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Chapter 914: The Nameless Potent Poison

Wu Junior's final words caused Yang Haoran and Old Master Wu's expressions to change simultaneously. The reason for their altered looks was Wu Junior's claim that he could already feel his soul dissipating. Before Old Master Wu could even process his shock, Wu Junior had already lost all vital signs. A mix of apprehension and disbelief churning within him, Old Master Wu immediately began examining Wu Junior's body. Upon his inspection, the expression on his face instantly froze.

Seeing Old Master Wu's expression, Yang Haoran knew something was terribly wrong and quickly spoke. "Let me see. " Yang Haoran enveloped his palm in Spirit Power, doing so both to prevent infection from the potent poison on Wu Junior's body and to examine the corpse more thoroughly. Upon his inspection, Yang Haoran's reaction was no different from Old Master Wu's; the expression on his face also suddenly froze. Inside Wu Junior's corpse, he couldn't sense the presence of a soul. "How could this be? " Yang Haoran asked in a deep voice. Unwilling to give up, he carefully probed Wu Junior's body once more, but the result was the same: he found no trace of a soul, not even a wisp of a remnant soul. In other words, Wu Junior wasn't merely physically dead; his soul had been scattered!

If Wu Junior's soul had remained, even with his physical death, he could have still cultivated the ghost path, and once he broke through to the Ghost King realm, he might even have reconstructed his physical body. But with his soul scattered, everything was truly over. Even Yang Haoran, who had now opened his Heaven and Earth Souls, was utterly helpless in such a situation. After confirming Wu Junior's complete soul dispersal, Yang Haoran couldn't help but let out a low sigh, then gently shook his head at Old Master Wu.

Although Yang Haoran said nothing, his reaction spoke volumes. Furthermore, Old Master Wu himself had successfully opened his Heaven Soul, so he already had a clear idea whether Wu Junior's soul had been scattered. He had clung to a sliver of hope, reasoning that Yang Haoran's strength far surpassed his own; if he couldn't sense a soul within Wu Junior's body, it didn't necessarily mean Yang Haoran couldn't either. Though he knew the chances were slim, he had still harbored that faint flicker of hope, yearning for a miracle to occur. Alas, no miracle happened. Even after Yang Haoran meticulously checked twice, finding nothing, Old Master Wu's last shred of hope naturally vanished like smoke.

The immense blow caused Old Master Wu's body to sway precariously. After spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, he promptly lost consciousness. Yang Haoran noticed that the blood Old Master Wu spat out contained a trace of black, and not only that, but Old Master Wu's hands also showed a faint black tinge. It was clear that Old Master Wu had also been poisoned, naturally due to his close contact with Wu Junior. Yang Haoran dared not delay; the unknown, potent poison on Wu Junior's body was far too virulent, claiming his life in such a short time. Unwilling to see Old Master Wu follow in Wu Junior's footsteps, he immediately tore through space, carrying both Old Master Wu and Wu Junior's corpse away.

Inside Feng Xiao's alchemy room, Old Master Wu lay on a sickbed, his eyes tightly shut, his face etched with pain, still deep in a coma. Feng Xiao was busy forcing the potent poison out of Old Master Wu's body. Yang Haoran, meanwhile, sat in a chair, his face grim and his brows tightly furrowed, carefully examining an object on the table. This object was a broken black vial; its body was covered in cracks, and some parts even had chips missing. An explosion had occurred inside Wu Junior's pocket, blowing off one of his legs, and the source was precisely the black vial he carried. The vial now resting on the table before Yang Haoran was that very same one. After bringing Old Master Wu to Feng Xiao, Yang Haoran had returned to the small town and found these black fragments at the site of Wu Junior's accident. After piecing them together, they formed the incomplete black vial now before him.

Through careful examination of the black vial, Yang Haoran discovered some irregularities. The black vial's material was exceptionally sturdy; even after experiencing an explosion, its body had only fractured and hadn't been reduced to dust. Under normal circumstances, a vial of such sturdy material shouldn't easily shatter, and certainly wouldn't suddenly explode. There was only one explanation for its sudden explosion: someone had tampered with it. It went without saying that the person who tampered with the black vial was definitely the Black-Robed Person who had escaped. In Yang Haoran's view, perhaps Wu Junior's uncooperativeness had angered the Black-Robed Person. Additionally, the Black-Robed Person likely didn't want Wu Junior to reveal anything about him, nor did he want the poison to fall into external hands, so he had resorted to secret means to make the black vial on Wu Junior's person explode.

The vial contained a potent poison—Wu Junior himself had said as much—and his affliction was naturally due to its contents. As for why Wu Junior's soul had been scattered, whether it was due to the potent poison or some other reason, Yang Haoran was temporarily unable to make an accurate judgment. Beyond this, Yang Haoran recalled another issue: Wu Junior had warned him before his death that someone wanted to kill him. Who this assailant was, Wu Junior hadn't fully clarified at the time, only managing to utter the character "Yin" before trailing off.

Although Wu Junior hadn't had the chance to explain clearly at the time, Yang Haoran could roughly guess his meaning. He believed Wu Junior had intended to say "Underworld Office," or rather, that the person who wanted to kill him was from the Underworld Office. While this was only his speculation, he felt it couldn't be wrong, because when he had emerged from the spatial rift, he had sensed the residual Spirit Power left behind by the other party. Since the assailant used Spirit Power, they were, in all likelihood, someone from the Underworld Office. What puzzled him, however, was who exactly wanted to kill him. In his memory, he hadn't offended any other Underworld officials. So why would they want to kill him, and what was their motive?

Yang Haoran's brows were tightly furrowed as he smoked one cigarette after another. Yet, no matter how long he pondered, he couldn't make sense of it, finding not even a single clue. After an unknown amount of time, a sweating Feng Xiao came before Yang Haoran. Sensing her arrival, Yang Haoran let out a low sigh. He could only temporarily set the matter aside, then turned his gaze to Feng Xiao.

Looking at the sweating Feng Xiao, a smile appeared on Yang Haoran's face, though it lacked some of its usual natural ease and casualness. "You've worked hard," Yang Haoran said, "How is Old Master Wu now? " "From the current situation, his life should be saved," Feng Xiao replied, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "However, he hasn't woken up yet, and the potent poison in his body hasn't been completely expelled. It will still take some time to force all of it out."

Yang Haoran breathed a sigh of relief. Although Old Master Wu hadn't woken up yet, and the potent poison in his body hadn't been completely removed, simply being able to save his life was already a blessing in disguise. "As long as his life can be saved, that's good," Yang Haoran said. "Have you figured out what kind of potent poison it is? Why is its toxicity so fierce? " "I have never seen or heard of this kind of potent poison before, and there are no related records in any books," Feng Xiao replied. "However, that's not surprising. There are countless potent poisons concocted by pharmacists in this world; some are known only to the pharmacists who developed them, so outsiders would never know. But, although I don't know its origin, after my research, I have gained some understanding of this potent poison."

Feng Xiao paused slightly, then continued to speak. "This potent poison is extremely virulent. It can not only rapidly destroy the victim's physical body but also annihilate their soul. The moment the victim's life ends, their soul will also vanish like smoke. This is the most malicious aspect of this potent poison."