"You are going to class."
They were led by a cadre of local Azure Dragon stewards through the labyrinthine architecture of the sect, eventually arriving at the Hall of Miasma, a massive, open-air amphitheater constructed directly over a bubbling, highly toxic thermal vent.
The amphitheater was already packed. Hundreds of local Azure Dragon disciples sat in the tiered, semicircular stone bleachers, their faces painted with stripes, their eyes fixed on the entrance with a mixture of intense hostility, bruised egos, and, in the case of the local maidens, frantic, blushing anticipation.
When Ji’an strutted into the arena, leading her limping, groaning retinue, a hushed murmur swept through the local crowd.
’That’s him,’ a try-hard whispered, glaring at Ji’an’s red robes. ’The pretty boy who kicked Senior Brother Kui’s flagon into orbit. He doesn’t even look like a cultivator. He looks like a pampered noble out for a stroll.’
’He is so breathtakingly arrogant,’ a local maiden sighed, her eyes glued to Ji’an’s sharp jawline and the lazy, effortless swagger of her walk. ’The way he commands those terrifying monsters behind him... it is the ultimate expression of alpha dominance!’
Ji’an ignored the whispers.
She marched her disciples to the front row of the arena, forcing them to sit on the hard, unyielding obsidian benches.
"Posture!" Ji’an hissed, smacking the flat of her spatula against the back of Hu Yanlie’s seat when the Beast Lord tried to slouch. "Shoulders back! Look intimidating but studious!"
At the absolute center of the amphitheater’s sunken stage stood Elder Viper, leaning heavily on his emerald-serpent staff. Beside him stood a long, heavy obsidian prep table, laden with terrifying, glowing, bubbling vials of acid, petrified roots, and a large, heavily warded glass terrarium.
"Welcome, Vanguard of the Celestial Sword," Elder Viper hissed, his voice amplified by the acoustics of the thermal vent.
He looked infinitely healthier than he had yesterday, his skin practically glowing with the residual, restorative effects of Ji’an’s bear-rib stew.
"Today, we bridge the gap between brute force and calculated lethality," Elder Viper announced to the hall. "The Dao of Poison is not merely the art of killing. It is the art of isolation. It is the surgical, microscopic extraction of a compound from its source, separating the venom from the flesh without triggering an explosive necrotic reaction."
He tapped his staff against the glass terrarium.
Inside the terrarium sat a creature that looked like it had crawled out of a nightmare.
It was a Ghost-Toad. It was the size of a large dog, covered in pulsing, bioluminescent purple warts. Its eyes were milky white, and every time it croaked, a small cloud of highly corrosive green gas erupted from its mouth, sizzling against the warded glass.
The Celestial Sword disciples who were used to fighting giant bears and dragons with massive broadswords leaned back in their seats, deeply unnerved by the grotesque, squishy, volatile amphibian creature.
"The Ghost-Toad," Elder Viper explained, his yellow eyes glinting. "A Rank 6 anomaly. The venom gland is located precisely one inch beneath the cervical vertebrae. The venom is highly prized in high-tier alchemy. However, the toad possesses a biological failsafe. If the flesh around the gland is bruised, punctured, or exposed to aggressive, unregulated Qi... the gland instantly detonates."
Elder Viper looked around the amphitheater.
"An explosion of Ghost-Toad venom will instantly liquefy the internal organs of anyone within a thirty-foot radius. It cannot be blocked by standard Qi-shields, as the venom eats through spiritual energy like acid through paper."
The crowd swallowed hard.
"To extract the gland," Elder Viper continued, pulling a set of incredibly thin, razor-sharp, obsidian scalpels from his robes, "one must utilize absolute, flawless precision. You must bypass the epidermal wards, sever the muscular connective tissue using a microscopic Qi-blade, and extract the gland in a single, fluid motion without applying a single ounce of downward pressure."
He looked toward the local disciples. "Senior Brother Kui, come up here and demonstrate for our esteemed guests."
Kui, the elite whose iron flagon Ji’an had kicked into the stratosphere the night before, stood up from the local benches. His face was a mask of cold, bruised, arrogant pride.
’I will show the pretty boy,’ Kui thought, cracking his knuckles as he marched down to the stage. ’He may have brute strength and a fast kick. But true mastery requires finesse. A chef who knows nothing of microscopic, lethal surgery!’
Kui stepped up to the prep table. The glass terrarium was opened.
The tension in the amphitheater skyrocketed.
Kui raised his hands. He didn’t draw a blade. He manifested ten incredibly thin, glowing green needles of pure Qi at the tips of his fingers.
He took a slow, deep breath, his entire body going completely rigid as he entered a state of absolute, focused concentration.
He leaned over the toad.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
It was a terrifying, excruciatingly slow process.
Kui’s hands moved by millimeters. Sweat poured down his forehead, stinging his eyes, but he didn’t dare blink.
He carefully, painstakingly made the initial incision, separating the thick, warty skin. The toad croaked, releasing a puff of gas that singed the edge of Kui’s robes, but he held his breath, pushing deeper.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
The entire hall watched in suffocating silence.
Finally, with a sharp, gasping exhale of relief, Kui pulled his hands back. Hovering between his Qi-needles was a perfectly intact, pulsing, glowing purple sac the size of a walnut.
He dropped the venom gland into a specialized stasis vial and sealed the cork.
The Azure Dragon disciples erupted into massive, roaring, prideful cheers.
"Flawless execution!" an elder praised. "Twelve minutes and forty seconds! A new personal best for the Senior Disciple!"
Kui wiped the sweat from his brow, his chest heaving with exertion. He turned around, his arrogant, toxic smirk returning in full force.
He looked directly at the front row of the Vanguard Retinue, locking eyes with Lin Ji’an.
"Brute force can break a floor, Vanguard Leader," Kui sneered publicly, projecting his voice for the entire amphitheater to hear. "But true ascension requires the delicate touch of a master. Would any of the famed Celestial Sword prodigies care to attempt the extraction? Or are your massive, clumsy broadswords entirely unsuited for true artistry?"
It was a blatant, undeniable, highly public challenge.
Lu Jianheng’s aristocratic face flushed a brilliant, indignant red. The Sword Lord stood up, his blue aura flaring. "Do not mock the blade, you poison-monger! The Sword Peak possesses absolute spatial precision! I accept the challenge!"
Ji’an, who had been sitting with her cheek resting lazily on her fist, let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Sit down, Jianheng," Ji’an murmured, not even raising her voice.
"Martial Uncle!" Jianheng protested, his pride stung. "We cannot allow them to insult our Dao!"
"I said sit down," Ji’an repeated, her silver-flecked eyes sliding sideways to pin the Sword Lord with a look of absolute, unyielding authority. "You use Autumn Shine to chop mountains in half. You don’t have the micro-motor control for this. If you try to slice that toad, you are going to detonate it, and I am not spending my afternoon trying to un-liquefy your lungs."
Jianheng gritted his teeth, his fists clenching, but he obediently, stiffly sat back down.
Ji’an slowly, deliberately stood up from the bench.
She didn’t look intimidated or didn’t look like a cultivator preparing to face a lethal, volatile explosive trial.
She looked bored.
"Elder Viper," Ji’an drawled, stretching her arms above her head, her red combat robes shifting to reveal the tight, sharp lines of her waist. "With all due respect to the institutional knowledge of the Azure Dragon Sect..."
She pointed a lazy finger at the sweating, heavily panting Senior Brother Kui.
"...that was, without a doubt, the most inefficient, dramatically over-complicated prep-work I have ever witnessed in my entire life."
The amphitheater erupted in outraged gasps. The local disciples leaped to their feet, hurling insults.
"Insolence!"
"He disrespects the art!"
"Let the pretty boy try then! He will blow himself to pieces!"
Elder Viper simply raised his hand, silencing the crowd. The old poison master’s yellow eyes glinted with immense, hungry curiosity. He knew exactly what this teenager had done to a Rank 7 Bear in less than three seconds.
"The Vanguard Leader believes our methods are inefficient?" Elder Viper hissed softly, gesturing to the prep table, where a fresh, un-extracted Ghost-Toad had just been levitated from a secondary cage.