"It's possible that he ventured into the Grotto's forbidden zone. I only entered there once, but I was able to find a sealed cave."
"At the time, I was far too weak to undo the seal. I had forgotten all about it, really. Once I heard that the human scourge had wiped out my family, I flew into such a rage. How foolish."
Qi Zixie fiercely shook her head.
"Emotions sometimes allow us to feel and process the things we hide. For you to be overcome with emotion meant that you took several steps forward in your development. That is what I think, my Lord."
Yuan Zhen smiled and nodded, his fangs just barely peeking out at her. She returned a smile, then refocused on the topic at hand.
"So, maybe Ji Xie undid the seal and found something he wanted to keep for himself?"
Yuan Zhen's mouth twitched, devolving into a scowl. "Yes. Whatever it is, we must acquire it as long as they haven't taken it out of the cave."
"Understood. But, Lord Yuan, are you confident we'll be able to do that?"
Qi Zixie could clearly feel how her body had- and was continuing to- change. She knew for a fact that she was almost ten times as powerful, but she still did not have the confidence to move forward.
While she did not doubt Yuan Zhen, she feared that keeping her around would prove to be too much of a burden.
With a knowing smile, Yuan Zhen shook his head.
"No. We definitely aren't strong enough to accomplish something those in the Immortal Spirit realm couldn't. However, that does not mean we never will be."
While Yuan Zhen had been in the Origin Evolving Realm in his past life, that was not the height of cultivation in the realm.
He could only assume that now, more than a hundred years after his death, even more experts had reached the Immortal Spirit realm.
He was far behind, and needed to make up for it.
Yuan Zhen suddenly stopped, standing before a tree that was purely black. Waves of deadly toxic gas spread out from the surface of the cracked and withered bark.
Qi Zixie spread her energy out over her body, protecting it from the gas. This gas was especially dangerous. It would easily diffuse into your skin and begin killing you from inside.
In a matter of seconds, even cultivators would drop dead. Qi Zixie needed only to sense the potency of that poisonous gas to know that it was a threat to her life.
When she looked at Yuan Zhen she gasped, seeing that he had no defenses up.
"Lord Yuan, the poison..."
"No need to worry about me. Remember, I essentially grew up here."
Yuan Zhen merely smiled to reassure her then resumed his nonchalant gazing. He made a decision, then acted on it.
Without so much as an inch of protective energy on his body, he placed a hand on that tree.
"I learned a thing or two about dealing with the poison. I realized that I couldn't afford to waste energy protecting myself from both the bane-devils and the poison."
While saying that, he began to absorb a portion of the tree's energy.
"This poison can be adapted to, making one immune. Consider this your first real objective here on the outskirts of the Grotto. Adapt to the toxins by allowing them to slowly permeate your body."
"Be careful not to let it roam free in your body, but instead guide it along the outside of your energy channels. Once they both merge perfectly, you'll have taken the first step toward becoming immune."
He then looked around, seeing the gloomy, dead forest that they had entered. The earth was barren and lifeless with few pebbles and boulders scattered around. Dead, leafless bushes dotted the landscape.
A number of decayed corpses, shattered skeletons and other remains could be seen.
"Stay here and work on that. I'm going to try to get a sense where we are and what's around us.
Qi Zixie was already apprehensive, but she tried her best to keep calm. Just watching Yuan Zhen about to leave terrified her, but she would have to get over it.
He left her behind, moving toward a nearby hill.
As he walked away, she found her resolve and then gingerly withdrew the protective energy from around her body.
When the energy was almost paper thin, a change occured.
Immediately, the violet gas diffused past her thinner protective layer and began to enter her body through the pores.
With her hand on the tree, she closed her eyes and focused on where the poison was entering her. An acute pain came in waves, steadily intensified but remaining bearable.
"Guide it along... Don't let it roam free..."
She went through Yuan Zhen's words in her head and carefully formed a net of energy around the gas. When she succeeded, she brought it to the outside of her energy channels.
As more and more of the gas entered, it began to spread out throughout all the channels, covering them.
Luckily, this gas had no soul or consciousness, otherwise she would have been in for a life or death struggle the minute she let in into her body...
"Oh shit!"
Like some horrifying joke of fate, the poisonous gas morphed into an illusory spirit. There were two glowing eyes in the gas, widening to look directly at the spiritual energy channels.
There was now a spirit in her body, covering all her energy channels and wanting to rampage throughout them.
"Jie jie jie! Foolish girl! You actually let me in! I had to properly hide myself from your friend, but it seems you aren't nearly as capable as he is. What luck!"
That spirit took form in her body, bashing against the net of energy.
"Oh? What dense energy! This is great! I'll definitely take control of this body and finally be free to roam the world!"
As it thrashed against the energy containing it, Qi Zixie fell into a panic.
She was about to unconsciously call out to Yuan Zhen, but stopped herself.
She couldn't rely on him.
She had to solve this issue herself and prove she was worthy to stand at his side with no aid!
Even though she strengthened her resolve, she had no idea what to do. Her mind raced to find some sort of idea, but she was running out of time.
The spirit had finally broken out of her energy net, beginning to work its way into her channels.
When she saw that, she was taken aback.
'Didn't Lord Yuan say that I had to properly merge it with my energy... Then maybe...'
Thinking such, she carefully released her hold on the spirit, allowing it to permeate her energy channels. While doing that, she acted as if she was struggling, even sending out a bit of energy to try to recapture the spirit.
"Keekeekee! Prepare to be seized by Fang Guanlong, pitiful beast!"
The violet spirit was fighting its way into her channels when it suddenly cried out in shock and excitement.
"What tough walls! This body is truly a treasure! I must have it!"
Hearing that, she was even more convinced that Yuan Zhen had been preparing her for this.
How could he not know the dangers of absorbing the gas? Surely he had come across a similar situation at least once.
He had not only been excavating her potential, but giving her hints to use in this very situation.
Of course, it was possible she was overpraising him a bit, but she didn't think so. She felt that he was the master of all master strategists, a legendary beast who was countless steps ahead of all others.
After all, records of his life would always emphasize the ease with which he would win battles. The saying was that Yuan Zhen had never met an opposing force that could withstand a single blow before being toyed to death.
As soon as the spirit entered her channels, trying to corrupt them and the energy within them, she shouted out with her mind.
"Be refined, damnable spirit!"
Immediately, her dense energy began to circulate, immediately reaching a great speed.
If this carried on, the spirit's gaseous form would be refined forcibly by the intense heat. It would be broken down by the energy and then be assimilated.
Realizing this, it returned all its effort to burrowing through the walls of her channels, trying to escape.
Sadly, she had been allowing it to break through before. Now that she conscientiously defended her walls from being broken through, there was nothing it could do.
This was thanks to her having strengthened her channels through intense energy refinement.
The spirit was helpless and could only scream and shout its frustrations. Violet pulses hit against her channels walls as it was pushed throughout her body. Unfortunately, no matter where it attacked, or from what angle, it could do no damage.
It was, after all, a very weak bane-devil.
"You ugly, horned bitch! You dare trick me-- Ahh!!!!"
As the energy heated up, the spirit was being refined faster and faster.
Before long, her energy went from a bright gold to a mix of gold and violet. Tiny black particles could be seen in it as well.
"Did I succeed?"
Opening her eyes, she once more placed her hand on the tree. With the spirit dead, the remnant energy was now undoubtedly lifeless. Without a will, it would not attack beyond its natural effect and try to possess her.
She confidently sucked in a massive amount, allowing it to roam freely throughout her body.
Though she felt some discomfort at first, she easily overcame it.
Her energy had already begun to strengthen her body against the poison. Her immunity to the poison was just a matter of time. As she went forward and encountered stronger bane-devils, she would be be able to grow accustomed to their poison as well.
"Phew..."
She fell to the floor, looking up to see Yuan Zhen, who had only just returned, smiling at her.
"You succeeded, I presume."
"Yes, Lord Yuan. It's all thanks to you!" She stared at him worshipfully, as if he was a divine king.
Yuan Zhen didn't think much of it, assuming she meant the thought of him had helped her in some way or something. It was not rare for someone to thank someone for helping them even when they really didn't do much.
How could he have any idea that she thought he had specifically been preparing her for a spirit's attack.
The spirit had, after all, hidden its presence from him. His soul was not yet powerful enough to sense something that was pouring every ounce of effort into hiding.
That being said, his soul was no ordinary spirit either. Yuan Zhen sensed that, after his apparent reincarnation, his soul had both gotten stronger and weaker.
He was certain that he could do things with his soul that he could never have done in his past life, however he was also certain that he had far less power.
He couldn't use it to spread his perception out as far as before, and also couldn't use it to release his innate bloodlust. This made him think of the mask.
Why would he produce a manifestation for the sole purpose of emanating his bloodlust? His soul itself had been affected by the slaughters he committed.
Therefore his soul alone should be able to release his bloodlust. Somehow, his soul was now stripped of its 'attribute.' Instead, a spirit manifestation had acquired his developed bloodlust. His soul now appeared to be completely plain.
Still, Yuan Zhen could feel that his soul had changed.
Snapping out of his in-depth thought, he turned to see the excited and expectant look on Qi Zixie's face.
Upon seeing that face, he unconsciously put a hand on her head, between her horns. He left it there for a while, reminiscing.
He did not even seem to realize what he was doing. He just smiled and looked at her
"Good job, Zixie. Now we can get to work."