Chapter 232 - Among Them

The sun rose on another day, coating the open prairies with its golden rays that chased away the darkness of the night. Here it comes another day, another day of waiting... another day where this planet's fate will hang. 

"Hmm, seems like no one is coming over," I spoke as this was the third day that not a single cultivator from the Fire King's realm came in. 

At first, I thought that this was just luck, that no cultivator came down due to the fact that the planet is damn big, and finding this not-so formation-protected part was pretty hard.

But on the fourth day, I realized that I was damn mistaken.

Hundreds upon hundreds of cultivators rushed into the massive opening in the formation and came down with as much speed as they could.

They must have realized that the other cultivators who have been here before had died. Though I don't know how they were informed, since this is a world where everything is possible, I didn't dare and waste time thinking about it.

Just as the first batch of cultivators landed, they spread out in all directions.

Which was damn good for me, as they say, Divide and Conquer, and they already spared me the effort of dividing them. All I have left to do is to slowly take them out.

The prairies were not the best place to take out the cultivators, but once they walked into the forested area of this Qi-less zone. They all became prey.

X's rifle was too loud, and a single shot would alert everyone here, so I had to inform him to not interfere. This was Z's turn to shine.

I pulled the small puppet spider from my pocket, and then had it move into the no Qi area.

Unlike humans, or cultivators in general, who will have their Qi disrupted the moment they enter this area, since it had a breath sealing Qi poison in it. My puppets aren't under the same influence.

It's not because of an inscription or anything like that, but the fact that they do not generate their own Qi, and actually use 'batteries' where Qi is already coalesced and stored and those are Spirit Stones.

And since he could use Spirit Stones to move around and not be affected by the atmosphere, Z was more than capable of doing his job and a tad bit more.

Z's speed was too fast for regular eyes to spot, and with the disruption of Divine Sense, he was nigh impossible to spot.

Z landed on the shoulder of the nearest Cultivator and jabbed a poison needle into him. Before the cultivator could even realize that he was pricked, Z had already moved to the second Cultivator, and it kept going on like that.

A couple of cultivators stopped, as one asked another, "Something bit me." The first one said.

"Really? Same here, hold up, why is your face so…blue," the second cultivator said.

The first, not realizing that he was being talked to, took a few steps back, his eyeballs rolled back, and then he fell, spasming, and frothing at the mouth.

The second cultivator tried to get closer to his companion, only to fall on his knees and then his face, spasming and unable to act.

Death, doom, and decay waited for anyone touched by Z's needle.

The poison in it was a nasty mix of Bone and Body Grinding Poison, Breath Sealing Poison, Braided Mourning Poison, and Soul Disrupting Poison.

A mix capable of neutralizing the body, the soul, the mind, and the Qi. Four poisons one for each function and the effect is beyond deadly.

The simple idea of being poisoned by this mix is frightening. Not only will their body feel intolerable pain due to the Bone and Body Grinding Poison, but the Breath Sealing Poison Will also stop them from trying to counter its effect as it will further disrupt their Qi, and moreover, the Braided Mourning Poison will paralyze their bodily function, causing them to shake shudder and spasm, while the final poison, the Soul Disrupting Poison will act in a way to lock their souls from escaping their bodies and avoid death. After all, any Nascent Soul Cultivator can have a second shot at life if their soul escapes.

It's not called a Nascent Soul for anything, it can be placed in a new body and be a pseudo resurrection.

But with this poison's effect, the end result is inescapable.

Z continued on poisoning more and more cultivators, but I knew this wasn't going to work all he way since the rest of the cultivators will discover or realize that their companions went missing.

But as long as Z can take out a good portion of the cultivators, it will prove helpful for fending off these invaders for a few more days.

Though I'm the only one battling right now, I'm doing all I can to stop these people from entering, but I do know that I alone am not a match for an entire army.

But I can make it damn troublesome for them to enter.

I took the opportunity once all nearby cultivators were taken out to collect their bodies, then, I hid back again.

The numbers were too high for me to move around without getting spotted. So, I might as well hide in plain sight.

I pulled the robes of one of the Cultivators that I took out, and dressed myself to appear as one of the enemy forces. I then continued on with looking through their holding bags.

I found a lot of random crap, useless to me for the most part besides some spiritual plants that didn't exist on this planet's biome, and some alchemy ingredients that were useful to me.

Besides that, I found a few jade slips that had some information that we're going to be very handy to me.

I took one of the jade slips and began moving alongside the formation until I met the first group of cultivators, they were four.

One of them had the same sect robes as I did, while the other three belonged to one sect.

The one with the same sect robes looked at me, frowned, and said, "I've never seen you before, I would definitely remember someone…who looks like you," he said.

Well obviously, I look like a monster right now. But that's good.

I looked back at him and said, "But I have seen you before, young master Xue Xiao. I'm just a guard of one of the Holy Crimson Suzaku's worshipping ground. And my appearance was the result of a bad attempt at defying my fate.  I've also seen you braving through the trial many times. You're a great young hero, master Xue Xiao."

"Defying fate? How come? He asked."

"I found a Relinquished Heavenly Berry, and in an attempt to consume it to upgrade my spiritual root, the opposite happened and this was the result," I said pointing at my body.

"Ah, it is the fate of cultivators," he said "To defy and challenge, but not everyone is blessed with fortune. Such as you, you would have done better by giving a Relinquished Heavenly Berry to someone like me," he said.

"It is greed, young master, Greed makes one blind to the dangers. But as cultivators, can we be blamed for our greed?" I asked.

The man looked at his companions, frowning unable to understand the meaning behind my simple question, and to get himself out of this tough spot he spoke

"It seems like you have some wisdom in you, but at the same time foolish for biting more than you could chew, still I appreciate people, who take risks. For all that matters tell me since you arrived earlier than us, what did you find out at this pace? We've been looking around and haven't spotted anything or anyone." Xue Lu said.

'Good, I managed to get him to change the subject, now I can manipulate the conversation to my advantage.

"Oh, same here," I replied, "I was with a group of cultivators earlier, we spread apart, the only thing I found out was the rim of this area. There seems to be a formation rising up that's encircling this whole place." I said, giving them the gist of things. Also, adding information that they will eventually discover will add more to my value and make me more trustworthy.

"Seems that you came to the same conclusion as we did. This place feels like a trap more than an actual forgotten entry. Not to mention many cultivators had not been able to reply back to us once they came in here." Xue Xiao said.

Apparently, I'm sort of trust. Good, it was a nice idea to actually check up on the dead cultivator's belonging. With a jade slip full of instruction and some basic knowledge of people from the Fire King's background, I was able to use it to gain a footing among them. Though if I were to continue talking, I'm sure I'll be exposed. I might as well start following orders and try to be as least suspicious as I can.

"What's your name by the way?" asked Xue Xiao.

"Xiao Lu," I replied. A name that was a mix of my sons names.

"Right little Lu, follow me from now on, you're still a Nascent Soul cultivator at the early stages, if you want to gain some merits in this conquest, you'll need to follow my lead and do as I say." Xue Xiao said.

"Right sir," I said and followed behind the cultivators.. Now with a foot among the enemy, I can do whatever I want.