What Jun Beiyue had said wasn’t without logic—it might well be a viable approach!

If immunity to all poisons stemmed from the toxic scar on the face, then couldn’t removing that concentrated poison from Ziqing’s face destroy the immunity altogether, eliminating the risk of her ever being used to cultivate human gu?

Of course, it sounded reasonable enough on the surface, but Jun Beiyue understood better than anyone just how merciful the Nanzhao royal house truly was. If there had been any other way, if it hadn’t been an absolute last resort, they would never have gone to such lengths to wipe out an entire island, an entire people—nor would they still, to this day, be working so hard to keep the matter buried.

Whatever solution he’d proposed had surely already occurred to someone before, likely even been attempted already—and had failed, every single time.

He was clever, but he knew full well he wasn’t the only clever person in this world.

Jun Beiyue’s real purpose here was simple.

It wasn’t about curing the poison at all—it was about testing Baili Weisheng.

Testing this man before him, the one he was about to expose, to see whether his intentions toward Ziqing were benevolent or malicious.

Whether he’d come to help Ziqing, or whether, like everyone else, he had his own designs on her immunity to all poisons.

Baili Weisheng narrowed his eyes, watching Jun Beiyue in silence, while Ziqing likewise watched the Duku Elder quietly. She hadn’t caught the deeper intent behind Jun Beiyue’s words—she, more than anyone, was hoping desperately for an answer. If anyone had once suggested she destroy her own immunity to all poisons, she would have fought them tooth and nail, because it was the mark of her identity, the only remaining link to her people. But now, it had become the greatest danger she posed to the world—the greatest curse the lone island’s people had brought upon the realm.

She didn’t want to be immune to all poisons!

She only wanted a simple, ordinary life.

Baili Weisheng took a long while to answer, seemingly lost in thought.

If he answered that it was impossible, wouldn’t he then need to explain why—wouldn’t that reveal just how much he knew about this immunity? And wouldn’t that only invite Jun Beiyue to keep pressing further?

Would Jun Beiyue then conclude outright that he wanted Ziqing to keep her immunity, that his intentions were malicious?

If, instead, he answered that it was possible, showing goodwill toward Jun Beiyue, wouldn’t Jun Beiyue just as surely keep questioning him further regardless?

In truth, no one knew exactly how much Baili Weisheng actually knew, whether his intentions were good or ill, or whether the method Jun Beiyue had proposed was even feasible at all.

“What do you think?” Jun Beiyue finally spoke.

Baili Weisheng suddenly gave a soft laugh, glancing at the mask covering Ziqing’s face. “Prince Yao, beauty and ugliness were never absolute. A woman need only be happy to be beautiful. Your woman—so long as you find her beautiful, she is the most beautiful woman under heaven. Why go to such trouble, chasing after a cure, just for the sake of a face that could topple kingdoms?”

Jun Beiyue scoffed inwardly—what a lovely answer, deliberately twisting his meaning. Fortunately, Ziqing was a reasonable woman, or else she might well have been swayed by his glib words.

He was about to respond when, to his surprise, Ziqing spoke first. “Elder of Duku, I want both the cure and this face. Tell me—is the method he just described feasible or not?”

At those words, Jun Beiyue immediately shot her a look brimming with doting affection—what a greedy woman, wanting both! But he loved that about her.

With the question posed so directly, could Baili Weisheng really avoid answering just as directly?

“That method… heh, this old fool has never heard of such a thing. Can’t say,” Baili Weisheng said with a chuckle.

“Then do you know of any other method?” Jun Beiyue pressed further.

Ziqing found herself puzzled. In the past, the Duku Elder would never have had the patience to indulge them with so much idle chatter—yet this black-robed elder before her seemed somehow different today.

She stayed puzzled, but kept watching, keeping her expression neutral, waiting.

“Truly, there isn’t one,” Baili Weisheng said, shaking his head helplessly.

“Duku gathers together the finest poison masters in the realm. As its supreme leader, surely you must have some solution, however small?” Jun Beiyue pressed again.

Baili Weisheng grew earnest. “Prince Yao, think about it. If Duku knew how to cure immunity to all poisons, would the Nanzhao royal house have destroyed the lone island back then? My Medicine Clan would have offered up the solution long ago—and today, the Medicine Clan wouldn’t need to be locked in such bitter rivalry with the Beast Clan and the Merfolk Clan either. Heh, don’t you agree?”

“I see,” Jun Beiyue said, rubbing his chin, then continued, “But that was then, and this is now. Surely the people back then and the people now aren’t quite the same…”

At this, Jun Beiyue paused. Baili Weisheng’s heart nearly stopped—he’d thought this fellow would leave once he had the antidote in hand; he hadn’t expected him to keep pushing further!

Baili Weisheng didn’t dare say anything. Ziqing, equally puzzled, said nothing either, simply continuing to listen.

Jun Beiyue gave Baili Weisheng a meaningful look, then continued, “At the very least, the art of poison itself should have advanced somewhat by now, shouldn’t it…”

Hearing this, the heart that had been hanging in Baili Weisheng’s chest settled just a little.

“Out of respect for Elder Sha Qiuzi, please, Elder, don’t make things difficult for this junior. I came specifically to seek your counsel this time.”

At these words, Baili Weisheng’s heart went completely cold—he knew now, this particular disaster was simply unavoidable.

“There’s no method for that. But there’s one thing you can rest assured about: cultivating human gu isn’t so easy a thing to do. Even if you gathered every single poisonous creature in all of Longyuan, you still couldn’t cultivate a human gu from them. Whatever Yanzi used to cultivate her human gu had to be a medicine-poison beast—but that particular medicine-poison beast, she cultivated it herself. In this whole world, only the Yan clan knows how to raise medicine-poison beasts. Keep close watch on her, and no one else in this world will ever be able to cultivate a human gu again,” Baili Weisheng finally said seriously.

Baili Weisheng wasn’t lying. A body immune to all poisons was only vulnerable to medicine-poison specifically—no matter how many, how potent ordinary poisonous beasts might be, they’d be entirely useless against Ziqing’s constitution.

“A medicine-poison beast?” Jun Beiyue’s brow furrowed.

“Precisely. Such a creature can only come about through deliberate gu-cultivation, or else it already exists naturally. But a naturally occurring medicine-poison beast…” Baili Weisheng trailed off, a complicated flicker passing through his eyes, seeming to hesitate for just a moment before continuing, “such a thing does not exist naturally in this world!”

Could those words be trusted?

Jun Beiyue only half-believed him. He accepted that only the head of the medicine-poison clan could cultivate human gu, but he refused to believe that medicine-poison beasts didn’t exist naturally in this world.

Otherwise, why would the Nanzhao royal house have chosen to destroy the lone island instead of wiping out the Yan clan?

Wouldn’t that be absurd?

“Esteemed Elder of Duku, if that’s truly the case, then wiping out the Yan clan would ensure the secret of cultivating human gu is buried forever, wouldn’t it? Do you take the Nanzhao royal house for such fools?” Jun Beiyue’s tone suddenly turned sharp, his gaze fixing coldly on Baili Weisheng.

But Baili Weisheng showed no fear at all, only smiling. “Prince Yao, as clever as you are, how could you not have guessed already? The lone island itself is precisely where all the medicine-poison beasts of this world originate.”

At these words, both Jun Beiyue and Ziqing were struck with shock!