And after this wisp of black smoke entered the air, it would quickly merge with the spiritual energy and dissipate without a trace.
At that time, because this demon cultivator was very close to these few spirit plants, he inadvertently inhaled a wisp of the black smoke mixed in the air.
When he discovered it, he thought it was a poisonous herb left behind in the ruins and was startled, breaking out in a cold sweat.
He hurriedly moved away, held his breath, and inspected his body with his Divine Sense for a while. Finding nothing amiss, he relaxed slightly.
But next, a feeling of comfort actually arose in his body. The cause of it was surprisingly this black smoke.
After this discovery, not only did this demon cultivator not get excited, but he became even more cautious and prudent.
Many spirit plants in the world had means of self-protection and hunting prey.
In his mind, this black smoke was very likely the latter—some kind of toxin that caused hallucinations, making you sink into oblivion without realizing it, and finally die unconsciously.
After some thought, he decided to pick these few spirit plants and take them back.
Because after inhaling those few wisps of black smoke, he had already stood in the distance thinking for a long time. Not only did his body not feel any discomfort, but the spiritual power in his body actually felt somewhat active.
Thus, out of curiosity, this demon cultivator finally carefully brought these few spirit plants back to his clan.
He then designated a small area in his backyard spirit garden and sealed them within a formation.
After thinking for a moment, this demon cultivator went out again and found several different types of first-rank Demonic Beasts. After pasting a suppression talisman paper on their foreheads, he threw them inside.
He wanted to see if these Demonic Beasts would die from continuously inhaling this black smoke while being unable to resist.
After doing all this, the demon cultivator observed for two consecutive days. He found that although these Demonic Beasts could not move at all, the light in their eyes seemed to be gradually brightening.
Just as he was about to continue observing, he received a mission from the clan and had to leave to carry it out.
By the time he completed the mission and returned, it was already three months later.
After this demon cultivator returned, he was also busy with trivial matters and actually forgot about this for a time. It wasn't until another half a month had passed, when he went to the backyard spirit garden to water the spirit plants and saw that formation, that he remembered the matter of those few unknown spirit plants.
Thus, when he opened the formation, the scene inside shocked him into a stupor on the spot.
The auras of the few different types of Demonic Beasts inside had skyrocketed. Each of them was more than two circles thicker than before.
Their fur was glossy and reflective, and the muscles beneath their fur were bulging in knots. He almost didn't recognize even the two herbivorous ones, a Wind Gazelle Rabbit and a Shadow-Lurking Cat.
Their bodies were covered in bulging muscles that were constantly twitching, as if they were two mutated small, ferocious beasts, waiting for an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
Although these few Demonic Beasts were still suppressed by the talisman paper and could not move, there were already signs that they were about to break through the talismans.
Two of the Demonic Beasts, in less than four months and while just lying there, not only had not starved to death, but had broken through to the second-rank Demonic Beast realm.
The moment they saw the demon cultivator, a red glow appeared in the eyes of the few Demonic Beasts, and they looked as if they were about to erupt and injure someone.
The demon cultivator was horrified. He hurriedly took out a dozen talisman papers and slapped them onto the foreheads of the few Demonic Beasts like he was stacking them, suppressing their Divine Souls once again.
He then sealed the formation again, brought the few Demonic Beasts back to his cultivation room, and began to study them one by one.
Sure enough, when he casually removed a talisman, that Demonic Beast immediately attacked him. However, he was a Golden Core stage cultivator and had no fear of them.
After feeling the attacks of the few Demonic Beasts one by one, he came to a clear judgment: their strength had advanced by leaps and bounds compared to three months ago.
Even the few Demonic Beasts that had not advanced to the second rank had their attack power multiplied, and they were unusually fierce.
It was just that each of them seemed to have lost its mind. They were frantic and bloodthirsty, and the madness revealed in their eyes was frightening.
Moreover, the toughness of their physical bodies had increased the most. At the same time realm, they were comparable to some cultivators who specialized in body refining arts.
This made the demon cultivator horrified, but he was also secretly glad that he had not easily inhaled that black smoke again, otherwise, wouldn't he have become like this?
Just puppets that were beginning to lose their minds, knowing only how to kill.
At this point, how could he not know that those few spirit plants were vicious things, and the black smoke was a toxin that could seep into the Sea of Consciousness? The comfortable feeling he had when he inhaled it back then must have been a fatal illusion.
But the effect of the black smoke produced by these few spirit plants was also unprecedented. It could actually allow a few Demonic Beasts to increase their strength so explosively in such a short period of time. This was also unbelievable.
Thus, he sealed the few Demonic Beasts one by one again, and his Divine Sense probed into their bodies to slowly investigate.
The spiritual power in each Demonic Beast's body was chaotic and violent, on the verge of being uncontrollable. But it was precisely this violent power that made the attacks of the few Demonic Beasts unusually fierce.
Immediately, this demon cultivator fell into a long period of deep thought. To be honest, these few spirit plants were of great research value.
If he could extract that black smoke, remove its impurities, and after purifying it, combine it with other materials, he should be able to refine an extremely effective medicinal pill to assist in cultivation.
Up to this point, he had not even had the thought of directly inhaling that black smoke to refine it. One look at those few Demonic Beasts just now was enough to know the consequences.
By the time he woke up from his deep thought, more than two hours had passed. He finally decided to collect some of the black smoke emitted by the spirit plants for purification before making any further plans.
But when he stood up, he was surprised to find that the few Demonic Beasts he had re-sealed were now looking at him with clear eyes and uneasy expressions.
This scene left the demon cultivator stunned for a moment, not knowing what had happened.
After a full few breaths, he finally came to his senses, and a thought immediately rose in his mind.
Immediately, he went forward and, in his surprise and doubt, he once again investigated each Demonic Beast one by one. Then, an even more shocking scene occurred.
The violent power in the bodies of the few Demonic Beasts had now completely disappeared. The spiritual power was flowing smoothly through their meridians, but that spiritual power did not seem very pure.
"Two or three hours, and they actually expelled the toxins on their own?"
This demon cultivator found it somewhat hard to believe what was happening before his eyes. After calming the surprise and excitement that had surged in his heart, his Divine Sense once again carefully observed every inch of the Demonic Beasts' bodies.
Finally, he discovered that the violent power in their bodies had basically been eliminated. Apart from being mixed with some black stuff, there wasn't much of it.
He immediately thought of that black smoke. He hurriedly sent his Divine Sense towards the Demonic Cores of the few Demonic Beasts. After he had probed all of them, he stood there in a daze.
He had received too many surprises today.
Because in each Demonic Core, he had discovered some black qi. The Demonic Core originally contained the most essential part of the spiritual power absorbed after it was circulated from the Dantian.
That was their "Demonic Origin Power."
This was the life-saving method of the Demon Clan and Demonic Beasts in the most critical moments, one could say it was their final all-out attack.
But at this moment, the spiritual power there was long gone, leaving only a few wisps of black qi.
This black qi swirled continuously in the center of the Demonic Core. When spiritual power circulated through the meridians of the whole body, a wisp of black qi would take away an almost imperceptible trace of the Demonic Beast's Essence Blood.
It would mix it in, follow the circulation for one Heavenly Cycle, and then be absorbed into the Demonic Core.
But at this time, the spiritual power that wanted to enter the Demonic Core at the same time was blocked outside, unable to enter again. The black qi seemed to have a repulsive force.
Feeling the powerful force coming from the Demonic Core after it was mixed with a trace of Essence Blood, it was a long time before this demon cultivator came to his senses. Then, he threw his head back and laughed loudly.
He felt that he had discovered an important shortcut in cultivation, a secret art that could make him strong quickly.
Those few unknown spirit plants should have the effect of strengthening the Demonic Core, causing the "Demonic Origin Power," which was originally composed of pure spiritual power, to undergo a mutation.
The reason the demonic qi inside was powerful was because it was slowly fused with one's own Essence Blood, and the Essence Blood taken away with each Heavenly Cycle would not have too much of an impact on oneself.
This was a grand road to the heavens that would allow him to become strong quickly.
Although that black smoke would affect one's mind, as long as one did not inhale it all the time, and if he could research a cultivation method to refine it, there shouldn't be too much of an impact.
At that time, couldn't he be like these few Demonic Beasts, with his strength increasing every day?
Of course, this was all his speculation. This demon cultivator could not yet finally confirm it, but it had already opened a shortcut to the top of the mountain for his cultivation.
Next, he would of course have to use more Demonic Beasts for experiments before he finally tried to cultivate it himself.
A month later, in this branch of the Demon Clan, a peak initial-stage Golden Core demon cultivator disappeared without a trace, along with all the spirit plants in his backyard.
It wasn't until some time later that someone noticed that the clan had issued a mission to him, and this demon cultivator had not completed it on time.
When someone went to urge him, they found that the place was already empty. Although it attracted some people's attention at the time, it was eventually left unresolved.
After all, that person was only a peak initial-stage Golden Core cultivator. Even if he wanted to advance to the mid-stage, he would need a great deal of luck.
Moreover, this demon cultivator was usually low-key, taciturn, and didn't have many friends.
Half a month later, this matter was gradually forgotten. Many people believed he had gone to seek refuge with other branches of the Demon Clan.
After all, this person was not highly regarded here, and the cultivation resources he could obtain were limited.
Although losing a Golden Core cultivator was a significant loss for any branch, he had not violated any clan rules. You couldn't just put a bounty on his head and hunt him down.
As the years flew by, many people had already forgotten this person's name.
It wasn't until forty years later that an initial-stage Nascent Soul demon cultivator appeared out of nowhere. His appearance was very abrupt.
This person's origin was unknown, as if he had popped out from underground overnight.
Any cultivator undergoing Nascent Soul Formation would cause a strong worldly phenomenon, as they needed to resist a Heavenly Tribulation.
But it was very difficult for any new Nascent Soul cultivator to be born. In the past hundred years on the Forsaken Continent, there had been no phenomenon of a Heavenly Tribulation.
Many speculated that he was a demon cultivator who had advanced a long time ago and was only willing to appear recently.
At that time, the Forsaken Continent was still very closed off, with only the Demon Clan and a very small number of native other races.
But what was even more terrifying was that after this Nascent Soul demon cultivator appeared, he began to challenge cultivators of the same rank everywhere, and his legend thus began.
With his initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, in just two short years, he had challenged almost all the Nascent Soul cultivators on the Forsaken Continent, except for some old monsters who were in seclusion all year round and couldn't be found by him.
His battle record was dazzlingly brilliant. Except for being beaten to near demise by three late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, the other seventeen initial and mid-stage Demon Generals were no match for him.
Moreover, he was ruthless and decisive in his attacks. He would either beat his opponents until only their Nascent Soul could escape via instantaneous movement, or he could directly kill those of the same rank.
From then on, this person's fame spread throughout the entire Forsaken Continent, causing many sects to pale at the mention of his name. But fortunately, he only challenged sects or families that had Nascent Soul cultivators.
However, many people said that he was not a true demon, but possibly a different race that was somewhat similar to the Demon Clan.
Because this person's skin was as black as refined iron, which was another extreme compared to the fair and flawless skin of the Demon Clan.
But there were also some Nascent Soul cultivators who let slip that this person was indeed a demon. The aura and techniques on his body were those of the Black Demon Clan.