After refining it, Zou Feng immediately sensed that this Corpse Poison was particularly adept at breaking through—or rather, dissolving—an opponent’s Protective Gang Qi.

"Corpse Luo Heart Scripture (Refined Skill), Progress: 15%"

The progress of this Cultivation Skill shot up by a full ten points!

Although the Corpse Luo Heart Scripture seemed far from reaching the Peak of Perfection, it was a High Grade Cultivation Skill, after all. Every bit of progress brought a significant boost in power.

The most immediate improvement was that Zou Feng’s Poison Palm could now dissolve an opponent’s Protective Gang Qi.

This was a massive boost to his offensive power.

Zou Feng was quite satisfied with this.

Bai Chen’s cynical pep talk to boost morale hadn’t been wrong after all.

This attack from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect was both a crisis and a rare opportunity.

’Case in point, I’ve already benefited immensely in such a short time.’

’And by that logic, if I could kill a Third Grade True Qi Realm Sword Cultivator and have Xiaolv convert the body...’

’...my Corpse Luo Heart Scripture might just reach the Peak of Perfection in one fell swoop?!’

The thought truly tempted Zou Feng.

After all, if his Corpse Luo Heart Scripture also reached the Peak of Perfection, the boost to his combat power would be almost incalculable.

It was even entirely possible that he could immediately break through to the True Qi Realm with this Skill.

In fact, with his current accumulation, Zou Feng could have already attempted to break through to the True Qi Realm.

The problem was that he had too many Cultivation Skills, most of which had already reached the Peak Realm. While this gave him the combat power of a Third Grade expert, it also brought a host of problems.

One of these problems was that the difficulty of advancing to the True Qi Realm had actually increased as a result.

It was like pulling a cart; the more it was loaded with, the harder it was to pull to its destination.

But while the process was more strenuous, once everything was successfully delivered, the rewards would naturally be far greater than for those who pulled a lighter load.

Another problem was that to maximize the benefits of a breakthrough, it was always best to use one’s Primary Cultivation Skill as the foundation.

In other words, a breakthrough with the Five Poison Skill Fire Lotus Skill was Zou Feng’s best opportunity to advance to the True Qi Realm.

Advancing to the True Qi Realm with a Cultivation Skill at the Extraordinary to Saint level was the goal Zou Feng most wanted to achieve.

And since this goal only required the Snake Gu King Poison, he was actually quite close. There was no need to rely on other methods to break through to the True Qi Realm.

After a moment of thought, Zou Feng stuck to his original plan and sped toward Hundred-legged Ridge.

At this moment, although a Poison Miasma filled Hundred-legged Ridge, quite a few disciples from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect had still managed to fight their way in.

These Sword Sect disciples definitely couldn’t last long inside Hundred-legged Ridge, but staying for a few hours wouldn’t be a major issue.

Unless the Hundred-legged Ancestor itself came out and spewed some fresh miasma.

But the problem was, when Zou Feng entered Hundred-legged Ridge, the scene he had expected to see—the Hundred-legged Ancestor unleashing its might, furiously spewing miasma and sending the Sword Sect disciples into a chaotic retreat—never materialized.

Right now, he couldn’t even see a trace of the Hundred-legged Ancestor.

This was clearly not normal. After all, a centipede that large would create a huge commotion with the slightest movement.

"Where’s the Ancestor?"

Zou Feng sent a Sword Sect disciple flying with a palm strike, saving a Hundred-legged Ridge disciple just in time.

The Hundred-legged Ridge disciple, having narrowly escaped death, shook his head gratefully. "I... I don’t know. Just a moment ago, I saw the Ancestor in its dwelling, waiting for you to cook, Elder Zou..."

Hearing this, Zou Feng immediately dashed toward the stone pillar where the Hundred-legged Ancestor liked to rest.

As for the Mountain Lord of Hundred-legged Ridge, he had clearly been summoned to the Five Poison Hall, just like Teng Jun.

Zou Feng guessed that the operation of the Five Poison Devouring Immortal Array was likely closely related to the Leaders of the five halls.

’The five Leaders might have to serve as the cores for the Five Poison Devouring Immortal Array...’ 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The path ahead was utter chaos, filled with crisscrossing Sword Qi and exploding clouds of poison smoke.

The Sword Sect disciples were certainly no pushovers. Each was a capable fighter, and they had the Wind and Thunder Sword Array providing constant air support, delivering both "equipment" and precision strikes.

In reality, for Biyou Palace to win and repel the Sword Immortals from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect, the best method was... to stall!

After all, no matter how fierce the Sword Sect disciples were, they were already being poisoned the moment they entered the range of the Five Poison Devouring Immortal Array.

The stronger ones could simply resist the poison and continue fighting, delaying the time it would take for the poison to fully take effect.

But if the battle dragged on for too long and they failed to destroy Biyou Palace’s Five Poison Devouring Immortal Array, the invaders from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect would have no choice but to retreat in disgrace.

And whether they could successfully stall for time depended most heavily on the duels between the True Qi Realm experts...

At this moment, although Zou Feng was not the Mountain Lord of Hundred-legged Ridge, his combat power was in no way inferior to what the Mountain Lord himself could bring to the field.

He thrashed the Sword Sect disciples, who had previously held the advantage, so badly they were crying for their mothers and fathers. Even calling for air support couldn’t suppress Zou Feng’s ferocious might.

As for the Hundred-legged Ridge disciples who were being beaten back, it wasn’t entirely their fault they were so useless.

The main reason was that the Hundred-legged Ancestor hadn’t come out to spew any miasma. They hadn’t gotten a single hit of the fresh stuff all day, and their withdrawal was making them completely listless.

Otherwise, if they had their fill of miasma, the situation would be completely different. They would all be fighting as if on steroids, unleashing two hundred percent of their power.

This was another reason Zou Feng had wanted to come to Hundred-legged Ridge.

When they had their fill of miasma, the overall strength of the Hundred-legged Ridge disciples was the greatest among the five halls.

But the current situation had Zou Feng cursing under his breath.

’I came here to rely on the big gun, but it turns out I *am* the big gun!?’

’But this can’t go on. I might be on a rampage now, but a Sword Sect disciple has surely gone to notify a True Qi Realm expert by now.’

’It won’t be long before I’m forced to confront a True Qi Realm Sword Immortal head-on, whether I like it or not...’

He fought his way to the stone pillar, but the place was completely empty. There was still no sign of the Hundred-legged Ancestor.

Zou Feng carefully sensed his surroundings; there was no trace of the Hundred-legged Ancestor’s aura nearby.

’Could it be...’

’...that this giant centipede, just like Xiaolv, sensed the extreme danger and decided to run and hide!?’

The more Zou Feng thought about it, the more likely it seemed. A big reason the Hundred-legged Ancestor had survived so long in Biyou Palace was probably because the creature was an expert at sensing and avoiding danger.

’Damn it all. If I’d known, I would’ve just stayed in the Silk Cave.’

’That way, even if a True Qi Realm expert came after me, I’d have a better chance of outmaneuvering them in that maze-like environment.’

’A miscalculation. Luckily, it’s not a huge problem. I should still have time to get back.’

The next moment, Zou Feng decisively turned, preparing to fight his way back to the Silk Cave.

It wasn’t that he was truly afraid of the True Qi Realm, but choosing a favorable battlefield for a safer engagement was always the best option.

However, the moment he turned, Zou Feng sensed something was wrong.

He slowly turned his head back. Sure enough, standing atop the stone pillar where the Hundred-legged Ancestor usually rested, was a man in a snow-white robe. He had no idea when he’d gotten there.

White robes, white hair, even his sword was white.

His expression was the perfect definition of "cold as ice, chilling as snow."

With an appearance like that, who else could it be but He Yuan, the Flying Snow Sword of the Celestial Essence Sword Sect?

As He Yuan was a top Third Grade expert who had been on Zou Feng’s watchlist for a while, he had naturally already gathered basic information on the man.

Therefore, one look at his distinctive appearance was enough to confirm his identity as He Yuan.

Rumor had it that when he killed an enemy, he almost never needed a second strike.

The battle was usually decided with the first sword strike, making a second one unnecessary.

If a second strike was ever needed, it was only to deliver the finishing blow to an enemy not yet dead.

’Tsk. So I ended up running into a tough one after all.’

’Not just a Third Grade expert, but a top-tier one at that.’

Since it had come to this, Zou Feng accepted his fate.

’Since he’s here, I might as well see just how effective the Corpse Poison from a Third Grade Expert’s corpse will be.’

"You are Zou Feng?"

Zou Feng couldn’t be bothered to respond. It was obviously a rhetorical question.

He simply began Cultivating in silence, secretly spewing Poison Miasma.

He Yuan hadn’t expected a response anyway and continued, "You killed my junior brother. Today, you will pay for that debt in blood!"