The surroundings fell deathly silent, and the very air seemed to grow thick and viscous.

Before long, a rustling sound began to rise from the surroundings. Countless poisonous creatures were swarming in from all directions.

These were ordinary poisonous snakes, venomous insects, and the like, possessing no spiritual nature.

But even so, they were drawn here as if answering a summons, a "return of ten thousand poisons to their master," paying homage to an existence that could be called a Poison Saint.

At this moment, Zou Feng was enveloped in swirling black energy. Combined with his eyes, which were now devoid of whites, he looked terrifying, as if he had Fallen into Demon.

In this instant, Zou Feng truly felt that he had found his Path of Poison, seeing through layers of illusion.

BOOM!

Amidst the violent explosion, Zou Feng’s Gang Qi erupted on its own, transforming into black flames that soared into the sky.

His body’s Gang Qi had finally begun its transformation into True Qi.

The spiritual nature of True Qi, like some law of heaven and earth, poured into his sea of consciousness in a moment of profound enlightenment.

Moved by this new understanding, Zou Feng’s hands formed several profound Dharma Seals.

The Dharma Seals concluded with a gesture—one finger pointing to the sky, the other to the ground.

"In all of heaven and earth, I alone am the Poison Venerable..."

He hadn’t suddenly muttered this because he’d grown arrogant. Rather, the True Qi Realm was considered the true beginning of Entering the Dao and Practicing.

Upon entering this Realm, one would align with their "Dao" and unknowingly make a great vow.

"Five Poison Holy Lotus Skill (Extraordinary to Saint) Progress: 2%."

’Uh, the Fire Lotus Skill became the Holy Lotus Skill.’

’Does this correspond to the Extraordinary to Saint Realm?’

’But considering the vibrant, verdant scene from just now, it really does seem like once a Poison Skill is cultivated to a certain level, it can turn disaster into a miracle.’

Zou Feng rose slowly, first staring blankly at his right hand, then flicking it out to strike with his palm at the air beside him.

The Palm Force carried a toxic mist, and from within it, a strange insect resembling Xiaolv emerged, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws at the surroundings.

True Qi could create Creatures like this, momentarily bringing a technique "to life."

It was just as Zou Feng had predicted. Before, whether in the Inner Qi Realm or the Gang Qi Realm, he had only been practicing martial arts.

But after advancing to the True Qi Realm, it would be strange if this feeling wasn’t Immortal Immortal Cultivation.

’Alright, next I should try to see if I can use "Domain Expansion."’

After advancing to the True Qi Realm, the many wonderful uses of True Qi didn’t require deliberate study; comprehension came naturally.

Moreover, Zou Feng already had some insights into the use of a Poison Domain.

So, after forming a few Dharma Seals, even though he didn’t need to shout it, Zou Feng couldn’t help but whisper: "Domain Expansion!"

A jet-black toxic mist, like a curtain falling from the sky, blotted out the bright moonlight. A space of absolute darkness, where one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face, formed with Zou Feng at its center.

On the ground of this space, the black toxic mist converged into a viscous, sticky mire.

At times, the mire would transform into surging, churning black "poison waves."

Beneath the poison waves, it seemed bottomless, and one could faintly perceive massive poisonous creatures swimming within, waiting for the chance to devour someone.

And in the sky of this dark space, the poison would coalesce into a dense mass of human faces.

These faces had varied expressions that were constantly shifting, displaying the seven passions and six desires to their fullest extent.

The Poison Domain Zou Feng created was not just the effect of the Five Poison Holy Lotus Skill.

All the Cultivation Skills he had practiced contributed to this Poison Domain.

Only then could it have such a bizarre and unpredictable effect, poisoning both the body and the mind.

"Poison Burial Illusory Prison!"

After sensing the various marvels of this Poison Domain, Zou Feng immediately gave it a name he thought was pretty good.

He had originally planned to maintain the "Poison Burial Illusory Prison" and continue experimenting with the other wonderful uses of True Qi.

Unexpectedly, after a short while, he felt a sense of weakness creeping into his body.

Breaking through in both his Cultivation Skill and Realm, then immediately deploying his Poison Domain, would certainly consume a great deal of energy.

Still, this long-unfelt sense of weakness left Zou Feng very confused.

After taking a few deep breaths, Zou Feng gradually understood what was happening.

Previously, in the Inner Qi Realm and the Gang Qi Realm, his power was sustained by the "qi" his own body generated.

But after breaking through to the True Qi Realm, his own body was no longer enough to meet the consumption. He had to absorb... Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

However, in the place where Zou Feng was, the Spiritual Qi was far too thin. Absorbing it was excruciatingly slow.

’No wonder those Sects all occupy places with dense Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.’

When Zou Feng first set foot on Cloud Mist Mountain, he had sensed that the place was different.

Even so, Cloud Mist Mountain probably couldn’t be considered a true Cultivation Blessed Land.

Relying on places where the Spiritual Qi was merely decent, reaching the First Grade was likely the limit.

’To advance further, I’ll probably have to rely on methods I don’t know about yet...’

「Almost at the same time, atop the Observatory in Su Jin City, Great Yan Jiangdong.」

Gongsun Jinghong’s current state looked extremely dire.

It was still the same pool of collected Demon Beast Blood. Gongsun Jinghong was bound tightly by rune-inscribed chains, with only her head, hands, and feet exposed.

Every so often, someone would drag over a new, living Demon Beast and throw it into the blood pool.

The moment a Demon Beast fell into the pool, it would let out a blood-curdling scream and then visibly dissolve at a rapid pace, until not even bones remained.

Whenever this happened, the tightly furrowed brow of the bound Gongsun Jinghong would relax slightly.

But this was clearly a temporary solution, not a cure. Before long, she would once again fall into an inexplicable state of agony.

Until, suddenly, Gongsun Jinghong sensed something.

In an instant, Gongsun Jinghong’s eyes snapped open, and the blood pool began to churn as if it were boiling.

"He finally... broke through!!"

Gongsun Jinghong’s eyes were blood-red, yet they shone with uncontrollable ecstasy.

"As expected of the man I’ve chosen. Good, good..."

CRACK—

With a loud, muffled CRACK, the rune-inscribed iron chains binding Gongsun Jinghong shattered.

Gongsun Jinghong leaped out of the blood pool, her entire body trembling with extreme excitement.

She wished Zou Feng would appear at once so they could merge like water and milk, becoming one and inseparable.

After taking several long breaths, Gongsun Jinghong finally managed to forcibly suppress the intense impulse.

She muttered to herself nonstop, "Calm down, don’t be hasty..."

"I have to wait a little longer. He’s only just broken through; his Realm hasn’t fully stabilized yet!"

"There should still be time. There’s no need to take this risk..."

At this point, because Gongsun Jinghong had broken free of her restraints on her own, the few Guards who had been stationed here had long since been scared out of their wits, fleeing without a trace.

It was obvious that, for some time now, Gongsun Jinghong had been constantly on the verge of losing her mind and going on a rampage.

She could no longer control herself, which was why she had used special rune-inscribed iron chains to bind herself and suppress the insane thoughts that constantly surfaced.

Fortunately, sensing Zou Feng’s successful breakthrough was like a shot of adrenaline, clearing her mind considerably.

"Hong’er, what is this?"

Before the words had faded, a figure appeared a short distance in front of Gongsun Jinghong.

This person was none other than Gongsun Jinghong’s father, the Sixth Prince of the Great Yan Dynasty, Gongsun Ye.

However, just by looking at Gongsun Ye’s expression, it was clear that he now felt a considerable amount of fear toward his own daughter.

He didn’t even dare to get too close.

"Royal Father, what wind blew you here today?" Gongsun Jinghong slowly turned to her father, a sarcastic smile on her face.

Because of Gongsun Jinghong’s previous descent into near-madness, Gongsun Ye had tried numerous forceful methods to suppress her.

That was, until Gongsun Jinghong’s power grew so strong that he could no longer suppress her at all...

This caused their already poor father-daughter relationship to become even more strained.

"Hong’er... are you really going to seek out that Poison Cultivator to perform that sordid act!?" Gongsun Ye demanded in a low voice.

Gongsun Ye had heard Gongsun Jinghong’s earlier muttering loud and clear.

Hearing this, Gongsun Jinghong couldn’t contain herself and threw her head back, laughing. "A sordid act..."

"Royal Father, do you really think I don’t know you’ve been searching everywhere for Demon Bears lately!"

"Then is what Royal Father does with those Demon Bears not considered a sordid act?"

Gongsun Ye was instantly rendered speechless by the retort.