’The Demon Slaying Order was issued so long ago, yet they’re only remembering to settle accounts with me now?’

Unable to figure out the reason for now, Zou Feng could only remain extra vigilant.

Even when he found time to return to Qingchuan City to practice the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill with Tian Yun, Zou Feng didn’t inform Teng Jun or Zhi Shuang, simply leaving without a word.

After making sufficient progress on the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill, he would quietly return.

And each time, he took different, circuitous routes.

Ten days later, Zou Feng finally got Xiaolv right where he wanted it, making it willingly contribute a large, full cup of its venom.

The creature’s Spiritual Wisdom was ultimately lacking. It had unwittingly fallen prey to Zou Feng’s Gu Cultivation Skill and still hadn’t noticed a thing.

Of course, if Xiaolv harbored no treacherous thoughts and didn’t disobey his commands, Zou Feng wouldn’t have used the Gu Technique to suppress it.

Once he finished collecting Xiaolv’s exotic poison, Zou Feng immediately set out for the Golden Toad Pool again.

The Golden Toad Pond Master, Liang Shunan, was as straightforward as ever, and the deal was quickly made.

In fact, Zou Feng also considered buying the Golden Toad Pool’s exclusive Cultivation Skill.

After all, as long as the price was right, Liang Shunan would trade anything. It would be a waste not to consider it.

However, ordinary gold and silver certainly couldn’t be used to trade for the Golden Toad Pool’s Cultivation Skill, and Zou Feng really didn’t have anything else of value to offer at the moment.

As for Xiaolv’s venom, Liang Shunan was satisfied with just that one cup; he had no use for more, so it no longer held any trade value.

Unable to buy the Golden Toad Pool’s Cultivation Skill for now, Zou Feng wasn’t in a rush anyway. He hadn’t yet mastered the skill from Hundred-legged Ridge and didn’t have time to practice another one.

Afterward, Zou Feng once again chose to immediately begin the refinement of the Toad Gu King Poison. As expected, his cultivation progress on the Five Poison Fire Lotus Skill reached 80%.

However, the Toad Gu King Poison didn’t benefit the Great Universal Hand, and its cultivation progress showed no increase.

Instead, it was the Heart Skill, the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Force, whose cultivation progress increased.

"Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Force (Peak of Perfection), Progress: 9%"

’It seems the Toad Gu King Poison is quite compatible with this Heart Skill of mine.’

’Now, all that’s left is the Snake Gu King Poison.’

Yin Suhong was his "big sister" on the list; getting her to obediently hand over the Snake Gu King Poison was simply unrealistic.

’I’ll just have to wait for that venomous snake to start something...’

Just as Zou Feng finished the refinement of the Toad Gu King Poison, he unexpectedly received a summons: the Vice Palace Master, Bai Chen, wanted to see him.

Zou Feng was baffled. He quickly checked the List of Gods, but Bai Chen’s name wasn’t on it.

In fact, it wasn’t just Zou Feng who found it strange; Bai Chen wanting to see Zou Feng also puzzled Teng Jun.

Although the Palace Master hadn’t been in Biyou Palace recently and all its affairs were being handled by Bai Chen, it was precisely because he was so incredibly busy that his sudden desire to see Zou Feng felt truly off.

After all, since joining Biyou Palace, Zou Feng hadn’t done anything out of line, aside from being a little conspicuous by collecting the Poison of the Gu King through normal means.

The mission he had accepted before was also completed perfectly.

But since Bai Chen’s name wasn’t on the List of Gods, Zou Feng wasn’t too worried. If he wanted a meeting, then a meeting it would be.

Before long, Zou Feng once again found himself in the Five Poison Hall, the very place where Bai Chen had received him when he first arrived at Biyou Palace.

And at this meeting, Bai Chen looked even more ill.

He would periodically erupt into violent coughing fits, looking as if he might cough up his own lungs.

’He’s already in the True Qi Realm, yet he can still be tormented to such a degree by the side effects of a Poison Skill?’

’But when he cast the Five Poison Heart Devouring Curse on me, this Bai Chen had seemed overwhelmingly powerful.’

"Greetings, White Palace Master!"

Bai Chen waved his hand, signaling for Zou Feng to dispense with the formalities, and said calmly, "I called you here for nothing in particular. I just heard that you are trying to complete the refinement of the five types of Poison of the Gu King?"

This was no longer a secret, so Zou Feng replied frankly, "Reporting to the White Palace Master, I am indeed making the attempt."

Bai Chen narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied him. "Do you have any idea how perilous it is to complete the refinement of five types of Poison of the Gu King?"

’You should be asking my "big brothers and sisters" that. I really don’t know how perilous it is myself,’ Zou Feng thought.

Outwardly, however, Zou Feng let out a deep sigh and said, "Since I have walked the path of a Poison Cultivator, I must accept any peril to achieve my goals."

Hearing this, Bai Chen’s expression showed that he deeply empathized.

Clearly, even though he was now one of the top experts in the True Qi Realm, the perils he had encountered and the immense prices he had paid along the way still made him sigh with lament.

"Elder Zou, try circulating your skills at full power!" Bai Chen suddenly requested.

Although he didn’t understand why, it didn’t matter to Zou Feng. He immediately began to circulate all of his Poison Skills.

Of course, he wouldn’t actually circulate his power at full strength. Revealing about seventy percent should be enough to shock Bai Chen.

After all, with the boost from so many Cultivation Skills at the Peak of Perfection, Zou Feng’s current strength was enough that he could attempt to kill most Third Grade Martial Artists.

Besides, to truly circulate his power at full strength, he would have to enter his True Man State. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

As he circulated his skills at seventy percent strength, Zou Feng’s Gang Qi surged out like black flames.

A giant, monstrous insect that looked remarkably similar to Xiaolv flickered in and out of existence within the Gang Qi.

Not only that, but likely due to his recent absorption of several types of the Poison of the Gu King, phantoms of a giant scorpion, a spider, a golden toad, and a centipede also surrounded the monstrous insect.

The centipede phantom, in particular, bore a striking resemblance to the Hundred-legged Ancestor.

And there was a reason this place was called the Five Poison Hall.

As Zou Feng circulated his power, the entire hall unexpectedly responded, as if in resonance.

Plumes of poisonous gas, appearing from nowhere, began to continuously converge on Zou Feng.

Seeing this, Bai Chen’s eyes lit up, his face revealing his excitement.

"Good... good!"

After saying "good" several times in a row, Bai Chen looked at Zou Feng with an expression of joy even greater than when he himself made a great advancement in his Poison Skills.

When Zou Feng stopped circulating his power and the phenomenon vanished, Bai Chen was still praising him endlessly.

This, in turn, made Zou Feng feel very uncomfortable.

’After all, I’m not Bai Chen’s disciple, nor am I a Core Disciple of Biyou Palace. Is there really a need for him to be this happy?’

"Elder Zou, it seems you have a great chance of succeeding in the refinement of the five types of Poison of the Gu King!" Bai Chen said in a confident tone.

Evidently, by observing Zou Feng’s "full power" circulation just now, Bai Chen had seen a great deal.

He had mainly discovered that Zou Feng’s body showed no signs of major hidden dangers, despite having already completed the refinement of several types of the Poison of the Gu King.

As long as no troublesome hidden dangers had emerged, the chance of successfully completing the refinement of all five types of the Poison of the Gu King was indeed quite high.

"Take these Elixirs for now!"

With a wave of his hand, one of Bai Chen’s maids immediately walked out carrying a wooden tray.

On the wooden tray were more than ten Elixirs whose extraordinary quality was apparent from their scent alone.

Among them were Poison Pills as well as nourishing Elixirs that were highly beneficial to those in the Gang Qi Realm.

"When cultivating the Five Poison Skill, if you encounter anything you don’t understand, you can come and ask me at any time!"

When Zou Feng joined Biyou Palace, Bai Chen already knew he practiced the Five Poison Skill.

They had even thoroughly investigated and uncovered the root of how he had come to learn this Cultivation Skill.

To be able to go from a mere Human Gu to killing his Gu Master in retaliation, and then to cultivate to his current level—even Bai Chen couldn’t help but be impressed after learning of Zou Feng’s experiences.

And now, he was not only gifting priceless Elixirs but also practically offering to pass on his knowledge. This truly left Zou Feng bewildered...

But the more Bai Chen showed this inexplicable appreciation for him, the more panicked Zou Feng felt.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Even if something seems free, a price has already been secretly marked on it.

’But Bai Chen really and truly isn’t on the list. What on earth is he after?’

’Still, there’s no need to worry too much for now. Once I’ve finished the refinement of the Poison of the Gu King, I’ll immediately try to break through to the True Qi Realm.’

’After advancing to Third Grade, even if Bai Chen has some scheme against me, I’ll be able to handle it with ease.’

’If worst comes to worst, I can just leave Biyou Palace and run for it. The Five Poison Heart Devouring Curse is useless on me anyway.’

Next, Bai Chen told Zou Feng many important things to be aware of when completing the refinement of the Poison of the Gu King.

From his explanation, Zou Feng finally understood that for a Fourth Grade Poison Cultivator with decent Talent, completing the refinement of two or three types of the Poison of the Gu King wasn’t all that rare.

Many experts in Biyou Palace had achieved it.

The true difficulty lay in completing the refinement of all five types of the Poison of the Gu King.

Many geniuses of the Poison Skill had proceeded relatively smoothly even after completing the refinement of four types of the Poison of the Gu King.

But once all five poisons were present, the result was almost always instantaneous death.