Chapter Sixteen: The Second Poison Refinement

"Take him away."

Five hours had passed since Li Ju began watching the remaining time on the copy, when a group of cultists entered the prison, stopping in front of his cell. They unlocked the door and walked in.

Hearing the commotion, Li Ju, who had been sleeping against the wall, opened his eyes to look at them.

Clank...

Two cult guards unlocked the heavy chains binding Li Ju's body and hoisted him up.

There were six of them in total, only the leader among them had reached the level of an External Master...

Li Ju could immediately sense their level of strength. Fortunately, the cult’s internal hierarchy of martial techniques was strictly enforced—because Li Ju’s Ghost Bat Technique was of a higher grade than the techniques practiced by these underlings, even if one of them was an External Master like himself, as long as he didn’t expose his skill, they could not discern his true level.

As the two guards dragged him past the External Master, Li Ju’s hand twitched ever so slightly.

If he wished, he could seize this moment to launch a vicious surprise attack against this master.

But in the end, Li Ju let the guards carry him away without making a move. This was, after all, the cult’s prison. Who could say how many hidden guards lurked within? Even coming across a few Internal Masters would not be surprising—it was truly unwise to act rashly here.

Besides, after hearing Lian Tao’s account of the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body, Li Ju felt a surge of anticipation for the ordeal.

“Kid, come back alive!” Suddenly, Du Tianyou from the neighboring cell shouted.

“Don’t worry, elder,” Li Ju replied.

The cultists then stuffed Li Ju into a black sack and took him out of the prison.

“Hmph, even if that boy returns alive, so what? If he really survives the three poison trials, he’ll just become another Vajra Enforcer for the cult,” Lian Tao’s voice drifted in after they left.

“…Better alive than dead,” Du Tianyou replied after a moment’s silence.

“I’d say the two of us dying would be preferable. At least it would mean the cult has a new leader,” Lian Tao said coldly.

Du Tianyou fell completely silent.

...

Glug... glug...

Compared to the poison pool Li Ju had seen before, this one was far more dreadful—nearly every drop of water harbored some venomous creature. Bubbles churned on the surface, rising and bursting without pause.

“Just toss the meat stake in. This is the second poison trial—no need for anesthetic,” called two men tending the fire beneath the pool to the cultists carrying Li Ju.

The cultists nodded, pulled Li Ju from the sack, and threw him into the pool before quickly hurrying away.

The toxicity of this pool was so intense that even the surrounding air was laced with poison. The cultists would never come here unless ordered, and even then, they would always retreat in haste once their task was done.

“These guys really don’t give a damn,” grumbled one of the men by the fire, wiping away droplets of poisonous water splashed onto his face.

“What can you do? No one in the cult wants anything to do with the poison pool. Everyone avoids this place,” the other replied with a yawn.

The brothers had been born with a special constitution that made them immune to the pool’s poisons, so they alone were assigned to guard it.

Though only External Masters, their bodies had been steeped in poison for so long that even the cult’s Internal Elders hesitated to provoke them. They were known throughout the cult as the “Poison Brothers,” and others shunned them.

“Enough talk—the boy’s already in. Time to stoke the fire!” one urged.

Whoosh!

With the Poison Brothers’ efforts, the fire beneath the pool roared ever brighter.

Gurgle...

At the bottom of the poison pool, Li Ju felt his body swarmed by countless venomous creatures. The instant he plunged into the pool, they set upon him, biting and tearing at his flesh. Waves of excruciating pain coursed through his body and mind.

“So... it hurts!” Li Ju’s eyes reddened, his eyeballs nearly bulging from their sockets. He gritted his teeth, feeling as if the pain might tear him apart.

The agony was several times worse than the pain of childbirth—so intense that even Li Ju, an External Master, found it almost unendurable. And as the pool’s heat rose, the pain only intensified.

“Circulate your internal energy…”

Li Ju remembered Lian Tao’s words, forced himself to stay conscious, and began to channel the inner technique of the Ghost Bat Skill.

"It’s working!"

As he closed his eyes and worked the technique, he realized the pain gradually dulled. After one successful cycle, the pain was reduced to something akin to being hacked with a blade—no longer unbearable.

"Not only does it dull the pain, but my cultivation is accelerating!"

Li Ju opened his eyes in delight. He could sense that the speed at which he circulated the Ghost Bat Skill within the poison pool was greatly increased.

While it would normally take him a certain amount of time to complete a cycle, here, in the poison pool, he could complete three cycles in the same span. His cultivation speed within the pool was three times faster than usual!

"If that’s the case, perhaps I can use this opportunity to push the Ghost Bat Skill to a higher level," Li Ju thought.

His skill could improve through his own training, but with his inferior martial aptitude, his progress was usually much slower than the rewards granted by the system. Still, he was nothing if not determined.

Without hesitation, Li Ju settled at the bottom of the pool, forging the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body while cultivating the Ghost Bat Skill.

“Hey, that’s odd. Why isn’t this one screaming?” one of the Poison Brothers remarked as he tended the fire.

They usually derived the most satisfaction from the wretched screams of the “meat stakes” during these poison trials. The sudden silence felt strangely unsettling.

“Who cares? Maybe the kid’s just weak—passed out from pain as soon as he went in,” replied the other indifferently.

“That’s possible,” the first agreed.

“I wonder if any of this batch of ten meat stakes will survive to become a Vajra Enforcer.”

“Judging by the usual mortality rate, with luck, one or two might make it.”

“Good thing the cult has been waging war everywhere lately, wiping out those so-called martial clans—otherwise, we’d never have enough meat stakes for a batch of ten at once.”

“Enough chatter. The sooner we finish with this last one, the sooner we can rest. More fire!”

With that, they continued their grim work.