Ping Qi said again, "Yang Chenglin was willing to pay such a steep price. What was his goal?" As he spoke, a thoughtful look crossed his face.
Yan Chihuo replied, "Elder Yang said he wants to advance to the Dao Foundation."
"Advance to the Dao Foundation?" Ping Qi sneered. "Dream on! Advancing to the Dao Foundation isn't so easy. Besides, he's covered in poison, and his body is already impure... Forget it. His affairs are none of my concern. Just make sure you don't get eaten by his poisonous insects, and agree to it. It'll be good for you, too."
Yan Chihuo nodded in agreement, bowed, and took his leave. After he had disappeared from view, Ping Qi drew his right hand from his sleeve. In it was a jade shard as thin as a cicada's wing, engraved with several strange characters.
He coughed softly twice and murmured, "I still can't use Heavenly Mystery Divination lightly."
The next day, Yan Chihuo returned to Yang Chenglin's cave. Yang Chenglin was delighted to see him and once again had him draw out the poison from the five kinds of poisonous insects.
Several months later, only three females and three males remained of each of the five kinds of insects. Two of the females and two of the males had each devoured one of their own kind. The remaining female and male kept well away from those four, seemingly terrified of them.
Yang Chenglin looked rather satisfied. He took out two male Golden-Thread Snakes and made them attack each other. Before long, one snake was swallowed by the other. Its venom grew even stronger, and within moments it showed signs of being unable to hold on. Yan Chihuo had no choice but to let the snake bite his finger again.
This Golden-Thread Snake