"You came here for the King of Shura. Are you seeking an antidote?"
From the way Mie Li carried herself, the King of Slaughter already guessed she knew of his condition—the poison raging inside him.
"Bastards," the King of Slaughter snarled, his voice a deep rumble. "You poisoned the river of blood, slaughtering my people in the great river's depths. Hand me the antidote, and I'll give you a swift death."
He advanced slowly, step by deliberate step, toward Mie Li. Though his pace was unhurried, each movement pressed the air forward in heavy waves, smothering everyone nearby beneath mounting pressure. The stench of blood thickened with every breath, twisting the air into an almost tangible miasma.
"The antidote can be given to you," Mie Li responded coolly. "But if you seek revenge… you're aiming at the wrong target. It wasn't us who annihilated your people."
Her black cloak snapped in the wind, surging soul power rolling out from her and clashing against his suffocating aura. The pressure on her subordinates eased instantly.
"It was Martial Soul Hall."
The King of Slaughter's crimson gaze narrowed. His voice rumbled like a distant quake. "You… destroyed the City of Slaughter."
Her lips twitched upward faintly. "We did. And what of it? Look around—your people are no longer caged, bound in a prison sealed for thousands of years. Martial Soul Hall never expected them to be free, and ordered their slaughter. I acted to protect them."
She took a slow step forward. "If you still wish to protect your own kind… we have a common enemy."
Her words halted his advance.
He had seen much over the past years—the scattered, broken remnants of his kind wandering the continent.
"The City of Slaughter has been chained for millennia under Martial Soul Hall's oppression, forced to crawl through darkness," she pressed. "Do you accept that? Or do you want to stand tall again?"
Mie Li's voice was calm, yet every syllable carried intent. To her, the arrival of the King of Slaughter was a shock—and an opportunity. If she could harness his might, the Nirvana Plan would be unstoppable.
The King's pale, bloodless face twisted into a smirk of sheer arrogance. "You think a dignified King of Slaughter could be swayed by mere words from a whelp like you?"
Even so, her speech had branded the Martial Soul Hall in his mind as a target for vengeance.
"No one's trying to sway you. This is cooperation. A common enemy."
Her fingers flicked casually, and a jade-green vial floated toward him. "As a show of sincerity—the antidote."
His eyes glowed darker. "Is this truly the antidote?"
"Real as the flesh on your bones," she replied without hesitation.
Blood glinted in his pupils. With a shift in the air, an Evil Soul Master dozens of meters away was dragged before him by invisible force. The King seized him by the throat, then poured half the vial's contents down the man's gullet.
Half a stick of incense later, the test subject showed no signs of harm.
The King of Slaughter tipped the vial back, swallowing the remainder. Heat flooded his body, and the violent burn rampaging through his veins eased—many times more effective than bathing in fresh blood.
"Bring me more bottles," he demanded, blood-red gauntleted hand reaching toward her.
"This antidote is slow to brew," Mie Li said smoothly. "That vial is the only one I have at present—and I've given it to you freely. If you do not mind staying, we will craft an antidote that restores you completely."
The King regarded her for a long, unblinking moment.
Finally—
"Very well." His tone was cold, each word dipped in blade steel. "I'll remain for a few days. Fail to clear this poison… and I'll erase you, root and bone."
For now, it was the practical choice—here he had something that could stave off the madness. Outside, his only recourse was slaughtering and drinking blood.
Moments later, one of her men returned from the retreat arrangements. "Master, everything is prepared."
"Good. Withdraw," Mie Li ordered.
"Master," Poisonous Scorpion Douluo murmured once the King was gone, "are we truly keeping that powder keg beside us?"
"He's too useful to discard," she whispered back.
The Scorpion Douluo frowned. "The King of Slaughter's pride and vanity run deep—he won't be easily controlled. A single whim and he could turn on us."
Mie Li's smile was thin and dangerous. "The Bloody Mary of the City of Slaughter was already a poison that warped the mind and body. Tang San's toxin merely magnified it. The King has long been steeped in that rot. He clings to his reason only because his strength holds madness at bay."
Her lips curled further. "See the test subjects. You'll understand."
Scorpion Douluo's stomach tightened. "Master… you mean to make him one of the test subjects? That's… dangerous."
"Tell Shengzi to halt other projects. The King of Slaughter comes first. Strip his reason from him, and he'll be ours in full."
In her eyes burned the hunger of a viper. If she could unleash a mindless King of Slaughter, his devastation would sweep continents clean.
"But… that will delay the Nirvana Plan," Scorpion Douluo said cautiously. For over a year they had been perfecting it.
Mie Li's voice cracked like a whip. "What are you thinking in your mind? With the King of Slaughter as our trump card, the Nirvana Plan's hidden dangers will melt away."
Her aura flared, crushing the air between them and forcing Scorpion Douluo half a step back.
He swallowed. "Understood. I'll inform Shengzi."
"One more thing—notify all our branches. The Annihilation Project is postponed. Those in hiding must remain in their towns and not wander. They will wait patiently until the command comes."
With that, she began to move. Spirit power pulsed beneath her feet.
Rumble…
Behind her, part of their complex crumpled in upon itself, dust and smoke swallowing years of secrets into the earth.
Without looking back, Mie Li led her chosen core south.
Ahead lay the Spirit Beast Forest—and the next step toward unleashing destruction upon the Douluo Continent.
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