Chapter 989: Why Is This Person Not Afraid of Poison?

"Could it be someone from the Demonic Cult?" Zu An even suspected it might be Yun Jianyue, because to be a sentry in such a strategically vital location, cultivation was secondary, but alertness was paramount. For them to be killed simultaneously, without even a chance to raise an alarm—what kind of skill did that require?

However, he immediately dismissed this idea. Yun Jianyue wouldn't leave a scene so bloody; when she acted, it was always art.

Zu An quietly left the sentry post at the valley entrance and hurried deeper inside. As expected, the sentry posts within the valley had also been dealt with. Even the lookout on the mountaintop was deserted. It seemed most likely that something terrible had happened.

Just as Zu An was about to check the situation at the exit, his ears perked up. He heard the sound of many footsteps approaching from a distance.

He quickly leaped onto a tree, using its dense canopy to conceal himself.

Before long, a group of figures in black robes quickly ran over. They began tidying up the scattered tables and chairs, and clearing away the bloodstains on the ground. They seemed to sprinkle some kind of powder, and soon the bloodstains completely vanished.

Zu An naturally understood their purpose in doing this, but it was useless. All the sentries were dead. Were these people planning to change into their clothes and impersonate them?

The Prefectural Yamen, if they weren't fools, would surely bring people familiar with the sentries. They would recognize at a glance that these were not their colleagues. So, what was the point of impersonation?

However, to his surprise, after cleaning up the scene, these individuals quickly departed without impersonating the sentries. Even stranger, they left all the sentries' bodies exactly where they were.

Zu An was baffled.

But what surprised him even more was yet to come, because shortly after, the bodies on the ground actually stood up!

At first, they swayed unsteadily, but they quickly adapted. Finally, they stood guard again, holding their spears, though their faces were much paler than before.

Zu An felt a chill run down his spine. If he hadn't personally confirmed they were dead just moments ago, he would have suspected they weren't dead at all.

"Corpse Gu?" In this cultivation world, Zu An naturally didn't think he was watching a ghost movie. Instead, he immediately thought of a secret technique he had encountered before.

It was a technique that used Gu worms to control corpses, making them move as if they were alive.

There had to be a practitioner nearby!

Zu An looked around. The vast valley was silent, lush with dense foliage everywhere. The black-robed figures who had just disappeared into the forest were now nowhere to be seen, not even a corner of their robes. How difficult would it be to find someone?

However, just because ordinary people couldn't find them didn't mean Zu An couldn't. He extended his left hand, and the pattern of the jade cong on his arm shimmered faintly. He began to control the small animals throughout the valley to help him search.

Soon, a series of three-dimensional images formed in his mind, clearly showing each of the hidden black-robed figures.

Zu An couldn't help but marvel that the jade cong was indeed a divine artifact. Although it had no offensive power, wearing it was like having a radar map, giving him an almost x-ray vision of the entire area.

He quickly located his target: on the back of a lone wolf-shaped boulder at the mountaintop, a gaunt old man sat cross-legged.

As the old man sat there, an aura of black mist imperceptibly spread around him, causing the nearby grass to wither and turn black.

"He's practically a human bio-weapon," Zu An muttered, a touch of sarcasm in his voice. He noticed that several practitioners he had encountered who cultivated similar techniques had all transformed themselves into such ghastly, neither-human-nor-ghost appearances. What joy could there be in such a life?

For instance, if you approached a beautiful woman, before you could even hold her hand, you'd directly poison her to death, let alone do anything more intimate. Such a life was surely destined for childlessness.

Shaking his head, he stealthily made his way towards the mountaintop. The map in his mind showed the position of every black-robed figure, allowing him to bypass them in advance without alerting anyone.

He arrived at the mountaintop, with the Bright Mirror Not-Platform concealing his presence. He soon reached a tree several yards away from the black-robed old man.

With his current cultivation, a surprise attack from that distance would be sufficient to kill the old man in one blow.

However, Zu An hesitated for a moment and then decided against attacking. Firstly, he didn't know if the other party was a subordinate of Yun Jianyue and worried about harming his own people. Secondly, he still needed the old man to control the sentries below; otherwise, if the Prefectural Yamen arrived outside the valley and noticed something abnormal, they wouldn't enter.

Thus, separated by a few yards, both men sat in meditation.

Zu An had previously absorbed the violent and bloodthirsty true qi from Daoist Thickbrow, but hadn't yet had time to refine it. He decided to use this time to remove the malevolent energy from it; otherwise, he would easily encounter problems during a fight later.

Unknowingly, several hours passed, and the sun rose to its zenith. Zu An opened his eyes, feeling the surging true qi within him. He had previously been at Rank 9, Level 8, but now he was at the peak of Rank 9, truly just a step away from becoming a Grandmaster.

"Indeed, the further you go, the harder it is to improve," he mused. The elemental qi required for each minor rank improvement at this stage was immense. Even Daoist Thickbrow's entire cultivation could only help him advance by one minor rank.

Just then, the black-robed old man not far away opened his eyes. He stood up directly, concealing himself behind the boulder, and quietly observed everything at the bottom of the valley.

"They're here," Zu An murmured. From his vantage point, he could also see the situation at the bottom of the valley.

A team of riders slowly entered. Leading them was a majestic-looking martial general, riding a tall horse and holding a long spear. His large, bell-like eyes scanned the surroundings vigilantly for any danger.

"This man has a strong vital energy and a battlefield aura of killing intent. He must be Yang Sheng, the Commander of Yi Commandery," Zu An thought to himself, sighing with emotion. The imperial court truly had an abundance of talented individuals; even a local commander possessed such high cultivation.

Zu An's gaze quickly swept over the procession. There was no prisoner cart, only a tightly sealed carriage. Judging by its specifications, it should be the Prefect's personal conveyance.

Presumably, the Prefectural Yamen was using the pretext of the Prefect's inspection tour to conceal the fact that they were escorting Qiu Honglei.

There weren't many accompanying soldiers, only about a hundred or so. This was likely to keep a low profile and travel lightly, to avoid drawing attention.

After all, if the Demonic Cult were truly alerted and their leader personally intervened, there would be little difference whether they brought a hundred or a thousand men, short of bringing an entire army, as anyone below the Grandmaster realm would be outmatched.

After a quick scan, he didn't see the Lord of Yi City, whom Sang Hong had mentioned. He likely remained inside the carriage, serving as the final layer of security.

Zu An initially thought the black-robed figures would make their move, but after waiting a while, there was still no sign of them acting.

Zu An couldn't help but frown. He couldn't wait any longer, or there would be problems for Golden Token Seven.

So, he directly used his Grand Wind Teleportation skill to appear behind the black-robed old man.

At this moment, the black-robed old man finally sensed danger. A black mist instantly surged from his entire body. At the same time, he swiftly raised his palm to form a hand seal, muttering to himself.

Although he was shocked that the other party had approached so close without him noticing, he had confidence in his poisonous mist. Ordinary cultivators would turn into skeletal remains just by touching it.

Even those with higher cultivation than him would find the black mist's poison very troublesome, possibly taking a year or half a year to clear.

As long as the opponent dodged, he would have time to summon his puppets. At that point, whether to stay or leave would be entirely within his control.

However, his eyes instantly widened in shock, because he saw a jade-white hand pass directly through the dense black mist in front of him and lightly touch his chest.

His last thought before losing consciousness was: "How is this person not afraid of my poisonous mist? Could he be a realm above Grandmaster?"

Zu An frowned, disdainfully picking him up and tossing him aside. Although he wasn't afraid of the man's poison, poisons often had a foul odor, and the smell emanating from him was truly unbearable.

As the black-robed old man lost consciousness, the soldiers in the sentry posts throughout the valley seemed to lose their souls, collapsing to the ground like noodles.

A commotion also erupted from the escorting party below, who had clearly noticed the unusual sight.

Zu An didn't hesitate. He directly struck the boulder in front of him with a palm. The multi-ton rock rumbled and crashed directly downwards.

"Enemy attack!" A shrill warning cry came from below.

Yang Sheng, the Commander of Yi Commandery at the front of the procession, reacted the fastest. With a tap of his toe, he charged towards the falling boulder, wielding his long spear. If the rock were allowed to hit squarely, the procession would likely suffer heavy casualties.

His long spear shot out like lightning, directly blocking the lower edge of the boulder.

He didn't use brute force but rather a clever technique to push it aside. Even so, the impact force of a multi-ton boulder falling from the sky, compounded by Zu An's added push, was immense. Despite him channeling his full Rank 9 cultivation, his long spear bent to its limit, looking as if it would break at any moment.

"Rise!" he roared, forcefully deflecting the boulder several feet to the side. Although this distance wasn't much, as it continued to fall, its deviation from the target would increase, giving the others enough time to react.

However, after this feat, his vital energy surged violently within him, and he even felt a faint ache in his meridians.

As he regulated his breath and looked down to check on the procession, a soldier behind him suddenly shot into the sky with the speed of a meteor.

Yang Sheng's pupils constricted. In that instant, he had already determined that the opponent's cultivation was no less than his own. Moreover, the timing chosen was incredibly ruthless—it was precisely when his old strength was exhausted and new strength had yet to emerge!