Profound Heaven Soul Sovereign

"That should be it, unless I’m mistaken." Ye Xuan nodded.

He looked at Xu Zhen with some surprise. From his tone, it seemed the man knew something was wrong with him. ’Does Elder Xu Zhen know he’s been poisoned?’ Ye Xuan wondered.

Xu Zhen shook his head. "Master Xuan Ye, not exactly. But for some time now, I’ve felt that my Profound Sea is unstable. It feels like it’s on the verge of collapse. I’ve seen many Alchemists, and they all noticed something was wrong with my Profound Sea, but none could explain why. Yet you, Master Xuan Ye, identified it as poison in one go. I’m very curious—what kind of poison is it?"

Xu Zhen’s eyes burned with intense concern.

"That explains it," Ye Xuan said, a look of sudden understanding on his face. "I was wondering. The thought that Elder Xu Zhen might have figured it out himself actually gave me a bit of a shock."

Just then, Xu Ping snapped out of his shock and blurted out, "Grandfather, your Profound Sea has been having problems? What’s going on? Why didn’t you tell us?"

Xu Zhen waved his hand dismissively. "Telling you would have been useless. Besides, I’ve been investigating the cause myself, I just couldn’t find the root of the problem. That’s why I didn’t say anything."

"How could this happen?" Xu Ping murmured. He then turned to Ye Xuan anxiously. "Master Xuan Ye, I was rude earlier. Do you know what poison my grandfather has? Can you please help him?"

Ye Xuan pondered for a moment before saying, "Elder Xu Zhen, you’ve likely been poisoned with Transformation Powder."

Transformation Powder?

Elder Yao, who was standing to the side, was taken aback. "Young Master Ye, I examined Elder Xu Zhen’s Profound Sea just now. While it was fluctuating, it didn’t have the distinctive aura of Transformation Powder. And his Profound hasn’t dispersed; his Profound Sea is just a bit unstable. How could it be..."

Transformation Powder was, in fact, a very common poison. Once a Martial Artist ingested it, the Profound in their Profound Sea would be unable to condense, causing them to lose their strength and become weak.

However, the characteristics of ordinary Transformation Powder were well-known to most Alchemists and could be identified at a glance. Moreover, Elder Xu Zhen was a Tier Eight Second Layer Martial Emperor. His body’s resistance to poison was extremely high; a common Transformation Powder would have no effect on him at all.

Elder Xu Zhen also nodded in agreement.

He had consulted many Alchemists and had done his own research. His symptoms didn’t resemble those of Transformation Powder poisoning. In fact, many Alchemists believed it was more likely that he had made a mistake in his cultivation, leading to his current condition.

Ye Xuan smiled. "Elder Yao, you’re talking about ordinary Transformation Powder. But the one affecting Elder Xu Zhen is anything but ordinary. The perpetrator’s methods were extremely subtle, which is why you couldn’t detect it."

Xu Zhen’s brow suddenly furrowed. "Hold on, Young Master Ye. Are you saying someone poisoned me intentionally?"

"That’s right." Ye Xuan nodded.

"Impossible." This time it was Xu Zhen shaking his head. "I may not know what’s wrong with me or whether I’ve been poisoned, but I’m quite certain about one thing: no one could poison me without me realizing it."

Xu Zhen’s tone was firm, clearly full of self-confidence.

"And that is precisely what makes the perpetrator so brilliant," Ye Xuan said with a faint smile.

"What do you mean by that, Master?" Xu Zhen was deeply puzzled, and even Elder Yao was frowning, unable to understand.

Ye Xuan explained, "This person’s methods are very clever. Knowing it would be impossible to poison you directly, they used an indirect approach. Not only that, but their version of Transformation Powder is highly unique and difficult to identify, designed specifically for you. In other words, to you, it’s a potent poison, but it would have no effect on anyone else."

"Master Xuan Ye, could you be more specific?"

"Let’s put it this way. The poison exploits a past injury of yours, Elder Xu Zhen. Your Profound Sea was damaged before, and you also cultivate a Cultivation Technique that is, I presume, of a purely yang and unyielding nature. So, the culprit created a type of Transformation Powder specifically targeting these conditions. Once you come into contact with it, your previously damaged Profound Sea reacts and becomes unstable."

Pausing for a moment, Ye Xuan continued, "From my observations, you’ve been poisoned for some time now, Elder Xu Zhen—about two to three months. During this period, the poison has been gradually worsening. It has already reached the intermediate stage. Once it reaches the final stage, your Profound Sea will instantly collapse, and you’ll be crippled."

’It’s that serious?’

Elder Xu Zhen instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

"But I’ve always been cautious in my dealings. I never eat unfamiliar food or touch strange objects. As for someone poisoning me, that’s even more out of the question. I flatter myself that no one could poison me right under my nose without me noticing."

Xu Zhen still couldn’t understand.

"That’s the indirect poisoning I mentioned. As for how it was done... you’ll have to ask your precious grandson." Ye Xuan gave Xu Ping a look that was not quite a smile.

Everyone froze and turned to look at Xu Ping. ’What does Young Master Ye mean? Could it be that Xu Ping, his own grandson, is the one who poisoned Xu Zhen?’

’It makes sense. Based on what Xu Zhen just said, an ordinary person could never poison him. But if it were his grandson... it wouldn’t be impossible.’

Xu Ping’s face instantly turned crimson. He shot to his feet in anger and roared, "Are you saying I’m the one who poisoned my grandfather? What kind of joke is that? Grandfather, this guy is spouting nonsense! Why would I ever poison you?"

Xu Zhen’s expression flickered several times. Finally, he looked at Ye Xuan and said gravely, "Master Xuan Ye, could there be a misunderstanding? It’s impossible for Xu Ping to poison me. I’m certain of it."

’My own grandson would poison me?’ Xu Zhen was first unwilling to believe it. After some serious thought, he became even more convinced that it was absolutely impossible.

He knew Xu Ping’s character well. He might have some of the arrogance and rebelliousness typical of a young master from a great family, but it was absolutely impossible that he would poison his own grandfather.

Ye Xuan smiled without speaking. Instead, he turned to Elder Yao. "Elder Yao, take a careful sense of this kid. See if there’s anything unusual about him."

Elder Yao glanced at Xu Ping in confusion and began to scan him as Ye Xuan had instructed. He focused his senses with the new information that Xu Ping was the alleged poisoner, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find anything wrong with him.

He immediately shook his head. "Young Master Ye, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with this Xu Ping."

Hearing this, Xu Ping was just about to speak.

"Huh? Wait a minute..."

Just then, Elder Yao spoke up again, a hint of surprise in his eyes. "This kid... he has a strange scent on him. It’s a bit like rouge and powder, but... this fragrance seems a little off."

"The problem lies precisely with that scent." Ye Xuan smiled. "Actually, I smelled that strange fragrance the moment I first saw Xu Ping. I was a bit puzzled at first. It was only after I sensed the problem with Elder Xu Zhen’s Profound Sea that I connected the two."

"Scent? What scent?"

Xu Ping lifted his sleeve and sniffed around, looking bewildered. He couldn’t smell anything at all.

Elder Yao explained, "This scent is rather unique. It has mingled with your own body’s scent and is extremely faint. It’s masked by your natural odor, so it’s difficult for anyone but an Alchemist to perceive."

He was inwardly marveling at this. He had only been able to detect the scent after a long time, and only with Young Master Ye’s prompting. Yet Young Master Ye had noticed it from the very beginning. Such keen perception was several times sharper than his own.

Seeing that Xu Ping and Xu Zhen were still confused, Ye Xuan smiled and asked, "Xu Ping, did you happen to visit a brothel a couple of days ago?"

"Why are you asking that?" Xu Ping’s face immediately turned ugly, and he seemed very reluctant to answer.

A brothel, also known as a "spring house," was a filthy place. The women there were not chaste; each had been with countless men.

If Ye Xuan had asked an ordinary Martial Artist this question, they wouldn’t have been embarrassed. After all, everyone has needs, and in this brutally competitive world, not every Martial Artist had a wife.

But Xu Ping was different. He was a direct descendant of the Xu family from the Celestial Capital Prefecture. What kind of woman couldn’t he have? For him to go to such a place could only mean he lacked self-respect.

Thus, Ye Xuan’s question about the brothel immediately made him uncomfortable.

As expected, Xu Zhen’s face darkened instantly. He snapped, "Ping’er, Master Xuan Ye is asking you a question! Have you been to a brothel recently?"

Xu Ping’s face flushed, and he mumbled in a voice softer than a mosquito’s buzz, "Yes."

"You little bastard!" Xu Zhen’s face turned red with anger.

"And there’s the problem," Ye Xuan said calmly. "The scent on Xu Ping, which seems like the fragrance of cosmetics on the surface, is actually the smell of a medicinal powder that has undergone special processing."

"Once this powder comes into contact with you, Elder Xu Zhen, it triggers your old injury. When combined with your Cultivation Technique, these three factors create a toxin similar to Transformation Powder."

"The person who created this toxin must be someone very familiar with you, Elder Xu Zhen. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to come up with such a method."

"Furthermore, this toxin has another characteristic: it begins to take effect slowly just from you being exposed to the scent on Xu Ping, and its effects last for at least half a month. The scent on Xu Ping, however, dissipates in just two or three days. In other words, the source of the poison vanishes within a few days of each application, but the toxin continues to work on you."

Ye Xuan laid out the entire process from beginning to end.

"So that’s what happened." Elder Xu Zhen’s face was ashen, his expression furious, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

"So... Grandfather’s poisoning... was it really my fault?" Even now, Xu Ping found it hard to believe.