Fungal substances cannot pose a threat to cultivators—this is basic common sense in the cultivator world.
Unless the spore density in the air is excessively high, but that’s impossible! Because the release of spores is a slow and gradual process, during which a gust of wind would disperse them.
Even without wind, given a cultivator’s breathing rate, it’s impossible to inhale enough spores!
Unless the spores grow at an abnormally fast rate, but that’s impossible! Spore growth requires a large amount of catalyst, and that catalyst emits a pungent stench that serves as a warning, much like a terrible fart!
Unless the cultivator’s body is filled with the cultivation elements that aid spore growth, but that’s impossible! It’s well known that cultivators’ bodies do not naturally contain such elements, and to introduce them, one must pierce the skin and inject the elements directly!
Jin Ao recalled the three cultivators he had just cured.
The first cultivator had let out a thunderous fart that swept across the entire arena—now he realized that was the smell of the spore catalyst.
The second cultivator’s hair had exploded like steel needles, piercing countless Disciple of the Mad Dragon Hall members’ skin, and the hair growth agent used by that toxin was actually extracted from spore cultivation elements.
The third cultivator’s singed sweat hairs released a pervasive hiccup medicine throughout the arena, causing a massive number of Disciple of the Mad Dragon Hall members to uncontrollably hiccup—during which they inhaled a large amount of air along with various airborne spores.
Now, all three essential factors for spores to inhabit cultivators’ bodies had come together.
Jin Ao’s face turned pale as he suddenly began coughing violently. Amidst the harsh coughs, he spat out several bloodstained foreign objects.
Upon closer inspection, they were mushrooms.
He could imagine countless fungal spores furiously growing inside him, stealing his flesh and spiritual energy resources to nourish their own growth.
“Ahhhh—”
He let out a hysterical scream. At this moment, his entire body, inside and out, was overwhelmed by maddening itching!
He shoved his fingers deep into his throat, scratching and clawing, dislodging piece after piece of bloodied mushrooms—but immediately, more mushrooms sprouted, bringing even more unbearable itching.
He lifted his head, his gaze filled with venomous hatred fixed on Jiang Ke’er—he had fallen, but Jiang Ke’er would not leave alive!
He had inflicted those unforgettable painful toxins on the Ta Ming Sect cultivators; even if Jiang Ke’er succeeded in detoxifying them, he would inevitably be poisoned and suffer the utmost torment!
Sure enough, just as he expected, after Jiang Ke’er dispelled all the toxins from the Ta Ming Sect cultivators, he was staggering, lips pitch black, only a step away from all the toxins detonating inside him!
Yet, at this moment, Jiang Ke’er approached him with a faint, fearless smile.
Jin Ao collapsed onto the ground as mushrooms continuously sprouted from his body. His muscles were completely devoured and decomposed, leaving him powerless.
He could only watch helplessly as Jiang Ke’er reached out to his bald head and, with a “pop~,” plucked a pure white, clean mushroom.
In stunned disbelief, Jin Ao saw Jiang Ke’er pull out a pot, light a fire on the spot, boil the mushrooms in plain water, then dip them in soy sauce and eat them.
“Ah~ revived~”
The signs of poisoning on Jiang Ke’er’s face visibly faded at a remarkable speed. She hopped and shook her tail, then bowed deeply to Jin Ao.
“Thank you, Senior, for the antidote mushroom that grew on your body!”
“…”
Jin Ao’s lips trembled, and tears welled up.
He had never imagined the poison duel would end like this.
From the very beginning, everything had been part of her scheme—even the antidote used to cure the toxins had grown from his own head!
She hadn’t even used any real toxins against him—no corrosive acid that rots flesh, no neurotoxin that paralyzes nerves and strips away resistance, no coagulating poison that solidifies blood and freezes spiritual energy… only those ordinary medicines that couldn’t even be called toxins!
Yet step by step, he had fallen into her carefully crafted chain trap, personally cultivating those mushrooms, personally releasing spores, personally inhaling them in large quantities… digging his own grave.
What level of calculation and understanding of toxic chain reactions must one possess to pull this off so thoroughly!
What chilled Jin Ao the most was the antidote mushroom growing from his own head.
That meant she had, long before poisoning the Disciple of the Mad Dragon Hall cultivators, figured out the exact types of toxins he’d used on the Ta Ming Sect cultivators simply by observing from afar—and had already devised the ultimate countermeasure!
What should have been a complicated detoxification process was impossible for her to complete in time—unless someone else prepared the antidote.
Yet in the end, he had prepared the antidote for her with his own hands: a new type of antidote mushroom perfectly suited to neutralize the toxins in her body.
He had lost, utterly and completely.
Their realms were not even on the same plane, separated by a chasm as vast as heaven and earth.
Jin Ao had completely lost the ability to move. His muscles were thoroughly consumed by fungi, followed by his blood, bone marrow, and internal organs.
He even felt the fungi corroding his brain through the gaps in his skull.
His brain itched intensely. Though still conscious, his body no longer obeyed him. More terrifyingly—the body began moving on its own!
Milky-white fungal rods deeply embedded at both ends into his bones formed entirely new muscle tissue!
He uncontrollably stood up and slowly walked back into the ranks of the Disciple of the Mad Dragon Hall cultivators, facing Iron Prison.
“I’m sorry, I’ve lost.”
His body was covered in colorful mushrooms, looking incredibly bizarre—so much so that even Iron Prison felt a chill run down his spine.
Iron Prison had not been infected. His hair-stabbing attack earlier couldn’t penetrate the defenses of a high-level cultivator, and thus couldn’t inject the fungal cultivation elements.
Therefore, those infected this time were mostly low-rank Disciple of the Mad Dragon Hall members, along with Medical Cultivators and Poison Cultivators.
“Retreat!” Iron Prison decided immediately.
“Wait, Elder Tie Iron Prison,” Jiang Ke’er called out, pulling a Recording Crystal from her hair.
Iron Prison’s cheek twitched, the mental shadow of yesterday flashing across his mind once again.
“Retreat! Hurry, retreat!”
Iron Prison fled in disarray with the mushroom-covered Disciple of the Mad Dragon Hall cultivators.
They needed to get back to the Mad Dragon Hall Headquarters immediately, so the other Medical and Poison Cultivators there could assist in treatment. Otherwise, the losses this time… would be unimaginable!
Watching the retreating figures of the Mad Dragon Hall, Jiang Ke’er smiled meaningfully.
The duel was over?
No.
The real celebration had only just begun.
Feel the power of the mushrooms!
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Wtf…. That is scary as shit