Chapter 139: An Open Conspiracy

The youth in white bit his lip hard, finding himself somewhat unable to meet Ning Xiu’s gaze directly. He had once thought of resisting, but reality had slapped him awake without mercy.

With a slightly trembling right hand, he slowly drew a roll of parchment from his tunic and tossed it toward Ning Xiu.

"You must keep your word."

Ning Xiu reached out, caught it, and unfolded it. His expression changed drastically on the spot.

Although he had anticipated this situation in his mind, seeing it with his own eyes was entirely another matter.

Venerable Myriad Poisons had been staring intently at this direction from the very beginning. When he saw the youth in white produce the treasure map, greed flashed in his eyes, but restrained by Ning Xiu’s strength, he did not dare to act rashly for the moment.

He was waiting for the poison he had administered to take effect, while also waiting for an opportunity.

In his view, whoever received the treasure map would inevitably show an opening in that momentary surge of pleasant surprise.

He simply had not expected Ning Xiu’s reaction to be so intense.

It was not that he hadn't considered the possibility of a trick, but such an opportunity was rare and fleeting.

Venerable Myriad Poisons abruptly lashed out with his right palm. Accompanied by a chorus of ghostly howls, a piercing emerald green light flared up.

It was none other than the signature ultimate technique that Venerable Myriad Poisons relied upon for his fame—the Emerald Poison Palm.

This palm strike came with incredible speed and ferocity.

At this moment, Ning Xiu had his back turned to him. The youth in white, lying on the ground, witnessed this scene and cried out in alarm, "Watch out!"

Falling into Ning Xiu’s hands, he might still survive. But if Venerable Myriad Poisons ultimately emerged victorious, he would truly suffer a fate worse than death.

Despair painted the youth's face; he could already vividly picture Ning Xiu’s entire body rotting away after being struck by the poisonous palm.

Right at that instant, a flash of sword light suddenly ignited.

Because the longsword at Ning Xiu’s waist was so unassuming, it had caused the youth in white to practically forget its existence.

He froze for a brief moment before snapping back to reality.

Meanwhile, the sword in Ning Xiu’s hand had already thrust forward. It was as though he had grown a pair of eyes on the back of his head, and he didn't even bother to spare Venerable Myriad Poisons a single glance.

Swish!

Venerable Myriad Poisons suddenly felt a chill run through his throat. Subconsciously, he lowered his head and saw a gleaming sword blade.

The tip of the sword had already pierced straight through his throat.

His forward momentum had merely accelerated his own demise.

This sword strike seemed as though it had simply been waiting for him to deliver himself to his death.

Ning Xiu turned around slowly, looking at Venerable Myriad Poisons’ face, which was frozen in a mix of lingering resentment and confusion. He spoke up, "Are you wondering why the poison inside me hasn't acted up yet?"

Venerable Myriad Poisons glared at him fixedly, his eyes already bulging from their sockets.

"Did no one ever tell you that your methods of poisoning are utterly amateurish? Besides, wherever there is a method of poisoning in this world, there is bound to be a method of detoxification. No matter how formidable a poison might be, there is always a countermeasure," Ning Xiu said with casual indifference.

Having consumed the Blood Bodhi, drunk the Five Immortals Wine, worn the Rhinoceros-Clearing Earth Dragon Pill, and mastering both the Nine Suns Divine Skill and the Golden Bell Shield, ordinary mortal poisons could truly no longer harm Ning Xiu.

He neatly and cleanly withdrew the Longevity Sword, returning it to its scabbard.

Bright red blood immediately spurted out in a fountain. Having ample experience with such matters, he had already stepped aside from his original spot.

However, the youth in white lying on the ground was not so fortunate, getting sprayed directly in the face.

Whether it was clothing or flesh, once stained with the stench of fresh blood, it was exceedingly difficult to wash clean.

Moreover, in this boundless sea of sand and vast expanse of the Gobi Desert, taking a bath was an extraordinary luxury to begin with.

Ning Xiu glanced back at the youth, squatted down, and rummaged through Venerable Myriad Poisons' remains for a while. Apart from a collection of various vials and jars, his luck peaked and he fished out a manual of secret techniques: *The Myriad Poisons True Scripture*.

Unfortunately, despite bearing such an imposing name, the system only rated it as a lower-grade three-star first-rate technique.

Ning Xiu flipped through it briefly and chose not to decompose it.

Setting aside the martial arts techniques, this *Myriad Poisons True Scripture* was the exact opposite of the *Pharmacist's Canon*, as its pages were entirely devoted to the art of administering poisons.

The medicinal effects of these poisons were bizarre and all-inclusive, featuring many concoctions that inflicted excruciating agony, making it no wonder that those sand bandits had been so terrified of Venerable Myriad Poisons.

"You said you wouldn't kill me."

Seeing Ning Xiu turn around to look at him, a flicker of panic crossed the heart of the youth in white as he spoke.

Having seen that even Venerable Myriad Poisons was no match for Ning Xiu, he had long since given up any thought of resistance. He understood that before absolute strength, all schemes and plots ceased to be effective. Had he known earlier how formidable Ning Xiu was, he never would have made such a foolish decision just moments ago.

"Where did you get the treasure map in your possession?" Ning Xiu asked.

"My father gave it to me," the youth replied, raising his head to look at Ning Xiu with a grave expression.

His white garments were already stained crimson into a bloody robe, and his eyes had turned completely bloodshot, whether from exhaustion or freshly spattered gore remains unknown.

"Just half a month ago, word suddenly spread throughout Desert City that someone had found a treasure map pointing to the ruins of the ancient Loulan Kingdom. My father went there alone, and after a fierce struggle, he managed to snatch the treasure map by a stroke of luck, only to find himself targeted by numerous factions in the process."

"Knowing that continuing this way would eventually lead to him being hunted down, he handed the treasure map to me while acting as a decoy to lure away the pursuing forces. Little did he expect that neither the Poison Dragon stronghold nor Venerable Myriad Poisons would fall for the ruse."

Ning Xiu opened the map given by Old Man Di and, sure enough, found the characters for Desert City located to the upper left of Springwater City.

At this point, the youth had no reason to lie.

Ning Xiu remained silent for a moment, then swung himself up onto a camel and continued on his journey forward.

He left behind only the youth, smelling of fresh blood, standing alone in the spot, speechless and stunned.

Two different locations, occurring simultaneously, yet producing two identical treasure maps—to claim there was no conspiracy behind this would be an insult to the intelligence of a three-year-old child.

Even if Ning Xiu were to encounter a third or fourth map in the future, his expression would not show the slightest trace of surprise.

This had originally been a conspiracy, but by now, it had transformed into an overt plot.

A conspiracy relies on covert plots and unorthodox stratagems; an overt plot leverages the momentum of the situation to achieve its ends.

With the mere mention of the ancient Loulan Kingdom, countless people would still leap blindly into the trap, even while fully aware that danger awaited them ahead.

The image of a specific person surfaced in Ning Xiu's mind: Old Man Di from Springwater City.

Who on earth would spend their days cooped up in a sunless wooden shack, doing nothing else save for drawing maps?

Furthermore, during the chaotic melee outside Springwater City that day, he had caught sight of neither Old Man Di nor Lady Nine.

Ning Xiu could vaguely sense that a pair of unseen hands was constantly pushing this series of events forward.

Was it to incite bloodshed and conflict within this desert, or to lure him and the others toward the so-called Loulan ruins?

Or perhaps, it was both.

Over the next few days, just as Ning Xiu had anticipated, the closer they got to the Loulan ruins, the more martial arts practitioners they encountered. Some of these individuals had found their way here using treasure maps just like him, while others had secretly trailed behind those holding maps, ultimately reaching the destination all the same.