Ling Yangzi hadn't sensed the highly poisonous qi, and he grew suspicious.
Then he saw Chen Ming beside the pool, already there before him.
He secretly used a Magic Art to sense Chen Ming's strength and realm.
"So he's just a little Qi Gathering Realm cultivator!"
Ling Yangzi's thoughts shifted. He released his Aura and said coldly, "Have you discovered anything unusual here?"
Ling Yangzi had already reached the Contemplation Realm. His soul had condensed into a Divine Soul, and his magical abilities were on a completely different level from those of a Qi Gathering Realm cultivator. Naturally, he didn't take Chen Ming, a mere Qi Gathering Realm cultivator, seriously.
"I haven't seen anything unusual!"
Pressed down by Ling Yangzi's Aura, Chen Ming felt a chill in his heart. This man probably means me no good. His guard rose another notch.
Naturally, he wouldn't tell Ling Yangzi that he'd been gathering the highly poisonous qi while refining his spell.
He gave a simple reply and prepared to leave.
Ling Yangzi sneered and snapped, "Kid, how could my senses be wrong? Highly poisonous qi was clearly rising here, yet now there isn't a trace of it. And you're saying nothing unusual happened?"
Convinced that Chen Ming was lying to deceive him, Ling Yangzi felt as if his opportunity had been stolen. He circulated his magical power, and a glimmer of azure light appeared in his hand before he flicked it toward Chen Ming's face.
Chen Ming hurriedly backed away to dodge.
Who knew that the glimmer of azure light would follow him like his shadow, impossible to evade?
"A Qi Gathering Realm cultivator, and you still won't behave in front of me? I'll let you taste the Soul-Devouring Heart-Piercing Pain!"
Ling Yangzi watched Chen Ming dodge again and again with a mocking smile.
Ling Yangzi had never been a righteous cultivator. He'd struggled to break through from the Qi Gathering Realm into the Contemplation Realm, and had even cultivated a plume of "Azure Wood Poisonous Gas."
When Chen Ming refined his spell, Ling Yangzi had happened to be nearby. His senses were exceptionally keen to poison, and that was what drew him over.
Since beginning his cultivation, Ling Yangzi had never truly come across any opportunity.
Now that he'd finally sensed one, how could he leave empty-handed?
Even if he couldn't obtain the opportunity, Chen Ming looked like no more than a Rogue Cultivator in the Qi Gathering Realm, with no backing.
Ling Yangzi had therefore decided to kill him and seize his spiritual energy, strengthening his "Azure Wood Poisonous Gas."
Chased by the glimmer of azure light, Chen Ming's magical power gradually ran low.
Just as it was about to hit him, the red worm in his Sea of Consciousness stirred slightly and appeared in Chen Ming's hand in an instant.
Chen Ming paused. The red worm swelled in his palm, transforming into a ferocious giant insect. It split open its mouth and sucked in, swallowing the glimmer of azure light.
That glimmer of azure light had been formed from the "Azure Wood Poisonous Gas" Ling Yangzi had cultivated.
If it hit, both flesh and soul would be corroded by the poison.
But the ferocious giant insect had swallowed the azure light without suffering any harm. It shrank back into a thumb-sized red worm and landed in Chen Ming's palm.
"So that's how it works!"
He'd only just mastered the Secret Method and hadn't had time to properly comprehend how to use the "Hundred Thousand Eight Thousand Insects" when Ling Yangzi had arrived.
Before they'd even exchanged a few words, they were already fighting.
Chen Ming had panicked for a moment and lost his bearings.
Fortunately, the red worm formed by the Secret Method "Hundred Thousand Eight Thousand Insects" was highly intelligent. It had activated its protective instincts on its own and resolved the crisis.
The moment the red worm moved, Chen Ming instantly understood the Secret Method's mysteries.
"Go!"
Chen Ming urged it with his magical power. A pair of fleshy wings sprouted from the red worm's back.
The red worm beat its wings, its body wreathed in billowing, misty vapor, and flew toward Ling Yangzi.
Ling Yangzi had grown grim when he saw the azure light he'd sent out get swallowed.
But now, seeing Chen Ming release the red worm, he was delighted rather than alarmed!
"My senses were right! The highly poisonous qi here must have given birth to this Spirit Worm!"
Ling Yangzi didn't dodge. He formed hand seals and chanted under his breath.
Suddenly, streams of Azure Wood Poisonous Gas sprayed from his mouth and nose, weaving together into a fine poison net in front of him. It was meant to capture the Spirit Worm.
"This Spirit Worm belongs in my hands!"
"Seize!"
Ling Yangzi shouted, and the poison net dropped in front of him.
The net kept shrinking. But as soon as it touched the vapor swirling around the red worm, it dissolved in an instant and vanished without a trace!
Ling Yangzi was stunned. He hadn't expected the worm to be so powerful. He hurriedly retreated, not daring to let the Spirit Worm get close.
Chen Ming naturally wouldn't let him leave and leave himself a future threat.
With a shift of his thoughts, the red worm burst apart with a bang, transforming into a cloud of blood-red mist.
The blood-red mist quivered constantly. Countless different kinds of poisonous insects flew out of it, swarming toward Ling Yangzi.
Even though Ling Yangzi practiced the Heretical Path of poison, the sight still made his scalp crawl.
"I was blind! How could I have failed to see that this man had such demonic methods?!"
Ling Yangzi had no time to worry about anything else. He pulled out a black Earthen Jar and spat out his blood essence.
The black Earthen Jar absorbed Ling Yangzi's blood essence and trembled slightly. Streams of azure poison surged out, forming a barrier in front of him to keep the swarm at bay.
"Fellow Daoist, it was all a misunderstanding!"
"I was blind to your greatness earlier. Please, stop!"
Ling Yangzi bitterly regretted it. He regretted letting greed cloud his judgment and underestimating other cultivators. Even if their realms were lower than his, they might have some extraordinary methods. He should have been more cautious!
His thoughts raced, but his mouth kept begging for mercy.
But Chen Ming had no intention of stopping!
"Crack, crack!"
The swarm kept gnawing at the barrier in front of Ling Yangzi, sending out a series of cracking sounds.
Seeing that he couldn't hold on much longer, Ling Yangzi gritted his teeth. His Divine Soul leaped out of his Sea of Consciousness, abandoning his body as it fled.
If his Divine Soul escaped, he could still become a Ghost Cultivator someday, or seize a new body and start over.
Although Chen Ming hadn't yet entered the Contemplation Realm, he understood some of the mysteries of a Divine Soul formed at that level. How could he let Ling Yangzi's Divine Soul escape?
"Gather!"
Chen Ming softly chanted a spell, and the swarm instantly merged back into a single worm. Fleshy wings rose from its back, and in the blink of an eye, it caught up with Ling Yangzi's Divine Soul.
A Divine Soul was inherently illusory, like moonlight reflected in water, without shape or substance.
But the red worm's body wavered and grew as illusory as a Divine Soul, then landed on Ling Yangzi's Divine Soul and began tearing into it.
Ling Yangzi felt the Soul-Devouring Heart-Piercing Pain as real as could be!
"Ah!"
"What in the world is this thing?!"
Pain sent Ling Yangzi's Divine Soul plummeting, unable to fly away.
Before long, the red worm had completely devoured Ling Yangzi's Divine Soul. It didn't spare his body, either, devouring it until not a trace remained.
Chen Ming opened his palm. The red worm settled quietly into it, and a stream of pure Origin Energy seeped into Chen Ming's body.
The cultivation methods and secret arts inscribed in Ling Yangzi's Divine Soul were also transmitted into Chen Ming's consciousness.
"This is the true foundation of the Secret Method 'Hundred Thousand Eight Thousand Insects'!"
"Using this Spirit Worm as a vessel, I can devour the spirituality of all things under Heaven and Earth, transform it into Origin Energy, and feed it back to myself!"
"Even the traces of cultivation carved into a Divine Soul can be traced back to their source and turned into Magic Arts, allowing me to cultivate them!"
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