Chapter 27: Soul-Nurturing Crystal

The aura of a Poisonous Beast in the mid-stage of fusion was rapidly approaching from the deepest part of the Poison Gas Caves, shocking the four members of the Biyan Peak group and the five members of the Xiao family.
“Don’t fight inside the Poison Gas Caves! The Poisonous Beasts there have extremely strong combat capabilities and recovery skills. Leave quickly!” Xiao Long shouted loudly at that moment.
The Xiao family had operated in the Demon Poison Star Region for thousands of years and was well aware of the characteristics of the Poisonous Beasts there. Those Poisonous Beasts in the fusion stage could hardly die as long as there was poison gas around them. The poison gas acted like an endless source of energy, allowing them to maintain their strongest combat strength.
The four members of Biyan Peak glanced around, and Yan Guan immediately said, “Let’s get out of the cave first!”
Undoubtedly, Yan Guan also understood that if the two groups started fighting here, it would only allow that Poisonous Beast in the mid-stage of fusion to arrive, putting everyone’s lives at risk.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The nine of them quickly flew out of the cave, determined to escape.
Tsk tsk!
Right where the nine of them had stood moments ago, a five-meter-wide black cloud suddenly appeared, emitting strange sounds. Soon, the black cloud trembled, revealing a bizarre beast with a human head and a snake body, about two meters long.
This beast with a human head and a snake body was entirely dark, with only its two eyes glowing brightly. This Poisonous Beast was in the mid-stage of fusion and was known in the Demon Poison Star Region as the Snake-Body Poisonous Beast.
Its two eyes seemed to emit two bright beams, scanning the entire Poison Gas Cave. Suddenly, it let out a series of sharp cries.
“Humans! You actually captured a Soul-Nurturing Beast!”
This Snake-Body Poisonous Beast could speak and shouted angrily.
After a while, it flew out of the Poison Gas Caves. Its nose twitched, as if it already knew the direction in which the nine people had fled. Then, it let out more sharp cries, seemingly summoning all the Poisonous Beasts in the Inner Eight Stars. Immediately after, it took off in pursuit of the nine people from Biyan Peak and the Xiao family.
…
The four beasts from the Bai Shou Peak that had arrived in the Demon Poison Star Region— the Golden-Horned Azure Dragon, the Sky-Diving Falcon, the Tree-Scaled Ape, and the Golden-Stone Rat—had already hidden at the entrance of the cave when the four members of Biyan Peak entered.
These four beast cultivators planned to ambush and kill the five members of the Xiao family first, before turning their attention to the four members of Biyan Peak.

But plans couldn’t keep up with changes. The four from Biyan Peak and the five from the Xiao family hadn’t even engaged in formal combat when they were scared away by the Snake-Body Poison Demon. All nine of them came out of the cave together, and the four demon cultivators didn’t dare attack. Moreover, sensing the presence of the Snake-Body Poison Demon, they immediately followed the nine in the same direction to flee.

Tan Xiu and the four from the Xiao family, with their poison-dispelling robes no longer effective, now had only one hope to escape the Magic Poison Star Region: to use the space teleportation array. Naturally, the five from the Xiao family headed straight for the location of the space teleportation array.

The four from Biyan Peak and the four demon cultivators from Bai Shou Peak closely followed the five from the Xiao family.

As these thirteen people fled rapidly, all the poison demon beasts across the Inner Eight Stars suddenly took to the air. Especially in the direction the thirteen were heading, various poison demon beasts gathered to block their escape.

Indeed, the cry of the Snake-Body Poison Demon could vibrate the poison gas across the entire planet, transmitting the location of the thirteen. As a result, these poison demon beasts immediately rushed over, fearless of death.

Tan Xiu and the four from the Xiao family, flying at the front, naturally bore the brunt of the attacks from the poison demon beasts.

“Get away!” Tan Xiu roared in fury, swinging his sword fiercely. A series of sword energies were released, killing a thousand of the winged poison rats in front of them at once.

These winged poison rats dominated the underground world of poison demon beasts in the Inner Eight Stars. Upon hearing the cry of the Snake-Body Poison Demon, they immediately flocked out of the ground, spraying arrow-shaped poison gas at the thirteen.

Unfortunately, these winged poison rats were only at the Golden Core stage, and they couldn’t withstand even a simple spell attack from these thirteen people, all at the Combined Stage.

Tan Xiu and the four from the Xiao family, with just a single swing of their sword, could send thousands of winged poison rats falling from the sky.

“Biyan Peak and Bai Shou Peak, you two should also share some of the pressure for us,” Tan Xiu suddenly shouted after swinging his sword.

It turned out that besides killing the poison demon beasts, Tan Xiu and the four from the Xiao family also had to use their vital energy shields to protect themselves from the poison gas, which undoubtedly drained their vital energy very quickly.

“Sure, as long as you hand over your Spirit Collection Bags to us, we can clear the way ahead,” Yan Guan replied immediately.

Inside the Spirit Collection Bags was the Poison Soul Beast, the target of this journey for all three groups.

“Tan Xiu and the four from the Xiao family, if you hand over the Poison Soul Beast to us, the four of us from Bai Shou Peak will always act as your vanguard. How about that?” Jin Jiao Qing Long also shouted at that moment.

The Golden-Horned Azure Dragon felt frustrated just thinking about it. It had flown for a year from a border planet to reach the Inner Eight Stars, and without even resting for a few days, it came to this Poison Grotto to set an ambush, aiming to steal the Poison Soul Beast. Yet not only did it fail to get the beast, it was also surrounded and attacked by the Poison Demons of this entire planet. The thought alone made it feel extremely aggrieved.

As long as Tan Xiu truly handed over the Poison Soul Beast to the four members of the Hundred Beasts Peak, the Golden-Horned Azure Dragon would immediately dash into space, flying another year if necessary to bring the beast back to its sect.

How could Tan Xiu and the four members of the Xiao family be that foolish? They surely wouldn’t trust the promises of these two groups. If the Poison Soul Beast were given to the Green Flame Peak and the Hundred Beasts Peak, those two groups would undoubtedly flee right away. In that case, they would not only lose the Poison Soul Beast but also continue to face the attacks of the Poison Demons.

Suddenly, Tan Xiu and the four members of the Xiao family slowed down and quickly aligned themselves with the teams from the Green Flame Peak and the Hundred Beasts Peak. Now, with the Poison Demons flying all around and those crawling on the ground, all these pressures had to be dealt with by the three groups simultaneously.

“Despicable!”
“Shameless!”

The four from the Green Flame Peak and the four demon cultivators from the Hundred Beasts Peak shouted angrily at the same time.

“Mutual, mutual!” Tan Xiu smiled. He had also guessed that the Green Flame Peak and the Hundred Beasts Peak must have been lying in wait all along, intending to ambush him and the four of the Xiao family. But due to some changes, they now found themselves on the same side.

It could be said that all three groups had their own schemes and cunning moves, and they were indeed despicable and shameless toward each other.

The thirteen people from the three groups simultaneously wielded their magical artifacts and cast spells, wiping out large swaths of the fiercely aggressive Poison Demons at once. Taking advantage of the gap created by this attack, the thirteen continued toward the teleportation array set up by the Xiao family.

Suddenly, the spatial poison gas gathered rapidly, and that snake-bodied Poison Demon had already arrived.

……

Under the control of the Artifact God, the Inch Realm Ball kept falling deeper into the Poison Grotto. Soon, it arrived at a place where poison gas was erupting violently.

It seemed as if all the poison gas in the Inner Eight Stars was coming from this poison spring-like vent. The violently erupting poison gas kept rising upward into the cave.

Near this “poison spring,” there was a spacious area with a ten-meter-tall black tree on the ground, bearing no fewer than a thousand black fruits.

Inside the Inch Realm Ball, the Artifact God hid on a soft chair and said with a faint smile, “Qu Yi, you can come out now. Go and pick all the Poison Soul Fruits first.”

It turned out that the fruits on that black tree were called Poison Soul Fruits. If eaten by Poison Beast, they could enable reproduction; if surrounded by poison gas, they would give rise to poison gas entities with souls, which could further evolve into Poison Soul Beasts.

Qu Yi didn’t reply. He immediately stepped out of the Dimensional Sphere, unafraid of the thick poison gas around him. Drawing out his Eight Directions Sword, he swung it swiftly and picked all the thousands of Poison Soul Fruits from the black tree, putting them all inside the Dimensional Sphere.

“Instrument God, you’re not telling me I was sent out just to pick these fruits, are you?” Qu Yi examined the black tree but sensed nothing unusual, so he sent a message through his spiritual sense.

“Of course not. The miracle lies beneath the roots of this black tree. Cut down this tree and dig up the ground—you’ll find something valuable there,” the Instrument God replied calmly.

Hearing this, Qu Yi quickly swung his Eight Directions Sword again, severing the iron-hard black tree at its roots. Then, he swung the sword once more, channeling his vital energy. A crescent-shaped beam of light shot into the ground, causing an explosion. Soon, a foot-long jade crystal wrapped in black mist fell from the air.

Without hesitation, Qu Yi grabbed the jade crystal and felt a pleasant sensation in his soul.

“Qu Yi, that’s enough. You’ve already obtained the most important thing among the Inner Eight Stars. Come back into the Dimensional Sphere. I think it won’t be long before there’s a major upheaval across the entire Demon Poison Star Region,” the Instrument God said with a hint of amusement.

Soon, Qu Yi entered the Dimensional Sphere and held up the jade crystal, asking, “Instrument God, what is this? I feel it’s very beneficial to my soul.”

The Instrument God, reclining comfortably on a soft chair without even lifting his eyes, smiled and said, “This is a Soul Nurturing Crystal. It can give birth to souls. Well, to be precise, it provides energy that allows the fruits borne by this black tree to become sentient, endowing them with souls. Once Poison Beasts and poison gas entities eat these fruits, the souls within can help the beasts reproduce and grant the gas entities a sense of soul.”

Upon hearing this, Qu Yi understood. The Soul Nurturing Crystal was a kind of soul nutrient that helped the black tree produce Poison Soul Fruits.

“Instrument God… I’d like to ask—can I swallow this Soul Nurturing Crystal and refine it?” Qu Yi asked seriously, his face filled with hope.

Only then did the lazy Instrument God bother to turn around, look at Qu Yi, and smile, “Of course. Didn’t I tell you? There’s something valuable for you—this very Soul Nurturing Crystal.”

After saying that, the Artifact God imprinted some information in Qu Yi’s soul, telling him the method to refine Soul-Nurturing Crystals. Qu Yi scanned it with his spiritual awareness and jumped for joy.