43: Chapter 43 Entering the Inner Sect, the Show of Force in the Spirit Plant Room

The Bloodthirsty Demonic Wolf roared wildly as it pursued Qi Yang, its keen sense of smell completely failing to detect the presence of the tendon-softening powder.

It rampaged all the way, smashing the poison-dusted bushes to pieces. A large amount of the poison powder entered its lungs through its breathing!

In just ten breaths of time, the Bloodthirsty Demonic Wolf, which was originally as fast as lightning, suddenly slowed down in a bizarre manner!

Its strong limbs began to tremble uncontrollably, the foul wind blowing from its mouth became weak and feeble, and even its crimson beast pupils began to lose focus.

"What's going on? Why has that beast stopped moving?"

He Wu and the others up in the tree noticed that something was wrong.

Right at that moment, Qi Yang, who had been running around "panicked and aimless", suddenly slipped and fell face-first into a dirt pit.

And the direction he fell in was pointing straight at the large tree where He Wu and the others were hiding!

Although the Bloodthirsty Demonic Wolf had lost its target and felt weak all over, its innate bloodthirsty instinct drove it to frantically want to tear into any living thing.

Its crimson eyes looked up in the direction of Qi Yang's fall, locking directly onto He Wu and the others in the tree!

Roar!!!

The demonic wolf let out a hoarse roar and kicked off with its hind legs. Although it couldn't jump high due to the poison, its massive body still slammed heavily into the trunk of the large tree!

Crack!

The giant tree, which would take three men to hug, shook violently. He Wu and the others in the tree were caught off guard and fell from a height of over ten meters like dumplings dropping into water!

"Ouch!"

He Wu crashed heavily onto the ground. Before he could even get up, the Bloodthirsty Demonic Wolf, driven into a frenzy by the poison, bit down hard on his thigh!

"Ah!!! My leg! Help! Save me!"

He Wu let out a pig-slaughtering shriek as blood rapidly dyed the ground red.

The other stewards' relatives were frightened to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering. How could they care about saving him? They all drew their Magical Artifacts to fight back.

But although the demonic wolf was affected by the tendon-softening powder, it was still a Tier One Middle Stage Yao Beast with thick hide and flesh.

With one swipe of its paw, it sent a Qi Condensation 5th Layer youth flying, and then opened its bloody maw to bite off another person's arm!

"It's crazy! This beast has gone mad!"

"Jade talisman! Quickly crush the jade talisman!"

Faced with mortal danger, this group of greenhouse flowers completely collapsed.

Accompanied by several crisp cracking sounds, He Wu and the others did not hesitate to crush the protective jade talismans in their hands.

As the Formation's light flashed, the bloodied and mangled people were instantly teleported out of the Formation, directly eliminated!

Meanwhile, Qi Yang, whom everyone had assumed was dead for sure, was slowly climbing out of the dirt pit.

He patted the dust off his ragged hemp clothes. Looking at the Bloodthirsty Demonic Wolf, which had completely collapsed on the ground foaming at the mouth due to the poison's onset, a trace of disdain flashed in his cloudy, old eyes.

"Bribing the Formation Disciple to scheme against me? Remember to grow a brain in your next life."

Qi Yang didn't bother to deliver a finishing blow. Instead, he found a comfortable tree branch to lean against and closed his eyes to rest.

Only when the time for a stick of incense to burn was up and the Formation barrier slowly opened did he hunch his back and walk out completely unharmed.

Hiding one's achievements and name—this is the true Dao of laying low!

The Inner Sect handyman examination came to a close.

Out of tens of thousands of Outer Sect handymen, in the end, fewer than a hundred successfully passed the two stages of the assessment and obtained the Inner Sect handyman identity jade plaque.

And Qi Yang, this hundred-year-old Qi Condensation Third Layer old trash, was surprisingly among them.

The moment Qi Yang stepped across the Spirit-Guiding Bridge connecting the outer and inner sects and truly stood on the soil of the Inner Sect, he couldn't help but take a deep breath.

Rich! It was too rich!

The air here was even filled with wisps of white Spiritual Qi mist visible to the naked eye!

Qi Yang could clearly feel that the Poison Wood Spiritual Power sealed inside his Dantian by the wuxiang pill was greedily devouring the external Spiritual Qi like a starving ghost.

If he were to Cultivate the Five Poisons Nourishing Spirit Art here, his speed would definitely be more than ten times faster than in the Outer Sect!

"No wonder so many people squeeze their heads to get into the Inner Sect; this is simply a Holy Land for Cultivation."

Qi Yang clicked his tongue in amazement inwardly.

But soon, he reined in his astonishment.

Although the Inner Sect was rich in Spiritual Qi, it also meant a stricter hierarchy of Rank and omnipresent dangers.

Here, even an ordinary Inner Sect Disciple could crush a handyman like squashing an ant.

Following the deacon leading the way, Qi Yang arrived at the most remote peak of the Inner Sect, Baicao Peak.

This was the headquarters of the Inner Sect's Spirit Plant House, and also the place where all Inner Sect handymen did hard labor.

The steward of the Spirit Plant House was a fat man named Jiang Duosheng.

This person had a cultivation of the Qi Refining Tenth Layer and was a Cultivator with Three Spiritual Roots.

With his big belly protruding, he sat on a grand armchair, playing with two Top-Grade Spirit Stones in his hand. His beady eyes swept over Qi Yang and the other newly arrived handymen, as if sizing up fat pigs waiting to be slaughtered.

"I won't say much about the rules. Once you enter the Inner Sect's Spirit Plant House, even if you are a Dragon, you must coil up, and even if you are a tiger, you must lie down!"

Jiang Duosheng snorted coldly, his fat trembling.

"The monthly quota of Spiritual Plants submitted must be in full. Short by one, and it's thirty lashes of the Heart-Destroying Whip! If you fail for three consecutive months, your cultivation will be directly crippled, and you will be sent to the Heifeng Mine to mine until you die!"

The newly arrived handymen were scared into silence, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Jiang Duosheng began to assign the herb fields.

Handymen with backgrounds or those who secretly bribed him with Spirit Stones were assigned to the Grade A herb fields, which had abundant Spiritual Qi and easy-to-tend Spiritual Plants.

As for those with no money or influence, they naturally could only do the hardest and most exhausting work.

When Jiang Duosheng's gaze fell on Qi Yang, his beady eyes narrowed into slits, and an undisguised look of disgust flashed in his eyes.

"A hundred years old? Qi Condensation Third Layer? What on earth were those good-for-nothings in the Outer Sect doing, letting this kind of half-dead trash into the Inner Sect?"

Jiang Duosheng cursed inwardly.

He hated this kind of old geezer from whom he couldn't squeeze any benefits. Not only could they not do heavy work, but if they died in the herb field one day, he would even find it bad luck.

"You are called Qi Yang, right?"

Jiang Duosheng pointed at Qi Yang, revealing a sinister sneer.

"Seeing as you are old, this steward will take care of you."

"There is a Grade B herb field next to the Yinyuan Cold Pool on the back mountain, specifically for growing nether grass. That plot will be yours from now on. You must hand over fifty mature nether grass plants every month. Short by one, and you'll pay with your life!"

As soon as these words were spoken, several veteran Inner Sect handymen nearby gasped, looking at Qi Yang as if they were looking at a dead man.

"nether grass!"

"That is a Rank Two yin-poison Spiritual Plant!"

"That kind of grass only grows in extremely yin and cold places. It not only absorbs Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, but also emits a cold energy that freezes the Meridians."

"Even a Cultivator of the seventh or eighth layer of Qi Condensation would suffer from declining vitality and die from cold poison invading their body if they stayed in the Nether Grass Field for too long!"

"What's more fatal is that the herb field is close to the Yinyuan Cold Pool on the back mountain, which is an Inner Sect Forbidden Ground where Tier One or even Tier Two yin-cold Yao Beasts often roam!"

"Sending a hundred-year-old geezer at the Qi Condensation Third Layer to grow nether grass?"

"How was this taking care of him? This was clearly sending him to his death!"

"Steward, this... how can this be!"

Qi Yang took the opportunity to stumble, hunching his waist and coughing violently, as if he were too terrified to stand steadily.

"This old man's fragile bones, how can they withstand the cold energy of the nether grass! I beg the Steward to show mercy and change the plot for this old man!"

"Impudent!"

Jiang Duosheng slammed the table fiercely, and the pressure of his Qi Refining Tenth Layer burst out, pressing directly onto Qi Yang's shriveled spine.

"Are my arrangements something you can bargain with? Either go farm the land, or get lost to the Heifeng Mine right now! Choose for yourself!"

Pressed down by the pressure, Qi Yang couldn't straighten his back and trembled all over. In the end, he could only bow his head in "despair" and tremblingly accept the herb field token engraved with the word 'Nether'.

"This old man... obeys."

Seeing Qi Yang's submissive and cowardly appearance, Jiang Duosheng sneered triumphantly and waved his hand to shoo Qi Yang out like driving away a fly.

But the moment Qi Yang turned around and walked out of the Spirit Plant House's main hall, the panicked and desperate expression on his face vanished without a trace!

Instead, a flash of wild joy flickered in his eyes.

"nether grass? Extremely yin and cold? Unfrequented by people?"

"Hahaha! This dead fatty is simply a wealth-distributing boy sent by the heavens!"

Qi Yang laughed frantically in his heart.

Others feared the cold poison of the nether grass, but he had the Five Poisons Nourishing Spirit Art and the Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root!

To him, those lethal cold poisons were excellent supplements for refining his Poison Wood Spiritual Power!

More importantly, that herb field was close to the Yinyuan Cold Pool Forbidden Ground on the back mountain. Normally, there wasn't even a ghost in sight!

Wasn't this the perfect fortress he had dreamed of to rebuild his underground secret chamber and quietly develop?!

Moreover, the xuanyin water Spiritual Vein was right in the Spirit Spring Cave deep within the Inner Sect!

As long as he took root here on Baicao Peak, his hope of reaching Foundation Establishment would draw closer and closer!

"You dead fatty, just you wait. Once I succeed in Foundation Establishment, you'll be the first one I sacrifice to the heavens!"

Grasping the token tightly in his hand, Qi Yang hunched his back and strode toward the Yinyuan Cold Pool on the back mountain, welcoming the abundant Spiritual Qi of the Inner Sect.