Poison God's Heritage

Hour after long hour I continued moving forward without any incidents, perhaps it was thanks to my oppressive Divine Sense that no bug, creeper, or rodent dared to ambush me. But as long as my return to the Poison Sect was without trouble, I won't be complaining.

Half a day later I was at the bottom of a valley that led to the poison sect.

The valley was not wide, and had a giant gate at the front of it, allowing only one-way access to what lay beyond the valley.

An enormous stone stair seemed to go up all the way to the top of the valley, and at the front of the gate was one man sitting in the lotus position on a nearby boulder.

He was cultivating, but at the same time guarding the gate.

He looked to be in his early thirties and seemed to not care about my presence. All I got from him was a single glance, and he went back to his meditation.

I didn't speak to the man and walked up the stairs. Seeing him not reacting, he must have recognized that this body, or I, currently Shen Mo was someone familiar in the sect.

I began walking up the stairs and headed all the way to the top where I was met with an even more amazing sight.

The top of the rift was like a giant platform that spread long and wide, and at its center was a single mountain that seemed to be hiding its peak among the clouds. There were buildings for cultivators and disciples all around the mountain base and many holes were dug in and some closed around the mountain for cultivation.

The platform itself was a treasure trove of spiritual herbs, poison herbs, and medicinal herbs. They were grown and taken care of by disciples who were wearing light yellow robes. It was the same robe that Shen Mo was wearing when I met him the first time.

As I walked forward, one of the disciples noticed me, and immediately gasped.

"He's still alive?!" he said.

The rest of the disciples saw me and were also surprised by my presence.

It didn't take long for the commotion to die down, not because of the lack of interest, but because an older person wearing blue robes seemed to have arrived in haste toward me.

I readied up for battle, I thought that Shen Mo, although weak was not someone who would make enemies left and right. I wanted to take advantage of the Poison Sect to gain more resources but it seems that will be very hard to achieve.

"Shen Mo! Where is my Disciple!" the elder shouted.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I replied.

"You!" he said as he approached rather menacingly with a pretty powerful killing intent aimed at me.

"What's going on here Elder Situ?" another person wearing the same blue robes spoke.

"Elder Xian, you have no business here!" the person named Situ spoke.

"You are mistaken, five disciples have left the sect without permission, as the elder of the Disciplinary Hall, it is my business to find out what happened, so, don't go on lecturing me on what is or what is not my business Elder Situ, because after all, you too are under the Sect's Rules!" Elder Xian said.

"Now, child, where have you been," the elder asked.

"I've been in the forest," I replied while clasping my hands.

"What was the reason for you to leave the sect without asking for permission of the elders?" he asked.

"I was fearing for my life, I had to escape," I replied.

"That is interesting, why not report such matters?"

"Junior admits his wrongdoings, I feared that if I were to go and report the danger to my life that I will be apprehended inside the sect, after all, one cannot know where one's enemies lay in ambush," I spoke while ogling elder Situ.

My gaze was a clear provocation at him and this caused him to flare in anger as he tried to swat me down like I was a fly.

"YOU DARE SLANDER ME!" the elder said as his hand was raised up to kill me.

Yet a single glance from Elder Xian caused him to freeze on the spot.

"Elder Situ, this will be the last time," the disciplinary hall elder spoke in a firm voice.

"Since there are too many eyes watching, follow me to the Disciplinary Hall, we'll need to confirm your words, our own way," the elder said.

I followed elder Xian while Situ followed after us, seemingly begrudgingly.

Once we arrived to the main mountain base, Elder Xian took a turn and went to one of the largest buildings at the mountain base.

The name of the building was obviously, The Disciplinary Hall.

It was a simple three story building, but it was pretty damn large.

Once we entered the building I was guided to the second floor, then, I was asked to walk inside a chamber that seemed to have no windows and only one door.

Inside the chamber was a long table and two chairs.

I was asked to sit on one side while elder Xian sat on the other side.

"Now, could you tell me the details of what happened," he said.

Just as I was about to speak, I heard a knock on the door.

Another Elder seemed to arrive, it was a woman of a fairly young age, her late twenties at most.

"Elder Xian, why are you performing an interrogation without the appropriate tools?" she asked.

"This young boy had just returned from the Demon Infested Forest, it would be dangerous to have him ingest a Truth Seeking Pill, I wanted to gather all the details I could from him, have him rest, then retell me everything using the pill later," he said.

"The rules state that everyone who enters an interrogation chamber MUST ingest a Truth Seeking Pill, or do you not wish to respect our rules, Elder Xian," she said.

"Sigh, kid, don't blame me if you die," he said as he pulled a yellowish pill from his holding bag.

"Eat this, it will cause you pain if you were to lie, a great deal of it. So make sure to keep your words honest and true, looking at the injuries on your body, I'm sure that you're in a heavily weakened state. But you must endure," he said.

This guy doesn't look like he means ill will. I'll trust him on this.

I grabbed the pill and immediately swallowed it.

"For someone who said that he was afraid of enemies among the elders, you sure did swallow that fast, were you not afraid that it might be poison?" asked elder Xian.

"If Elder Xian wished my death, he wouldn't need to go through all of this," I replied.

"Smart kid," he said.

"Now, let's start with the basics, What is your name?" he asked.

"Shen Mo," I replied.

For a moment, I felt a surging headache, but it didn't last for less than a fraction of a second. It was small enough that they didn't notice the change of my expressions.

"Good, Shen Mo, tell me, why were you fearful of your life?" he asked.

"They wanted this," I replied as I snapped my fingers and called upon the Veridian Heart Flame.

The Elder's eyes widened, "What a beautiful Heart Flame, a Veridian one too, it's perfect for cultivating poison, no wonder some people would want it. I can see the motive, then tell me, what happened in the forest?" he asked.

"I was escaping the hunt from them, and when I was surrounded and was about to be killed, something intervened…" I said.

It was half true, half lie, the pain I felt form this lie didn't register on my face. Thankfully, it's Soul related pain, and with this cheat like Soul Power I haven it was like a mosquito prick.

"What intervened?" asked Xian.

"It was a tiger, a black tiger with wings," I said.

My words seemed to resound through the room like a pin drop in an empty hall. The two elders looked at each other and back at me.

"Tell us more!"

They seem interested