Chapter 2124 — Mark of the Baneful

With the Baneful Abyss in hand, Yuan calmly approached the nearest Abyssal Crystal Ant.

The moment it sensed his presence—and the ominous aura radiating from the dagger— the creature let out an inaudible cry before turning to flee.

“You can run, but you can't hide."

Yuan made no move to chase the ant. In fact, he came to a complete stop.

Then, when it had fled far enough, he drew his arm back and hurled the Baneful Abyss, sending it streaking through the air like a deadly missile.

In the span of a heartbeat, the Baneful Abyss reached its target, striking the Abyssal Crystal Ant's body—a mass of semi-transparent, greyish crystal.

The blade of the Baneful Abyss pierced the ant's crystal body as effortlessly as a sharp knife through paper, instantly poisoning it and branding it with the Mark of the Baneful. The venom was so potent that the Abyssal Crystal Ant was brought to the brink of death in an instant.

Then, with the mark's activation, the dagger's second ability triggered, and its corpse erupted violently, releasing a dense poison mist that spread in a hundred-meter radius. The nearby Abyssal Crystal Ants were instantly afflicted with the Mark of the Baneful, each one detonating in turn. The chain reaction swept through their ranks without pause, continuing until every nook and cranny of their vast territory was shrouded in the deadly poison mist.

Hundreds... thousands... tens of thousands of ants perished within seconds, and in mere minutes, Yuan's quest progress had surged by millions of points.

in fact, the Baneful Abyss proved so devastating that it wiped out the entire Abyssal Crystal Ant population in the area.

Pleased by the method's efficiency—and with ample time still remaining—Yuan decided to expand his hunting grounds.

However, before using the Baneful Abyss, Yuan first ensured that no one else was nearby, as he had no intention of harming innocents.

Then, with the time remaining before his departure for the Undying Fiery Summit, he steadily expanded his hunting grounds, filling vast stretches of the Abyssal Underworld with the spreading poison mist.

Before long, people began to sense that something was amiss. Creatures within the Abyssal Underworld were behaving strangely, appearing in places they were never known to roam. Even powerful beings that should have existed only in the deepest levels were now being spotted in the upper floors, leaving the explorers utterly dumbfounded. Of course, this was because they were desperately fleeing from the poison mist unleashed by Yuan. With him relentlessly terrorizing through the lower levels, their only option was to escape toward the upper floors, which led to the entrance.

"Everyone, watch out! Something strange is happening inside the Abyssal Underground!" Someone shouted as soon as they left the underground, warning the people camping near its entrance.

“What's happening?"

“The creatures that are usually found only within the deeper levels are rushing towards the entrance! I have never seen or heard of anything like this before!"

"Do you know the cause of this phenomenon?"

"No, but there are already people who went down to investigate."

A few days passed as word of the strange phenomenon spread far and wide. Eventually, reports began to arrive from those who had ventured out to investigate.

"According to the investigators, the lower levels are shrouded in some kind of poison mist. They tried to probe deeper, but formations blocked their path, preventing them from getting any closer,” someone reported.

“Formations? Did someone put them up to prevent the poison from spreading?"

“That's very likely."

“Where did this poison even come from? Was it released by some creature, or created by something else?" another person mused aloud.

“There's no way to know unless we deactivate the formations and search deeper—but doing that could spread the poison even further. And we still have no idea how potent it truly is," someone remarked.

A debate soon broke out over whether they should deactivate the formations to investigate or keep the poison contained until it dissipated on its own.

Logically, the poison should be left alone to avoid unnecessary trouble and risk. However, the vast territory it now occupied severely hindered exploration, which in turn meant significant losses in revenue.

Moreover, many believed the poison wasn't particularly lethal and could be bypassed with the aid of poison-resistant pills.

“We should just let the poison spread. That way, itll thin out and disappear much quicker.”

"Since we don't know where it's coming from, we can't say for certain the poison will disappear so easily."

“I'm actually a master of poisons. I'll check out the poison first and give you my input." “I'll go with you since I also have some experience with poison.”

"Me, too."

Before long, an expedition was organized, with numerous experts setting out to examine the poison for themselves.

Some time later.

"So, what do you think? How deadly is it?"

“It's hard to say without experiencing it firsthand, but even so, I can tell it's unlike any poison I've ever encountered. That said, it's probably not too deadly since its color is only green, which is the most common and weakest color of poison out there."

“This poison resembles the Jade Poison,” remarked one of the poison experts there. “Though it's powerful, it's only strong enough to threaten mortals.”

“If that's the case, why are even Immortal-level creatures running away from it?"

"Poison doesn't affect everyone the same way. It's possible the creatures in the Abyssal Underworld are simply more vulnerable to it by nature.”

“Why don't we deactivate the formation briefly--just long enough for me to test the poison?"

"Are you sure?"

The poison master nodded. "Truth be told, I'm not doing this out of goodwill. I'm simply very interested in studying this poison."

“Let's get an Array Master down here then."

A few days later, a Level 8 Array Master was brought to the Abyssal Underground to deal with the formations.

When the Array Master arrived and saw the formations, he exclaimed with surprise, "Heavens! This type of formation is incredibly ancient and dates back to the Primordial Era! There are only a few Array Masters in this world who would be knowledgeable enough to create something like this!"