Chapter 727: The Origin of the Poison Dao

When He Pingsheng entered the Zhu Que Imperial Palace for the second time, he brought one more person with him.

Ting Tong!

"Little sister is so adorable!"

Upon seeing Ting Tong, even Nan Qiqi couldn't resist reaching out to pinch her cheek.

Immediately, a surge of anger rose from Ting Tong.

Flames roared to life.

"Don't be angry!" He Pingsheng said gently. "This is the Zhu Que Sacred Maiden of the Imperial Palace—she's the one who took you out to play this time. Show some respect, or she won't take you again!"

"Ah?" Hearing this, Ting Tong's attitude instantly changed; she beamed and sidled up to Nan Qiqi. "Sister, pinch me two more times!"

He Pingsheng: …………

Nan Qiqi covered her mouth and laughed heartily.

"This little sister is no ordinary one!" Nan Qiqi looked at Ting Tong, her eyes filled with affection.

"I'll go check on the back!" He Pingsheng's thoughts were fixed on Qiao Huizhu.

He wanted to know how she had been lately.

"I'll take you!" Nan Qiqi once again led He Pingsheng to the peak of the mountain where Qiao Huizhu was cultivating.

In the void, her Dharma Body had grown even larger—now three thousand zhang tall.

The Creation Symbols on her Dharma Body had multiplied into a tidal ocean, constantly surging and ebbing, washing the heavens.

"Her cultivation seems even stronger!" Nan Qiqi exhaled deeply. "Now, no one in the entire Zhu Que Imperial Palace dares enter within three thousand zhang of this hall—anyone who does gets blasted away."

"This…" He Pingsheng fell silent.

He didn't know what to say, nor how to address Qiao Huizhu.

At that moment, in the void, Qiao Huizhu's massive form slowly turned.

Her face faced He Pingsheng's direction; her beautiful eyes opened.

A streak of green light flashed through her gaze.

"Senior Sister…" He Pingsheng leapt to his feet, staring at Qiao Huizhu, wanting to speak.

But the words stuck in his throat—he didn't know what to say.

"Almost there!" Qiao Huizhu suddenly spoke to He Pingsheng from afar. "I'll give you an answer… it won't be long now…"

"Go."

Her slender jade hand waved gently toward him.

He Pingsheng said nothing, nodded, and left.

A faint loneliness settled in his heart.

"Come on… He Daoist, don't be downhearted!"

"Didn't she say she'd give you an answer later?"

"The Stone Platform Gathering is about to begin—we've decided to depart in half a month. How are you preparing?"

Nan Qiqi looked at He Pingsheng; for her, the Stone Platform Gathering was currently the most important matter.

She didn't doubt He Pingsheng—but his current Foundation Establishment sixth-layer cultivation did worry her.

"Everything else should be fine," He Pingsheng thought.

Though his cultivation was only Void Refinement sixth-layer, he wasn't certain he'd lose against a Void Refinement twelfth-layer prodigy.

He understood his own combat strength well.

Second, his spiritual sense had also reached the sixth layer of the Void Refinement Chapter.

The only thing lagging behind was his body refinement technique.

After reaching Void Refinement, He Pingsheng had neither a sixth-rank poison nor found a sixth-rank fire.

Even if he had a sixth-rank fire, it wouldn't help—the Bathing Flame Golden Body Scripture only went up to Soul Transformation, with no Void Refinement chapter.

So to refine his body, he still needed poison.

Nine Poisons Refine the Golden Body!

"If you need anything, just tell me!" Nan Qiqi said sincerely. "Don't be polite—you're participating in the contest for the Zhu Que Imperial Domain. Whatever the Imperial Palace has, I can give you!"

He Pingsheng asked: "Then… do you have the Poison Dao Origin?"

"Of course. Low-rank ones are useless to me—at least sixth-rank!"

"Sixth-rank Poison Dao Origin, or if you can find sixth-rank poison pills, that works too!"

Sixth-rank poison pills were extremely hard to obtain.

To get a sixth-rank poison pill meant slaying a Void Refinement poison beast—and for He Pingsheng's body refinement, one or two pills wouldn't suffice; he'd need at least dozens.

So the poison origin was best.

"We do have one…" Nan Qiqi said. "Didn't you go to the You Ming Imperial Palace before? There's a poison origin there!"

"It's sixth and seventh rank!"

He Pingsheng nodded.

He remembered—the narrow passage between the fifth and sixth zones of the You Ming Imperial Palace had held a massive mass of poison origin.

That thing had blocked nearly everyone from entering the sixth zone.

He Pingsheng had entered the sixth zone only after cultivating two layers of Dao within that poison and awakening his poison technique.

"But…" he frowned. "The You Ming Imperial Palace hasn't opened yet, has it?"

"No problem!" Nan Qiqi smiled. "The opening of the You Ming Imperial Palace is decided by our Zhu Que Imperial Palace. I say when it opens, and it opens—come, I'll take you in right now…"

As she spoke, Nan Qiqi waved her hand and produced a black tablet.

The black tablet looked like ordinary wood, unremarkable, yet covered in countless intricate red patterns.

Her magic power surged into it, and soon a void entrance opened before them.

"This…"

"This is the entrance to the You Ming Imperial Palace?" He Pingsheng stared in surprise.

"Mm-hmm…" Nan Qiqi nodded, then grabbed He Pingsheng's hand and zipped into the You Ming Imperial Palace.

Space and time twisted—and the next moment, Nan Qiqi pulled him to the boundary between the fifth and sixth zones.

It was a corridor.

Roughly a thousand zhang wide, the void within floated a massive mass of Dao rules.

Poison Origin.

"There's a lot of poison origin here!" Nan Qiqi said. "It includes both sixth-rank and seventh-rank poison origins!"

"If you need it, just take it!"

He Pingsheng said: "Isn't that inappropriate?"

"If I take it, what about when the palace opens later?"

"No issue!" Nan Qiqi waved her hand. "I'll just bring in another origin later. The ones entering now are only Nascent Soul disciples—it doesn't matter. Besides, you already took the best treasures from the sixth zone. Nothing here matters anymore!"

"Take it…" Nan Qiqi waved her hand, drawing the origin into a specially crafted ring and handing it to He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng accepted the ring, deeply grateful: "Thank you!"

"Don't mention it!" Nan Qiqi smiled.

Her eyes curved gently; her brown irises held a unique beauty.

She was a cheerful woman.

He Pingsheng still remembered their first meeting—how she'd lounged with one leg crossed over the other while talking to him.

In short, Nan Qiqi lacked the haughty nobility typical of other Sacred Sons and Sacred Daughters.

She was easy to get along with.