Xiao Fei's divine sense hiding in the space was perceived by the Sect Master as him being in so much pain that he had fainted.
The Sect Master threw Xiao Fei into the Black Water Pool and paid him no further attention, seemingly having left. After all, besides his identity as an evil cultivator, he also had to manage the sect's daily affairs and maintain his good reputation within the sect, which was quite a demanding task.
Xiao Fei's divine sense remained hidden in the space. Occasionally, when he returned to his physical body, the pain would immediately cause his soul to twitch, making him wish for death. Terrified, he would immediately retreat back into the space. This was simply a torment that no living person could endure.
He thought of the bodies in the Black Water Pool that were not yet dead. These individuals had been soaking for an unknown duration, yet their souls had not collapsed. They must have been people of strong character. It was a pity they were captured and brought here, for they would surely have achieved great things in the future. "Alas! Fellow sufferers of the same fate!"
Xiao Fei did not know if he still had a chance to escape. Furthermore, the Soul Nurturing Pearl had fallen into the Sect Master's hands. He also wondered about his second sister's situation. For now, he could only hide his divine sense within the space. With the space's 20x speed, one day outside meant twenty days passing in the space.
Xiao Fei patrolled the space several times, inspecting all his treasures one by one. Currently, the only things that could help him escape were the Iron Fire Ants and the Thousand Mile Teleportation Talisman. The Thousand Mile Teleportation Talisman required spiritual power to activate, and he was unsure if he could seize such an opportunity.
The twenty thousand Iron Fire Ants had only recently hatched and had not yet been cultivated. Their combat strength was far inferior to the previous batch of five thousand. The large chunk of profound iron ore he had stored had been used up. Although he had some ore in the space, the quantity was too small to improve the Iron Fire Ants' physique.
There were indeed many spiritual herbs in the space that could enhance the Iron Fire Ants. Even feeding them with Qi Gathering Pills would be beneficial. However, most spiritual herbs would not have a significant effect. Only spiritual items that suited the Iron Fire Ants' physique would be the best.
Finally, he decided to try feeding them Dragon Breath Grass. Last time, in the wilderness, he had used Dragon Breath Grass to lure away a swarm of Iron Fire Ants. The Iron Fire Ants seemed to have a particular fondness for this spiritual herb. For this reason, he specifically cleared ten acres of land in the space to plant Dragon Breath Grass.
Some Dragon Breath Grass had been planted in the space before. The oldest had reached over 200 years, while the younger ones were one to two decades old. Previously, the space was smaller, so he had only planted over a hundred plants of the older variety. These, he decided, would be given to the queen ant and her several hundred mates. The queen ant becoming stronger was the foundation, and the offspring she produced would have a head start. The remaining twenty thousand Iron Fire Ants were merely consumables; a single battle could result in the death of a portion of them. These consumables would be fed with younger Dragon Breath Grass for now. If the situation became critical, he would use older spiritual herbs to boost them.
In the following days, Xiao Fei's divine sense remained hidden in the space, feeding the Iron Fire Ants. He occasionally returned to his physical body to endure the inhuman torment. He did this not because he was a masochist, but because at his current cultivation level, his divine sense could not completely detach from his physical body. Divine sense required nourishment from the physical body's essence and blood; otherwise, it would become like a rootless tree or a river without a source, gradually weakening and eventually dissipating into the heavens and earth.
After throwing Xiao Fei in, the Sect Master would come to check every ten days or so, adding some medicinal liquid to the Black Water Pool. The original bodies in the pool were gradually fished out and taken away, presumably for the next stage of refinement. During this time, the Sect Master captured two more cultivators and brought them in to accompany Xiao Fei. Judging by their clothing, they seemed to be rogue cultivators from outside. These two were also sealed in their entirety. As soon as they were thrown in, they writhed violently in pain. However, these two had weaker willpower. They did not last even ten days. Under the torment of extreme pain, their souls collapsed, and they died directly from the agony. The dead cultivators were quickly fished out by the Sect Master with an iron hook and burned on the spot by the poolside. Seeing this, Xiao Fei shivered. He had once considered faking his death, but it seemed that method would not work. To show that he was still bravely alive, Xiao Fei specifically separated a wisp of his divine sense to remain in his physical body long-term.
For a period thereafter, Xiao Fei remained soaked in the Black Water Pool. Newcomers arrived continuously, and old ones departed. Finally, one day, the Sect Master used an iron hook to hook Xiao Fei's nostril and pull him out of the Black Water Pool. Xiao Fei was like a fish caught and thrown ashore, casually tossed onto the ground. The Sect Master tapped him all over with a hammer, seemingly satisfied. "As expected of a genius disciple of the Danxin Sect, you haven't disappointed me!" On the Sect Master's twisted and ferocious face, a rare expression of relief appeared. As he smiled, green pus dripped down his cheeks from the pustules on his face. The Sect Master continued to hook Xiao Fei's nostril with that rusty iron hook and dragged him out of the stone chamber like a dead dog.
He opened another stone door, and an icy aura immediately assailed them. This stone chamber also contained a large pool, but this pool was filled with many rotting corpses, withered bones, some human, some from demonic beasts, and a few pieces of decaying coffin boards.
"Plop!" The Sect Master heavily threw Xiao Fei's body into the pool. He then used a wooden fork to prod the body, pressing it down before turning to leave and closing the stone door behind him.
The water in this pool was significantly different from the previous one; it contained a peculiar death aura. As Xiao Fei's body was submerged in the pool, wisps of icy death aura drilled into his body. This coldness penetrated to the bone marrow, threatening to freeze even his soul. Along with the chill, a death aura entered his body, spreading throughout, suppressing the life force and spiritual power within. When his life force was completely suppressed and extinguished, his physical body would become a corpse. At that point, even if he did not wish to die a million times over, he would only become a conscious zombie.
Facing the changes in his physical body, Xiao Fei was anxious but powerless. However, the Primordial Chaos spiritual power within Xiao Fei was somewhat unique, with the five elements forming a complete whole. The five elements circulated and cycled within his body, forming an integrated system, equivalent to a small heaven and earth. The Primordial Chaos spiritual power could restrain other elemental spiritual powers. First, he had been sealed by the Sect Master, and the Primordial Chaos spiritual power within him had already been restless, tending to circulate on its own. Now, suppressed by an external death aura, the Primordial Chaos spiritual power within him was greatly stimulated, gradually showing signs of self-circulation. However, breaking through the seal of a Golden Core cultivator was not easy.
As days passed, Xiao Fei's body increasingly resembled a corpse, his life force gradually fading. Xiao Fei's skin and muscles gradually lost their elasticity, his eye sockets became sunken, his gums receded, and his two small canine teeth gradually grew longer, showing a tendency to transform into fangs. His fingernails became dark, hard, and sharp. Now, whenever Xiao Fei's divine sense returned to his physical body, it was affected by this death aura, and his consciousness was filled with fierce and violent emotions. Fortunately, resting in the space for a while allowed his emotions to stabilize. The twenty thousand Iron Fire Ants in the space continuously consumed Dragon Breath Grass, their physiques growing stronger, and a layer of black scales gradually grew on their bodies.