Lin Canghua's spear hovered midair. His next step, precise and deliberate… froze. A sudden, searing pain tore through his body. He clenched his teeth, the muscles in his jaw straining, and a small spurt of blood slipped from the corner of his mouth. His breath came in shallow gasps.
> "What… what is this…?" he muttered, voice strained. "Poison… when—when was I poisoned?"
His eyes darted downward to his face. The wound from the lizard's tail he had thought nothing of earlier—once shallow, barely more than a scratch—had darkened. Veins of deep violet now snaked outward, pulsating and throbbing like they were alive. The color writhed across his skin, a living stain of poison.
His mind raced, heart pounding.
The sensation spread through his body, tendrils of pain wrapping around his limbs, slowing him, threatening to seize his qi flow.
Lin Canghua's hands trembled slightly as he gripped the spear tighter, trying to force control over his body, but each pulse of the poison struck like lightning through his meridians.
> "This… this can't be…" he whispered, panic sharpening the edge of his thoughts. "How… how could I have missed it?"
The golden glow of the spear in his hand trembled, unsteady as the Meridian Breaker's flow faltered against the intrusion. The courtyard, still scarred from their battle, seemed to shiver in response to the sudden shift in energy.
The lizard's eyes narrowed, tail flicking as he felt the subtle shift in the battlefield.
He had been struggling under the relentless compression of Lin Canghua's golden sphere, every pulse of energy forcing his lightning back into his own body. But now… he sensed a subtle shift in the energy surrounding him. The sphere, once an impenetrable cage of compressed qi, now pulsed unevenly, flickering as if uncertain.
His gaze flicked toward Lin Canghua. The wound on the man's face, now dark with throbbing purple veins, told the story he had longed to see: the spear wielder's control was faltering.
The poison wasn't just slowing him—it was disrupting the flow of his spiritual energy, gnawing at the precision that had bound the lizard in place.
Lin turned his gaze back to his foe. The lizard's eyes gleamed, sharp and cunning, as if he knew the battle had suddenly shifted. Lightning still danced along his body, but now it seemed calmer, almost smug—like he had planned this all along.
Lin Canghua's breath came faster, his body beginning to betray him. The spear felt heavier in his hands, the golden qi around him flickering in instability.
> "Poison… hidden in the strike…" he realized, teeth gritting, eyes narrowing despite the pain. "So subtle… so… insidious…"
The lizard's tail lashed once, harmlessly in the air, but the message was clear. Lin Canghua's focus, his strength, even his control… were no longer entirely his own.
The lizard stared, gold eyes glowing.
> "The poison has taken effect. It took longer than I thought—it won't have been enough for one at the sixth layer but it worked. And this is my chance."
His lightning arced erratically, strikes sputtering and fading before they could form into anything coherent. His claws dug into the scorched stone, feeling the pressure that had once dominated him now faltering.
> I can see the barrier… it's weakening. And… it's different.
His gaze sharpened, catching the sudden stutter in Lin Canghua's movements. The human's qi still flowed, but faint tremors ran through it, and each strike of the Meridian Breaker was slightly off-rhythm.
> It was injured from the soul attack earlier, and now poisoned. It's affecting him—but it's also weakening his control over his energy. It's trying to resist, to force the poison back… and it looks to be working. But I can't let it continue.
The lizard's tail flicked involuntarily, sending a faint ripple of violet lightning across the ground.
Lin's subconscious struggled. Each pulse of pain he endured, each contraction against the poison, fed tiny bursts of energy back into his Meridian Breaker. The lizard's own attacks, once perfectly contained, now met uneven resistance—the golden compression fluctuating like a tide in response to Lin's faltering but unyielding control.
> Clever… cleverer than I thought, the beast admitted, a spark of respect flickering beneath the panic. He's enduring the poison and still… still holding me. But for how long?
The lizard's gold eyes widened. Blue bolts sparked violently along his body, illuminating the cracked courtyard in harsh, jagged light. Every muscle, every wing, every claw now pulsed with unrestrained power.
The golden sphere quivered violently, its edges warping as Lin Canghua's control faltered under the poison's invisible hand. The lizard's scales shimmered with a wild, storm-like brilliance, sparks leaping into the air as he flexed against the weakening barrier. Cracks spread through the sphere like fractured glass.
> The lizard roared, wings beating furiously. "Finally… now!"
With a violent sweep of his tail, lightning erupted from his body in a torrent of jagged arcs, smashing against the failing sphere. For a heartbeat, he felt almost untouchable—a primal surge of power that made the ground tremble beneath his claws.
Lin Canghua's eyes widened, a thin sheen of sweat forming across his brow as he staggered slightly, spear trembling in his hand. The golden sphere flickered, pulses uneven, warping under the force of the lightning.
> "Impossible…" he murmured through gritted teeth, feeling the poison's grip tugging mercilessly at his meridians. "This… can't be happening now…"
The lizard's lightning roar echoed through the courtyard, a symphony of raw energy unleashed. No longer a captive, no longer restrained—his power was growing wilder, sharper, and far more dangerous than before.