A Chaotic World

Chapter 283: Mere Grinding Stones

Elder Ximo immediately shot a disapproving glance towards Elder Xiquan. When Elder Xiquan noticed, his expression fell sharply as well.

He naturally knew the reason why Elder Ximo left the wooden platform to stand among the crowds. The fact that he did not stop Elder Ximo was because Elder Xiquan knew just as well how important it was to appease the Overlord realm powerhouse in the audience.

Elder Xiquan let out a regretful sigh before nodding.

After receiving the signal from Elder Xiquan, Elder Ximo finally spoke up. "Lady Qianxue's words make sense. This is just a friendly competition, and we are all here to learn from each other. Repeatedly using the same poison is perhaps not the best way to exhibit the glorious heritage of us poison masters."

His words struck a chord with those in the crowd, causing them to nod in agreement.

Of course, they were only agreeing because they were not the ones competing. If they, or any of their juniors, ever had a shot at coming up on top, few would hesitate to act in a similar manner as long as it could increase their chances of winning.

Hearing Elder Ximo's words, Xiquan Chong nervously swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

He might be arrogant in nature, but that was only because of his backing in the form of his father, the leader of the Healer Circle. However, his background was not nearly strong enough to protect him from the wrath of an Overlord realm powerhouse!

Unfortunately, he had allowed himself to get carried away with taunting Beiwei Jinguo.

He did so thinking that the relationship between Beiwei Jinguo and the Overlord Lady Qianxue was nothing much at all.

But looking at things now, that might not seem to be the case?

Now he had to at least come up with some sort of excuse for his earlier actions. As long as he was able to do that, Xiquan Chong was confident that his father would be able to do the rest to protect him.

"Please pardon my actions if it seemed inappropriate, Elder Ximo," Xiquan Chong answered after taking a moment to calm down. "However, I have my reasons for doing this. Sir Beiwei's method of neutralising the Windfrost Pollen is indeed remarkable, but it is not without disadvantages. The only reason why I wanted to repeat the process is to let everyone see for themselves that this is not a foolproof method. And even if Sir Beiwei manages to repeat his success, it would still serve to let everyone learn more from his techniques. Is it not a win-win situation for everyone?"

"Xiquan Chong's words make sense," Elder Xiquan nodded in satisfaction before turning to the handsome young man standing beside him. "What do you think, Sir Wuye?"

Elder Xiquan was quite contented with his son's reasoning. But getting Wuye Mingxuan's support would still provide some sort of insurance in case the Overlord realm Lady Qianxue was not appeased.

Wuye Mingxuan gave a polite smile, one that was enough to dazzle the crowds. "I agree with the young lady there that this is not a beautiful sight. But of course, I am but an outsider who knows little about your customs. If this is how things are usually done here, then it should be acceptable as well."

Elder Xiquan could not help but let out a wry smile upon hearing his reply.

He had hoped to garner some support from Wuye Mingxuan, but who knew that the other party would agree with Lady Qianxue instead?

Did the supreme genius from the central regions choose to defer to the Overlord as well?

What a shame

At this stage, Elder Xiquan did not think that anything would be able to affect Xiquan Chong's chances of winning this Poison Showdown anymore. But if Xiquan Chong's methods were to be undermined in public, it was bound to affect his reputation somehow or rather.

"Xiquan Chong, you have heard their opinions," Elder Ximo continued. "In consideration of that, would you like to consider administering a different poison?"

"If that's what both Sir Wuye and Lady Qianxue thinks, then I will gladly oblige to prevent any unwanted misunderstandings," Xiquan Chong spoke with a forced smile before turning back to face Beiwei Jinguo. "Don't worry, I will not use the Windfrost Pollen this time. Now you would at least have a fighting chance."

"Tch!" Beiwei Jinguo had to resist the urge to curse.

The condescending tone that Xiquan Chong spoke with was truly infuriating!

"Beiwei Jinguo, are you ready to begin the next round?" Elder Beilan asked after seeing that things were decided.

"Yes, I am," Beiwei Jinguo stood back up.

Even though he had taken a couple of recovery pills, he was still not in a good state at all. Despite that, he had no choice but to continue. After all, there was no way that the Healer Circle would give him time to slowly recover as everyone waited.

If he said that he was not ready, then he would simply be eliminated.

"Good," Elder Beilan nodded. "Both of you have half an hour, begin administering your poison!"

The two of them sprang into action immediately, putting on a spectacular display of poison techniques.

Beiwei Jinguo had been showing his ability to the crowds all this while, and no one was surprised that he used a set of clean and polished techniques to produce yet another intelligent concoction.

However, the same could be said for Xiquan Chong as well.

There might have been a slight taint on his reputation due to his actions from before, but there was no doubt that his proficiency in the poison arts was not lacking as compared to Beiwei Jinguo.

Everyone watched on in admiration, slightly regretful that one of these two talented poison masters would actually have to suffer a loss here.

Half an hour was up soon enough, and it was finally time to neutralise the other party's poison concoction.

By now, it was already obvious who would emerge as the victor.

Beiwei Jinguo's face was deathly pale as he struggled over to the other table, his every step weak and shaky. The concoction process of his poison had exhausted the majority of his remaining energy, and he was already pretty much spent.

Even after arriving at the other table, he could only stare blankly at the Tank Hare, unable to even summon the energy to begin his diagnosis.

His determination was admirable, but his run at the Healers' Meet had ended.

Now as long as Xiquan Chong was able to neutralise the poison that Beiwei Jinguo had concocted, he would be named as the top ranker!

Xiquan Chong knew it just as well.

Not just that, but he also understood that even if he failed to do so, he would still be named as the victor since there was no way Beiwei Jinguo would have the strength to concoct any poison for the next round.

There was no pressure whatsoever.

Either way, he had already won.

In the end, Xiquan Chong barely managed to neutralise the poison within the time limit, as though rubbing salt into Beiwei Jinguo's wounds.

"If there are no objections from the crowd, I hereby name Xiquan Chong as the top ranker of this year's Healers' Meet!" Elder Xiquan announced with a smile. "Furthermore, Beiwei Jinguo is in the second place, while Jueshe Tingli is in the third place. Congratulations to all three talented poison masters!"

The three youngsters were invited up onto the wooden platform, allowing everyone to witness them in their full glory.

Enthusiastic applause came from the the crowds, all of them satisfied by the quality of the competition. By displaying his beautiful techniques in the final round, even Xiquan Chong had managed to redeem himself in the hearts of the audiences.

After all, as long as the drama did not involve them, people rarely cared about it for long.

What they were more concerned about was the fact that both they and their juniors had been able to benefit from watching a demonstration of such high level techniques.

"In the end, it seems that strength is still more important than knowledge to be a good poison master."

Even though Xiquan Chong was smiling at the crowd and relishing in the moment, he did not neglect to put down Beiwei Jinguo who was standing beside him.

Beiwei Jinguo was in no state to argue, and could only silently endure the other party's taunt.

Seeing that Beiwei Jinguo was rendered speechless, the smirk on Xiquan Chong's face only grew even wider.

"This marks the end of the competition for the younger generation," Elder Xiquan continued. "Next, we will be inviting any interested Origin Core realm poison masters to follow us. As mentioned earlier, we will be visiting the unexplored tomb of an ancient poison master, and the top three members of the younger generation will be allowed to join us as well. Again, this ancient tomb does not only contain benefits, but is laden with traps as well. We of the Healer Circle do not guarantee the safety of anyone who follows us in, so do so only at your own discretion."

"We will be setting off in ten minutes, please make any necessary preparations by then," Elder Beilan added. "For those of the younger generation, our students will be guiding you back to the open market area after this."

There was a lot of movement among the crowds as everyone reorganised themselves after the main event for the younger generation.

Despite the possible dangers, majority of the Origin Core realm poison masters would not want to miss this opportunity to explore the tomb.

Most Origin Core realm martial artists were fairly confident in their own capabilities. Even if they were unlucky enough to encounter danger, they were confident of escaping with their lives intact.

On the other hand, if they managed to chance upon the heritage of an ancient poison master, they could possibly become unparalleled in the poison arts, their reputation soaring to the skies in one go!

In the face of such benefits, a bit of risk meant little to them!

"Are you all right?" Lu Tianzi asked after Beiwei Jinguo walked back to them.

"I'm fine, sorry to worry you, Brother Tianzi," Beiwei Jinguo answered weakly.

"Young Brother Jinguo doesn't have to look so disappointed, second place is still an excellent result!" Elder Ximo consoled from the side. "You should take this chance to rest up. But if you are not feeling up to it, it would be best to give the following activity a miss."

"No, I want to join in as well!" Beiwei Jinguo retorted agitatedly.

He might have lost the competition, but he was just as eager as others to explore this ancient tomb.

"I have my reasons for saying this," Elder Ximo sighed. "You might not know this, but the Healer Circle has been trying to enter this tomb for a while now. Still, we have failed to do so until now because of the traps within. Many of our men have been lost during these attempts, so the dangers are definitely real. It is only because of this that we decided to open up the tomb to everyone, hoping that at least someone else would be able to obtain the secrets within. I'm sure you understand that your cultivation level is already not the highest to begin with. If you are not even in top condition, your life could be in jeopardy!"

"Don't worry, I will certainly recover enough by then!" Beiwei Jinguo's eyes were filled with determination despite the warning from Elder Ximo.

Seeing the look of determination in Beiwei Jinguo's face, Elder Ximo could only let out a helpless sigh. He understood right there and then that it would be impossible to convince Beiwei Jinguo otherwise.

"For this tomb exploration, will the two of us be able to go take a look as well?" Lu Tianzi asked at this moment.

"But of course!" Elder Ximo was more than happy to agree. "With Lady Qianxue and Sir Tianzi joining in, the exploration would probably go much smoother than expected!"

"Then there's no problem," Lu Tianzi smiled. "We will try our best to protect Brother Jinguo."

"Eh?" Beiwei Jinguo turned to him in surprise.

"If Lady Qianxue and Sir Tianzi are willing to protect Young Brother Jinguo, then I am sure he will be fine," Elder Ximo nodded.

"That's settled then," Lu Tianzi turned around and passed a recovery pill into Beiwei Jinguo's hands. "Here, take this."

"This is a recovery pill?" Beiwei Jinguo's eyes widened in surprise.

It was of a far higher quality than any other pills he had ever seen. Not to mention an Essence Building realm martial artist like him, it could have been useful even to an Origin Core realm martial artist!

"You don't have much time left. Use it to quickly recover your strength," Lu Tianzi waved him off nonchalantly.

After Lu Tianzi finished off Elder Beiqian Zuo and the other five assassins near Bluenight City, he had naturally claimed their belongings as well. This recovery pill was just one of the many items that he found in their spatial rings.

"Got it! You have my thanks, Brother Tianzi!" Beiwei Jinguo quickly popped the recovery pill and sat down in meditation.

No matter what, Beiwei Jinguo still believed in his teacher's words.

He was no doubt disappointed to have failed to clinch the top rank at the Healers' Meet this time.

However, Beiwei Jinguo believed that as long as he continued to seize every opportunity to improve his knowledge, it was only a matter of time before he rose to the top of the poison master world.

Before that happened, he would just have to consider all these setbacks as mere grinding stones to temper himself with.

Xiquan Chong could be smug now, but there was still a long road ahead of them.

It was still not certain who would have the last laugh in the end!