However, none of this affected Zhong Ming.

Within the Bone Rotting Poison Abyss, Zhong Ming had completely opened himself up, allowing the myriad poisons to ravage his body and enhance his resistance to them.

But soon, his expression turned strange.

He realized something: he had underestimated the power of his forbidden ability, Demon Lord Tai Sui, especially after it had evolved once.

Many of the toxins in the Bone Rotting Poison Abyss, such as those from Gu Insects, were biological—poisonous mists, liquids, and fumes secreted by living creatures.

And Demon Lord Tai Sui was practically the pinnacle of life, the forbidden king of all toxins.

As such, being assaulted by the poisonous mist seemed to provoke it.

Of course, Demon Lord Tai Sui had no consciousness of its own.

This "provoked" reaction simply manifested as a primal urge within Zhong Ming.

"GRAAASP..."

At a certain moment, Zhong Ming opened his mouth and actually began to devour the billowing clouds of poisonous gas churning within the Bone Rotting Poison Abyss, taking huge mouthfuls at a time!

"?!!"

"Has he gone mad?!"

The immense amount of poisonous gas entering his body startled the onlooking Cultivators, and Ji Qingyue was so shocked she shot to her feet.

She had thought Zhong Ming was under the influence of hallucinogenic gas from the Bone Rotting Poison Abyss, leading him to commit an act tantamount to suicide.

But she soon realized she was wrong.

After swallowing the vast poisonous mist, Zhong Ming’s aura didn’t weaken in the slightest. On the contrary, it seemed to have grown a bit stronger.

He was actually swallowing and refining this intensely potent poisonous mist as if it were a mere snack!

"..."

"To swallow a toxic miasma and actually have your aura surge... Is he even human?!"

This inconceivable sight left everyone watching Zhong Ming frozen in place, a chill running through their hearts.

But as before, the stares of others had no effect on Zhong Ming whatsoever.

"Urpp..."

After swallowing immense amounts of poisonous mist, Zhong Ming let out a satisfied burp. He knew then—’There’s no need to stay here any longer.’

Because all these toxins were biological in origin, the forbidden ability of Demon Lord Tai Sui not only allowed him to open his spirit and temper his body with poison, but also let him rapidly increase his poison resistance by devouring them.

That single act of consumption had completely maxed out his poison resistance.

His stomach had even digested those toxins, converting them into his own energy.

’A forbidden power is a forbidden power, after all. It’s just too absolute.’

After that moment of reflection, Zhong Ming moved, stepping into the Fourth Prison: Blade Mountain Sword Array. He didn’t linger in this prison for long, either.

When it came to the sharpness of his Sword Qi and the depth of his Sword Intent, Zhong Ming was confident he was second to none. Therefore, he had no need to use the Blade Mountain Sword Array for Body Forging. ’I can just find a chance to temper my body with my own blade later. The effect would be even greater.’

In this prison, he merely used his Heart Mirror to survey his surroundings, engraving the endless Sword Intent and blade marks into his Sea of Consciousness before striding away.

However, while Zhong Ming passed through with ease, the spectators outside the Path of Purgatory were left stunned speechless by what they saw: as Zhong Ming walked through the Blade Mountain Sword Array, he was rarely harmed by the Sword Qi or blade auras. In fact, wherever he passed, the vast waves of Sword Qi and blade auras seemed to be encountering their sovereign, retracting their sharp edges and falling back, not daring to draw near!

This bizarre spectacle caused everyone to turn and cast suspicious glances at Patriarch Qi, including Ji Hao and Shen Wanshang.

’What is the meaning of this? Did the Array malfunction, or are you intentionally going easy on him, hoping to defect to Prince Qinghe’s Mansion?’

Though Ji Hao didn’t speak these words aloud, his eyes conveyed the message perfectly.

The Qi Family certainly didn’t want the Silver Moon Royal Mansion to think they had betrayed them, so they immediately began to inspect the Array.

After all, they had poured their heart and soul into creating the Path of Purgatory. Some of the clan elders and Array Masters who had built the Array were even still alive.

After a frantic investigation, the Qi Family finally discovered the reason why Zhong Ming was unharmed in the Blade Mountain Sword Array and why the Sword Qi was retreating from him.

However, once they found the reason, they were even more shaken.

Patriarch Qi even felt an impulse to switch his allegiance to Zhong Ming’s side.

He couldn’t be blamed for thinking this way; the reason they had uncovered was so terrifying that it shocked him to the point his expression twisted.

"How can this be?!"

His horrified expression, coupled with the words he couldn’t help but blurt out, made the already attentive crowd look over in unison.

This time, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart, Shen Wanshang was the first to break the silence. "Patriarch Qi, as for Zhong Ming being unharmed by the Blade Mountain Sword Array in the Fourth Prison... what might be the reason for that?"

Shen Wanshang’s question finally snapped Patriarch Qi out of his shock.

But then, instead of immediately answering Shen Wanshang, the Patriarch turned to Ji Qingyue at his side and said respectfully, "Princess Qingyue, I wonder... may this matter be spoken of publicly?"

"!!!"

The question landed like a boulder in a still lake. The entire plaza fell so silent you could hear a pin drop, and a heavy, oppressive atmosphere instantly descended upon the crowd.

The ordinary Cultivators were chilled into silence, not even daring to breathe too loudly. Ji Hao and Shen Wanshang’s expressions, in particular, were as dark as ink, their gazes bone-chillingly cold.

Patriarch Qi’s question was not merely a matter of procedure; it was a statement of his attitude.

Of the three powers present, Ji Hao was the heir to the Silver Moon King and the nominal Young Master of the Qi Family. Shen Wanshang represented the Celestial Sea King’s Mansion, a formidable power that could not be underestimated.

Meanwhile, Prince Qinghe’s Mansion, represented by Ji Qingyue, was not only weaker but was also a direct competitor to both the Silver Moon Royal Mansion and the Qi Family.

And yet, under these circumstances, Patriarch Qi had chosen to ask for Ji Qingyue’s opinion first. His meaning was clear: if she disagreed, he would not speak. What this represented required no further explanation.

’The Qi Family plans to defect to Prince Qinghe’s Mansion?!’ As his heart sank, Ji Hao desperately racked his brain, trying to figure one thing out: ’What in the world could be the reason for such a monumental shift in the Qi Family’s attitude?!’