「Elder Ruan sees you again and remembers something she forgot to tell you.」
「This Elder Dragon has less than a year of life remaining; its time is almost up. However, if it can break through to One-star within the year, its lifespan will increase dramatically. This is the advantage of long-lived species.」
「You discuss Evolution plans with the Time Dragon. It has not broken through for many years and has tried all sorts of methods, except for the very last one.
「That is, a mutated Evolution born from a near-death experience. It wants to taste a peerless poison to induce a genetic change within itself.」
「Elder Ruan has taken out the Visualization Image for the "Elephant-Swallowing Demon Technique," a technique renowned for granting immunity to all poisons.」
「Your Time Dragon has performed Visualization on the "Elephant-Swallowing Demon Technique." This Cultivation Technique is a prerequisite for the "Heaven-Devouring Demon Technique."」
「Your Time Dragon has endured the eighteen piercing trials of the Ghost Gate and has mastered the "Elephant-Swallowing Demon Technique."」
「This Cultivation Technique can devour divine elephants above and mountains, rivers, and all living things below. It is perfectly suited for cultivating with poison, rendering one immune to all of them.」
「However, with its lifespan at less than a year, is there still enough time?」
After reading the messages...
Gu Ming's head was spinning a little.
'System, you're at it again.'
'The Little Cyan Snake was just born a month ago. How could its time be almost up?'
'Speaking of which, this "Elephant-Swallowing Demon Technique" must be from that snake-swallowing-elephant Visualization Image I saw earlier.'
'Can this Cultivation Technique really make it immune to all poisons?'
Gu Ming fell into thought.
Although the system often glitched out and seemed unreliable,
if the Little Cyan Snake's Cultivation Technique really was the Elephant-Swallowing Demon Technique, that would be pretty incredible.
After all, his salary had already turned into Spirit Stones.
'So it would be perfectly reasonable for the Little Cyan Snake's Cultivation Technique to have been swapped for another one, right?'
Verifying this idea was simple enough.
He just needed to test it with poison.
The Little Cyan Snake was a non-venomous species. The trace amount of poison in its body was too small to have any effect on humans.
If it were to ingest other extremely potent poisons, it would be poisoned to death.
The Little Cyan Snake's Poison Attack path was a gradual one, growing step-by-step from trace poison to light poison, then slowly acclimating to moderate poison. It wasn't a path that turned it into a venomous snake overnight.
With this in mind, Gu Ming asked Sister Ruan, "Do you have any poison? I want to let Xiaqing try some."
"Starting to refine Poison Pills already?"
Sister Ruan teased him, but she wasn't surprised. She took some ingredients from the herb cabinet behind her, weighed out 0.1 grams of arsenic, and mixed it with two other types of mildly toxic herbs.
A simple poison mixture was ready.
"This is an elixir for the Little Cyan Snake's initial poison training. You can use it to test its poison resistance. I have the antidote here, so we can neutralize it at any time."
Theoretically, a human would be poisoned by orally ingesting just 0.01 grams of arsenic. The more ingested, the more potent the effect.
The Little Cyan Snake itself was tiny.
For it to consume such a large dose of arsenic, on top of two other poisons, could hardly be called training.
However, the Little Cyan Snake was a Pet Beast with an Extraordinary Gene, so it couldn't be judged by ordinary standards.
Some Little Cyan Snakes were born with high poison resistance, while others were born with low poison resistance and would suffer a perforated stomach from even a tiny amount.
It was only because Sister Ruan was present that Gu Ming dared to let his Pet Beast test the poison and the Cultivation Technique.
He would never dare to joke around with his Pet Beast's life on his own.
The Little Cyan Snake didn't know what its master was thinking. All it knew was that the Mana in its body was circulating smoothly.
Its master wanted it to test some poison, so it would test some poison.
It was going to follow the Poison Attack path anyway and would evolve into a venomous snake sooner or later.
It flicked out its delicate pink tongue, instantly lapping up the powdered poison from the glass slide and swallowing it down.
In an instant, its stomach felt like it was being turned inside out, and a sharp, throbbing pain shot through it.
'So painful!'
"Quick, activate the Cultivation Technique!" Gu Ming and Ruan Jing said at the same time.
As they spoke, Ruan Jing had already taken out the antidote and held it to the Little Cyan Snake's mouth.
"Swallow this if you can't hold on. It will save your life," she said.
Gu Ming's heart was also pounding in his chest, unsure if the Cultivation Technique the system mentioned was real or fake.
The Little Cyan Snake subconsciously activated its Mana, following the circulation path Sister Ruan had laid out for it, to stimulate its body to digest the poison.
Its stomach immediately secreted powerful digestive fluids to rapidly break down the poison.
At the same time, its Cultivation Technique began to take effect, helping it digest the poison.
This Cultivation Technique was tailor-made for the Little Cyan Snake. When Mana flowed along specific pathways, it maximized the function of its stomach, allowing its body to digest the poison and store a portion of the venom in its Poison Fangs.
This Cultivation Time lasted for a full ten minutes.
Sister Ruan was very worried at first. From the Little Cyan Snake's reaction, it was clearly not tolerating the poison well.
'Perhaps the Poison Attack path isn't suitable for it.'
But as the Cultivation Technique continued to run, the deep frown on Sister Ruan's face slowly relaxed.
'The Cultivation Technique is operating normally.'
'The poison has been absorbed by its body.'
'In that case, it should be fine. This means its body can handle it.'
'As long as its body can hold out until the poison is digested, it proves the Poison Attack path is viable.'
"Not bad, not bad. Although the Little Cyan Snake had a rough start, its Mana is abundant, and it managed to digest it in the end. This is a good thing."
"Next time you prepare poison, use half of this dose. Wait for your Little Cyan Snake to gradually adapt, and then you can slowly increase the amount," Sister Ruan said.
"Okay."
Gu Ming thanked her and transferred the money for the medicine to Sister Ruan.
Sister Ruan waved her hand dismissively, telling him to take his snake and get to work. She was going to slack off and binge-watch her shows.
Gu Ming picked up the Little Cyan Snake, which had finished its Cultivation, and placed it in his palm, carefully sensing its physical condition.
The Mana he had converted at noon was completely depleted. In its place, a trace amount of venom was now stored in its fangs.
To be honest, this only made Gu Ming more confused.
'Is this the real-world Snake-Swallowing-Elephant Breathing Method, or is it the Elephant-Swallowing Demon Technique that the system specified?'
He decided to check the historical messages.
A few messages had popped up while the Little Cyan Snake was cultivating, but he had been completely focused on it, worried it might die suddenly, so he hadn't paid any attention to the message area.
He opened the message history. The results were as follows:
「Your Time Dragon tastes poison for the first time and nearly perishes.」
「Your Time Dragon's lifespan has been drastically reduced by ten months!」
「The Time Dragon's lifespan is like a candle flickering in the wind!」
'What? My Little Cyan Snake lost ten months of its life?'
'Is it already like a candle in the wind?!'
He hurriedly looked at the Little Cyan Snake.
"Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"
He reached out and stroked the Little Cyan Snake's head.
The young Little Cyan Snake opened its big eyes and looked at its master in confusion.
It didn't know what its master was asking, but it could feel his concern.
It extended its tongue and licked Gu Ming's finger, indicating that it was feeling great.
This left Gu Ming completely baffled.
'My Little Cyan Snake looks fine.'
'The system must be bugged.'
He scrolled down further.
「Miraculously, the Time Dragon, whose life should have ended, has seized time by the throat. Treading the very edge of the Ghost Gate, it forcefully continued its Cultivation and successfully completed the Refinement of the forbidden-zone poison using the Elephant-Swallowing Demon Technique.」
「Your Time Dragon has obtained a drop of Acidic Poison, which has been injected into its Dragon's Fang.」
「This event has alarmed Elder Ruan of the agency.」
「Elder Ruan: "Your Elder Dragon is very strange. It should have died, but it's still alive."」
「Logically, an Elder Dragon that has not even reached One-star should not be able to display its Time Talent. This has stunned Elder Ruan.」
「You are also baffled by this. Elder Ruan has gone to consult the ancient texts. This involves a legendary Talent that has been lost for many years. She needs to confirm the information and has told you to ask again tomorrow.」
Gu Ming pondered for a moment. Combining this with the Little Cyan Snake's performance during the Refinement, he faintly arrived at an answer.
'With the digestive ability of a normal Cultivation Technique, the Little Cyan Snake really wouldn't have been able to handle it at the beginning.'
'Otherwise, the experienced Sister Ruan wouldn't have been so nervous along with him.'
'In other words, the "Elephant-Swallowing Demon Technique" was indeed at work, but it didn't display its full power.'
'It's probably because of the Little Cyan Snake itself. It's not a dragon, it's a snake, and a bottom-of-the-barrel one at that.'
'With such a poor foundation, even the best Cultivation Technique is useless; it can't bring out its full effect.'
'Of course, the system wasn't entirely blameless either.'
'Seeing a Grass Attribute snake as a Time Attribute Dragon Race Pet Beast... that really takes the cake.'
'And that medicine it just ate was just an ordinary Poison Testing Elixir, but to the system, it was a "forbidden-zone poison." Those two aren't even in the same league.'
'Forget it. I'll ignore the system and get to work.'
He put the Little Cyan Snake in his pocket. It poked its head out, resting it on the edge of the pocket to watch its master work.
Just then, he passed by a large Fish Tank.
「You have discovered a Juvenile Kunpeng capable of Devouring Evolution!」