As he listened to Er Ming's pitiful sobbing below, Ditian casually fondled the medicinal plant that had just been offered up. The plant was radiating a thick, almost suffocating aura of immortal energy.
Just one whiff of it brought a feeling of bliss and ease to the whole body — limbs floated as if weightless. It truly was a peerless healing treasure, even beneficial to gods.
The Divine Realm really does have an abundance of incredible things, Ditian mused inwardly.
Without hesitation and right in front of Er Ming, he swallowed the herb whole.
From the corner of his eye, he subtly glanced at Er Ming. He couldn't detect even the slightest abnormal reaction.
Ditian speculated that Er Ming probably had no idea about the true nature of what he had delivered.
Yes, the plant brimming with immortal energy was indeed an exceptional tonic — but also the deadliest poison.
Hidden within its overwhelming spiritual aura was a needle concealed within silk: a subtle, nearly undetectable poison.
So subtle, in fact, that only someone with Divine King–level spiritual power could perceive and analyze it.
And the only one in the Douluo Plane capable of concocting such a toxin was the God King Tang San, whose very foundation was built upon poison.
Clearly, Er Ming had been used by Tang San — a one-time-use glove to deliver the dangerous item.
That whole story Er Ming had told — about having a fallout with Da Ming over ideals and being beaten into partial disability before defecting to Ditian — was clearly a ruse, a bitter trick.
The true goal was to gather intelligence — to find out whether Ditian had really been severely wounded in his battle with Gu Yue Na for supremacy. Whether he had truly yet to devour the Silver Dragon King's bloodline.
But the spy wasn't Er Ming, whose insight and power weren't up to the task.
The real probe was the spiritual herb itself — filled with immortal energy and carefully hidden toxins, personally crafted by Tang San.
If Ditian had noticed the trap, he wouldn't have consumed the herb. In that case, Er Ming would most likely have been killed to cover it up.
Tang San would then learn, by some alternate method, that the herb hadn't been consumed, and that Ditian's so-called grave injuries were all a performance.
If Ditian had indeed already inherited a Divine King-level position, he would likely go into hiding and avoid direct confrontation, aiming to flee the Douluo Plane altogether.
On the other hand, if Ditian didn't detect the poison and was lured by the potent healing properties into swallowing it, the toxin would worsen his already severe injuries.
In a fit of rage, he'd likely kill Er Ming on the spot.
Either outcome served the same purpose — a verification that Ditian was truly gravely wounded during his battle for supremacy.
Tang San would then push and assist Tang Wulin to accelerate his cultivation, to inherit a Divine King-level god position quickly, so he could kill Ditian and bring order back to the plane, paving the way for the Divine Realm's return.
In short — Er Ming was destined to die.
Both outcomes led to Er Ming's likely demise. This would further fuel Da Ming's hatred toward Ditian and cast Ditian as a tyrant in the eyes of others.
After all, the soul beast seeds Ditian had once brought out from the Myriad Beast Platform had survived over a thousand years under Da Ming and Er Ming's protection.
With the limited intelligence of most soul beasts, it would be hard for them to understand why Ditian would harm himself further or the deeper schemes hiding beneath the surface.
Now, the poisonous medicinal herb had indeed been consumed by Ditian.
Not because he intended to use himself as bait. Even if he had, the Divine King–level cultivation would have neutralized the poison, rendering the bait useless.
No — he had already picked someone to be the bait.
Ditian and Gu Yue Na were no longer merely first-level gods, but that didn't mean everyone was the same.
Inside the internal space Ditian had created within himself, a half-crippled first-level god — the Abyssal Saint Monarch — was imprisoned, his clavicle pierced by the Heaven-Piercing Spear and the Sky-Penetrating Spear, trapped here completely.
The once majestic Abyssal Saint Monarch had been drained of his energy by Ditian. From a graceful black-eyed middle-aged man, he had become a shriveled, skeletal shell — a desiccated, starving husk.
The medicinal herb, still exuding immortal essence, floated gently down and landed before him.
To the energy-depleted Abyssal Saint Monarch, the herb's aura was fatally tempting.
In his current state, he had no mental strength left to scrutinize whether the herb was dangerous.
Like a starving beggar seeing a bowl of rare delicacies, he devoured it without hesitation.
The next moment, his skin, once clinging tightly to his bones, began to plump up; the wrinkles smoothed out. The handsome form of the Abyssal Saint Monarch returned.
But just as he began to gather power to shatter the restraints of the two divine spears, he was wracked by sudden, sharp pain in his abdomen and head — as if about to explode.
It was obvious now: the poison hidden in the herb contained powerful mental toxins that severely damaged the brain and sea of consciousness.
And at that critical moment, Ditian hit him with the finishing blow.
A black dragon claw reached out and grabbed the Abyssal Saint Monarch — and instantly began refining him.
The immortal energy he hadn't yet absorbed was swiftly extracted and refined by Ditian.
The poison, however, was different. Highly active, like maggots gnawing at bones, it tightly wrapped around the Abyssal Saint Monarch.
In that moment, the Abyssal Saint Monarch became the perfect poison filter — a one-time-use decoy.
With the immortal energy drained away, he shriveled once more — turning back into a dry skeleton, stiffly collapsing like a bamboo pole.
His forehead was covered in black qi. A terrifying visage of King Yama began to appear.
In his abdomen, toxic fire flared up, releasing foul gas and wracking him with intense abdominal pain.
It emanated a deathly aura, the kind that whispers: "If King Yama says you'll die at midnight, who dares let you live till dawn?"
But this was all surface theatrics. It posed no fatal threat to a first-level god, though it could potentially inflict irreversible brain damage.
For a second-level god, however, it would have been fatal — enough to dissolve them into a puddle.
This enhanced "King Yama Seal" could only pull off a few minor tricks.
After observing the full reaction of the Abyssal Saint Monarch, Ditian withdrew his divine sense.
Following the principle that a show must be played all the way through, he used his Divine King–level mental power and a spirit-type artifact, the Bell of Fear, to replicate the full effects of the "King Yama Seal" on his own forehead and abdomen.
His forehead broke into a cold sweat, and the condition he had only just begun to recover from plummeted once again.
The surrounding beasts, seeing Ditian's alarming state after taking the herb, turned their hostile glares toward Er Ming.
But before they could act — Ditian beat them to it.
"Roar—!"
A furious dragon's roar echoed through the forest.
A scar-ridden black dragon claw emerged from the void, grabbing the still-dazed Er Ming.
The laws of space and order began to swallow up Er Ming's massive form, inch by inch.
Those seized by Ditian in this manner never met a good end.
A quick death would be considered a blessing.
Some were forged into divine weapons, some used as bait, others for poison testing…
And now, Ditian had come up with yet another new use