Although the poison extraction was successful, Zou Feng did not immediately begin its Refinement on the spot.

After all, if things went as predicted, his Five Poison Fire Lotus Skill was almost certain to advance to the stage of Extraordinary to Saint.

And for a Poison Skill to reach the stage of Extraordinary to Saint... heaven only knew what kind of phenomena or effects that would produce.

Breaking through on the spot could very well trigger a "poison disaster."

"Sister Yun, I’m heading out! I’ll be right back!"

In the past, Zou Feng had never returned in such a rush, only to leave in a hurry just as quickly.

"Uh, aren’t we going back to our room to practice the Kan and Li Skill first?" Tian Yun would naturally ask this; every other time he’d returned, Zou Feng had dragged her straight to their room.

Zou Feng replied casually, "We’ll practice when I get back. I have to go break through first..."

With that, he flickered and vanished from sight.

Tian Yun just assumed he was about to have a breakthrough in some other Cultivation Skill; she had no idea that Zou Feng was actually going to break through to the True Qi Realm.

’It just means the new bodice I’m wearing underneath will have to wait a while longer before it sees the light of day again...’

Meanwhile, Zou Feng raced onward.

He soon arrived at a desolate stretch of wilderness over twenty li from Qingchuan City.

By now, the sky had grown dark. A bright moon hung high overhead, and the only sound was the intermittent chirping of insects.

Zou Feng was in no hurry, though. To be safe, he first chose to set up his Poison Domain nearby.

Although it would take a considerable amount of time, there was no harm in putting safety first.

As he was setting up the Poison Domain, Zou Feng couldn’t help but ponder, ’If I really break through to the True Qi Realm, creating a Poison Domain in the future will finally stop taking so much time.’

However...

’At that time, what form will my Poison Domain evolve into?’

To be honest, both He Yuan’s "Snow Night Sword Domain" and Yin Suhong’s "Blood Marrow Snake Cave" were far more impressive than the Poison Domain Zou Feng could currently create.

After all, Zou Feng’s Poison Domain was just a pervasive Black Fog mixed with some of the effects of the "Five Poison Creatures."

Furthermore, the toxicity of this Black Fog was nowhere near as potent as the attacks Zou Feng launched with his own hands.

There was no way around it; until he reached the True Qi Realm, his Poison Domain could never possess a spiritual nature.

To put it bluntly, the Poison Domain couldn’t "come alive."

After the breakthrough, however, things would be completely different. The power the Poison Domain could unleash would far more than double...

Its effect would probably be something akin to a "Domain Expansion."

Zou Feng was therefore quite looking forward to it.

Once his preparations were complete, Zou Feng sat cross-legged in the center of the "Black Fog." After taking a moment to calm his mind, he began the Refinement of the Gu Poison Group’s gift.

This Gu Poison was exceptionally compatible with Zou Feng’s Five Poison Fire Lotus Skill. The Refinement process was as smooth as silk and had almost no side effects.

It was far, far easier than when he had performed the Refinement of the Poison of the Gu King.

He didn’t need the big brothers and sisters on his list to provide any of their usual pro bono assistance at all.

Of course, this was perfectly normal. After all, the exclusive Gu Poison he had personally nurtured had essentially matured and transformed out in the world, only to now return to him, its Gu Master.

As for the fear among some members of the Iron Blood Gu Poison Group—that Zou Feng would periodically need to extract poison from them again, tormenting them in the process...

That would naturally no longer be necessary.

Once he advanced to the True Qi Realm, the members of the Iron Blood Gu Poison Group, no matter how they were nurtured, would no longer be able to provide Gu Poison that could help Zou Feng’s Cultivation.

After all, the Gu Poison Group members were just a bunch of Martial Artists at the Inner Qi Realm, or some who hadn’t even reached Entering Grade; of course they couldn’t satisfy the needs of a True Qi Realm Poison Cultivator.

So, if Zou Feng still wanted to use a similar method for Cultivating Gu Poison, he would either have to find Martial Artists of a higher Realm and greater strength with compatible constitutions...

...or find powerful Demon Beasts suitable for Cultivation Gu.

At this thought, Zou Feng suddenly realized that Su Qingyu had been raising poisonous creatures on Qifeng Mountain for a while; she was very likely engaged in this sort of activity.

The poisons within Cloud Mist Mountain, including the Poison of the Gu King, were of no interest to Su Qingyu anymore. It was very likely she could no longer find any ready-made Exotic Poison that would be of use to her.

Thus, her only option was to cultivate them herself.

’I just wonder if, aside from using Demon Insects for Cultivation Gu, Su Qingyu is also raising Human Gu...’

The Refinement of the Gu Poison was going so smoothly that Zou Feng could afford to let his mind wander to other things.

He was even keeping a constant eye on the progress of his Five Poison Fire Lotus Skill.

’Five Poison Fire Lotus Skill (Peak of Perfection) Progress: 97%... 98%...’

When the number jumped to 99%, he inevitably grew a little tense.

’Don’t let it get stuck here,’ he thought. ’That would be awkward.’

Fortunately, that shitty situation didn’t end up happening.

After making so many preparations and sacrificing quite a few of those once-vigorous big brothers from the list, it would have made no sense if he still couldn’t pound his way to "Extraordinary to Saint."

Suddenly, as if blessed with sudden insight, two beams of black light shot out from Zou Feng’s eyes.

They immediately turned pitch-black, as if the whites of his eyes had vanished, giving them an eerie, inscrutable look.

All around him, the Poison Domain set up as a precaution began to surge violently, rapidly condensing into plumes of poisonous smoke that were all inhaled into Zou Feng’s body with his every breath.

With Zou Feng at the epicenter, the surrounding flowers and grasses began to radiate a vigorous, utterly unnatural life force.

Though it was not the season for blooming, flowers suddenly burst into full blossom moments later, and the grass turned a lush, dewy green.

Even some larvae that should have waited in the soil until spring began to break through the surface, eager for an early taste of this sudden "vitality."

With all these phenomena, it didn’t look at all like a breakthrough in a Poison Skill; it was more like some medical technique had reached the Saint Realm.

However, this "beautiful scenery" did not last long.

A moment later, the flowers rapidly withered, the grass shriveled away, and the larvae that had just broken through the soil all inexplicably burst into gore and died.