Chapter 76: Opening the Qi Palace

A golden light suddenly appeared, like a rising sun. Instantly, the golden light began to spread. The purple light receded, replaced by the golden light, which filled the entire Qi Dwelling.

As a result, the Qi Dwelling became dazzling with golden light, appearing majestic and grand.

“This… this is a golden Qi Dwelling?!”

Zhou Yuan gazed at the dazzling golden Qi Dwelling, momentarily stunned. He had never imagined that he would be able to develop a golden Qi Dwelling!

Originally, his expectation was a purple Qi Dwelling. He would have been content just to reach Su Youwei's level.

But he never expected that at this moment, the trace of innate Origin Qi hidden deep within his Qi Dwelling would cause its quality to ascend yet another level.

Zhou Yuan's heart was filled with excitement. The quality of the Qi Dwelling not only determined its potential for expansion but also improved the quality of Origin Qi.

Someone with a golden Qi Dwelling, even if they only cultivated second-grade Origin Qi, would likely wield more power than someone with a green Qi Dwelling cultivating third-grade Origin Qi.

“I never thought I could cultivate a golden Qi Dwelling,” Zhou Yuan exclaimed to himself.

Inside the Qi Dwelling, golden light permeated everything. The Origin Qi flowing and gathering within appeared even more refined and robust under the golden light.

But just as Zhou Yuan was immersed in the joy brought by his golden Qi Dwelling, he didn't notice that the mass of blood-red 'Resentful Dragon Poison' coiled within his palm suddenly began to squirm.

Hissing!

Within the golden Qi Dwelling, a strange sound echoed. Streaks of blood mist, originating from an unknown place, began to seep in and pour into the Qi Dwelling.

Zhou Yuan finally noticed the anomaly. As he watched the blood mist surge in, his heart trembled violently, as if a great storm had been unleashed, and a shocked roar echoed within him.

“This… this is the Resentful Dragon Poison?!”

From within the crimson mist, a dragon's roar filled with resentment seemed to emanate. Then, a blood-red light burst forth from the mist, spreading throughout the golden Qi Dwelling like a virus.

Zhou Yuan was utterly terrified by this sudden turn of events.

He never expected that the Resentful Dragon Poison, which had lain dormant within him for over half a year, would suddenly emerge just as his Qi Dwelling was forming and then infiltrate it.

Zhou Yuan anxiously monitored his Qi Dwelling.

As the blood-red light permeated, the Qi Dwelling's original bright golden light began to fade, gradually merging with the crimson glow. Finally, the entire Qi Dwelling transformed into a vibrant red.

It was eerie and mysterious.

Zhou Yuan was once again dumbfounded. A blood-red Qi Dwelling?

What in the world was this? He had never even heard of it!

“Damn the Resentful Dragon Poison!” Zhou Yuan roared furiously in his mind. His perfectly fine golden Qi Dwelling had been messed up by this cursed thing, turning into a blood-red Qi Dwelling he'd never encountered before.

In the room, Zhou Yuan opened his eyes, his face ashen.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and began to carefully inspect his Qi Dwelling. If anything was wrong with his Qi Dwelling, it would undoubtedly pose a significant hidden danger to his cultivation.

Fortunately, after a thorough inspection, he didn't detect anything amiss. The amount of Origin Qi his Qi Dwelling could accommodate even seemed to have increased compared to when it was golden.

Still, Zhou Yuan didn't dare to relax. With a frown, he mentally willed a stream of Origin Qi to emerge from his palm.

Generally, Origin Qi that hasn't been cultivated with a specific technique appears like crystal. But the stream of Origin Qi that emerged from Zhou Yuan's hand now had faint streaks of crimson flowing within it.

Zhou Yuan was very familiar with those crimson streaks; they were the Resentful Dragon Poison.

The Resentful Dragon Poison had even integrated into his Origin Qi? Had it turned into… Toxic Dragon Qi?

“This is unbelievable!” Zhou Yuan looked utterly bewildered, clearly not understanding why this change had occurred. Although he didn't know yet if it was harmful, at the very least, he could sense that the Origin Qi, imbued with the Resentful Dragon Poison, seemed to have become even more fierce.

After all, Zhou Yuan had personally experienced the formidable power of the Resentful Dragon Poison.

Zhou Yuan felt exhausted. His process of opening the Qi Dwelling had truly been full of twists and turns: first purple, then golden, and finally, a never-before-seen blood-red...

“Tomorrow, I’ll find a chance to ask Sister Yaoyao…”

After thinking for a long time with no answer, Zhou Yuan could only sigh wryly.

The next day.

When Zhou Yuan stepped out of the inn, everyone was surprised because they could clearly feel the surge of Origin Qi around him, far stronger than the day before.

“Your Highness has broken through to the Nurturing Qi stage?” Wei Canglan exclaimed.

Wei Qingqing also looked at Zhou Yuan with astonishment.

“I broke through last night,” Zhou Yuan said, nodding with a smile.

“Your Highness is truly amazing. In less than a year, you’ve gone from being unable to open your meridians to reaching the Nurturing Qi stage, even catching up to me,” Su Youwei said, her beautiful eyes filled with admiration.

Yaoyao, however, gave Zhou Yuan a closer look. A hint of confusion seemed to flash in her clear, ethereal eyes.

With so many people around, Zhou Yuan didn't approach her to ask. Instead, he said to the group, “If everyone is ready, then let’s set off.”

Everyone nodded, then mounted their horses, forming a torrent as they left Devil Imprisonment City and headed straight towards the location of the ruins.

On the way, Zhou Yuan finally found an opportunity to discreetly pull Yaoyao aside and, with a worried expression, recounted in detail everything that had happened to him.

“A blood-red Qi Dwelling?” Yaoyao asked, her pretty face showing surprise. She had clearly never heard of such a thing.

“This should be due to the contamination from the Resentful Dragon Poison,” Yaoyao mused. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing, because your Qi Dwelling is essentially golden; it only changed to this appearance because it was mixed with the Resentful Dragon Poison.”

“As for whether there will be any problems, I can’t say for sure. You’ll just have to pay close attention to it yourself in the future.”

Zhou Yuan was helpless with this answer and could only nod.

“I suppose that’s all I can do.”

While Zhou Yuan and his group were heading towards the ruins, in Devil Imprisonment City, Qi Hao and Black Poison King were also ready to depart. Behind them, hundreds of figures radiated surging Origin Qi, clearly indicating they were elites.

“Zhou Yuan and his group have already set off,” Qi Hao said to Black Poison King after hearing the report.

Black Poison King said indifferently, “The ruins are fraught with danger. Even if they arrive first, they won't gain much of an advantage. Let them clear the way for us.”

He paused, then stared at Qi Hao and asked, “You mentioned earlier that you had prepared a certain 'method' for this trip. What exactly is it?”

Qi Hao smiled faintly. “Lord Black will know when the time comes. Don’t worry, this time, with our combined efforts, Zhou Yuan, Wei Canglan, and the others will definitely not make it out of the Black Abyss alive.”

The smile on his lips gradually turned sinister.

“They are as good as dead!”

(End of Chapter)