Library of Heaven's Path

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

The headquarters of the Poison Hall was located amid a massive mountain range. Unlike the other branches, which were concealed by formations, it was an enormous city that extended for several thousand kilometers, exposed in the open.

It had an economy of its own, producing and selling its own resources, reminiscent of a mini kingdom.

Upon seeing the majestic city before his eyes, Bai Ting couldn't help but remark, "It is said that vast majority of the mountain range has been laced with lethal poison, and any personnel who isn't a poison master of the Poison Hall would be swiftly poisoned to death. As such, there is no need for the headquarters to conceal itself from the eyes of the world at all."

The Poison Hall was a feared existence throughout the Master Teacher Continent. Thus, for safety considerations, most branches were concealed within a formation so that the other occupations would not be able to find it.

However, it was different for the headquarters. It was in plain sight amid the mountain range, not concealed by any formation at all. Nevertheless, due to the fact that the mountain was filled with countless poisonous worms and venomous beasts, anyone who wished to enter the Poison Hall headquarters would have to pay a heavy price.

This was also why, even though the location of the Poison Hall headquarters was common knowledge, no one dared to make a move on it. Even the Master Teacher Pavilion would have to think thrice before launching a crusade against it.

"I wonder if the day will come when poison masters are able to walk beneath the light once more, just like the other occupations…" Hai Mingjin sighed as he shook his head bitterly.

Even though the headquarters were built in the open, it still had to be constructed in the depths of a mountain, different from the other occupations, which were located in prosperous and majestic cities.

The cold and sinister image of poison masters was simply too deeply imprinted into the minds of the populace, causing them to be fearful of poison masters. Such a point of view was not something that could be changed easily.

"I also hope that such a day will eventually come. Fortunately, it seems to be within sights!" Glancing at the young lady behind whom he had carefully embraced with his zhenqi, a gentle smile surfaced on Bai Ting's face.

Ever since leaving Jingyuan City, they had flown for nearly two months without rest, but the young lady still showed no signs of awakening. Furthermore, the poisonous aura that was emanating from her body only seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.

Were it not for the antidotes that she had provided them back when she was still conscious and disguised as Sun Qiang, even with their incredible resistance to poison as 7-star pinnacle poison masters, they would have already been poisoned to death by now.

For the mere aura she emanated passively to be intolerable for poison masters of their strength, the Innate Poison Body sure was fearsome!

Unique constitutions were something that came innately with one's birth, so there was nothing they could say about that. However, what had truly impressed them was the deep level of understanding the founder possessed regarding the use of poison.

On their journey to the Poison Hall headquarters, they had been musing over the poison knowledge that the founder had imparted to them previously. The deeper they delved into the knowledge, the more fearsome they realized that the founder was. It could be said that the knowledge that they had gained over the past two months was far more than what they had learned in the previous several dozen years! On top of that, the antidote that they had been given was truly miraculous. It was no joke to call it the antidote to all poisons!

Not only was it able to neutralize the poison emanating from the young lady, it could even curb the toxins from the poisonous worms and venomous beasts on the mountain range!

A few days ago, Bai Ting had been bitten by a poison worm, and they had thought that he was a goner. However, shortly after consuming the antidote, he managed to make a full recovery from the poison! To think that a simple pill would actually be effective against a myriad of poisons… Even though they were seeing it with their own eyes, they still couldn't help but find it inconceivable!

If not for the antidotes that they were given, they would have probably died multiple times before they could come to this point.

"As long as the founder awakens and regains her full strength, it won't be difficult for us to win the acknowledgement of the other occupations. The Poison Hall has never suffered from a lack of experts, but it's a pity that none of them are willing to submit to the other, so they end up building and ruling over their own factions instead. This has led to the Poison Hall being severely segregated, and we are unable to stand our ground before the other occupations. As a result, we have been forced to hole up in remote places, unable to stand in the light."

Recalling the various happenings in the Poison Hall over the past few centuries, Hai Mingjin couldn't help but sigh.

Truthfully, the Poison Hall did not start out in such a manner. At the very start, they shared the sunlight along with the other occupations, and poison masters didn't have to hide their identity from the others out of fear.

The Poison Hall had ended up in its current plight was because there had been no single poison master who was outstanding enough to take over the position of the head of the Poison Hall after the passing of their founder.

As the rules governing the Poison Hall were not as strict as that of the other occupations, it was not uncommon for poison masters to kill one another. Furthermore, they had no particular standard to the disciples that they accepted, thus resulting in there being both kind-hearted individuals and evildoers amid their ranks. Due to such circumstances, the strength of the Poison Hall had been on a constant decline, thus resulting in the current plight it was in.

If there was a person whom everyone in the Poison Hall was willing to recognize and submit to, their plight could very well have been very different. Perhaps, they might even have reached the same level of prosperity as they had achieved back then.

"Let's not get ahead ourselves for the time being; the current Poison Hall seems to be very different from how it used to be. I have informed my teacher about my arrival in advance, and out of safety considerations, I decided not to inform my teacher about the founder. Even so, my teacher still told me to be very careful when heading over and that I should make sure not to catch anyone's attention. It appears that the Poison Hall is currently caught in an intense faction rivalry, and even my teacher is helpless to stop it." Bai Ting sighed.

"Your teacher? Do you mean Myriad Poison Eminence, Lin Jianghai?" Hai Mingjin asked.

Even though Bai Ting was his close friend and they had both come from the same Poison Hall, the other party had never really told him about his heritage before. He had only managed to fathom a guess from the other party's poison arts.

"Indeed, my teacher is Poison Master Lin Jianghai. I have studied under him for thirty years, but due to my lacking talent, I was unworthy of inheriting the essence of his heritage. Otherwise, I would have been an 8-star poison master by now." As soon as Bai Ting spoke of his teacher, his voice immediately became very respectful.

He felt deeply indebted to his teacher.

Without his teacher, he would not be. Even if he was not his teacher's direct disciple, the debt that he owed his teacher was still something that he could not hope to repay in his lifetime.

Recalling the various information concerning the Poison Hall headquarters, Hai Mingjin could not help but comment. "The Poison Hall headquarters consists of the Two Guardians, Four Eminences, Twelve Poison Kings, and 72 Tier-1 Hall Masters. Even the weakest of these experts is at 8-star pinnacle. The Myriad Poison Eminence is ranked in the middle of the Four Eminences, and even the weakest of his direct disciples is an 8-star poison master. Those who manage to become his disciple are the most outstanding of all poison masters, and they are deeply envied by others!"

Even though he was only a 7-star pinnacle poison master, he had been looking forward to visiting the headquarters, so he had read quite a few books regarding it. As such, he had a rough idea regarding the various powers within the headquarters.

As there had not been a single poison master who could win the respect of everyone else, the seat of the hall master had been empty for countless years. The affairs within the Poison Hall were basically dealt with by the Four Eminences, and as for the Two Guardians… they often spent their days wandering the lands, so it was extremely hard to contact them. Even the poison masters of the headquarters had rarely seen them around.

As such, the Four Eminences were known to be the pinnacle of authority and power within the Poison Hall.

As one of the disciples of the Myriad Poison Eminence, even if Bai Ting was not a direct disciple, he was still allowed to travel in and out of the Poison Hall headquarters freely.

Otherwise, given that both of them were mere 7-star poison masters, they would have been shut out at the entrance.

"Alright, let's hurry up and enter the city. The poison aura within the founder's body is running out of control. If we don't suppress it soon, I fear that her life might be in danger!" Bai Ting urged before proceeding ahead with Wei Ruyan.

The city in the Poison Hall headquarters was not any much different from the capitals of the kingdoms and empires outside. On top of poison masters, there were also ordinary civilians walking around.

Walking through the city, Bai Ting and Hai Mingjin could not help but glance at one another in confusion.

Usually, the main streets should have been bustling with life, but there was not a single soul in sight. Shops at both ends of the streets were tightly shut, and there were no vendors or anything of that sort. It was cold and desolate. Did something happen?

But that should not have been the case!

If the Master Teacher Pavilion were to make a move on the Poison Hall headquarters, it would have surely caused a huge commotion throughout the Master Teacher Pavilion, and they could not possibly have been unaware of the matter. So, that was unlikely to be the case.

But… other than the Master Teacher Pavilion, what else could sap the life out of the massive Poison Hall headquarters?

"Let's continue heading in!" Hai Mingjin proposed.

"Un." Bai Ting nodded.

At that point, a voice suddenly sounded. "Is the person ahead of me Junior Bai Ting?"

The duo raised their heads and saw a middle-aged man flying over.

Perhaps due to his hunched back, the middle-aged man had a short stature of roughly 1.6 meters. He did not seem like a particularly impressive figure, but the eight stars on the emblem in front of his chest showed that he was not a person whom one should underestimate.

Upon seeing the other party, Bai Ting immediately clasped his fist and bowed. "Senior Yuan Ling!"

Hearing that name, Hai Mingjin had the fright of his life. "Yuan Ling? Could he be the 8-star pinnacle poison master who once succeeded in poisoning a Saint 8-dan saint beast to death?"

He did not know too many 8-star poison masters, but Yuan Ling's reputation made it impossible for him to not know of the other party.

As an 8-star pinnacle poison master, Yuan Ling was one of the 72 Tier-1 Hall Masters. His greatest known feat was to have concocted the 'Cloudsmoke Powder'. Colorless and odorless, the Cloudsmoke Powder warped into the form of a cloud when scattered, allowing it to drift along with the wind. With a sufficient dosage, it would be lethal even to a Saint 8-dan expert!

It was said that Hall Master Yuan Ling was once pursued by a Saint 8-dan saint beast, and left with no choice, he had released the Cloudsmoke Powder and poisoned the latter to death.

It was due to this battle that he had become well-known throughout the Empire Alliance. There was no one among the Qingyuan Conferred Empire Poison Hall who knew not of his name.

Who knew that such an incredible figure was actually Bai Ting's senior? It was truly shocking to think of it!

"There's no need to stand on ceremony. Teacher heard that you have reached Leaving Aperture realm and intend to take the 8-star poison master examination, so he had me fetch you!" Yuan Ling smiled.

Due to Zhang Xuan's advice, Bai Ting had not revealed the matter regarding the founder yet, using his intention to take the 8-star poison master as a pretext to enter the Poison Hall headquarters instead. This way, it would guarantee them a safe passageway into the Poison Hall without any trouble.

"Thank you, senior. Right, weren't you dispatched to the Huaijin branch? Why are you at the headquarters as well?" Bai Ting asked curiously.

Under normal circumstances, the heads of the regional Poison Hall branches were not allowed to leave their post. Thus, it was peculiar for Yuan Ling to be in the headquarters and even fetching him personally.

"You haven't heard of the matter yet?" Yuan Ling was taken aback. A moment later, he nodded in realization and said, "Right, it has been many years since you left the headquarters, so it's understandable that you are unaware of the current situation. Right Guardian Shen Jue returned recently, claiming to have found an artifact of the founder.

"Using this, he intends to organize the Grand Conference of Poison Masters and appoint himself as the new hall master. As such, the 72 Tier-1 Hall Masters were all summoned to the headquarters to attend the conference, and the crowd in the city has also headed over to watch the commotion. That's why the streets are completely empty today!"

"Right Guardian Shen Jue?"

"An artifact of the founder?"

The duo frowned upon hearing those words. Intrigued, Bai Ting continued asking, "May I know… what artifact it is?"

"It's the founder's 'Tome of Poison Legacy'!" Yuan Ling replied.