Xu Qing hovered in midair looking down at everything, his heart pounding. A long moment passed, then he took a deep breath and extended his right hand. He closed his hand into a fist, and all of the mutagen being produced in the area rushed toward him, creating a black cloud around his hand. Xu Qing still almost couldn’t believe it. This completely surpassed anything he had expected would happen. However, it did make sense.

The taboo poison pill had been put into a wish box by an almighty cultivator who fought a mysterious entity from a god domain. Despite killing that mysterious entity, the almighty cultivator ended up poisoned, and only after experiencing intense torment did he manage to extrude the poison.

In other words, the taboo poison pill must have been concocted in a god domain. And god domains….

Xu Qing looked up into the dome of heaven. Black clouds covered the area, except for the 1,500-meter area around him. Now there was a gap in those clouds. Through that gap, Xu Qing could see the moon, as well as one corner of the broken face of the god.

When the god’s eyes open and gaze down, that area becomes a forbidden region. The second time that gaze hits the same place, it becomes a forbidden ground. The third time, it becomes a god domain!

The Revered Ancient mainland was a huge place, but there were still very few places that the god had gazed upon three times.

God domains contain the power of gods. And Torchlight’s experimental god bodies are also being used to explore that power.

As Xu Qing contemplated that, he realized that his taboo poison core wasn’t just mighty. It was also a key. A key that could open the door to godhood.

I wonder if that almighty cultivator realized that.

Although there were still things Xu Qing didn’t understand about the situation, and without all the proper clues, he could only speculate so much. Regardless, one thing he did know was that his poison core was spectacularly valuable. And he also knew that considering it contained some of the power of a god, he would have a hard time staying safe if people found out about it. Xu Qing had no desire to test human nature, and therefore, the poison core and its godly power would need to be a secret he kept as safe as the violet crystal.

I’m considered an expert in the dao of poison, so killing people with poison won’t attract attention. That’s the obvious way to explain the effects of my poison core.

After thinking the matter over more, he decided to assess his battle prowess. He now had three heavenly palaces, plus an imperial-class technique. Overall, that meant he had four-palace battle prowess. If he used poisons, then he was confident he could surpass that level. And if he used the godly power in that poison, then…. After more thought, he decided he wouldn’t do that unless it was absolutely necessary.

Having reached this point in his train of thought, he took out a handful of black boluses and tossed them around. The black boluses exploded and began sucking in all the mutagen, which thus cleared the area of any traces of Xu Qing’s unique mutagen. Up above, the black clouds rolled over to cover the part that had been opened, and soon, it was as if nothing had happened at all. Ordinary mutagen was already filling the area, and the only evidence left behind was the bareness of the earth.

Despite that, Xu Qing was still nervous, so he threw out some more black boluses. Only after he was absolutely certain there were no traces of his own mutagen did he turn and leave.

As he moved, he once again checked on his shadow and the black iron skewer. His gaze caused both the shadow and the patriarch to tremble.

The former could sense danger on an instinctual level, while the latter… was a person with extensive life experience. How could he not understand what was going on? Therefore, after Xu Qing glanced at him a seventh time, the patriarch appeared in projected form.

Flopping into a prostrated position, he said, “Milord, your humble servant must plead for your help, sir.”

Xu Qing didn’t respond. He just looked back coldly.

Looking completely honest and considerate, the patriarch met Xu Qing’s gaze with eyes full of zeal. Actually, it was a gaze he had secretly learned when observing Night Dove.

“Milord, your humble servant is very worried about the possibility of being captured one day. If that happens, I’d die before revealing any of your secrets. However, it’s possible an enemy could use some special soulsearch method on me. In that case, my intentions wouldn’t mean much. If I revealed even the tiniest detail, well, your humble servant would hardly be able to deal with the guilt. My death wouldn’t matter. But I absolutely, positively cannot reveal any of your secrets, milord.

“Therefore, I would like to humbly request that you place an eradication seal on me. The more vicious the better. I don’t care. That way, if I ever get in a situation where an enemy is about to soulsearch me, I can self-detonate with a mere thought, and make sure the enemy gets nothing.

“In that manner, your humble servant could travel to the Nine Springs with a smile on his face, confident that he loyally kept his lord and master safe!”

The patriarch was feeling very clever in how he was handling this. He was very familiar with Xu Qing’s personality, and knew that promises and oaths didn’t mean anything to him. After all, if the patriarch himself didn’t trust such things, there was no way the Fiendish Xu would. By directly pointing out what he had, he managed to surreptitiously highlight his own loyalty. This was his plan, which he hoped would do something to alleviate some of the Fiendish Xu’s misgivings.

It seemed unlikely to him that the Fiendish Xu would actually place such a seal on him, otherwise he already would have. Also, he harbored a bit of hope that this might actually be an opportunity to get more freedom. That dangerous thought caused him to shiver a bit.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing looked deeply at the patriarch. “There’s no need for a seal like that,” he said coolly. “I trust you. Worst case scenario, if you get captured, I’ll personally make sure you maintain complete and utter loyalty…. By the way, your current battle prowess is only at the three-flame level. That’s too weak.”

The patriarch trembled in alarm. The dangerous thought from moments ago vanished like smoke. Xu Qing’s gaze made it obvious he knew exactly what the patriarch was thinking, and that filled the patriarch with both extreme anxiety and deep regret.

All of a sudden, the patriarch realized he hadn’t thought things through all the way, and that he shouldn’t have asked the Fiendish Xu to place a sealing mark on him. As a spirit automaton, he shouldn’t just point out problems without providing true, complete solutions. A spirit automaton who did that wasn’t a good spirit automaton. He should have thought to do the sealing on himself to begin with to show true loyalty.

I was careless. Too careless! The Fiendish Xu has clearly become a lot sharper than before. Next time I have to think through everything much more comprehensively.

With such thoughts on his mind, the patriarch realized he had to do something to fix the situation.

“Milord, I… I think I’m about to experience a breakthrough!”

Xu Qing’s eyebrows shot up. He didn’t see anything to indicate the patriarch was on the verge of a breakthrough. However, that was when the shadow started sending out urgent emotional fluctuations.

“I… live and… die with you… also breakthrough!”

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Xu Qing looked at the shadow and nodded. Then he shifted directions, and instead of heading out of the forbidden ground, went looking for a suitable location for a breakthrough.

It didn’t take long for him to find a secluded valley. It was filled with strange plants with huge sawtooth leaves. Some drooped down, others twitched and wriggled as they slowly digested small animals they had snagged.

When Xu Qing arrived, all of the plants in the valley shrank away from him. He frowned. He wasn’t happy with being so eye-catching.

After some thought, he reined in the poison from his third heavenly palace. As a result, the plants thirty meters away from him and farther all relaxed. Those closer than that still shrank away from him. That was the limit of his control over the poison core for now. After he got more familiar with it, his control would improve.

Once in the valley, Xu Qing waved his hand, and the iron skewer flew to the valley wall and quickly carved out a tunnel. It went deep underground. After checking around thoroughly to make sure everything was safe, Xu Qing entered the tunnel.

With the wave of his hand, he sent countless rocks to block the entrance, then he went to the end of the tunnel. After making various preparations in the area, he sat down and produced an oil lamp, which he lit.

As the flame illuminated his face, he said, “Who’s going first?”

“Me… first….” the shadow said, sliding away from Xu Qing and onto the cave wall.

Xu Qing looked at the shadow. It resembled a huge tree, covered with over a hundred opened eyes looking mysteriously at Xu Qing. .

“Milord… pills… consume….”

Xu Qing waved his hand and a host of bottles and jars flew out, which were from August Spirit Nethersprite’s mansion grotto. None of them were the type that contained life force. Not any more. Checking through them, Xu Qing found a handful that would be helpful to the shadow. They were the same ones the shadow had longed for back in the mansion grotto.

The shadow was clearly excited at the sight of them. Once they were out, the bottles all exploded, as did the medicinal pills inside. They turned into a turbid, misty cloud that shot toward the shadow on the wall. The shadow sucked it in, and then instantly began to tremble. At the same time, large amounts of mutagen in the area rushed toward the shadow. As it sucked the mutagen in, more and more rushed in.

Considering they were in a forbidden ground, the mutagen was incredibly strong, and it quickly formed a whirlpool around the shadow. As the whirlpool spun, the shadow blurred, until it completely vanished into the whirlpool. Then, terrifying fluctuations started rolling out of the whirlpool.

The fluctuations soon rose higher and higher, heading from the Foundation Establishment level toward the Gold Core level. Thumping sounds rang out, almost like a heartbeat. Anyone who heard them would be very unsettled, and would get the sensation a new form of life was coming into existence inside the whirlpool.

Xu Qing watched, thinking back to what happened the last time the shadow rose to a higher level, and wondering if it would again try to rebel. If it did, he was ready to crush it.

Meanwhile, the patriarch looked on, feeling very, VERY anxious. In fact, he felt a sensation of deadly crisis.

That aura…. Little Shadow, oh Little Shadow, why do you have to do this? What am I supposed to do??