After some thought, Li Yan looked at the Snow Mosquito King with a worried expression.
"I'm not going back on my word to let you cultivate this art. I'm just a little concerned because once you start, you cannot stop. Unless you achieve some minor success, if you fail to persevere and halt your cultivation, you will suffer a backlash from the art. At that time, not only will your strength not increase by an inch, but it's highly likely you will perish on the spot. That is what worries me the most."
"Master, I am very confident in my resolve when it comes to cultivation. You need not worry about that at all. I either don't practice, or once I start, I will give it my all. I will not rest until I achieve my goal."
The Snow Mosquito King's heroic spirit had begun to recover. It abruptly stood up straight, its eyes fixed firmly on Li Yan, carrying an air that suggested it would rather die for its principles if not allowed to cultivate this Daoist art.
"W-well then, alright. But you must remember, you have to endure the pain of cultivating this art. Otherwise, you will surely die!"
As Li Yan's final words fell, a wave of infinite sympathy and "respect" for the Snow Mosquito King surged in the heart of the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant at the side.
'What immense courage and ignorance this is!'
At the side, Li Yan gave the Snow Mosquito King a few more instructions, telling it to return to the "Earthen Patch" to adjust its condition. In half a day, he would give it the jade slip for the Daoist art and the items needed for its cultivation.
Then, under the Snow Mosquito King's "resolute" gaze, he finally stored it back in the space.
Only then did he turn to face the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant and speak lightly.
"What? You seemed to pity it just now. Is increasing your strength not a pleasant affair?"
The moment Li Yan looked at it, the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's body froze. It hastily replied.
"Not at all, not at all. How could I have such petty thoughts? We can't just fail to share our master's burdens and also need you to constantly look after us, can we? Hehehe…"
Towards the end, a few dry, hollow laughs escaped the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's mouth.
But in its heart, it was thinking, 'You're absolutely right. It's only pleasant for you 'human' types!'
"That's how it should be. It just so happens that you should enter the second stage of your cultivation during this time. Seeing how good your condition is today, we can start now."
Inside the cave, the bit of sympathy and schadenfreude the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant had felt for the Snow Mosquito King instantly turned into a vast, cold emptiness.
The purple glow around its body flickered even more violently, appearing on the verge of wavering.
This cultivation method of Li Yan's was not considered a secret art in the Malevolent Spirit Sect, but not every disciple could obtain it.
Its name was "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao," and it was a method to cultivate an ordinary demonic beast into a poison beast from scratch.
This was similar to how human cultivators became poison cultivators by constantly testing and consuming poisons, then using cultivation methods to transform the invading toxins into a part of their body.
However, the meridians inside demonic beasts were bizarrely varied, with each species being different. Thus, since ancient times, cultivators had rarely found a universal method for refining demonic beasts into poisonous demonic beasts.
The Malevolent Spirit Sect was founded on the principle of poison. For tens of millions of years, every generation had people researching in this direction.
But in the end, the result was a situation where a hundred flowers bloomed, leading to the creation of specific refinement methods for different demonic beasts.
Although there were eventually no fewer than several thousand such methods, they still couldn't escape the characteristic of being highly specific.
This included many repetitive yet functionally similar cultivation methods. Some older methods even gradually lost their effectiveness over the long years as demonic beasts continued to evolve.
On another note, for various reasons, many species of demonic beasts in the world had successively vanished, leading to only about two hundred-plus jade slips containing truly usable methods for refining demonic beasts into poison beasts.
The "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" method was considered to be in the upper-middle tier, but still, only some core disciples ultimately adopted it.
The reason was that "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" proposed a concept: after soaking a demonic beast in poison or having it directly ingest it, it was not necessary for the beast to circulate and refine the toxins along its own meridian pathways.
"Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" was divided into an Outer and an Inner Chapter. The Outer Chapter was the method for a cultivator to infuse poison into a demonic beast's dantian; the Inner Chapter was the method for the beast to refine it on its own.
The first step was for the demonic beast to use its internal organ strength to absorb the poison that was either soaking its skin or had seeped in, drawing it directly into the Dantian's Purple Mansion, allowing the demonic core to be poisoned first.
Initially, this poison could not be too potent or too much in quantity. This required the master cultivator to have a thorough understanding of their demonic beast's tolerance and the poison they were using; otherwise, the beast would likely perish in the first instant.
Secondly, the demonic core had to be circulated according to the manual of "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" to allow the toxins to safely reach it.
Once a certain poison had safely entered the demonic beast's dantian, the beast would then assimilate the poison bit by bit according to the Inner Chapter of the "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao."
Throughout the entire process, the circulation manual of "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" played a crucial, connecting role.
It had to be said that the cultivator who created the "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" was a genius of his time. It was said that he only created this method after reaching the Mid-stage Nascent Soul realm.
Logically, this cultivation method should have been excellent, especially for the cultivators of Spirit Insect Peak. But in reality, in the tens of thousands of years since its creation, the number of core disciples willing to use it could be counted on one hand.
The reason was that in practical application, the probability of accidents far outweighed the rate of success.
The demonic core was a demonic beast's strongest and most fragile point.
It was strong because it was the source that provided the demonic beast with its incomparably sharp attacks. And it was fragile because even the slightest damage to the demonic core would leave the beast crippled, if not dead.
When a cultivator used the "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" method to infuse a certain poison into a beast's dantian, the process was very difficult to control.
The amount was either too little, or a fraction too much.
Too little poison would not have a significant cultivation effect, and the time it took to refine a poison beast would often be several times longer, sometimes taking ten or even twenty years to slowly show results, which might still be unsatisfactory.
Such a refinement outcome was something no cultivator was willing to accept.
But if even a sliver too much poison was infused, the demonic core might not be able to bear it, causing the beast to fall unconscious on the spot, or even die.
This meant that the cultivation of "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" required the cooperation of two—one human and one beast. The cultivator participated in the control of the Outer Chapter, and one misstep meant the beast would never even get to circulate the Inner Chapter on its own.
So, after a number of companion spirit beasts died one after another in the Malevolent Spirit Sect, very few cultivators were willing to use this method anymore.
Those demonic beasts were, in a sense, a part of their lives. Just finding a demonic beast that was compatible with oneself was an arduous task.
Some beasts had even undergone a blood sacrifice with their cultivators. Under the blood contract, the two could erupt with dazzling combat power.
But at the same time, if the demonic beast died, the master cultivator's strength would also be greatly diminished. The difficulty in controlling "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" also made these cultivators shy away.
Thus, many disciples of the Malevolent Spirit Sect preferred to first decide on a cultivation method and then select a demonic beast, creating a tailored fit.
This was especially true if the chosen companion spirit beast was already a venomous creature, which naturally rendered this method unnecessary.
Conversely, given the universality of "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao," it was not a bad choice, as long as one was careful.
Therefore, some cultivators who had no other options but were willing to spend a long time refining in the hope of one day obtaining a unique poison beast would still try "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao."
Even some female cultivators, who favored non-venomous demonic beasts with adorable appearances, would also choose "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" if they wanted to enhance their companion spirit beast's combat power and there was no specific refinement method for their beast within the sect.
When Li Yan came across this cultivation method in the sect, he felt it might be useful someday after reading it carefully, so he casually made a copy.
As his cultivation grew and the dangers he faced in his experiences increased, the help that the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant and the Snow Mosquito King could offer became less and less, which prompted Li Yan to start considering his options.
The Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant was better off, being a formation spirit, it was quite effective at controlling the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation."
The Snow Mosquito King, on the other hand, could only rely on numbers to win. Against a master like Teng Wuji, tens of thousands of the Snow Mosquito Clan died just to stall for a brief moment. Such a use was too wasteful.
Li Yan later thought of the "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" method. Logically, he should have experimented on the Snow Mosquito King or its clan.
Firstly, they were true demonic beasts with physical bodies. Secondly, if an ordinary snow mosquito died, it was no great loss, as the Snow Mosquito King could reproduce very quickly.
But in the end, Li Yan still chose the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant as his first target. By then, he was already aware of the Demon Clan's invasion.
He wanted to quickly enhance the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation," giving it stronger offensive capabilities on top of its already decent defensive power.
Moreover, the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant was a soul body. Its control over its soul far surpassed that of demonic beasts with physical bodies.
It could even sacrifice a sliver of its soul and still recover later on its own strength, something most demonic beasts with physical bodies couldn't do. After weighing the options, Li Yan made his decision.
His only worry was that the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant didn't have a demonic core, but Li Yan felt that both demonic cores and essence souls served to provide power.
Most importantly, his "Fragmented Poison Body" possessed a poison that specifically targeted souls. All techniques returned to a single origin; it should be feasible.
And so, the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's tragic days began, each one spent in painful howls.
Unlike demonic beasts with physical bodies, every wisp of poison directly invaded its soul, a pain several times more sensitive than any physical torment.
After his initial meticulous caution, Li Yan grew bolder and bolder. He discovered that controlling the Outer Chapter of "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" was not very difficult for him.
The problems recorded in some of the classics did not occur. After some thought, Li Yan came up with his own explanation.
Other poison cultivators often had to first cultivate their own defense against various poisons. At the same time, in this process, they had to constantly deepen their understanding of the types and habits of poisons.
This cognitive process was gradual and was also part of the poison cultivator's own advancement.
So, even if they chose a poison they believed they were extremely familiar with to perform "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao," they still couldn't achieve complete control.
But Li Yan was different. His application and deployment of poison stemmed from a single thought. His control over poison was instantaneous, and his perception was beyond the reach of others.
Therefore, when Li Yan used the Outer Chapter of "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao" to inject poison into the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant, he didn't feel that so-called sense of disconnect.
His poison came entirely from his spirit power and his body, moving as easily as his own limbs. It was nothing like others who had to hold a certain poison or poison pill and constantly sense the amount being released.