Zhou Hong was incredibly nervous at this moment.
However, Zhou Hong quickly calmed down.
Just then, Zhou Hong suddenly felt a scorching heat emanating from the bottom of the boiler. He looked down and saw that the bottom plate of the boiler had turned red.
"I don't care anymore, I'll enter the sub-world first." Although Zhou Hong didn't know if entering the sub-world under these circumstances would allow him to escape this calamity, he had no other choice.
Indeed, after Zhou Hong entered the sub-world, the heat was immediately gone.
"It seems that even inside the boiler, entering the sub-world doesn't affect me. However, the boiler will eventually be opened. What should I do when it's opened? Will I be discovered? Even if I enter the sub-world, my aura is still within the boiler." Zhou Hong's brows furrowed.
"It seems I need to make plans in advance."
A flash of inspiration struck Zhou Hong. He decided to take the initiative. Although he was no match for the old man, Zhou Hong could find a way to poison him. When the boiler was opened, the old man would undoubtedly be eager to take the pill, and that would be Zhou Hong's opportunity.
"But the old man is so powerful, what can I use to poison him?" Zhou Hong pondered again. After all, his opponent was at the early stage of the Integration realm. Ordinary poisons would have no effect.
Zhou Hong searched his sub-world for anything incredibly poisonous.
This search, unexpectedly, yielded results.
"Haha." Zhou Hong moved instantly and appeared beneath a cliff. On the cliff face, a spider-like, entirely black unknown creature was growing.
In the outside world, Zhou Hong would have considered it a very ordinary creature, as it showed no signs of any cultivation realm and appeared unremarkable. If an ordinary person accidentally ingested it, they would be fine; its toxicity was very low. However, within Zhou Hong's sub-world, he could instantly discern its species and properties. This creature was fatal to cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage.
This was because the creature secreted a black liquid internally, which had a natural restraint on Nascent Souls and was extremely poisonous.
In Zhou Hong's sub-world, this creature only existed in this one location, with only a few individuals, nearing extinction.
"I never expected such an ordinary-looking creature to have such potent toxicity against cultivators of the Nascent Soul stage and above. It truly illustrates the balance of nature."
Zhou Hong immediately collected its secretion and refined a pill on the spot.
Once the Nascent Soul in the external boiler was refined, Zhou Hong planned to switch them. He would take the Myriad Souls Pill that the old man refined, and let the old man consume this poisoned pill.
Time slowly passed, and Zhou Hong constantly monitored the situation outside.
Soon, three days and three nights went by.
Zhou Hong heard movement outside. The pill seemed to be close to being refined, or perhaps it was already refined. The old man was preparing to open the lid to retrieve it.
Zhou Hong instantly appeared inside the external boiler. Indeed, a pill the size of a pigeon's egg was floating in the boiler. Zhou Hong immediately collected the pill and left his refined poisoned pill in its place.
After completing this, Zhou Hong returned to his sub-world.
Just then, the boiler lid was opened.
The white-haired elder looked excitedly at the poisoned pill and laughed heartily, "My Myriad Souls Pill, it's finally refined! Hahaha, I can finally step into the mid-stage of the Integration realm!"
The elder was too excited to sense that Zhou Hong's aura was still within the boiler.
Without a second thought, the elder grabbed the poisoned pill, threw it into his mouth, and then sat down, preparing to digest it.
However, less than half an hour later, the elder suddenly opened his eyes, clutching his throat, as if he had discovered something.
"How could this be?" The elder's eyes bulged out like a toad's, his expression becoming increasingly terrifying. A black, spiderweb-like substance spread across his neck and face, and his skin began to rot.
"How could this be? How could this be?" The elder realized something was wrong with his body. Wasting no time, he tried to have his Nascent Soul escape his body.
However, even as his Nascent Soul attempted to leave his body, for some unknown reason, it seemed to be firmly attached to his brain. No matter how hard he tried, the Nascent Soul could not break free. At this rate, his Nascent Soul would rot along with his body.
"Why is this happening? Why is this happening?" The elder roared in madness, seemingly unable to comprehend why.
"Hahaha." At this moment, Zhou Hong appeared in the basement.
"You... you're still alive?" The elder looked at Zhou Hong in disbelief. However, the eyeball of one of his eyes had already fallen out, and pus continued to ooze from it, making it incredibly disgusting.
Zhou Hong also covered his nose in disgust. He hadn't expected such an ordinary creature to be so toxic to cultivators. A powerful Integration stage cultivator's body had rotted to this extent, and even his Nascent Soul couldn't escape. It was a pity that such creatures were too rare in Zhou Hong's sub-world; he could only make about seven or eight more similar poisoned pills.
"It's not that easy to kill me. Do you want to know why? I'll tell you before you die. What you just consumed was not the Myriad Souls Pill, but the poisoned pill I gave you. As for your Myriad Souls Pill, I've already eaten it. Look at my cultivation level; I've broken through to the early stage of the Departure from the Body realm, advancing two levels in one go. It seems your Myriad Souls Pill is indeed quite potent." Zhou Hong was incredibly excited. He had unexpectedly benefited from misfortune. He was originally at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm and didn't know when he would break through. Now, he had directly advanced two levels to the early stage of the Departure from the Body realm. Sudancashan.com
"No... no." The elder roared, filled with unwillingness. He had spent a hundred years refining the Myriad Souls Pill, only for it to benefit someone else. Not only that, but he had foolishly consumed a poisoned pill from his opponent.
In fact, his Myriad Souls Pill had not been truly refined. Because Zhou Hong had not died, his Myriad Souls Pill was incomplete. Otherwise, the effect might have been even better after Zhou Hong consumed it.
"I will kill you." The elder struggled to get up and kill Zhou Hong, but he was utterly powerless. Pus flowed from both his eyeballs, and his nose and mouth were also spewing thick pus.
"No!" The elder let out a final roar of unwillingness and then collapsed completely.