After spending a full six months training in Sunset Forest, Xu Zhengyang found himself being hunted by a five-thousand-year Lightning Leopard one morning. He fled headlong, paying no attention at all to his surroundings.
The Lightning Leopard was extremely fast, its attacks swift and fierce, its reactions keen. Xu Zhengyang had been fighting it for two days without gaining the slightest advantage, and even escaping was extraordinarily difficult.
Of course, ever since he had entered Sunset Forest to train, Xu Zhengyang had stopped using his various Soul Tools. Even when his life hung in the balance, he absolutely refused to use a flying Soul Tool, or this training would lose its meaning. On top of that, he even trained with weights.
But just then, Xu Zhengyang sensed something strange. The Lightning Leopard that had been pursuing him suddenly gave up, a trace of fear even appearing in its eyes before it ran straight away.
Only then did Xu Zhengyang pay attention to his surroundings. There seemed to be an additional layer of green gas in the air around him. It had a slight hallucinogenic effect and even burrowed straight into his body.
Even his vision was severely obstructed, and his spiritual power was suppressed. Even the perception of the Devil Tiger's Eye was affected.
Xu Zhengyang's expression changed as he instantly understood the situation before him. This was probably a vast expanse of poisonous miasma. There were very few living creatures nearby, and he could even faintly make out quite a few Soul Beast skeletons.
It was precisely the danger of this poisonous miasma that had made the Lightning Leopard abandon its pursuit.
Xu Zhengyang also knew very well that this poisonous mist was extremely harmful to Soul Beasts and equally harmful to humans. The closer one came to its center, the more exceptionally dangerous it became, making it one of the most perilous places on the Douluo Continent.
By now, Xu Zhengyang understood that this should be the so-called Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and it was countless times more dangerous than it had been ten thousand years ago.
Besides containing a large number of Jade Phosphor Seven Absolutes Flowers, it also held immortal herbs that had evolved into hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts. Probably no one besides experts at the Titled Douluo level could force their way inside.
Actually, Xu Zhengyang also found it strange. Normally speaking, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well should now be ownerless, yet the poisonous miasma surrounding it extended over ten kilometers, while Sunset Forest itself spanned only two hundred to three hundred kilometers.
How could such a vast expanse of poisonous miasma have gone unnoticed? Unless it was simply too dangerous inside, or none of those who ventured in had come out alive.
Xu Zhengyang had no intention of leaving. Instead, he circulated his Soul Power and slowly walked farther in. Although he could not make it inside, he could still get an early taste of the poisonous miasma here.
Besides, the poisonous miasma of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was truly unique, a special environment nurtured by ultimate ice and fire attributes. It might be more harmful to ordinary Soul Masters, but for him, it was instead an ideal place to temper his body.
After walking about one kilometer through the poisonous miasma, Xu Zhengyang felt the pressure on his body growing greater and greater. He stopped advancing and found a place to sit down.
Immediately afterward, Xu Zhengyang carefully sensed the changes in his body.
Xu Zhengyang could clearly feel that as the poisonous miasma rapidly seeped through his skin, his entire body seemed to be stimulated. The blood throughout his body seemed to begin gradually boiling, and a tenacious will and an unyielding spirit emerged from the deepest reaches of his body, like a fierce tiger.
After the poisonous miasma entered his body, his Soul Power actually began circulating on its own, contending against the miasma and even gradually neutralizing it.
Xu Zhengyang could not help recalling that all tigers possessed a Pure Yang Physique. They naturally countered evil entities, and likewise naturally countered the undead and even various toxins.
Under the stimulation of this poisonous miasma, Xu Zhengyang felt that his Soul Power seemed to circulate considerably faster. The miasma was somewhat similar to a medicinal bath, like a special method of body tempering.
Only after several full hours, when Xu Zhengyang felt his Soul Power beginning to run out and his body becoming somewhat unable to withstand the poisonous miasma, did he prepare to leave.
Over the next six months, Xu Zhengyang essentially repeated the same method of cultivation.
He spent half his time recovering his physical strength outside the poisonous miasma, searching for food, and fighting some Soul Beasts.
He spent the other half cultivating within the poisonous miasma, using his body and Soul Power to withstand the miasma burrowing into him head-on.
This cultivation method proved unexpectedly effective. His cultivation speed was at least thirty to fifty percent faster than it was outside.
Xu Zhengyang even felt that under the stimulation of the poisonous miasma, his entire body was becoming stronger and stronger, and increasingly masculine.
Over those six months, as his body gradually grew stronger, Xu Zhengyang could remain within the poisonous miasma for longer and longer, and venture deeper and deeper into it.
At his farthest, he could already reach about three kilometers into the poisonous miasma. Unfortunately, if he went any farther, his body simply could not withstand it, and his life would be in danger at any moment.
After these six months of observation and exploration, Xu Zhengyang discovered that the poisonous miasma covered an area of about ten kilometers. The deeper he went into it, the more Soul Beast skeletons there were, including quite a few belonging to ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts.
Xu Zhengyang also became increasingly certain that this had to be the legendary Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. It was just that with his current strength, he had no way of reaching its core and could only cultivate on the outskirts.
During those six months, Xu Zhengyang tried every possible means to reach deeper inside. Unfortunately, whether he flew or used blazing flames to dispel the poison, the farthest he managed on any attempt was four kilometers. His body's endurance reached its limit, leaving him unable to go any farther.
Xu Zhengyang was now eleven years old. He had spent a full year training in Sunset Forest, and his Soul Power had reached rank twenty-six. For an ordinary person, this cultivation speed would have been considered top-tier. After all, even Shrek Academy's admission requirement was merely to reach rank fifteen before the age of twelve.
But for Xu Zhengyang, whose Innate Soul Power had been half a rank, this was already a miracle. In particular, as he cultivated within the poisonous miasma, his body's bottleneck also seemed to be gradually breaking.
Xu Zhengyang discovered a very strange phenomenon in his body. Having cultivated in this poisonous miasma for so long, his body was gradually becoming immune to toxins. His entire body was like a blazing fire, and when toxins from thousand-year Soul Beasts entered it, they would dissolve at an extremely rapid pace.
It was not that Xu Zhengyang had never considered using Soul Tools to enter the core region of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. But Soul Tools were generally made from precious metals, and the deeper he went, the more they actually began to slip out of his control and even gradually melt. Even his Soul Power was consumed extremely quickly.
This poisonous miasma no longer resembled ordinary poisonous miasma. Instead, it seemed to be controlled by some powerful creature, as though it were alive. The deeper he went, the more apparent this phenomenon became.