The Shining Star Above The Heaven
Chapter 506: Easily Subdued

Chapter 506: Easily Subdued

When Aldrian revealed that he knew about the poison in the tea, Patriarch Tang immediately launched an attack. He struck with a palm coated in a greenish-black energy, laced with poison laws strong enough to kill even a middle Emperor-stage cultivator.

However, Aldrian easily dodged the strike and caught his wrist. Suddenly, with his other hand, Patriarch Tang flung a handful of powder directly into Aldrian’s face.

Grinning, Patriarch Tang watched with satisfaction. The palm strike had only been a distraction—the real attack was the powder. Once inhaled, it would activate the poison already in Aldrian’s body, leaving him incapacitated and writhing in agony.

However, his grin quickly faded. Even after more than three seconds, Aldrian still held his wrist firmly, his expression calm—as if the entire exchange had been nothing more than a joke. Patriarch Tang’s eyes trembled. He finally realized the truth: the poison had no effect on Aldrian.

"Attack!"

Patriarch Tang shouted, and in an instant, rapid movements could be seen outside. Dozens of silhouettes closed in, all aiming to strike Aldrian. In a desperate attempt to free himself, Patriarch Tang lashed out with his other palm, but Aldrian blocked it using a spatial lock and teleported to the roof of the building, evading the incoming attacks with ease.

With both of his hands restrained, Patriarch Tang stared at Aldrian, panic creeping into his eyes.

"How did the poison not affect you?"

This was the most puzzling part. Aldrian had already drunk tea mixed with an odorless poison—one that required time to take effect. At first, Patriarch Tang only intended to observe him. He wanted to confirm Aldrian’s purpose for the visit. If Aldrian turned out to be connected to the three great sects or suspected the Tang family’s involvement with the devils, then he would simply let the poison run its course.

But if Aldrian had no connection to the recent events in the demon territory, Patriarch Tang would simply give him the antidote. It was a simple plan. However, Aldrian did know about his ties to the devils, and that meant he had to be silenced. To activate the poison already inside Aldrian’s body, Patriarch Tang threw another powder—one designed specifically to trigger the delayed toxin.

However, the reality was that Aldrian seemed completely unaffected by the poison. He showed no concern, and the poison had no visible effect on him at all. How was that possible? The combination of the tea and the powder he had thrown should have been enough to endanger even a high Emperor-stage cultivator.

Unfortunately for Patriarch Tang, he had no idea that Aldrian’s body was immune to poison due to the presence of a golden energy within him. This energy could purify any harmful substance that entered his body, making him a natural nemesis to poison-element cultivators.

Aldrian didn’t bother answering the patriarch’s question. Instead, he sealed his mouth with a spatial lock. Then he turned his attention to the surrounding buildings—he was already encircled by many members of the Tang family, most of them elders and the family’s guardians.

Fortunately, Patriarch Tang had prepared a backup plan in case something went wrong, though he had believed it would never be necessary. If the poison failed, then they would resort to brute force.

"Release Patriarch! Or you will never leave this place alive!" shouted Grand Elder Tang Rui.

Aldrian glanced at Tang Rui, causing the elder to flinch slightly. Even though they had him surrounded and held the advantage in numbers, they could not afford to underestimate him. Aldrian’s strength—and the stories that followed his name—were enough to make any cultivator on the continent hesitate before facing him.

A man who could be called a one-man army could not be defeated with numbers or force alone. He required a plan.

"Is this your answer?" Aldrian asked, his eyes sweeping over Tang Rui and the other elders. "Do you truly wish to choose violence?"

"To those who don’t understand the situation—this man in my grasp, along with several elders of the Tang family, has been working with the devils. If you still choose to stand against me, then I will consider you no different from these traitors—and punish you alongside them," Aldrian declared, his voice echoing across the entire manor.

Everyone within the manor complex froze, turning toward the source of the commotion. Only now did they realize the scale of what was happening.

Aldrian’s words sent a shockwave through them as they saw their patriarch already restrained by him. Some of the elders stood frozen, their gazes flicking between the patriarch and their colleagues. Could there really be traitors among them?

"Don’t be swayed by his words! He’s accusing the patriarch of something he didn’t do! His purpose is suspicious, and he wants to divide us!" Tang Rui shouted, his voice causing confusion among those who were unaware of the devils’ involvement. Who were they supposed to trust?

Aldrian calmly met Tang Rui’s gaze.

"You have the nerve to speak like that in front of me, even though you’re working with the devils alongside the patriarch," Aldrian said. "Even if I hadn’t come, the three great sects would have attacked this place because of these traitors. You should be glad it’s me visiting you. I’ll punish only the traitors and spare the rest of the family."

He paused, his eyes sweeping over the others as he added, "Choose wisely what you’ll do next."

The others were filled with confusion and hesitation. Those who knew of the cooperation with the devils now felt panic and anxiety. Tang Rui, seeing their uncertainty, decided to end the discussion before Aldrian could say anything else detrimental.

"Use the Pentagon formation! Attack him with Poison Fog!"

Once he gave the order, the elders set aside their hesitation and channeled their energy to form a connection. Together, they created a pentagon-shaped barrier that trapped Aldrian inside. Despite their lingering doubts, they chose to follow the Grand Elder, trusting their instincts as family members.

Once the pentagon formation was completed, the area inside was quickly filled with a corrosive poison fog. This fog was not only deadly if inhaled, but it also caused severe damage if it touched the victim’s skin. The poison formation had an acidic property, capable of corroding the body—a deadly effect even for an Emperor-stage cultivator when created by these elders.

Tang Rui watched the fog with a solemn expression. He wasn’t concerned about the patriarch, knowing that the patriarch’s body was already immune to this poison. However, what made him uneasy was whether this would be enough to kill Aldrian.

Even after drinking the odorless Black Lotus poison and being triggered by the Black Lotus powder, Aldrian appeared unharmed. Tang Rui, however, didn’t want to be too confident in the poison fog. He needed to see for himself that Aldrian was truly affected before he could allow himself any relief.

True to his wariness, a sudden, overwhelming pressure pressed down on the entire manor, forcing Tang Rui to his knees. Yet, he gritted his teeth and managed to stay on his feet, refusing to fall.

The pentagon formation trembled violently before it began to collapse, as the elders struggled to maintain its stability. Every member of the Tang family, aside from the elders, was forced to the ground by the pressure.

Tang Rui gritted his teeth, his gaze fixed on the slowly dissipating fog, which revealed Aldrian’s silhouette within.

Suddenly, he felt the surroundings shift, and before he knew it, he was in Aldrian’s grasp!

"Kokh!" Tang Rui choked, his body convulsing violently as foreign energy coursed through him.

"You like poison, right? Let me give you a taste of a poison you’ve never felt," Aldrian’s voice echoed through the thinning fog.

Aldrian changed the properties of the golden energy within Tang Rui’s body, turning it into poison. His golden energy, which could change its properties to become poison, combined with his deep comprehension of poison laws—gained from Wei Zhi, one of the Seven Devils of Annihilation—formed a terrifying combination.

He could transform his golden energy into various types of poison, all without needing to gather any ingredients.

The bodies of Patriarch Tang and Grand Elder Tang Rui convulsed violently, veins bulging across their bodies as blood poured from their seven orifices.

Suddenly, several elders launched direct attacks at Aldrian, using their poison laws, palm strikes, and even artifacts. Yet, Aldrian didn’t even glance at them; he simply created a spatial barrier, and their attacks were deflected effortlessly.

Aldrian then used his gravity laws, forcing some of the attacking elders to crash to the ground. With the power of his domain, he enhanced the gravity, making it difficult for them to rise. Meanwhile, he continued to apply his poisonous golden energy to the two men in his grasp.

Not long after, Patriarch Tang and Tang Rui lost consciousness, and at the same time, the poison fog fully dissipated. Aldrian also retracted his aura, allowing everyone to stand up and look at him once again.

Those who saw that their family’s higher-ups had been easily subdued felt a chill and a sense of hopelessness. There was no way they could face Aldrian with just numbers and poison, especially since he seemed immune to it. They began to believe that Aldrian might possess a body constitution similar to the 1000 Demonic Poison Body, making him immune to many kinds of poison.

The other elders, who had been watching helplessly from the sidelines, were now at a loss, as their formation and attacks had been effortlessly thwarted by Aldrian.

Aldrian’s gaze swept over the hesitant elders.

"Do you still want to continue?"