handsomely.”

Lei Qianfeng was cautious and mistrustful but right now Xiao Qingtong only wanted to grab onto this last hope as tightly as she could. Not only had the authenticity of Poison Saint Blackheart never crossed her mind, she had even told him the level of their wealth directly. It was almost as if she was afraid that this Poison Saint Blackheart wasn’t blackhearted enough.

This husband and wife shared very different personalities from each other. It was also a difference between men and women when dealing with such matters… especially when the safety of their children were involved.

The black clad old man laughed evilly, “Of course, of course. Everything is up on the table as long as you can pay the price. This old man has lived for many years and I haven’t fallen so low that I would lower myself to an ignorant junior’s level. Now, go bring in the patients.”

Lei Qianfeng’s expression changed again and again, but he didn’t say anything more.

“Quickly! Bring Qian’er and everyone else in here now!” Xiao Qingtong said urgently.

Very soon, a dozen or so Soul Sect disciples carried Lei Qianfeng’s six sons, one by one, into the room and put them down orderly before the black clad old man.

The black clad old man continued to stand crookedly without moving his eyeballs even once. His nose twitched slightly before he said eerily, “Oh, it’s the Scarlet Ghost Flame Poison.”

The black clad old man uttered a name that none of them had ever heard before. The light of hope appeared on Xiao Qingtong’s face. “Senior Poison Saint, do you know this poison?”

“Hehe…” Every time the black clad old man laughed, he caused everyone around him to feel cold. “This poison comes from the Southern Divine Region, it is fairly rare in the Eastern Divine Region. All those who are afflicted by this poison will feel like they are scorched by flames and when the poison activates their body will become wrapped in scarlet energy until their internal organs are burned to dust. The poisonous air doesn’t fade after the patient is dead. Instead, it will continue to eat at the corpse until all that’s left is a pile of scarlet, withered bones. Not a drop of blood will be left when the poison has run its course, hehehe.”

Lei Guangmo’s horrific death was still as clear as yesterday, so they knew that the black clad old man had described the symptoms and the state of Lei Guangmo’s death perfectly! His accurate assessment drew looks of surprise from Lei Tianguang and Lei Qiandu and Lei Qianfeng’s expression even changed slightly as a result.

Everyone had been staring fixedly at the black clad old man all this time. They were sure that he hadn’t bent down to check the patients or even look at them directly. At most the old man had sniffed once with his nose but that was all it took for him to identify and explain the poison perfectly. At this point Xiao Qingtong could no longer hide her agitation. “If you know this poison, then you must know how to cure it, right senior?”

“Heh, it’s pretty simple.” The black clad old man’s low chuckle was obviously disdainful. His short answer immediately caused Xiao Qingtong to become overjoyed and Lei Qianfeng to raise his eyebrows. The black clad old man turned around and fished around aimlessly for something behind his cloak. When his hand reappeared, he was holding six dirty-looking pills in his hand. The pills were about the size of a fingernail and they were dark green in color and wrinkly in appearance. Their surface was covered in discomfiting gray brown patterns.

The old man sent the six pills flying towards Xiao Qingtong with a flick of the finger. “One pill for each person. The poison will be cured once they’ve consumed it.”

The terrible poison that bewildered the great Soul Sect and nearly drove Lei Qianfeng insane, sounded unbelievably easy from Poison Saint Blackheart’s mouth and it almost seemed like the act was beneath him when he tossed the pills carelessly toward Xiao Qingtong. Xiao Qingtong clutched the pills tightly and was about to feed them to her sons before she even uttered another word.

“Wait!”

Lei Qianfeng abruptly grabbed Xiao Qingtong as quick as lightning before snatching the six pills from her hand at the same time. Before Xiao Qingtong could say anything, he reached out again and sucked a Soul Sect disciple into his palm as the latter let out an exclamation of surprise.

“Sect… Sect Master?” The Soul Sect disciple looked completely confused.

Lei Qianfeng didn’t say anything but a short, black sting had suddenly appeared between his fingers. Ignoring his victim’s shrinking pupils, he thrust the sting straight into the Soul Sect disciple’s heart. The sting vanished as if it had melted into the latter’s body.

“Thousand Souls Poison!” Lei Tiangang and Lei Qiandu exclaimed at the same time.

Thousand Souls Poison was the scariest and the most cruel poison in the entire Darkya Realm. Those who were poisoned would suffer nine full hours of horrific pain before they ultimately died in abject suffering. There was no cure for Thousand Souls Poison except the profound energy of Divine Kings and above… This also meant that Lei Qianfeng was the only one who could cure this poison in the entire Darkya Realm.

In Soul Sect, Thousand Souls Poison would only be used on traitors. It could be said to be the cruelest punishment that existed in Soul Sect.

The poisoned Soul Sect disciple’s solar plexus quickly took on a blue and black color. This horrific color quickly spread throughout his body, causing even the complexion of his face to turn gray. The disciple himself had collapsed to the floor and was convulsing madly in response, screaming at the top of his lungs. He looked like he was being pierced by ten thousand blades.

Lei Qianfeng lifted him, forced open his jaw and pushed one of the dark green pills into his mouth. Then, he tossed him away and stared at him closely… his gloomy pupils immediately turned dumbstruck, however.

The instant he had pushed the green pill into his mouth and tossed the disciple away, he suddenly felt that the Thousand Souls Poison was weakening… In fact, it was weakening so quickly that the Soul Sect disciple’s struggles and screams had obviously reduced in just a few breaths’ time.

Ten breaths later, the Thousand Souls Poison’s presence actually vanished entirely.

Just like that, the Soul Sect disciple who was poisoned with the Thousand Souls Poison, by Lei Qianfeng’s own hands, ten breaths later, stood up shakily from the ground with a look of utter shock, fear and confusion.

Lei Tiangang and Lei Qiandu’s mouths fell wide open as if they had seen a supernatural being. Lei Qianfeng was stunned for several breaths before he abruptly dashed forwards and grabbed the disciple’s chest, scanning up and down his body using profound energy. He actually couldn’t detect a trace of the Thousand Soul Poison at all.

Lei Qianfeng moved his hand away and stood blankly for a very long time. He knew best just how deadly the Thousand Soul Poison was and he had thought for the longest time that it was an incurable poison. Even he had to spend a large amount of effort to cure the poison with profound energy. But right now an utterly unremarkable pill had completely cured the Thousand Soul Poison that he had planted with his own hands, in just several eye rolls.

Although the scene had happened right before his eyes, he still couldn’t quite believe what had actually happened.

“Sect Master!” Naturally, Lei Tiangang and Lei Qiandu knew the result from Lei Qianfeng’s abnormal reactions. Xiao Qingtong literally started tearing up as she exclaimed uncontrollably, “Senior Poison Saint Blackheart… is truly as amazing as the stories say! Qian’er and everyone are saved now!”

“...” Lei Qianfeng slowly turned around. At this point, he had no doubt in his mind that the black clad old man before him was really Poison Saint Blackheart. On the contrary, he was starting to believe that Poison Saint Blackheart’s detoxifying ability really was as amazing as the legends said...

It was the Thousand Souls Poison! Yet it was cured in just ten breaths’ time!

“Feed… feed them the pills now!” Lei Qianfeng couldn’t keep his cool any longer after witnessing these green pills’ miraculous abilities with his own eyes. He hastily passed them to Lei Qiandu and Lei Tiangang.

He passed the pills to his sixth son, Lei Yuanbai first. The scarlet mist surrounding Lei Yuanbai quickly vanished from their gaze first. Then, the poisonous breath that permeated his entire body like a nightmare started vanishing as well. In less than twenty breaths’ time, Lei Yuanbai’s body and face had lost the unnatural scarlet complexion. Although his aura was still a little weak, he was able to sit up on his own, without any more pain.

When they scanned Lei Yuanbai with their profound energy, they discovered that the poisonous aura inside his body had vanished entirely!

“This… this is literally a miracle.” Lei Tiangang exclaimed in absolute astonishment. “The poison saint’s reputation… is well deserved.”

When the rest of Lei Qianfeng’s sons saw that Lei Yuanbai was freed from the horned dragon’s terrible poison, their eyes immediately turned round as they started struggling and shouting, “Father… save me… save me…”

“Quick, give them the antidote! Quickly!” Lei Qianfeng said repeatedly.

After seeing Lei Yuanbai cured completely with her own eyes, Xiao Qingtong was literally crying with joy. She hastily pulled over Lei Yuanbai and said excitedly, “Yuanbai, quickly, kowtow and thank Senior Poison Saint now. If it wasn’t for Senior Poison Saint, all six of you would have…”

Lei Yuanbai immediately kowtowed before Poison Saint Blackheart without a second thought. “Junior Lei Yuanbai thanks Poison Saint Blackheart for saving his life.”

The black clad old man waited until he was done kowtowing before he slowly said, “You can save the kowtow and thanks. Just make sure pay me in full later, hehehehe.”

When Lei Qianfeng turned around to look at the black clad old man again, his eyes were completely different from before. The fact that this man could cure the terrible poison that he was helpless against and had forced him to the brink of despair showed just how good his poison skills were. Therefore, it was very likely that Poison Saint Blackheart’s claims that he had killed a couple of Divine Sovereigns with poison and didn’t care about Divine Kings at all, were real.

His heart sank when he recalled this and his previous conduct. In fact, cold sweat was pouring down his back like waterfall right now. When he leaned forward. he unconsciously clasped his hands together in a salute. “Don’t worry, Senior Poison Saint. Soul Sect will repay this great favor in spades.”

The black clad old man cast him a sideway glance but what came out of his mouth was a disdainful and evil laugh. “You? Hehehe… the Darkya Realm King, is it? I thought you would be a capable man hearing your boastful tone earlier but in the end you can’t even cure such a weak poison. I highly doubt that a conceited, foolish and blind fellow like you will live for long.”

If this was any other time, Lei Qianfeng would be absolutely murderous hearing such a comment from anyone. But right now, he actually straightened himself and said, “You are right, senior; I’ve sat inside a well for too long. I nearly missed a true expert.”

Behind him, two of his sons were rid of their poisonous auras. As he relaxed, he said, “How about this? I heard that Senior Poison Saint saved three people from the Black Feather Merchant Guild from terrible poison when you first arrived at Darkya Realm and that you charged them one million profound stones each.”

“Soul Sect is very grateful for your aid, so… we are willing to pay you five times the price of your service, senior!” Lei Qianfeng said sincerely, “I will pay five million profound stones for each pill you’ve granted us! Since you’ve saved six of our people, Soul Sect is willing to pay you thirty million profound stones! Are you satisfied with this, senior?”

Six random pills for thirty million profound stones… Thirty million profound stones was a number that a normal person dared not imagine even in their entire lives. That was why he thought that this astronomical offer would delight Poison Saint Blackheart no end, no matter how blackhearted he might be.

“Jiejiejiejie…” Poison Saint Blackheart let loud an unbearably unpleasant laugh. “In the end, you are just the realm king of a small realm, hehehehe.”

“...” Lei Qianfeng looked confused.

“I charged those people a million profound stones each because that is more or less how much their whole lives were worth.” The black clad old man whispered eerily. “But these six people are different. They are the sons of the great realm king of Darkya Realm. You will agree that their lives are worth much more than the lives of ordinary people, won’t you?”

“... Please show me the light clearly, poison saint.” Lei Qianfeng abruptly felt worried.

The black clad old man slowly raised a withered finger and said eerily, “One hundred million profound stones per life.”

__________________

Author's Note:

[Why is there a character like Xiao Qingtong? What’s the point of her existence? Hmm…]

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Happy Mother's Day everyone!