Heavenly Poison Swamp

"So that's it. No wonder..." After hearing Xiao Yan's account, Yao Lao finally understood why Xiao Yan had lost control earlier. "I was wondering why this place was called the Heavenly Poison Swamp when it was clearly a forest, without so much as a patch of marsh. So it was because of this neurotoxin."

Indeed, someone poisoned by this neurotoxin and lost in its illusions was just like someone who had stumbled into a swamp, sinking deeper and deeper until it swallowed them completely. Even Xiao Yan, despite breaking free of the illusion the neurotoxin had created, would nearly have met his end here without Yao Lao's help.

Heavenly Flames could ward off the vast majority of poisons in the world, but this neurotoxin alone was beyond them. It did not actually harm its victims; it merely made them lose themselves in its illusions. Thus, the Heavenly Flames' automatic protection did not react to it. Of course, this was also because Xiao Yan was still too weak. Had he been stronger or prepared in advance, this so-called neurotoxin would have had no effect on him.

"Teacher, how are you doing now?" Xiao Yan pressed.

"This forest seems to place an enormous restriction on soul force. Mine is consumed here at over a hundred times the rate outside. Those black vines trapped you for a full four hours, and throughout that time, my soul force was protecting you. Now I have almost none left." Yao Lao sighed, an unmistakable weakness in his voice. "I'm afraid I'll soon fall into a deep sleep again, just as I did before."

"I'll find a way to help you recover your soul force as soon as possible." Xiao Yan fell silent for a while before speaking slowly.

"Heh... I don't doubt that. After all, your performance has always pleased me. But for a while, I'm afraid you'll have to walk this road alone." Yao Lao's voice grew fainter and fainter.

Just as his voice was about to fade into silence, Yao Lao seemed to remember something, and his hurried, feeble voice sounded again.

"Oh, right. Once I'm asleep, you can use my ring too. The Hundred Antidotes Pill I refined earlier is inside. If you really find the Netherworld Poison Flame, use it to devour the flame. The Naling you'll need to devour Heavenly Flames is also in the ring. I've stored some bone spirit cold flame in there as well. If you encounter any danger, you can use it..."

After those final instructions, Yao Lao's voice never sounded again. It seemed he had fallen completely into a deep sleep.

Yao Lao's slumber did not leave Xiao Yan particularly flustered. After all, in his previous life, he had also walked his path alone, with no one to rely on. He had long since grown used to that kind of life. He had merely lost a useful helper who could shoulder his troubles for him.

Besides, although Yao Lao's slumber meant he had one less trump card, it also gave Xiao Yan a little more freedom. He could now use many methods and practice Dou Techniques that he could not reveal in front of Yao Lao. So this turn of events was not entirely without benefits.

Xiao Yan did not pause for even a moment over Yao Lao's slumber. He took several Qi Recovery Pills from his Storage Ring and tossed them into his mouth, then strode deeper into the Heavenly Poison Swamp as his Dou Qi recovered. He knew full well that this neurotoxin was clearly not something a region like this could naturally produce. Something had to be hidden within the Heavenly Poison Swamp. Even if it was not the Netherworld Poison Flame, it had to be some rare and wondrous treasure.

Venturing deep into the Heavenly Poison Swamp was undoubtedly dangerous. Moreover, the map he had bought outside could not possibly mark every route within it. The same had been true of the other two forbidden grounds, but there he had been able to use soul force to probe his surroundings. Here in the Heavenly Poison Swamp, soul force was severely restricted, so he naturally could not scan the area as freely as before.

However, Xiao Yan possessed another special ability that could help him find a path through the Heavenly Poison Swamp. More than ten million bloody battles in his previous life, and countless experiences teetering on the edge between life and death, had given him an instinct that could sense danger in advance. This ability was not innate; it had been honed through experience.

With that instinct, Xiao Yan easily determined which direction in the Heavenly Poison Swamp held the greatest danger. That should be where the neurotoxin originated.

As Xiao Yan ventured farther in, the surrounding woods gradually thinned. Finally, a towering tree dozens of times larger than the others came into view. Its sheer size could even rival the Bodhi Ancient Tree he had seen in his previous life.

What puzzled him, however, was that a tree so enormous should have been visible even from a hundred li away. Yet before entering the Heavenly Poison Swamp, he had seen no sign of it whatsoever, and the map bore no markings related to it.

"This is the place..." As he approached the great tree, Xiao Yan felt the sense of danger haunting his heart surge to its utmost intensity. In other words, this tree was the source of everything. At this point, he could no longer afford to conserve his soul force. He immediately marshaled it to scan the tree.

Yet his soul force detected nothing unusual. Still, that powerful instinct would not lie to him. Standing beneath the tree and gazing at its black trunk, Xiao Yan suddenly thought of a possibility. He opened his hand, summoned the nine nether flame once more, and hurled it straight at the black tree.

As the nine nether flame engulfed the tree, it actually let out a series of shrill, anguished wails. Then its enormous form began to contract violently. What finally appeared before Xiao Yan was a humanoid skeleton, grayish-black from head to toe, with a wisp of purple flame flickering in its eye sockets. It looked decidedly eerie.

Crack! The skeleton slowly straightened, and a mass of grayish-black vapor spread from its body. Xiao Yan immediately swallowed an antidote pill, then drew the Xuan Heavy Ruler and assumed a fighting stance.

A skeleton that had been dead for who knew how many years naturally could not move. Perhaps a being at the Dou Sheng level could manage such a feat, but this tiny Chu Yun Empire could hardly have any Dou Sheng. Besides, if this truly were a Dou Sheng Skeleton, even the lingering power it retained after death would exert immense pressure. Yet Xiao Yan felt no such pressure at all.

A skeleton could not move, just as that great tree could not possibly wail. The only explanation was that something had possessed them both, and that something was the source of the neurotoxin. Perhaps the skeleton's owner had been an unlucky soul like Xiao Yan, but he had no interest in its origins now. All he knew was that the best way to deal with a skeleton was to turn it straight into bone ash.