Immortal Cage - Chapter 19 Mastering Poison Techniques
In Yu Lie's stone house, chuckles echoed! The rustling sound reverberated in the room, as mutilated centipedes wriggled and struggled on the damp ground.
Bat, toad, gecko, and snake corpses, black, yellow, blue, various colors, lay in abundance in the quiet stone house. These corpses had lost a large part of their wings, fangs, skulls, and skins, twisted and mutilated, emitting a foul stench.
The missing parts of these corpses were precisely placed in a large pot in the center of the stone house! The pot was already filled with various poisonous substances, even live poisons wriggling and making sounds.
Clang! Someone stood in front of the pot, stirring the poisonous water inside, and that person was Yu Lie. After renting this stone house, he immediately began cultivating his poison techniques and had been immersed in the practice for the past ten days.
Spending close to ten days in the stone house, rarely stepping out, Yu Lie's complexion had turned slightly pale, but his perseverance had paid off.
Today, following the instructions in the "Five Poison Refining and Cleansing Technique," he had prepared the poison concoction for his initial cultivation!
After carefully assessing the proportions of the poisons in the concoction, Yu Lie organized his thoughts and sat down. He took a candle and lit the last remaining section of incense.
Hiss! A green smoke rose, forming the shape of the five poisons, writhing in the air. Yu Lie sat in front of the incense, took a deep breath, and the smoke resembling poisonous insects immediately rushed into his nostrils and mouth.
With a long breath, Yu Lie inhaled all the incense smoke into his lungs. His complexion changed, showing a hint of green, a strange sight.
Simultaneously, the "Five Poison Refining and Cleansing Technique" that he had memorized became clearer in his mind.
Utilizing this last opportunity, Yu Lie memorized the technique while focusing on his arrangement, each step flowing in his mind.
The next moment, he suddenly opened his eyes, "Yes, all the arrangements are in place!"
Relaxing his mind, Yu Lie exhaled, the green smoke dissipated, and the incense on the table burned out, which he didn't bother to look at.
However, there was one final inspection step to be done, and Yu Lie, not daring to be careless, stood up and quickly walked to a nearby birdcage, lifting the large black cloth covering it.
A shrunken mynah appeared inside the cage, pretending to sleep. Yu Lie ignored it, lifted the cage, walked to the pot, and immersed the mynah in the concoction.
He was testing the toxicity of the concoction.
Compared to other techniques, the most challenging aspect of the "Five Poison Refining and Cleansing Technique" was the initial stage, which required tempering the body with poisons. If the body was slightly weak, it could lead to instant death, while a strong body might suffer severe consequences, becoming severely disabled or worse.
The technique stated that unless one had a special constitution or had been exposed to poisons since childhood, developing resistance, eighty percent of people would die at the first step, courting death. Another fifteen percent would be permanently disabled, living a life worse than death.
Even if one survived the initial stage, it was not a one-time effort. Continuous tempering with various poisons was required, not just externally but internally!
Even with a bronze cup in hand capable of detoxification, Yu Lie didn't dare to cultivate this technique lightly.
Fortunately, his preparations paid off, as the mynah in the test pot, though choking, continued to squawk loudly, showing signs of discomfort but not weakness, growing more spirited as it squawked.
After a while, the mynah lay flat in the cage, seemingly unaffected. Yu Lie, pleased with the outcome, concluded that everything was fine since the mynah was unharmed.
Retrieving the birdcage, Yu Lie resisted the urge to start cultivating immediately and chose to observe the mynah's condition further.
Although the main purpose of the "Five Poison Refining and Cleansing Technique" was to refine the essence of the five poisons to temper the body, in the initial stages, toxins were considered a byproduct for the body.
However, to ensure the effectiveness of the technique, Yu Lie didn't cleanse the poisons for too long, preventing the complete dissipation of toxins, which could hinder the cultivation of poison techniques.
After a while, the mynah, previously lively and jumping, began showing signs of aftereffects, appearing intoxicated, staggering, and gradually losing energy before collapsing in the cage.
Approaching to inspect, Yu Lie found that the test mynah hadn't died but had fainted, and its vitality seemed to have slightly increased.
Relieved, after waiting for a considerable time with no further changes, Yu Lie shifted his focus to the prepared poison concoction.
Without hesitation, Yu Lie covered the birdcage, removed his clothes, stepped into the pot, and began tempering himself with poisons.
As soon as he entered the concoction, Yu Lie felt a piercing sensation all over his body, as if being pricked by needles. However, compared to his initial ingestion of the Dao, it was negligible.
Immersed in the pot, with even his head submerged, Yu Lie didn't leave any part untouched. He even took out a dagger, cutting open his arms, legs, chest, and abdomen, allowing the concoction to seep into his flesh.
Blood mixed with the concoction, turning the liquid in the pot crimson.
This time, Yu Lie experienced intense pain, much stronger than before, but instead of feeling fear, he felt a surge of greed.
Thoughts raced through Yu Lie's mind, "If I endure such suffering, the rewards in the future must be worth it!" He envisioned immortality, treasures, celestial maidens... all should be within his reach!
Having passed the initial test and experiencing "good fortune" multiple times, Yu Lie had truly felt the benefits of "spiritual power."
This pain not only didn't diminish his desire for cultivation but fueled it further, eager to quickly master the technique.
In the stone house, the pot swayed as Yu Lie's flesh and blood were corroded by toxins.
Roar!
Gradually, his appearance turned ferocious, transforming into a wolf-like form, howling in the pot. Yet, with unwavering will, he suppressed the wolf form, assuming postures like toad, snake, tiger, absorbing the medicinal power of the concoction to strengthen his body.
Howling, Yu Lie freely absorbed and tempered his entire body in the pot.
"Better to have rampant demonic energy than be in a stagnant state!"
As time passed, a whole day went by.
Crack!
Finally, the tall water pot in the stone house shattered, and the dim liquid flowed out, making the damp stone house even more humid.
Emerging from the pot, Yu Lie stepped on the shards barefoot, grabbed his clothes, and draped them over himself.
The tempering had been successful; his skin bore no scars, even old wounds had vanished.
Now, Yu Lie, with a regal face, red lips, eyes like polished obsidian, exuded an otherworldly charm.
More importantly, he looked at his hands, touched the wall, lightly scratched it, and the hard black stone cracked open under his touch like a fruit.
This time, Yu Lie didn't transform into a wolf but displayed muscular knots on his arms and sharp claws on his fingertips.
The "Five Poison Refining and Cleansing Technique" was just the beginning, yet it had taught him how to exert immense strength without transforming into a wolf.
Yu Lie was filled with immense joy, "The poison technique is indeed swift! At this rate, with a few more rounds of poison tempering, in about three months, I can achieve 'Reversal of Demonic Transformation,' completely digesting the wolf-like changes to proceed to the next transformation!"
For an ordinary Dao disciple, it theoretically took a decade to digest a transformation. This was why the benefits for Dao disciples in Blackwater Town were limited to thirty years.
However, in reality, the time taken by Dao disciples often exceeded a decade, sometimes stretching to fifty or sixty years, depending on their aptitude, resources, and the level of their techniques. If the ingested substances were too potent, the digestion time would increase significantly.
Over the past several decades, only a few Dao disciples had ascended to the eighth-grade Daoist within thirty years and left Blackwater Town.
Now, Yu Lie saw hope in becoming one of them!