The thick green miasma quickly flooded the chamber. The previously damaged formation upon the dome had been repaired and it came to life with a bright glow. The formations on the dome were responsible for distributing the miasma to the area around Icefire Valley. It was the damage to them that had caused the periodic weakness in the poison miasma. From this moment on, there would no longer be a window every few decades where the miasma was easier to get through.

On the other hand, the new poison was not as powerful as the one created using the Poisonfeather Bird Core. Elder Yi was waiting outside of Icefire Valley and as soon as the miasma started to erupt, she stood up to watch it develop. The repaired array was quite effective, and the miasma was released to form a gigantic dome over Icefire Valley. The miasma was not nearly as loose as it was before. It was far closer to the shape of a perfect dome rather than a loose cloud like it used to be. After creating a perfect dome, the miasma continued to coalesce and the dome thickened. As it got larger and thicker, it became harder to tell that it was a perfect dome and it started to look more like a spherical cloud.

The wall of the cloud grew till it was a few hundred yards thick and then it stopped increasing in size. Sage exited the miasma and walked over to Elder Yi’s side. She nodded to him and then they waited in silence for a few hours before confirming that the miasma was not going to change any further. Then Elder Yi took out a sort of mouse-like Demonic Beast and sent it into the miasma. The beast returned a few minutes later, and Elder Yi examined it carefully. Then she gave it a small pill and continued to examine it. The mouse died an hour later and she took out another mouse, giving it a pill first and then sending it into the miasma. When the mouse returned a few minutes later, it looked far better than the first, but it was still not in great condition.

She ran more tests like this and Sage was pleased to see her bring out the crude beakers and test tubes that this world’s alchemists used. Compared to those of Earth, they didn’t have easily readable denominations on their sides for measuring, nor did they use clear glass. Instead, there were different sized bottles that were created to hold different amounts and they were created out of parts from powerful beasts which made them many times more resistant to damage and heat than those from Earth. Sage used his Law of Corruption to assist Elder Yi, weakening the poison miasma so she could study it easier. He was actually impressed as the Elder was both an Alchemist and a Doctor. Most high level cultivators he ran into didn’t spend any of their time learning any Professions, so to run into one with two areas of expertise made him quite excited. Sage had never trained as a Doctor, but he had practiced a little Alchemy, so he asked her about a few questions he had, mainly about things that the Crab Spider Pan Xie had been confused about.

A few days later, Elder Yi eventually modified the antidote to properly combat the new green miasma and just in time as well. A group of Cultivators arrived and were eager to step into the green miasma. It was a group of rank 3s led by a rank 4 and Sage showed off his strength. He called them over and they came obediently, especially when they found there was another person they couldn’t sense the power of nearby. Even after unlocking Spirit Sense at the fourth rank, a Cultivator could not accurately gauge the power of a stronger cultivator unless that cultivator wanted them to. Sage merely had to release the power of Nascent Soul and the group came over meekly.

They were merely hoping they were the first to arrive at the scene and trying to pick up some benefits. Icefire Valley was a notorious death zone, so to see it change so drastically had them hoping to find great treasures. The wild areas in this world were huge and untamed, so even the places that had been explored in the past could undergo huge changes and transformations just a few decades later. Only the areas immediately bordering towns and cities could be considered well understood because Cultivators would constantly head out to hunt beasts. Those places farther away were always an unknown. Icefire Valley was a notoriously dangerous place, and said to lead to certain death. Only the biggest sects and clans knew that it was only accessible to Nascent Souls and only at specific times. Others just knew to stay away.

Even so, anytime something underwent a drastic change, there would be those willing to risk their lives hoping to benefit from it.

Sage didn’t bother wasting any time with these weaklings, giving them a simple ultimatum, “Icefire Valley belongs to the Mount Song Sword Sect. Leave here, and make sure you explain to anyone that asks. If anyone tries to encroach upon their territory, the Mount Song Sword Sect will not be merciful.”

Since the antidote had just been completed, he led Elder Yi into the poison miasma and gave her a chance to test it out. She seemed a little queasy upon entering the soul based poison cloud, but otherwise was unharmed. After they passed through the miasma she gave herself a thorough examination and started to tweak her antidote formula a bit more. Sage wasn’t a member of the Mount Song Sword Sect, so she found it funny to see him act on their behalf.

“So, is that how fierce you think we are?”

Sage blinked, “Did I go overboard? I just acted like I figured Song Lu Tian would.”

She broke into laughter and he wondered if he just made fun of his friend. He shrugged and returned to guard duty. Elder Yi sent word back to the Mount Song Sword Sect and a few weeks later, after Sage repelled a few more groups of outsiders, the reinforcements from the Sword Sect arrived. They brought a large amount of resources which Elder Yi used to create many antidotes for the poison miasma. After many tests, the antidote worked perfectly and could even save people who had been exposed after the fact. It no longer had to be used preemptively, and had no other side effects.

The Mount Song Sword Sect members moved to the center of Icefire Valley and started to build their own structures. Sage could have left as soon as Elder Yi showed up, but he wanted to see whether or not there was a Spirit Stone Lode here. So, he assisted them in their construction, building the start of a small city around that icy parthenon building and adding defensive formations at the entrances to the core valley. Any outsiders would have to make it through the poison miasma and then breach the formations before reaching the core valley. Once that was all set up, they finally had time to look for the Spirit Stone Lode and they took the miasma antidotes before Sage led them to Duo Tan’s grave site.

This time, the formations were left undisturbed, but Sage used the antidote on a few Warp Worms and had them coordinate with the Mount Song Sword Sect members to search for Spirit Stones. They had brought along another professional, this one a Miner that was experienced with prospecting. He was often called upon to help find deposits of ore or other precious minerals. As a sword sect they were always eager to find good materials to build their swords out of, so there were many who became miners and hunters in their sect.

A few weeks later, Sage leapt into the air in excitement. We struck gold!