Chapter 98

But before Meng Hao could make any move, the green spiritual snake, which was ten zhang away from him, suddenly stopped. It let out a sharp, piercing scream, as if it had sensed something terrifying about Meng Hao. It trembled, instantly retreated, and dared not approach.

At the same time, three-colored smoke suddenly dispersed from Meng Hao's head, forming a ghostly face that seemed to be neither crying nor laughing. It hovered above Meng Hao's head and seemed to emit an invisible low roar toward the spiritual snake.

The spiritual snake let out a piercing cry and immediately began to rot all over. It instantly turned into a pool of blood, which fell to the ground. This scene made the old man's face change, and the other two cultivators drew in their breaths, their expressions showing shock.

Even Meng Hao was taken aback for a moment, and his heart sank.

The three-colored smoke was the poison inside his body. This poison had flared up twice in the past half year, but this was the first time it had manifested on its own. Clearly, this poison was extremely mysterious, capable of sensing external poisons and declaring its dominance, not allowing other poisons to approach.

Over the past half year, Meng Hao had gradually realized that the three poisons he had ingested from the three sects had been expelled from his body during the two flare-ups. It seemed that these poisons were incompatible with the three-colored poison and were clearly inferior to it, hence they were expelled from Meng Hao's body. Seeing the death of the spiritual snake, Meng Hao felt even more the dominance of the three-colored poison from Tian Ji Shangren.

However, the three people here were unaware of all this. When they looked at Meng Hao, their expressions showed wariness, especially the cultivator who had lost his spiritual snake. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and he quickly retreated, looking at Meng Hao with fear and shock.

"So, Daoist friend is also a poison cultivator..." The old man with the ninth-layer Qi Condensation cultivation, sitting cross-legged on a toad, now had a serious expression. He stood up and bowed to Meng Hao.

"Since that's the case, Daoist friend can stay here. However, this valley is strange. The thick mist below seems to be rich in spiritual energy, but on every full moon night, the mist erupts, flooding the entire valley." The old man's eyes flashed with a hint of mystery as he spoke slowly.

"Thank you for the warning." Meng Hao's face was expressionless. He spoke calmly and then moved, entering the cave. A piece of mountain rock he had cut off fell with a thud, blocking the entrance to the cave.

Outside, it was quiet. The old man's eyes flickered several times as he looked at the other two. The three of them were silent for a moment, then they patted their spirit beasts and flew away together, gathering in another valley with four other cultivators.

These four were all at the eighth-layer Qi Condensation stage, wearing green and blue robes. They sat cross-legged around a large green-black stone. The stone occasionally emitted a mysterious light, and each time the light appeared, the stone would become slightly transparent, revealing what seemed to be the skeleton of a bird with two heads inside.

As the old man and the other two arrived, the four cultivators opened their eyes.

"The outsider is also a poison cultivator. I'm not sure if he has noticed anything, but he hasn't left," the ninth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator who had lost his spiritual snake said with a look of resentment.

"An unexpected complication... What is his cultivation level?" One of the four cultivators, a middle-aged man with a pale face, frowned and asked.

"Ninth-layer Qi Condensation peak!" The old man on the toad replied calmly. It wasn't that he had misjudged, but Meng Hao didn't easily reach the thirteenth-layer Qi Condensation, as once he did, he would be cut off from the world. Therefore, he usually appeared to be at the ninth-layer Qi Condensation peak.

"This person's cultivation is not ordinary, but if we all act together, he will surely die. If we let him stay here, even if he hasn't noticed anything yet, in half a month, it will be the full moon night, and he will surely notice something.

Especially when we pull the red rope, as a poison cultivator, how can he not be tempted? In my opinion, we should all act together and kill him immediately." The cultivator who had lost his spiritual snake spoke again.

The others hesitated. After all, Meng Hao's cultivation was at the ninth-layer Qi Condensation peak. Only the old man on the toad could match him in cultivation, and the others were not capable. If a battle broke out, even if they won, there would be casualties. They all looked at the old man on the toad hesitantly.

"We don't need to act. I have already hinted to him about the difference here on the full moon night. If he is interested, he will surely go out to investigate on the full moon night. At that time, we don't need to act. The miasma that erupts when the red rope is pulled will kill him completely.

If he doesn't go out... the miasma will spread everywhere, and he will surely die! In any case, this place is passed down from the ancestors of our Spirit Mountain Three Camps. Outsiders... must die if they see it." The old man's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and the six people around him nodded.

At this moment, Meng Hao was sitting cross-legged in the cave in the valley. The dense spiritual energy around him made his cultivation active. As he circulated his energy, his Dan Sea swelled, showing signs of solidification.

Meng Hao took a deep breath, looked up at the large stone in the cave, and with a flash in his eyes, two wooden swords flew out and landed beside him. He raised his right hand and waved it forward, and a talisman flew out, floating in front of him, above the large stone in the cave.

This talisman was something he had obtained from Wang Tengfei in the past. He didn't know its power and had never used it, but the fact that Wang Tengfei had taken it out that day meant it was not ordinary.

"These people seem to have some secrets they don't want outsiders to know. However, if they don't come to bother me, it's fine. If they come to disturb my cultivation..." A cold light flashed in Meng Hao's eyes, and his expression remained calm. He took out the turtle shell from Shangguan Xiu, which contained information about the Perfect Foundation Establishment Pill, and as he read it, he frowned.

"To refine the Perfect Foundation Establishment Pill, I need a pill furnace. Shangguan Xiu left one, but I also need a certain level of alchemy skills. Otherwise, the failure rate is too high. The herbs are extremely precious, and each failure, even if I can replicate them, is too costly." Meng Hao pondered. He didn't know alchemy, and this was a problem for him.

After a while, Meng Hao took out the herbs needed for the sub-pills and a copper mirror, and began to try to replicate them. After several hours, the spirit stones were severely depleted. According to Meng Hao's calculations, even if he had a mountain of spirit stones, this replication would soon leave him penniless.

"This is just for one sub-pill... The refinement of the Perfect Foundation Establishment Pill involves two steps. The first step is to refine seven different sub-pills, none of which have specific effects. The second step is to combine these seven sub-pills to form the Perfect Foundation Establishment Pill. If any of the sub-pills are missing, it cannot be successful!

Shangguan Xiu refined two of the seven sub-pills, but there are still five... With my lack of alchemy skills, it might take dozens of attempts to succeed once. In that case, my spirit stones are not enough, and it might even affect my own foundation establishment.

Alchemy... If I had sufficient alchemy skills, this problem would be solved immediately." Meng Hao frowned. He had some basic alchemy methods from the Tianhe Market, but if he tried to learn them on his own, it would take a long time and might not be successful. After all, these methods were too common, and the true alchemy masters kept their methods secret, often as the treasures of their sects.

"According to the normal method, one should refine the Perfect Foundation Establishment Pill before establishing the foundation, to avoid rushing. Shangguan Xiu chose this method.

But..." Meng Hao's eyes flashed with a cold light.

"This method seems to meet the requirements, but the longer one's cultivation is not at the foundation stage, the more dangers one faces. Shangguan Xiu died because of this. If he had already established his foundation, he wouldn't have died at my hands. His method... is not feasible!" Meng Hao pondered for a moment, and his eyes showed determination.

"No matter what, I must first establish my foundation. If possible, I will refine the Perfect Foundation Establishment Pill. If time doesn't allow, and the Perfect Foundation Establishment Pill is not refined before the Dao Platform crack forms, making it difficult to repair, then... Imperfect is also fine!" Meng Hao gritted his teeth and decisively abandoned the idea of refining the Perfect Foundation Establishment Pill first, which, though tempting, was not realistic at the moment.

"Only by reaching the foundation stage can I enter the Southern Domain and conveniently find a way to detoxify. Otherwise, as a Qi Condensation cultivator, it would be difficult to achieve this." Meng Hao made up his mind and, without further thought, put away the turtle shell and herbs, took out a Foundation Establishment Pill, and began to replicate it.

Although his cultivation had reached the peak of Qi Condensation, making the breakthrough to the foundation stage more likely, Meng Hao decided to use the Foundation Establishment Pill for safety.

A moment later, Meng Hao looked at the five Foundation Establishment Pills in front of him, took a deep breath, and patted his storage bag. Immediately, a small flag wrapped in lightning flew out. Meng Hao made a hand seal and pointed at it, and the flag instantly pierced the ground on its own, absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy and forming a mist that enveloped the cave, covering a dozen zhang around Meng Hao.

"Swallowing the Foundation Establishment Pill will cause my body to stiffen for a while, but with this lightning flag, I will be safe. And with my current cultivation, this stiffness might be very brief." Meng Hao glanced at the flag that had turned into mist.

Among the treasures of the Relying Mountain Ancestor, the most mysterious was the ancient jade for sealing demons, and the one Meng Hao liked the most, besides the mountain of spirit stones, was this small flag. As for the Ruyi Seal, Meng Hao had never been able to figure it out and planned to study it after establishing his foundation.

At this moment, he took a deep breath, picked up a Foundation Establishment Pill without hesitation, and put it in his mouth. The pill dissolved instantly, and a surge of powerful spiritual energy flooded Meng Hao's body, making him shudder. Although this was not the first time he had swallowed a Foundation Establishment Pill, he still felt his body become like a solitary boat in a raging storm, his mind buzzing, but he maintained the rapid circulation of his cultivation.

The powerful spiritual energy gradually flowed into his Dan Sea, making it roar and churn. The demon core inside seemed to rise and fall, as if the entire Dan Sea was about to transform into a Dao Platform!

Once the Dao Platform forms, Meng Hao's cultivation will break through from Qi Condensation to the true realm of cultivation, the Foundation Establishment stage!

Once he reaches the Foundation Establishment stage, he will no longer be a mortal, but will truly enter the path of cultivation, a path from which there is no turning back, as the path behind him will no longer be the mortal world. If he retreats, it means he is not suitable to exist in the cultivation world!

This is like rowing against the current.

This is a path where not advancing means falling back!

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