The flying sword suddenly condensed three zhang away from Chen Nan, trembled a few times towards him, and then slowly retreated.
Chen Nan touched the hilt of his sword and strode after him. He believed that Meng Ke'er wouldn't dare to attack him within the Divine Wind Academy, so she must want to talk to him about something.
The edge of the bamboo forest was very quiet, with a small lake dotting the landscape like a mirror. Meng Ke'er stood by the lake, quietly watching the fish swimming around. Her face was serene, and her peerless beauty seemed to blend into this world, becoming one with the lake and the bamboo forest.
Chen Nan walked to her side, yawning and stretching, instantly shattering the harmonious and peaceful atmosphere.
Meng Ke'er suddenly turned around, her face full of anger as she glared at him. Gone was her usual composure and calmness; her eyes blazed with boundless fury as she said hatefully, "Chen Nan, you are a despicable, shameless, lewd, and immoral bastard! You have truly enraged me! I will make you regret what you did to me two days ago. I swear I will cut off your groping hands, chop them into pieces, gouge out your nose and eyes, and stomp them on the ground."
"Shh, keep your voice down. This will damage your image as a pure and holy fairy! We're very close to the residences of the senior experts who have been living in seclusion at the Divine Wind Academy. Be careful not to be overheard." Chen Nan said in a relaxed manner.
"Hmph," Meng Ke'er snorted softly, her emotions gradually stabilizing, but her peerless face remained icy cold. She said in a chilling voice, "Don't be smug. Although you have temporarily cleared your name, I still have ways to easily kill you."
Chen Nan said nonchalantly, "One of us will definitely fall soon, but don't worry, I won't kill you. The Purple-Gold Divine Dragon is right, the Jade Lotus Platform belongs to it, and as for you, you're mine!"
Meng Ke'er's eyebrows furrowed, her image as a fairy from the ancient holy land completely gone. At this moment, she really wanted to use her flying sword to shatter Chen Nan immediately, but she couldn't do that now and in this place.
"Chen Nan, I don't want to argue with you right now. Let's settle all our scores together!"
"Hmm, actually I don't think we need to be hostile to each other. You just accidentally hugged me in the illusionary realm, right? I don't care at all, you're just overthinking it. Ah, don't move the flying sword!"
Chen Nan remained calm, yet he uttered words that enraged Meng Ke'er, prompting her to unleash her flying sword. She coldly declared, "If you dare utter another word of nonsense, I'm not afraid to tear off the mask and duel you right now!"
"Oh, okay, let's all calm down. Now, let's go for a walk. Staying in this bamboo forest all day is getting boring." Although Chen Nan didn't say anything too offensive, his overly familiar tone was still unacceptable to Meng Ke'er.
She said coldly, "I have something to discuss with you today, and I don't want to hear your pointless talk."
"Alright, in that case, let's sit down and have a proper talk."
Chen Nan sat on a stone bench in the bamboo forest, but Meng Ke'er clearly didn't want to get too close to him and remained standing in place.
"You must already know that Ling Yun will be publicly tried tomorrow, right?" Meng Ke'er looked at him coldly and said, "Ling Zikong had a son late in life, and he can't just watch his only son die. He will definitely try every means to save his life."
When it came to serious matters, Chen Nan stopped rambling and listened patiently.
"Ling Yun persecuted you in every way. Do you want to kill him?"
Chen Nan nodded and said, "Of course, we have the same goal: to kill him as soon as possible to avoid any unforeseen complications. However, I heard that his uncle, Ling Zixu, has arrived and is a very formidable figure. Perhaps we should combine our forces to deal with him together."
Many things become clear at a glance. Since the conversation had already reached this point, the two stopped beating around the bush, put aside their past grievances, and began to discuss how to join forces to kill Ling Yun.
Meng Ke'er had already taken action before this, uniting nearly ten super young masters from the four academies. These people had an extraordinary relationship with the seven masters trapped in the Death Abyss, and they all wanted to kill Ling Yun to avenge their former friend.
Chen Nan asked, "How do you think they will rescue Ling Yun?"
"According to the information I received, Ling Zixu may want to find a reason to take him back to the Ling family first, and then try to resolve the danger of his death, such as finding a substitute to die in Ling Yun's place."
Chen Nan frowned and said, "This is not a good situation."
Meng Ke'er sneered, "I'm not afraid of whatever methods they use. I guarantee I can keep track of Ling Yun's whereabouts at any time."
Chen Nan felt a chill run down his spine. Ten thousand years ago, Tantai Xuan had demonstrated some special skills to him, mainly in the application of true qi.
For example, by secretly injecting a wisp of true energy into a person's body, one can accurately grasp the other person's whereabouts from a certain distance by sensing the energy.
Of course, this kind of aura sensing is just a minor trick. The most terrifying method is to use a special kind of true energy to break through someone else's power. Ten thousand years ago, Chen Nan suffered a great loss at the hands of Tantai Xuan. Without his knowledge, she injected him with a pale yellow, unadorned true energy, and as a result, his power plummeted afterward.
Now, looking at Meng Ke'er, his vigilance increased significantly. Since she had already mastered the Qi Sensing Technique, there was no guarantee that she hadn't cultivated some strange technique that could drastically reduce one's cultivation level. Chen Nan smiled faintly, "Since you've done your homework and everything is ready, it seems I only need to do the hard work."
Meng Ke'er shook her head and said, "Things aren't that simple. You don't know how terrifying Ling Zixu is. Legend has it that his cultivation has reached the fifth rank. Fortunately, it's just a legend. According to reliable sources, Ling Zixu is currently at the peak of the fourth rank, just a step away from the fifth rank. But even so, he's far beyond what a few third-rank experts can handle."
Seeing that Chen Nan showed no reaction, Meng Ke'er continued, "You've already entered the fourth tier. You should understand how vast the gap is between different tiers as you advance. A master at the early fourth tier can easily kill several peak third-tier experts. A mid-fourth-tier expert is even more terrifying; they can easily escape even when surrounded by a group of peak third-tier experts. As for the peak fourth-tier experts, they are already near-peerless masters. Reaching that level of cultivation allows them to subdue dragons and fight giants. Do you think you can compete with a peak fourth-tier expert?"
Chen Nan stroked his chin and sighed, "It seems I was really lucky to kill Tao Ran!"
"Hmph, Tao Ran from the Immortal Martial Academy is far inferior to Ling Zixu. It's highly doubtful whether Tao Ran has even reached the fourth-tier mastery level. It's all his disciples and grand-disciples who are boasting that he's a near-peerless expert. In my opinion, he's only at the mid-fourth-tier level. However, your Heaven-Defying Seven Demon Blades are indeed very domineering. Why didn't I see you use them when we fought?"
"Hmph, don't you also have a seal within you? Why are you hiding your cultivation level so well?"
The two probed each other, each trying to figure out the other's true abilities. However, Chen Nan's words clearly carried more weight. No one had ever seen through the seal within Meng Ke'er's body before; this was the first time it had been pointed out.
Her expression immediately changed drastically, and she asked urgently, "How did you know?"
"I sensed it," Chen Nan replied casually, determined not to reveal the old monster's identity.
"Impossible. Even a fifth-tier peerless expert couldn't sense him." Meng Ke'er's expression kept changing, and it took her a long time to calm down before she said, "Forget it, let's continue discussing how to deal with Ling Zixu. In normal terms, even if a dozen peak third-tier experts attacked together, they wouldn't have the slightest chance of winning. We must use extraordinary means to deal with him."
Chen Nan was well aware that although he had spoken lightly with Long Wu last time, it was mainly to comfort her. Now that they were truly about to take action, he had to objectively assess the strength of both sides. He asked, "Do you have any good ideas?"
"Use poison!" Meng Ke'er simply uttered two words.
Chen Nan chuckled, shook his head, and said, "With our cultivation levels, could ordinary poisons threaten us? Let alone a near-peerless expert. He would probably expel the poison as soon as he sensed it. How could such a petty trick threaten a near-peerless expert who is close to the fifth level?"
Meng Ke'er said seriously, "That depends on who poisoned it. The reason I consulted you this time is mainly to ask you to help me get some special medicine from a mysterious person."
"Me?" Chen Nan was confused and somewhat stunned.
"Not bad, you still remember the old poison monster, right?"
"What? You…" Chen Nan exclaimed in surprise, "Why did you bring him up? Could it be that the extraordinary person you mentioned is him?"
"Of course." Meng Ke'er revealed a mysterious smile and said, "I know everything about you when you were in Chu."
Chen Nan pondered. Clearly, Meng Ke'er had investigated him before, probably because she had some reservations about his Heaven-Defying Seven Demon Blades and wanted to understand his strength in detail.
Not long ago, when Shenfeng Academy was holding the Four Great Academies Youth Power Competition, Chen Nan was disciplining the little princess when the little devil asked Meng Ke'er for help, saying that her sister Chu Yue was an outer disciple of the Tantai Ancient Holy Land.
From this, Chen Nan understood that the source of Meng Ke'er's information must have been Princess Chu Yue of the Chu Kingdom.
"Do you know where the old poison master is? I haven't seen him for months." Chen Nan still admired the old man's poison skills immensely; being selected for the Chu Kingdom's Hall of Extraordinary Talents was enough to prove that his poison skills were unparalleled.
"Of course I know. After escaping from the Chu Kingdom, this senior fled all the way to the Western Continent and recently came to the City of Sin, where he was specially hired by the Divine Wind Academy as a poison arts teacher."
Ugh, I'm totally dizzy!
Chen Nan fled to the City of Sin on the advice of the Old Poison Monster. After arriving there, he searched for his whereabouts but found no trace of him. He never expected the Old Poison Monster to be so cowardly, running all the way to the Western Continent. Thinking of the Old Poison Monster's past absurd actions, a smile appeared on Chen Nan's lips.
The old poison master's poison skills are unparalleled; few can rival him, and perhaps only he could poison a peerless expert. Ling Zixu currently resides at Shenfeng Academy. If he could obtain poison from the old poison master, it would be easy to slip it into his food. In that case, even if Ling Zixu possessed extraordinary abilities, he would likely be unable to use them effectively.
Chen Nan and Meng Ke'er were not rigid gentlemen. They did not feel uneasy about using drugs to deal with peerless masters. The two discussed it in detail before parting ways and going their separate ways.
When Chen Nan found the old poison monster's residence, he felt somewhat incredulous, almost thinking he had gone to the wrong place. The courtyard was full of flowers, each potted plant a rare variety, all incredibly vibrant in color. The entire courtyard was a riot of colors, with flowers blooming everywhere, their fragrance filling the air and soothing the soul.
The courtyard before him was nothing like the old poison monster's residence. Back in the Chu Kingdom's Qishi Mansion, Chen Nan had personally witnessed the terrifying scene in the old poison monster's courtyard. Snakes and insects crawled all over the place, and pits of poisonous insects of all sizes were scattered throughout the courtyard, with strange insects wriggling inside, which was terrifying and frightening.
The scene before him made Chen Nan hesitate, but just then, that familiar figure appeared before him.
"Haha, kid, don't doubt it, this is my courtyard. We've finally met again." The old poison monster was beaming, seemingly in a very good mood lately.
"Perverted old man!"
"Damn brat!"
The two first gave each other a bear hug, and then they both burst into laughter. They had betrayed Chu together and had been separated until now, and only now had they met again, which brought back a special feeling.
The two introduced their experiences to each other. Just as Meng Ke'er said, the old poison monster first went to the Western Continent and only recently returned to the City of Sin.
"Old man, you're such a coward! You actually ran all the way to the Western Continent, hahaha..."
Chen Nan didn't take long to recount his complicated past. The old poison master had already heard about his situation; he had been in the eye of the storm lately, and rumors about him had spread far and wide.
"You perverted old man, what happened to you? Why did you suddenly change your ways and start growing flowers and plants?"
"Hehe, this is mainly thanks to the poison manual you gave me. My poison skills are finally approaching perfection. In the past, directly extracting medicinal liquids from snakes and insects was just small-scale work. Now I can easily mix several non-toxic substances together to create a potent poison. That's true mastery of poisons. Don't underestimate these flowers. Although each flower is non-toxic individually, if you put several special varieties together, they can instantly release toxic gas. Of course, this is still some distance from the pinnacle of poison skills, but in this world today, I believe there are few who can rival me." The old poison monster said smugly.
Chen Nan immediately became interested and said, "So, your poison skills have improved greatly?"
"Of course, I can make a person ingest dozens of poisons and remain unharmed, but with just one non-toxic ingredient, I can kill him instantly. I can also use several non-toxic substances to make a person lose his life without realizing it. These are what are called poison combinations."
"Haha, good indeed, your poison skills have greatly improved! Now I would like to ask you for a formula for a compound poison, composed of several non-toxic substances. The person who takes it will not feel anything, and the compound poison can remain dormant in their body for several days without taking effect. However, if a certain medicinal catalyst is used to slightly stimulate it, the person will not have time to expel the poison before it takes effect and dies immediately. Does such a compound poison exist?"
"Of course I do, but what the hell are you trying to do, kid?" The old poison monster looked at him with suspicion.
"Of course, it's to poison someone, and someone of extraordinary status, so he needs to ask you for the medicine. No one else can poison him."
"Who...who do you want to poison?"
"A near-peerless master!"
The old poison master gasped, saying, "Are you crazy? You dare to provoke a peerless master? You're courting death!"
Chen Nan sighed and said, "I really have no other way. If you can concoct this kind of poison, just give me the prescription. Don't worry about anything else."
After hesitating for a long time, the old poison master finally found paper and pen and quickly wrote down a formula for a poison.
Chen Nan carefully put away the poison formula, bid farewell to the old poison monster, found Meng Ke'er, and handed her the formula for the poison.
The emergence of this poisonous group signifies that a peerless master is destined to be bound, and an earth-shattering battle is inevitable.
On the day of Ling Yun's public trial, Shenfeng Academy was packed with people; almost all the cultivators in the city had come. However, Chen Nan did not attend the trial. He knew that this was just a formality; the real big action was yet to come, and whether Ling Yun would leave alive would not be determined for several days.
On this day, Ling Yun seemed to have resigned himself to his fate, confessing to all his crimes without reservation. He did not refute the false "facts" fabricated by Chen Nan and Meng Ke'er, admitting them one by one.
The Divine Wind Academy erupted in chaos, filled with angry shouts and nearly drowning Ling Yun in spittle. Had the academy not deployed countless experts, the enraged crowd would have torn Ling Yun to shreds in an instant.
Ling Yun, tears streaming down his face, repeatedly confessed his sins and expressed his willingness to accept any punishment. Finally, he repeatedly kowtowed towards the east, crying out loudly, "I'm sorry to my parents, I'm sorry to my family."
In the end, the near-peerless master, Ling Yun's uncle, along with dozens of senior masters, pleaded with the people of Shenfeng Academy to allow Ling Yun to return home to fulfill his filial duty one last time. After that, they would bring him back here, disembowel him, and use the proceeds to pay tribute to the dead.
The request was sincere, but the methods were not honorable. Most of the dozens of prominent figures invited to this trial had been bribed, and most of them agreed to the request.
All of this was the catalyst for the great war that followed...