A Chaotic World 282 Trying the Same Trick Thrice

Those among the crowd were deeply intrigued by this unexpected interaction between the two promising young poison masters. From the sound of it, the two of them already knew each other, and their relationship was not an amiable one at all.
Two enemies ended up facing each other for the top rank, how exciting was that?
People always loved drama that did not concern themselves.
Since things had played out this way, everyone's eyes were fixated on the duo, and nobody was paying any attention whatsoever to the second pair currently vying for third place.
Or rather, all eyes were now on Beiwei Jinguo.
Since Xiquan Chong did not bother making a concoction of his own, he was able to complete administering the poison way ahead of time.
Now, Beiwei Jinguo was the only one still preparing his concoction.
This effectively meant that Xiquan Chong could pay full attention to what Beiwei Jinguo was doing, allowing Xiquan Chong to more easily identify the materials used in Beiwei Jinguo's concoction.
Even though just identifying the individual components did not mean Xiquan Chong would surely know how to neutralise the completed concoction, it would at least help him narrow down his options.
It might seem a little unfair, but this so-called advantage actually went both ways.
Just like Xiquan Chong, Beiwei Jinguo was able to tell exactly what went into Xiquan Chong's Tank Hare. In fact, he even knew the exact solution to it!
The question now was whether he had the ability to carry it out.
Beiwei Jinguo blocked out all distractions, concentrating on the matter at hand.
Concocting a potent and unique poison was difficult enough, but he even had to disguise the main components on top of that, so as to make it even harder for Xiquan Chong to neutralise it.
This was a tall order for any poison master.
When Beiwei Jinguo was finally done administering the poison, beads of sweat were already lining his forehead.
"Time's up!" Elder Beilan announced. "Move over to your opponent's table and neutralise the poison that has been administered. You have half an hour, starting from now!"
Both Beiwei Jinguo and Xiquan Chong immediately got to work.
Xiquan Chong might have been at ease earlier, but his face was dead serious at the moment.
He never thought that this round would be an easy win, but the poison that Beiwei Jinguo had concocted was even more complex than he had imagined.
Even after watching a large part of the concoction process, there were still many things that Xiquan Chong was unsure of. Right now, he had to grasp every second he had in order to decipher this poison puzzle, and had no time to even take a look at how Beiwei Jinguo was faring.
But while Xiquan Chong was not watching, everyone else was.
They were looking to see if the late Elder Beichang's student really had the ability to back up his words.
There was only one known way for an Essence Building realm poison master to neutralise the poison of the Windfrost Pollen, and it required an extremely high degree of control over their Essence energy.

If Beiwei Jinguo truly managed to do so, he would have accomplished something that even Essence Condensation realm martial artists would not be confident of pulling off!
For this method, the essence extract of Wolfang Honey was the key. When imbued with Essence energy, it would actually possess the ability to neutralise the Windfrost Pollen.
After extracting a small amount of essence from Wolfang Honey and feeding it to the Tank Hare, Beiwei Jinguo drove the Slaughter Essence in his inner world, directing the Essence energy to the tip of his index fingers.
Resting his index fingers on both sides of the Tank Hare's neck, Beiwei Jinguo slowly sent his Essence energy into the creature, seeking out the essence of Wolfang Honey within.
Beiwei Jinguo was intending to guide the essence extract of Wolfang Honey through the Tank Hare's bloodstream using his Essence energy, cleansing the poison within.
Of course, this was not as simple as it sounds.
Controlling the manner in which the essence extract moved through the Tank Hare's bloodstream was a matter of great complexity.
If the essence extract moved too quickly, it might miss bits of the poison after passing through, allowing the poison to continue spreading within the body.
If the essence extract moved too slowly, it could also allow the poison enough time to continuously propagate, far reducing the effectiveness of the neutralisation process.
On top of that, he needed to make sure the essence extract did not accidentally clog up the bloodstream. That would actually kill the Tank Hare instead of saving it!
And in order to fully remove all traces of the Windfrost Pollen, the process had to be repeated countless times, allowing the essence extract to thoroughly wash through the Tank Hare's bloodstreams.
This process was extremely demanding on stamina, psyche, and Essence energy, making it nigh impossible for poison masters below the Origin Core realm.
For poison masters at the Essence Building realm who had yet to even condense liquid Slaughter Essence, the Slaughter Essence particles in their inner worlds were not nearly enough to sustain such a rapid drain.
To compensate for that lacking aspect, a huge strain would be imposed on the poison master's stamina and psyche, which also meant that the poison master would need an incredible mental fortitude to bear with it throughout the process.
If Beiwei Jinguo had a choice, he certainly would not resort to doing this.
But there were no other solutions. Or at least, not that he knew of.
He could only grit his teeth and press on, enduring this painful process with sheer willpower.
Before five minutes had even passed, Beiwei Jinguo already started to feel that his Essence energy was running low. Beads of sweat started to form on his body, soaking his back completely. Each passing second felt as long as an hour to Beiwei Jinguo as he fought with all his might to resist the urge to cave in and give up.
Looking at the state he was in, majority of those in the crowd were convinced that there was no way he could succeed.
But they were proven wrong.
As the last remnants of the Windfrost Pollen were wiped away from the bloodstream of the Tank Hare, Beiwei Jinguo could not help but let out a deep sigh of relief.
Gasps of admiration came from the crowds, and even the elders of the Healer Circle cofelt genuinely impressed.
"How admirable," Elder Ximo remarked from the bottom of his heart. "I can really start to see the shadow of the late Elder Beichang in him."
"Admirable indeed," Lu Tianzi agreed.
A regular Essence Building realm martial artist should not have been able to neutralise the Windfrost Pollen. For Beiwei Jinguo to do so, he had truly pushed himself past his limit.
At that moment, Beiwei Jinguo heard a particular voice that he was really beginning to hate.
"I can't believe you actually managed to do it," Xiquan Chong snorted. "How lucky!"
Beiwei Jinguo looked over to see Xiquan Chong standing with his arms crossed.
Xiquan Chong's leisurely composure only meant one thing – he had neutralised Beiwei Jinguo's poison as well!
"What's with that look of surprise?" Xiquan Chong taunted. "Do you really think your petty tricks would be able to stop me?"
Beiwei Jinguo frowned.
He might dislike Xiquan Chong, but he had to admit that the latter had some skills.
Up till now, he was the only one who managed to neutralise the poison that Beiwei Jinguo had administered.
"Since both sides managed to neutralise the other party's poison, we shall consider this round a draw," Elder Beilan's words confirmed Beiwei Jinguo's conjecture. "If there are no objections, let's proceed with the second round."
Poison Showdowns usually ended if there was a draw. However, for the sake of differentiating the ranks of the Healers' Meet, the participants would need to continue competing until a winner was decided.
After two new Tank Hares were brought out and placed in front of the duo, Elder Beilan announced the start of the next round. "You have half an hour to prepare your poisons. Begin."
"Hey, don't be in such a hurry," Xiquan Chong called out to Beiwei Jinguo. "Take a look at this."
Beiwei Jinguo looked over, and he was immediately struck by a bad premonition.
In Xiquan Chong's hands was yet another Windfrost Flower!
"You managed to do it once, but will you be able to do it again?" Xiquan Chong laughed.
With that, Xiquan Chong proceeded to prepare the Windfrost Pollen once more.
Beiwei Jinguo could not help but feel rage in his heart.
Usually, any poison master would welcome the fact that their opponent was trying the same trick twice, because they already had the solution anyway.
It was basically a free win, or at least a draw.
Unfortunately, it was not that easy for Beiwei Jinguo.
Despite knowing the method to neutralise the poison, he was already exhausted from the previous round. Even after popping a recovery pill, it was not as though he had returned to his peak state.
Right now, he was truly not confident of repeating his previous feat.
For Xiquan Chong to do this, it seemed like he was really trying his best to capitalise on the difference in their cultivation levels!
But even if that was the case, Beiwei Jinguo would not back down!
Ignoring Xiquan Chong, Beiwei Jinguo proceeded to concoct a poison of his own.
During this time, those in the crowd were already starting to cast strange gazes at Xiquan Chong.
They could see how effective his strategy could be, but was this not unbefitting of the young and talented poison master?
Instead of trying to win with superior poison arts, he was relying purely on his cultivation level advantage.
Even if he won in such a manner, would others really believe him to be the best?
Nevertheless, since the Healer Circle as the organisers did not say a thing, none of them would butt in to object.
After the poisons had been administered, all eyes fell upon Beiwei Jinguo.
Everyone wanted to see just how he would fare for the second time.
Beiwei Jinguo took in a deep breath before beginning.
Just like what everyone had expected, he quickly reached his physical limits.
His fingers started to tremble, and his body felt weak. He could feel his consciousness getting fainter, and his vision started to blur.
Even so, Beiwei Jinguo refused to back down.
By now, it was already more of pride than anything else.
Seeing that Xiquan Chong had decided to resort to such a cowardly method, Beiwei Jinguo wanted to beat him just to render his efforts meaningless.
If Xiquan Chong were to lose despite abusing his cultivation advantage, that would be the hardest blow to the prideful Xiquan Chong!
And to the marvel of the crowds, Beiwei Jinguo succeeded once more.
This time, those in the crowd were dumbfounded.
Even though Beiwei Jinguo's legs immediately gave way, forcing him to sit down weakly on the ground, nobody felt that he looked pathetic.
On the contrary, they could not help but look at him in awe.
For him to neutralise the Windfrost Pollen once, it was testament to his expertise in the poison arts and energy control.
For him to neutralise the Windfrost Pollen twice, it was no longer something that could be rationalised.
He was just that damn good.
Still, this did not mean Beiwei Jinguo had won this round.
"You actually got lucky twice?" Xiquan Chong exclaimed in disbelief, the corner of his lips twitching wildly.
He finally managed to neutralise Beiwei Jinguo's poison after much effort, and believed that he had certainly won the round right there and then.
Who knew that Beiwei Jinguo would actually manage once again?
"Even now, are you still insisting that it is luck?" Beiwei Jinguo replied before popping another recovery pill.
"And are you insisting that it is not?" Xiquan Chong questioned in return. "If that is the case, then surely you would be able to do it again?"
Xiquan Chong pulled out yet another Wildfrost Flower, waving it in front of him with a sneer on his face.
Beiwei Jinguo's face turned immediately dark, as did everyone else's.
In Beiwei Jinguo's current state, even competing normally would have been difficult, yet Xiquan Chong still wanted to continue abusing his advantage in cultivation level?
Not once, not twice, but thrice?
Xiquan Chong's image in their minds crumbled, and those in the crowd could not help but judge him silently in their hearts.
Even Elder Xiquan could not help but frown.
He knew exactly what happened between his son and Beiwei Jinguo, but surely there was no need to go to such an extent?
Of course, he would not speak up against his son just because of that.
And being the leader of the Healer Circle, as long as he did not object, it was extremely unlikely that anyone else would.
This might not be the way that he had imagined things to turn out, but no matter what, his son's victory as the Healers' Meet was certainly secured!
Lu Tianzi let out a helpless sigh. "Looks like this is the end of it."
"Seems like it," Nanlan Qianxue answered. "What a shameful sight. This is disappointing to say the least."
It was a very casual remark from Nanlan Qianxue, one that had reflected the thoughts of many people present.
Had someone else been the one to say these words, nobody would have bothered, even if that person was Lu Tianzi.
However, the person who spoke these words just had to be Nanlan Qianxue.
Elder Ximo's brows instantly deepened into a frown.
This was his first time hearing a disapproving comment from Nanlan Qianxue, and it sent a chill right down his spine.
He did not know the actual relationship between Nanlan Qianxue and Beiwei Jinguo, but as long as there was even the slightest chance that they were on good terms, he would be forced to intervene with how the Healers' Meet was playing out right now.
He would not need to grant Beiwei Jinguo the victory, but he had to at least ease the tension right now.
After all, an Overlord powerhouse was not someone whom they could afford to offend!

Chapter end