Whether it was Xuanyuan Lige or the King of Nanzhao, both harbored their own hidden agendas. Yet the King of Nanzhao still felt fairly confident in his heart—because, as he saw it, across the entire Longyuan continent, once the Nanzhao royal family spoke, every nation had to show deference, even Jun Beiyue of Da Zhou was no exception.
Once that person immune to all poisons was rooted out, no matter how formidable Xuanyuan Lige’s abilities, there would be nothing he could do.
The Longyuan continent, in the end, answered to the Nanzhao royal family—it was simply that the Nanzhao royal family had always kept a low profile.
Defying the entire world—what good end could Xuanyuan Lige possibly meet?
The King of Nanzhao had no way of knowing who that person immune to all poisons actually was, nor did he know that Xuanyuan Lige had long since resigned himself to a mindset where even the destruction of the whole world meant nothing to him.
Defy the world—he accepted that too!
This was the greatest difference between him and Jun Beiyue—he had let go of his dream of Great Qin, and in doing so, had let go of the world itself.
But Jun Beiyue was different. Jun Beiyue’s constant wariness of Nanzhao was precisely because he feared Nanzhao waging war against Da Zhou, wasn’t it?
“Actually…”
The King of Nanzhao stroked his beard thoughtfully, sighing several times for effect before speaking. “Actually, whether Mingsha Mountain is connected to Lishang or not—this king doesn’t know either!”
“Why?” Xuanyuan Lige wasn’t about to believe that easily.
But on this matter, the King of Nanzhao had no intention of lying. “Lishang was composed by a person of the Isolated Island. Back when the Isolated Island’s people were being slaughtered and imprisoned, he concealed his origins and infiltrated the Land of the Earth King’s cult as a zither master. Using that position, he composed Lishang, hiding the secrets of the Isolated Island within it.”
Saying this, the King of Nanzhao couldn’t help but sigh with feeling. “This zither master possessed extraordinary musical talent. If not for the way he concealed it, all the clues to those ruins would likely have been destroyed long ago. As for exactly what secrets he hid, no one knows!”
Hearing this, Xuanyuan Lige was startled. “What secrets? Do you mean there are multiple secrets of the Isolated Island?”
Whether it was him, Ziqing, or Jun Beiyue, they had all been searching for the Isolated Island’s location—always working from Lishang and the island’s ruins.
The way the King of Nanzhao was speaking now clearly implied there were distinctions among these secrets!
“Heh, the secrets of the Isolated Island—there should be two, I suppose. One is the location of the island itself, and the other is Mingsha Mountain!” the King of Nanzhao said flatly, while the three clan chieftains beside him lowered their heads, silent.
Xuanyuan Lige’s gaze deepened. Indeed, he hadn’t been wrong—Mingsha Mountain was special. So Mingsha Mountain itself held yet another secret.
Xuanyuan Lige said nothing further. The King of Nanzhao took a sip of tea but didn’t continue either, instead asking in turn, “Master Xuanyuan, you say a person immune to all poisons appeared at Mingsha Mountain—what exactly is this about?”
Yet Xuanyuan Lige refused to answer directly. “The secret of Mingsha Mountain is connected to the underground passage. But Yelu Qianqian and her people dug down there and found nothing. Why is that?”
Hearing this, the King of Nanzhao sat up sharply. “Could it be the Xijing royal family knows of these matters as well?”
“Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll tell you the truth,” Xuanyuan Lige said coldly. Ziqing’s identity and whereabouts were his greatest bargaining chip in this negotiation, his trump card. Once he played that card, the King of Nanzhao would no longer need him—would he even be allowed to leave?
The King of Nanzhao understood this logic too.
“Master Xuanyuan Lige, since you already know of the human Gu, you should understand the gravity of this matter. If too many people come to know…”
“Your Majesty, rest assured—not many know. Otherwise I wouldn’t have dared come here at all.”
Hearing Xuanyuan Lige’s words, the King of Nanzhao glanced at the three chieftains, hesitating a moment before continuing, “Nanzhao’s Gu cultivation doesn’t actually originate from the Yao clan’s poison den, but from the Isolated Island clan. The Isolated Island had Gu cultivators who specialized in studying every kind of poisonous Gu. The Isolated Island possessed a treasured realm called the Poison Beast World! To be precise, it’s a barrier—a world independent of the Longyuan continent, accessible only through specific entrances and exits.”
Hearing this, Xuanyuan Lige clenched his fists, his jaw tightening, as though he’d realized something.
Seeing his reaction, the King of Nanzhao grew uneasy as well, no longer holding back, hurriedly explaining, “That Poison Beast World has always been controlled by the great Gu master of the Isolated Island—he alone could open the seal at will, opening the gate to that world. Anyone wishing to cultivate a Gu there needed his permission to enter. All of this was a point of pride for the Nanzhao royal family. But one day, the great Gu master discovered a way to cultivate a human Gu—the human Gu…”
The King of Nanzhao didn’t explain further, only glancing at Xuanyuan Lige. As for the human Gu, Xuanyuan Lige already knew—Yingzi had been candid with him about much of it along the way.
He nodded, and the King of Nanzhao continued, “In truth, that the Isolated Island’s bloodline could produce someone with the potential for full poison immunity was itself a point of pride. But once cultivated into a human Gu, the harm was immense…”
The King of Nanzhao was speaking with such righteous conviction when Xuanyuan Lige cut in coldly. “Because once a human Gu was successfully cultivated, the Isolated Island would have had the power to stand against the Nanzhao royal family! If a human Gu had been cultivated back then, it would be the Isolated Island ruling Nanzhao today, not your royal house!”
These words made the King of Nanzhao’s face change drastically, and the three chieftains snapped their heads up, all of them visibly shaken.
This truth—one that even those who knew of the Isolated Island’s secrets never dared speak aloud—had finally been said today.
The King of Nanzhao’s expression was as ugly as could be, but in the end he forcibly swallowed his humiliation, sighing at length before speaking flatly, “Yes. What you say isn’t wrong. But that isn’t the only reason—nor even the primary one!”
Xuanyuan Lige didn’t argue, coughing lightly a few times, still forcibly suppressing the taste of blood in his throat, refusing to let himself appear too weak. He truly didn’t know how much longer he could hold out, didn’t know how much more his failing body could withstand—but he believed, with absolute certainty, that he would hold on until the moment he saw Ziqing again.
Even if it meant burning through the rest of his life to do it, he was willing.
Once, letting go so easily had been born of helplessness—he’d found no reason to believe himself better than Jun Beiyue. But now, he had found that reason, and he believed with everything in him that even if it killed him, he would hold on.
The King of Nanzhao paused, then shamelessly offered up a grand, high-minded justification. “At the time, the royal house was thinking of the world at large! Once a human Gu was cultivated, combined with so many poison beasts, no one could have contained the Isolated Island. If its people had sought to claim the world, it would have plunged all living things into suffering—far beyond what any ordinary war could compare to. How many could a single immortal human Gu bring ruin to?”
The King of Nanzhao grew more agitated as he spoke, rising to his feet. “The Nanzhao royal family will never allow Longyuan to become a living hell, ruled by the tyranny of poison!”
Looking at the King of Nanzhao, Xuanyuan Lige found it all hollow. Yet he couldn’t deny that this reasoning was righteous enough—sufficient to justify the annihilation of an entire people. Perhaps it was precisely this reasoning that had won the support of all Nanzhao’s tribes for the royal house back then, support that had continued unbroken to this very day.
“Is there truly no way to break this immune-to-all-poisons constitution? Must an entire people be wiped out?” Xuanyuan Lige asked coldly.
And in that instant, a flicker of fear crossed the eyes of the righteously indignant, passionately declaiming King of Nanzhao…