Chapter 795: Chapter 794: Moderate Rift
Having replaced the Illusionary Poison Real Person, Shi Xiaole successfully became the master of the Illusion Poison Palace.
Initially, he exchanged all the secret codes of the Illusion Poison Palace, and deducted the amount consumed by buying the Ten Residences Mahayana Skill and Enduring Humiliation Divine Skill, his reward points reached an astonishing total of 833,200.
As far as Shi Xiaole knows, top-notch martial arts do not have a three-tier classification system, with values usually hovering around 500,000. Including the rewards from this task, he would only need 625,000 points to purchase one, which he was well-equipped for.
Of course, to gain purchasing rights, one must complete three four-star missions. Besides, it would be useless to buy it now, as one simply couldn’t practice it without reaching the Void Origin Realm.
Quelling the ripple in his mind, the primary issue that faced Shi Xiaole was how to find an opportunity to enter the Thousand Darkness Poison Palace.
With more than two years left before the task deadline, Shi Xiaole understood there was no need for haste, so every day he led a secluded life, diligently cultivating his martial arts skills. Fortunately, the Illusionary Poison Real Person was of a solitary nature, so there was no risk of arousing suspicion.
Thus, three months passed.
Shi Xiaole successfully cultivated the Ten Residences Mahayana Skill to perfection, and his Illusion Martial Way, under the resonance of his three main martial paths, was enhanced to the initial stage of fifty-percent mastery.
Together with the increase in mental power, it could be stated that his power in the Illusionary Way was catching up with his power in the Sword Way. Even though it was slightly inferior, the difference wasn’t very remarkable.
Having reached a high level of power, Shi Xiaole started to make his move against the Blood Fiend Sect.
The Blood Fiend Sect, like the Illusion Poison Palace, was a premier Devil Path force on Mysterious Leaf Island. Their leading entity was Nine United Gates, which had longstanding grievances with the Thousand Dark Poison Palace, as each side aspired to surpass the other.
Over the past several years, the Illusionary Poison Real Person had been defeated by the sect leader of the Blood Fiend Sect on several occasions. He had been determined to regain his honor, but regrettably, he was killed by Shi Xiaole halfway through.
Yet the people of the Illusion Poison Palace didn’t know all this. When they heard that their real person was going to attack the Blood Fiend Sect again, there was quite a stir, with some people trying to dissuade him and some requesting to join him in the battle.
On the day of the decisive battle, everyone assumed that an intense life-or-death fight would occur. Surprisingly, Shi Xiaole killed the sect leader of the Blood Fiend Sect within just a few hundred moves, using the name-making finishing move of the Illusionary Poison Real Person himself.
Hush!
The scene bursts into uproar.
The high-level combatants of the Illusion Poison Palace were full of vigor and high spirits, while the Blood Fiend Sect was badly defeated and nearly handicapped within three days.
Upon getting the news, the higher-ups of the Thousand Darkness Poison Palace were overjoyed. They quickly commended Shi Xiaole and, following the old tradition, summoned him back to the headquarters to cultivate in the Thousand Poison Cave for a month.
"I hope things go smoothly this time."
With a mixture of anxiety and excitement, Shi Xiaole successfully entered the Thousand Darkness Poison Palace as he wished.
The Thousand Darkness Poison Palace covered a vast area, with multicolored stone fortresses being the main architectural style, dominating a large part of the mountain range.
Being a meritorious official and one of the fifty-six direct elders, Shi Xiaole was residing on a beautiful mountain peak with a waterfall, accompanied by thirty beautiful maids and hundreds of guards, always at his command.
After five days at the Thousand Darkness Poison Palace, he naturally didn’t miss the opportunity to consult the secret codes, and his reward points increased to as much as 1.3 million, yet he felt rather frustrated.
It was because the rules of the entire palace were too strict.
Every now and then there were a number of Array Systems and checkpoints. With Shi Xiaole’s power, perhaps he could break through a little way, but he could never access the core area, let alone investigate the incidents of the past.
At a loss for strategy, Shi Xiaole had no choice but to enter the Thousand Poison Cave, which countless high-level fighters in the palace had been longing to explore.
The Thousand Poison Cave was 999 ’zhang’ deep and three ’zhang’ wide, with colorful mist swirling within the cave. This mist was the essence of the most potent poison in the world. A mere whiff could completely burn up and kill an ordinary person.
Even a martial artist at the Spiritual-Passage Realm could only penetrate fifty ’zhang’, while a Dragon Gate Realm martial artist could reach one hundred ’zhang’.
Upon reaching the level of the Divine Border Realm, it depended on the strengths and weaknesses of one’s power and poison-resisting ability, but from the information that Shi Xiaole had gathered, there had never been any Terrestrial Immortals who could penetrate three hundred ’zhang’ since ancient times.
Chichi...
The Vigorous Air protecting his body was continuously burning, but it always managed to keep out the colorful mist.
Shi Xiaole tried to release his spiritual power, only to find that it couldn’t penetrate the mist. This suggested that even a Void Origin Realm power couldn’t probe the situation inside the cave unless they were there in person.
He sighed with relief and no longer tried to conceal his intentions.
Two hundred ’zhang’.
Three hundred ’zhang’.
Shi Xiaole easily penetrated three hundred and eighty ’zhang’. Only at this point was the Vigorous Air that was protecting him unable to withstand the pressure, and a fierce, colorful mist rushed in from all sides, pouring into his pores.
"It’s equivalent to a fourth-class odd poison, and its concentration is extremely high!"
After going into a daze for a few seconds, Shi Xiaole finally regained his consciousness, and was shocked.
He had previously ingested a Double-edged Fruit, which was a fourth-class poisonous fruit. Its toxicity was definitely much lower than that of the colorful mist here in the cave.
Keep in mind that he was nowhere near halfway deep into the Thousand Poison Cave. As he thought about what would happen as he got deeper, Shi Xiaole felt a shiver run along his scalp.
However, he could clearly feel that when the colorful mist entered his body, it seemed to strengthen his physique and increase his resistance to poison after being digested.
This was also the biggest reason why martial artists with poisonous skills longed for the Thousand Poison Cave.
"The more poison resistance, the better the chances for survival in the future."
Shi Xiaole naturally wouldn’t let go of such an opportunity. He made up his mind to walk forward step by step. When he reached the depth of four hundred ’zhang’, the density of the colorful mist suddenly increased and the terrifying toxicity almost floored him.
A third-class odd poison. At this level, an ordinary high-ranking Earth Immortal of the Divine Barrier Realm would meet their end right here!
After an unknown period, Shi Xiaole gradually woke up. He felt a throbbing headache, was dizzy and in a daze, and every meridian in his body was swelling and contracting as if it would burst open his skin.
These were signs of undissipated toxicity.
Shi Xiaole could not muster any strength at all. Even the actions of opening his eyes and breathing felt strenuous. Above his Spiritual Sea, the Taiji Yin-Yang Plate was rapidly rotating, absorbing and transforming strands of colorful mist.
Luckily, the Taiji Yin-Yang Plate was there. Otherwise, Shi Xiaole really doubted that he could have been poisoned to death! Simply put, he was too confident, and his past experiences had led him to underestimate the terror of odd poison.
Three full days passed.
Shi Xiaole finally regained the ability to move. This time, he moved very slowly, stopping at the four hundred and thirtieth foot for five days, and at the four hundred and sixtieth foot for ten days.
When he reached the five hundredth foot, his body suddenly felt a lot lighter.
Not only did his resistance to poison increase, but more importantly, he had likely absorbed the colored fog within the Thousand Poison Cave, causing his Taiji Yin-Yang Plate to expand rapidly. His Life-Death Martial Way reached the initial phase of twenty percent, significantly speeding up the resolution of toxicity.
From this point onwards, Shi Xiaole no longer feared the third-class strange toxins!
Five hundred and twenty feet.
Five hundred and thirty feet.
The deeper he goes, the toxicity increases with every foot. At five hundred and fifty feet, the toxicity of the coloured fog reaches the peak of third-class strange toxins.
Looking ahead, Shi Xiaole felt a chill run down his spine and his feet could no longer move.
Buzz!
At this moment, the colored fog suddenly churned violently, like steam above boiling water, making a loud thrumming sound. In Shi Xiaole’s sea of consciousness, that incomplete blood-stained bracelet was also vibrating non-stop, as if sensing something.
Shi Xiaole quickly took it out, only to see the blood within the bracelet emitting dazzling light, resonating with a certain fluctuation deep within the Thousand Poison Cave. This fluctuation transferred to Shi Xiaole, creating a bloodline connection and causing an emotional upheaval in him.
"Could it be, they came here? Did they get poisoned here?"
Shi Xiaole stood dumbfounded, losing his ability to think.
He was tempted to see what was in the depths, perhaps he could find more clues about Shi Xuanzhong’s couple, but in the end, Shi Xiaole turned around and headed towards the exit of the cave.
With his current ability, he was afraid that he might die from the poison before even reaching the depths, so he decided to leave it for the future.
This trip to the Thousand Poison Cave made Shi Xiaole even more eager to unravel the secrets of the Thousand Darkness Poison Palace, but he underestimated the difficulty of this task.
The identity of the Illusionary Poison Real Person without a deeper background made it inconvenient to move. Moreover, there were numerous dangers within the palace, and people’s relationships were not stable. Obtaining secret information was extraordinarily difficult.
As the time to leave the Thousand Darkness Poison Palace was approaching, Shi Xiaole was indeed anxious.
"No clue on where to start, is this what a four-star task is?"
For the first time, Shi Xiaole felt helpless.
Compared to the Thousand Ghosts Poison Emperor, he may not be as weak as an ant, but he is still like a sheep compared to an elephant, and what’s more, behind the elephant, there is a group of capable subordinates.
Wanting to unearth the secrets of the elephant, he would be crushed to pieces first.
The time came to the night before departure.
Shi Xiaole was in deep worry when suddenly, a loud noise shattered the quiet sky. Then the night was split in two, and the dazzling light illuminated the entire Thousand Darkness Poison Palace.
Boom!
The air wave was raging and roaring, stirring up the Array System on the surface of the mountains and rivers, constantly compressing inward.
"A Void Origin Realm Array System?"
Shi Xiaole felt a chill in his heart and looked up. Indeed, two figures stood facing each other in the sky, their omnipresent aura covering and causing everyone below to shiver.
Void Origin Realm experts.
Only the unparalleled strong of the Void Origin Realm could trigger the reaction of the Void Origin Realm Array System!
"Fu Zongming, it’s the second time, are you still not giving up on your senior brother? Hahaha, you can never save him!"
A voice laughed wildly, the laughter itself carrying poison, causing the sky to corrode.
"Fu Zongming, the Void Origin Realm powerhouse behind Qin Building?"
Shi Xiaole’s pupils contracted.
The man named Fu Zongming coldly said, "The Thousand Ghosts Poison Emperor is already dead, alone supporting the Thousand Darkness Poison Palace, you must be tired. I am here to help you find relief."
"You’re asking for death!"
A brilliant, poisonous palm thrust forward, overshadowing the splendor of the stars and moon. Everywhere it passed, the poison dispersed like never before, as if it could make all things in the world lose their vitality.
Despite being separated by the Void Origin Realm Array System, many people had their eyes wide open, producing a terrifying illusion of being affected by the poisonous intent.
Fu Zongming didn’t dodge or avoid, raising his fist to meet the poisonous palm. His fist, shining with tens of thousands of rays of light, hit the poison palm hard.
In an instant, it seemed as if the sun and moon were reversing, the universe was losing color, and the void became frozen. The next moment, a sudden crackling sound rang out, and numerous void cracks spread out in all directions.
"Moderate cracks!"
Many peak Earth Immortals could feel their hair standing on end, their pores dilating.
Void cracks are divided into three types: mild, moderate, and severe.
Generally, only a Void Origin Realm powerhouse can create mild void cracks, and most Void Origin Realm powerhouses also have this level of strength.
If one can create moderate void cracks, it means that they rank among the best within the Void Origin Realm.
As for severe cracks, few in the world can do this. After all, at that point, one is not far from shattering the void.
Although the effects observed were the result of joint efforts by Fu Zongming and the Thousand Ghosts Poison Emperor, it still proved their unparalleled strength!
