From the little cave home on Yaoguang Peak came good news and bad news...
The good news was that, through astonishing perseverance and obsession, Wang Lili had survived the corrosion of that "nameless poisonous plant" and fully recovered. Moreover, she had turned disaster into a blessing, using the plant's intensely potent poison to refine the first poison pouch within her body: the Phantom Spirit Poison Pouch.
The Poison Body Heart Sutra had seven major chapters, and only by successfully refining seven poison pouches could one formally reach the Dao Touching realm. The process was more like an evolution of the physical body. Thus, Wang Lili's success in forming her first poison pouch meant she had officially set foot on the path of the Great Dao indicated by the sutra and thrown open the door to advancing to second rank.
Indeed, the Poison Body Heart Sutra explicitly stated that only those who refined their first Phantom Spirit Poison Pouch qualified to enter second rank. From now on, Wang Lili only needed to keep raising her grade, and she could enter second rank without obstruction and prepare to reach the Transformation Stage.
After refining her first poison pouch, she also gained a new designation for her stage-Phantom Spirit Spider. A Phantom Spirit Spider could conceal its scent and aura, change its color, move unseen, and create poisonous miasma. The toxins within the Phantom Spirit Poison Pouch also possessed the uncanny ability to burn spirits.
Most importantly, a Phantom Spirit Spider possessed finer control over its spirit and thoughts and could use Divine Sense to speak human language.
Simply put, Apu's seemingly inspired "guidance" had allowed Wang Lili, while still at early first grade, to gain the ability to fight other spirit beasts. Her strength had increased enormously.
Yet even so, "bad news"