How did this happen? Fang Yuan's gaze swept the hall, sharp and calculating.
What unsettled him most was not the poison itself, but the fact that Lin Zhaoyue, a Nascent Soul expert had been the first to fall.
Ah… wait. That was my doing...
Straightening, his presence swelled, voice reverberating like thunder through the chamber.
"Everyone. Drop your utensils. Every single one has been poisoned."
A wave of gasps rippled through the crowd. One after another, cups clattered to the floor as disciples obeyed. All, except for two.
Fang Joshua, and the young man at his side.
Joshua stepped forward quickly, bowing with both hands raised.
"Clan Head, it is not poison. This was done under Matriarch Fang's instructions. She wished cultivator and mortal alike to share the experience of intoxication."
From the crowd, a disciple muttered nervously, "Is that why we were forbidden to share cups with the servants?"
