Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric

He had spent several centuries cultivating these nine Darkgold Venom Beetles, and he had spent an unimaginable wealth and fed it a vast amount of fresh blood before he could nurture them to maturity. In a sense, it was no joke to say that they were even more precious to him than his own son. And yet, in the blink of an eye, they had collapsed to the ground, not moving at all. It took all of the mental resilience he had to not go insane in that moment.

Seeing the hall master and the Darkgold Venomous Beetles' state, the surrounding crowd glanced at one another in bewilderment.

"Are those Darkgold Venomous Beetles... poisoned to death by Sun Qiang?"

"That fellow actually carries an even more formidable poison than that of the beetles?"

"While attempting to poison that fellow to death, they ended up being poisoned to death instead"

...

After realizing what was going on, their faces warped in frenzy.

Given their deep comprehension of poison, it didn't take too long for them to uncover the true reason behind the beetles' deaththey were killed by an even formidable poison than the one they carried!

From the start to the end, the beetles had only landed on Sun Qiang's body for a brief moment. Given so, no matter how inconceivable it was, there was only one possibility to the situation... The other party carried an even more fearsome poison in him!

The other party had stood still for the beetles to bite him, but it ended up being the beetles who were the ones who died instead...

The spectators couldn't help but feel frenzied by the sight.

This was the Poison Hall, the ground where all of the top poison users of Hongyuan Empire, or even the entire Qingyuan Conferred Empire, were at. And yet, the precious poisonous beetles of the hall masters ended up being poisoned to death? It was truly a huge irony!

"I will kill you!" the hall master bellowed with utmost rage.

At this moment, the hall master bore no semblance to the elegant and dignified old man he was before. His eyes had turned red in delirium, and it seemed like he would not rest until he ripped the fellow before his eyes apart.

However, that was to be expected.

The Darkgold Venom Beetles were his Lifebound Venomous Bugs, and their deaths didn't just signify that the staggering amount of resources he had devoted to cultivating them had gone to waste. More importantly, it had caused a huge trauma to his soul, causing his cultivation to plummet. He was a powerful Saint 3-dan pinnacle cultivator before, but at this moment... it would already be a huge blessing if he could exert the might of a Saint 2-dan pinnacle cultivator.

Boom!

Since even the Darkgold Venom Beetles were unable to poison the other party to death, the hall master knew that the other poisons he had in his possession were unlikely to work as well. Roaring furiously, his zhenqi flurried, forming a massive palm in the sky that struck down with imposing momentum.

But before the palm could strike 'Sun Qiang', the latter abruptly stood up, and with his eyes still closed, he flicked his wrist and whipped out a spear.

In an instant, his aura changed. It was even more fearsome than Zheng Yang back then. With a spear in his hand, his presence felt as if a majestic dragon amongst the clouds, dominating the world with its fearsome might.

Huala!

He tossed the spear upwards with incredible might, and the two forces clashed with one another in the sky.

A huge shockwave burst forth from the collision, forcing Zhang Xuan to take two steps backward. After which, with a forceful step, he leaped upwards to grab his spear before directing it down towards the enemy.

In this instant, it felt as if the line between spear and man had been thinned. The spear was part of the man, and the man was part of the spear as wellSpear-Man Union. Immense zhenqi was channeled into the spear, and it was further augmented with the incomparably powerful physical strength which Zhang Xuan possessed. Even before his spear could reach the other party, the bluestone pavement on the ground had already burst open. The ground where the hall master stood abruptly collapsed inward, creating a huge depression.

"Damn you!" Bellowing furiously, the hall master charged up furiously to face Zhang Xuan.

Had it been under normal circumstances, as powerful as the other party was, he was confident that he would have been able to subdue of even kill the other party easily with his Saint 3-dan pinnacle cultivation.

However, all nine of his Lifebound Venomous Bugs had just been killed. Both his body and his soul had sustained severe damage, preventing him from even exerting a tenth of his original strength. Clashing directly with the other party, he gradually felt that he was being overwhelmed.

But... the enemy was only a Nascent Saint!

"I don't believe that I can't kill you!"

Bellowing furiously once more, the hall master drove his zhenqi to the limits, such that it was beginning to release 'gulu gulu' noises, reminiscent of boiling water.

Boom!

As the spear tip and the palm collided with one another, a loud explosion sounded. The sheer force emanated from the collision reduced all building in an area of several hundred meters into dust. The poison masters who had been hanging around the corner to watch the show suddenly felt an immense threat on their life, and they hurriedly retreated in fear, not daring to stand close.

Pu!

The closed eyes 'Sun Qiang' seemed to be unable to withstand the full might of the hall master. Spurting a mouthful of blood, he was sent flying before crashing heavily onto the ground.

The cultivation of the Saint Ascension Decipher did granted Zhang Xuan the strength to challenge opponents beyond him, but there was a limit to it... the strength harnessed by the hall master was simply too great. He was no match for it at all.

But of course, if his soul was in his body at this moment, he would have been able to use the Library of Heaven's Path to peer through the other party's flaws and design a combat strategy to corner the other party. However... having only his reflexes to rely on at the moment, he could only clash face to face with the other party, and that clearly placed him in a very disadvantageous position.

"Die!" After knocking 'Sun Qiang' flying, the hall master rushed forward to pursue him.

From the previous collision, he had gained a rough gauge of the other party's strength, The other party was indeed formidable for a Nascent Saint, but compared to him, the other party was still lacking a little. As long as he were to push on forcefully, not giving other party an opportunity to catch a breather, he would surely be able to corner the other party and kill him!

Hu!

Sensing danger from the man before him, 'Sun Qiang' seemed to have gotten apprehensive. Tossing the spear in his hand out towards the hall master, he hurriedly turned around and fled.

In the blink of an eye, he was already a few hundred meters away.

"Where do you think you are escaping to!" Not expecting the other party to have no principles at all, fighting arrogantly with his eyes closed a moment ago only to be fleeing shamelessly a moment later, the hall master bellowed angrily. He quickly charged forward and sent another palm strike at the other party.

Hong long!

The overwhelming might of the palm smashed a huge depression into the ground. However, the other party was simply too nimble, evading his attack with ease.

"Stop him!" Seeing the other party getting faster and faster, the hall master knew that he wouldn't be able to keep up with the other party given the severe injuries his body had sustained. Thus, he turned around and commanded.

"Yes!"

Not daring to hesitate, the elders and the vice hall masters hurriedly rushed forward to pursue 'Sun Qiang'.

With great speed they pursued the other party, but the other party was even faster. On top of that, he was darting around randomly with his eyes closed. As a result of that, he was crashing forcefully into everything in his way, knocking down buildings of all sorts.

In just a few moments, the entire island was cloaked in a massive cloud of dust. Even the ancient buildings which had stood proudly for innumerable years as the heritage of the Poison Hall hadn't been spared from the destruction.

Looking at how the heritage which the predecessors had entrusted to his hands been devastated by the fellow before him, the hall master felt as if his head was going to split apart. Flicking his wrist, he whipped out a token and infused zhenqi into it. The token gradually rose to the air, and seemingly communicating with some kind of unique power, it emanated a blinding radiance.

"I am the 30th Hall Master of the Poison Hall. I command for the activation of the Great Guardian Formation"

Hong long long!

As the voice sounded, the light radiated by the token grew brighter and brighter. The massive formation which hid the entire island seemed to have been awakened by some kind of unique power, and it gradually whirred into action.

The formation of the Hongyuan Empire Poison Hall's founding ancestor was not only able to hide the island, it could also corner and poison to death any invaders of the island easily!

The fellow was willfully causing destruction as he escaped. If he was left to be, the innumerable years of Poison Hall's heritage could very well be destroyed.

Weng!

As the formation came to live, a powerful might burst towards the escaping Zhang Xuan not too far away.

Hula!

The power of the formation was omnipresent on the island, and it fell at a speed too fast for Zhang Xuan to dodge. In an instant, his movement had been completely sealed, as if a cage had been constructed around him.

"Hmph, let's see how you can escape from this!"

Noting the tremendous strength of the formation, the eyes of the hall master lit up as he hurriedly made his way over. However, before he could rush up to the other party, the trapped middle-aged man seemed to have suddenly received an epiphany as a look of realization crept onto his face. After which, he took a few steps back within the seal and stomped his feet forcefully.

Kacha!

The seal immediately broke.

After which, the middle-aged man raised his right hand and grasped the air abruptly.

Hu!

Following which, the token before the hall master suddenly seemed to run amok, and it flew straight into the other party's hand.

"What?" Widened his eyes in shock, the hall master was horrified.

To break the seal and snatch the token from his hands so easily, there could only be one possibility... The other party had a thorough comprehension of the massive formation around the island and was aware of the flaws regarding it. By exploiting its flaws, the other party had stolen the controlling rights over the formation from him!

But... how could this be possible?

Back then, the founding ancestor had spent many years studying the blueprint and the geographical terrain of the island, reworking it again and again, each time bringing it a step closer towards perfection, before he finally set up the formation. There were quite a number of predecessors who were proficient in the Way of Formations as well, but even they were unable to grasp the entirety of the formation... The fellow had been here for less than a day, and he had already made sense of it and found its flaws?

Just how in the world could such a thing happen?

As astonished as the hall master was, he moved swiftly to wrestle control over the token, which served as the key to controlling the formation. However, in the next moment, the middle-aged man, with his eyes still closed, abruptly flicked his wrist.

Huala!

An incredible force assaulted the hall master, causing his body to stiffen all of the sudden...

With the control of the formation in the middle-aged man's hand, the other party had called upon the power of the formation to seal his movements, returning the favor to him.

"Damn it!" With eyes blazing with fury, the hall master exerted his full strength to struggle free of the formation.

But before he could do so, a foot suddenly arrived right before his face.

Peng!

Cling cling cling!

Under the impact of the kick, several of the hall master's teeth fell to the ground, and blood trickled down his nose and mouth.

"Sun Qiang, how dare you strike me? I will tear you apart" the hall master roared furiously.

Yet, before he could finish his words, the other party's punches and kicks fell in rapid succession on him, effectively silencing him.

Pilipala!

Within just ten breaths, the hall master had already sustained at least forty fists and sixty kicks, leaving his dignified face distorted in an almost comical manner. If thrown out onto the streets, there was no one who would dare believe that he was the amicable hall master.

Under normal circumstances, even if he was unable to kill the other party, the other party wouldn't be able to harm him easily either.

Who could have known that his decision to draw upon the formation to corner the other party would backfire on him instead? He ended up handing power over to the other party's hand, giving the other party an opportunity to pummel him viciously. At that moment, the hall master felt so frustrated that he felt like his mind was going to explode.

He was the head of the Poison Hall, the most powerful and authoritative man of the Hongyuan Empire Poison Hall!

Yet, for his formation to be used against him like that, what the heck was this...

Why did it feel like the other party was the hall master instead whereas he was the invader?

"Hall master"

The elders and vice hall masters who had rushed over to help arrived at this moment. Upon the hall master being on the verge of death from being pummeled by 'Sun Qiang', they scratched their heads in bewilderment, not knowing what they should do.

They thought that with the hall master making a move himself, victory would be theirs to clinch. They would be able to get even the other party and vie back their dignity. Yet, who could have thought that their hall master would first have his Lifebound Venomous Bugs being poisoned to death first before being pummeled so pitifully...

"Retract your killing intent towards Sun Qiang! Otherwise, he will kill you" Noting that the hall master was on the verge of death, an elder suddenly recalled the situation earlier and shouted.

"Retract my killing intent?"

The swollen-faced hall master had no idea how that would aid him in his current plight, but there must be a rationale for that elder to utter such words. Thus, suppressing his rage, he attempted to quench the killing intent he had for the other party.

Right after doing so, 'Sun Qiang' indeed came to a halt. He sat down on the ground not too far away and continued to cultivate.

From the start to the end, he had never opened his eyes, not even for an instant. It was as if everything he had done thus far was a product of his sleepwalking.

"This... What is going on? I was actually pummeled by a sleepwalking person?"

The eyes of the hall master reddened in indignance.

As the head of the Poison Hall, it would be one thing for him to be pummeled by an expert, but the other party was just a Nascent Saint, a sleepwalking one at that!

What a farce this was!

...

At this moment, Zhang Xuan's soul had just finished collecting the books on the third floor of the Compendium Hall.

Sensing a torrent of spiritual energy gathering outside, as if a formation coming into life, Zhang Xuan frowned in displeasure. After which, the deafening ruckus of innumerable buildings being collapsed reverberated relentlessly in the air.

Eventually, Zhang Xuan snapped in annoyance, "How noisy! Can't they quieten down a little? I am trying to read here!"