A drizzling rain fell, and the road was muddy.
The three thousand iron cavalry pressed forward through the rain, their speed undiminished and their formation unbroken.
In the carriage behind them, Xu Zhaoxing parted the beaded curtain to watch. Clenching her delicate hand into a fist, she said with fervent excitement, “No wonder the Northern Plains Iron Cavalry is unbeatable across the land. They truly are elite!”
Chen Chu, leaning casually against one side, deliberately feigned indifference. “And yet I still suppressed them with a single gesture.”
Xu Zhaoxing turned her gaze back and said unconvinced, “You’re only relying on your realm. By yourself, even if you can suppress three thousand iron cavalry, or even five thousand, can you really suppress ten thousand, fifty thousand, or a hundred thousand?”
“Ninth Prince, you don’t think these three thousand Northern Plains Iron Cavalry aren’t elite, do you? It’s only because you obtained the Ancestor inheritance that you look down on these three thousand Northern Plains Iron Cavalry so much. If your realm were a little lower, no matter how many tricks you had, you still wouldn’t be able to stop them for even a single step!”
Xu Zhaoxing could only imagine that Chen Chu had obtained the Dynasty’s Ancestor inheritance; otherwise, there was no way he could, at just twenty-one years of age, possess the realm to overwhelm thousands of mounted soldiers.
Although Chen Chu had never said what realm he had reached, to do this he must at least have crossed the threshold of the fourteenth-rank Unfettered Realm, which was exceedingly rare.
This also showed how much Xu Zhaoxing admired the Northern Plains Iron Cavalry.
But Chen Chu held a different view. “If the goal is to annihilate several thousand elite cavalry like the Northern Plains Iron Cavalry, I can do it even without relying on my realm.”
Xu Zhaoxing did not believe him at all. “Empty talk. Are you saying you could poison them all, then?”
Chen Chu nodded. “That would be one of the methods.”
Xu Zhaoxing found it ridiculous. “Stop joking. The Northern Plains Iron Cavalry are peerless under heaven, with countless battlefield tricks. If some mere poison could bring them down, they’d have been wiped out long ago!”
Just then, Chen Chu’s gaze suddenly fixed on one point, turning strangely unfathomable.
Outside, in the ceaseless rain, a vast, dense red mist swept in against the wind. The rain could not disperse it, and at a visible rate it spread into the military formation.
Liu Chuang was greatly alarmed and immediately ordered with vigilance, “All soldiers, seal your six senses! Guard against the poison mist entering your body!”
The three thousand iron cavalry quickly reined in their horses, followed orders, and circulated their spiritual energy to protect their bodies and seal their six senses.
But after inhaling the red mist, the warhorses beneath them soon had their eyes turning bloodshot and grew frantic.
The formation instantly fell into chaos.
At the same time, all the soldiers quickly discovered the terror of this red mist. Even with their six senses sealed, preventing the mist from entering through the nose, mouth, eyes, or ears, it could still corrode their skin through their iron armor, burning like fire and causing unbearable pain.
“Your Highness, be careful of the poison mist! Ahhh!”
While enduring the pain, Liu Chuang roared out a warning at the top of his lungs.
By then Xu Zhaoxing had already stepped out of the carriage. What met her eyes was a bizarre and terrifying scene, like a scene from hell itself, leaving her completely stunned.
What on earth was this red mist? How could it be so terrifying?
The Northern Plains Iron Cavalry all had cultivation, yet they were helpless before the red mist.
At that moment, Chen Chu also walked out and stood behind Xu Zhaoxing, saying quietly, “You really are a jinx. If no one turns this situation around, won’t they all be dead for sure?”
Xu Zhaoxing glared at him. “And you still have the leisure to make sarcastic remarks? If they all die, you won’t live either.”
The red mist was about to spread to them.
“It’s just a trifling Yinming Fire Poison. It won’t kill anyone.”
Chen Chu clasped his hands behind his back, standing proudly.
At that moment, a woman’s unrestrained voice came from the sky:
“His Highness the Ninth Prince, what bold words. The Yinming Fire Poison, ranked third among the world’s most poisonous toxins, won’t kill anyone? Anyone below the tenth rank who so much as touches a trace of that poison fire can at most last half an hour before suffering the agony of being burned alive and dying in terrible pain. Even if a thirteenth-rank Manifest Saint were struck by this poison, they would still have to cripple their entire cultivation before they could barely neutralize it.”
“The most terrifying thing about the Yinming Fire Poison is that there is no antidote.”
“His Highness the Ninth Prince, I would like to see how you intend to resolve it.”
As she spoke, the poisoner of the Yinming Fire Poison was already standing on a mountain peak a hundred zhang away, speaking to Chen Chu from afar.
This…
Xu Zhaoxing’s face went pale.
Did that mean Liu Chuang and the three thousand cavalry would really all die here…
She almost wanted to slap herself several times. What a true jinx she was!
Yet in her emotional confusion, Xu Zhaoxing failed to notice that just as the red mist was about to spread over them, the wind direction suddenly… changed.
All of the red mist turned with the wind and rushed back toward the mountain peak.
On the opposite peak, Su Ru’s eyes widened and she was completely dumbstruck.
This Ninth Prince was too lucky.
Just when she was about to succeed and withdraw, the wind reversed. Even heaven was helping him!
She quickly retreated two steps, preparing to flee.
She had not lied. Yinming Fire Poison had no antidote. Once infected by Yinming Fire Poison, the ending would be no different from that of these thousands of cavalry.
“Capture her.”
Chen Chu ordered Yu Fengcheng.
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Yu Fengcheng did not hesitate at all. With his sword, he leaped into the air and flew toward the opposite mountain peak, not caring that he had charged into the red mist.
Because Yu Fengcheng had become entangled with her, Su Ru was unable to retreat in time and was also infected by the Yinming Fire Poison. Her realm was no match for Yu Fengcheng’s, and she was quickly captured and brought back.
By then, Yu Fengcheng had already completed Chen Chu’s order. However, he too had been poisoned. His whole body was bright red, and he endured intense pain while remaining stubbornly silent.
As for Su Ru, the poisoner, she did not have such endurance. Her delicate body trembled without stopping as she begged for mercy.
“Ninth Prince, kill me! Kill me!”
“Tell me who sent you, and I will help you find release.”
Chen Chu asked slowly.
“It-it’s… Princess Consort Yong who sent me. I have confessed. Kill me quickly!”
As the poisoner, no one knew better than her how terrifying Yinming Fire Poison truly was. Unless one’s realm had reached the thirteenth rank, there was at best a chance of surviving. For everyone else who was poisoned, the best choice was to die sooner and be freed sooner, instead of suffering the skin-ripping, heart-piercing agony.
It was precisely because she had absolute confidence in Yinming Fire Poison that she had dared to show herself.
Who would have thought that even heaven would help this Ninth Prince?
She would never make the same mistake in her next life.
All she could hope for now was that this Ninth Prince would give her a quick death.
Princess Consort Yong?
What a venomous woman.
To get rid of Chen Chu, she did not hesitate to drag the three thousand Northern Plains Iron Cavalry down to accompany him in death.
That was Xu Zhaoxing’s honest thought.
Under these circumstances, she did not think the woman was lying.
At the same time, she only felt that Chen Chu was cold and heartless. Knowing that capturing this woman meant charging into the poison mist, he, a fourteenth-rank Unfettered Realm expert, did not go himself but instead sent Yu Fengcheng to die.
However, just when Su Ru had fully expected the Ninth Prince to keep his promise and give her a quick death, Chen Chu shook his head.
“I don’t believe you.”
A slight change appeared on Su Ru’s face. How did the Ninth Prince see that she was not sent by Princess Consort Yong?
But it didn’t matter.
She would not admit it.
Just as Su Ru decided to hold out to the end, she heard Chen Chu’s quiet voice again. “Forget it. There will be plenty of time to interrogate you later.”
Su Ru was puzzled.
Later?
What future did she have?
At that moment, Chen Chu snapped his fingers.
High in the sky, a pure and flawless giant white light gathered out of thin air. The white light burst open, and its radiance scattered like fireworks across the sky, drifting onto everyone.
This included Su Ru and Yu Fengcheng.
What stunned Su Ru beyond words was that this white light, appearing from nowhere, possessed miraculous immortal power and was actually cleansing the poison fire at a visible speed, as though it were its natural nemesis.
This was the world’s third-ranked deadly poison, the Yinming Fire Poison. There was no cure!
Yet with nothing more than a snap of his fingers, this Ninth Prince had resolved it so casually.
This technique was simply too heaven-defying!