"Hmph, trying to fight me, you wouldn't even know how you died," Zhou Hong snorted coldly.
However, Zhou Hong's crisis was not over. Although the old man had fallen, this was their family's territory, and their family still had many powerful cultivators.
But in the next second, Zhou Hong suddenly thought of a plan.
He could completely dilute the remaining poison pills, making dozens or even hundreds of them. Then, using the old man's name, he could offer them to the other powerful members of his family. He would claim it was the leftover scraps from refining the Myriad Soul Pill. He was sure the other powerful members of their family would happily consume them, and Zhou Hong could then eliminate them all at once, thus resolving this problem forever.
Therefore, Zhou Hong first collected the old man's corpse into his sub-world. The old man was not completely dead yet, and Zhou Hong couldn't let him die completely, because once he died, his aura would disappear from the basement, and his family's powerful cultivators wouldn't believe it.
Afterward, Zhou Hong diluted the remaining poison pills into 50 portions.
Although the potency was greatly reduced, against those below the Integration stage, even with weakened power, the effect likely wouldn't change. As long as one was at the Nascent Soul stage or above, they couldn't escape this poison.
The reason this poison only targeted cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage or above might be that it possessed a specific characteristic that severely countered the Nascent Soul of cultivators. Therefore, ordinary people would be fine if they consumed it.
With all preparations made, Zhou Hong returned to the basement. On the stone wall of the basement, Zhou Hong left a message: "All clan members in the Out-of-Body and Soul Splitting stages, upon seeing this message, come here and simultaneously consume the leftover scraps of the Myriad Soul Pill. Remember, you must consume it together, and then simultaneously circulate your power to digest it."
Zhou Hong could only resort to this method. Although it had many loopholes, there was no better option.
As expected, about a day later, a shout was heard from outside the basement: "Grandpa, has the Myriad Soul Pill been refined?"
Hearing no response from inside, the person outside had to enter. This person was none other than the man who had helped capture Zhou Hong previously. His cultivation was at the late stage of Soul Splitting.
The man glanced around, not seeing his grandfather, and the alchemical furnace had cooled down.
"This is strange, why don't I see Grandpa? Yet, I can sense Grandpa's aura in the air. Could it be that Grandpa is still in this basement but hasn't let anyone know?" As he muttered to himself, he suddenly noticed a message left on the wall.
"All clan members in the Out-of-Body and Soul Splitting stages, simultaneously consume the leftover scraps of the Myriad Soul Pill... everyone must consume it together, and then digest it together using collective power." The man read the message aloud completely.
"Is this a message left by Grandpa? It doesn't feel quite like it, but besides Grandpa, there's no one else here. It's probably a message Grandpa left in a hurry." Thus, the man excitedly went and summoned all the powerful cultivators in his family at the Out-of-Body and Soul Splitting stages. There were as many as 40 of them.
Fortunately, Zhou Hong had made ample preparations, otherwise, it wouldn't have been enough.
"Zhang Qi, where are the scraps the Old Ancestor mentioned?" one of the men asked.
"I don't know about that. I just saw the message left by the Old Ancestor and rushed to notify everyone."
At this moment, one person suddenly discovered a large basin in the corner, filled with 50 pills.
"Here they are, haha, the Old Ancestor didn't deceive us."
Everyone burst into excited laughter.
"Everyone, these pills are very precious. They are made from the leftover scraps from our Old Ancestor's refinement of the Myriad Soul Pill. Their medicinal power might be quite potent, so the Old Ancestor instructed us to consume them together and then use our collective strength to digest them."
"But where is the Old Ancestor? Why isn't he coming out to say a word?"
"Nonsense, the Old Ancestor is definitely still digesting the Myriad Soul Pill himself. His aura is still here, so he must be hidden. Stop talking nonsense and take one each, don't eat more."
"Okay, thank you so much, Old Ancestor."
Everyone in the Zhang clan at the Out-of-Body stage and above came forward and each took a pill.
"Let's form a circle now, sit on the ground, and when I count to three, everyone starts consuming. After consuming, we will all place our hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us, and we will use our collective strength to digest it together," said Zhang Qi, who was at the late stage of Soul Splitting.
"Alright, understood, let's eat quickly." Everyone was impatient. They all knew that their family's Old Ancestor had spent hundreds of years preparing for the Myriad Soul Pill, and they were unexpectedly able to share some of the scraps.
"One, two, three, start eating."
When he reached three, everyone swallowed the pills simultaneously.
Zhou Hong, observing all this from within his sub-world, was laughing so hard he was about to convulse.
Indeed, less than ten minutes after swallowing, those who were weaker, cultivators in the early stage of Out-of-Body, suddenly felt something was wrong and immediately clutched their necks.
"Ah, what's going on?"
Then, more screams followed.
Those powerful cultivators in the Soul Splitting stage had stronger resistance and didn't react as quickly. Seeing the Out-of-Body stage cultivators of their family all clutching their necks and faces in pain, with pus flowing from their eyes and noses, they were stunned.
"How could this happen? How could this happen? These are the leftover scraps of the Myriad Soul Pill that the Old Ancestor gave us. This shouldn't be happening. The Old Ancestor has no reason to harm us." They were shocked, everyone was utterly dumbfounded.
Zhou Hong didn't rush out. After all, there were so many of them, and some hadn't started to act up yet, and could kill Zhou Hong in minutes.
Another 20-odd minutes passed, and finally, those in the late stage of Soul Splitting, who had stronger cultivation, also started to show symptoms. Many of the weaker Out-of-Body cultivators had already died from their bodies rotting and festering.
"Old Ancestor, Old Ancestor, come out quickly, say something." The few late-stage Soul Splitting cultivators who were still alive cried out in agony.
At this moment, Zhou Hong directly threw out the Old Ancestor's body.
"Ah?" Seeing that their Old Ancestor was also covered in pus and on the verge of death, they were all dumbfounded.
Zhou Hong then appeared.
"Everyone, stop shouting. Your Old Ancestor was already flowing with pus and dying yesterday. It was I who preserved him in time, allowing him to continue to die slowly today. This is why you could sense his aura was still here," Zhou Hong said.
"You scoundrel, weren't you refined into the Myriad Soul Pill?" The one named Zhang Qi, at the late stage of Soul Splitting, looked at Zhou Hong with disbelief. Suzhou Novel Network
"Heh heh, I was supposed to be. Unfortunately, your Old Ancestor fell for it. Now, my plan has been achieved. All those in your family at the Out-of-Body stage and above will die. The remaining people in your family are lambs waiting to be slaughtered in my hands. Your family is doomed."
"No!" The remaining people roared.
"Oh, and there's one more person who should be let out."
With a thought from Zhou Hong, Zhang Wenbo, who had been imprisoned in his sub-world, also suddenly appeared in the basement.