"How could this happen..."
Jiang Ping An lay on the cold stone surface of the Cultivation Platform, his body convulsing beyond his control.
His soul was rapidly splitting apart, and his head felt ready to burst.
It was as though a giant axe were hacking at his soul again and again. The pain nearly knocked him unconscious, only to drag him back to awareness.
He could not understand it. Before taking the pill, he had asked an alchemist to examine it carefully. The man had sworn there was nothing wrong with it.
Why had this happened?
More baffling still, years had passed since he took that pill.
He had noticed nothing unusual about his body or soul in all that time. Why had it erupted now?
His soul was crumbling inch by inch like porcelain, and he could do nothing to stop it.
At this rate, within three days his soul would scatter, and he would vanish from the world!
Jiang Ping An gritted his teeth and wiped the blood streaming down his face.
Enduring the agony that threatened to tear his consciousness apart, he struggled to his feet and returned to the Fire Tower Pavilion.
He could not stop his soul from disintegrating. All he could do was ask the old man from before what was happening and whether there was any way to save him.
At the Fire Tower Pavilion's counter, Jiang Ping An described the alchemist he was looking for.
The attendant looked apologetic.
"I'm sorry, sir. Elder Tang is meeting someone right now. You may have to wait a while."
"All right."
Jiang Ping An's voice was hoarse.
He did not want another alchemist. They would not know what had happened, might have no idea what was wrong, and could even misdiagnose him.
"First, give me