Pandora Unchained 2: A Cultivation Progression Fantasy, page 58
SYMPHONY OF BLOOD
With 600 plant varieties added to his repertoire and matched with their ancient equivalents, Sorin easily identified a dozen different A-Tier ten-poisons that could be crafted given his cultivation.
In the end, he decided on a poison called Symphony of Blood, which had a high propagation speed and could hop between similar creatures. Its effects weren’t as pronounced as his other poisons and only included light hemorrhaging wherever there were blood vessels, but combined with his other ten-poisons, it would act as a carrier, leading to large-scale cellular breakdown alongside neural and mana paralysis.
Ten-poisons, unlike single poisons, were complex creations built from the ground up. They were called ten-poisons because they provoked a minimum of ten simultaneous interactions upon application, greatly increasing their ability to bypass poison resistances.
In truth, it took closer to a hundred plant varieties to craft the ten precursor B-Tier poisons, which he then combined with an A-Tier dual catalyst and amplifier called Blood Symphony Vine, which the poison was named after. The result was a ten-milliliter vial of dark red poison that would kill just about any Bone-Forging cultivator short of a Hero.
Sorin directly drank the poison and guided it into his bones. He also took out several dozen peak two-star demon cores from storage and used Hand of the Twisted Physician to manipulate and concentrate the corruption before applying it to his bones in conjunction with the poison.
The mixture forged and tempered Sorin’s bones in cycles, allowing Sorin to smoothly transition to the fourth forging. This only further proved Hope’s assertion that corruption and divinity were intertwined; perfection and imperfection were both necessary parts of a complete whole.
Upon reaching the fourth stage of bone forging and tempering, Sorin’s body molted once again. The poison and corruption in his bones, which had doubled in density, washed through the rest of his body and improved his physical and regenerative prowess.
In addition to these physical transformations, Sorin’s spirituality improved as well. His sensitivity and control over poisons and corruption increased manyfold, to the point that he could now see a faint web that was cast over the city.
The web’s existence was naturally tied to the Catacombs beneath Delphi, and it connected every person in Delphi, including himself. As the web attempted to twist the residents of the city according to its desires, hundreds of powerful cultivators and a demigod resisted its efforts by reinforcing a three-layered seal centered around the Shrine of Delphi.
I don’t have much time remaining, thought Sorin as he observed the general trends of the web. The corruption in the city was increasing, and it was taking an increasingly large number of cultivators to hold the web back. In that case, I’d better make my final preparations. Though crafting an S-Tier poison is beyond what a fourth-forging cultivator can accomplish, that isn’t necessarily the case for me.
Sorin’s supply of S-Tier poisonous ingredients was limited to the amount of A-Tier poisons he could craft. By using the 600 new plant varieties and 200 older plant varieties, he was eventually able to concoct 20 A-Tier single poison necrotoxins that could theoretically be used to concoct S-Tier necrotoxins.
On paper, there were more than enough compatible ingredients, but in practice, these ingredients were slightly different than the original plant varieties in the Ten Thousand Poison Cannon. Crafting an S-Tier poison therefore proved much more difficult than crafting an A-Tier poison.
In the end, Sorin succeeded in crafting a poison called Call of the Ferryman. In addition to causing general, wide-scale necrosis, it simultaneously attacked vital energies in the victim’s body, effectively preventing regeneration. Without higher-tier life energies to purge the poison, even an early Flesh-Sanctification cultivator would only be able to suppress the poison using a significant portion of their strength, thereby tilting the odds in Sorin’s favor.
Sorin did not immediately consume Call of the Ferryman. For one, his cultivation was not fully stable so soon after his latest breakthrough. For another, he could faintly feel that the corruption inside peak two-star demon cores was insufficient. He would need to procure three-star demon cores instead.
Since the problem of cultivation was solved, Sorin shifted gears. His current ten-poisons were useful but needed improvement, so he tweaked them to match more efficient versions from the Ten Thousand Poison Canon.
For his acitoxin, Sorin chose a broader approach with a sequential acitoxin called Eater of All. The poison took a balanced and adaptive approach that automatically adjusted its ten-poisons according to situations it encountered. It was called a sequential poison because recipes were available all the way to the Ten Thousand Poison Canon level.
No sequential manatoxins were available, but fortunately for Sorin, a ten-poison blend called Night Lily’s Chains was a 70 percent match to his current manatoxin. The main difference between manatoxins was that Night Lily’s Chains formed a chainlike pattern inside one’s mana channels. It gave up destruction entirely for a more efficient freezing effect.
As was the case with his manatoxin, a ten-poison solution based on gorgon neurotoxins was available and could be concocted with the new plant varieties he’d discovered. In the end, he settled on a poison called Gorgon’s Mourning. While it wasn’t a full sequential poison, it could grow indefinitely as long as one fed it sufficiently powerful gorgon cores.
Having fully upgraded his poisons, Sorin switched gears to crafting Bronze Unsealing Tinctures. He failed in his first dozen or so attempts but gradually got the hang of the unique cocktail. In the end, he produced ten Bronze Unsealing Tinctures—five for his teammates, plus a few extras in case they were required for ‘negotiations.’
Sorin briefly entertained crafting Silver Unsealing Tinctures, but he knew from the research notes that even with the Ten Thousand Poison Cannon, there was a high chance of death when using the tinctures. This did, however, give him a few ideas. By using Ophiuchan Simulation, Barrabas Abberjay Kepler’s data set, and the additional plant varieties he’d uncovered, he managed to uncover a few unexplored avenues that, while unable to fully unseal bronze bones to produce silver bones, should be able to increase one’s chances at doing so.
My companions are all quite close to breaking through. All they need is a nudge, and they’ll get there with no problem.
Finally came Lorimer. His faithful companion had been growing steadily and had even consumed enough demon cores to push him to the fourth forging. Unfortunately, he seemed to have hit a wall. Sorin immediately identified the cause: impurities in the rat’s bones due to the excessive consumption of lower-tier demon cores.
Sorin’s cultivation base was insufficient to treat this problem, so he could only helplessly watch as Lorimer gorged himself on cores to keep up. “That’s enough, Lorimer,” said Sorin. “You’ll need to limit how much you eat from now on. Your bones and core can’t take the nourishment and are beginning to crack.”
“Ree!”
“I know you want to grow alongside me, but there’s nothing I can do about your situation,” said Sorin. “For now, at least.”
Having finished everything possible for his companions, Sorin turned his attention to the web of corruption he could now perceive. Thanks to his four temperings, he now had a greater appreciation of the magnitude of what was transpiring. He, the Kepler Clan, the Medical Association, and the entire city of Delphi were all deeply intertwined, and even resealing the corruption beneath the city would result in grave consequences.
After checking his messages and confirming the web was still expanding, Sorin decided he had enough time for a few more rounds of experimentation.
It had been quite some time since he’d ventured outside his laboratory—he was therefore surprised to find a few things stacked in front of the door, including dozens of gifts from “friends that hadn’t been in touch in a long while.”
Beside these gifts was a neat bundle, which included a Bag of Holding, a gold identity plaque, and an information jade sent by none other than the Grand Elder.
Keep up the good work, said a voice when he activated the jade. Do whatever you want. From now on, everyone in Delphi will do as you wish.
Sorin couldn’t help but grin when he heard those words. He briefly pondered payback, but upon further reflection, decided that, given current time constraints, any payback would need to wait.
He therefore turned his attention to the Bag of Holding that contained no less than 1200 unique alchemical plants. Not all of them were immediately useful, but given the right conditions and crossbreeding, anything was possible.
“This is unacceptable!” shouted Elder Simon as he slammed his hand on the conference table, causing the other two individuals seated beside him to jump. “How dare that welp presume to order us around? And how dare Elder Marik go behind my back and communicate with the Grand Elder? This is not how things are done around here, especially given Elder Marik’s character.” He glared at Elder Adrian. “You’d better have a good reason for helping him establish communication.”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” said Elder Adrian in a relaxed tone. “Elder Marik might stand beneath you currently, but he was once in charge of security for the entire clan. Also, bear in mind that he never relinquished the Ten Thousand Poison Fang despite having stepped back. Saying no to people like that… is just not an option.”
The three elders in the room were all outstanding in their own ways. Elder Simon was a great physician and evoked an aura of discipline and authority. Elder Samson was an accomplished assassin who could evade the senses of most cultivators below the demigod realm. His gaze could directly attack a person’s spirit and kill them before their body even knew what had happened.
Out of the three, however, it was Elder Adrian who was the most inscrutable. He appeared normal, even to Elder Simon and Elder Samson, a trait that provoked fear in both his friends and his foes.
“I believe we should cut Adrian some slack in this case,” said Elder Samson. “I know you’re upset, Simon, but there’s just no helping it. I wouldn’t even deny a direct request made by Marik. He’s just that powerful.”
“Are you saying I’m a pushover?” said Elder Simon with a scowl.
“I wouldn’t say no to either of you,” corrected Elder Samson. “The weak defer to the strong. It’s the way this world works.”
“And what about that welp?” said Elder Simon, motioning to a mirror that displayed Sorin as he sewed copious amounts of seeds in the garden he’d basically taken over. “He’s running over us roughshod, and there’s nothing we can do about it!”
“I believe that has less to do with him and more to do with the Grand Elder,” Elder Adrian pointed out. “He’s been showing increasing amounts of favor toward the boy. Moreover, I’d much rather say no to Elder Marik than to the Grand Elder, a legitimate demigod.”
This was a feeling they could all get behind. Their hands were tied, and they could only grumble as Sorin generated an increasingly large pile of poisonous ingredients. “On the bright side, our clan will likely be getting a hefty reward from the Pandoran Government for these discoveries. They’ll probably even allow us to withhold 20 percent of them for our exclusive use. If we’re lucky, this will somewhat make up for our recent losses in the political arena.”
“Unfortunately, most of the merit will go to Sorin,” said Elder Samson. “Which means the young master’s position is becoming increasingly precarious. I know the Grand Elder prohibited us from taking direct action, but surely some indirect actions are still on the table?”
Elder Simon remained silent for a few seconds before shaking his head. “No. I give up.”
“You give up?” said Elder Samson, surprised. “That’s not like you, Simon. When you set your mind on something, you typically don’t stop until you get what you want. Moreover, the young master will not be pleased if we don’t make at least a token effort. Neither will the clan leader.”
“Well, I’d rather face Young Master and Clan Leader than the combined wrath of Elder Marik, the Grand Elder, and the Council of Elders,” snapped Elder Simon. “That damn Sorin. He kept his cards close to his chest. We didn’t even realize he was a God Seed until it was too late. By then, we wouldn’t have been able to do something even if we wanted to; the Shrine Descent is too important, so the Pandoran Government won’t allow any meddling.
“That alone was bad enough. I pulled some strings to buy our ‘friends’ at the Hargrave Clan a perfect opportunity, but they somehow bungled it. And now there he goes again, discovering lost plant species that will bring us centuries ahead in medicine and poison concoction? I’ll bet my hat that the Council of Elders is currently considering allowing the grooming of more apothecaries as we speak, even with the associated stigma and the disapproval of the Life Faction.”
Elder Samson grimaced. “At least there’s still the Shrine Descent. Melinoë is involved, after all, and she’s made it clear that she means business.”
Elder Simon’s mood lightened slightly upon hearing this. “There is that. Any news on her recent comings and goings?”
“Surprisingly little,” said Elder Samson. “That God Seed is more slippery than a greased eel. Moreover, she’s a lot stronger than she used to be. Are we sure we shouldn’t directly kill her and accept the consequences?”
Elder Simon was indeed tempted to nip that threat in the bud, even at great cost, even if she was the only solution to their current predicament. Other God Seeds were manageable, but Melinoë always exceeded their expectations.
“What are your thoughts, Elder Adrian?” said Elder Simon. “Is she still buying up demon cores like they’re going out of style and marking spatial coordinates?”
“Like Elder Samson, I’ve also been having a hard time tracking her coordinates. I also agree with Elder Samson—she’s much stronger than any of our records indicate. Maybe I could sabotage those spatial marks, just in case?”
“No,” said Elder Simon decisively. “The administrator has made it quite clear that he’ll personally punish anyone who dares interfere with her work. Besides…” He licked his lips as he watched Sorin catalyze his hundredth new plant variety and inscribe its properties onto an information jade. “She might just be our only chance at salvaging this situation.”
87
BONE CRACKING POISON
In Sorin’s memory, Delphi had never been the cleanest of cities. The docks were a mess of salt and fish guts, and the industrial district filled with smoke and dust. The resulting diseases resulted in a life expectancy that was lower by 5–10 years compared to other parts of the city.
Sorin was therefore unsurprised by the excess rubbish on the streets and the rubble of broken buildings that had yet to be cleaned. The smoke lingering in the air from the many recent arson cases was much less harmful than what came out of a smelter’s chimneys and paled in comparison to the ash-filled winds that accompanied the Parnassus Mountain Range’s seasonable forest fires.
What got to Sorin was, instead, the people—the rich and the poor, the wealthy and the homeless. Outwardly, there was nothing different about them, but thanks to Nemesis and his increased sensitivity toward corruption, Sorin could see a madness in their eyes, the kind usually reserved for cornered animals and starving predators.
Pedestrians kept a healthy distance from one another. Shop owners treated their customers with suspicion, and vice versa. No less than three instances of public violence broke out on the way to the arena, with little in the way of police intervention despite the injuries and fatalities suffered.
At first, Sorin had been tempted to intervene, but he held back when he noticed strange tendrils of Madness and Violence being given off by each incident. These “accidents” weren’t accidents at all, he realized. They were traps laid by Delphi’s web that would only drag him in deeper should he willingly participate.
It was two hours before midday when Sorin and Elder Marik arrived at the arena. “You’d think it was a holiday or some kind of momentous event, given how they’re lining up,” muttered Sorin.
“The people have grown bloodthirsty,” confirmed Elder Marik. “It’s either this or give into their baser urges in a different way.”
Sorin frowned as he looked at the long lineup. “I’m not too keen on this situation, Elder Marik. It smells like a trap—if we line up here, trouble will inevitably find us.”
Elder Marik looked at him quizzically. “Why line up when you can just cut to the front? There’s no need to stay hung up on matters of propriety in situations like this.”
Sorin agreed that the situation was less than optimal and followed Marik toward the front. A few individuals tried to stop them, but all it took was a flash of Elder Marik’s aura to make them rethink their actions.
A few minutes later, Sorin pushed open a pair of double doors in the arena basement, revealing a bear-like man whaling on a boxing bag while wearing several layers of weighted garments.
“Tighter! Faster!” barked Haley as Stephan launched punch after punch while simultaneously ducking and weaving around the bag. He dodged Haley’s whip with a slight but practiced movement of his head, avoiding the brunt of the blow but suffering a laceration on his cheek that drew three drops of blood.
“You call that minimalistic evasion? More like giving your opponents the perfect opportunity to poison you. Sorin! Attack him with your best!”
“On it,” said Sorin, casually tossing a ball of golden needles at Stephan.
“Holy mother of—” The beastshift warrior immediately adopted Silver Spine Grizzly Bear form and summoned his armor. Most of the needles clanked away harmlessly, but two of them found their marks. Potent neurotoxins proceeded to disable his arms, forcing his training session to an early and abrupt end.
“Sloppy,” said Haley as Sorin retracted his needles and pulled the poison out of Stephan’s blood. “You shifted and summoned your armor, and even then, you weren’t able to block his casual attack.”
