Pandora Unchained B1C15 - Vision of Five Poisons

Their group found a small cave to rest in before making their way to the rat cave. Stephen’s wounds were worse than initially expected due to an infusion of high-grade corrupted mana.

“We should rest at least a day before proceeding,” said Sorin, using a combination of poisons, herbs, and acupuncture to chase out the corruption before cutting away at the last of the corrupted flesh. “Otherwise, the purity of your mana will be affected.” Mana corruption was taboo for cultivators since it would prevent them from advancing between cultivation stages. Many geniuses had fallen from grace because of it, and their talents were doomed to never to recover.

As was his practice every time he rested, Sorin absorbed more of the cockatrice grass extract to slowly strengthen his poison and evaluated his combat tactics. My footwork is still sloppy because of my clogged meridians, he analyzed. But that can’t be helped. I’ll still need two more days to finish absorbing the cockatrice grass extract. Only then will my mana be strong enough to purge additional meridian channels.

Speaking of cockatrice grass extract, he was quite pleased by the performance of the paralysis poison he’d used on the steelfeather sparrow. While it had taken an injection of poison directly into the lungs and heart, the paralysis effect had lasted just long enough for their team to finish off the demon.

But Sorin naturally knew that this wouldn’t work on other two-star demons. He’d only succeeded because the sparrow was injured and on the ground. Many different factors had contributed to their victory over the creature.

There were two more things that needed to be addressed. First, his crystal needles. They were growing increasingly ineffective as they fought stronger monsters. He needed to find an alternative, and fast. Second, the mithril string he’d been practicing this whole time wasn’t performing very well either. Even so, a promise was a promise, so he practiced his wrapping, his lashing, and his trapping techniques every day.

“Is that a mithril string?” said Stephan, walking up to Sorin as he practiced lashing rocks.

“It is,” said Sorin. “It once belonged to a friend of the family. He said it might be useful if I learned to control it.”

“I’m sure they intended well, but I’m of the opinion that you’re using that string entirely wrong,” said Stephan. “Mind if I see it?”

“Suit yourself,” said Sorin, passing him the string.

The string began to shiver violently the moment it entered Stephan’s hands. It coiled several times around his unwounded hand and coiled into a long bundle.

Stephan swung the bundle at a rock, and the rock crumbled from the impact. “In my hands, the string isn’t that useful either. I might as well be wielding a club. All I can give it is weight, which isn’t compatible with its flexible nature.”

He coiled the string up into a ball and tossed it back to Sorin. “Let me be straight with you Sorin,” said Stephan. “I like you. You’re an unpretentious physician that does good work, no matter what your family says or what your qualifications are. You’re hard working. You practice when others rest. You’re also talented – you managed to imitate that paw strike after a single day.”

“But?” asked Sorin.

“But you’re going to have to change in some way,” said Stephan. “That thing with the arrows and your blood was quick thinking, but it’s not enough. In the future, Gareth can always buy poison for his arrows, and that would just make you redundant. Understand?”

“Got it,” said Sorin. “I’ll think of something.”

“I hope you do,” said Stephan. “Because after this mission, we’ll be going back. If you haven’t found your direction by the time we’re out of these woods, I’m going to have to replace you with someone else. For everyone’s sake.”

Sorin nodded. “You can go now. I know what I need to do.” Stephan nodded and returned to the back of the cave to continue his recovery.

Danger was the best way to unearth one’s potential and stabilize one’s mana. Sorin discovered that his rate of uptake for cockatrice grass extract was much higher than normal. What was had been a millilitre an hour, ten times a day, suddenly grew to ten milters in a single hour. His body also showed no signs of rejecting the poison and drank it in voraciously.

Three hours passed in this fashion until Sorin finally felt an uncontrollable thirst. Only two vials remained by then, and like desert traveller than hadn’t drunk anything in days, he hastily broke off their tops and downed their contents.

The poison burned as it travelled down Sorin throat, leaching into his blood through his esophagus. For a few seconds, he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t speak. His blood bubbled as the fifth poison fully merged with the others, and his cultivation broke through to the fifth level of blood thickening.

This time, he didn’t even have to direct his mana. It automatically revolved through his six open meridians and began aggressively attacking the unopened ones. He had already opened the large intestine, lung, small intestine, spleen, kidney, and gallbladder meridians.

Now, his liver, bladder, stomach, and heart meridians all shook and burst open like dams. His newly invigorated mana flowed through his five yin and five yang organs, removing any unnecessary tissues and regenerating their missing chunks.

The commotion didn’t stop there. With his organs now healthy and balanced, his mana flow was strengthened even further. Pressure built up in his body, and his mana attacked the last two remaining primary meridian: the pericardium and triple burner meridians.

Sorin coughed up mouthful of black blood from the impact. These were impurities that were forced out of his body. This mana impacted the two meridians three more times. On the fourth impact, al blockages were resolved. His body finally felt like a complete whole.

Yet Sorin quickly realized that the poisons in his body weren’t done quite yet. They began to accumulate where his mana sea used to be, forming an image that shifted constantly between five forms.

A stream of information poured into his mind as the Ten Thousand Poison Cannon, which had always been more of a reference book inside his head than anything else, suddenly unlocked.

There were Five yin organs and Five yang organs. There were Five fingers on each hand. There were Five mortal cultivation stages, and Five stages in the realm beyond.

Time was measured in Five twelve-year cycles, and the Five elements were the root of all creation. Seeking life through death was the way of the Five Poisons, and that was the root of the Ten Thousand Poison Cannon.

Countless thoughts ran through Sorin’s head, clearing up accumulated confusion. The Ten Thousand Poison Cannon suddenly didn’t seem so revolting anymore.

Snake, scorpion, centipede, toad, and spider. These were the five poisons in classic medicine. Sorin would need to chose one aspect before progressing in the cultivation technique.

He immediately chose the snake. The snake had a special place in Sorin’s heart; The coiled snake was the symbol of the Kepler Clan and was also the symbol of the medical association.

The moment he made this choice, the image in his mana sea solidified and took the form of a viper. It wasn’t aggressive like he’d initially imagined, but peaceful and kindly. It hunted rodents but wouldn’t do anything to humans unless provoked.

Moreover, there was something strange about this image, something that touched on the divine. Whether it was the golden pattern on its leathery skin, or the wise and knowledgeable look in its eyes, it appeared like something untouched by corruption. Something that had come before the Evils had taken over Pandora.

The appearance of the viper had a cascade effect. Sorin felt his muscles grow stronger and more flexible, and his blood become more rigorous. The mana flow inside his body twisted and diverted to adopt a new pattern more suited to his chosen aspect.

The flow of poisonous mana in his hands also changed. Poison now accumulated in his hands instead of spreading out evenly throughout his body. Instead of pouring a slow and steady trickle of poison into his targets, he would be able to unleash a large dose in an extremely short amount of time.

“What in the name of Hope is going on?” came a voice, interrupting Sorin’s trance. Sorin’s eyes shot open and spotted Lawrence not far away. It was night out, and Sorin had drawn his dagger. “At least warn someone before a major breakthrough, will you? Sorin? Sorin?!” Lawrence appeared in front of Sorin and waved his hand in front of his face. He moved to flick Sorin’s nose, Sorin’s hand shot up to intercept him.

“Sorry about that,” said Sorin, releasing Lawrence’s hand.

“I never knew you had such a strong grip,” Lawrence complained as he rubbed his wrist.

“Neither did I,” said Sorin. “I just broke through, so I still don’t know my own strength.”

Sorin could feel his four limbs bubbling over with energy. He felt like a coiled spring that could strike at any moment. And to his surprise, his mana was acting in much the same way. Unbeknownst to him, a potent amount of poison had already accumulated on the dagger he’d somehow drawn. His mithril string was coiled around his left wrist and looked like a snake, erect and ready to strike.

Yet before he could apply said energy, Sorin realized that he’d somehow exhausted all his mana stores. The mithril string went limp, and the poisoned dagger in his hand went dull.

“You all right Sorin?” asked Lawrence as Sorin fell to the floor. “Need some water or something? A potion maybe?”

“I’ll be fine,” said Sorin. “My mana reserves are just depleted.”

“Well you’d better recover quick,” said Lawrence. “Dawn is coming pretty fast, and Stephan said he wanted to start up bright and early.” Sorin looked back to see three sleeping figures. Stephan was snoring loudly, and Daphne, who should have been on watch with Lawrence, was muttering something about burning an entire filthy rat nest to the ground under her breath.

“It shouldn’t take too long,” said Sorin. “Sorry I skipped watch.”

Lawrence shrugged. “It happens. When someone’s in a meditative state, you’ve got to roll with it. Waking them up is usually a bad idea.”

“I’ll recover for an hour and keep watch with you once I’m done,” said Sorin.

“Is an hour going to be enough?” asked Lawrence skeptically.

“It’ll be enough,” confirmed Sorin.

Sorin sat down and entered a meditative state once again. Thanks to his fully unblocked primary meridians, mana flowed freely into his system and into his blood, reinvigorating it.

Originally, he’d thought the Ten Thousand Poison Cannon was some sort of archaic cultivation manual. It was only now that Sorin understood that Hope’s ‘gift’ was not so simple as it appeared.