Chapter 2 The Sect of a Hundred Poisons

The man in the black robe asked again, “Elder Jin, are you sure your Enchantment Bell won’t malfunction?”

“Master, you’ve witnessed the power of my Enchantment Bell yourself. When has it ever failed? Heh!” Elder Jin replied. Hearing the master inquire about his personal treasure, he could not help but give a sinister laugh.

Elder Jin thought to himself that, once their scheme succeeded, upon returning to the cultivation world, not only would the master regard him more highly, even the Supreme Elder would grant him lavish rewards. Then, he could follow the master to the pinnacle of life; imagining the taste of being second only to one, above all others, Elder Jin’s heart surged with excitement.

“Good!” The black-robed man licked his lips in response, as if the Peony Fairy they had just discussed was already within his grasp.

The man whom Elder Jin addressed as “Master” was the leader of a notorious evil sect within the cultivation world, known as the Hundred Venoms Sect.

...

Members of the Hundred Venoms Sect committed countless atrocities throughout the cultivation world. Due to their heinous deeds, alongside Death Valley and the Sect of Ecstasy, they were known as the Three Great Evil Sects. The Bewitching Powder mentioned earlier by the black-robed man was a kind of enchantment drug, specially crafted by the Hundred Venoms Sect to target female cultivators.

The creation of this drug was extremely troublesome; it required the dried pollen of hundreds of ancient, rare flowers from the cultivation world, combined with the sect’s unique secret arts. Once poisoned, female cultivators would find themselves trapped in a fiery haze, losing clarity of mind and falling entirely under the control of others. Many female cultivators had been harmed by this drug and the sect’s sinister arts.

After a woman was afflicted by the Bewitching Powder, the sect’s unique technique of “Harvesting Yin to Supplement Yang” could be used to seize at least half her cultivation. Such methods, entirely contrary to the path of heaven, were abhorred by all. Friends and relatives of those harmed wished nothing more than to flay the sect members and devour their flesh. Even those who had not suffered personally feared and loathed the Hundred Venoms Sect, avoiding them at all costs.

Despite the hatred towards them, the sect members felt no shame for their actions; instead, they took pride in them. Thus, the righteous sects of the cultivation world despised the Hundred Venoms Sect, and after much deliberation, gathered their strength, sending hundreds of high-level cultivators to eradicate them. Yet, due to the sect’s elusive nature, they repeatedly escaped encirclement. Captured members would commit suicide, revealing nothing, which, along with other factors, allowed the Hundred Venoms Sect to persist.

...

Logically, in a world where all sects rejected them, the Hundred Venoms Sect should have been like rats on the street, hunted by all. Yet its members did not hide; instead, they continued their evil deeds, persecuting female cultivators as if playing a game of cat and mouse.

Elder Jin, one of the two chief elders of the sect, had reached the late stage of the Golden Core realm. His cultivation was profound, and his reputation had spread throughout the world for years. His personal treasure, the Enchantment Bell, was a notorious artifact; although a low-grade spiritual tool, it could emit a demonic sound that disrupted the minds of female cultivators. This sound could erode their will, causing their spiritual power and cultivation to temporarily vanish, leaving them as ordinary mortals. Of course, the effect depended on the caster’s own cultivation: for those weaker than the caster, its power was strong; for those stronger, its effect was diminished.

...

Seeing the master in high spirits, Elder Jin immediately sought to flatter him. “Master, it’s said that the Peony Fairy of Ten Thousand Flowers Valley possesses the rare Extreme Yin Constitution, a once-in-a-millennium gift, and is at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. Once you seize the Peony Fairy’s primordial yin, you’ll gain five hundred years of cultivation, and may break through to the Nascent Soul stage in one leap. Then, with the Supreme Elder, our Hundred Venoms Sect will have two Nascent Soul experts, surely securing a place in the next century’s ascension. Truly, heaven favors our sect; in your hands, master, the Hundred Venoms Sect will rise to become the greatest in the cultivation world. Then, we alone shall stand supreme, and you, master, will be second only to one, above all others.”

...

The Extreme Yin Constitution was a rare cultivation physique among female cultivators, appearing only once in a thousand years. Those who possessed it could cultivate at over twice the speed of ordinary female cultivators. The Peony Fairy of Ten Thousand Flowers Valley, mentioned by Elder Jin, possessed this gift, and by the age of seven hundred had already reached the Nascent Soul stage. Her rapid progress made her famous throughout the world, and she was regarded as a prodigy.

The four members of the Hundred Venoms Sect, led by the black-robed master, had come for the purpose of seizing the Peony Fairy’s primordial yin.

...

Once the master obtained her primordial yin, and applied the “Harvesting Yin to Supplement Yang” technique, he would steal at least half of her cultivation. Such progress was built upon the theft of others’ power, though the secret art had limitations: it could only be used once every hundred years, and there was a risk of backlash. Yet cultivation itself was the pursuit of heaven’s fortune; opportunity and risk ever went hand in hand.

The Peony Fairy was already over nine hundred years old. If their plan succeeded, the Hundred Venoms Sect would gain five hundred years of cultivation—a risk worth taking. The Peony Fairy, deprived of her power, would become a mere vessel for the sect, her nearly thousand years of cultivation reduced to a gift for another, her fate unimaginably tragic.

...

As the master of the Hundred Venoms Sect contemplated the imminent fulfillment of his ambitions, Elder Jin’s flattery sent waves of pleasure through him, reaching ever higher peaks. He could not help but burst into excited laughter, his voice deep and resonant, “Ha! Ha! Elder Jin, once this mission succeeds, you three will be well rewarded. When we return, you will receive rich prizes. Elder Silver and the two Emissaries have important matters to attend, and the Supreme Elder is in seclusion. When we return, we shall surprise them with our achievement. With the Peony Fairy eliminated, Ten Thousand Flowers Valley will lose a Nascent Soul cultivator and suffer great harm. Then, we’ll leak word to the Sect of Ecstasy; those debauched fiends have long coveted the disciples of Ten Thousand Flowers Valley. When they learn that a major threat has vanished, they’ll surely seize the opportunity to strike. Once the two sects clash, both will suffer heavy losses.”