He looked over.
The fire poison that had accumulated in his body just now had actually been released along with that Flame Serpent Art.
Moreover, the fire poison was like pouring oil on a blaze, making the Flame Serpent Art even more powerful.
The flame that had originally been about half a meter long had now grown to over a meter, and even the serpent-shaped fire it formed had become far more solid.
"Boom—!"
The fire serpent shot out of his body and slammed viciously into the wall of the Waste Elixir Chamber.
"Buzz—!"
The restrictive formation of the Waste Elixir Chamber lit up abruptly. Azure-gold runes flowed like living creatures, sending layer upon layer of ripples through the air.
This secret chamber had been built around a subsidiary formation of the Heavenly Xuan Sect's mountain-protecting grand formation. Without the formation's suppression, once the Core Earth Fire went out of control, it would be enough to turn the entire sect into scorched earth.
Shen Fan stared at the scene in dumbfounded disbelief, then lowered his head to look at his own hands.
Had he really cast that spell?
Was its power really that great?
And most importantly, this Flame Serpent Art could actually release the fire poison in his body, thereby increasing its power.
"Could it be that the Heavenly Xuan Sect's disciples of old never knew about this?"
Otherwise, why would so many people be unwilling to come to the Waste Elixir Chamber?
With the Flame Serpent Art, what was there to fear from fire poison?
Yet what Shen Fan did not know was—
In the cultivation world, the Flame Serpent Art was famously worthless.
That tiny little flame could barely even burn firewood or cook a meal.
No one bothered to study or cultivate it seriously.
Even fire spiritual root disciples who had come here in the past would not cultivate such a low-grade spell.
As a result, the Flame Serpent Art's powerful trait had only been discovered by Shen Fan now.
However, there was one more thing Shen Fan did not know.
Even if others knew, no one would cultivate the Flame Serpent Art.
That was because fire poison only existed in strange places such as the Core Earth Fire.
Once outside the Waste Elixir Chamber, the Flame Serpent Art was still trash!
Could it be that one was supposed to call an enemy to the Waste Elixir Chamber for a duel, then kill them with the Flame Serpent Art?
Besides, although absorbed fire poison could be expelled, could one guarantee it would not cause permanent damage?
Shen Fan crouched on the ground, thinking quietly.
Fire poison could increase the Flame Serpent Art's power, but it could not be stored.
If it remained in his body, it would inflict tremendous harm upon him.
If he carried fire poison out to fight, the losses would outweigh the gains!
"If only I could store the fire poison, then release it during battle to increase the Flame Serpent Art's power!"
Shen Fan thought to himself.
Just then, Shen Fan looked toward the place where the corpse puppet had exploded and died.
A flash of inspiration suddenly struck his mind, and he thought of a solution.
"I may not be able to store fire poison, but a corpse puppet can!"
The corpse puppet had exploded just now entirely because its physique and demon core attributes were incompatible. Stimulated by the fire poison, it had exploded.
If he refined another corpse puppet from a fire-attributed demonic beast and had it store the fire poison, then when necessary, absorbed the fire poison in its body through cultivation feedback—
Would that not increase the Flame Serpent Art's power?
At that thought, Shen Fan immediately grew excited.
But right afterward, his expression darkened again.
He could not carry a corpse puppet around the Heavenly Xuan Sect in broad daylight!
If the law enforcement disciples found out, he would not even know how he died!
"If only there were a smaller corpse puppet that I could carry on me!"
Shen Fan let his thoughts run wild.
Because aside from a corpse puppet, he could not think of anything else that could store fire poison.
If such a thing existed, he would not need to nervously use a corpse puppet as a substitute.
"Right!"
Shen Fan's eyes lit up again.
At the foot of the Spirit Field, there were some first-layer, first-rank Fire Mosquito demonic beasts.
A single bite from those things would leave a large welt on the skin containing fire poison, one that would not fade for ten days to half a month.
If he used them to make corpse puppets, would he not be able to carry them around?
These Fire Mosquitoes were the size of fists. They would be easy to alter and even easier to carry.
With that thought—
Taking advantage of the fact that night had just fallen, Shen Fan immediately left and headed toward the foot of the Spirit Field.
Before long, he spotted a dense swarm of Fire Mosquitoes amid the reeds beside a stream at the foot of the mountain.
The Fire Mosquitoes glowed like fireflies in the darkness. Gathered together in a vast patch, they emitted piercing buzzing sounds.
Although these Fire Mosquitoes were first-rank, first-layer demonic beasts, equivalent to the first layer of the Qi Refinement realm, they were not easy to provoke.
Pull one hair and the whole body moved. If he alarmed them, they would swarm him like bees.
Holding a homemade fishing net, Shen Fan silently crept closer.
Then he cast the net over the densest part of the swarm.
Startled, the fist-sized Fire Mosquitoes immediately scattered in every direction.
Seeing this, Shen Fan dragged the large net and ran into the distance.
By the time the Fire Mosquitoes caught up, Shen Fan had already vanished without a trace.
After shaking off the swarm, Shen Fan picked up a stone and began smashing the netful of Fire Mosquitoes wildly.
There were around seven or eight Fire Mosquitoes in the net. Before long, they were battered senseless, some dead and some injured.
After returning, Shen Fan immediately shut them inside a cage.
Since they had just been captured, there was no need for medicinal herbs to preserve the corpses.
Seeing this, Shen Fan directly took out one that was half-dead and began refining it.
The Nine Nether Corpse Refinement Art contained cruel methods for refining living humans directly.
If it had been a living person, Shen Fan naturally would not have been able to do it.
But this was a demonic beast—and a bloodsucking one at that—so Shen Fan immediately became righteous and awe-inspiring.
As the Nine Nether Corpse Refinement Art circulated, Shen Fan activated the Fire Mosquito's spiritual veins in the blink of an eye, opening a path straight into its demon core.
The next moment, the Fire Mosquito actually began flying miraculously, hovering before Shen Fan.
Shen Fan said in surprise, "This low-level demonic beast has such a simple structure. Refining it is actually this fast!"
Now that he had a complete corpse puppet, Shen Fan immediately began cultivating.
But Shen Fan soon discovered that the spiritual energy absorbed while the Fire Mosquito cultivated was not even one-fifth of what that monkey had absorbed before.
"This speed is practically negligible!"
Looking at the bland, tasteless Fire Mosquito corpse puppet before him, Shen Fan lost all interest.
"It seems that if I want to rely on corpse puppets for cultivation, I still need the corpses of high-level demonic beasts!"
Shen Fan thought to himself.
"However..."
Shen Fan narrowed his eyes at the Fire Mosquito.
During the cultivation process just now, the demon core inside the Fire Mosquito had absorbed fire poison and stored it within the demon core.
Shen Fan immediately tried to absorb the fire poison inside the Fire Mosquito through feedback.
Sure enough, it was exactly as he had guessed. He could absorb it whenever he wished.
"If..."
Shen Fan made another bold guess.
"If I dig out its demon core, will the fire poison inside disappear?"
After all, although the Fire Mosquito was small, it was still the size of a fist and not particularly convenient to carry. But if it were replaced with a demon core the size of a fingernail, that would be far more convenient.
When facing an enemy, he could crush the demon core, absorb the fire poison, and cast the Flame Serpent Art.
The entire process would flow in one breath, catching the enemy utterly off guard.
Before you continue