Chapter 316: Five Poisons Transforming Blood

When Duan Rong first arrived at Shenyun Prefecture, he had gone to a pharmacy to ask about pills for the True Qi Realm.

After all, Shenyun Prefecture was the capital of Qingzhou, and Duan Rong had originally assumed that there would certainly be True Qi Realm pills here.

But upon inquiring, he learned that True Qi Realm pills were not circulated in the secular world at all, but were entirely controlled by the Sect.

As long as one was an Outer Sect Disciple of the Taiyi Sect, whether they were stationed at the Sect or sent out on assignment, the Taiyi Sect would provide a fixed supply of pills.

If they performed meritorious service, pills of varying quality would also be included among the rewards.

The Taiyi Sect's prohibition of pill circulation in the secular world was also a strategy for controlling the world.

It is said that "the knight-errant uses martial arts to violate prohibitions."

Through this method, they could suppress the growth of True Qi Realm martial artists who were not affiliated with the Sect, so as to facilitate the Sect's better control of the world.

Today was Duan Rong's first day entering the Sect.

He sat cross-legged in this dim cave, his gaze flickering.

He was now a Registered Disciple of the Sect.

The Taiyi Sect must have some resources tilted toward Registered Disciples; after all, these Registered Disciples were all talented youths selected from various places by the Sect, the fresh blood replenished into the Sect.

He would certainly be able to obtain True Qi Realm pills through official channels.

However, Duan Rong's cultivation method involved directly gaining realms by devouring Artifact Spirits, so his pill consumption rate was far higher than that of a normal martial artist.

Relying solely on normal channels would likely not satisfy his cultivation needs.

This was also why he wanted to be this Medicine Boy.

Today at the Lower Courtyard, when Qin Laotou took out those three poisonous herbs, he had already thought it through, which was why he had recognized those three poisonous herbs in public.

Shang Xiangyu was a Pharmacist, and those pills were all refined by the Pharmacists within the Sect.

Since he had become a Medicine Boy, there might be an opportunity to obtain pills directly from Shang Xiangyu; this was the first point.

Duan Rong had come here actually harboring a more long-term abacus: he wanted to refine medicine himself.

Just as he had ultimately inherited Shen Ping's Poison Path by devouring the many artifacts Shen Ping left behind in the cave on Wild Boar Mountain.

Since he had arrived here, he could also attempt to obtain the method of medicine refinement by devouring an Artifact Spirit.

However, this matter was a long-term affair and required careful calculation.

After spending half a day together, Duan Rong discovered that in this place, not only was Shang Xiangyu deep and unfathomable in his thoughts, but even Pan Yong and the others were not easy to get along with.

He had to be careful at all times, get familiar with them first, and then slowly act according to the situation.

Although Duan Rong was already extremely exhausted, he still sat cross-legged on the stone bed and cultivated for over an hour before blowing out the Candle Lamp, wrapping himself in a blanket, and lying down...

Although there were no pills and his cultivation speed was like a tortoise crawling, Duan Rong had never wasted a single day.

"I wonder how Xiao Yu and the others are doing..." Before falling asleep, Duan Rong thought of Xiao Yu and the others again.

In front of a stone wall entangled with vines in the dense forest behind the mountain, Shang Xiangyu suddenly burrowed into a patch of dense vines; behind those vines, there was actually a cave entrance hidden.

At the cave entrance, Shang Xiangyu set down the Sack in his hand, fished out a Fire Folder, and lit the torch stuck into the stone wall at the entrance.

Holding a large stone pot in one hand and the torch and the mouth of the Sack in the other, Shang Xiangyu walked slowly into the depths of the cave.

Inside this pitch-black cave, it was actually crisscrossed and extremely deep, and many places did not look like they had been chiseled by human hands.

Shang Xiangyu was clearly extremely familiar with this cave; he turned through several cave openings in succession, then stepped on the jagged, uncomfortable rocks and walked into a stone cavern.

On the ceiling and walls of this stone cavern, there were sharp, protruding rocks everywhere.

The ground was also covered in sharp rocks, but a path had been cleared; Shang Xiangyu followed the path to the deepest part of the cave.

In the deepest part of the cave, Shang Xiangyu set down the large stone pot and the bulging Sack; he held up the torch and glanced at a fist-sized black hole not far in front of him.

That black hole, like a spring, seemed bottomless.

Shang Xiangyu took a deep breath at that spring, and the rich Heaven and Earth Qi immediately surged in through his nasal cavity and entered his body.

That dried-up spring was actually connected to the canyon space distorted by the God-Demon Relic.

In the canyon space surrounding the God-Demon Relic, the concentration of Heaven and Earth Qi was far greater than elsewhere.

Shang Xiangyu stuck the torch into the stone wall beside him, took off his wrinkled Daoist robe, and stood there naked.

Under the illumination of the firelight, Shang Xiangyu looked at his own terrifying and bizarre body, and a heavy sense of disgust surged in his eyes.

The skin on his hands, legs, and abdomen was all wrinkled like an old man's, especially the wrinkled skin on his belly, which even hung down in strips.

But the skin on his chest and face was still tight, and that face of someone in their thirties, because it was well-maintained, did not even have a single wrinkle.

Looking at the layers of wrinkled skin hanging down on his belly, a wave of nausea rose in Shang Xiangyu's heart.

Four years ago, Shang Xiangyu had already achieved the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining Realm.

But his first attempt to break through to the Qi Cyclone Realm failed!

In order to break through to the Qi Cyclone, he had collected cultivation techniques and refined pills, preparing for a full two years.

This time, he had summarized the experience of his first failure, and he was quite confident about this second attempt at forming a cyclone, but the result was still a failure!

Shang Xiangyu had supreme natural talent; even among Inner Sect Disciples, he could be called an outstanding talent.

But two consecutive failures in forming a cyclone were a huge blow to him; he was once disheartened and even felt despair about forming a cyclone.

Therefore, he exiled himself to the mountains and forests, wanting to spend his remaining years in the forest, accompanied by wild beasts.

It was in this process that he accidentally discovered there was an abandoned grave near the cave where he lived.

That grave was buried very crudely, and there was not even a tombstone. Shang Xiangyu did not take it to heart; he felt that when he died of old age in the forest, it would likely be the same, buried in a piece of unknown, crude, abandoned grave.

It was just a few days later that Shang Xiangyu suddenly heard a noisy commotion at the location of this abandoned grave at the cave entrance.

Shang Xiangyu walked over slowly and saw that there was actually someone digging up the grave.

Shang Xiangyu had already regarded the person buried in that abandoned grave as a fellow sufferer.

At this moment, seeing someone digging up the grave after the person's death, he was suddenly furious, so he suddenly lunged out and, without a word, killed the person digging the grave.

That person had suddenly had their heart smashed, yet a joyful smile was still stiff on their face.

Shang Xiangyu stared and saw that the person was actually clutching a yellowish human-skin scroll, and in that dug-up grave, there was actually a skeleton sitting there.

Shang Xiangyu stared at the dead man, whose face remained frozen in a bizarre, lingering smile.

This man was clearly overjoyed at having dug that human-skin scroll out of the grave, only to be suddenly struck dead by him.

Shang Xiangyu bent down and picked up the human-skin scroll, only to see that it was covered in dense, tiny characters.

Shang Xiangyu's gaze shifted; this was actually a secret cultivation technique.

Nine Nether Great Treasury Art.

The bizarre and miraculous aspect of this art lay in the fact that it conceived an entirely new method of Vortex Formation.

By using this art to form a vortex, one could break through many of the original shackles of Vortex Formation.

However, using this art to form a vortex also had many drawbacks; for instance, one could only cultivate to the middle stage of the Vortex Formation Realm, could not break through to the late-stage Great Perfection, and it was even more impossible to advance to the Dongming Realm.

Shang Xiangyu held the scroll of the technique, his gaze hesitant.

Perhaps spurred by this technique, Shang Xiangyu suddenly felt a surge of mental strength. He returned to the Sect, preparing to attempt his third Vortex Formation once more.

As it turned out, just as expected, he failed again!

On the very night of his third failure, Shang Xiangyu began to cultivate this Nine Nether Great Treasury Art!

After practicing it, he turned into this state of being neither human nor ghost.

When Shang Xiangyu discovered that his lifespan was being depleted and his limbs were like withered wood, he understood that the Nine Nether Great Treasury Art was simply a trap set by the withered bones in that grave.

Perhaps the person himself had died from cultivating this art, and thus left behind clues to lure people into digging up his grave, wanting to continue passing on this harmful trap.

But it just so happened that he had run right into it!

In the cave, the light from the torch on the stone wall reflected off Shang Xiangyu's face, and a flash of ruthlessness suddenly appeared in his eyes.

Shang Xiangyu sat cross-legged beside the dried-up spring, his hands forming seals, and the Qi within his dantian instantly surged, rushing through his meridians like a waterfall!

Shang Xiangyu suddenly opened the bulging sack and poured its contents over his own head.

With a rustling sound, under the illumination of the firelight, it was revealed to be a sack full of poisonous snakes, centipedes, scorpions, spiders...

The full sack of poisonous insects almost completely submerged the legs Shang Xiangyu was sitting cross-legged upon.

Yet those poisonous insects remained motionless, as if they were dead.

After pouring out the insects, Shang Xiangyu threw the empty sack aside, picked up the large stone pot beside him with both hands, and slowly poured the thick, purple-black liquid from the pot over his own head.

Shang Xiangyu poured it very carefully, covering every inch of his skin with the viscous liquid.

The purple-black liquid slowly flowed over Shang Xiangyu's body, gathering beneath his crossed legs.

Gradually, those dead poisonous insects were soaked by the thick, purple-black liquid...

Those dead poisonous insects began to squirm within the thick, purple-black liquid...

Furthermore, the eyes of those poisonous insects instantly turned blood-red, and they began to crawl about frantically.

In just a few breaths, those frantic poisonous insects had crawled all over Shang Xiangyu's body, squirming and twisting as they bit his flesh...

The immense pain caused Shang Xiangyu to grit his teeth and let out a series of muffled groans.

This process lasted for a full half-stick of incense.

After half a stick of incense, Shang Xiangyu's complexion was as black as ink, and the area around where he sat cross-legged was littered with the corpses of poisonous insects...

These poisonous insects had all died from extreme, violent rage, and the toxins within their bodies had all been injected into Shang Xiangyu.

Shang Xiangyu took a deep breath, sat cross-legged, circulated the Qi in his body, and formed seals with his hands; the black aura on his face sank down bit by bit, gathering on his chest like a cloud of ink.

Then, that mass of thick, black ink gradually dispersed into his shriveled limbs and abdomen.

In that instant, the shriveled skin seemed to recover slightly, especially at the chest, where the boundary between the shriveled skin and the healthy skin seemed to recede by an inch.

But that was only for a moment; a few breaths later, the shriveled skin that had receded at the boundary wrinkled up again, though it was slightly more eased than before.

Shang Xiangyu looked at the boundary on his chest, which had barely changed, his eyes filled with disappointment.

Half a month ago, every time this Five Poisons Blood Transformation Method was activated, it could make the spreading shriveled skin recede by an inch, but after only half a month, the shriveled skin at the boundary no longer receded, and the degree of wrinkling was only slightly reduced.

"It seems that this Five Poisons Blood Transformation Method is becoming increasingly difficult to delay the spread of this bodily withering."

A flash of gray, dejected despair crossed Shang Xiangyu's eyes.

As soon as that shriveled skin crawled onto his face, it would be the moment his lifespan was exhausted.

"I hope I can refine the Rejuvenation Pill before then." A look of fear flashed across Shang Xiangyu's face; he had originally thought himself a person who looked lightly upon life and death, but only when death truly approached did he feel how the fear, like an abyss, made one tremble.

"As long as the Black Blood Vine bears fruit, I can immediately begin refining it; I will definitely make it in time," Shang Xiangyu muttered to himself, his face even appearing somewhat twisted.

Just as dawn broke, Duan Rong woke up inside the stone cave.

He took off his dust-covered robe and changed into the cyan Daoist robe from his pack.

After changing his clothes and tightening his Belt, Duan Rong walked slowly out of the stone cave, following the edge of the cliff to a mountain spring that flowed down the cliff wall.

This was where they usually got their water, and it was the nearest water source.

Yin Cong had told him about it yesterday evening when he brought him here to wash the pots and bowls.

There was also a pool in the dense forest, which was where they bathed.

Duan Rong washed his face with the cold spring water, rinsed his mouth, and then drank a few mouthfuls of the water directly from the flow.

The spring water was cold and sweet; the shock of the cold water instantly dissipated his lingering drowsiness.

Duan Rong walked back along the edge of the cliff and saw that the mist in the valley, which had been blown away by the strong wind last night, was gradually floating up again.

When Duan Rong reached the entrance of the cave, he saw a figure standing in front of his cave.

Duan Rong's gaze shifted, and he recognized it as Pan Yong.

Duan Rong walked over quickly and smiled, "Senior Brother Pan, coming to find me so early, you must have something on your mind."

Pan Yong said, "Disciple is up early. Come with Senior Brother to the dense forest for a trip."

After Pan Yong finished speaking, he turned and walked along the cliff toward that side, and Duan Rong immediately followed.

The two walked deep into the dense forest, and suddenly Pan Yong stopped in a clearing, spreading the two empty Sacks he was holding onto the ground.

Duan Rong watched Pan Yong's actions; although he did not know what Pan Yong was doing, he knew that Pan Yong must be about to demonstrate something to him again.

Pan Yong spread out two empty Sacks, then suddenly flipped his hand, gripping a brown Porcelain Bottle in his palm. He glanced at Duan Rong and said, "Be sure to hold your breath; this Medicine Powder is poisonous."

Duan Rong nodded; in fact, the moment Pan Yong had flipped his hand to reveal the Porcelain Bottle, he had already held his breath.

Being new to this place, he could not afford to be anything but careful.

Pan Yong opened the bottle stopper and sprinkled the Medicine Powder onto the two Sacks spread out in the clearing.

After evenly sprinkling the Medicine Powder over the surface of both Sacks, Pan Yong capped the bottle and said, "Let's go, we'll hide in the tree."

Their figures flashed, and they darted into the canopy of a large zelkova tree beside them.

Pan Yong's eyes shifted; Duan Rong's Lightness Skill just now had been elegant and natural, clearly surpassing his own by a margin.

Duan Rong did not wish to hide his talents; having just arrived here, only by demonstrating his strength could he win others' respect and reduce unnecessary trouble.

Moreover, he also wanted to get along with Pan Yong and the others, and only by showing one's own value would others be willing to include you.

The two hid within the canopy, and after a few breaths, various snakes, insects, and poisonous creatures crawled out from the stone crevices and grass, wriggling onto the two Sacks.

Duan Rong looked at the dense mass of poisonous insects and frowned; his trypophobia was acting up a little.

This patch of open ground actually hid so many poisonous insects.

Pan Yong glanced at him and said, "The scent of this Poison Powder can attract these poisonous insects, and it can also anesthetize them."

Sure enough, Duan Rong already saw that some of the poisonous insects that had wriggled and climbed onto the Sacks were already stiff and dead there, motionless.

About half an incense stick later, the two had filled two small Sacks full of poisonous insects at the clearing.

Pan Yong lifted one Sack, looked at Duan Rong, and smiled, "Let's go, I'll take you to our secret base."

"Secret base?"

Pan Yong was already carrying the Sack and walking toward a certain part of the dense forest; Duan Rong carried the other Sack and immediately followed.

(End of chapter)