Chapter 4777 — The True Poisoner

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Ren Zhongyuan was badly shaken, muttering to himself like a madman. Just as everyone thought the blow had been too much for him and he was about to lose his mind entirely, the wretch suddenly cried out: "Ah! I've got it! I know the truth! It must be so!"

"Must be what?" Everyone looked at one another in bewilderment.

"I said it before—refining a hundred fifth-grade pills in a single hour is something even my father, a seventh-grade alchemist, couldn't manage, let alone this brat! The fact that he could produce a hundred and twenty antidote pills all at once proves only one thing: he was prepared. These are antidotes he prepared in advance!" Ren Zhongyuan ranted loudly.

"Indeed, Brother Ren has a point. If even a seventh-grade alchemist couldn't do it, yet he could—doesn't that strike everyone as a gaping flaw in itself? Wei Zhao, I'd say this time you've been too clever by half and handed us the evidence yourself. Heh heh!" Yi Xiaotian echoed at once.

The other Eastern Isle disciples did not join in the clamor. Having recognized Wei Zhao as a hefty pair of thighs worth clinging to, they would not rashly offend him over such a matter. The poison had been cured, after all—who the true culprit was hardly mattered much anymore.

Besides, anyone with half a brain could see the oddity in all this. From beginning to end, Ren Zhongyuan and Yi Xiaotian had been playing off each other, and everything they said was far-fetched, riddled with glaring holes—it was just that no one was willing to call them out to their faces.

Still, there was no shortage of Ren Zhongyuan's lackeys among the crowd, and they immediately took up the cry, loudly demanding that Liu Ziqi severely punish the true poisoner.

Liu Ziqi's brow furrowed once more. She had thought that once Wei Zhao cured everyone, the matter would be settled—never expecting the creature to be so sharp-tongued, still clinging to Wei Zhao like a stubborn plaster.

The problem was that, to those unfamiliar with Wei Zhao's true ability, producing a hundred and twenty antidote pills in under an hour did look like an undeniable flaw. Surely they couldn't have Wei Zhao give everyone a live demonstration all over again?

For a moment Liu Ziqi did not know how to defend him. Then Wei Zhao gave a faint laugh and looked at Ren Zhongyuan as though at an idiot. "Are you stupid? Do you really think everyone else's brain is just for show like yours? If I wanted to harm someone, would I need to go to all that trouble?"

"Then how would you do it?" Ren Zhongyuan craned his neck and sneered.

"Before absolute strength, all so-called plots and schemes are nonsense. If I truly wanted to harm someone—this would do." As he spoke, Wei Zhao's figure suddenly flickered, and the next instant he appeared beside Ren Zhongyuan, reaching out to pat him lightly on the shoulder.

Ren Zhongyuan turned pale with fright. Wei Zhao's move had been too fast, too sudden—he had no time even to react, and broke out in a cold sweat. Thank goodness the brat dared not kill in front of everyone; otherwise he would have suffered dearly this time!

But before he could finish congratulating himself, he discovered to his horror that a profoundly strange true qi had appeared within his body, darting wildly through the meridians of his **Dao. It was not especially destructive, yet it brought unavoidable, agonizing pain. At this Ren Zhongyuan could hold out no longer—right there before everyone he thrashed and rolled on the ground, howling at the top of his lungs.

The whole hall was aghast, and the way they looked at Wei Zhao grew all the more reverent. A moment ago they had taken him for nothing more than a top-grade alchemist; who would have thought this consort of Western Isle possessed such formidable strength as well!

He clearly appeared to be only mid-Nascent Soul, yet he could toy with Ren Zhongyuan as easily as a plaything—and Ren Zhongyuan was a consummate Nascent Soul expert who had even placed in the Yellow Rank Academy's grand tournament!

Yi Xiaotian and the others were even more badly frightened. Watching Ren Zhongyuan roll about on the ground in utter indignity, helpless and undone, they dared not step forward to help—instead they retreated in alarm, not daring to come within half a step of Wei Zhao.

"See how simple it is. I bear no grudge against anyone else on this ship. Even if I wanted to make trouble, I'd just kill you—why would I go to the trouble of poisoning everyone?" Wei Zhao said calmly.

"Aaaah! What did you do to me?!" Ren Zhongyuan screamed in agony, staring in terror at Wei Zhao, who stood so close at hand. He could only cast pleading looks at the people around him—if the pain went on like this, even without any fatal internal injury, he would surely break down completely.

Yet no one dared even take a step closer, let alone rescue him. The only one in the whole hall capable of doing so, apart from Wei Zhao himself, was presumably Liu Ziqi, the academy's towering figure.

Unfortunately, Liu Ziqi was filled with disgust for him at this moment. So long as no one's life was at stake, she would not intervene to stop it—rather, she found it deeply satisfying. The creature grew more outrageous by the day and richly deserved a good dose of suffering to teach him a lesson!

"You're a pharmacist and an alchemist both—do you really need to ask me about such a trifle?" Wei Zhao shook his head with an amused smile. Watching Ren Zhongyuan thrash and roll on the ground, he shrugged and spread his hands. "Isn't your father a seventh-grade alchemist? Go home and have him take a look at you. You won't die anytime soon, and since your father is so remarkable, he's sure to have a way."

"You—aaaah!" Ren Zhongyuan choked with rage. This time his grandstanding had failed utterly, and he had only dug his own grave. He might have swallowed his pride and begged Liu Ziqi for help, but after Wei Zhao's jab, he could not bring himself to say the words at all. No matter how much it hurt, he could only endure it alone.

Seeing Ren Zhongyuan's face turn deathly pale, on the verge of breathing out more than he breathed in, Liu Ziqi grew somewhat worried. She cast Wei Zhao an inquiring glance—after all, if Ren Zhongyuan truly died like this, it would be no small trouble. Not only would she herself be punished, but more importantly, Wei Zhao would become the target of everyone's fury. The Ren family's influence was indeed not to be underestimated.

Wei Zhao gave her a reassuring look. He had merely driven a harmless wisp of Five Elements killing qi into the man; it would cause no real fatal injury. Of course, given the nature of Five Elements killing qi, having such a thing darting wildly through one's body was agonizing beyond words—an ordinary person truly could not endure it.

"Do all of you still think I'm the true poisoner?" Wei Zhao swept a glance over the crowd. Seeing the varied expressions, he continued calmly: "First, it's true that I was the one in charge of transporting the food—there's no denying that. But since everyone was poisoned with heart-piercing sea anemone, a creature of the deep sea, and I've never once been assigned a diving mission, how could I possibly have come into contact with it?"

The crowd nodded thoughtfully, one after another... (To be continued.)