Zhao Yunfei sneered, "Then we shall see!"
Zi Linling lazily rolled her eyes and said, "Enough, enough! It's not that I look down on you, it's that I genuinely do! Your impoverished linguistic abilities are completely unsuitable for verbal sparring, so let's just start the challenge already!"
Zhao Yunfei snorted coldly and said, "Since you're in such a hurry to die, then follow me!"
He then led the way into the depths of the Poison Master Association.
Zi Linling followed without much thought.
Soon, the two arrived at a large arena.
That's right!
A Master level Poison Master challenging an Emperor level Poison Master was different from other assessments; it had to be completed on a designated arena.
Otherwise, once the Emperor level poison spread, everyone in the Poison Master Association would be buried with it.
Zi Linling stood on the arena, inwardly marveling, "There are actually nine layers of purifying formations surrounding this arena. If even one Qingcheng branch is like this, the Poison Master Association is truly formidable!"
At this moment, she was no longer the clueless novice in formations.
After the battle at the Hehuan Sect, especially with Elder Du's assistance in completing three Emperor level confinement formations, she had already touched the threshold of an Emperor level formation master.
Therefore, she could immediately discern the purpose of the nine layers of formations surrounding the arena.
Purification, naturally, was to purify poison.
With nine layers of purifying formations, even if a life-and-death battle raged on the arena, no poison would leak out and affect the other members of the Poison Master Association.
Furthermore, Zi Linling could feel a mysterious power observing from within the arena. She surmised it was something akin to a spirit of the arena.
It had to be said, no matter the occasion, the one thing never lacking was onlookers.
As soon as Zi Linling and Zhao Yunfei stepped onto the arena, the onlookers flocked to the viewing stands outside.
It turned out that once the arena was activated, other members of the Poison Master Association would be immediately notified.
A Master level Poison Master challenging an Emperor level Poison Master could be considered a grand event in the poison arts.
After all, if one could gain insights into their own poison dao from the battle between the two, it would be immensely beneficial.
Thus, in less than a moment, the arena was surrounded by spectators.
Zhao Yunfei cleared his throat and declared, "The challenge for an Emperor level Poison Master will be conducted through a poison duel."
"This means one party poses a question, and the other answers it. If the answer is successful, the role of posing questions will switch to the one who answered, and the other will answer, and so on, for nine rounds to determine the winner."
"Those who fail to successfully challenge within nine rounds will also be considered defeated..."
Zhao Yunfei explained the challenge rules in great detail.
Of course, this wasn't out of kindness, but because the regulations of the Poison Master Association stipulated that:
When a Master level Poison Master challenged an Emperor level Poison Master, the Emperor level Poison Master must inform the challenger of the challenge rules in exhaustive detail, or the challenge would be considered successful by default.
In other words, if Zhao Yunfei did not clearly explain the challenge rules, Zi Linling could win without even fighting.
This explanation took about half a stick of incense. Su Dan Novel Network.
Zi Linling, who had already familiarized herself with the rules of the Poison Master Association, suddenly felt drowsy listening to Zhao Yunfei's lengthy and repetitive explanation.
However, the unfortunate part was that she couldn't interrupt Zhao Yunfei's speech, as doing so would be considered a failed challenge.
With that feeling of being watched, both Zi Linling and Zhao Yunfei were compelled to abide by these strange rules.
Under normal circumstances, enemies meeting should result in heightened animosity.
Since both of them wanted to kill each other, they should have attacked directly.
But the absurdity lay in this situation.
The two individuals who should have been engaged in a fierce battle were forced by these peculiar association rules to patiently listen to each other's lengthy discourse, which made the scene look incredibly incongruous.
Just as Zi Linling was about to fall asleep, Zhao Yunfei finally finished his explanation.
At this point, not only Zi Linling's spirits were lifted, but the onlookers on the stands also became energetic.
"Alright, all necessary formalities are done, so let's begin! As the challenged party, I have the right to pose the first question."
Zhao Yunfei let out a long breath, and a murderous glint returned to his eyes.
Zi Linling lazily picked at her ear and sneered, "Fine, seeing as you're already meat on a chopping block, what if I let you have the first round? Ask your question! Let me see just how much real skill the president of this Poison Master Association possesses!"
This was a tactic.
Despite Zi Linling's words laced with sarcasm, one must give their all even when hunting a rabbit. She certainly wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating her opponent.
Therefore, she was extremely cautious internally, and her spiritual power was highly concentrated.
One often walks by the river, but can one avoid getting their shoes wet?
When dealing with poisons, a moment's lapse in concentration could lead to eternal damnation!
Zhao Yunfei knew he was no match for Zi Linling in verbal combat, so he simply filtered out her taunts.
A table appeared before him.
On the table, various kinds of poisonous herbs were piled up like a small mountain.
He took out a poison cauldron, casually threw in over twenty types of herbs, and began to refine them meticulously.
Zi Linling's heart grew more solemn.
The herbs that Zhao Yunfei had casually thrown into the poison cauldron were all Earth-grade medicinal ingredients.
The poison refined from over twenty types of Earth-grade poisonous herbs would undoubtedly be extraordinary.
Refining poison and refining pills shared similarities and differences.
The similarity was that the refining process had to be meticulous.
Both the temperature of the flames and the medicinal properties of the herbs after extraction would affect the efficacy of the pills and poisons.
The difference, however, was that pill refinement was unique, while poison refinement was diverse.
In other words, the same medicinal ingredients that could be used to refine a Muscle Strengthening Pill could only produce that one type of pill, but the same medicinal ingredients for refining a poison could yield several different kinds of toxins.
For example, ingredients capable of refining a Muscle Strengthening Pill could only produce that specific pill and no other.
However, ingredients capable of refining "A Smile for a Lifetime" could not only yield the ancient formidable poison "A Smile for a Lifetime" but also potentially other poisons.
Zi Linling closed her eyes and unleashed her spiritual sense.
That's right, spiritual sense, not divine sense.
Because at their level, divine sense probing could easily be detected by others, but spiritual sense was different.
Spiritual sense was an innate perception, and apart from oneself, others could not sense it at all.
Zi Linling unleashed her spiritual sense to carefully perceive the changes within Zhao Yunfei's poison cauldron.
However, she was disappointed.
Spiritual sense, after all, was not divine sense and had a limited range of perception.
Once it exited this range, it would automatically disappear.
But if she didn't take this opportunity to figure out what poison Zhao Yunfei was refining, it would be very difficult to formulate a targeted antidote in a very short amount of time.
Since spiritual sense wouldn't work, she could only rely on her always-reliable sense of smell!