38: Chapter 38 A Triumphant Return

Snap!

That mass of powder accurately smashed into the stone pillar in front of Li Ao, exploding with a roar.

A strange, nauseatingly rich fragrance filled the entire passage, tightly clinging to Li Ao and those two heavily injured Inner Sect Disciple.

"What is this thing?!"

Smelling that fragrance, Li Ao suddenly felt a surge of ominous foreboding in his heart.

"Enjoy it well, Young Master."

Qi Yang sneered, his hoarse voice echoing in the passage.

Roar!!!

Just as Qi Yang's voice fell, a heaven-shaking, terrifying roar suddenly came from the outer periphery of the Myriad Poisons Pill Chamber!

Immediately after, the earth shook and the mountains trembled!

A Tier 2 venomous beast resembling a small mountain in size, covered all over its body in black scales—the Black Armored Earth Dragon—rushed out from the poisonous miasma with red eyes!

A Tier 2 venomous beast was a terrifying existence equivalent to a human Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage!

This Black Armored Earth Dragon had originally been running amok outside the valley, but upon smelling this high-concentration beast-attracting incense, it directly plunged into madness!

Its pair of crimson beast pupils locked onto the three people of Li Ao in the passage, opening its bloody maw to spew a foul-smelling poisonous wind as it lunged straight forward!

"Tier 2 venomous beast! No!!!"

Looking at that terrifying behemoth that blocked out the sky, Li Ao felt a warmth in his crotch from fright and pissed himself directly.

He didn't even have the courage to resist, turning around to run.

But the speed of the Tier 2 venomous beast was simply too fast!

Qi Yang did not go to look at the fate of Li Ao and the others.

In the Cultivation World, it was better for a Fellow Daoist to die than for oneself to perish.

He slapped on another divine mobility talisman, taking advantage of the chaos while the Tier 2 venomous beast frantically mauled Li Ao and the others, and directly burrowed into a hidden secret passage behind the Myriad Poisons Pill Chamber, completely escaping into the boundless poisonous miasma.

Having accomplished the deed, he brushed his clothes and left, deeply hiding his achievements and fame.

...

The night was deep; outside the Xuantian Sect was the Special Grade Herb Garden.

The withered wood door was tightly shut, and the light curtain of the Formation flickered with a faint glow in the night.

In the secret chamber ten zhang deep underground, the bronze stone platform slowly slid open, and Qi Yang burrowed in like a ghost.

As soon as he entered the secret chamber, Qi Yang immediately tore off the loose black robe on his body and ripped off the pockmarked human-skin mask on his face, collapsing onto the futon with a thud as if completely exhausted.

"Hoo... That was fucking thrilling."

Qi Yang panted heavily, yet his turbid old eyes flashed with an extremely excited light.

At the Qi Condensation Seventh Layer, he had seized food from the jaws of a tiger right under the noses of two Qi Refining Tenth Layer and one Peak of the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation, and even turned around to pitch them into a dead end!

If this were to spread out, the entire Xuantian Sect would explode!

But Qi Yang knew that a tree standing out in the forest would be destroyed by the wind; as long as no one knew he did it, he would still be that farming old peasant with one foot in the grave.

Resting for half an incense stick's time, Qi Yang calmed the churning blood and Qi in his body, his gaze turning incomparably burning.

"It's time to tally the spoils!"

Qi Yang patted his Storage Pouch, and with a clatter, a large pile of items tumbled onto the bronze stone platform.

First was the Storage Pouch of that old man from the Blood Fiend Sect who was at the Peak of the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation.

Qi Yang used his Poison Wood Spiritual Power to forcefully erase the Soul imprint on it, pouring out everything inside.

"Hiss! This old ghost is truly wealthy!"

Qi Yang drew in a sharp breath.

Fully over five thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones!

Piled on the stone platform, they emitted an alluring spiritual light.

Aside from Spirit Stones, there were also a few demonic Magical Artifacts exuding a dense bloody aura, as well as a few bottles of Medicinal Pills for recovering blood and Qi.

Qi Yang unceremoniously accepted all of the Spirit Stones.

With this huge sum of money, whenever he went to the Ghost Market in the future to buy seeds or Formation Materials, he would no longer need to be stingy.

As for those demonic Magical Artifacts, Qi Yang didn't even spare them a glance, directly dissolving them all into molten iron with corpse-dissolving water.

Demonic items carried strong personal marks; taking them out to sell would definitely invite disaster upon oneself, and destroying the evidence completely was the safest approach.

Finally, Qi Yang took a deep breath and pulled out that archaic Jade Slip snatched from the Myriad Poisons Pill Chamber.

This was the greatest harvest of this trip!

Qi Yang sat cross-legged, slowly probing his perception into the Jade Slip.

Boom!

A massive torrent of information began to pour into Qi Yang's mind.

The supplementary medicinal herb list for the foundation establishment pill!

Ice Spirit Flame Grass, Purple Monkey Flower, companion leaves of the heavenly spirit fruit, xuanyin water...

The names, medicinal property introductions, and growing environments of a full eight rare supplementary herbs were incomparably clearly imprinted in Qi Yang's memory!

"Good! Excellent! With this list, as long as I can get the seeds or seedlings, my black gourd will be able to continuously ripen them!"

Qi Yang was so excited that both his hands were trembling.

The hope for Foundation Establishment that he had painstakingly searched for had finally been pieced together by more than half!

But very soon, Qi Yang's brows furrowed.

"There's actually no refining method!"

Qi Yang repeatedly read the Jade Slip several times, confirming that there was only the supplementary herb list inside, and absolutely no core refining technique or heat control secret for the foundation establishment pill!

"That's right, no matter how powerful a Golden Core venom Cultivator is, it's impossible for them to casually toss such a secret around the outer periphery of the ruins."

Qi Yang sighed; although there was some regret, it was already sufficient to satisfy him.

Meals must be eaten one bite at a time, and the road must be walked one step at a time.

Putting away the Jade Slip, Qi Yang closed his eyes and began to introspect his Dantian.

With this look, Qi Yang was instantly stunned.

His Qi Sea, which had originally stagnated at the Qi Condensation Seventh Layer, had actually expanded by a full circle at this moment!

Deep within the Dantian, that dark green Poison Wood Spiritual Power was like boiling magma, exuding an overbearing and peerless aura, and even faintly showing signs of breaking through to the Qi Condensation 8th Layer!

"What is going on? Why has my cultivation surged by so much?"

Qi Yang was first startled, then suddenly came to a realization.

Duling Valley!

That place was filled with compound poisonous miasma possessing all Five Elements!

Other people would frantically lose blood inside and have their spiritual power corroded, but he, Qi Yang, was a Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root!

Although the cultivation speed of a Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root was as slow as a crawling turtle, it encompassed all things!

Having stayed in Duling Valley for so long, the Five Poisons Nourishing Spirit Art inside his body had constantly been running frantically, filtering and absorbing all those fatal Five Elements poisonous miasma and transforming them into the purest Poison Wood Spiritual Power!

"Hahaha! This Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root combined with poison arts is simply a match made in heaven!"

Qi Yang felt wild joy in his heart.

He immediately grabbed a few hundred-year-old top-grade poisonous herbs from his Storage Pouch, stuffed them into his mouth like eating radishes, and frantically chewed and swallowed them.

Boom!

The violent toxicity exploded within his body, and Qi Yang guided this medicinal power, coordinating with the surging Poison Wood Spiritual Power inside him, to fiercely smash towards the meridian barrier of the Qi Condensation 8th Layer!

Once! Twice! Thrice!

A tearing, excruciating pain came from his Meridians; Qi Yang gritted his teeth tightly, covered in cold sweat.

Impacting for a full two hours, accompanied by a muffled roar coming from within the Dantian, that solid barrier finally had a tiny crack smashed open!

Although he hadn't completely broken through to the Qi Condensation 8th Layer, Qi Yang's spiritual power reserves and quality had already undergone a qualitative leap!

He could now be said to be at the half-step Qi Condensation 8th Layer!

"Soon! As long as I turtle up for a bit longer and save up more top-grade poisonous herbs, breaking through to the Qi Condensation 8th Layer is just around the corner!"

Qi Yang let out a long breath of foul air, swallowed a wuxiang pill, and tightly suppressed and disguised the violent Poison Wood Spiritual Power inside his body.

On the surface, he was still that trash of an old peasant with withered blood and Qi and at the Qi Condensation Third Layer.