That was an attack? The blood on his finger had come from his own neck and the color of it was off. It was far too shiny, and also a sweet smell spread from it.

He lifted his gaze to the woman that had just turned around. Her face was quite lovely, even with the angry sneer she wore and the tears staining her cheeks she was certainly a beauty that would turn many heads, and also one that Sage was acquainted with. She grabbed the collar of her flower covered red robes and her angry gaze turned to shock. Caught at her most vulnerable moment someone had approached her and she lashed out in shame and anger. Only now that she’d turned around could she see it was that person who had once saved her life. A little crimson scorpion with dragonfly wings landed upon her shoulder while she held a hand over her mouth in horror.

“Chong Xiezi. I thought it was you!”

Sage had merely held out his hand and examined the blood for a moment before wiping it off on his thigh and smiling at the woman. She was in shock for a moment and then started crying again, “Oh no, what have I done! I didn’t mean to! Why did you sneak up on me like that! Damn it! Now you…”

Her tears started to flow even faster than before and she seemed to become a bit hysterical. Sage walked closer to her, holding his hands out, “Hey! Please calm down, it’s just a little blood. It’s my fault for surprising you, I don’t blame you.”

“It… it’s not just blood! You’ve been poisoned, and there’s no antidote! You idiot, why did you sneak up on me! Why did you have to go and get yourself killed!”

She started hysterically crying again, not knowing how she could kill one of the few people that had shown her kindness. Her sorrow stole her strength and she started to fall. Sage stepped forward and caught her, “Poison? Is that what you’re worried about?”

He shook his head, “Poison can’t hurt me, Chong Xiezi. I’m perfectly fine, alright? Look at me. How long does it take for the poison to be effective? Am I showing any of the symptoms?”

Chong Xiezi was startled out of her sorrow and blinked the tears out of her eyes as she examined Sage’s face. She gradually snapped out of her fit and regained her footing, standing up and touching his cheek and forehead, “How? How can you… are you serious? You should be changing colors by now.”

Then she looked at the small scorpion on her shoulder and it bobbed its body up and down at her like a nod. Her brows wrinkled, “How can you still be alive, Lang Sheng? I… how… what the hell!”

He laughed, “Like I said, poison cannot harm me.”

Inwardly, Sage was quite surprised as the poison from that tiny little red scorpion was almost equivalent to the terrible brews that Guan Zhenyan had subjected him to in the past. He’d felt a wave of deadly energy rush through him and he’d frozen in place for a few seconds before he regained control of his body. Even now, his poison meridians were working hard to slow the spread of the poison, but it was extremely resistant. It didn’t cause much damage, but the poison turned his blood a ruby red color and spread with terrifying authority.

To show Xiezi what he meant, and also to resolve the poison still rampaging inside him, Sage spread some Qi into the air and resonated with the Law of Corruption. The poison within him was instantly weakened. Like a mouse in the presence of a cat, it was afraid and suppressed. With that boost, Sage’s poison meridians started absorbing the poison, the Blood of Nine Pits drawing it in.

The little scorpion on Xiezi’s shoulder made a little squeaking sound and shrunk back in fear. She felt the world warping and realized it was a law in action. She couldn’t quite tell what it was, but from his words, her Scorpion’s response, and from what her instincts were telling her, it was definitely something related to poison. Only then did she really start to believe what he’d said, “How… you’re really okay? The venom of the Scarlet Winged Scorpion can kill within just a few seconds and there’s no antidote. Did you really resist it?”

Sage laughed and nodded, “The thing I fear least in this world is poison, alright? Are you okay? Before I arrived, you…”

After finally coming to terms with him not being dead she blushed and realized he was still holding her up. She pulled away from him and turned her shoulder to him, “It was nothing. Who told you to sneak up on a girl when she’s all alone anyway.”

Realizing how close and intimate he’d been with her a moment ago, Sage also took a step back and laughed awkwardly, “Ahh, yes. Sorry about that. Well, you poisoned me so I think we’re even. So, uhm, why were you…”

Xiezi grumbled something about not giving up and spoke without turning around, “Those stupid Xiyi’s are always bullying me, okay?”

Sage made the connection with the event from the other day, “Does that guy have a problem with you?”

She turned back around and looked at him curiously. He held up his hands and explained what he’d seen and she laughed, “Hah, that fool is just a puppet. He’s just the ringleader of some chumps. Trying to kiss up to those noisy golden asses.”

“Oh? I’ve been trying to learn more about what’s going on in the Chong Clan, but that little Jinxi girl just tells me about how shiny everything is and how rich and powerful they are.”

“Hah, of course she would. They want you on their side. The Patriarch formally named you a Branch Head just so they could pull you over to their side. Even if you don’t have any power behind you, it still can have some weight.”

“Their side? What do you mean? Isn’t the Patriarch in charge, why is there a side?”

“To the outside, yes. But, to those of us in the Clan a conflict has been brewing for quite some time. Jinxi is afraid of us Xie. The Great Elder of Xie is the only person in the Clan that can rival the Patriarch and that makes him nervous. They’ve been trying to suppress us for years. Xiyi, those slimy lizards, are always eager to kiss golden ass. We had to ask for help from the toads to mediate, which worked for a while, but they’ve been working to get the Wu on their side lately.”

Sage took all of this in, two pairs of factions facing off. This Chong Clan was really a hotbed of internal turmoil. He didn’t really know how he should be handling this. Politics were really not his forte. He’d only just finished building a foundation for the Lang Clan to return and he was already getting pushed to choose sides.

Well, at least I learned about it now. Maybe I can figure out a way to keep from committing without upsetting either side.

Xiezi saw the look on his face and laughed, “Che-He-Hehe. You look like you want to run away. Sorry, Lang Sheng. The Jinxi aren’t going to let you do that. They’re going to want your support. Your only other option will be to pick the other side and join forces with my Xie. One of my Xie was probably going to approach you in the next few days to try and set up a meeting, but they weren’t really going to try very hard. I tried to convince them that you could be useful, but they didn’t believe me. Heh, you really shouldn’t have broken through. If you weren’t a Nascent Soul they would still be completely ignoring you.”

“Well, this is a first. I never thought I’d ever wish to be weaker.”