Gong Yuantai put away the antidote in his hand. Li Yan no longer needed it, so there was no need to do him a favor.
He slapped his waist with his other hand, and a black pill, the size of a baby's fist, floated in front of him.
With a solemn expression, Gong Yuantai said in a low voice, "Junior Brother Li, be careful! If you feel something is wrong, do not resist with force!"
Disciples of Lord Lao Peak were skilled in refining pills and medicine, and their path of poison was usually based on herbs and medicinal pills.
Gong Yuantai extended a finger and lightly tapped the black pill in front of him. The black pill spun in the air, and in an instant, the ten-zhang radius turned into a small, dark, independent space.
Li Yan felt his vision blur, and he found himself in a city. The city walls were as black as iron, and the sky was somewhat gloomy. He was currently standing on a street.
This street felt particularly familiar to him. It was the main road of the Li Family Village at the foot of the mountain where he had grown up.
But how could his hometown village be inside a city, and transformed into a street?
Looking at the people coming and going on the street, at the familiar faces, Li Yan was momentarily unsure of where he was.
'Uncle Guoxin, Third Sister Fatty, Li Shan, Li Yu,' and 'Third Brother, Dad?'
These people were all smiling at him, waving at him, their words entering his ears, but for a moment, Li Yan couldn't hear clearly what they were saying.
For a moment, Li Yan felt a little dazed. But at this moment, he felt a pulling force coming from his chest and lower abdomen.
Then, all the scenery and people before his eyes became somewhat ethereal and illusory. The village and the street were stretched and distorted before his eyes, as if they were about to be sucked into his body.
The words of his relatives disappeared without a trace. The faces, along with the surrounding scenery, twisted and deformed, constantly changing before his eyes, even intertwining until he could no longer recognize them.
"Hallucinogenic poison!"
Li Yan immediately reacted, and a cold sweat broke out on his back. At this moment, he felt a strong wind sweeping towards the back of his head.
Li Yan snorted lightly. With a swipe of his foot, he strangely disappeared from his spot. Gong Yuantai's palm shone with spiritual power as he slapped down on the spot where Li Yan had just been standing.
Then he looked up with a stunned expression, a layer of fine sweat beading on his forehead. Behind him, Li Yan was staring at him coldly, also raising a hand. A black glow surged on his palm, like a long snake flicking its tongue, only a few inches from the back of Gong Yuantai's head.
"How did you discover it?"
Gong Yuantai asked in disbelief. He hadn't expected that after seeing Li Yan's dazed expression, he had immediately acted, but the other party had woken up in an instant. This was too far from common sense.
"Senior Brother Gong's hallucinogenic poison is a hundred times more potent than the one I used before. My hallucinogenic poison can at most make the opponent's mind a little blurry, making them see illusions."
"But Senior Brother Gong has already managed to integrate a city illusion into a small pill, and can even make the opponent, after being hit, imagine their most familiar scenes in this empty city and fill them in. All of this is truly brilliant!"
Li Yan said with a seemingly calm expression. If it weren't for his "Fragmented Poison Body" being superior to the opponent's hallucinogenic poison and waking him up immediately, he would have almost fallen for Gong Yuantai's trick.
In fact, his heart was already a little gloomy. If the opponent's hallucinogenic poison were a bit more brilliant, they could even see through his weaknesses and many of his secrets. The thought of all this sent a chill down his spine.
"Senior Brother Gong's 'Heavenly Palace Black City' has also been broken! Could it be that this Junior Brother Li has cultivated the Buddhist 'Heaven-Piercing Dharma Eye' or the Daoist 'Heaven-Sealing Eye'? Otherwise, how could he set up a trap and counter Senior Brother Gong!"
The disciples of the Malevolent Spirit Sect who knew Gong Yuantai were, for a time, even more unable to see through Li Yan's cultivation. They even thought that Li Yan had long since seen through Gong Yuantai's methods and had even used this as a trap.
And the other cultivators, although they didn't know what kind of potent poison was contained in Gong Yuantai's black pill, knew that he should have been poisoned when they saw his dazed expression at the time. But the result was once again greatly unexpected.
"This Fellow Daoist Li's poison techniques should be a notch higher. Up to now, he has only been defending and not attacking, yet he has broken all of Gong Yuantai's attacks one after another," someone commented in a low voice.
"That's natural. Since ancient times, in any kind of duel, defense is the most difficult."
And amidst the crowd's discussion, Gong Yuantai in the field also put away the astonishment on his face and slowly returned to calm.
In a Poison Duel, one only looked at the result and could not ask how the other party broke it. He had only asked out of surprise just now, a subconscious question.
"It was I who was attached to appearances just now, Senior Brother. Junior Brother Li is not affected by the 'Heavenly Palace Black City' at all. There's no need to use such reasons to comfort me. You broke it, so you broke it."
With that, he slowly stood up straight, not caring at all whether Li Yan behind him would continue to attack.
He waved his large sleeve, and the black pill that was still spinning in mid-air, as well as the surrounding sickly green mist, disappeared without a trace in an instant.
Seeing this, Li Yan also took a step back and retracted his hand. His expression was neither happy nor sad, making it impossible for others to read his thoughts.
Only then did Gong Yuantai turn around and bow to Li Yan. "Junior Brother Li, my side doesn't need to compete anymore. You've won."
The moment Gong Yuantai said this, apart from Li Yan, those watching the excitement were all in an uproar. The few disciples of the Malevolent Spirit Sect behind him couldn't help but say.
"Senior Brother Gong, it was you who attacked just now. You haven't taken Junior Brother Li's techniques yet. It shouldn't be difficult to break them." In their hearts, they felt that although Li Yan was formidable at detoxification, he might not have the means to defeat others.
"Fellow Daoist Li has already used his poison techniques to a masterful degree in his 'Quicksand Art' before. Fellow Daoist Gong has also only attacked and not defended. The result of the next Poison Duel is still unknown."
Those watching the excitement were even more eager to see Li Yan's poison techniques.
Listening to the words around him, Gong Yuantai just waved his hand.
"Just now, Junior Brother Li was not affected by my two types of poison at all. Especially the second time. Although we agreed on a Poison Duel, it wasn't really a matter of you attacking and me defending, me defending and you attacking. When I was about to capture him, he countered me. I have already lost."
Although Gong Yuantai also felt in his heart that he might not really lose, he still had two more powerful poison techniques that he dared not use. It was just that those two types of poison were not suitable for a Poison Duel between fellow disciples.
Once used, even he himself could not control them. If things went wrong, not only would Li Yan die, but many of the cultivators present might also be killed or injured.
But under the watchful eyes of the public, he was unwilling to be the subject of gossip. Especially in his heart, Li Yan had long since broken the illusion of the "Heavenly Palace Black City." The other party had even taken the opportunity to set a trap for him. He also had his dignity.
At the same time, he was also much more wary of Li Yan. If it were Li Yan's turn to attack, he had no confidence in whether he could withstand Li Yan's next poison technique.
If the first time Li Yan easily broke his "Ethereal Jade Qi" without being affected in the slightest had already made Gong Yuantai cautious.
The second time Li Yan laid out a counter-killing move without a trace made Gong Yuantai even more resentful and wary of Li Yan, with many more concerns.
Especially how Li Yan got behind him in the end, Gong Yuantai still hadn't figured it out. He didn't know if it was because he was too surprised to react, or if the movement skill the other party cultivated was really so incredible that it left him with no room to maneuver.
How could he have known that for the small distance between the two of them just now, Li Yan had already greatly restrained the speed of his "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens" movement skill.
The moment Li Yan regained consciousness, he could have even directly gone behind Gong Yuantai, killed him, and then returned to his original spot, confident that he would not be discovered by anyone here.
Li Yan, who had originally intended to really test Gong Yuantai, also showed a faint smile on his calm face after hearing his words. Whether it was true or not, he knew that there were several Divine Senses watching them from above. For now, achieving his goal was enough.
"It was just luck. Thank you for letting me win, Senior Brother Gong."
Immediately, Li Yan looked around at the remaining cultivators. "I, Yan, have come on orders. If there are any other Fellow Daoists from the Sixteenth Squad who would like to spar, I am naturally happy to oblige."
"It's just that I've already competed in several rounds and am a bit tired. If I can't control my strength, I hope you won't be offended then."
The moment Li Yan said this, apart from the cultivators watching from the courtyard wall who let out waves of light laughter, many of the people from the Sixteenth Squad in the courtyard turned pale.
Everyone understood the meaning behind Li Yan's words. He didn't want to continue competing like this. If anyone continued to provoke him, he would not show any mercy.
But if you thought about it from Li Yan's perspective, it was also true. For this kind of competition that didn't harm one's life, there were really many people who still wanted to give it a try. In their minds, perhaps in one of the duels, Li Yan would really be defeated by them.
Just as Li Yan's voice fell, Bu Luo's voice sounded.
"We've already competed to this extent. No more, no more. If anyone else wants to challenge Fellow Daoist Li, Qiao Baiye and I have both conceded just now."
"So that means someone thinks they are much stronger than the two of us. Why not have a fight with me and Qiao Baiye first."
When he said this, many people rolled their eyes in their hearts. 'You really think you're someone important.'
But thinking of Bu Luo's scalp-numbing magical treasures, and some people who knew Bu Luo's background, they simply kept their mouths shut.
"You are you. What does it have to do with me if they want to challenge Fellow Daoist Li?" Qiao Baiye's face turned even uglier.
Although he said so, his eyes swept over the crowd behind him. Bu Luo's words had more or less hit a nerve. If he couldn't compete, he naturally didn't want others to fight Li Yan either.
Gong Yuantai also looked at his group and waved his hand again. "Let's leave it at that. There's no need to fight anymore."
He was also an experienced person. For the higher-ups to send Li Yan here and let them compete like this was already a great show of face. If they were to continue with a wheel battle, they would probably not have a good end.
Li Yan could be easily reassigned to another team, and those who disobeyed orders would definitely be sent to the most dangerous part of the battlefield.
Although Gong Yuantai's master was also an elder of Lord Lao Peak, his status was far inferior to Wei Zhongran's. Not to mention, Li Yan also had one of the few Nascent Soul ancestors of the Malevolent Spirit Sect above him.
The hierarchy among cultivators was strict. For him to be able to slightly provoke within the rules was already a great risk.
Among the two groups, there was a small portion of people who had not spoken much from beginning to end. Those people were basically rogue cultivators, and they were much more shrewd than Gong Yuantai and his group, having been in a state of watching the show all along.
After a while, no one else stood up. This was basically a tacit agreement.
Seeing this, Li Yan cupped his fist at the cultivators at the courtyard wall. "Fellow Daoists, please feel free to leave! There are still matters to attend to in the team. Forgive me for not seeing you off!"
The cultivators at the courtyard wall also laughed heartily and flew away one after another. The several Divine Senses that had been hovering in the sky also disappeared without a trace in an instant.