Chapter 617 - 613: Soul Poison

"Something's wrong!"

Hong Yu and Xishang Ling exchanged a look, each seeing the unease in the other's eyes.

"Let's hurry inside and see what's going on!"

Hong Yu said.

He immediately took the lead and charged in.

Mei'Er hadn't closed the cave estate's main gate after entering, so Hong Yu got inside easily.

From the outside, the cave estate looked to be only a few dozen square meters, but upon entering, Hong Yu discovered a whole new world within. The space was at least three to five hundred square meters.

It was fully furnished with all sorts of furniture and even had separate courtyards.

An elegantly decorated courtyard sat in the very center, fronted by a lawn.

At this moment,

Mei'Er was kneeling on the lawn. In her arms lay a woman with features as exquisite as a Celestial Immortal who had descended to the mortal realm, and a graceful figure like that of an enchanting Elf.

The woman wore a turquoise gown that outlined her near-perfect figure.

However...

a cloud of black gas swirled over her exquisite face, a face that looked as if it had been carved by a Celestial God.

The black gas roiled as if a Demon were trying to tear her Soul apart.

It was an incredibly bizarre sight.

When Mei'Er saw Hong Yu and Xishang Ling enter, she didn't scold them. Instead, she said anxiously, "Hurry, come and help! Her Highness the Princess suddenly collapsed!"

Mei'Er was so frantic she was on the verge of tears.

The Peacock Princess was the apple of the Peacock King's eye, the treasure of the entire Peacock Tribe. On a normal day, if she so much as sneezed, the whole tribe would grow tense and offer up countless precious medicinal herbs to tend to her health.

If anything were to truly happen to her, Mei'Er, as her personal handmaiden, was sure to face a dead end.

Of course,

that was all secondary for Mei'Er. More importantly, the Peacock Princess was gentle by nature and treated her like a sister. She truly couldn't bear to see anything happen to her.

Xishang Ling knew this was serious. He immediately said, "Wait here for me. I'll go get help!"

But Hong Yu grabbed him, his voice low. "Don't move. I'm afraid this is quite troublesome."

"Boss, what did you find?"

Xishang Ling asked gravely.

Ever since Hong Yu had helped the Xishang King resolve the Dao Heart Demon Curse, Xishang Ling had been completely won over by his methods. His admiration for Hong Yu knew no bounds.

Hong Yu said in a low voice, "If you trust me, let me handle this." Seeing Mei'Er's suspicious expression, he added, "I can tell you this unequivocally: right now, in all of the Nanshan Collection, I'm the only one who can save her. Even if your Peacock King were to emerge from seclusion, he wouldn't be able to do it either!"

HISS!

Both Xishang Ling and Mei'Er gasped.

Hong Yu's words had utterly shocked them.

Who was the Peacock King?

He was a mighty Late-stage War Emperor, the number one expert in the entire Central Area!

After a moment's hesitation, Xishang Ling said to Mei'Er, "Mei'Er, trust my boss!"

"But..."

Mei'Er was still worried.

Hong Yu's voice was grave. "If you don't want your princess to die, you'll do as I say. Go and activate the Array at the entrance to the cave estate. Don't let anyone in. And whatever you do, don't let anyone disturb me!"

"This..."

Mei'Er hesitated for a moment, but seeing the black gas spreading across the Peacock Princess's exquisite face, she gritted her teeth. "Alright, I'll go seal the Array now!"

Mei'Er went to seal the Array, but as a precaution, she first sent a distress signal to several Elders of the Peacock Tribe.

Only then did she activate it, sealing the entrance.

Hong Yu had already sat down cross-legged beside the Peacock Princess. He stared at the black aura coiling around her, his brow furrowed in a grim expression. 'There's never a dull moment in this Nanshan Collection. First, I ran into a rare Gu Insect and the Dao Heart Demon Curse, and now I've found this Soul Poison...'

Soul Poison.

A virulent poison made by Refining the souls of Lost Souls.

The poison was colorless and odorless.

Even an expert at the Yin Yang Realm, if caught off guard, could be eroded by it, their life force extinguished little by little.

Unless the Soul Poison fully manifested, its victims wouldn't even know they were afflicted until the moment of their death.

Hong Yu took out a silver needle to test the substance.

But the moment it touched the black gas on the Peacock Princess's face, the needle instantly melted, evaporating into black smoke. Hong Yu couldn't help but gasp. 'Such a vicious Soul Poison! It was made by Refining Resentful Spirits!'

'Xingtian, lend me the Devouring Demon Tree!'

As he communicated with Xingtian in his mind, with a BOOM, a colossal, ancient tree materialized behind him.

Having cultivated the Demon Skill Hong Yu had seized from Hai Tian, Xingtian's power had advanced once more. He was now just one step away from becoming a Fifth-Tribulation Execution Corpse, and the Devouring Demon Tree had grown from ten zhang to a height of twenty zhang.

RUSTLE RUSTLE!

Black vines unfurled from the Devouring Demon Tree.

The vines of the Demon Tree wrapped around the Peacock Princess, slowly lifting her until she was suspended in mid-air.

Just as Hong Yu was about to activate the Devouring Demon Tree to completely extract the Soul Poison from her body,

But just then...

the sealed Array of the cave estate was suddenly shattered from the outside. Seven figures stormed in with incredible speed.

The newcomers instantly saw the eerie Demon Tree, overflowing with Demonic Qi, materializing behind Hong Yu. Its vines were shooting out to wrap around the Peacock Princess. The expression of the red-haired old man leading the group changed drastically. A terrifying aura erupted from him as he bellowed, "Fiend! Stop what you're doing!"

The moment the words left his mouth, he charged forward.

The Mystical Dharma Aspect of a red peacock appeared behind him.

This was a powerful War King.

His aura was explosive and domineering as he sent a palm strike flying toward Hong Yu.

Hong Yu was at a critical juncture and could not afford to be distracted. He was utterly unable to defend against the palm strike. With a THUD, the red-haired elder's palm slammed into his back.

SPURT!

Hong Yu's body shuddered as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

His aura fell into chaos, and he struggled to maintain the Devouring Demon Tree behind him.

Seeing that Hong Yu still hadn't released the Peacock Princess, the red-haired elder roared in fury, "You bastard! How dare you harm Her Highness! Die!"

Hong Yu was speechless with frustration.

He couldn't explain himself now. If he withdrew the Devouring Demon Tree, the Soul Poison would dissipate into the air. The entire Peacock Mountain would become a paradise for Lost Souls and Resentful Spirits.

Fortunately, Mei'Er and Xishang Ling reacted in time, zipping in front of the red-haired elder to block his path.

"Mei'Er? You little whelp, you dare collude with an outsider to harm the princess? I'll kill you!"

The red-haired elder had a fiery temper. With a glare, his fiery red peacock Dharma Aspect was about to unleash a torrent of flames to incinerate them both.

Xishang Ling hastily said, "Elder Huo, please calm down! This is my boss, Beichen. He's not harming Her Highness—he's helping her detoxify!"

"Hm?"

The red-haired elder stared, frowning at Xishang Ling. He glared and barked, "You're Xishang Ling? What's a wastrel like you doing on our Peacock Mountain? Don't tell me you're here to chase our tribe's young women again? You lecherous scoundrel! You nearly led Mei'Er astray back then, and you still haven't learned your lesson? Now you dare to lay your filthy hands on our princess?"

Xishang Ling's face flushed with embarrassment.

But this was no time to be bashful.

He braced himself and said, "Elder Huo, just listen to me!"

"Hmph! What more is there to say? First, I'll break your damn legs!" True to his fiery temper, Elder Huo prepared to strike.

Fortunately, the other six Elders arrived at that moment.

An elder in a blue robe among them said, "Second Brother, wait. I don't think the boy is trying to harm the princess."

"What? Big Brother, you believe their bullshit?"

Elder Huo roared, his eyes wide with anger.

The blue-robed man was the Grand Elder of the Peacock Tribe. He said calmly, "Take a look at the young man."

"Hm?"

Elder Huo glanced over at Hong Yu, letting out a soft grunt of surprise. He then took a closer look, and his expression changed. "This... This kid is absorbing that strange black gas from Her Highness's body?"

"That is no ordinary black gas. It's Soul Poison!" the Grand Elder said.

His expression was strangely complex.

It was as if he had long known of the Soul Poison's existence.

"Soul Poison?"

Elder Huo paused, his face paling slightly. "You mean...?"

"Yes."

The Grand Elder nodded. "Have you all forgotten why His Majesty is in seclusion?"

The elders fell silent.

The Peacock King had gone into seclusion precisely because of the Soul Poison afflicting the Peacock Princess.

Years ago, after the Peacock King had helped the Xishang King suppress the Dao Heart Demon Curse, he grew worried that the mastermind behind it would target the Peacock Tribe. He conducted a check on all his people and ultimately discovered the latent Soul Poison in the Peacock Princess.

Unfortunately, despite trying every method at his disposal, the Peacock King was unable to neutralize the Soul Poison and was even tainted by a trace of it himself.

He had spent all these years in seclusion trying to find a way to purge it.

In his rage, Elder Huo had completely forgotten about this. The Grand Elder's reminder brought him back to his senses, but his expression remained doubtful. "But even His Majesty was helpless against the Soul Poison. How could this unknown kid possibly have a way to deal with it?"

Hong Yu, who was in the middle of helping the Peacock Princess absorb the Soul Poison, overheard this.

He managed to spare a fraction of his Heart Spirit and declared proudly, "In the entire Nanshan Collection, no one but me can cure this Soul Poison."

"You?"

Elder Huo glared. "And just who the hell do you think you are, kid?"

Hong Yu was already furious with Elder Huo.

He was trying to help, and this old man had struck him for no reason. Now he was questioning his methods. Hong Yu sneered, "Stop your yelling, old man. What will you do if I succeed?"

"I... I..."

Elder Huo was enraged. He grabbed at his own head, and if he weren't worried about harming the Peacock Princess, he would have slapped Hong Yu right then and there.

But seeing Hong Yu's contemptuous gaze, his anger flared.

He roared, "If you can remove the Soul Poison from Her Highness, I'll damn well call you my master!"

"Hahaha! Good! Then as your master, I accept you as my disciple!"

Hong Yu roared with laughter.

And then...

With a sudden roar, Hong Yu began to channel his power into the Devouring Demon Tree even more frantically.

RUMBLE!

Vines filled the air, thrashing about like a Demon God baring its fangs and claws.

Under everyone's tense gazes, the vines instantly enveloped the Peacock Princess. Torrents of black Soul Poison were relentlessly devoured by the Devouring Demon Tree.

Elder Huo grew more and more astonished. A fine sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead. He stared with wide, disbelieving eyes and muttered...

"Good heavens... Don't tell me I'm really going to have to call him master?"