Trying a New Cultivation Art (1 / 2)

But to Zhao Er, these risks seemed insignificant.

His panel showed that prolonged exposure to toxins had given him the "Poison Resistance" attribute. In particular, his exposure to the highly poisonous miasma a few days earlier had raised it even further.

Some of the basic toxins Zhao Er now came into contact with had no effect on him at all.

Most importantly, his Poison Resistance only reduced the harm toxins did to his body; it did not diminish their effects during cultivation.

Thus, when Zhao Er cultivated this art, he could naturally eliminate its dangers outright. An art that offered others only one chance of survival in ten was, in his eyes, an exceptionally fine cultivation method rarely found.

The greatest difficulty Zhao Er had encountered while cultivating the Five Poisons Art was that his body could not withstand the tremendous pain and physical depletion brought on by external training.

Now he had a new art, one that replaced external training with ingesting toxins. Under these circumstances, it should drain considerably less energy than before.

This also meant his cultivation speed would increase dramatically.

"How good is this art, really? I'll know once I try it."

Closing the panel, Zhao Er prepared to try cultivating the new art. With all the knowledge of its cultivation already in his mind, he had a deep understanding of it.

"But... there's a problem now. The poisons I need to swallow for this art... I don't think I have any spare."

He looked at the large pot of iron sand. Every batch of Heavenly Dragon Toxin he had harvested had been ground up and added to it, along with a considerable amount of herbal toxins.

But these had already blended into the poisonous sand. As things stood, the only toxins available for him to swallow were in that tiny remaining quantity of poisonous herbs.

"There aren't many of these herbs, and most of them only have a supporting effect."

Zhao Er gave the herbs a single glance before looking away. In the end, his gaze returned to the poisonous sand.

He had begun preparing this poisonous sand back when he cultivated the Poison Sand Palm. Later, when he began cultivating the Five Poisons Art, he had merely added new herbs rather than replacing it.

Over all that time, with constant stir-roasting, additions of Heavenly Dragon Toxin every two days, and a mixture of various herbs, the river sand that had originally been brownish had now turned pure black.

Examined closely in the sunlight, its surface even gave off a red sheen.

Zhao Er was genuinely reluctant to simply discard this poisonous sand. Besides, he really had no other toxins on hand particularly suited to cultivation.

So...

Gritting his teeth, Zhao Er took a wooden bucket out of the side room, drew a bucket of water from the well, then poured it into the iron pot containing the poisonous sand.

Alcohol would actually have been more suitable, since it could amplify the toxins, but Zhao Er did not have that much alcohol on hand. He could only use well water instead.

Moreover, to keep high temperatures from destroying the centipede venom, Zhao Er had to control the heat strictly, using only a low flame to simmer it slowly.

After nearly an entire afternoon of soaking and stirring, Zhao Er had simmered the once pitch-black poisonous sand until it had turned somewhat pale, ultimately obtaining a large bowl of sticky, paste-like liquid. Though he called it simmering, soaking would actually have been a more fitting description.

But the process no longer mattered. In any case, when evening came, Zhao Er pinched his nose and forcefully poured the entire bowl of paste into his mouth.

It was merely lukewarm liquid as it entered his mouth, yet the bitterness of the herbs, mixed with an indescribable foul, fishy stench, hit Zhao Er so hard that his vision swam.

Swallowing with difficulty, Zhao Er felt his throat tighten. Immediately afterward, a burning sensation spread straight from his throat to his stomach.

Unable to spare any attention for the complicated flavors in his mouth, Zhao Er began using the Guiding Technique of the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body, making his blood absorb the Heavenly Dragon Toxin he had just swallowed.

Unlike ordinary medicinal ingredients, toxins offered no gentle nourishment, only pure destruction. Unless absorbed quickly, they would inflict devastating damage on his internal organs.

Had it only been ordinary centipede venom, swallowing it would not actually have posed much of a threat, since stomach acid could break it down. But this also contained various poisonous herbs; all kinds of toxins were now mixed together.

Fortunately, Zhao Er himself had the lv.2 Poison Resistance attribute, which could prevent toxin-induced bodily damage to a certain extent and give him more room to maneuver.

Even so, this bowl of highly concentrated Heavenly Dragon Toxin subjected Zhao Er to extraordinary pain.

As his blood absorbed the toxins, Zhao Er's body temperature soared. Within moments, his body began turning red, and as time passed, the color grew increasingly intense, as though blood might drip from him at any moment.

Once all the toxins had been absorbed, Zhao Er switched from the Guiding Technique to the circulation method, accelerating the flow of blood through his body and beginning to use the toxins within it to temper his flesh.

The Heavenly Dragon Toxin in the poisonous sand truly lived up to its long accumulation. Thanks to the art's potency and Zhao Er's upgraded Poison Resistance, not only did the toxins fail to harm him, they began rapidly tempering his body instead.

By the time he had finished absorbing and processing the bowl of poisonous liquid extracted from the sand, the blazing sun no longer hung outside. The sky had darkened, and the moon already hung above the branches.

"Event completed. Beginning settlement!"

"Event settlement: Cultivation!"

"Cultivated art: Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body"

"Experience gained: Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body +11"

[Cultivation: Not yet entered a realm]

[Art: Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body (blue) lv.1 (88/100)]

[Move: Five Poisons Fist (white) lv.1 (34/100)]

[Poison Resistance (passive): lv.2 (1/500)]

[Available skill points: 0]

With the gains from cultivation itself added to the settlement reward, this session had greatly increased Zhao Er's proficiency in his art.

"The speed is certainly fast, and it really does take considerably less energy. It just uses up an awful lot of poison."

Looking at the sand that had already turned pale, Zhao Er rubbed his belly, which still ached faintly, and began worrying about where to find tomorrow's toxins.

Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body absorbed toxins through ingestion and required no external training. This freed him from worrying about how long he had to train each day and indeed saved considerable energy, but it also directly multiplied his toxin consumption.

Zhao Er had also discovered that, after his Poison Resistance leveled up, even swallowing toxins no longer gave him Poison Resistance experience.

"So I have to get new toxins as soon as possible!"

If Heavenly Dragon Toxin was insufficient, he could only seek out more effective toxins. Zhao Er already had an idea about that.

The trouble was that the toxins in the miasma of the Clear Radiance Mountains were extremely unstable. No one knew whether a drifting patch of miasma would be highly poisonous or only mildly toxic. Otherwise, heading straight into the forest to absorb miasma for cultivation would have been a good choice.