Chapter 597 - 77: A Sudden Incident

"Don’t panic!"

Xia Wen Yi’s steady voice echoed across the square. The dozen or so Entering Cultivators in charge of the grand competition’s security shot into the air, but just as they were about to move in and investigate, Wang Ping shouted, "Everyone, freeze!"

As his voice rang out, a dozen or so Golden Armor Soldiers, their hands forming a restraining spell, pinned the outer sect disciples who were vomiting blood to the ground. They pushed away other disciples who were trying to get closer to see what was happening. Then, countless green vines sprouted from beneath the Golden Armor Soldiers’ feet, wrapping the vomiting disciples in layer after layer.

SPLAT.

SPLAT.

SPLAT.

A series of muffled splats echoed from within the vine cocoons, as if something had exploded inside. Dark black blood began to seep through the gaps in the vines. The blood started to corrode the vines, but they were rich with Wood Spirit Qi, which neutralized the blood’s corrosive energy.

"It’s a Spiritual Poison!"

Wang Ping had already appeared at the scene. He spoke in a low voice as he stared at the chunks of flesh writhing in the blood on the ground.

Just as he finished speaking, a series of muffled explosions sounded from the direction of Qianmu Temple’s outer courtyard. With a flicker in his eyes and a wave of his hand, hundreds of Talismans materialized, followed by hundreds of puppets. Most of them flew toward the outer courtyard.

Zi Luan landed beside him and cast several Blessing Talismans. As dense streams of green light flickered, one profound Wood Spirit Array after another unfolded. They emitted a rich Wood Spirit Qi that quickly stabilized the spiritual energy in the square, which had been thrown into chaos by the Spiritual Poison.

’He’s just showing off!’

Yu Lian complained in Wang Ping’s Spirit Sea.

’With Zi Luan’s cultivation, he could have stabilized this minor spiritual disturbance with a single thought, and done it silently, without any fanfare.’

Wang Ping couldn’t be bothered with such trivial matters. His Primordial Spirit Consciousness had already spread across the mountains of Qianmu Temple. Just as he expected, outer sect disciples in every courtyard had been afflicted. Furthermore, the Inner City District of Zhonghui County Town was in chaos.

’This indirectly suggests that the source of the poison is most likely in Zhonghui County Town!’

The poison wasn’t particularly potent; it couldn’t even affect Qi Cultivators who had formed a Qi Sea. However, it was devastating to the physical bodies and spiritual essence of mortals. It would form a toxic tumor inside the body, fusing with the internal organs, making it impossible to detect without careful observation.

Once the tumor reached a certain size, it would crush the internal organs and explode. The explosion would then spread the poison, which could infect anyone who inhaled it. A single careless mistake could lead to disaster for the entire city.

"The poisoner is truly malicious. Although it can’t harm you or me, the fallout will be horrendous. And to do it at a time like this... If this isn’t handled properly, news of it will spread across the entire South and then to the rest of Zhongzhou the moment the grand competition ends."

Zi Luan reminded Wang Ping in a low voice.

Hearing this, Yu Lian’s vertical pupils swept over everyone around the Martial Arts Arena. Many who met her gaze felt a chill run up their spines and couldn’t help but lower their heads.

Wang Ping turned to Xia Wen Yi, who had followed him over, and ordered, "Clear out the outer sect disciples, then gather men to investigate this matter. I want a preliminary report within one day!"

As he spoke, he took an Eight Trigrams Plate labeled ’B-Lower-03’ from his storage pouch and tossed it to Xia Wen Yi. At the same time, he tapped a finger, sending the instructions for using the plate into Xia Wen Yi’s forehead, where they merged with his Spirit Sea.

"Yes, this disciple understands!"

"Don’t stop the competition. We can’t let ourselves become a laughingstock!" Wang Ping’s gaze swept around quickly. After exchanging a look with Zi Luan, they both flew up and landed before their Grandmaster’s Chairs on the high platform.

"Is someone deliberately trying to embarrass us?" Wu Quan asked.

Although the incident had looked dire, Wu Quan, as a guest, hadn’t intervened like Zi Luan. Instead, he had remained firmly seated in his Grandmaster’s Chair, awaiting the outcome. Gan Qi, beside him, had done the same.

"It’s not clear!" Wang Ping didn’t jump to conclusions. He then sent a mental transmission to Yuan Zheng, Ruan Chunzi, and Dongcan to reassure them.

"Let’s wait for the investigation results," Zi Luan said, already sitting down.

Watching the Cultivators in charge of security enter the square to restore order, Wang Ping flicked his robes and sat down as well, then reached out to gently stroke Yu Lian, who was perched on his shoulder.

A short while later, order was restored in the square.

On the surface, Wang Ping was watching Xia Wen Yi on the Martial Arts Arena as he explained the rules for the next day’s Entering Cultivator tournament. In reality, his Primordial Spirit had enveloped the entire Changwen Prefecture. However, no further incidents occurred by the time Xia Wen Yi announced the dismissal, so he had no choice but to withdraw his sprawling Primordial Spirit Consciousness. After all, maintaining such a state consumed a great deal of energy.

「Three *shichen* later, at 9 p.m., in the Mountain Peak Dojo.」

Xia Wen Yi had brought the preliminary results of the investigation.

"Besides the outer sect disciples whose poison has already activated, we’ve detected the poison in the bodies of several hundred others..."

Yuan Zheng asked impatiently, "What about the source?"

Xia Wen Yi glanced first at Yuan Zheng, then at Wang Ping, and said quickly, "We investigated all the food supply channels for Qianmu Temple’s outer sect disciples. We also investigated all channels for vegetables, fruits, meat, and rice in Zhonghui County Town. We found no issues."

"So the poison probably wasn’t spread through food!"

Dongcan said softly.

Xia Wen Yi nodded and continued, "We also looked into where the disciples who tested positive for the poison have been recently. The one place they had in common was a red boat in Zhonghui County Town."

"A red boat?"

"And then?"

Yuan Zheng and Wu Quan asked at the same time.

"Everyone associated with the red boat was also poisoned, and in many cases, the poison has already activated. We found the source of the poison in the sandalwood incense they’ve been using for the past month. It’s a type of Gu-worm, invisible to the naked eye, that enters the body through the nose and mouth via the incense smoke."

"The source of the sandalwood is a merchant caravan that frequently travels to the Western Continent, but they’ve already vanished without a trace. It will take more time to investigate further, so for now, our investigation has hit a dead end here."

Xia Wen Yi paused, then looked at Wang Ping, cupped his fist in respect, and added, "The owner of that red boat is the Wang Family Manor. Also, many outer sect disciples from the various sects on Nanlin Road are showing signs of being poisoned!"

"What kind of methods are these... How deep must the hatred be?"

That was Zi Luan.

Ruan Chunzi analyzed softly, "Fellow Daoist Changqing has been in seclusion for 152 years. It’s impossible for him to have made any recent enemies. The only possibility is an enemy he made when he attacked True Yang Mountain!"

"No need to get hung up on that," Wang Ping said. "Continue the investigation, even though I know you probably won’t find anything."

"Yes!" Xia Wen Yi nodded.

"Also, set up some Detection Arrays in Zhonghui County Town!" Wang Ping wasn’t angry. On the contrary, he felt a flicker of anticipation. After so much stillness, he was itching for some action.

After Xia Wen Yi left, he looked around and chuckled. "I’ve only just come out of seclusion, and I haven’t even made my first move, yet someone has already reacted. That should be a good thing, right?"

Seeing Wang Ping’s attitude, Yuan Zheng couldn’t help but warn him, "Your opponent comes with ill intent. You mustn’t be careless."

Gan Qi, who had been silent all this time, said softly, "If this incident gets blown out of proportion, they could use it to frame you for interfering in the struggle for the Zhongzhou Divine Artifact."