The border of the Anhui sovereign zone was no longer just a physical line; it was an olfactory battlefield. While the million-man army of the Silver Vow stalled at the Three Gates, the Sichuan Tang Family—the "Poison Masters" of the Orthodox Path—decided that if they could not break the Yun Clan with steel, they would dissolve them from within.
In the damp, moonlit thickness of the western valley, forty shadows moved with the unnatural fluidity of vipers. These were the "Emerald Seekers," the Tang Family's elite assassination squad. At their head was Tang Qin, a young prodigy with skin as pale as jade and eyes the color of stagnant moss. In his hands, he carried a set of "Ten Dragon Poisons," toxins so potent that a single drop in a well could turn a city into a graveyard by sunrise.
"The Alliance leaders are fools to rely on honor and arrays," Tang Qin whispered, his voice a dry rasp. "Every lung needs air. Every heart needs blood. And I own both."
He raised a gloved hand, signaling the deployment of the Mist of Falling Petals. This was not a standard smoke screen; it was a microscopic suspension of neurotoxins designed to paralyze the Dantian's Ki flow upon contact with the skin. The green vapor rolled into the Yun perimeter like a silent, hungry beast.
The Godly Doctor's Tea
At the center of the first Yun checkpoint, a small thatched hut stood amidst the toxic fog. Inside, an old man with a long, unkempt white beard sat calmly brewing tea. This was the Yun Clan's Medical Elder, known in the shadows of the Jianghu as the "Godly Doctor."
As the green mist seeped through the cracks of the hut, Tang Qin and his assassins surrounded the structure. They didn't use swords; they held "Whispering Shadow Needles," hidden weapons coated in a corrosive acid that could eat through Rank-8 Golden Body defense.
"Come out, old ghost," Tang Qin commanded, his voice echoing through the mist. "Your 'Pure Heaven Ki' cannot synchronize with air that has been turned to liquid death."
The hut's door creaked open. The Medical Elder stepped out, holding a steaming cup of oolong. He didn't wear a mask. He didn't even hold his breath. He took a deep, appreciative draw of the green, toxic air and sighed in contentment.
"A bit heavy on the nightshade, young Tang," the Elder said, smiling. "And your mercury ratios are amateurish. It's like drinking cheap wine."
Tang Qin's eyes widened. "Impossible. You should be a puddle of sludge! My mist has a 99% toxicity rate!"
Transmutation of the Void
The Medical Elder took a sip of his tea. "You see your poisons as a weapon. The Yun see them as... nutrients."
This was the revelation of the Transmutation of the Void, a secondary application of the Universal Origin Scripture. To a Yun practitioner, the body was a conduit for the universe. Since the "Pure Heaven Ki" originated from "Non-Existence," it possessed a fundamental purity that didn't just resist corruption—it consumed it.
As the Elder breathed, the green mist wasn't filtered; it was transmuted. The toxic molecules were broken down into raw atmospheric energy, feeding into the Elder's meridians. To the assassins' horror, the Elder's skin began to glow with a vibrant, golden vitality. He was literally "feeding" on their assassination attempt.
"The Tang Family has spent five centuries hiding in jars of venom," the Elder said, his voice dropping an octave as he released a localized "Martial Soul" pressure. "You have forgotten that the Truth cannot be poisoned."
The Return of the Needles
Tang Qin roared in frustration, launching a volley of three hundred "Whispering Shadow Needles." They moved with "Slash Projection" speed, aimed at the Elder's vital pressure points.
The Elder didn't move. He simply waved his tea cup in a circular motion—the Divergent Flow technique.
The air around the needles swirled into a localized vortex. The kinetic energy of the Tang's own strikes was captured and redirected. In a blurred instant, the needles reversed course. They didn't strike to kill; they struck with "Dim Mak" precision, embedding themselves in the assassins' own "Mana centers."
Forty assassins fell to their knees, paralyzed not by poison, but by the cessation of their own Ki flow.
The Elder walked up to Tang Qin, who lay pinned to the earth. He reached into his robe and pulled out a small, plain scroll.
"Go back to Sichuan," the Elder said, tucking the scroll into Tang Qin's belt. "Tell your Patriarch that his poisons are outdated. If you wish to learn the true alchemy of the Heavens, the Yun gates are open to you. But if you come again with needles... I will show you what 'Divine Destruction' truly smells like."
The Elder turned and walked back into his hut, the green mist now completely purified into a sweet-scented mountain air.
Tang Qin looked at his hands, which were shaking. For the first time in his life, he didn't feel like a predator. He felt like a student who had just seen the sun for the first time. The "Poison of Truth" had been administered, and the Tang Family's loyalty to the Alliance was the first thing it began to dissolve.