"Yes, that is my master's condition!" the tall youth exclaimed in surprise.
"So it was you who acted in secret! Fellow Daoist Zhang, what is the meaning of this? Has our clan mistreated you two in any way?"
Ting Shan took a step forward, his face also showing extreme anger.
Both sides had agreed to a duel in the Sparring Arena to decide the outcome, yet this Zhang Ming had secretly ambushed Wusitu.
Li Yan remained seated, a strange expression on his face.
"I did not attack Fellow Daoist Wusitu. I was merely speculating based on the symptoms this disciple described!"
"Then how could you describe it so accurately? You still say you didn't do it? Our clan only had you two outsiders arrive yesterday. Fellow Daoist Zhang, will you not give us an explanation?"
Ting Shan's aura continued to rise, his focus firmly locked onto Li Yan and his companion!
For a moment, the entire Sparring Arena fell silent. The eyes of the vast majority of people were already filled with rage.
At the same time, some people looked at A Guxi and the other two with hostility. After all, Wusitu had been an elder in the clan for several hundred years and had many direct descendants.
"The poison afflicting Fellow Daoist Wusitu does indeed seem to be one I laid, but I only laid it in the courtyard where I am staying. I believe everyone can understand this." Li Yan said, his tone unhurried.
As soon as he said this, a loud buzz erupted from below. They were all cultivators, and they instantly understood the meaning behind Li Yan's words.
Cultivators would lay down layers of defensive restrictions even when cultivating in their own secret chambers, let alone when arriving in a new place. It would be strange if they didn't take precautions.
"Who can prove that you never left the room?"
Wusitu's disciple, seeing Li Yan admit to being the one who administered the poison, became furious.
Normally, a mere Foundation Establishment disciple like him wouldn't dare to be so audacious, but with so many clansmen present, how could he be afraid?
Li Yan glanced at the man, and the tall youth felt as if the other's eyes were like a bottomless, cold pool.
Just that one glance sweeping over him caused the magical power in his body to freeze for an instant. His entire body went rigid, and it was only when Li Yan looked away the next moment that he could move again.
"We are outside guests. As for whether we left our residence or not, Clan Head Ting should be the clearest on this."
"Besides, even if I wanted to ambush Fellow Daoist Wusitu, where is his Cave Residence?"
"Is the long-term residence of a Golden Core cultivator so easy to enter? The defensive measures are not just casually laid out. You all think too highly of me!"
The moment Li Yan's voice fell, Ting Bixiao's voice rang out.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang did not leave their residence last night. There is no need to discuss this further!"
With his words, all discussion was immediately suppressed.
There were some things, of course, that Ting Bixiao could not say explicitly. With two Golden Core cultivators arriving in the clan, it would be impossible to say he took no precautions at all.
But as long as Li Yan and Zhao Min's auras remained in their courtyard, they wouldn't concern themselves with what the other party was specifically doing.
As soon as Ting Bixiao said this, the discussion below grew even louder, a chaotic clamor.
The tall youth's face also became unsightly. This was undoubtedly saying that his own master had trespassed into the other party's residence last night.
Before he came, the extremely weak Wusitu had told him that either the Clan Head had acted in secret to completely purge those with dissent in their hearts.
But since the other party hadn't killed him immediately, he wanted his disciple to ask about this matter in front of all the clansmen. This was his last hope.
Alternatively, Wusitu had also said it was possible the two outside cultivators had acted in secret, but he did not tell the tall youth that he had gone to probe them for information yesterday.
He had only discovered his magical power started to disappear after he returned and couldn't confirm when he had been secretly attacked.
Overall, he felt it was more likely that Ting Bixiao had acted, more as a warning to him.
"So it was Elder Wusitu who went to someone else's residence and fell into a trap!"
"Didn't they agree to a duel today? What was Elder Wusitu doing going to someone else's courtyard?"
"There's actually a Poison Cultivator among the outsiders! But Elder Wusitu himself cultivates yin qi containing corpse poison. Many deadly poisons are useless against him. How did he get poisoned so easily?"
"I don't believe it. This is a setup..."
For a time, the discussions below surged.
In the corner, A Guxi and the other two had been on edge under the fierce glares of so many clansmen.
They felt that if it was truly Zhang Ming who had secretly administered the poison, they would definitely not be able to stay in the Giant Wood Clan any longer. It was only now that the three of them let out a long sigh of relief.
"All of you, silence!"
Ting Bixiao's voice was low, but it resounded in everyone's ears like a clap of thunder, shaking the surrounding people until their faces turned pale. The entire Sparring Arena instantly fell silent.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, I truly didn't realize you were also a formidable Poison Cultivator, and your methods of administering poison are such that even Wusitu couldn't detect them."
"His trespassing into your residence was his mistake, and also a discourtesy on the part of our Giant Wood Clan. However, since you did not take his life immediately, it should have just been a warning. Am I correct?"
Ting Bixiao looked at Li Yan with a somewhat unsightly expression. If word of this got out, anyone who came to the Giant Wood Clan as a guest in the future would have to be on their guard against them.
"Fellow Daoist Ting, I reiterate, I was not intentionally targeting anyone. I was just habitually setting up some defenses."
"Here is the antidote. After Fellow Daoist Wusitu takes it, he will awaken. He will then need to regulate his breathing and meditate for a period of time to make a full recovery."
A look of helplessness appeared on Li Yan's face, as if he truly had no idea. Zhao Min almost wanted to laugh inwardly.
This Junior Brother of hers was rotten to the core, yet he made it so others couldn't suspect him.
With that, Li Yan flicked out a medicinal pill, which flew towards the tall youth.
The tall youth caught the pill and, this time, said nothing more. He hurriedly gave a salute to Li Yan and Ting Bixiao before hastily flying away.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang is indeed forthright. In that case, Wusitu has already lost this duel. There is no need to wait for him to recover and compete."
"This can also be considered his punishment for trespassing into your residence. Moreover, this is enough to show that Fellow Daoist Zhang's skill in poison is far superior."
Ting Bixiao immediately spoke in a deep voice, his words spreading throughout the Sparring Arena. This time, many people's faces showed extreme disappointment.
To be able to witness a duel between Golden Core cultivators was a rare and coveted opportunity.
Now, with a single sentence from the Clan Head, the result was decided. Ting Bixiao didn't even wait to see Wusitu's condition after taking the antidote before making his conclusion, which gave others a very decisive impression.
In reality, this was just a superficial impression. Since Wusitu had acted recklessly and brought shame upon the Giant Wood Clan, Ting Bixiao was now taking the opportunity to suppress him. By directly giving up the slot from his branch, it would mean one or two fewer rapidly growing junior disciples from that line.
Secondly, it also made this Zhang Ming owe him a favor. As for waiting for Wusitu's antidote to take effect and see the result, that was completely unnecessary. It would only make him seem inferior.
Li Yan and his companion were still in the Giant Wood Clan. If there was a problem with the antidote, could they escape?
Li Yan merely smiled and nodded at this.
"But I still wish to experience the methods of you two fellow daoists!" Ting Shan suddenly said from the side.
At this moment, Ting Bixiao's voice sounded in Li Yan and Zhao Min's minds.
"To give an account to the clansmen, the duel must still be completed. Ting Shan has always enjoyed dueling. If you two can show him what a true expert is, it would be a wish come true."
"It would also be good to rein in his character a bit, to stop him from going to other clans and causing trouble all day. But you two fellow daoists can rest assured, there is no problem with the slot on Ting Shan's side."
Ting Bixiao's meaning was already very clear. Li Yan and the others would definitely get the remaining slot. This was telling them that even if Ting Shan could win, he would "lose" this duel. 'Heh, he is very confident in Ting Shan!' Li Yan thought to himself.
The Giant Wood Clan members below, seeing Ting Shan speak up and request to continue the duel, couldn't help but shout out one by one.
"Elder Ting Shan, teach them a lesson! Let them know the power of our Giant Wood Clan's experts!"
"Elder, you must be careful, the other party is a Poison Cultivator..."
"Do you even need to say that? Everyone knows his trump card now..."
"So what if he's a Poison Cultivator? Do we have a shortage of deadly poisonous creatures in our Sparrow Plume Pagoda? Wood-attribute spirit power has the strongest resistance to poison to begin with. Elder Wusitu must have just been careless..."
Various voices surged up from below like a tide again, with many from Wusitu's branch shouting the loudest.
Li Yan had made them lose face in front of the other clansmen, so they wouldn't give him any face.
So what if they provoked a Golden Core cultivator? They were within their own clan right now. They figured that even if the other party heard these words, they wouldn't really lower themselves to attack some juniors.
Amidst these discussions, Ting Shan had already stood up and was looking at the opposite side.
Li Yan, however, showed no intention of getting up, seemingly deaf to the surrounding discussions.
Just as the Giant Wood Clan members below thought this cultivator was being arrogant and were about to jeer, Zhao Min, at his side, slowly stood up.
"Fellow Daoist Ting, please!"
At this, with the exception of Ting Bixiao and Ting Shan, who showed no surprise, the surrounding Giant Wood Clan members were once again in an uproar.
"It's actually that female cultivator who's fighting!"
"As a man, why is he letting a female cultivator fight in the first round?"
Although these Giant Wood Clan members knew that Li Yan and Zhao Min were both Golden Core stage cultivators, not many knew their specific realms.
Some guessed that this female Golden Core cultivator should be stronger, but they still joined in with the surrounding people, mocking Li Yan.
"Good! Let me witness the heaven-defying arts of a human cultivator!"
As Ting Shan spoke, he had already flown up and, in an instant, arrived in the Sparring Arena below.
For him, of course, a fight with a stronger opponent was more exhilarating.
Zhang Ming and the woman surnamed Zhao were from the same sect. This female cultivator was also very likely a Poison Cultivator, but just as the people around them said, wood-attribute spirit power was inherently the best attribute for alchemy and healing.
At his level of cultivation, he really did not fear most deadly poisons, provided, of course, he was prepared.
The Sparring Arena was ten li in both length and width. In truth, a sparring arena of this size was far from sufficient even for Foundation Establishment cultivators to fight in.
Generally, in sects and cultivation families, this type of sparring arena was primarily used for Qi Condensation disciples to duel.
For Qi Condensation cultivators, it had only two meanings.
One, it signified a fair duel.
Two, it was a life-and-death battle. The entire Sparring Arena's protective formation would be activated, trapping the cultivators inside to fight until one was dead. For Qi Condensation cultivators, this was also sufficient.
For cultivators of Ting Shan and Zhao Min's level, they would soon take the fight to the sky. That was their main battlefield. The Sparring Arena was more of a symbol.
Zhao Min's body blurred. When she reappeared, she was also standing in the Sparring Arena.
She was about a hundred zhang from Ting Shan, the optimal attack distance for a Body Cultivator. The two faced each other from afar.
After Ting Shan took his position, his aura began to climb steadily. The moment Zhao Min landed in the Sparring Arena and looked at him, he immediately moved, giving his opponent no time to build up momentum.
It was clear at a glance that Ting Shan was a very experienced fighter.
Ting Shan stomped his foot violently on the ground. His entire body shot up into the air as if running, kicking up a gust of wind and leaving a long afterimage of his body in the air.
His body was covered in a layer of green light. He formed a Phoenix Eye Fist with one hand, his index finger arched and knuckle protruding, his arm coiled with stored power.
In a flash, he was in front of Zhao Min. He was certain that Zhao Min and Li Yan were from the same sect and that she must also be a Poison Cultivator.
Therefore, he did not plan to give her much time to use poison. With his hand enveloped in spirit power, he threw a punch aimed at Zhao Min's neck!