The matter at the border of the Jia Ma Empire had been settled, and the Snake-Person Empire had begun making feverish preparations to build on the ceded land.
Though Medusa had temporarily taken the throne as empress, she knew that her position was not yet secure, and that Lin Chen's affairs were more important.
So she left the specific matters to the elders of her clan and continued to stay by Lin Chen's side.
Lin Chen did not linger in Jia Ma Holy City. His destination was clear—the Chu Yun Empire, where the Nether Poison Fire awaited!
This time, he brought only Medusa and Zi Yan with him.
Hai Bodong needed to remain in charge of the Mittel Family and assist Jia Xingtian with postwar affairs.
As for Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin, Lin Chen had strictly ordered them to stay at the Mittel Family, focus on cultivating, and wait for his return.
Xiao Yi Xian in particular needed to be fully prepared, for the Nether Poison Fire would be key to her gaining complete control of the Woe Poison Body.
The three of them made no attempt to hide their movements. They tore open space directly.
They hurried toward the Chu Yun Empire at the fastest speed they could manage.
The Chu Yun Empire was renowned for its poisons, and most of its sects excelled at using them.
Its ways were even more ruthless and vicious than those of the Jia Ma Empire.
The Imperial Family there was relatively weak, and maintained its rule largely by balancing the power of great sects like the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect.
When the terrifying auras of Lin Chen and his companions descended without the slightest attempt at concealment above the imperial capital of the Chu Yun Empire, the entire city was instantly plunged into panic!
"A Dou Zong powerhouse! And there's an even more terrifying aura!"
"It's them! That fiend from the Jia Ma Empire!"
"What has he come to our Chu Yun Empire for? Is he going to wipe us out?"
The capital's guards were on high alert, but not one of them dared to take to the sky and stop them.
The allied armies of the three nations and the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect's ancestor had both met their doom. For these guards to charge in would be no different from an arm swinging at a chariot.
Lin Chen's gaze was indifferent as his soul power swept across the entire capital like a rising tide.
In an instant, it locked onto the most luxurious palace deep within the imperial grounds.
With Medusa and Zi Yan, he stepped into the Golden Throne Hall as if entering his own backyard.
The emperor of the Chu Yun Empire was a middle-aged man with a pale face and heavy bags under his eyes. His cultivation was only at the Dou Wang level.
He was discussing with several ministers how to deal with the mess of ceding territory and paying reparations.
When three figures suddenly appeared out of thin air, he was so startled that he slid right off his dragon throne.
"Y-you... who are you?! How dare you trespass in the imperial palace!"
The emperor shouted with a show of bluster, his voice trembling.
The several Dou Wang-level imperial guards beside him were even more tense. They drew their weapons, yet lacked the courage to take a single step forward.
Medusa merely shot them a cold glance and released a trace of the pressure of a Dou Venerate.
The entire hall instantly felt as if it had been frozen over. No one dared even breathe too loudly, and those with weaker cultivation collapsed straight to the floor.
Lin Chen could not be bothered with pleasantries. He got straight to the point. "Where is the Nether Poison Fire?"
The emperor's face turned as white as paper, and cold sweat poured down him.
The Nether Poison Fire was a treasured prize the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect had coveted for years, as well as one of the Chu Yun Empire's hopes of turning the tables.
How could he reveal its location so easily?
"I... I don't know what you're talking about..."
The emperor tried to bluff his way out.
Lin Chen's gaze turned cold. He did not make a move, but Zi Yan beside him was already growing impatient.
She clenched her little fist and swung it through the air toward a coiling golden pillar so wide that several people would have been needed to encircle it.
BANG!!!
A tremendous boom rang out. The impossibly sturdy golden pillar was blasted to pieces by an invisible force, scattering into a storm of golden dust!
The entire hall shook violently!
"Talk, or my next punch is going to hit your head!"
Zi Yan stood with her hands on her hips, her bright, round eyes fixed on the emperor. Her tone was innocent, but her threat sent chills through everyone.
The emperor and his ministers were scared out of their wits. The little girl's strength was far too terrifying!
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
The emperor completely broke down. He slumped to the floor and stammered,
"The Nether Poison Fire... according to... according to the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect's investigations, it may be located in the deepest part of the 'Nether Poison Swamp,' to the northwest of the empire!"
"Poisonous miasma fills that place, and no life remains for a thousand li around it. Even the people from the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect don't dare venture into its core area..."
"The exact location, I... I really don't know!"
"The Nether Poison Swamp..."
Lin Chen committed the name to memory and swept his soul power over the emperor once more, confirming that he had not lied.
"If your information is wrong, you'll bear the consequences."
Lin Chen left them with those icy words, then vanished in a flash.
Medusa and Zi Yan disappeared from the hall with him.
The members of the Chu Yun Empire's Imperial Family were left staring at one another, still shaken to the core.
Their hearts were filled with humiliation and fear.
The Nether Poison Swamp, northwest of the Chu Yun Empire.
Even before they got close, an overpowering stench of poisonous miasma hit them.
As far as the eye could see stretched an endless expanse of swamp, its mud a bizarre shade of dark green.
Bubbles burbled up and burst, releasing clouds of colorful poison.
Gray-green poisonous clouds shrouded the sky above the swamp year-round, keeping out the sunlight.
The entire region seemed eerie and terrifying.
The bones of all manner of poisonous insects and ferocious beasts littered the ground, and the air was steeped in deathly silence.
This was a forbidden land of life.
"Ugh, this place smells awful!"
Zi Yan pinched her nose and fanned the air with a look of disgust.
Even her powerful Ancient Dragon Bear constitution found the extreme poisonous miasma unpleasant.
Medusa also furrowed her brow slightly. A faint seven-colored glow rose around her, keeping the poisonous miasma at bay.
Her Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python bloodline feared no ordinary poison, but the poison here was far too dense and impure.
Only Lin Chen remained as calm as ever.
The Red Lotus Karma Fire within him flickered faintly, radiating an aura of purification.
Any poisonous miasma that came near him was silently purified like snow melting in the sun. It could not get close to him at all.
"Stay close to me."
Lin Chen said this, then stepped into the Poison Marsh first.
Wherever he went, the poisonous mud parted beneath his feet as if moved by an invisible force, and the poisonous miasma retreated on its own.
A safe path formed in their wake.
The three of them pressed deeper into the swamp. The closer they came to its center, the thicker the poisonous miasma grew.
Before long, poisonous monsters formed from condensed poison began to appear, roaring as they rushed at them.
But before they could get close, Lin Chen casually burned them into nothingness with a single blast of karma-fire sword energy.
At last, in the deepest part of the Poison Marsh, they came upon a strange sight.
A vast basin lay before them, shaped like a giant bowl with a hollow at its center.
There was no mud in the middle of the basin, but a pool of water as black as ink and as thick as oil!
The water lay still, without so much as a ripple, yet radiated a poison so extreme it made their souls tremble!
And in the middle of the pool, a flame hovered!
The flame was a strange, ghostly green, its shape shifting unpredictably.
At one moment it danced like a will-o'-the-wisp; the next, it flicked like a serpent's tongue.
Its poison warped the space around it, corroding it until it seemed to twist.
A bone-deep chill and deathly silence hung in the air.
It was the Nether Poison Fire, ranked twentieth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking!
Unlike the violent heat of ordinary Heavenly Flames, the Nether Poison Fire gave off an extreme, sinister poison and corrosive power!
And just as Lin Chen had expected, this Heavenly Flame had existed here for who knew how many years and had already developed rudimentary intelligence!
Sensing the arrival of Lin Chen and his companions, the ghost-green flame suddenly leapt, releasing intense hostility and a wave of warning!
"So it really has developed intelligence."
Lin Chen's eyes brightened slightly. An intelligent Heavenly Flame was more valuable, but also much harder to subdue.
The Nether Poison Fire seemed to sense the aura of the Red Lotus Karma Fire on Lin Chen.
The purifying power frightened it instinctively, and it struck first!
SPLASH!
The poisonous water of the Ink Pool seemed to come alive, surging into the air and forming countless savage serpents of toxic water.
They lunged at Lin Chen from every direction!
At the same time, the ghost-green flame swelled and split into countless tiny rays of poisonous fire.
They shot toward him like a downpour!
Every ray held enough poison to kill a Dou Emperor!
"Watch out!"
Medusa cried out. Seven-colored light flared brightly, forming a screen before them.
It blocked most of the giant serpents and poisonous fire rays, but the screen hissed as the poison corroded it.
Zi Yan let out an excited shout and charged straight ahead.
Her little fists swung, smashing every attack that slipped through. The poisonous energy seemed to have little effect on her.
Lin Chen did not let the two women interfere any further. He stepped forward and faced the Nether Poison Fire itself.
"If you had stayed dormant for another few thousand years, you might have made me work for it."
"But your intelligence has only just awakened. How much power can you really wield?"
He formed a hand seal, and the Red Lotus Karma Fire surged out of his body once more.
This time, however, the karma fire did not appear violent. Instead, it formed a massive blood-red lotus dais that rotated slowly.
It enveloped the Nether Poison Fire.
The karma-fire lotus dais radiated a sacred light of purification.
Wherever it passed, the giant serpents of poisonous water and the rays of poisonous fire met their natural bane and dissolved.
Purification was the absolute counter to the Nether Poison Fire!
The Nether Poison Fire let out a shrill screech. Its ghost-green flames twisted madly as it tried to resist.
It gathered the poisonous energy of the entire Ink Pool and even stirred up the sinister poison beneath the earth.
The energy formed a gigantic ghostly green face, which opened its mouth and bit down at the karma-fire lotus dais!
"Futile resistance."
Lin Chen's gaze turned cold, and the surging power of his Spirit Realm soul strengthened the karma-fire lotus dais.
At the same time, he joined his fingers like a sword and unleashed a Void-Splitting Sword Qi infused with the power of karma fire.
It struck the ghostly green face between the brows before the face could react!
HISS!
The ghostly face let out a shrill wail and instantly fell apart!
The karma-fire lotus dais pressed down in its wake, completely enveloping the Nether Poison Fire itself!
HSSSSS—!
A fierce sound of purification rang out as the karma fire frantically refined the Nether Poison Fire's essence.
Its violent will and impurities were quickly stripped away.
The ghost-green flame darted frantically around inside the lotus dais, but it could not break through the karma fire's seal.
Instead, it grew purer and purer, its color gradually shifting from ghostly green to a deeper, clearer dark green.
The process of subduing it went even more smoothly than expected.
The absolute superiority of the opposing attributes left the Nether Poison Fire with little power to resist.
About half an hour later, the karma-fire lotus dais slowly faded away.
Only a fist-sized flame remained, dark green and as pure as the finest jade, burning quietly where it had been.
The Nether Poison Fire had been completely purified!
Lin Chen opened his mouth and drew in the flame seed.
BOOM!
Pure, surging poisonous-fire energy erupted inside him!
But the energy had already been purified by the karma fire, stripped of its violent and corrosive properties.
Only its most fundamental fire attribute remained, along with a fragment of a strange poison law.
The Blood Scripture circulated wildly, guiding the energy into the Red Lotus and tempering his meridians and flesh.
His aura began to rise once more!
One-Star Dou Emperor peak... Two-Star Dou Emperor... Three-Star Dou Emperor... Four-Star Dou Emperor...
In the end, his cultivation stabilized at the Five-Star Dou Emperor level!
His foundation was also incredibly solid, and his understanding of fire and poison had deepened another level.
Lin Chen slowly opened his eyes. A flash of dark green flame flickered in his pupils and disappeared.
He did not absorb the Nether Poison Fire completely. Instead, he suppressed most of its essence and sealed it deep within his body.
"Let's head back."
Jia Ma Holy City, a secret chamber of the Mittel Family.
Xiao Yi Xian sat cross-legged, her face slightly pale.
The power of the Woe Poison Body within her seemed restless.
Qing Lin watched her anxiously from the side.
Just then, the chamber door swung open, and Lin Chen appeared.
"Lin Chen!"
Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin cried out in delight at the same time.
Lin Chen nodded and walked over to Xiao Yi Xian.
Without any unnecessary explanation, he simply reached out and pressed a finger to her brow.
In the next instant, a dark green energy—pure and gentle, yet imbued with the ultimate mysteries of poison—
slowly flowed from Lin Chen's fingertip into Xiao Yi Xian's body!
This was a portion of the Nether Poison Fire's origin that Lin Chen had purified and suppressed!
"Ah!"
Xiao Yi Xian's delicate body suddenly shuddered, and she let out a muffled groan of pain.
This foreign poisonous energy clashed violently and resonated with the Woe Poison Body within her!
Her skin instantly flickered between light and shadow, turning deathly pale one moment and an eerie green the next.
A far more terrifying poisonous miasma than before spread uncontrollably.
Even the air was corroded, sizzling.
"Hold fast to your mind! Guide it, fuse with it! This is your chance to take complete control of your poison body!"
Lin Chen's deep voice rang through Xiao Yi Xian's mind like a great bell.
At the same time, a gentle force of Red Lotus Karma Fire shielded her heart and vital meridians,
preventing her from being consumed by the backlash of her out-of-control poison energy.
Xiao Yi Xian gritted her teeth, cold sweat pouring down her forehead, but she trusted Lin Chen absolutely.
She desperately circulated the poison-control cultivation method Lin Chen had taught her,
guiding the Nether Poison Fire's origin into a difficult fusion with the source of her own Woe Poison Body.
It was an extremely painful and dangerous process, like dancing on the edge of a blade.
The poisonous miasma kept corroding her, only to be dispelled by the power of karma fire.
Xiao Yi Xian's body became a battlefield for two extreme forces.
Time passed, bit by bit.
The pain and struggle gradually faded from Xiao Yi Xian's face, leaving it calm.
In the end, an aura of solemn, sacred beauty even appeared upon her features.
The poisonous Dou Qi within her, once wild and unruly,
began to grow docile and orderly under the guidance and suppression of the Nether Poison Fire's origin.
Like countless rivers flowing into the sea, it gathered in her dantian, slowly condensing into the embryonic form of a poison-fire origin that radiated a dark green light!
The poisonous miasma around her began to draw inward as well, no longer spreading unchecked.
Instead, it formed a faint dark green halo around her body, shielding her.
After who knew how long, Xiao Yi Xian slowly opened her eyes.
What did her eyes look like? They were still clear and bright.
Yet deep within her pupils seemed to lie two miniature Netherworld whirlpools, profound and mysterious.
Her aura had leapt from Dou Master to Peak Dou Ling!
And her cultivation was incredibly stable!
She had successfully fused the Nether Poison Fire's origin into her own Naling.
Not only had she gained initial mastery over the poison fire and taken complete control of the Woe Poison Body,
but she had also turned a calamity into a blessing, her strength surging!
"Lin Chen... I... I did it!"
Xiao Yi Xian felt the poisonous Dou Qi within her respond as readily as her own arm.
The fear that it might run out of control at any moment was gone, and tears of excitement filled her eyes.
Lin Chen reached out to support her and said calmly, "Very good."
"The Woe Poison Body has become an asset. Keep cultivating diligently, and your future will know no bounds."
Looking at Xiao Yi Xian's completely transformed bearing and formidable strength,
Qing Lin's eyes brimmed with envy and happiness for her.
Lin Chen's gaze swept across the two women, and he already had a plan.
Xiao Yi Xian had just brought her poison body under control, and Qing Lin's Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils still needed further development.
It was time to head for the Central Plains!
Before you continue