Chapter 245: If a Wolf Turns Back, There Must Be a Reason

The sky was now bright, and all eerie phenomena had vanished. Xu Qing leaped up, found a large tree, and sat cross-legged in meditation to recuperate.

It wasn't until mid-morning that he opened his eyes and gazed towards the direction where the ghost city had appeared the previous night. A fierce glint intensified in his eyes. Without a word, he leaped down and began to roam through the jungle.

Xu Qing didn't seek out the target beast he had designated the day before. Instead, he sped through the forbidden area, meticulously observing every region he passed. After about half an hour, Xu Qing spotted a valley.

Activating his Profound Radiance State, Xu Qing thoroughly inspected the valley.

From above, the valley appeared concave, with only an entrance and no exit.

After confirming there were no major issues, Xu Qing looked up, then glanced at both sides. He suddenly raised his right hand and punched a nearby rock.

With a roar, a large amount of shattered rock fell, revealing a substantial hole in the mountainside.

Xu Qing glanced at it, then changed direction and continued punching.

A moment later, Xu Qing had punched out dozens of large holes in the mountain walls on both sides of the valley.

After this, he continuously pounded the valley floor, creating dozens more large holes, before finally stopping.

Next, he checked the time. Without delay, he entered one of the large holes and took an iron box from his storage bag.

This was the wish box containing the Forbidden Poison Pill.

Inside the hole, Xu Qing opened the wish box and placed it on the ground.

Instantly, the aura emanating from the poison pill within the wish box began to dissipate in all directions.

Xu Qing swiftly retreated, ignoring the dissipating poison pill. He grabbed the shattered rocks from around him and piled them at the edge of the hole containing the pill, forming a wall.

Although the stone wall couldn't completely seal the opening, Xu Qing knew from his understanding of the Forbidden Poison Pill that as long as there was no wind, its diffused aura would last for at least a day.

Once the stone wall was nearly complete, Xu Qing waited a moment. From outside the hole, he made a grabbing motion, and the wish box flew to him. He instantly covered it, then sealed the hole again, and moved on to the second hole.

Xu Qing intended for the poison pill's aura to permeate every hole, including the deep pits on the ground. In this way, the unique environment of the valley would cause a large amount of toxic gas to spread throughout the area.

Xu Qing continued his work.

The Vajra Sect Old Ancestor, observing Xu Qing's personal arrangements and the intensifying malevolence in his eyes, felt a tremor in his heart. He secretly thought, "Of all people to provoke, why provoke this Demon Xu?" And so, time passed.

Xu Qing's preparations continued until nightfall. As midnight neared, he finally completed his arrangements for the area.

There were over sixty large holes in total, each simply sealed by Xu Qing. In every hole, he had placed a poison pill to allow its aura to dissipate.

As a result, the poison pill's aura within the valley was now extremely potent. During the process, even with his resistance, Xu Qing found it somewhat unbearable and had to step outside several times to alleviate the effects, slowly recovering only with the aid of the purple crystal.

Now that his work was finally complete, he glanced at the valley, satisfaction evident in his eyes.

Xu Qing estimated that even with his resistance, he could only remain inside for a maximum of half an incense stick's time. Beyond that, he wasn't confident that the purple crystal could save him.

Therefore, any other being affected by this poison would undoubtedly suffer even more.

"Let's see how long that big head can last!" Xu Qing left the valley and sat cross-legged in the jungle not far away. Here, he had arranged three large trees he had cut down into a triangular pattern.

Three white candles were placed on the trees.

Xu Qing worried that the large head from the ghost city might not appear on its own tonight, so he prepared to summon it himself if it didn't.

As he waited, midnight finally arrived.

It turned out Xu Qing had worried unnecessarily. The moment the time came, he didn't need to summon it; he immediately felt the familiar surrounding cold and saw his breath turn to white mist.

"It's here," Xu Qing murmured, narrowing his eyes and looking up into the distance.

Soon, mist enveloped the jungle before him. The next instant, the familiar ghost city reappeared.

This time, the chains around the monk's head in the center of the ghost city were noticeably more numerous than the previous night, and the ghost city's suppression of it was stronger than ever.

But clearly, the fact that the ghost city could still be influenced to appear indicated that this level of suppression was insufficient.

In an instant, the monk's eyes snapped open, locking directly onto Xu Qing. A roaring sound erupted from its mouth.

"The Golden Crow must die!"

With these words, the head leaped up fiercely, just as it had yesterday, ignoring the arm-chains wrapped around it. It sped directly towards Xu Qing, arriving with a deafening roar.

The next instant, where Xu Qing had been, trees collapsed and the ground shattered.

Xu Qing had already burst out a step ahead, his Profound Radiance State fully activated for maximum speed as he fled into the distance, his expression displaying fear and terror.

"You're a lingering ghost, what exactly do you want?!"

Even though the other party was disoriented, Xu Qing, just to be safe, let out a low growl and ran with all his might.

Behind him, the monk's head landed and rolled forward, emitting an eerie laugh. It was incredibly fast, steadily closing the distance.

Meanwhile, the ghost city was also shaking, with even more ghostly hands erupting from within, pursuing the monk's head. As the scene from the previous night replayed, Xu Qing had already rushed into the valley.

Seeing Xu Qing enter the valley, the monk's head, perhaps overly confident or too disoriented to make a clear judgment, did not hesitate. It rolled directly after Xu Qing, rushing into the valley, a low growl echoing from its mouth.

But the next instant, the low growl abruptly ceased.

Then a monstrous roar erupted from within the valley. Amidst the sound, the rolling head that had entered suddenly recoiled outward, its disoriented face now replaced with an expression of terror.

A large amount of skin on its face could be seen decaying.

Yet, no blood flowed from it.

It seemed the head's existence lacked blood; it was some kind of special entity.

But even with its unique nature, it still began to decay and dissolve under the influence of the poison pill's aura, which had been left from the previous epoch.

Furthermore, as it recoiled, Xu Qing, still within the valley, formed hand seals and fiercely waved his hands outward. Instantly, an enormous ancient dragon materialized behind him and slammed powerfully into the valley.

The valley collapsed, and the poison pill's aura inside suddenly diffused in all directions due to the impact.

The head couldn't avoid it and was tainted further. The terror on its face intensified until, with a bang, it spontaneously disintegrated into countless small heads, attempting to disperse the poison it had incurred.

But the power of the poison pill was terrifying; even by dispersing, it was difficult for it to completely neutralize the effects.

Although the poison's onset wasn't rapid, its potency was clearly of an extremely high rank. Even though the monk's head was eerie, it was still poisoned.

At this moment, murderous intent erupted in Xu Qing's eyes. His body swiftly surged forward, his right hand lifting as the Heavenly Blade materialized. He then delivered a powerful slash towards the small heads scattered around him.

The earth roared as the Golden Crow also ascended, spewing black flames in all directions, turning the surroundings into a sea of fire. Amidst the inferno, it suddenly took a fierce inhalation.

As for Shadow and the Vajra Sect Old Ancestor, they dared not move at this moment, as they also feared that kind of poison.

Only the little black worm could somewhat adapt. As it rushed out to begin devouring, Xu Qing's Heavenly Blade struck again. The earth roared, and the small heads emitted piercing screams as they rapidly fled into the distance.

The monk's head was truly strange; each small head it had transformed into now decomposed again, attempting to separate its decaying parts.

Seeing this, Xu Qing didn't linger in battle. His right hand retrieved an artifact designed to deal with anomalies, which he had obtained from Sima Ling.

The artifact was a beautiful small tower made of crystal.

Its control was simple, requiring only the influx of spiritual power. Xu Qing now activated it and fiercely waved it towards a small head that was weakened after separating its decaying parts.

The small head, its power significantly diminished after these two dispersals, was enveloped by Xu Qing's crystal tower and instantly sealed within.

Xu Qing grabbed it and put it away. Without hesitation, he turned and left.

He knew that although his Forbidden Poison Pill was formidable, what was released this time was merely the poison contained within its aura, not the true forbidden poison within the pill itself. There was a significant difference between the two.

Xu Qing wasn't entirely sure of its true power.

However, he surmised that the monk's head might still be able to neutralize the poison after continuously decomposing and shedding parts of its body. Thus, after successfully exacting his revenge, Xu Qing left at high speed.

Although he hadn't completely killed the opponent this time, he imagined the eerie monk's head was suffering. He had also obtained a specimen, which he could research later to find a way to permanently destroy it.

"Or perhaps," Xu Qing thought, suppressing his murderous intent, "I'll finish it off later when I've fully integrated with the Forbidden Poison Pill and can unleash its true power!" He walked farther and farther away.

Several days passed like this.

Xu Qing didn't know the fate of the eerie monk's head, but in the following nights, the ghost city never reappeared. Xu Qing also didn't blow the ghost flute to check.

Until he had a definitive way to kill the opponent, Xu Qing felt there was little point in checking. However, he carved the monk's head onto a bamboo slip. Afterward, he focused all his energy on finding the poisonous beasts he planned to acquire. The search method was simple: Shadow scattered a large number of its shadow eyes onto the fierce beasts in the forbidden area. Their wide dispersion acted like countless informants, assisting Xu Qing in his search.

As time passed, Xu Qing's search proceeded smoothly. He successfully acquired the poisonous beasts he had planned for, accumulating an increasing amount of various poisons.

During this period, Xu Qing also utilized the malevolent poison he had purchased, combining it with the poisons he later acquired. This finally allowed the little black worm to restart its path of metamorphosis. After batches of worms were formed, Xu Qing continuously cultivated them using the bodies of fierce beasts within the forbidden area, making the little black worm increasingly powerful. However, with each successive metamorphosis, the time required also grew longer.

So in his spare time, Xu Qing considered whether to first visit the ruins of the Grand Cang Dao Temple to see if he could comprehend the Grand Cang Blade there.

As this thought arose, Shadow transmitted an emotional fluctuation to Xu Qing, carrying a sense of surprise.

"Fool," Xu Qing paused.

"Master, master," the Vajra Sect Old Ancestor materialized and quickly explained, "Little Shadow means that idiot from the first peak was spotted by a fierce beast — one of its shadow eyes had parasitized it — in the nearby area, looking quite mysterious." The Old Ancestor conveniently ignored Little Shadow's implicit desire for praise. "You want Demon Xu to praise you, Little Shadow? As long as I'm here to translate for you, you can forget about such a beautiful dream."