Poison

Karan opened his eyes, staring at the medicine slaves at a distance.

Those slaves mostly came from poor families. In order to survive, they had no choice but to sign the contract with lotus sect , selling themselves as slaves. If they were lucky enough to survive the first six months, not only could they regain their freedom, but they would also get paid 200 Purple Crystal Coins[1]. If they were unlucky and died from medicinal trials, their family would receive the money instead.

In the Grace Mainland, one Black Crystal Coin was equal to 100 Purple Crystal Coins, which equaled 10 thousand Blue Crystal Coins. The annual income of an average citizen was merely 5-6 Purple Crystal Coins. 200 Purple Crystal Coins were almost the savings for 40 years of work in another job.

Upon signing the contract, their family would receive 50 Purple Crystal Coins on the spot, with the rest paid within the next six months. If something unfortunate happened, their family would be compensated regardless. It might take someone's entire life to make 200 Purple Crystal Coins. But for the medicine claves, all it takes is six months of painful suffering. It was all worth it. At least that was what they thought…

However, when they signed the contract, it never occurred to them that the medicinal trials would be so cruel and tormenting. Every few days, some of them would drop dead in the most horrible way. This made them so terrified that they began to make their own secret plans.

But a contract was a contract. Once they signed their name on it, there was no way out. This meant, for the next six months, the Lotus Sect[2] owned their lives. Any attempt to disobey the contract, or escape from the Lotus sect, would be a death sentenced.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. It was already too late for them to recognise the danger of these medicinal trials. They had no choice but to accept all the pain as well as their miserable fate.

Karan knew that none of these slaves would make it. Sooner or later, they were going to die. Maybe tomorrow, or maybe later. He knew he was powerless to change all this. Therefore, he avoided contact with these slaves, thus avoiding any hurtful feelings when they died.

Karan frowned as he took a quick glimpse at Master Karu sitting in the sedan atop the ground dragon, trying his best not to be discovered.

There were five star badge embroidered on Master Karu's chest, which meant that he was a Level-5 alchemist. In this world, an alchemist was even more distinguished and rare than a Warrior.

Every alchemist had to be a Warrior. The medicine they refined could help enhance a warrior's capability. There were special pills refined by a small number of extraordinary alchemists which could even enhance a warrior's qi.

Every alchemist would carry a special token corresponding to his ranking. Since the medicine provided by alchemists could enhance the Profound Qi inside a Warrior, this small group of people held a prestigious status among all warriors. Due to the low number of alchemists, every group were desperate to hire a good alchemist, which made the alchemists even more revered and exceptional.

The Lotus Sect were working in the medicine business within the Merchant Union. They never stopped searching for great alchemists for their own use, no matter where these alchemists came from. However, most alchemists had quirky personalities and had weird demands. Above all, they were the haughtiest people on Earth and held very high opinions of themselves. Therefore, very few of them would accept the influence of powerful sect like Lotus Sect, and thus the Lotus Sect had tasted more failure than success when recruiting these alchemists.

However, Master Karu was not the type of person who was fond of the orthodox. He was more interested in crooked ways of applying his skills to make poisons. However, the production of the finest poisons required a huge amount of medicinal trials, and the subject must be a living, breathing human. This was why these medicine slaves existed.

"Let's move!" With Mo Yanyu's order from the distance, the resting warriors all stood up and got ready for the march ahead. The medicine slaves resting on the road side also quickly got up, for fear of the punishment they would face if they didn't manage to keep up.

Karan stood up, still and silent. He took a sniff at the woman who had the appearance of an angel but the heart of a scorpion. He had no choice but to follow the group before him obediently.

In the Merchant Union, the relationship between the lotus sect and the profound blossom sect was not that smooth. The fifth uncle of Mo Yanyu was killed by Shi Yang three years ago due to a dispute over the mining rights at a mountain. After that, the lotus sect started a relentless vendetta against the profound blossom sect, causing the death of dozens of Shi family members. With this kind of hatred rooted between these two families, there were endless conflicts and fights going on.

Karan understood that death would be his fate if his true identity was ever discovered.

When Mo Yanyu was not looking, a few audacious warriors would gaze at her sexy body in secret, lusting after her body. They knew that for people of their level, Mo Yanyu was way out of their league. All they could do was fantasize.

Karan sat down in silence. When he was ready to circulate the Profound Qi inside his body, he noticed Mo Yanyu and Master Karu coming towards him from the front of the troops.

"Shit!" Karan felt that something bad was going to happen. His face suddenly looked like hell.

"The Gut Cutting poison is way too strong for normal people. It has already killed six slaves within the past two days. I guess only Warriors can sustain its influence. That boy looks better than before, with much of his Profound Qi recovered, he can be our new lab rat." Master Karu said with a viperous smile on his face and a bowl of some black sticky liquid in his left hand.

"Well, Master Karu, please. Help yourself. He is all yours. Don't show any mercy. I want him to die as miserably as possible." Mo Yanyu also laughed.

"Haha, no problem. Miss Mo, your wish is my command. I promise you that there is no way he will die easy. As you have seen in the previous trials of the Gut Cutting poison, all the slaves died with their flesh and skin slowly decaying off their bones bit by bit. This boy looks tough. The stronger the subject is, the longer and more painful this decaying process will be. Just wait for the grand show and enjoy!" Master Karu burst into wild laughter, as if Karan were not standing right in front of him.

"That is perfect!" Mo Yanyu smiled in consent. Her eyes were obviously shining with excitement, her hatred of Karan churning in her gut.

It was only a matter of time before the two of them finally arrived in front of Karan. Master Karu didn't even bother to explain. He handed the bowl of black sticky liquid to Karan and ordered with a cold voice, "You, finish this!"

While Mo Yanyu took out her left hand, generating a snake of electric power circling around her fingers; her skin like porcelain and the electric power sparking like lightning. This was the perfect combination of the Lightning and Profound Qi. The energy was like a catalyst in the air with sound of small explosions all around.

"Woo-hoo!" Johnson sneered from behind, "Boy! If you ever dare to resist, you know what's gonna happen to you, right?"

Master Karu couldn't contain his excitement. He clapped his hands, and shouted, "Hey boy, the Gut Cutting Medicine is lots of fun. You are going to decay from the inside, little by little…"

The whole time, Mo Yanyu was staring at Karan with an icy expression on her face. She assumed that he would say no. Her plan was, as soon as Karan showed any disobedience, she would kick his ass with the electric sparks on her fingers, showing him who was the boss here.

For days, every time she looked back on the humiliation she received from this man, she couldn't help but rage inside. Even her fiancée wouldn't dare to do that to her. Who the hell was this guy? How dare he?! She would never forgive this guy.

"Sure. I'll do it." Karan said dismissively. He took the bowl of nasty medicine and drank up with no hesitation.

As the Gut Cutting poison went down into his stomach, Karan could feel a dull pain spreading inside. Then his gut and stomach was corroded little by little as if he drank sulphuric acid, and the pain inside his body gradually grew stronger.

"This Gut Cutting poison is potent. It doesn't show its effects all at once, but releases its power gradually. A normal person will be corroded by it in two to three days and they will die with a decayed body." Karu narrowed his eyes and added, "No hurry, let's wait for a day and see."

"Good. We will check on him at this time tomorrow night." Mo Yanyu nodded. She glanced at Karan in satisfaction, and left with Karu happily.

"Hehe. Fellow, your good days have come to an end!" Johnson laughed loudly, showing his teeth. He suddenly felt quite relaxed when he thought that Karan would die in no time, and a heavy burden dropped from his heart.

Karan lowered his head with an icy glint in his eyes.

The Gut Cutting poison began to take effect in his stomach and gut, which Karan could sense clearly. It felt like tens of millions of ants were nibbling at his stomach and gut in order to compete for territory.

The Profound Qi in the lower part of his belly circulated quickly into the gut and stomach. It was like a gentle stream quietly washing away the drug under Karan's control. Wherever the Profound Qi went, it made the drug effects milder, thus Karan became a little relieved.

As a moist breeze blew softly, Karan took a large deep breath. He sat down where he was, not paying any attention to Johnson beside him, and concentrated his mind to guide the Profound Qi to fight against the drug.

The Profound Qi, which had been growing much stronger recently, became Karan's life-saver. It kept moving in his stomach and guts. Every time it made a circle, the effects of the drug was softened a little, and his body was not corroded any faster.

At that moment, Karan realized what benefits Profound Qi could bring, and was determined to train hard to be a top warrior with strong Profound Qi.

If Profound Qi could bring such great benefits, how much more powerful would a god-blessed Martial technique be.

Time passed by and soon it was late at night, the moonlight bathing the land in its silver light. The warriors became quiet since it was an exhausting day of marching. They found a comfortable place and sat down respectively, training their Profound Qi in order to break through the limits of their bodies and entering higher levels and gaining stronger power.

The medicine slaves looked up at the dark sky one by one. In the silent night, they tended to become homesick and scared. They would be filled with hopelessness whenever they thought about the fact that they could be a dead body the following day after the next medicinal trial.

Under the pale moonlight, Karan sat cross-legged on the ground, a dignified expression appearing on his serene face.

After five hours of circulation, the Profound Qi had prevented the gut cutting medicine from rapidly diffusing. Nonetheless, unknowingly, he realized that his Profound Qi had been consumed by one third, and was continuously being depleted.