Explosion Immortal

The system notification echoed in his mind.

Zhou Xuan was stunned.

Low-grade Waste Fire Spirit Pill?

This thing could be absorbed?

As the thought crossed his mind, he instantly understood.

Of course!

A waste pill was still a pill!

It was made from spirit herbs and medicines; even if the refining failed, how could there not be residual spiritual energy inside?

It wasn't just waste pills!

Zhou Xuan's gaze swept fiercely across the entire mountain hollow.

The shattered broken swords, the spirit beast carcasses that corroded flesh and blood.

Weren't these all crafted from treasures containing spiritual energy, or things nourished by spiritual energy themselves?!

Could they be absorbed too?!

In an instant.

A surge of indescribable joy welled up in Zhou Xuan's heart, but he kept the same fearful expression on his face.

He couldn't let anyone discover anything suspicious right now.

However, as he looked at this purgatory on earth before him again.

Looking at those sallow and emaciated laborers, those deadly waste residues, and those billowing toxic fumes.

Hell?

This wasn't hell at all!

This was clearly a paradise tailor-made for him!

It was a supreme treasure land buried with countless opportunities!

Mom!

I'm going to be rich!

Holding the waste pill wrapped in a silk scarf, Zhou Xuan could no longer contain himself; his mouth split open, and he let out a silly chuckle.

The laborer next to him, who had just been scrambling to pick up pills, was preparing to say thanks, but seeing Zhou Xuan's expression, he froze.

He looked at Zhou Xuan in confusion.

His eyes were filled with pity.

"Sigh, poor guy, scared out of his wits already?"

He shook his head, snatched the waste pill from Zhou Xuan's hand, and carefully placed it back into his own tattered basket.

"Everyone is like this when they first arrive; you'll get used to it."

"There's plenty of suffering waiting for you later."

The laborer sighed, patted Zhou Xuan on the shoulder, and turned to leave.

But the moment he turned around, he froze in place as if hit by a binding spell.

A lean, middle-aged man in black had appeared silently before him.

The man's eyes were sinister, like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows.

The laborer was scared out of his wits, his legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to his knees.

"Steward... Steward Wang!"

He was so terrified he was trembling, not even daring to lift his head.

The man addressed as Steward Wang didn't even glance at him.

Those gloomy eyes went straight past him and landed on Zhou Xuan, who was still chuckling.

"You are the newcomer, Zhou Xuan?"

Zhou Xuan's laughter stopped abruptly; he looked up at him and nodded.

"Lord Steward, I am the newcomer!"

"That's perfect. Senior Sister Zhang Ling, the Fairy Danhuo of the inner sect, just ruined a batch of Red Flame Pill. You go and clean it up later."

Fairy Danhuo?

Before Zhou Xuan could react, the laborer beside him heard the name and shuddered violently, as if he had seen a ghost.

He turned his head and gave Zhou Xuan a deep, pitying look, the kind one gives to a dead man.

"It's over..."

"Sent to Fairy Danhuo on his very first day, poor guy, sigh!"

Just as that handyman sighed and prepared to leave, the steward called out to him.

"You there, take him to his living quarters and explain the rules to him. Then, bring him to the fairy."

Hearing this, the handyman wore an expression even uglier than if he were crying.

"Yes, this lowly one understands!"

Steward Wang's figure quickly vanished into the poisonous mist of the mountain hollow.

The handyman disciple named Zhou Ye turned deathly pale, looking as if his parents had just died.

He looked at Zhou Xuan, the pity in his eyes deepening.

He kept muttering something under his breath about having terrible luck.

Since Zhou Xuan was a newcomer and needed to get a handle on the situation, he naturally had to try and get on the other's good side.

Besides, that basket of waste pills was just too damn tempting.

He stepped forward in a flash and took the tattered basket containing the waste pills from Zhou Ye's hands.

"Senior brother, I'm new here, let me handle this work."

Zhou Ye was stunned for a moment.

He hadn't expected this foolish newcomer to be so sensible.

The miserable look on his face finally softened a little, and he handed the basket to Zhou Xuan with the air of a veteran.

Immediately, Zhou Xuan felt a bone-chilling, toxic cold radiating from the basket, and his nostrils were assaulted by a constant, foul stench.

Good grief, this stuff really packs a punch.

[Ding, detected absorption of a small amount of low-level energy materials!]

Absorb!

[Ding, started absorbing discarded Fire Spirit Pill! Obtained 5 Gold Touch Value!]

[Ding, started absorbing discarded Foundation Establishment Pill, obtained 8 Gold Touch Value!]

Listening to the system prompts, Zhou Xuan felt refreshed and began to strike up a conversation with the handyman.

"What is your surname, senior brother?"

"My name is Zhou Ye. I've been in this Miscellaneous Affairs Department for half a year."

"Oh, we're from the same clan then. My name is Zhou Xuan."

Zhou Xuan feigned surprise and continued to flatter him.

"How old are you this year, senior brother?"

Zhou Ye paused his steps and let out a self-deprecating laugh.

"Twenty."

"Twenty?"

Zhou Xuan stopped abruptly.

He looked Zhou Ye up and down, examining him carefully.

A full head of gray hair.

A withered face.

Deeply sunken eye sockets.

With this appearance, people would believe him if he said he was fifty.

Zhou Ye seemed accustomed to such gazes and sighed helplessly.

He raised a thin, withered finger and pointed at the tattered basket in Zhou Xuan's arms.

"It's all because of this stuff!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the system voice in his mind also faded away.

[Conversion complete! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 100 Gold Touch Value!]

Zhou Xuan's grip on the tattered basket tightened suddenly.

One hundred points!

Just these few broken pills were worth one hundred points!

He looked at these pitch-black, foul-smelling things in his arms.

Harmful?

How the hell is this poisonous trash that harms people!

These are clearly glittering nuggets of gold!

Seeing Zhou Xuan remain silent, Zhou Ye assumed he had been frightened.

His eyes were dim, and his voice carried a deathly aura.

"I reckon I won't last much longer either."

"When I first arrived, I still thought I could make something of myself, sigh!"

Zhou Xuan looked at Zhou Ye with sorrow; if not for his system, he feared he would be in the same state.

This was the cruel world of cultivation.

To comfort Zhou Ye, Zhou Xuan quickly changed the subject!

"Senior Brother Zhou Ye, what exactly is the background of that Fairy Danhuo?"

Hearing the name Fairy Danhuo, Zhou Ye instinctively shrank his neck and glanced left and right.

Seeing that no one was around, he lowered his voice and leaned into Zhou Xuan's ear.

"Keep it down! Do you want to die?"

"Her real name is Zhang Ling, and she is the only daughter of Elder Zhang from our Spirit Sword Pavilion Law Enforcement Hall!"

"Her status is incredibly noble!"

Zhou Xuan raised an eyebrow.

The daughter of the Law Enforcement Elder? No wonder she was so arrogant.

"She is obsessed with alchemy, but as for her talent... well, it's hard to describe."

A strange expression appeared on Zhou Ye's face.

"Let's put it this way: she has been in the sect for ten years, and she has been practicing alchemy for ten years."

"In those ten years, every single time she practices alchemy, the furnace explodes!"

"Not a single exception!"

"That's why, in private, we all call her the Explosion Immortal!"

Zhou Xuan's mouth twitched.

Explosion Immortal?

That nickname was quite fitting.

Zhou Ye's voice dropped even lower, trembling slightly.

"In our Miscellaneous Affairs Department, the number of handymen who have died under her alchemy furnace can't even be counted on two hands!"

"They were either blown to death or choked to death by the toxic fumes of her failed pills!"

"The Red Flame Pill you are going to handle now is the most volatile, toxic, and explosive of all her concoctions!"

After finishing, Zhou Ye patted Zhou Xuan's shoulder heavily.

"Brother."

"May you be blessed with good fortune."