Chapter 21: Take a Breath of Poisonous Gas

Qu Yi gathered the members of the Fourth Law Enforcement Team—over seventy in total—while the rest were still carrying out other tasks.
“In the Demon Poison Star Region, capture a Poison Soul Beast. Captain Li Mu must handle this personally.”
“In Thunderlight Star, a Cloud Lightning Beast has appeared. The Fourth Law Enforcement Team must capture it.”
“In Maple Land, cultivators from both the Immortal Cultivation and Demon Cultivation sects are attacking each other. The Fourth Law Enforcement Team should send people to assist the Zhen Yi Sect in fighting back!” …
After reading out ten tasks, Qu Yi assigned several people to each one, ordering them to set off immediately. As for the Demon Poison Star Region, Qu Yi decided to go there himself.
“Li Yu, for the task in the Demon Poison Star Region, you’ll come with me,” Qu Yi announced. After assigning people to the other nine tasks, he pointed directly at Li Yu under everyone’s expectant gazes.
“Yes, Captain!” Li Yu replied happily.
By now, everyone in the Law Enforcement Hall knew that both Li Yu and Captain Li Mu came from the Li family of Xue Mu Star. Li Yu was worried that after Qu Yi left, he would be left alone in the hall and bullied by the people from Guang Yuan Gate.
The members of the Fourth Law Enforcement Team all smiled knowingly, as if they already understood why Qu Yi wanted Li Yu to accompany him.
Soon, Qu Yi disbanded the team and went to the teleportation hall of the Law Enforcement Hall with Li Yu. Using their team identification cards, the two entered the spatial teleportation array and were transported to Sihai City.
Instead of going straight to Tai Qian Star, Qu Yi took Li Yu outside Sihai City, to a mountain, where they finally landed.
“Li Yu, I can handle this task in the Demon Poison Star Region alone. In a moment, you’ll teleport to Tai Qian Star first, then go to Xue Mu Star. Discuss this with the head of your Li family. From now on, you can bring some of your family members to other planets. I have several planets that can support the development of your family,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
“Why, Master?” Li Yu asked in surprise.
Qu Yi chuckled and explained, “As you know, we have a feud with Guang Yuan Gate, and we’ve even killed some of their people. Do you think they’ll let us go? This task in the Demon Poison Star Region was planned by Guang Yuan Gate—they want to use those Poison Demonic Beasts to kill me. They also consider me part of your Li family. It’s possible they’ll send experts to target your family. For safety, you should return to your family, explain the situation, and relocate some of your descendants to other planets to develop there.”

Tianfeng Star, Tianhua Star, and numerous demon cultivators controlled by the Artifact Gods are currently expanding their influence across various small and medium-sized planets. If the Li family wishes, they have at least tens of thousands of planets to choose from.

Upon hearing this, Li Yu immediately understood.

“Good, I know what the master means. I’ll head back to Xuemu Star right away,” Li Yu said solemnly.

Qu Yi nodded.

……

Meanwhile, in the Enforcement Hall of Taiyuan Gate, Meng Zhan and Gui Ning were gathered together.

“Li Mu and Li Yu have left, right?” Meng Zhan sneered.

“Yes! He might already know this is a trap set by us, but he surely can’t imagine that in the Poisonous Star Region, our Guangyuan Gate has already sent five experts, including those at the Fusion Stage, who are lying in wait to deliver a fatal blow to him,” Gui Ning said with a sinister smile.

Meng Zhan clenched his fist, smirked, and said, “In the Poisonous Star Region, if Li Mu dies, no one will suspect our Guangyuan Gate. Everything can be blamed on those poisonous demon beasts.”

Gui Ning nodded with a smile, her eyes flashing with cruelty as she said darkly, “Once Li Mu is dead, we’ll appoint someone else as the leader of the Fourth Enforcement Team. From then on, the Fourth Enforcement Team will still be a force under our Guangyuan Gate.”

The two leaders laughed heartily.

By this time, Qu Yi had arrived at Taiqian Star. After asking around in the teleportation hall, he chose the fastest route to reach the Poisonous Star Region as quickly as possible.

Thanks to his Enforcement Team identity card, Qu Yi could use the spatial teleportation array directly, bypassing the need to purchase accounts or wait in lines. He simply needed to state his destination, and he could teleport immediately.

Thus, Qu Yi could travel from one planet to another without delay, heading straight for the Poisonous Star Region.

A month later, after passing through tens of thousands of planets, Qu Yi finally arrived at a star region shrouded in poisonous gases—none other than the Poisonous Star Region, one of the four most dangerous places in the cultivation world.

The nearest inhabited planet to the Poisonous Star Region was called Pidu Star. At that moment, Qu Yi had arrived on Yingxian Island in Pidu Star.

From Pidu Star, the entire Poisonous Star Region appeared covered in dark clouds and mist, as if the whole region were enveloped in poisonous gases. This region consisted of about a hundred planets, five of which nurtured poisonous demon beasts. Once these beasts reached adulthood, they could also go to other planets to cultivate, which gradually led to the accumulation of various poisonous gases throughout the region.

Qu Yi wasn’t in a hurry to fly straight to the Poisonous Star Region. Instead, he stayed on Yingxian Island to gather more information and learn more about it.

The entire Yingxian Island, spanning thousands of miles, was within Qu Yi’s spiritual awareness, not to mention the assistance of the Hidden Artifact God. Thus, Qu Yi simply went to a restaurant called “Yuepeng Restaurant” and sat down in a private room.

His spiritual awareness spread throughout the entire Yingxian Island.

There were nearly a million cultivators on Yingxian Island, of all levels of cultivation. The island also had nearly a hundred thousand buildings, providing enough space for these cultivators to live and practice.

Qu Yi listened to the conversations of cultivators below the Divination Stage, while the Artifact God listened to those among the Fusion Stage cultivators.

In each building, when the cultivators talked to each other, they would set up soundproofing barriers. However, these barriers were meaningless in front of the Artifact God and Qu Yi; they couldn’t stop them from listening.

The two had delved so deeply into the art of formations and barriers that even the cultivators in the cultivation world couldn’t compare to them. The formations and barriers they created might work for others, but for Qu Yi and the Artifact God, they were as ineffective as air.

“Brother Fang Lan, are you really planning to go to the Demon Poison Star Region? I heard that the monstrous beasts in that area, especially those at the Divination Stage, have migrated to these border planets. With your cultivation at only the middle stage of Divination, it would be very dangerous if you encountered one of those beasts.”

“Elder Qingyang, are you looking for the Poisonous Bone? That only exists on the poisonous beasts at the Fusion Stage. You’ll have to enter the inner regions of the Demon Poison Star Region. I’ve heard that in those inner areas, some poisonous gases have formed into entities with their own wills. As long as a cultivator gets close, they’ll desperately invade the cultivator’s body and turn them into a poisonous corpse.”

“This time, our Xiao family has organized a group of warriors to go to the Demon Poison Star Region to kill those poisonous beasts and refine their deadly venom. Then we can create powerful poisons. In the future, when our family receives assassination missions, it will be easier to succeed.”

……

Qu Yi and the Artifact God spent an entire day listening in the restaurant and gained a pretty good understanding of the Demon Poison Star Region. This knowledge came from the insights of tens of thousands of people. Other experts, cultivation families, or mysterious organizations might have taken thousands of years to gather such information, but Qu Yi and the Artifact God stole it all in just one day.

The Demon Poison Star Region is divided into three parts. The core area is home to poison beasts at the Tribulation stage, but they are all in the early stages of tribulation, and their numbers are very small—no more than five. The inner zone is the territory of beasts at the Convergence stage, with only about twenty of them, roughly two per planet. These beasts at the Convergence stage also have their own subordinates. The outer zone is where beasts below the Divided Mind stage roam; they have no fixed territory, and all beasts move freely.

These poison beasts pose a great threat to cultivators, but they possess certain substances that are highly sought after by cultivators. Things like essence blood, poison bones, venom, and internal poison gases—some cultivators specifically hunt for these to craft poisons, poisonous weapons, highly toxic energy pellets, and more, which are eagerly purchased by many in the cultivation world.

Thus, although the Demon Poison Star Region is a dangerous place filled with peril everywhere, its immense wealth opportunities also attract some to take risks.

On the Immortal Greeting Island in the Poison-Dispelling Star, these millions of cultivators are mostly connected to the Demon Poison Star Region—either by trading poison beasts, supplying poison-dispelling pills, or selling magical artifacts. As a result, various powerful families, sects, and merchant groups from the cultivation world have representatives here to seek wealth.

After understanding the situation of the Demon Poison Star Region, Qu Yi no longer wanted to stay on the Immortal Greeting Island. Instead, he wanted to immediately fly across the starry sky to the border planets of the Demon Poison Star Region to embark on adventures.

“Qu Yi, don’t rush to the Demon Poison Star Region yet. First, go and buy a bottle of poison gas collected from there, then conduct an experiment,” the Artifact God seemed to know Qu Yi’s plans and suddenly sent a message through his spiritual sense.

Qu Yi responded with an “oh,” realizing the Artifact God might have come up with an idea. Without asking further, he went to a shop and purchased a bottle of poison gas.

The price of this poison gas was very low because the Demon Poison Star Region was nearby. As long as one had the cultivation level of the Nascent Soul stage, they could fly across the starry sky to the border planets to collect it. Since it was easy and safe to collect, many cultivators did this, and with such a large supply, the price became extremely low.

Qu Yi returned to the restaurant with the bottle of poison gas.

“Qu Yi, take a breath of the poison gas,” the Artifact God said directly.

“What?!” Qu Yi jumped in shock.

Could it be that the Artifact God wanted to kill me because I’m too handsome? Qu Yi’s mind was in chaos.

“Qu Yi, don’t hesitate. Take a breath of the poison gas and let it enter your dantian. See how it works,” the Artifact God insisted.

At that moment, Qu Yi realized that the God of Instruments wasn’t joking; it seemed it truly wanted him to experience the effects of the poison gas.
“God of Instruments, I think you’re even more poisonous than this gas!”
Qu Yi said fiercely, then immediately removed the bottle cap and inhaled the entire contents of the poison gas, sending it straight to his dantian.