443 Beginning of the Transformation
On the bamboo slip, many names had been crossed out, but there was one name that was very conspicuous.
Its color was purple-red as thought blood had dripped on it as it was carved.
‘Big Brother.’
Xu Qing looked at the name with a calm expression. He didn’t seem to show any fluctuations. However, his hand that was holding the iron stick exerted an imperceptible force.
He retracted his gaze and kept the bamboo slip. He then looked at the red sunset in the sky. After a long time, he spoke softly to the captain and Yanyan.
“I’m going into seclusion for a while.”
Yanyan could faintly sense that Xu Qing’s mood was a little down. Hence, she hurriedly nodded.
“Go, Little Qing. With Senior Brother around, don’t worry and rush to the third palace.” The captain sat there and laughed.
“Eldest Senior Brother, some poison might spread out during my seclusion this time. Don’t get too close. If… something unexpected happens, you can leave immediately. You don’t have to bother with me.”
Xu Qing reminded.
When the captain heard this, he was about to brag a little but after some thought, he quickly distanced himself.
He had seen Xu Qing’s poison many times and felt that it was getting stranger and stranger.
Yanyan’s eyes also widened and she immediately retreated. She thought of the poisoned Night Dove members in the Homicide Department’s prison.
Seeing the two of them like this, Xu Qing was relieved. This time, he wanted to put the Poison Restriction Pill into the Heavenly Palace. Although he had planned for a long time and analyzed the risks, there were still some unknown variables after all.
In addition, he didn’t know how long he would be in closed-door cultivation this time around. Hence, he handed the control of the magic warship to the captain and turned to walk to the cabin.
Just as he was about to step into the cabin, Xu Qing suddenly thought of something and turned his head to look at the captain.
“Eldest Senior Brother, I don’t think I’ve seen your magic boat before?”
The captain’s expression revealed smugness as he spoke proudly.
“I placed it in a mysterious place to nurture it. It’s almost done. When it’s done, I’ll go take it out. I guarantee that the old man will be shocked when he sees it.”
Xu Qing was used to the captain’s exaggerated words. He nodded and entered the cabin.
After stepping in, he closed the door of the cabin and sat down cross-legged, performing a series of hand seals with both hands. He activated an array formation and completely sealed the cabin, preventing his aura from spreading out.
After that, he took out some magic artifacts and set them up in the surroundings.
After doing this, Xu Qing took a deep breath and opened his storage bag to organize the loot. This was especially so for the bottles and jars he had obtained from Spirit Venerable Nether Fairy’s cave abode. He opened them one by one and checked them to find items that contained vitality.
After all, the only thing useful against the Poison Restriction Pill was life force.
After the selection, Xu Qing also inspected the other items in the same way. When everything was ready, he closed his eyes and fell silent for a long time before taking out the wish box.
Xu Qing didn’t open it immediately. With a wave of his hand, an ancient jade slip appeared.
This jade slip was the item that had existed in the wish box with the Poison Restriction Pill back then.
At this moment, Xu Qing was holding it in his hand. His poison-resistance could already ignore the remnant poison on it to a certain extent. He also had the purple crystal’s power to recover. As such, although his right hand was turning a little black, it didn’t rot.
As his divine sense surged in, an ancient voice echoed in Xu Qing’s mind like thunder again.
“What is the Great Dao? All 3,000 Great Dao can lead to deification. Is there poison Dao among them?”
“The people of the world disdain evil and poison. Could such unorthodox methods lead one to greatness?”
“I once thought so too. I spurned the evil poison art.”
“Until I killed a nonhuman that walked out of a Divine Realm one day. This cultivator’s combat strength was astonishing and the Dao he cultivated was incomparably sinister. Before he died, he stared at me with a vicious gaze, causing my cultivation to fall by a realm day by day.
“Ten days later, I turned into a mortal and experienced 60 years of pain and torture in the mortal world. I used countless treasures before I finally got my life back. I also refined this poison from my body and turned it into a pill.”
“From then on, I studied this pill until the calamity descended but to no avail. I am leaving this semi-finished item for the later generations.”
“This pill is poison and also restriction! If a high-level cultivator obtains it, do not use it yourself; otherwise, you will be consigned to eternal damnation and certain death. A low-level Heavenly Palace Golden Core cultivator can use this poison pill as a golden core in their Heavenly Palace to become a poison cultivator who walks a different path from the others.”
“Only then can their soul be changed and walk the path of this restriction pill!”
“According to my deduction, on the path of the restriction pill, one can use poison to shake the world and restriction to destroy all ages. It is a terrifying and unpredictable method of the Divine Realm. In the end, the Divine Realm became the great enemy of all races!”
Determination appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes.
“Place this Poison Restriction Pill in the Heavenly Palace… From this senior’s tone, it seems that he deduced it. However, I don’t believe he hasn’t tested it.”
“However, it’s obvious that the tests failed.”
“So, no matter what, there’s still a huge risk in the end. As for what changes will happen, it’s unknown.”
Xu Qing mumbled but the determination in his eyes didn’t decrease.
“However, I’m already constantly adapting to this poison. While I have a certain level of resistance, I also fused the little black bugs into it and they can stay for a short period of time.”
“Although I haven’t completely developed immunity to it, I’ve done it to the extreme. It’s difficult for me to obtain more resistance.”
“The most important thing is that this Poison Restriction Pill has almost lost its spirituality and is in a withered state. Moreover, it’s a semi-finished pill and isn’t complete.”
“If this continues, its withering state will gradually become worse. If it really completely withers into a dead pill, its value will be greatly reduced. Only by fusing it will there be a possibility of reviving it.”
“It’s meaningless if I don’t integrate and continue to wait. I don’t know what the future will be like. However, following the prescribed order is no longer enough to satisfy my goal. If I want to become stronger, I can only take risks.”
Xu Qing drew in a deep breath and sensed the third Heavenly Palace in his body. 99% of this palace had materialized. It only needed a golden core before it could completely turn corporeal.
“How can the path of cultivation be smooth-sailing? We’ll definitely have to endure huge risks on the way!” Xu Qing opened the wish box.
The instant the iron box was opened, a black-colored poison pill was revealed.
This pill was much shriveled up compared to before and there wasn’t much poison left in it. It seemed that after the wish box was opened for the first time and it came into contact with the outside world, its withered state became even more intense.
Xu Qing had discovered this long ago. He also knew that if this continued, this pill would probably eventually become a sourceless pill. After the poison evaporated time and time again, it would completely dissipate from the world.
As the dense poisonous air spread out in the surroundings, Xu Qing was the first to bear the brunt and his body trembled.
Even though he had a certain level of resistance and even had the purple crystal, this Poison Restriction Pill still caused his entire body to rapidly turn black. However, Xu Qing no longer cared about these. His eyes were filled with determination as he picked up the poison pill in the box.
At the next instant, his right hand turned into bizarre nether state and turned transparent, enveloping the poison pill.
This poison pill was astonishing. Even though Xu Qing’s right hand had transformed into bizarre nether state, he could still see black threads forming inside. It was as though even in this state, the power of poison was still effective.
Xu Qing ignored these. After he grabbed the poisonous pill with his bizarre nether hand, he quickly probed into his dantian.
Xu Qing had done this many times when he probed his sea of consciousness and touched the Heavenly Palaces of the enemies. However, this was the first time he had used it on himself.
This was also the solution he had thought of.
If he swallowed this pill, Xu Qing felt that his body probably wouldn’t be able to withstand it. If he directly sent it to the Heavenly Palace with the bizarre nether hand, in his analysis, the success rate would be even higher.
Hence, he didn’t hesitate. After the bizarre nether hand passed through his flesh and blood, under Xu Qing’s strength, it stretched into his sea of consciousness and instantly got close, touching his third palace.
This process was extremely painful and there was also the invasion of the poison pill’s power.
However, Xu Qing gritted his teeth tightly and didn’t stop at all. He was very clear that the faster he completed this matter, the better.
Hence, with great determination, the instant his right hand touched the third palace, it moved in. He released his palm in the third palace and put down the Poison Restriction Pill inside.
He immediately retracted his right hand.
Although his movements were fast, intense pain still gushed out from his body. Xu Qing’s body trembled and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
His internal organs were already affected and waves of cramps attacked him. Before he could recover, his third Heavenly Palace erupted with intense fluctuations.
The poison power of the Poison Restriction Pill inside suddenly erupted and spread in all directions from the third palace like an avalanche. It swept through Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness, affecting his soul and permeating his entire body.
Xu Qing’s body trembled and began to rot. His sea of consciousness withered and his soul dimmed.
The poison contained in this Poison Restriction Pill was too terrifying and its level was extremely high.
At the same time, threads spread out from the bricks and tiles of the third palace and quickly connected to the Poison Restriction Pill that was releasing its power.
This was a kind of fusion and transformation.
The moment any external golden core appeared in the cultivator’s Heavenly Palace, the Heavenly Palace would immediately fuse with it. The instant the fusion was completed, the transformation would be completed and the golden core would become an intrinsic treasure.
Originally, the third palace was golden. At this moment, as those threads fused into the Poison Restriction Pill, the entire third palace slowly turned black.
This process was extremely slow.
Xu Qing sensed that the moment his third Heavenly Palace turned completely pitch-black, it would mean it had completely fused with the Poison Restriction Pill.
Only at that time would he be able to indirectly control this Poison Restriction Pill and make it his intrinsic item with his connection to the third Heavenly Palace.
At that time, he would be able to control the Third Heavenly Palace and call back the poison that had spread all over his body.
However, this long fusion time would be a fatal test for Xu Qing.
If he couldn’t withstand the poison before the fusion was completed, his body and soul would be destroyed.
Xu Qing’s body trembled. The incomparably dense poison from the Poison Restriction Pill filled all the parts in his body.
The indescribable heart-piercing pain caused him to involuntarily let out a sharp cry.
This pain surpassed what he had experienced in the many life and death crises before. Regardless of whether it was the merfolk island temple or the dragon carriage, they were different from now. At that time, the pain spread from the outside to the inside.
Hence, he was able to resist it forcefully.
The pain now spread from the inside out.
However, it wasn’t like Xu Qing hadn’t experienced this feeling before. On that rainy night, his heart was torn apart and the collapse of the high walls was the deepest pain in his memory.
Compared to that, this was nothing.
Xu Qing didn’t like his screams right now.
He gritted his teeth with reddened eyes and forcibly turned this blood-curdling scream into a whimpering sound that came out from between his teeth.
At the same time, the purple crystal in his chest circulated at full force. Purple light filled Xu Qing’s entire body, assisting him in resisting the poison.
The Golden Crow manifested and spat out flames at Xu Qing, helping him strengthen his body.
Also, the immortal Qi accumulated in his sea of consciousness was also sharing the burden for him.
The other two Heavenly Palaces formed by the life lanterns revealed canopies and augmented his strength. Finally, the Ghost Emperor Mountain emitted black light and suppressed everything.
Time passed.