Chapter 10: One Year

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Time passes.

The Eastern Port City Tournament comes and goes. To the surprise of no one, Xiao Nan’s dominating performance once again ensures the Xiao Sect’s reputation as the strongest in the city. Many call Xiao Nan the Number One Prodigy of Eastern Port City. After his complete victory in the tournament, no one can disagree with the title.

Xiao Nan makes sure to visit Liu Jin the day after his victory to go out and celebrate. The prodigy finds that getting Liu Jin to relax, let alone drink, is a much harder task than winning a tournament.

As for Liu Jin, his life goes on. He cannot bring himself to seek out Xiao Fang, and Xiao Fang shows no interest in seeking him out. Thus, their relationship does not outwardly change, even though Liu Jin cannot help but feel that it has in some strange, intangible way. It is an annoying feeling, but he does not have time to dwell on it. The young child is frighteningly busy with the Xiao Sect, the clinic, and, of course, his master.

Old Jiang has much to teach, and Liu Jin is eager to soak it all up. From him, Liu Jin learns of poisons and antidotes. He learns of terrible diseases that by far surpass his wildest nightmares and of herbs that sound too miraculous to be real. He learns of every single meridian in the body and all the pressure points associated with them.

More importantly, every day, Liu Jin is poisoned.

In the beginning, Old Jiang gives him minor poisons and tells him to expel them from his body. As Liu Jin’s skill with the process grows so does the lethality of the poisons he is exposed to. Once Liu Jin grows skilled enough to expel poison from his body while doing everyday tasks like treating patients or reading, Old Jiang starts to sneak poison into his food. Liu Jin no longer has the benefit of a warning. It is his duty to realize when he is being poisoned and safely expel the poison from his body without accidentally poisoning the people around him.

Needless to say, every hour of Liu Jin’s waking time is spent expelling poisons from his body. In time, Liu Jin has to figure out how to do so even while asleep. That is how frightening the strength of the poisons Old Jiang uses is.

Liu Jin talks about this with his father exactly once. His father merely smiles and tells him Old Jiang must surely be fond of him if he is being so lenient. His own training was much crueler. After hearing those words, Liu Jin loses the will to complain. If anything, he becomes resolved to succeed.

Like that, from day to day, from one poison to the next, a full year goes by.

“The poison I have put in your tea is three grades above the last one,” Old Jiang explains as he pours himself a cup of tea. The two are sitting in a room above his father’s clinic. “It was first created in the Storm Dragon Empire about four thousand years ago. The antidote is fairly easy to make and common knowledge to any doctor that has the right to call himself such. However, in the case of this poison, that does not matter. Do you know why?”

Liu Jin does not need to think hard about the answer. He can feel the truth burning in his body.

“It is very fast acting, master.”

“Correct,” Old Jiang says. “This poison is so strong it will kill a person in only seven seconds. In the first second, the body will become paralyzed. By the fourth, all your organs will start failing simultaneously. By the seventh, all three dantian will fade out. Even if you recognize it, most people will not have the time to make, let alone drink, the antidote. In the past, this poison has been used to kill royalty.”

More than seven seconds have passed since Liu Jin drank the poison. That he is not dead yet is a testament to his growth. Before the first second was over, he detected the poison in his body and isolated it.

“Since it is so dangerous, I have made sure to seal this room,” Old Jiang adds. “Do not hesitate to quickly banish it from your system. You do not have to worry about accidentally poisoning the people below, and it should go without saying someone of my power has little to fear from this poison.”

Before Old Jiang finishes speaking, dense purple mist starts to emanate from Liu Jin. However, soon after he begins, a worrying thought occurs to Liu Jin. “Master, won’t the poison linger in the air?”

“That will not happen. This poison retains its properties only for a short amount of time when airborne. Even in liquid form, it will lose its properties after a few days. That is why it must be used soon after preparing it. Can you think of a way to circumvent that limitation?”

The question is made not just to test his knowledge. Old Jiang is also testing his skill. By engaging Liu Jin in conversation while he is supposed to be ridding himself of the poison, his master is testing just how good his control over the technique is.

“Storage items like master’s spatial pouch can be used to remove an item from the normal flow of time. Items within them will remain in the same condition as when they were stored. It is also possible to use Temporal Talismans to preserve perishable items.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Old Jiang nods. “Good. However, not all storage items can perfectly preserve what is stored within. The spatial pouch I own is of particularly high quality. Even if you search throughout the Empire, you will not find its like. Make sure to remember that.”

“Of course, master.”

“You have had that poison inside your body for some time now. Have you managed to discern its makeup yet?”

Liu Jin has not, and Old Jiang knows this. More importantly, Liu Jin knows Old Jiang knows.

“Master,” Liu Jin says, frowning. “This disciple is still unable to break down poison to its base components inside his body.”