C1011 Madam Poison
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two orbs of colorful smoke burst forth from the sides of Peach Madam's sleeves, as large as millstones and brimming with radiant light. Within them, the agonized visage of Hu Caiyun could be faintly discerned.
Yu Yuan concentrated his gaze and noticed even more faces identical to Peach Madam's within the surrounding smoke, each contorted in pain as though subjected to excruciating torture.
The two Warpbeasts, born from the fusion of Shura warriors and an enchantress, were similarly wracked with torment.
Yu Yuan, harboring certain suspicions, let out a snort and, with unruffled composure, swung his sword sheath, unleashing a crimson sword light.
The sword light cleaved through the air with a hissing sound, splitting the oncoming colorful smoke in two before shredding it further with the sword's will. Yet, in a mere moment, the fragmented smoke coalesced anew.
Peach Madam, her face alight with a radiant smile, stood amidst the swirling mists, casually brushing a stray lock of hair from her forehead with slender fingers. Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, "Hong Qi, I appreciate your assistance. I'm in excellent health."
More clusters of colorful smoke drifted away from her.
The smoke shifted subtly, morphing into various forms: another Peach Madam, a mutated enchantress, a transformed Shura warrior, dire beasts unknown to Yu Yuan, formidable archdemons, and human cultivators from the Everlands.
This motley procession comprised over a dozen entities: humans, archdemons, Warpbeasts—all altered by the miasmic smoke.
These transformed creatures, shaped from the miasma, were once victims of Peach Madam's lethal poison, consumed and absorbed by the virulent miasma she cultivated.
In the subterranean cells, the miasma could not stray far from her body, tethered to her by an invisible bond.
But now...
"I truly owe her an apology," Yu Yuan murmured, bowing deeply to the figure of Hu Caiyun, now just a manifestation of the miasma.
In this moment, he fully understood that the inner demon, long oppressed and tormented by Hu Caiyun, had usurped her place, seizing control of her very essence.
As for Hu Caiyun herself, she had been cast out, reduced to a mere wisp of miasma.
After defeating the inner demon and the miasma, the entity could wield power and demonstrate combat strength far superior to its original form.
She was the embodiment of Hu Caiyun's inner demon, the shadowy aspect of her psyche, a manifestation of her negative emotions.
Yu Yuan was determined to help Hu Caiyun regain her senses, which meant he had to defeat and purify her. Understandably, she wouldn't go down without a fight.
A piercing scream that could rupture eardrums and tremble souls emanated from the mutated enchantress.
Yu Yuan experienced a brief spell of vertigo.
The Shura General, under the thrall of the miasma, wore an expression of agony. His eyes showed a glimmer of resistance, yet he was powerless to command his own body and will, charging at Yu Yuan without delay.
Boom!
Above Yu Yuan, a cloud of miasma burst like a mushroom, its radiant light intermingled with poison raining down.
The poison, fine as mist, carried an odor whose effects Yu Yuan instantly recognized.
"The decay of flesh and corruption of the soul pose a significant threat to the Altar of Rebirth within me. Peach Madam is a dark disciple from the Rainbow Ocean. It is said she once had a companion, a formidable being at the Divine Level, who perished in the far reaches of the extraterrestrial Star River..."
These thoughts raced through Yu Yuan's mind as he resolved to evade the toxic downpour.
Out of nowhere, the deceased brothers Baruch and Singh of the Crypt Clan emerged from beneath his feet.
Clearly, they were not the actual deceased Crypt Clan members but rather remnants of their bloodline mysteries, consumed and assimilated by the enchantress and the Shura warriors.
They sprang up unexpectedly, each latching onto one of Yu Yuan's legs.
The diminutive, transformed Crypt Clan beings dangled from Yu Yuan's legs, rendering them numb and powerless as his flesh was eroded and his muscles were torn asunder.
Yu Yuan, intent on escaping through Veilwalk, found himself immobilized by these Crypt Clan entities.
In that moment, the enchantress's soul let out another ferocious howl, and the Warpbeast, once a Shura warrior, soared towards him, braving the poisonous miasma rain.
His hand was like a sharp blade of ice, gleaming with a chilling light as it thrust toward Yu Yuan's throat.
"You're asking for death!"
Yu Yuan sneered, his formidable vitality and spiritual energy cascading into his legs like a torrent. He unleashed Fiendish Might, and two bursts of explosive energy reverberated through his limbs.
The two impostors from the Crypt Clan, born of the noxious miasma, suddenly burst into a kaleidoscope of colored mist.
The residual force of the two psionic blasts morphed into twin cyclones, swirling with chaotic, twisting streams of light. They surged toward the figure of Peach Madam, obscured within the colorful haze.
Yu Yuan swung the scabbard in his hand, and a brilliant crimson sword light flared out, carving deep, bone-revealing gashes across the chest of the diving Shura fiend.
The Warpbeast, a good ten meters away, was wounded by the sword's will and plummeted from the sky with a thunderous crash.
Meanwhile, Peach Madam had transformed into some bizarre, malevolent entity, her form shrouded in an ever-growing cloud of vibrant mist.
This mist had formed an expansive cloud sea, spanning dozens of acres and hovering midair, greedily drawing in the toxic and psionic-laden currents from the Nirvana Realm.
Puff! Puff!
Yu Yuan's twin hurricanes, forged from his strength, entered the cloud sea only to be popped like bubbles by her.
Peach Madam's laughter tinkled through the air.
A rain laced with deadly poison showered down upon Yu Yuan, eating away at his clothes and flesh like sulfuric acid, causing smoke to rise from his body and his flesh to dissolve.
"Hong Qi, you're merely at the Spirit Walk stage. How did you manage to venture into the extraterrestrial Star River?"
After Hu Caiyun assumed her new form, she no longer addressed him as Yu Yuan, but as Hong Qi. "Why didn't you stay put in the Everlands to perfect your Venomcraft? Instead, you chose to pursue the path of cultivation like others. Have you got your priorities mixed up? Hong Qi, in your past life, you lacked the talent for cultivation, but your mastery of Venomcraft instilled fear in many Unbound Realm masters."
"Having successfully reincarnated, shouldn't you be delving deeper into your Venomcraft? I'm well aware that many of the Poison Cult's arcane techniques are adaptations of the Arcane Poisoncraft that Luo Yue pilfered from you. You clearly have the potential for great success on this path, so why bother emulating others' step-by-step cultivation?"
"No matter how strong your physique, it's no match for the insidious spread of poison. A body of flesh and blood is just that, and when it encounters a potent enough toxin, there's only one outcome: death."
Peach Madam said this with a smile blooming on her face.
As she spoke, she waved her sleeves once more.
From the ever-expanding Rainbow Ocean, dozens of miasma clouds burst forth, coalescing into fierce archdemons and alien beasts that lunged at the bandits led by Benin and Hart.
The remaining bandits had barely reached the outskirts of the secluded valley and before they could take a second glance, they were consumed by the miasma clouds.
Their resistance to the poison was incomparably weaker than Yu Yuan's.
In just a mere ten seconds, the bandits were reduced to puddles of blood.
Touzet of the Shadowkin shivered as he witnessed the demise of the bandits and the blood-soaked, pitiful state of Yu Yuan under the relentless assault of the toxic rain.
The deep-seated hatred he harbored for Peach Madam was now overwhelmed by fear. The very thought of revenge was instantly shattered by the terror that coursed through him.
His teeth chattered uncontrollably.
"It seems we're still alive because she finds us somewhat useful," Hart and Benin said together, nearly in tears. They had thought Yu Yuan was a formidable foe, but they were unprepared for the gentle and refined Peach Madam to transform into a bloodthirsty executioner, baring her horrific fangs.
Not only had Yu Yuan sustained severe injuries, but she had also slain the two Warpbeasts.
"Touzet of the Shadowkin, and you two little Otherkin, when I leave the Nirvana Realm, you will take control of that black iron warship for me," she commanded with a contented tone amidst the Rainbow Ocean.
At that moment, she felt invincible within the Nirvana Realm, yet she was aware that even if she usurped Hu Caiyun's place, her safety was not guaranteed upon venturing into the depths of the Star River.
With the black iron warship as her disguise and Touzet, Benin, and Hart to guide her, she could sidestep many potential dangers.
As for the God of Medicine, Hong Qi...
She cast a sidelong glance at Yu Yuan, whose flesh was being eroded by the miasma, seemingly dissolving before her eyes, and she was surprised to notice an unusual energy fluctuation emanating from the green and black bracelet on his wrist.
Yu Yuan flashed a grin and let out a chuckle in her direction.
The dried blood on Yu Yuan's face had quietly formed scabs, which, as he laughed, flaked away to unveil his strikingly handsome features, still pristine and unmarred beneath.
Her smile seized up at the sight.
