Inside the inn, Xiao Yan knocked on Gu Shenge's door. When no one answered for a long while, he felt puzzled, and Yao Lao's voice sounded in his ear.
"No need to knock. Your big brother Juan has already left."
"He left?"
At that, a flicker of surprise crossed Xiao Yan's face, but he didn't think much of it. He remembered Big Brother Juan mentioning that an Ancient Cave Mansion would appear in the Magic Beast Mountain Range in four months. Perhaps they would meet again then.
The most important thing now was to grow stronger and try to claim something valuable in the cave mansion contest.
Meanwhile, Gu Shenge had left without saying goodbye. He took Qing Lin and Xiao Yi Xian into the Magic Beast Mountain Range and arrived at Xiao Yi Xian's secret base: an extremely secluded valley shrouded in clouds and mist.
The valley was rich in spiritual energy, and many precious herbs that were hard to find elsewhere grew there. Their rich medicinal fragrance mingled with the mist, lifting the spirits.
Gu Shenge brought Qing Lin and Xiao Yi Xian down from the sky and surveyed the Medicine Valley. It was beautiful and brimming with life—a rather nice place.
There was a thatched hut in a corner of the valley, which Xiao Yi Xian had built some time ago. It looked rather ramshackle, but Gu Shenge had the Serenitea Pot, so he didn't need to worry about having somewhere to sleep.
Xiao Yi Xian asked Gu Shenge, "Are you satisfied with this place, Mr. Juan?"
"It's a nice place." Gu Shenge nodded in satisfaction.
The three of them then got to work. Xiao Yi Xian studied the Nine Deaths Poison Canon and learned how to prepare the poisons described within.
Qing Lin trained hard, hoping to reach Dou Shi in four months so she wouldn't have to get spanked by her young master.
Gu Shenge, meanwhile, gathered herbs from the valley and refined Poison Pills and medicinal pills for Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin to take as they trained.
The Blazing Flame Cauldron appeared before him. The medicinal cauldron was dark red, its shape naturally formed from volcanic stone polished by magma. Traces of flowing lava covered its body. It looked rather ugly and radiated scorching heat, while faint fire-element energy gathered around it.
Though it ranked second from last on the Heavenly Cauldron Ranking, it was still a rare treasure. There were many alchemists on the continent, yet only thirteen Heavenly Cauldrons.
A green flame surged in Gu Shenge's palm, so scorching that the air around it rippled from the heat and all moisture evaporated in an instant.
Under his control, the Green Lotus Core Flame entered the Blazing Flame Cauldron. One herb after another, each containing poison, followed.
Heart-Eroding Flowers, Jade Nether Grass, Ten-Year Black Kui Lotus, Wisteria Fruit...
The Green Lotus Core Flame burned, refined, and distilled the poisonous herbs. Then it fused them together into one small Nether Lotus Poison Pill after another, each containing potent poison. A single pill could kill a Dou Shi.
But to those with the Woeful Poison Body, the more potent the poison, the more they liked it. Their craving for poison was no less than an alchemist's craving for Heavenly Flames.
Based on Gu Shenge's calculations, Xiao Yi Xian could currently withstand poison at the Dou Shi level at most. Any stronger, and even her Woeful Poison Body wouldn't be able to bear it.
A moment later, Gu Shenge drew thirteen thumb-sized, emerald-green pills from the Blazing Flame Cauldron. They were still faintly warm and gave off an enticing fragrance, looking utterly delicious.
"Xiao Yi Xian."
Gu Shenge called to Xiao Yi Xian, who was beside the thatched hut. The graceful young woman came over. As she looked at the thirteen Poison Pills, wisps of their fragrance drifted toward her, stirring an inexplicable craving within her—the Woeful Poison Body's craving for poison.
Gu Shenge handed the Poison Pills to Xiao Yi Xian and cautioned her, "Take one a day. Don't take more."
Xiao Yi Xian picked up a Nether Lotus Poison Pill and swallowed it without hesitation.
The moment it went down, the potent poison within the pill erupted. Xiao Yi Xian's delicate body trembled, and pain appeared on her lovely face. Purple patterns spread across her fair skin, while poisonous miasma rose from her body. The plants around her withered as soon as the miasma touched them.
Stimulated by the Nether Lotus Poison Pill, Xiao Yi Xian's long-hidden Woeful Poison Body erupted once more.
As the poisonous miasma spread, a golden gleam appeared at Gu Shenge's fingertip. It was as bright and scorching as the first light of dawn, dispelling darkness and gloom. The light formed a barrier that enveloped Xiao Yi Xian, containing the miasma from her Woeful Poison Body and preventing it from spreading any further.
"Steady your mind and circulate the Nine Deaths Poison Canon. Use your Woeful Poison Body to absorb the poison within you."
Gu Shenge hurriedly instructed Xiao Yi Xian. She endured the pain, gritted her teeth, and circulated the Nine Deaths Poison Canon she had just learned, relying on her Woeful Poison Body to absorb and fuse with the poison from the Nether Lotus Poison Pill.
The Woeful Poison Body's unique properties revealed themselves in full. It digested the Nether Lotus Poison Pill's poison and fed it back to Xiao Yi Xian, turning it into her unique Poison Battle Qi. Her cultivation rose rapidly.
Half an hour later, Xiao Yi Xian had leaped from the Seventh Stage of Dou Qi to the peak of the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi, just half a step away from becoming a Dou Zhe.
Though medicinal pills couldn't raise one's cultivation at the Dou Qi stage, the Woeful Poison Body directly converted the poison into Poison Battle Qi, ignoring that rule.
The purplish-black miasma gradually receded into her body. Weariness showed on her graceful face, and sweat drenched her. Her white dress clung tightly to her curvaceous figure, turning almost translucent; her close-fitting undergarments and bellyband were faintly visible. She could barely stay on her feet.
Gu Shenge immediately dispelled the barrier and went forward to steady the swaying Xiao Yi Xian. A trace of tenderness flashed in his eyes as he gazed at her tired face. He carried her to the thatched hut, laid her down, and let her rest.
"So this is the Woeful Poison Body..."
He looked at the spot where Xiao Yi Xian had been standing. Though the barrier had contained it, the source poison from her Woeful Poison Body had still eaten into the ground, turning the soil a deep purple. The poison was extremely potent.
The Green Lotus Core Flame appeared in Gu Shenge's hand. He tossed it toward the poisoned patch of ground, burning a large pit into it and reducing the entire area to ash.
It seemed Xiao Yi Xian would have to take her Poison Pills somewhere desolate from now on. If this kept happening, a few more doses would destroy the Medicine Valley.
In the days that followed, training in the Medicine Valley continued steadily.
The Black Prison Soul-Devouring Python in the Serenitea Pot also completed its advancement. Stimulated by the soul of a fifth-tier magical beast and bolstered by the soul of the Snake-People Tribe's Great Commander that it had absorbed earlier, it crossed two levels, advancing directly from the high fifth tier to the low sixth tier—equivalent to a human Dou Emperor.
While Gu Shenge and the others enjoyed a comfortable life in the Medicine Valley, Xiao Yan was having a rough time.
Even without Xiao Yi Xian, Xiao Yan still clashed with the Wolf Head Mercenary Group. The conflict began over a hidden treasure cave—the same one from the original story—which Xiao Yan and the Wolf Head Mercenary Group discovered at the same time.
The Wolf Head Mercenary Group's young leader died at Xiao Yan's hands, prompting the group to issue a bounty and hunt him down, driving him into the Magic Beast Mountain Range. After outmaneuvering his pursuers and turning the tables on them, Xiao Yan killed the Wolf Head mercenaries one by one and broke through to Seven-Star Dou Zhe.
Gu Shenge hadn't neglected his own cultivation, either. After training diligently for more than two months, he advanced from Seven-Star Dou Emperor to Eight-Star Dou Emperor. Then he grew lazy again and didn't feel like training.
If Gu Shenge had to be compared to a well-known anime character...
He was Battle Through the Heavens' very own Frieza.
Qing Lin said that one was influenced by the company one kept, and that she'd learned it all from her young master.
P.S. Yun Yun will appear in the next chapter.
Before you continue