Chapter 891: Another Heavenly Poison Pearl (Part 2)
"Ah——" Yun Che's sudden halt made Su Linger, who was basking in the gentle breeze, cry out in alarm. She hurriedly asked, "Brother Yun Che, what's wrong?"
"Master..." Yun Che murmured absentmindedly, then abruptly turned around. He was about to recklessly charge back, but just as his profound energy began to condense, his reason forcefully suppressed it.
The "Yun Gu" that Duan Heisha had just shouted was his master's name!
On the Cang Yun Continent, everyone knew it, everyone respected the title of "Medical Sage"!
He hadn't expected that as he was thinking about his master, hesitating whether to go find him—whether to just take a distant look or to come before him and exchange a few simple words—he would suddenly, without warning, hear his master's name.
Even less did he expect that the Zhe Tian Sect, the Seven Star Divine Mansion, and the Flying Immortal Sword Sect would all mobilize together, with the three overlords personally present—a massive formation that might not be seen even once in a hundred years on the Cang Yun Continent—all for his master and...
The Heavenly Poison Pearl...
The Heavenly Poison Pearl!!??
"Master? You said master?" Su Linger also grabbed Yun Che's arm excitedly, her grip tight. "Is it true? Where is he? Where is Master?"
Yun Che held unparalleled respect for Yun Gu. Though he always addressed him as "Master," in that lifetime on the Cang Yun Continent, he was his only father!
And Su Linger also felt great respect and affection for Yun Gu.
Yun Che's gaze flickered. He didn't answer immediately, his heart full of confusion... What was this about the "Heavenly Poison Pearl" that Duan Heisha mentioned? These words clearly indicated that the three major sects were here to seize the Heavenly Poison Pearl from his master, Yun Gu.
But the Heavenly Poison Pearl was right on him, fused with his body, brought back with him to the Tian Xuan Continent. How could another one appear?
Moreover, Mo Li had said that the Lunhui Jing's traversal through reincarnation would be accompanied by causal correction and absolutely could not violate the law of causality. Although the timeline of the Cang Yun Continent had shifted, there would not be another him, nor would there be another Heavenly Poison Pearl.
Not to mention that the Heavenly Poison Pearl was no ordinary item—it was a Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasure, just like the Lunhui Jing!
How could something like that be "copied"!
There was another thing that puzzled him... In that lifetime, although his master was forced to death because of the Heavenly Poison Pearl, the sects that forced him were only first-rate sects on the Cang Yun Continent, at most dominating in a certain country or region. They were definitely not Sacred Grounds-level sects like the Zhe Tian Sect.
Later, driven by hatred, he had frantically released the poison power of the Heavenly Poison Pearl, showing the world how terrifying it was, which then attracted the greed of sects like the Zhe Tian Sect... and the pursuit of the entire continent.
He had thought that in this lifetime, without the Heavenly Poison Pearl on him, his master Yun Gu, with his kindness and medical skills, would surely live out his days peacefully, respected by all. He never imagined that he would still end up in such a predicament...
Not only did it happen earlier than in the previous lifetime, but it was even more terrifying—the pressure from three Sacred Grounds-level sects!
What exactly was going on?
But no matter what, no matter who the enemy was... how could he allow his master to suffer the same calamity again!
"Linger, the people we saw just now were surrounding Master," Yun Che said calmly. "Back then, I didn't have the power to save Master. This time, even if it's the Heavenly King himself, he won't be able to touch a single hair on Master's head!!"
"Ah..." Su Linger turned her head to look behind them, her expression instantly tense. Tense for Yun Gu, but even more tense for Yun Che.
"Linger, let's sneak over quietly... Don't worry, they won't find us."
Yun Che held Su Linger close again, using Flowing Light Thunder Concealment to perfectly conceal both their auras. Then he stealthily approached... He wanted to find out what was really going on. He wanted to know if the "Heavenly Poison Pearl" he had heard was truly the Heavenly Poison Pearl.
When they were within a thousand zhang, Yun Che's gaze pierced through layers of trees and people, and he immediately saw the old man surrounded by the three major sects. His heartstrings trembled violently. After reuniting with Su Linger, his already reddened eyes grew warm once more.
Long white beard, long white eyebrows, long white hair, but his face was without wrinkles, his eyes clear as water. The whole person seemed like an immortal stepping out of the clouds, carrying a transcendent, dust-free bearing.
Even when surrounded by the three overlord sects, even facing the pressure of three peak sect masters directly, his expression remained calm as water, his gaze only deep with a sigh, as if lamenting the greed and filth of the world.
"Master..." Yun Che murmured emotionally, almost unable to control his profound energy from leaking out. "Finally... finally I see you again..."
"Yun Gu, you're not going to say the Heavenly Poison Pearl isn't on you, are you?" Zhe Tian Sect Leader Zuo Hanshuo stepped forward a few paces, his expression leisurely, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Seven months ago, the number one sect of the Nanguo Kingdom, the Jinghong Villa, secretly kept the Heavenly Poison Pearl and suffered the disaster of the Heavenly Poison Pearl. A full two hundred and seventy thousand people in the villa turned into poisonous water, the entire villa became a dead ruin, a miserable sight. Even those who entered afterward all died."
"After the poison dispersed, there was no trace of the Heavenly Poison Pearl in Jinghong Villa. Since then, the Heavenly Poison Pearl has been unheard of. But just recently, we confirmed one thing... Before the poison in Jinghong Villa scattered, one person entered and came out alive—and that was you, Yun Gu! Do you deny this?"
"Alas." Yun Gu let out a long, profound sigh.
"Sect Leader, why bother talking to this old man? Just capture him directly." An elder from the Zhe Tian Sect stepped forward.
"Hey, no rudeness," Zuo Hanshuo lifted his hand lightly. "Yun Gu is the Medical Sage of our generation, who has saved countless lives and is praised by all. He would never be the kind of ungrateful fool who disregards the safety of the entire continent."
Of course, this was not respect for Yun Gu. If only one sect were present, they would already be resorting to any means. But with three sects gathered, all appeared harmonious on the surface. Yet if anyone made the first move, they would surely be attacked by the others.
"The Heavenly Poison Pearl was indeed obtained by me," Yun Gu slowly spoke, his voice deep and without a hint of agedness.
Yun Che: "..." (Yun Gu actually admitted it directly.)
"Hahahaha," Duan Heisha, the master of the Seven Star Divine Mansion, laughed loudly. "As expected of the Medical Sage, truly a wise man who knows his place. So then, will you hand it over obediently, or do you want us to take it from you personally?"
"Why do you want the Heavenly Poison Pearl?" Yun Gu looked up at the sky, asking a question to which he already knew the answer.
"Humph, do you even need to ask?" Mu Yingchan, the chief master of the Flying Immortal Sword Sect, stepped forward slowly, speaking with great righteousness. "Since the Heavenly Poison Pearl appeared four years ago, countless people on our Cang Yun Continent have died from its lethal poison. At first, it killed dozens at a time, but with each subsequent appearance, it triggered even more terrible poison disasters—from dozens to hundreds at a time, then thousands... several thousand... tens of thousands..."
"And the last time it appeared, it killed all two hundred and seventy thousand people in Jinghong Villa, leaving no bones behind. The entire villa became barren, and the poison lasted for an entire month before dissipating. If such a disaster of an object continues to exist in this world, it will surely bring great calamity to the Cang Yun Continent. Our Flying Immortal Sword Sect has been searching for the Heavenly Poison Pearl all along, precisely to seal it forever, so it can no longer wreak havoc."
"And looking across the entire Cang Yun Continent, only our Flying Immortal Sword Sect has the ability to completely seal the Heavenly Poison Pearl."
Yun Gu: "..."
"Hehehe, Sect Leader Mu, don't let your words bite your tongue," Duan Heisha sneered. "If we're talking swordsmanship, our Seven Star Divine Mansion indeed admits to being inferior. But if it's about the way of medicine and poison, your sect probably can't even reach our toes. If you truly handed the Heavenly Poison Pearl over to your sect, heh... Aren't you afraid that your power won't be enough and the Flying Immortal Sword Sect will follow in the footsteps of Jinghong Villa?"
Mu Yingchan was not angered. He smiled benignly and said, "That is not for Lord Mansion Master to worry about. If my Flying Immortal Sword Sect can't even handle a Heavenly Poison Pearl, we would be unworthy of standing on the Cang Yun Continent for ten thousand years. As for Lord Mansion Master, your mansion just had an elder and a group of disciples killed, and you still have no clue. With external troubles unresolved, you forcibly meddle in the matter of the Heavenly Poison Pearl. This chief master is worried that your mansion will be overwhelmed and, in a moment of carelessness, follow in the footsteps of Jinghong Villa. That would be most unfortunate."
Duan Heisha let out a cold laugh. "Compared to the safety of the Cang Yun Continent, a mere external trouble is nothing."
Their words fell into Yun Che's ears without missing a single word, making him more and more suspicious.
The "Heavenly Poison Pearl" they spoke of had appeared four years ago and released an incredibly terrible poison.
But the Heavenly Poison Pearl fused with him possessed complete purifying and refining powers. Yet after so many years, the poison power it once had had never recovered—not even a little.
Back then, when his master Yun Gu was forced to his death, the reason they seized the Heavenly Poison Pearl was for the detoxifying and refining power Yun Gu displayed when using the Heavenly Poison Pearl to treat people.
Yun Gu saved people with the Heavenly Poison Pearl, but those he saved leaked the power of the Heavenly Poison Pearl, until the Cang Yun Continent was rife with rumors that the Heavenly Poison Pearl could neutralize all poisons under heaven and refine all things under heaven. With the Heavenly Poison Pearl, one no longer feared any poison and could refine any pill.
In the end, driven by the greed of countless sects, Yun Gu took his own life. His suicide was to protect Yun Che, but Yun Che...
As for the poison power of the Heavenly Poison Pearl, it was only after Yun Gu's death that Yun Che, blinded by hatred, recklessly released it to poison those who had forced Yun Gu to his death, revealing to the world that the most terrifying aspect of the Heavenly Poison Pearl was its world-destroying poison.
And now, the three overlord sect masters were fighting to seize the "Heavenly Poison Pearl," clearly for its poison power. Not a single word of theirs mentioned its purifying and refining abilities.
What exactly was this "Heavenly Poison Pearl" they were fighting over now?
Yun Gu swept his gaze across his surroundings and said softly, "If you truly wish to seal the power of the Heavenly Poison Pearl to prevent it from bringing poison to the Cang Yun Continent, then you may leave now."
"What do you mean by that?" Zhe Tian Sect Leader Zuo Hanshuo said unhurriedly.
"The poison of the Heavenly Poison Pearl is no ordinary poison. Now that its poison power has only awakened slightly, it is already this terrifying. Its poison power is by no means something that can be controlled and sealed with simple profound power or profound formations. I have studied the way of medicine and poison for many years and have some special attainments in the way of poison, allowing me to barely control the Heavenly Poison Pearl. But if it is handed over to you, once its poison power gets out of control and goes berserk, it will be yet another irreversible natural disaster."
"Hehehe, hahahahaha..." Zuo Hanshuo burst into wild laughter. Duan Heisha and Mu Yingchan also laughed loudly. Zuo Hanshuo sneered, "So this is the so-called Medical Sage. I thought he was truly a sage concerned with the safety of all living beings, but it turns out he's just a mortal greedy for the Heavenly Poison Pearl."
"How utterly ridiculous! You claim that only you can control the Heavenly Poison Pearl and that we cannot? In other words, the three of us—sects that have flourished on the Cang Yun Continent for ten thousand years—are inferior to you, a mere old doctor? Hahahaha, this is the stupidest joke this mansion master has ever heard!" Duan Heisha roared with laughter.
"Old man Yun," Mu Yingchan dropped all pretense, his address to Yun Gu becoming extremely scornful. He extended his hand toward Yun Gu. "Hand over the Heavenly Poison Pearl obediently. This is for the sake of all living beings under heaven."
"What you seek is nothing but the poison power of the Heavenly Poison Pearl." Yun Gu's gaze was clear but tinged with sorrow, his voice still faint as a secluded breeze. "If I hand it over to you, that would be the true disaster and the gravest mistake."
"Tch," Mu Yingchan's gaze turned dark. A cold, pale hand reached out and landed on Yun Gu's left shoulder. "What a stubborn mouth you have. To keep the Heavenly Poison Pearl for yourself, you don't even want your life. I wonder if your words would change if you were missing an arm?"
Just as Mu Yingchan's words fell, a voice as cold as ice came from behind him:
"Take your dirty hand off him!"