Immortal artifacts in the Immortal Realm would be corroded by the Ascension Origin Liquid if soaked for too long, let alone magical artifacts from the lower realms.
The storage ring being corroded was within Yang Hong's expectations. While surprised, he didn't freeze.
He unleashed his divine sense to its full extent, swiftly locating the [Cloud-Melting Flying Boat] among tens of thousands of items. With a single thought, he activated the flying boat's formation, causing it to lift off.
"Great! It worked!"
He shouted in surprise as he watched the Cloud-Melting Flying Boat wobble into the air.
His powerful divine sense rapidly entered the flying boat's control formation. The boat hovered above him, its underside shifting as a rope descended.
Guided by his divine sense, the rope reached his mouth. He bit down firmly, and the flying boat ascended, lifting Yang Hong with it!
"I'm out! Hahaha~ Hahaha~"
Lying on his back on the grass by the Ascension Pool, Yang Hong roared with laughter. The feeling of surviving a near-death experience was always exhilarating.
His body was still immobile, but his strength was gradually returning, and his immortal cultivation was rapidly recovering.
"This Ascension Pool is truly miraculous. Before one's immortal body is fully transformed, it's a necessity for ascenders to complete it. But once the immortal body is complete, it becomes the most deadly seal."
Six hours later, Yang Hong managed to straighten his back with difficulty. He looked into the Ascension Pool at a black figure enveloped in milky-white Ascension Origin Liquid.
It was an ascender, possibly a demonic cultivator.
And it was the very reason Yang Hong had to exert all his potential to reach out his right hand from the Ascension Pool.
This demonic cultivator had been in the Ascension Pool for forty-seven days. In another day and a half, their demonic body would be complete, and they would regain their mobility.
If this demonic cultivator recovered, Yang Hong would surely be killed.
The most important duty of the [Frost Snow Sect] guarding this Ascension Pool was to kill all demonic cultivators who ascended, with accepting immortal and Buddhist ascenders being secondary.
As for immortal demon ascenders, it depended on the mood of the attending fairy maiden at the time. If they happened to be feeling peckish, then the immortal demon would become a delicacy on their dining table.
He beckoned the [Cloud-Melting Flying Boat], transforming it into a hook and pulling the demonic cultivator over.
"Huh? It's actually a woman. But her demonic energy is so dense, and her entire being radiates killing intent. She's likely a demon of the murderous path."
*Bang~ Crack~*
Without any hint of pity, Yang Hong shattered the beautiful head with a single slap.
"Boy! You dare to damage this King's body! I shall cast you into the demon realm forever!"
A palm-sized black Nascent Soul shot out from the person's chest, roaring with rage as it charged towards Yang Hong's forehead.
*Slap~*
Yang Hong clapped his hands together, trapping the black Nascent Soul. With a surge of immortal essence, he directly ground it into dust.
"Idiot. A cultivator at fifty percent immortal body dares to provoke a True Immortal?"
Villains always die from talking too much.
*Boom~*
The Nascent Soul was extinguished with a slap. Yang Hong then waved his hand again, a massive white palm print descending, completely obliterating the demonic cultivator's body.
He had lived in the Ascension Pool palace for over a century, witnessing Lan Shuang kill ascending demonic cultivators or immortal demons every year.
Last year's Black Armored Ant riot was triggered by an immortal demon who, after completing their immortal body, entered the Black Ant Wasteland and lured the ants out.
"Damn it, what's going on with these Black Armored Ants? They've surrounded the entire Black Ant Wasteland!"
After nine days, Yang Hong had fully recovered his physical strength and immortal essence and chose to leave immediately.
However, he couldn't leave for the moment. He didn't know what had happened with the Black Armored Ants, but in a million-mile radius around the Black Ant Wasteland, the Black Ants were building a city!
A colossal wall, ten thousand miles long and nearly two miles high, seemed to be defending against some unknown natural enemy.
If it were just an ordinary mud wall, Yang Hong could have flown over with his flying boat. But these Black Armored Ant walls possessed a strange sense ability.
The moment he got within ten miles, the ant colony would be alerted, and more than a dozen True Immortal Black Armored Ants would appear to patrol.
Terrified, Yang Hong had to retreat quickly.
If it were just a single point like this, it would be fine. But with a wall stretching for ten thousand miles, Yang Hong couldn't help but marvel at the terrifying nature of the Black Armored Ants.
With no other choice, Yang Hong had to temporarily retreat to the Ascension Pool.
He actually wanted to go to the [Frost Snow Sect]'s main mountain; the environment there was better.
But he fled in panic before he even got close.
From afar at the [Frost Snow Sect]'s mountain gate, he sensed more than ten auras of Xuan Immortal realm cultivation. Their aura was wild and savage, telling him instinctively that these were Xuan Immortal realm Black Armored Ants!
"My ascension, I've truly ascended to a cursed place!"
Returning to the edge of the Ascension Pool, Yang Hong shook his head with a wry smile. He suspected that overusing the [System] in the lower realm had resulted in a curse from heaven and earth, causing him to be teleported to such a desolate place.
However, since he had retreated, he wasn't giving up.
After a short rest, he released his divine sense and began searching the nearby grass. Soon, he found a small, emerald-green grass.
It was three inches tall, with three small leaves, each only an inch in size, resembling chrysanthemum leaves, but even smaller.
He extended a finger and gently touched a leaf, silently chanting: "Infusion."
His entire immortal essence surged, flowing like a trickling stream into the small grass.
Under the infusion of his immortal essence, the grass slowly unfurled, but so slowly and subtly that if Yang Hong hadn't been staring intently and possessed a powerful divine sense, he wouldn't have noticed any change.
The immortal essence infusion lasted for a quarter of an hour before stopping. Then, a surge of immortal essence, of the same origin, returned from the grass, also slowly flowing back into Yang Hong's body for another quarter of an hour.
"Ding~ You infused the Grade 1 Immortal Flower Ant-Scent Grass with 300 days of cultivation, receiving a two-fold return in cultivation, gaining 600 days of cultivation."
The return multiplier was only two-fold, not high, but at least it wasn't a loss.
"Huh?"
Just as he was about to complain, Yang Hong froze. He then summoned the Red Lotus Karma Fire in his sea of consciousness to envelop him.
"There's no karma descending!"
After a careful inspection, Yang Hong jumped up excitedly. After ascending, the [System] had undergone an evolution. The infusion of cultivation had become slower, and the return of cultivation had also slowed down.
But the most significant benefit was that the cultivation returned from infusion no longer carried karma!
This meant he could once again infuse plants without restraint and rapidly increase his cultivation.
"No! No! I can't get carried away!"
"I'd rather infuse a little less and solidify my cultivation base. Otherwise, gaining hundreds of millions of years of cultivation only to remain weak would be meaningless."
Yang Hong immediately cautioned himself, not forgetting the lessons learned in the Taiyuan Realm.
Suppressing the urge to immediately infuse new plants, he turned back to the edge of the Ascension Pool and transformed the [Cloud-Melting Flying Boat] into a hook again, pulling up a disciple of the [Frost Snow Sect] from the edge.
"Yang Hong, thank you for saving me. I have nothing to repay you with, so I can only offer myself."
As soon as Jiang Wenjun recovered, she leaned against Yang Hong.
The cultivation of ordinary disciples like them had all dropped to the eighth level of Earth Immortal. On the surface, their cultivation was still higher than Yang Hong's, but she wasn't an idiot. Yang Hong's ability to rescue her meant he had the capability to escape the Ascension Pool.
Such an ability was something even an Immortal Emperor didn't possess!
"Let's put the offer of marriage aside for now. Give me a copy of your Frost Snow Sect's cultivation techniques. I want everything you have!"
As he spoke, Yang Hong released his cultivation aura, reaching the first level of Heavenly Immortal.
"You~ You~ You're a Heavenly Immortal cultivator!"
Jiang Wenjun stared at him with disbelief, her eyes wide, nearly popping out of their sockets!