Poisonous Gu

After an unknown period, Nightmare awoke amidst a violent fit of coughing.

The first thing he felt was an excruciating pain and icy coldness that had penetrated his bones and corroded his Divine Soul—these were the lingering traces of Xiangliu Poison wreaking havoc within his body. Even with the illusory miasma silver fruit blocking most of it, and relying on his powerful Demonic Body and Azure Qi and Blood to barely cling to life, he was still extremely weak at this moment. His Meridians were sluggish, and his Demonic Essence circulated with difficulty.

He found himself lying on a simple but clean wooden bed, covered by some kind of animal hide. The air was filled with a faint scent of herbs and damp earth.

It was a small wooden cabin, furnished extremely simply, with several strings of dried herbs and animal bones hanging on the walls, indicating the owner's secluded way of life.

"You're awake?" a clear, calm voice came from the doorway.

Nightmare's heart jolted. Enduring the severe pain, he abruptly turned his head to look, instinctively trying to circulate his Demonic Essence to be on guard. This, however, triggered a poisonous backlash, causing another bout of heart-wrenching coughing, with black blood spilling from the corners of his mouth.

A woman stood at the doorway.

She wore coarse linen clothes, yet it couldn't hide her beautiful and delicate appearance. Her face was fair, her features exquisite, but what was most striking was her waterfall-like silver-white long hair and a pair of light purple eyes that seemed to see through people's hearts. Her gaze was very calm, carrying a detached indifference, and she was quietly looking at him.

Nightmare instantly became extremely vigilant. He hadn't even noticed when this woman had appeared! Moreover, she had no Spiritual Qi fluctuations about her, yet she gave off a strange, unfathomable feeling.

"Who are you? Where is this?" Nightmare's voice was hoarse and dry, full of wariness. He secretly tried to contact the System, finding that although the System interface could be accessed, it seemed somewhat sluggish due to his severe injuries.

"This is the Lost Village." The silver-haired woman's voice remained flat and calm, as if stating something unrelated to herself. "My name is Azure Glass. You collapsed by the river outside the village, covered in poison, and I brought you back."

Lost Village? Nightmare had never heard this name. He laboriously extended his Divine Sense out of the small cabin, discovering it was a very small, seemingly isolated village nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains. There weren't many villagers, and their attire was ancient and simple. They also showed no obvious Spiritual Qi fluctuations, yet each of them had vigorous Qi and Blood, exuding an ancient sense of mystery in their movements.

"The poison in you is very potent." Azure Glass walked closer, offering a bowl of dark herbal concoction. "The Witch Grandfather in the village has examined it. He can only temporarily suppress it, not eradicate it. This is today's dose."

Nightmare didn't take it, merely looking at her coldly. As a Demonic Venerable in his previous life, he never easily trusted anyone, especially when he was so weak.

Azure Glass seemed to see through his thoughts and didn't force him. She placed the medicine bowl on the wooden table beside the bed, her light purple eyes sweeping over his body, which was tense from suppressing pain: "The toxins have already invaded your heart Meridians and Golden Core. They will flare up every three hours, with the pain intensifying each time, until your Golden Core shatters, your heart Meridians wither, and you die. If you don't drink it, you might not survive the next flare-up."

Her tone contained no threat or persuasion, merely stating a fact calmly.

Nightmare's pupils constricted slightly. He inwardly examined himself, and the situation was indeed as the woman said, perhaps even worse. The Xiangliu Poison was like a parasitic bone-eating worm, constantly devouring his vitality, and even the recovery speed of his Azure Qi and Blood couldn't keep up.

After a moment of silence, he reached out with a slightly trembling hand and picked up the bowl of medicinal liquid. The herbal smell was pungent, containing various unknown herbal ingredients, and its medicinal properties were complex and potent. He meticulously examined it with his Divine Sense several times, and only after confirming it was non-toxic did he tilt his head back and drink it all.

Upon entering his stomach, the medicinal liquid transformed into a scorching and peculiar energy. Instead of nourishing, it acted like some kind of living creature, actively pouncing on the rampant toxins, temporarily enveloping and suppressing them. The intense pain indeed alleviated considerably, but the feeling of being invaded by another foreign object was also not pleasant.

"Thank you." Nightmare put down the bowl, his voice still cold, but his guard slightly lowered.

"Just a transaction." Azure Glass took back the empty bowl. "The Witch Grandfather said your body is very strong, unlike ordinary people. Suppressing the potent poison for you requires consuming precious 'Origin Blood Grass' from the village's reserves. Once you recover, you will need to do three things for the village as repayment."

Such a straightforward request made Nightmare feel a bit more at ease. It's easier to deal with someone who has an agenda.

"Alright." He readily agreed. The most urgent task was to survive and recover his strength.

Azure Glass nodded, said no more, and turned to leave.

"Wait." Nightmare called out to her. "You all... aren't Cultivators?" He finally voiced the doubt in his heart. This village was strange in every way.

Azure Glass paused, without turning back, her voice still flat: "We are a forgotten race, guarding an ancient covenant. We do not cultivate external Dao, only refine our own bodies. What happens in the outside world is irrelevant to us."

With that, she left directly.

"A forgotten race... ancient covenant..." Nightmare chewed on these words, his mind filled with doubts. But his current state was too poor to delve deeper.

In the following days, Nightmare temporarily stayed in this small wooden cabin.

Each day, Azure Glass would punctually deliver the bitter herbal concoction. The medicinal effect was miraculous, indeed suppressing the onset of the poison on time, but Nightmare could feel that the toxins were not being eliminated. Instead, enveloped by the medicinal power, they seemed to be adapting, and even... undergoing some kind of mutation? They settled deep within his Meridians and Golden Core, like dormant volcanoes.

He also tried to circulate his Cultivation Technique to heal his injuries, but found that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi here was extremely sparse and contained a peculiar inert energy, making it difficult to absorb. The villagers, however, seemed to temper themselves through some special breathing techniques and by hunting powerful Yao Beasts and consuming their flesh and blood, each possessing astonishing Physical Body strength.

Nightmare had never seen the so-called "Witch Grandfather." Azure Glass seemed to be the Witch Grandfather's spokesperson.

Through limited observation and very few exchanges with Azure Glass, Nightmare learned that this Lost Village seemed to have guarded an ancient Forbidden Ground in the mountains behind the village for generations, prohibiting anyone from approaching. And their source of power also seemed to be related to that Forbidden Ground.

The Treasure-Seeking Spirit Weasel on Nightmare's shoulder became unusually quiet and well-behaved here, seemingly holding an instinctive reverence for the villagers, especially for Azure Glass.

On this day, after the poison was once again suppressed, Nightmare felt a slight recovery of his strength. He stepped out of the wooden cabin, wanting to observe the village more closely.

The village was small, with only a few dozen households. The villagers looked at him, an outsider, with curiosity and a hint of unnoticeable wariness, but not much malice. Several bare-bottomed children chased and played in the mud, their Qi and Blood astonishingly vigorous.

His gaze finally fell upon the mountain range behind the village, shrouded in dense mist and emanating a heart-palpitating aura. That was the Forbidden Ground the villagers guarded.

Just as he was concentrating his Divine Sense on the mountain range, Azure Glass's clear, cold voice suddenly sounded beside him: "That is not a place for you to pry into."

Nightmare was startled again! He hadn't noticed when Azure Glass had approached this time either! This woman's movement technique was simply bizarre to the extreme!

He turned his head, looked at Azure Glass's calm, unmoving light purple eyes, and suddenly spoke, "The poison in my body isn't just being suppressed, is it? The medicine you're using is causing the toxins to change."

Azure Glass looked at him in silence for a moment before slowly saying, "Xiangliu Poison is extremely Yin and evil, with no cure. The Witch Grandfather's method is to fight poison with poison, using the power of 'Origin Blood Grass' to guide the toxins, refining them into your Qi and Blood Golden Core. If you can successfully endure it, the poison will no longer be poison, but will become a part of you, transforming into a unique 'Poison Gu Power'. If you cannot endure it, your body will perish and your Dao will vanish."

"Refining poison into Gu?" A sharp glint flashed in Nightmare's eyes. This method was ruthless and domineering, truly dancing on the edge of a knife! But he had to admit, this might be the only way to resolve this poison, and he might even turn misfortune into a blessing!

"Why tell me?" Nightmare asked.

"Because you are almost at your limit." Azure Glass's gaze seemed to penetrate his body. "The next time the poison flares up will be the moment of life and death. Whether you die from the poison, or the Poison Gu is initially formed, depends on your own fortune."

With that, she handed him a crimson, fingernail-sized fruit exuding a strong bloody scent.

"This is a 'Burning Blood Fruit'. It can stimulate your full potential and help you resist the final and most dangerous poisonous backlash. But similarly, it might also make you die faster. Whether to use it or not, you decide."

Azure Glass placed the fruit in his hand and turned to leave again.

Nightmare held the scorching fruit, watching Azure Glass disappear into the depths of the village, his eyes flickering with complex emotions.

This Lost Village, this mysterious silver-haired girl Azure Glass, and the so-called Witch Grandfather and Forbidden Ground, were all full of mysteries.

But he had no choice now.

Night fell.

Nightmare sat cross-legged on the wooden bed and consumed the Burning Blood Fruit.

The fruit instantly transformed into a violent, scorching torrent of energy, rushing into his limbs and bones! The previously suppressed Xiangliu Poison erupted like a thoroughly enraged Vicious Beast!

"Urgh—!"

An indescribable agony instantly swept through his entire body! Strange dark green patterns appeared on the surface of his skin, his Meridians felt as if they were being gnawed by countless poisonous insects, and his Golden Core trembled violently, cracks appearing on its surface!

Life and death hung in the balance!

Nightmare gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot. His willpower, forged from both his past and present lives, condensed to its extreme. He furiously circulated the Starfall Demonic Art and Azure Qi and Blood, guiding the power of the Burning Blood Fruit, engaging in the most brutal tug-of-war with the fully erupted Xiangliu Poison!

His body alternately became scorching red and icy green, and wisps of corrosive poisonous Qi seeped from his pores, even corroding pits into the wooden bed beneath him.

The Treasure-Seeking Spirit Weasel anxiously paced nearby, but dared not approach.

Just as Nightmare felt his consciousness about to be submerged by pain and toxicity, and his Golden Core was on the verge of completely shattering—

Deep within his heart, that wisp of dark golden Azure Qi and Blood suddenly emitted an unprecedented radiance!

An ancient, noble, and domineering power surged forth, forcibly intervening in the struggle between Demonic Essence and the poison!

It did not help either side, but with an unquestionable posture, it began to **forcibly fuse** the two!

Using Azure Qi and Blood as a medium, Burning Blood Fruit as fuel, and the Starfall Demonic Art as a framework, the terrifying Xiangliu Poison was gradually branded, compressed, and refined into his Demonic Essence and Qi and Blood!

This process was a hundred times more painful than mere confrontation! It was like shattering and reconstructing the Soul!

But Nightmare saw a glimmer of hope in it! He immediately gave up resisting, fully guiding the Azure Qi and Blood to cooperate with this Fusion process!

After an unknown period, as the first ray of dawn light shone into the wooden cabin.

The violent aura around Nightmare's body gradually subsided.

He slowly opened his eyes, and deep within his pupils, a faint, dark green light flickered and disappeared.

He spread his palm, and with a slight thought, a wisp of dark green Demonic Essence, emitting a faint poisonous mist, coiled and moved around his fingertips like a living creature.

The Xiangliu Poison had not vanished, but it no longer destroyed. Instead, it had transformed into a more bizarre and domineering **Poison-Attributed Demonic Essence** that he could control!

Turning misfortune into a blessing! The Poison Gu was initially formed!

Although his body was still weak and his strength had not fully recovered, the greatest crisis had passed! Moreover, his power attribute had become even more bizarre and difficult to guard against!

Just then, the System's notification sound finally rang out clearly:

"Ding! Successfully refined Xiangliu Poison, Physique transformed, obtained 'Elementary Myriad Poison Demonic Body', Demonic Essence now contains potent poison, poison resistance greatly increased."

"Ding! Strength recovered to Peak Late Golden Core Stage. Turning misfortune into a blessing, Foundation is more stable, Breakthrough to Nascent Soul Bottleneck weakened."

"Ding! Acquired new skill: Xiangliu Poison (Elementary)."

Nightmare slowly exhaled a turbid breath with a sweet, metallic scent.

He got out of bed, stretched his limbs, and felt the nascent power within him, poisonous yet completely under his command.

It was time to complete those "three things" and then leave this strange place.

He also wanted to see what secrets this Lost Village truly hid. And who exactly was the woman named Azure Glass.

New powers, new mysteries; the path ahead seemed even more perplexing.

The path ahead seemed even more perplexing.