The Immortal’s Poison

The sound of laughter and squalling overlapped, continuously echoed in between the ice walls. A white-robed youth lightly poked his leader, “Xiaoyao, what are they so happy about?”

Hua Xiaoyao stared in bewilderment at Wen Leyang, Liu Zheng, the giant pangolin and the others. He muttered to himself, “They are all f*cking crazy!”

The laughter suddenly vanished. They turned around abruptly. Their gloomy and ghastly gaze stared straight at the white-robed youth!

Hua Xiaoyao’s heart thudded loudly. His gaze was distracted as he backed away for two steps. Just as he was about to give a forced laugh and explain, the group of madmen started laughing wildly and loudly again. They stretched out their hands and pointed at him. They laughed so hard their tears were splattering. They laughed so hard that their saliva was flowing; they laughed so hard they were tumbling to the right and left as if they were watching the most interesting event in the world.

Tutatunte did not understand the reason. He stretched out his hand and pointed to the white-robed youth and followed Wen Leyang as he giggled foolishly.

Xiao Sha elbowed Fei Fei and asked softly, “What is going on with them?”

Fei Fei surprisingly heaved a sigh in the midst of her smile. She said something baffling, “Let them laugh, they have been suppressing themselves for too long. Their laughter is like crying…”

After a long while, their laughter stopped. After the wild laugh, everyone’s face was filled with lethargy.

Wen Leyang made a hand gesture towards Liu Zheng, “Continue, tell us about Xiang Liu’s nine heads and ten souls. When the heaven’s cone nail was crushed, the true soul that had escaped as well…”

Liu Zheng dried the tears in the corners of his eyes from the laughter, he continued to tell the story.

Chang Li, Guo Huan and the solitary heaven guardian’s sword immortals they fought into a ball of mess in the Black and White Island. The three enlightened persons of the Tian generation thought that Guo Huan and Chang Li were accomplices in the beginning. Needless to say, the battle was chaotic. The evil soul within the snake’s head seized the opportunity during the chaos to flee the Black and White Island and finally escaped to the mortal world and seized San Wei’s body from the Eyang Sect. On the other hand, the true soul did not seize the opportunity to run away in the chaos but hid within the enlightened person Tian Yin’s body secretly and soundlessly.

Of course, this true soul was no creature of the mortal world. Even the enlightened person Tian Yin did not notice it.

Guo Huan was one of the main characters in the chaos of Black and White Island. When it heard of this part of the story, it could not help but tgive out a ‘heh’, “I did not expect that the primitive monster’s true soul was by my side, the old father is lucky not to be possessed by the soul!”

Liu Zheng shook his head, “Xiang Liu’s true soul fled in order to save its true body. Naturally, it would need to possess someone that was beyond familiar to the Black and White Island, for example, the three sword immortals’ bodies that were permanently residing there. Even if you and Chang Li were brutal and tyrannical in your demon power, it would never choose you. Amongst the three of them, the master teacher uncle Tian Yin had the most profound cultivation base, that was why the true soul secretly bore into his grand old man’s body.”

At this point, Fei Fei suddenly interrupted, “Hold on, there is one more thing that I do not understand. These matters were the mysteries of two thousand years ago, I am certain that the two enlightened persons Tian Shu and Tian Hua were unaware of the situation. How did you find out then? After Xiang Liu’s true soul took control of the immortal senior Tian Yin, did he sit down and tell you everything?”

Being meticulous, Fei Fei could tell that Liu Zheng was speaking the truth. However, theoretically speaking, before the successful hunt of Xiang Liu’s true soul, there was no way the others could find out about these matters. Hence, she questioned Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng continued to shake his head, “I will explain later when I tell you about the part where my esteemed master teacher and master teacher’s brother were killed. If I were to talk about that now, it will only create more queries.”

Wen Leyang seized the opportunity and hastily inquired, “If the true soul attached itself to the enlightened person Tian Yin’s body so that he could look for the opportunity to crush the other heaven’s cone nails, Xiang Liu should have been able to escape. Why did it wait for such a long period of time of two thousand years?”

The puzzlement caused by being pestered beyond endurance appeared on Liu Zheng’s face. First, it was Fei Fei’s shocking words right to his face, then it was Wen Leyang who laughed wildly to vent the frustration in his heart. The frost that had recently frozen Liu Zheng’s face had already melted away. His expression gradually turned normal, “Xiang Liu’s true soul did not know that the three seniors received the entrustment to protect the great formation of heaven’s cone nails. Their bodies were laid with a seal, such that no matter how much they exerted their powers, they would never cause any harm to the great formation! In the eyes of the Black and White Island, the three of them were like the air, yet in the eyes of an outside enemy, they were the divine swords that executed the demon.”

Wen Leyang was suddenly enlightened. It turned out the three sword immortals from the Tian generation had no way they could destroy a grass or a tree on the Black and White Island.

Liu Zheng seemed to be afraid that Wen Leyang might ask again. As Wen Leyang lowered his head to ponder, Liu Zheng hastily spoke faster and continued the story.

After the three sword immortals attack, Guo Hua squalled as he fought and explained while Chang Li continuously attempted to disturb their vision and hearing on the side. Xiang Liu’s true soul understood that these two demons would not stay long on the Black and White Island, which was why it chose Tian Yin.

However, Tian Yin’s cultivation base was rather remarkable. His primordial soul was under the secure protection of his life vitality. If Xiang Liu’s true soul were to completely exercise control over his body, it would still need to go through a process. If the true soul were to revolt immediately, the other two enlightened persons would certainly notice. That was why even after the three enlightened persons chased Chang Li from the Black and White Island until the violent battle with Tuo Xie and returned to the Black and White Island again, the enlightened person Tian Yin was still himself. Xiang Liu’s true soul was only lurking in his body secretly and did not make any move then.

It was until after they returned to the Black and White Island, when the two sword immortals Tian Shu and Tian Hua were engaged in closed-door cultivation to recuperate their injuries, the true soul seized the opportunity to launch its attack and seized Tian Yin’s body!

“When your family’s Grand Master Tuo Xie rushed over to the Black and White Island to explain to us about pursuing and killing the evil soul, if the timing was properly calculated, Tian Yin had already turned into Xiang Liu’s true soul. That was why no one knew anything about Tuo Xie’s visit to the Black and White Island,” Liu Zheng paused for a moment before continuing, “Only the true soul knew about Tuo Xie’s whereabouts.”

Wen Leyang nodded, “You mentioned about the three sword immortals earlier…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Liu Zheng, who was startled, hastily waved his hands to stop Wen Leyang, “Big brother Wen, will you please at least wait for me to finish the story before you ask any more questions!”

Wen Leyang burst out laughing, “Big brother Wen is the name used to address my family’s first uncle!” As he was saying that he made the hand gesture of ‘please continue’ to Liu Zheng and no longer asked any further questions.

Even though one of the heaven’s cone nails was crushed, its magic power still existed. The heaven’s cone nail was capable of suppressing Xiang Liu for a period of time. Similarly, it was also because the great formation’s survival, Xiang Liu’s true soul had fled. Before the rest of the eight heaven’s cone nails were completely shattered, before Xiang Liu’s flesh body was freed, there was no way the true soul could bore back into the body.

After Xiang Liu’s true soul took possession of the enlightened person Tian Yin’s body, it had only realized that its calculations based on wishful thinking did not fall through. Tian Yin’s body was utterly useless in causing any damage on the Black and White Island. Xiang Liu’s true soul was pinned down by the heaven’s cone nail for many millenniums and megaannums, it was extremely weak and fragile. When it forcefully occupied Tian Yin’s body once again, its primordial vitality was even more gravely injured, it was temporarily too weak to search for a new host.

When the two enlightened persons of Tian Shu and Tian Hua left the closed-door cultivation, Xiang Liu’s true soul did not attack or kill them but it was deliberately counting on seizing the two persons’ vitality power before it killed them, only then it pretended to be severely injured. The other two sword immortals did not expect the scheme, they exerted their lifetime’s cultivation base in order to save their brother disciple. Xiang Liu’s true soul was supposed to already prevail its trickery, yet as a result, it did not expect that its scheme was inferior to those made by heaven, its plan failed again…

The three sword immortals’ cultivation method was passed down from one direct line of succession. They could inject their powers to one another. Moreover, there was one more special feature about their cultivation, which was the life vitality that was injected into the body would first pass through the primordial spirit. Xiang Liu’s true soul could not be completely swallowed by Tian Yin’s primordial spirit at the time. It was true that it tricked Tian Shu and Tian Hua into giving it their life vitality force but as a result, it helped Tian Yin’s primordial soul that had just been suppressed earlier to grow stronger. He almost managed to seize back his body.

This form of unseen battle was equal to the spiritual power from the same source but was used by different souls in a chaotic fight.

Xiang Liu’s true soul seized the opportunity when the other two persons had yet to discover the truth and hastily forced the body into engaging in closed-door cultivation. From then on, it went into reclusion in the Black and White Island for the period of two thousand years. Ever since then, the two enlightened persons Tian Shu and Tian Hua never see Tian Yin.

“The initial plan of Xiang Liu’s true soul was to attach itself to Tian Yin’s body and destroy the remaining heaven’s cone nail while releasing its flesh body. Then, it would flee back to its original body, this way it could spare a lot of its strength and effort.” At this point, Liu Zheng suddenly laughed. “This true soul was the leader of the rest of the nine souls, it was as intelligent as the heaven. The true soul did not expect that its seemingly clever doings turned out to be a foolish one instead.”

The enlightened person Tian Yin’s body could not cause any harm towards the great formation of heaven’s cone nails. The true soul watched helplessly as the chains that were binding its flesh body was well within its reach yet it had no way to reach it. It wanted to return but it could not. While one of the nine evil souls escaped, the remaining eight souls acted on its free will. Without the true soul’s control, the act of struggling produced half the results with double the effort, that was why it took two thousand years, the remaining eight heaven’s cone nails were albeit shaky and unsteady, the nails were still suppressing the true body of the nine-headed monster.

If the true soul did not act on the strength of its own imagined cleverness and were to stay in its flesh body and conducted the rest of the eight evil souls to cooperate effectively, it was afraid that Xiang Liu would have already returned to the mortal world a few hundred years ago.

Not only that, the process of the true soul controlling the enlightened person Tian Yin’s body was apparently full of twist and turns. The enlightened person Tian Yin’s cultivation base of refining his soul to nourish his energy was extremely profound. In addition to his two junior brother disciples’ unintentional assistance, he would not be so easily subdued.

The enlightened person Tian Yin’s body was inhabited by two souls, one was a primitive great demon that was created at the same time as the heaven, while the other was the sword immortal of the generation with profound cultivation base. Even though Xiang Liu gradually occupied the absolute advantage point in the battle, Tian Yin depended on its ‘home advantage’ to hide and conceal himself. His power gradually grew weaker but he was not completely swallowed by Xiang Liu’s true soul. Every once in a while, Tian Yin would jump out to create disturbances, just like a sting that was pricked into the lion’s paw, he was piteously minute but his effect was enormous.

This was also the reason why Xiang Liu’s true soul had no way to make trouble in the past two thousand years.

When Fei Fei heard of this, her expression was stunned, “So you are saying that the enlightened person Tian Yin is still alive?!”

Liu Zheng did not acknowledge Fei Fei’s question but he diverted away from the climax of the conversation and refocused the topic back to the recent incident, “In order to pursue that escaped Xiang Liu’s evil soul, the master teacher and the master teacher’s brother Tian Hua were injured in Shanghai…”

Wen Leyang could not help but nod, he had already known the entire course of how the two enlightened persons were wounded. They were injured in the hands of their Tuo Xie’s descendants.

Tian Shu and Tian Hua were severely injured, by the time the enlightened person Tian Hua regained consciousness, the both of them returned to the Black and White Island to recuperate. What was unexpected to the both of them was, their ‘senior brother disciple’ that was engaged in closed-door cultivation for two thousand years had surprisingly come out. What surprised them even more, their senior brother disciple launched a sudden attack on them viciously, he completely severed their chance of revival at one strike!

Even though Tian Shu and Tian Hua were suffering from fatal injuries, their cultivation base instinctively counterattacked on the verge of death and struck Tian Yin.

The three sword immortals of Black and White Island originated from the same source. Their cultivation method had a special feature, the two junior brother disciples’ counterattack helped Tian Yin’s soul to become stronger. Tian Yin and Xiang Liu were inhabiting in one body but Tian Yin was completely aware of the events. He turned mad from extreme rage, in addition to the help of his two junior brother disciples’ life vitality force, he released his life vitality force entirely and surprisingly pinned down Xiang Liu.

For a short period of time, Tian Yin’s body returned to its real master’s control.

The enlightened person Tian Shu and Tian Hua were severely injured and it was certain that they would die but because of their profound cultivation base, they managed to hold on for a little while longer. The three solitary heaven guardian Sword Immortals of the Black and White Island finally reunited again after two thousand years, yet it was the last time they saw each other after they parted in life and would soon be separated by death!

The enlightened person Tian Yin utilized the time he had to explain the rough idea of the course of events.

Both Tian Shu and Tian Hua dragged along their remaining bodies and escaped the Black and White Island. They passed down the truth to the little supreme leader Liu Zheng. Then, one of them passed down his power to the disciples of his sect, while the other was buried in death and used his spirit to nourish the swords.

As Tian Yin’s primordial spirit released its spirit primordial energy, his soul was dispersed not long after his two junior brother disciples returned to the Kunlun Mountains and his body was entirely seized by Xiang Liu’s true soul as well. Due to pressing times for the three enlightened persons of the Black and White Island, Tian Yin did not manage to mention that Tuo Xie once came to the Black and White Island.

Wen Leyang felt very oppressed upon hearing that. He suddenly squalled and somersaulted as he stood up and punched heavily into the ground. Huge chunks of crystal ores were shattered and rolled around. A few firecrackers bored out of the white-robed youths’ sleeves joyously. The firecrackers grasped onto the ore and started chewing happily, ‘You’ve Got Me’ was much more sensible this time, it did not move nor ululated, pretending that it was not around…

In order to prevent Tian Yin’s primordial spirit from counterattacking, even though Xiang Liu managed to exercise control over Tian Yin’s body for the past two thousand years, it dared not oppose the master cultivators all along, it was even more afraid to harm the two enlightened persons Tian Shu and Tian Hua. Hence, it seized the opportunity when the both of them were severely injured this time to launch an attack, even so Tian Yin still managed to take control of his body temporarily.

Master Rangjung chanted a phrase of unknown Tibetan Buddhism Sect’s mantra softly that seemed to be some form of incantation used for releasing the gallant soul from purgatory upon one’s peaceful passing. After he was done chanting, he heaved a sigh and spoke, “When Sir Tuo Xie first arrived at the island, if he were to meet the enlightened person Tian Shu or Tian Hua, the both of them would never be killed.”

Wen Leyang was feeling rather uncomfortable initially for Tian Shu and Tian Hua were both injured in the hands of the both of Hanba and demon cat. If they were never injured, the true soul would never dare to launch an attack that added to their injuries, but the head lama’s words immediately enlightened him. When Tuo Xie visited the Black and White Island, his sole purpose was to clarify the situation with the two brother disciples in restoring the great formation of heaven’s cone nails and trapping Xiang Liu’s evil soul.

If Tian Shu and Tian Hua were aware of Tuo Xie’s plan, then they would not be fighting with the zombie or demon cat, naturally, they would not be injured, or even killed.

However, in the final analysis of the matter, it was still caused by Chang Li who crushed the heaven’s cone nail, the descendant of Tuo Xie’s sect could never justify that and did not plan to justify. If the group were to be alive after they dealt with the nine-headed monster, they could set the past enmity in order later on!

The little supreme leader Liu Zheng was finally done telling the course of events, this was not an overly complicated matter, it was only due to the involvement of Black and White Island’s cultivation method and some unknown abstract concept of the true soul. It sounded slightly ambiguous but if one were to put it in simpler words, there was only a phrase in reality, the enlightened person Tian Yin’s body was possessed by Xiang Liu and he killed both Tian Shu and Tian Hua.

A smile filled with kindness was hanging on Fei Fei’s face, “I do not understand. It was truly admirable that the enlightened person Tian Yin had been fighting laboriously with Xiang Liu for the past two thousand years, but why are you…why are you constantly haunted by a gush of shameful intent?”

Liu Zheng shook his head and gave a forced laugh, “My family’s senior was supposed to be the people in charge of suppressing and guarding Xiang Liu but in the end, he was possessed by the evil soul, this shame…heh! Liu Zheng’s field of vision is too narrow!”

Fei Fei nodded and laughed, “The three immortal seniors stood upright on their two legs between heaven and earth, the Black and White Island’s descendants are not allowed to belittle themselves.”

If a common person were to tell the world’s largest cultivation sect that they were not allowed to belittle themselves, anyone would laugh their teeth off at the thought of it but Liu Zheng nodded his head strenuously.

When Liu Zheng was mentioning about his master teacher’s enmity, he was still filled with hatred as before but his solemnness had already started to feel livelier and started to feel aspired. It no longer felt like the horror of despair out of extreme disappointment.

Fei Fei still had questions to ask but she hesitated. She pondered for a moment before she continued, “There is something I am not sure if I should…”

“Ask away, it is alright!” Liu Zheng’s voice sounded fair and loud, penetrating with thriving vitality.

Fei Fei seemed to be thinking how to phrase her question. After a while, she finally chose the most straightforward and most hurtful but also the most understandable words, “Please do not blame me for offending you! Once the enlightened person Tian Yin temporarily regained control of his own body, why did he not kill himself? I am saying that, killing his own body!”

Wen Leyang hastily stretched out his hand and pulled Fei Fei to his back, he was afraid Liu Zheng might jump up and tear her into pieces.

Liu Zheng’s eyes widened for a moment, he first took a look at Fei Fei, then he shot his glare onto Wen Leyang’s face in the end, “Are you bearing for this little girl as well?”

Could Wen Leyang say that he did not care? He could only give a forced smile as he nodded.

Liu Zheng clenched his teeth and nodded, “Very well! Even though her crime is not punishable by death, I will still need to hit you!”

Wen Leyang laughed aloud as he answered, “Very well, anyhow I am used to being hit, you can come looking for me anytime you feel like hitting me! I was also thinking to ask that question earlier, it is best for you to consider that it was me who asked that question!”

Since it was difficult for Tian Yin to avoid the predestined fate of dispersed soul in the end, why did he not seize the opportunity when he was in control of his body, to straightforwardly killed himself and destroyed his dharma body? It was still better than being occupied by the true soul into committing evil.

Liu Zheng’s eyes swept past Wen Leyang from head to toe, he seemed to be considering which part of Wen Leyang’s body should he hit, “The master teacher uncle’s primordial spirit was already exhausted back then, he did not have the strength to destroy his own dharma body.”

Wen Leyang suddenly felt that he was the loser in this deal, it was very unworthy for him to be hit. Looking at the giant pangolin and the head lama Rangjung’s malicious smiles, he had already understood that this question was only significant for those who did not understand about cultivation method.

Master Rangjung’s question was obviously more professional than Wen Leyang, Fei Fei and the rest, “If the head priest Tian Yin’s dharma body was destroyed, then what would happen to Xiang Liu’s true…that bugger?”

The situation right now had already shifted from the narration of the past to how to deal with the ‘bugger’, everyone was holding back their stomach full of questions.

Liu Zheng shook his head in an extremely straightforward manner, “I do not know!”

Rangjung frowned as he continued to ask Liu Zheng, “Does the Black and White Island know of a method to refine this true…bugger?”

“No!” Liu Zheng’s expression clearly stated that the lama’s questions were very foolish. The three sword immortals of the Black and White Island had utterly no idea that the nine-headed Xiang Liu possessed another true soul, they knew even less of how to deal with it.

The giant pangolin chuckled, “What is the f*cking purpose to consider so much!” As it was saying that it used its tail to slap on Wen Leyang, “Please request your family’s grand master Chang Li and Fifth Brother Hanba to launch the attack and first deal with the enlightened person Tian Yin’s dharma body before we discuss any further…” It was halfway through its speech when it suddenly stopped speaking. Moments later, it was suddenly enlightened, “No! If the bugger were to take fancy on Chang Li’s cultivation base then it will be an even bigger trouble when it bore into her body!”

If Xiang Liu’s true soul could enter and exit a body at its pleasure, then who was still capable of dealing with it. It was afraid when it failed to defeat ‘Tian Yin’, not that there was no other person more incisive than Tian Yin, but if it were to bore into another person’s body then… the moment Wen Leyang thought of the possibility of Chang Li being possessed by the true soul, his mind was so chaotic and confused he felt as if he was fainting.

Fortunately, Liu Zheng finally laughed and spoke slightly comforting words, “On the contrary, it is not as dramatic as you described, the bugger and my family’s master teacher uncle struggled for two thousand years. It had already fused with the master teacher uncle’s power of dharma body as one before the dharma body was shattered, there was no way its primordial spirit could leave the body. Only by destroying the master teacher uncle’s dharma body, that bugger could flee out of the body, perhaps it would still look for somebody else to possess. However… this bugger’s soul power was rather profound, it could implode at any time, such that its primordial spirit could break away from the dharma body.

Po Tu pondered on Liu Zheng’s statement. It finally understood, the fine scales of his entire face were twisted along with its brows, “After Tian Yin’s dharma body is shattered, then Xiang Liu’s true soul will come out and look for another person to possess again? All of you have no other method to deal or refine this true soul of Xiang Liu?” Upon saying that, it watched as Liu Zheng nodded strenuously, Po Tu continued to scold in rage out of exasperation, “In this case, who can do anything to that bugger! If Tian Yin’s dharma body is shattered, it will attach itself to you or my body, then we can only watch as our primordial spirit is destroyed by it and our flesh bodies being used as its puppet?”

Liu Zheng nodded and spoke with righteousness, “Liu Zheng may be unworthy but he will never let his master teacher uncle’s dharma body be defiled by that bugger!”

Now that everyone was discussing a series of professional issues like the primordial spirit, vitality power, dharma body and et cetera, Wen Leyang had to use all his brain cells before he could catch up to the group’s discussion desperately.

The head lama Rangjung muttered to himself for a while then he continued Liu Zheng’s topic slowly, “If that is the case, our effort in figuring out a way to destroy the enlightened person Tian Yin’s dharma body can be a good deed actually, no matter whose body that bugger attached itself to as long as the person is not Chang Li or Hanba, as compared to it occupying the immortal senior Tian Yin’s body, it is still less dangerous.”

The enlightened person Tian Yin’s dharma body had profound cultivation base, the power was exceedingly strong, if Tian Yin’s body was used to commit evildoings and sins then it would certainly cause a terrible disaster in the mortal world. Even though the true soul had no way to utilize this dharma body into destroying the great formation of the Black and White Island, it could still use the body to execute its scheme, such that it could adopt another method to nourish Xiang Liu or destroy the Black and White Island’s prohibition spell. By the time Xiang Liu’s true body was returned to the mortal world once again, the true soul would only need to destroy Tian Yin’s dharma body then it could bore back into its original body.

If Tian Yin’s dharma body was shattered, as long as the true soul did not possess the body of unparalleled demon immortal like Chang Li or Guo Huan, no matter whose body it occupied once again, the danger would be greatly reduced.

At this moment, the jade knife Guo Huan that had not been speaking much all along suddenly scoffed in an icy cold manner, “After all that is said, everything is still nonsense! The old father wishes to ask all of you, if you were to request for the master cultivators like Chang Li or Hanba to come forward and deal with this bugger, you are only afraid that the moment the bugger meets them it will immediately explode its dharma body and then attached its soul to their bodies, right?”

Everyone nodded, Wen Leyang complemented, “That is why in the matter of dealing with the bugger, we can never request for them to launch an attack, otherwise we will help the bugger to achieve its aim instead, we can only figure out a way ourselves to look for the bugger and destroy the enlightened person Tian Yin’s dharma body first before we discuss further!”

Guo Huan burst out laughing. Its voice was filled with contempt, “Then the old father asks you again, if Chang Li or Hanba does not launch an attack, how are all of you going to deal with the bugger that is possessing Tian Yin’s dharma body?”

The issue that Wen Leyang and the rest were discussing was akin to a few criminals that were planning on how to beat up the supreme leader of the Wudang Sect. They did not consider that they could not even defeat the other subsidiary Wudang disciples, needless to think about beating the daylight out of the supreme leader.

Liu Zheng laughed with a preconceived idea in his heart, he had only spoken of the three words of ‘Kunlun Sword Formation’ when he was mercilessly interrupted by Guo Huan, “Bullshit! Just by depending on your thousand swords’ power, you cannot even deal with Tian Yin’s dharma body!”