In just a few days, Shen Wang killed a few more, causing the bandits to become increasingly fearful.
In a blink of two months, more than a hundred ordinary bandits had died at Shen Wang’s hands.
As his attacks became more frequent, the number of dead increased.
If it weren’t for the past year’s good development of the Black Water Stronghold, with an increase in ordinary bandits and a Golden Core Zhenren overseeing, it would have long since collapsed under Shen Wang’s slaughter.
Under such a threat, those besieging the ancestral home moved farther away, with most living in constant fear daily.
To guard against hidden weapons, every ordinary bandit turned their armor into steel armor, thickening it to half an inch, making it bulky and heavy. They dared not face the ancestral home directly while walking, to avoid being hit by hidden weapons in the eye.
Shen Wang looked at the heavily wrapped bandits from within the array, feeling a bit speechless.
The shells of these guys were getting thicker, greatly reducing the lethality of hidden weapons. Even if they break through, the chances of death have decreased considerably.
Now, even if he attacks with full force, he has to find a weak spot for a chance to kill them.
But these people started to reinforce their vital points, adding more steel plates, leaving him gradually without options.
To kill these guys, he would need to use a talisman or magical artifact or engage in close combat.
Shen Wang checked his stock; he didn’t have many talismans, as he couldn’t buy talisman paper, so he couldn’t make new talismans.
Not only talismans, but his various resources over the past year have been rapidly depleting. Even though he had seized some resources, they were mainly ordinary bandits’, valuable to Hongping and others but limited in value to him.
Now Gong Yu and others were outside waiting for him to rush out, certainly not as they wished; it’s better to attack from afar within the array.
He rested his chin in contemplation, coming up with an idea.
These guys’ armor could withstand damage from hidden weapons, but poison could ignore such physical defenses.
However, he lacked the materials to refine poison, so he could only look through the belongings of the Black Death Blade King.
Having made up his mind, he went to the outermost side room, taking out three array flags.
This was set by Yun Conghui in the warehouse of Black Water Stronghold, the array flags designed to trap him.
Infusing spiritual essence to activate them and tossing them nearby, isolating the room from the outside world, Shen Wang carefully took out the items given by the Black Death Blade King.
A pile of various tomes, covered in dust.
In fact, it wasn’t just dust; there was also poison in it. This poison, called Bone Decay Powder, is colorless and has a smell. Once inhaled, it can rot internal organs and bones.
Furthermore, if mixed with water, it can directly decay flesh, a very brutal poison.
He took a dagger, carefully scraping off the Bone Decay Powder resembling dust from the tomes, eventually collecting a small bottle.
"It’s a bit small, at most enough to poison around a hundred ordinary bandits."
Shen Wang muttered; now it seemed like Black Water Stronghold had taken root here, with the number of bandits increasing to hundreds or even thousands.
Now deeply wary of him, it would be good if this amount of poison could harm seventy or eighty people.
He took out a bottle, this was the Foundation Establishment item given by the Black Death Blade King, suspected to be problematic, Shen Wang never opened it.
Now that his cultivation had deepened significantly, he had some confidence in handling it.
He first formed a seal, and the nearby light changed, forming a circle of barriers around the bottle, isolating it, then released water attribute spiritual essence to form another layer of protection.
Having prepared thoroughly, he used the dagger to flick the cork of the bottle. With a pop, the cork was flicked off, and at the same time, a surge of black gas suddenly gushed out.
With the array power limiting it outside, the black gas was confined within a foot, continuously swirling and emitting a cold evil qi, looking eerie.
He sensed this thing appeared to have life, rolling within it.
Being cautious, Shen Wang did not use his spiritual sense to investigate, as some things could even pollute spiritual sense.
Shen Wang closely observed, reflecting on the scene when Chen Xian and others fell victim, and uncertainly said: "Black Poison Qi?"
His expression shifted, ultimately sneering: "This thing hardly looks like an item for supporting Foundation Establishment, it should be Black Poison. The old bastard Black Death Blade King surely wasn’t kind in giving this."
Though he didn’t know the purpose of Black Poison, since it was poison, it wasn’t anything good.
He injected spiritual essence into his eyes, trying to enhance his vision, closely observing the rolling black gas, vaguely perceiving a trace of life within.
Carefully extending a strand of spiritual sense to the edge, as soon as it touched the black gas, it was as if the latter had detected something, surging towards Shen Wang’s spiritual sense.
Following this, Shen Wang felt a part of his spiritual sense immediately lose control, as if being devoured by a swarm of insects. He hurried to cut it off, preventing it from following his spiritual sense to attack his main body.
Shen Wang showed fear in his eyes: "Is this Gu Poison?"
Common poisons don’t have life; this thing contains something similar to small insects, likely making it Gu Poison.
It’s possible that Black Poison Qi itself is a Gu Poison, capable of controlling people’s minds.
He controlled the array, slowly forcing the black gas back into the bottle, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"This thing is not of much use to me, I’ll throw it out and let those bandits experience it."
Shen Wang muttered: "That body-snatched Li Yuanning by Black Death Blade King is also there; I wonder if the bandits get poisoned, will he use this thing."
As he took out the Black Poison, outside the ancestral home, Li Yuanning, who was on standby, suddenly opened his eyes, raising his hand, a small black insect crawled out of his sleeve.
"Someone is activating the Black Death Child Gu, currently the only one nearby with it is that kid, it should be him."
Li Yuanning glanced outside, smirking coldly in his heart: "Very cautious, only examining it after establishing Foundation."
He had already learned through others that Shen Wang had actually established Foundation, surprising him considerably.
"If my guess is correct, this kid will definitely release the Black Poison, and those guys will be unlucky again."
With a meaningful gleam in his eyes, the insect in his hand vanished, not showing any abnormality.
There was a Golden Core Zhenren present, so he dared not display anything unusual.
While he was contemplating when Shen Wang would use it, Shen Wang held the bottle and observed the distribution of people outside.
Choosing a crowded position, his gaze fell on a bandit leader, and he threw the bottle in his hand.
With the sound of breaking through the air, the bottle flew towards the crowd like a hidden weapon.
Compared to darts and other hidden weapons, the bottle’s speed was relatively slow. Those who could become leaders in Black Water Stronghold were at least high-grade grandmasters, detecting it with just their ears moving slightly in advance.
"Watch out for hidden weapons!"
While warning, he raised his weapon to block, but no sound of metal clashing occurred, only a sound of shattering.
Before he could see what the hidden weapon was, a circle of black gas appeared out of nowhere and began to spread wildly.
"What the hell is that!"
The people nearby didn’t detect any harmful attack, their faces puzzled.
The black gas quickly spread, then faded, appearing just like a waft of air.
Shen Wang was astonished as the black gas spread within moments to encompass ten zhang: "So fast!"
He noticed the tiny insects at the edge, now almost invisible to the naked eye, and understood why he had unknowingly been poisoned before.