Since a poison-immune orphan of the ancient bloodline had already appeared, then logically, another male counterpart must exist as well!

The only question was whether he’d already surfaced somewhere on the Longyuan continent, or whether he remained still on the Solitary Island.

Yanzi had spent all these years searching—searching for the Solitary Island itself!

Han Ziqing’s appearance had been an unexpected surprise. She’d never once imagined that another such surprise might emerge.

“Madam Ci is quite the mystery. Perhaps she escaped from the Solitary Island. Or perhaps she was an orphan of the Solitary Island herself, having lived her entire life on the Longyuan continent all along.” Yanzi said with a smile.

“We can’t afford to be careless—after all, none of us truly knows Madam Ci’s background.” The man in black said flatly. Though he’d spent nearly half a year searching without finding the other poison-immune individual, he still couldn’t be entirely certain that person was even on the Solitary Island in the first place.

“Heh, regardless, finding the Solitary Island is the true priority. As for raising the human gu, I don’t have it entirely mastered yet.” Yanzi said in a low voice, though in front of Xuanyuan Lige she’d put on the appearance of someone who knew everything—in truth, she understood better than anyone just how difficult human gu cultivation truly was.

“Let’s go. We can’t delay any further.” The man in black said, offering no further argument, seemingly pressed for time.

“What’s the rush? A quick round trip, I promise you’ll still make it in time for that other matter!” Yanzi seemed unconcerned.

A flicker of disdain passed through the man in black’s eyes, but he said nothing more, spurring his horse forward to catch up with Xuanyuan Lige, who was leading the way ahead.

Poison-immune individuals truly numbered only two—one male, one female. But neither Yanzi nor the man in black knew that a third such person existed in this world: Shiliang!

Even amid the lingering chill of early spring, Nanzhao’s jungles remained perpetually hot, with temperatures dropping only in the dead of night.

The Medicine Clan’s Poison Den stood like an eternal, unchanging beacon, forever looming within Nanzhao’s jungles!

Every night, lanterns flickered to life across the countless honeycomb-like caves and caverns.

Shiliang had already spent a full forty-nine days there. A body with such exceptional aptitude for cultivating poison, in the hands of the Poison Den’s elder, could undoubtedly be shaped into a vessel of complete poison immunity.

Except she would no longer possess a soul—she would become nothing more than a true, undying poison death-warrior in every sense.

Within the dim cavern, Shiliang’s hands and feet remained bound in shackles. Her body had been cleaned and groomed meticulously; if not for her eyes, she’d have looked no different from the Shiliang of a few months ago.

No one could possibly imagine that this was the same girl who’d once been beaten to a pulp by poison rods, over and over, only to be healed and restored each time.

Yet her eyes were hollow and empty—clearly defined, black and white, and yet somehow gave the impression of staring into the deep, vacant sockets of a skull, utterly empty.

Luocha, the elder disciple of the Poison Den’s master, hadn’t rested a single night these past days. Tonight, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He carefully drew a drop of blood from Shiliang’s fingertip, letting it fall into a bowl filled with clear water, then quietly instructed the disciple beside him, “Should Master come see this?”

“Senior Brother, Master is in seclusion and won’t allow anyone to disturb him. You know this.” The young disciple answered timidly.

Luocha’s brow furrowed, but he said nothing further, personally carrying the bowl of bloody water toward the rear mountain instead.

The cavern halfway up the rear mountain had its stone door tightly shut. Luocha tapped the mechanism repeatedly, but no one answered for a long while.

“With respect, please inform Master that the undying poison corpse has been successfully cultivated!” he called out loudly, puzzled in his own mind—Master had shown tremendous interest in this Shiliang, and he was well aware today marked the completion of her cultivation. Surely he’d emerge from seclusion for this!

After a long while, the stone door finally opened, but it was only a medicine boy who stepped out. “Senior Brother, Master is in seclusion and forbids all disturbance. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten even this basic rule!”

“Did you relay my message to him?” Luocha asked hastily. Though he was the Poison Den elder’s first and foremost disciple, second only to the master himself in status within the Poison Den, he never dared put on airs of seniority in front of this favorite little medicine boy of his master’s.

“I’ll say it once more—Master is in seclusion, and unless he emerges of his own accord, no one is permitted to disturb him. Do you understand, Senior Brother?” the young medicine boy asked earnestly.

Luocha, thoroughly put in his place, dared not press further, watching helplessly as the stone door slowly closed, with nothing more he could do.

Master’s seclusion periods had never come with any clear indication of when they’d end—aside from the master himself choosing to emerge, it seemed even this little medicine boy wouldn’t dare disturb him.

Thinking this over, Luocha had no choice but to leave, thoroughly displeased, still uncertain what exactly his master intended to do with this undying poison corpse he’d had cultivated. After all, if left uncontrolled, an undying poison corpse could prove exceedingly dangerous.

After Luocha departed, the cave’s stone door slowly opened again, and the young medicine boy stepped out, his face etched with worry, gazing up at the stars and murmuring to himself, “The ice and snow have already begun to melt. Why hasn’t he come back yet?”

Indeed—the ice and snow had already begun to melt!

These past few days, numerous ports across Da Zhou had already begun their thaw, signaling that fishermen were about to begin their year’s labor, and the entire coastline had suddenly come alive with activity!

Situ Haonan climbed to the highest watchtower at the port, gazing north, mulling things over for a moment before making a decisive call. “We’re not waiting any longer. Prepare to set sail!”

“Young Master Situ, the Solitary Island’s Jiao Cha hasn’t even departed yet! Are you certain you want to leave now?” Physician Gu asked earnestly.

“We’re not waiting. Beiyue said if there’s still no word after the ice thaws, we set out. So we’re setting out now.” Situ Haonan said firmly.

Yet just then, a guard came running at full speed. “Report! Word has arrived from the Solitary Island!”

Situ Haonan was overjoyed, taking the message and reading it—it was indeed news from Jiao Cha. “Well, well, a merman truly is a merman! Physician Gu, let’s go, we can’t fall behind!”

Physician Gu, still bewildered by what was happening, found himself dragged along by Situ Haonan, and before long, their fleet had left port, heading straight north!

To the north, Dongqin’s ports had already thawed substantially. Yet not only had those ports remained quiet—East Sea Cliff itself showed no sign of activity either, not yet.

Jun Beiyue stood with his hands clasped behind his back at the edge of the cliff, gazing out over the vast, endless sea, his handsome brow furrowed into a deep knot.

The nearest Dongqin port to East Sea Cliff had thawed just the day before yesterday, yet despite having stationed heavy forces atop East Sea Cliff, still no one had come.

Could it be he’d misread the meaning of that note entirely?

Yaoshun Island—anyone with even passing knowledge of the place knew that reaching it required either a ship belonging to Yaoshun Island itself, or one belonging to the Dongqin royal family; no other vessel could make the crossing.

If that group intended to reach Yaoshun Island, they would necessarily need to pass through Dongqin, and traveling from Da Zhou to Dongqin required crossing through the Three Realms Territory.

The nearest and safest route through the Three Realms Territory was precisely East Sea Cliff—once past the cliff, a single day’s journey would bring them to Dongqin’s southernmost port, from which they could sail directly out to sea.

Had he misinterpreted the meaning behind those three characters, “Yaoshun Island”—or had something else gone wrong?

Jun Beiyue puzzled over it endlessly, unable to find an answer, but he knew one thing for certain: this couldn’t be allowed to drag on any longer. “Someone, prepare the ships—stand ready at all times!”

And just then, beneath the very cliff where he stood, a head emerged from the surging waters below—unmistakably that of a handsome man, yet with faint scales growing along his temples, glinting golden in the sunlight amid the churning waves, radiating an air of unmistakable nobility!

Once the waves settled, the golden scales had vanished entirely, and in their place stood the same clean, handsome, scholarly young man—Baili Weisheng!

What on earth was he doing here?