The Faceless Poison

— Within the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, Sect Leader's Quarters —

"50,000 Mid-grade Spirit Stones," said an old man draped in black. "That is how much it'll cost you to purchase a single dose of Faceless Poison."

The old man's clothing had blackish-purple dragons stitched in, with every single one of them spread across him, their open maws rising toward his neck. If one observed closely, they'd feel like the dragons were alive, for they wiggled and moved around.

In actuality, this phenomenon was known as Elemental Manifestation, and it occurred when an item was imbued with enough of a certain Element. In this case, the Elemental Manifestation happened as a result of the old man working around large amounts of the Poison Element.

His viper-like expression was focused on three men who were also up there in age.

Count Roderick, Count Thorne, and Count Buford—the three Counts most open about opposing the continual existence of Count Falazar. These were the men who had scheduled a meeting with the Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect today.

However, at this moment, their faces weren't looking too good. Hearing the amount requested by the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect Leader twisted their facial features into something uglier.

"Aren't you asking for an amount that seems a bit ridiculous??" asked Count Roderick, speaking on behalf of all of them. "Even 25,000 would've been an extremely high number, let alone 50,000!"

"Yeah!"

"What you ask is absurd!"

Listening to the three Counts, the old man opposite them scoffed. "If you can't afford the cost, then so be it," he said. "Just don't waste my time with your nonsense. All of you are well aware of the fact that you need the soul of a Soul Transformation Realm Expert to create the Faceless Poison. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to acquire a soul like that in these tumultuous times??"

The three Counts, of course, knew this tidbit of information. But that didn't mean the announcement of the Faceless Poison's price tag ached their hearts any less.

"Is there truly no room for negotiation…?" Count Buford asked with a pleading tone, hoping to leverage his friendship with the Sect Leader to assist in the discussion. "My third eldest daughter is set to marry your fourth son; think of their prosperous future together. Spending so much money right now could take away from what they'll have after marriage."

The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect Leader didn't much appreciate the insinuations Count Buford was hinting at, but it also wasn't like he was unable to understand what he was saying.

Clicking his tongue, the Sect Leader tapped his wine glass. "Fine, 40,000 is my final offer, and one I'm only giving to you because of our healthy alliance," he said with a slightly strained tone. "We're barely breaking even with this, so you better not try to dwindle the price any further. I'll kick you all out right now if you do."

"No, no, no!" Count Buford reassured while frantically waving his hands. "We'd never even dream of doing something like that! What you've done for us thus far is already a divine blessing that only someone as magnanimous as you could perform!"

Sect Leader Ten Thousand Poisons huffed in displeasure. "Quit with the false pleasantries and pay up if you want to go through with the transaction."

"Of course, of course," Count Buford said with a bashful smile. "Do you have your contributions of the Mid-grade Spirit Stones?" he asked the other two Counts.

Count Roderick and Count Thorne nodded, then took out exactly 14,000 Mid-grade Spirit Stones from their Spatial Rings. The last 12,000 was tossed into the pot by Count Buford, who got to pay less due to him basically arranging this meeting all by himself.

After taking the spatial bag that was handed to him, Sect Leader Ten Thousand Poisons gestured toward the space behind his throne. A cloaked figure suddenly appeared. He grabbed the bag of Mid-grade Spirit Stones before disappearing.

FWIP!

Less than a second later, the cloaked figure reappeared in the same spot he had left. In his gloved hands was a glass encasement in the shape of a cube. Inside the encasement was a tiny velvety pillow; sitting on that pillow was a vial containing a single drop of a greenish-purple mysterious substance.

'The Faceless Poison!' the Counts thought in unison, their eyes widened. 'Even with the existence of that magically enhanced glass encasement, the extremely lethal medicinal aroma can be sensed! This is it! This is what'll finish the job for good!'

"Well?" said Sect Leader Ten Thousand Poisons. "Is what you bought what you thought it'd be? The poison that took the joint efforts of myself and thirty other Poison Masters to complete over the span of two months?"

The three Counts fervently nodded, all afraid of accidentally offending the Soul Formation Realm powerhouse known throughout the Elemental Nations as the Harbinger of Poison.

"This is far more than we could've asked for!" Count Thorne beamed. "We thank you for giving it to us at such a bargain!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sect Leader Ten Thousand Poisons said with a roll of his eyes. "Just take it and get out of here already. Also, if things go sideways and you wind up getting caught, do know that I won't be taking your side or defending you. I'll remain impartial."

"We totally understand," said Count Buford. "Thank you again. But seeing as what time it is, we should really be going now."

"Do whatever you want; just leave me in peace."

Sect Leader Ten Thousand Poisons—still in a bad mood over making no profit on such a large transaction—shooed the Counts away after giving them the vial of Faceless Poison. They naturally skedaddled and left the smoky purple swamp that the Sect was located in.

Once all alone inside his throne room, Sect Leader Ten Thousand Poisons' expression became complex. He absentmindedly stared at his Gothic-style ceiling, sighing repeatedly.

"I never should've gotten involved in the internal conflicts of this Kingdom, but now that I have, there's no turning back…"

While Sect Leader Ten Thousand Poisons prepared for the worst-case scenario, a certain shameless young man persisted in his cultivation journey. After obtaining the cultivation manual he'd be using to advance in the Qi Condensation Realm—the Thirteen Perfections Manual—extorted from the Head Steward—he cultivated with everything he had.

Time unassumingly trudged forward…