Just as the chaos threatened to consume them all, Li Yu acted. He stood, his expression calm and authoritative amidst the rising panic. With a simple, fluid motion of his will, he summoned a figure from the Koi Sanctuary.

“This is Spine, my bodyguard,” Li Yu announced, his voice cutting through the panicked murmurs, imbued with a sliver of his own powerful spiritual energy that commanded attention. “He is not poisoned. He will protect this area. Everyone should focus on suppressing the poison.”

The sight of a powerful 7th stage Core Formation expert, completely unaffected and standing guard, had an immediate, stabilizing effect on the panicked leaders. It gave them a sliver of security, a focal point beyond their own internal struggle.

Mo Jian also recognized the man, he was the bodyguard that had appeared back then as well. He had never been so happy as now to see the old man again.

Li Yu then turned to Spine. “Spine, be careful. The poison may be in the air.” He then took out his own communication token and sent a single, urgent message. “Fat Pig, come to the Asura Demon Clan’s main arena at once. Bring every different type of anti-poison pill and elixir you can find in our stores. All of them. Now.”

As Spine stood guard, his powerful aura a comforting, stabilizing presence, Li Yu’s mind raced, a storm of questions and deductions. He was inwardly surprised that he wasn’t poisoned. The attack was clearly widespread, affecting everyone from mortals to high-level cultivators.

If the poison had been delivered through the food or drink, he should have been one of the first and most severely affected. He had eaten probably more than everyone there, sampling every exotic dish with a gourmand’s enthusiasm. So why was he completely unharmed?

He considered the possibilities. Could it be because of his soul? The poison expert had said it attacked the consciousness, the soul. His own soul was ancient and powerful and most all it was a nascent soul, the strongest type of soul.

It was entirely possible that his soul was simply too strong, its foundation too deep, for such a poison to gain purchase. But that didn't explain why he couldn't even feel the poison. He could see its effects on everyone else, but he couldn't sense the agent itself. It was as if, to him, it didn’t exist.

He then thought of his unique cultivation, his Koi Qi. His martial spirit had a strange, almost strange ability to absorb and integrate different energies. He had absorbed the qi of countless aquatic beasts over the years, many of which were poisonous in their own right, from venomous sea snakes to toxic pufferfish.

Perhaps, he mused, by absorbing their qi, along with the other types of qi in their bodies, including different types of poison qi, his body has now built up a powerful resistance to poison? Perhaps even immunity? This theory felt stronger. It would explain not just his immunity, but also his inability to sense it; if his body considered the poison a non-threat, it might not even register it on a spiritual level.

The last thing was his body itself. It was no ordinary vessel. He had cultivated it to an extremely high level, pushing it far beyond the limits of a normal Core Formation expert. His nascent soul had begun to merge into each and every cell, infusing his very flesh and blood with a higher level of existence.

And now, it was further enhanced by the demonic qi he had recently absorbed and fused with his Koi Qi. Perhaps that was what it was. A body so powerful, so unique, its very cells infused with the power of his soul and a cocktail of high-level energies, that it simply rejected the poison on a fundamental level.

He didn’t know the answer for certain. It could be one of these reasons, or a combination of all three. He was frustrated by the mystery of his own power, but another, larger part of him was simply thankful that allowed him to be unaffected, that he was the one person in this entire arena who could still act freely.

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His thankfulness, however, quickly shifted into a cold, rising anger. A group had dared to do this, to attack a gathering of this magnitude, to harm so many innocent people in such an insidious, cowardly manner.

He looked at Cyra, who was now sitting in a meditative posture, her face pale, a thin sheen of sweat on her brow as she focused all of her power on suppressing the invisible assailant within her. She was one of his followers, a powerful being who had placed her trust in him. And she had been poisoned under his watch.

The thought ignited a cold fire in his heart. If she was seriously harmed, he would make sure to hunt this group to the ends of this world and make them pay a price a thousand times over.

As Li Yu and Spine stood watch, the silent plague continued its work. The initial chaos had subsided, replaced by a grim, tense silence. Now, only the sect leaders and their top elders, those at the Core Formation realm, were still awake.

The rest, thousands of disciples and guests, were slumped in their seats, lost to the world, their breathing shallow but steady. Seeing the vulnerability of the unconscious disciples, scattered as they were throughout the massive arena, Li Yu acted. He gave a quiet command to Spine.

The ancient guardian moved like a silent phantom, his speed belying his age. He went from group to group, carefully moving all the unconscious disciples to be near their respective sect leaders. He gathered the fallen youths of the Blazing Sun Sect and placed them at their Master’s feet.

He did the same for the Stone Breaker Sect, the Whispering Fang Sect, and all the others. It was a simple act, but one that earned Li Yu a grateful nod from Mo Jian and the other struggling leaders.

They were still pouring all their focus into resisting the poison, and this act of consideration allowed them to focus on themselves without worrying about their vulnerable students being picked off or taken hostage.

The poison expert from the Whispering Fang Sect continued to analyze the poison, her own body trembling with the effort of resisting it. She would occasionally call out her findings to the other leaders.

“It has no taste, no smell… its spiritual signature is almost non-existent… it seems to amplify the natural sleep signals of the brain while simultaneously attacking the soul’s connection to the body…” She was providing a running commentary of her own internal battle, but she still didn’t know how to deal with it.

It was at this moment of maximum vulnerability that a new group of people arrived. They did not fly in on a vessel, nor did they announce themselves. They simply appeared, seeming to materialize in mid-air above the arena.

There were fifteen of them in total, their faces hidden by simple, featureless black masks. They were surprised to see that there was a powerful old man still standing guard, and a young boy who seemed completely unaffected.

They were wary of Spine. His 7th stage Core Formation aura was a clear and present threat. One of the masked figures, a woman whose lithe form was visible even under her dark robes, stepped forward. Her voice was cold and dismissive.

“You,” she said, her gaze fixed on Spine. “It was your luck to escape the Silent Slumber. We have no business with you. You can go. You should not play the hero here.” She ignored Li Yu completely, dismissing him as an insignificant child.

Spine did not move. His ancient, sorrowful eyes were fixed on the group, a flicker of a long-dormant fire in their depths. “I cannot do that,” he replied, his voice a low, gravelly rumble. “Everyone here is now under my protection. I suggest you leave, before you are killed by me.”

The woman let out a short, sharp laugh. “Arrogant old man.” The aura of an 8th stage Core Formation expert exploded from her body, a pressure that caused the very air to ripple. “I am stronger than you. This is your last chance to leave.”

Li Yu felt her aura, and a familiar sense of confusion washed over him. There was still no demonic taint to it. This was not the Midnight Infernal Hegemony. He was thinking that perhaps this was how they were emptying the towns in the north, as it was a similar method of making people disappear without a struggle.

But the group was different. Or was it? Perhaps these lower-level operatives weren't worthy of becoming demons, so they wouldn’t have the same taint.

Spine was completely unfazed by her show of power. “Cultivation level does not mean everything, little girl,” he said, a hint of his own ancient arrogance in his tone. “I have lived far too long to be intimidated by you. So stop your talking nonsense and come.

I have some pent-up rage that I have been wanting to release.” He was, of course, referring to his own long quest for revenge, which he found out recently was directed at the Beast Faction. He hadn't gotten a chance to fight to his heart's content before with Li Yu’s interference. Now, he could finally let loose some of his frustrations on these masked fools.