Travis Blackthorne had just crossed the threshold of the Celestial Apothecary Guild's entrance when the pill detonated inside him. He doubled over, his face contorting in agony as he clutched his stomach.
"What have you done to me?" he screamed, his voice echoing through the hall.
I watched him without an ounce of sympathy. The Power-Dissipating Pill wasn't supposed to cause pain—unless it encountered resistance from the body's energy channels. Travis had clearly tried to use his cultivation to neutralize it.
"I told you what it was," I said coldly. "Your own resistance is causing the pain."
Travis fell to his knees, his bodyguards still too disoriented to help him. Sweat beaded on his forehead as his dantian—the energy core within his body—fought against the pill's effects.
"You don't understand what you've done," he snarled through gritted teeth. "I'm a direct descendant of the Blackthorne family! My father sits on the Council of Nine in Veridia City!"
