Chapter 508: Poisoned Negotiations

The asshole setting up the chairs on the wheel thought he was hot shit, Omilaena could tell.

It wasn't the fact that he had poisoned the cloths he was placing over the chairs, that was just to be expected. What irritated her was the way he brushed the poison against the surface, as if he was being surreptitious. A truly competent poisoner would have had the poison already applied, or better yet weave poison essence into some of the threads. Applying a powder like this was amateur hour.

Of course, he wasn't remotely the most important person there, just the most notable. Omilaena judged that the matriarch was the most dangerous by a fair margin, hiding real strength within those pooling red robes. The woman at her side was extremely plain-looking, likely intentionally: she was likely the leader of the sect's dark branch, dangerous on her own, and more importantly the boss of the asshole poisoner. Finally there was a young man, dressed in way too many layered robes, who was the scion of the clan - Earth Soul, weak jaw, annoying-looking.

"Please, join us," the Redstorm matriarch said. "The Brightwind Sect does not have to perish this day."

Omilaena decided to make a show of it as well, stepping forward first and using a needle to pick up the poisoned cloths and flick them away. She could have tried to make it an issue and ruin negotiations from the beginning, but she judged that this could actually work well for them.

"Forgive me," Omilaena said, "but my companions have certain allergies to silk."

"Of course." The Redstorm matriarch glared at her minion, as if she hadn't ordered the poisoning attempt. "We mean no offense."

"Of course, of course. You would never do anything that might harm us while negotiating."

"Poison is a weapon for cowards, not cultivators."

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Omilaena smiled and took her seat, waiting for the next poisoning attempt.

Zin Nim took the central position as the ostensible matriarch, so the others flanked her. Kai loomed over everyone, appearing practically feral, which was a nice look for him. For her part, Omilaena crossed her legs and watched as they were served tea and pleasantries. The matriarch made a show of drinking it herself, while the actual poison was clearly powdered in the cups on their side of the table.

Shocking, horrifying. While they attempted their poisoning, Omilaena flicked a grain of poison into a cup on the opposite side of the table, brushed a fingernail against the arm of the Earth Soul serving her tea, and breathed out venomous fumes the entire time. With her newly enhanced Heart of Poison, it was easier than ever to create something that the cultivators wouldn't notice until negotiations inevitably broke down.

While Zin Nim handled the empty words, Omilaena checked on her allies and their own condition. Kai appeared to notice something with the first sip, hesitated a moment, then continued drinking. Good, make the enemy overconfident. His monstrous abilities would likely protect him, but Omilaena could assist if necessary. She was more concerned about Zin Nim, who drank briefly and showed no sign of thinking about poison.

She was definitely thinking about their present position, however. The Redstorm Sect must be operating on the assumption that Zin Nim had taken down Zae Clen Ban with allies, thus if she was weakened, she could be eliminated without trouble. They were in for a rude awakening.

"You know, we may even be allies," the Redstorm matriarch said, with a sip of her regrettably unpoisoned tea. "Even in our sect, we heard tales of your conflicts with your father, and it seems they led to a mortal battle. Not exactly filial, but I appreciate your ambition. We want to dismantle what he created, but we would also be willing to hand it over to you."

"Why should I trust you," Zin Nim asked, "when you are currently assaulting our greatest vault?"

"Can you blame us for taking such an unguarded treasure? We would be happy to do this formally as well: the Redstorm Sect would be willing to shield Brightwind from other sects, we only require a tribute of your cultivation resources."

"This is a waste of time." Zin Nim started to rise to her feet and Omilaena honestly wasn't sure if it was just a pretense. In Rosemount there could be a lot of theater in negotiations, but cultivators possessed a different sort of theatricality.

"I'm quite sincere." The Redstorm matriarch set down her cup and shook her head. "I was willing to offer you my own grandson's hand in marriage, but I hear-"

"I am married."

"Yes, yes. But what if we pledge to merge our families in the next generation? Our children and yours?"

Zin Nim had no trouble facing down an entire sect and throwing herself into peril, but this suggestion made her shift uncomfortably. Omilaena planned to jump in with a joke, but to her surprise, Zin Nim recovered and sat smoothly. The lapse had been so brief that others might not even have noticed... not that Omilaena wouldn't tease her about it later.

"If you truly wish to negotiate," Zin Nim said evenly, "you should retreat from our lands and approach us respectfully, instead of holding these formations over our head."

"See here, now." The Redstorm matriarch leaned forward, eyes narrowing in displeasure. "I thought I was being more than reasonable, but you need to understand your position. You are vastly outnumbered, you have none of your allies from the Southern Rivers, and your battles have weakened you... do you honestly believe that you can negotiate from a position of power?"

"You are the one who fails to see clearly. All of these attempts to place yourselves in a position of power only demonstrate your weakness. Like these clumsy attempts to poison us... Omilaena, is there any threat?"

"None at all." Omilaena leaned forward as if they'd planned this and dipped one fingernail in her cup, then flicked it away. "The poison isn't much compared to what we saw from the Purple River Sect, but my antidotes would be more than sufficient."

"It had no effect on me," Zin Nim said, pursing her black lips. "I believe my Physique may be immune to some degree of poison."

That was good in absolute terms, but Omilaena couldn't help but be a little bit disappointed. If Zin Nim had simply been enduring the poison, Omilaena had been looking forward to licking out the poison with a tongue in her mouth, which would have flustered her. And it didn't matter if all the people who saw were going to die, right?

"Your poison is taking effect, right?" Kai asked as he looked over at Omilaena. It seemed like he was unaffected too, damn. "Is there any point in continuing these negotiations?"

His statement caused great alarm, which magnified when one of the Earth Soul guards abruptly coughed up blood. Omilaena had actually modulated her poison for weaker effects, intending to leave them with a crippling addiction, but either this one was weak or he just vomited blood because he got too upset. Some of the enemy cried treachery, some let out war cries, some just cried in general.

They broke apart, completely abandoning the pretense of negotiation now that they understood that the poisoning had actually disfavored them. A group of Earth Souls tried to make a formation, but so many of them were struggling with poison that they began to fall off their swords and the formation collapsed.

Another formation at a greater distance unleashed a beam of pure qi, but Zin Nim met it with a flaming palm that neutralized the blow. The Redstorm matriarch unleashed a bolt of red lightning, and to Omilaena's surprise Zin Nim simply caught it. Bolts continued to crackle between them, but they dissipated against Zin Nim's new skin, only blowing back her sleeve.

That surprised everyone left on the wheel, then the young man struck first. He attempted to attack Zin Nim while she was engaged with the lightning, only to be intercepted by Kai. The two of them collided in midair and Kai's greater weight and power knocked him off the side, sending both of them tumbling toward the rings of cultivators below.

A second later, Zin Nim and the enemy matriarch leapt off the wheel, clashing in midair in a series of blows. That might be interesting to watch, but it left Omilaena with her own fight.

Only one of the three leaders remained, the middle-aged woman who had stood on the matriarch's left. There were half a dozen Earth Souls as well... most importantly the asshole poisoner. He didn't even have the grace to look intimidated after being so out-poisoned.

"Your poisons didn't get through the poison division's antidotes either," the middle-aged woman said. She calmly drew a flying sword from a spatial ring, then made it hover across a rag that glowed with green qi. That was actually an interesting poison, very different from anything Omilaena had seen in the Southern Rivers. So this was her fight.

They hadn't planned that part, but it couldn't have turned out better. Omilaena spun needles into her hands, set her feet, and grinned.