The entry for cultivating immortality states that after dying a hundred times, I attained immortalit

Turn the tables on them and expose their informant.

One day later, inside the Gongfa Hall.

The elder placed his hand on Jiang Bai's wrist, a hint of surprise flashing in his cloudy old eyes.

"Late stage of Qi Refining Level 1?"

He released his grip and looked Jiang Bai up and down: "In just a few days, you've gone from having no cultivation to the late stage of Qi Refining Level 1... Kid, did you secretly consume some rare and precious herb?"

Jiang Bai withdrew his arm and respectfully replied, "It's all thanks to the rotten grass miasma and the mind-clearing pill bestowed by the clan elders."

Don't give me that.

The elder waved his hand, his tone revealing a hint of approval.

"Rotten grass and miasma are merely basic materials, and the Mind-Clearing Pill is only a low-grade Yellow Rank. The fact that one could break through to the next realm in just a few days with such limited resources proves two things."

He held up two fingers.

"First, you are indeed quite talented in the world of drugs. Second, you are daring enough to risk your life."

Jiang Bai lowered his head: "That kid just got lucky."

"luck?"

The elder snorted softly, picked up his teacup, and took a sip: "On the path of poison cultivation, luck is the least valuable thing. Those who survive are either true geniuses or... true madmen."

He put down his teacup and changed the subject: "However, the taller the tree, the more the wind will blow against it. You can't hide the fact that your cultivation has improved for long."

"I understand, sir."

"Good that you understand."

The elder waved his hand: "Go on, the resources for next month will be the same. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

"Thank you, elder."

After bowing, Jiang Baixing withdrew from the Gongfa Hall.

As he walked back to the courtyard, the elder's words echoed repeatedly in his mind.

The tree catches the wind.

He understood those four words particularly deeply at this moment.

After breaking through to the first level of Qi Refining, his five senses were greatly enhanced.

While he was in the training hall, he vaguely sensed that someone was watching him from outside, but he was absolutely certain that he was being watched.

"It seems some people can't wait any longer."

Jiang Bai pushed open the courtyard gate and saw Xiao Cui sweeping fallen leaves in the yard.

When Xiao Cui saw him return, she immediately put down the broom, bowed, and said, "Young master is back."

"Um."

Jiang Bai responded, but his gaze lingered on her for a few more moments.

Xiao Cui stood upright, her weight firmly planted between her feet. This was not the casual and relaxed posture of an ordinary maid; rather, it resembled that of someone who had practiced martial arts.

She had calluses on her finger joints, located between her thumb and index finger, clearly from holding a long, thin object for a long time.

Most importantly, her breathing rate and depth are much longer than those of ordinary people.

"interesting."

Jiang Bai sneered inwardly, but remained outwardly calm: "Prepare some hot water; I want to take a bath."

"Yes."

Jiang Bai went inside, closed the door, leaned against the door panel, and closed his eyes to think.

Which side does Xiao Cui belong to?

The Grand Elder? The Li family?

He recalled that after his third uncle poisoned him for the first time, the clan elder had said that he would send more people to protect him.

If Xiao Cui was sent by the clan elder, then everything makes sense.

Ostensibly serving, but in reality monitoring and protecting.

However, the level of protection they provide is hardly impressive.

"Regardless of whose side she is, let's test the waters first."

Jiang Bai opened his eyes and walked to the table.

He took out several herbs from the cultivation hall from his storage bag. They were all cheap and mild, with no poison or harm.

Jiang Bai crushed and mixed them, then boiled them with water.

Soon, the dark purple, viscous liquid in the earthenware jar began to bubble and release a sweet and sour aroma.

He found an empty medicine bottle, poured the purple liquid into it, and sealed the bottle.

He then deliberately lingered in the room until he heard Xiao Cui's footsteps outside the door as she brought hot water. Only then did he quickly stuff the bottle of purple liquid under his pillow, deliberately leaving a small portion of the bottle sticking out.

The door was pushed open.

Xiao Cui came in carrying a bucket of hot water, her gaze unconsciously sweeping over the bed.

Her gaze lingered on the exposed half of the medicine bottle for about half a breath before she casually looked away and poured hot water into the bathtub.

"Young master, the water is ready."

"Okay, you can leave now."

Jiang Bai waved his hand.

Xiao Cui withdrew and gently closed the door.

Jiang Bai walked to the window and looked out through the gap in the window paper.

Xiao Cui stood in the courtyard, her back to the house, her shoulders slightly heaving.

She was taking a deep breath.

After a few moments, she quickly left.

"They've taken the bait."

Jiang Bai's lips curled into a cold smile.

He took off his coat and stepped into the bathtub.

Enveloped in warm water, he closed his eyes, circulating his inner energy and refining his plan in his mind.

At night.

Jiang Bai turned off the lights early and lay in bed pretending to sleep.

[Killing Intent Sensing] Maintained a minimum level of vigilance, enveloping the entire room.

Suddenly, a very faint rustling sound came from outside the door.

The bolt was slowly pried open from the outside by a thin wire.

The door opened a crack.

A slender figure darted in from the side; it was Xiao Cui.

She walked barefoot, making no sound as she stepped onto the floor, slowly making her way to the bedside.

Moonlight streamed in through the window cracks, illuminating her face.

Jiang Bai squinted, observing through the gaps in her eyelashes.

Xiao Cui's expression was complex; her brows were furrowed, her lips were pressed into a line, and her eyes showed struggle and guilt, but these were ultimately replaced by a resolute determination.

She reached out, her hand trembling, to the pillow under Jiang Bai's head.

The moment her fingers touched the medicine bottle, she froze.

But the next second, she gently pulled out the medicine bottle, uncorked it, and brought it to her nose to smell it.

Jiang Bai chuckled inwardly.

That purple liquid was just herbal juice; apart from its intimidating color, it had no toxicity whatsoever.

Xiao Cui would probably be even more puzzled after smelling it.

Sure enough, Xiao Cui looked confused.

But she still took out a white handkerchief from her bosom, tilted the medicine bottle, poured a little liquid onto the handkerchief, quickly wrapped it up, and stuffed it back into her bosom.

After doing all this, she put the medicine bottle back under her pillow as it was, took two steps back, and stared at Jiang Bai on the bed for a few moments.

Finally, she turned and left, gently closing the door behind her.

Jiang Bai waited until her footsteps faded away before sitting up.

He followed them out silently.

Xiao Cui moved swiftly along the wall like a shadow.

She was very familiar with the layout of the mansion and deliberately chose to go through the patrol teams' blind spots.

Jiang Baiyuan trailed behind, his [Killing Intent Perception] allowing him to accurately pinpoint Xiao Cui's location while avoiding all potential dangers.

The two walked one after the other through most of the mansion and arrived at a secluded garden with artificial hills.

Xiao Cui stopped in front of a three-meter-high artificial mountain, looked around for a moment, and quickly stuffed the handkerchief in her arms into the crack at the bottom of the artificial mountain.

Then, she left without looking back.

Jiang Bai hid behind a tree twenty paces away, waiting patiently.

About fifteen minutes later, another dark figure appeared from the other side of the artificial hill.

He was tall and slender, and his movements were agile; he was clearly a trained fighter.

The shadowy figure walked to the crevice in the rock, took out a handkerchief, looked at it closely, then put it in his pocket and disappeared into the night.

Throughout the entire process, the shadowy figure's face remained hidden in the shadows, making it impossible to see its features.

But Jiang Bai remembered his physical characteristics.

Broad shoulders, narrow waist, and a slight dragging motion when stepping with the left leg are likely due to an old injury.

"Not that shrill-voiced confidant."

Jiang Bai quickly ruled out the known candidates.

He returned to his room, lay back down on the bed, and began to review the events in his mind.

Xiao Cui steals a sample of the "poison" to report the crime, confirming that she is undoubtedly an informant.

However, there are several contradictions in her behavior:

She only took the sample, not the whole bottle. If she really wanted to kill him, wouldn't it have been better to just steal it?

Her struggle and guilt when she stole the medicine seemed genuine.

She communicated by "concealed delivery" rather than by reporting in person.

This suggests that she was likely just at the end of the intelligence chain, unaware of who her superior was or where the intelligence ultimately ended up.

"So, she was most likely sent by the clan chief or elders to spy on me."

Jiang Bai concluded: "But surveillance is surveillance; she's not a bad person at heart, she's just following orders."

He couldn't help but grin as he recalled the way Xiao Cui's eyelids trembled when she peeked at the medicine bottle.

Now that we've determined Xiao Cui's stance, we should make good use of her.

Jiang Bai sat up and began to circulate his internal energy to promote blood circulation.

The poisonous spiritual energy circulated in reverse within the meridians, causing waves of stinging pain.

He suppressed his discomfort and forced a surge of blood to his throat.

"puff--"

A mouthful of dark red blood spurted onto the ground.

Jiang Bai's face turned deathly pale instantly. He staggered off the bed, letting out a painful groan.

"Ugh..."

Sure enough, less than ten breaths later, hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

The door was suddenly pushed open.

Xiao Cui rushed in and saw Jiang Bai lying on the ground with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Her expression changed drastically.

"Young master! What's wrong?!"

Jiang Bai shakily reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Someone...poisoned me..."

"Save me...go find...the elder..."

Xiao Cui's eyes instantly reddened.

As she watched Jiang Bai die, her lips trembled violently, and struggle, fear, and guilt flashed in her eyes... In the end, a certain determination overcame everything.

"Hold on, young master! I'll go find someone right away!"

She finished speaking through gritted teeth, broke free from Jiang Bai's hand, turned around and rushed out of the room.

Jiang Bai lay on the ground, listening to the receding footsteps, a faint smile appearing on his pale face.

"Now, let's see which fish takes the bait first."