Explosion Immortal

The system notification echoed in his mind.

Zhou Xuan was stunned.

Low-grade Waste Fire Spirit Pill?

Could he absorb this stuff?

A thought crossed his mind, and he instantly understood.

That was right!

Waste Pills were still pills!

They were made from spirit herbs and medicines. Even if the refining had failed, how could they possibly contain no residual Spiritual Energy?

And it wasn't just Waste Pills!

Zhou Xuan's gaze swept across the entire ravine.

The shattered Broken Sword, the Spirit Beast's corpse that had been corroded to the bone.

Weren't these all made from heavenly treasures containing Spiritual Energy, or things that had been nourished by Spiritual Energy themselves?!

Could he absorb them too?!

In an instant.

An indescribable joy welled up inside Zhou Xuan, but he kept the same frightened expression on his face.

He couldn't let anyone notice anything strange just yet.

But when he looked again at the living hell before him—

At the sallow, emaciated Chore Disciples, the deadly dregs, the billowing poisonous smoke—

Hell?

What the hell kind of hell was this!

It was paradise tailor-made for him!

An unparalleled treasure trove concealing countless opportunities!

Mom!

I'm gonna be rich!

Holding the Waste Pill wrapped in a handkerchief, Zhou Xuan couldn't keep it together any longer. His mouth spread into a grin, and he let out a silly giggle.

The Chore Disciple beside him, who had just scrambled to pick up the pill, was about to thank him. But when he saw Zhou Xuan's expression, he froze.

He stared at Zhou Xuan in confusion.

His eyes were full of sympathy.

"Ah, poor guy. He's already scared witless?"

He shook his head, snatched the Waste Pill from Zhou Xuan's hand, and carefully put it back in his battered basket.

"Everyone's like that when they first get here. You'll get used to it."

"You've got plenty more suffering ahead."

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

But the moment he turned around, he froze in place as if someone had cast a binding spell on him.

A lean, middle-aged man dressed in black had appeared right in front of him without a sound.

His gaze was vicious, like a poisonous snake lurking in the shadows.

The Chore Disciple was so terrified that his soul nearly fled his body. His knees buckled, and he almost fell to the ground.

"Stew... Steward Wang!"

He stammered in terror, not daring to raise his head.

The man known as Steward Wang didn't even spare him a glance.

Those sinister eyes passed right over him and fixed on Zhou Xuan, who was still grinning foolishly.

"You're the new Zhou Xuan?"

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

"Steward, I'm the new one!"

"Good. Zhang Ling, the Inner Sect's Fairy Danhuo, just ruined a batch of Red Flame Pills. You'll go clean it up later."

Fairy Danhuo?

Before Zhou Xuan could react, the Chore Disciple beside him heard that name and shuddered as if he'd seen a ghost.

He turned his head and gave Zhou Xuan a long, pitying look, like he was looking at a dead man.

"It's over..."

"Going to Fairy Danhuo's place on your first day. Poor guy. Ah!"

But just as the Chore Disciple sighed and prepared to leave, Steward Wang called out to him.

"You there. Take him to his quarters and explain the rules. Then bring him to the Fairy."

At those words, the Chore Disciple wore an expression more miserable than if he were about to cry.

"Yes, sir. Understood!"

Steward Wang's figure soon vanished into the poisonous mist in the ravine.

The Chore Disciple, who was called Zhou Ye, turned deathly pale, as if both his parents had just died.

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

He kept muttering about how damned unlucky they were.

Since Zhou Xuan had just arrived, he naturally needed to ingratiate himself if he wanted to figure out what was going on.

Besides, that basket of Waste Pills was too damn tempting.

He strode forward and took the battered basket of Waste Pills from Zhou Ye's hands.

"Senior Brother, I'm new here. Let me handle this."

Zhou Ye was taken aback.

He hadn't expected the new fool to be so quick on the uptake.

The misery on his face finally eased a little. Putting on the air of a seasoned veteran, he handed the basket to Zhou Xuan.

At once, Zhou Xuan felt a bone-chilling cold and poisonous aura coming from the basket. A foul stench kept wafting into his nostrils.

Wow. These really packed a punch.

[ Ding! Detected a small amount of absorbable low-grade energy materials! ]

Absorb!

[ Ding! Beginning absorption of discarded Fire Spirit Pills! Gained 5 Gold Touch Value! ]

[ Ding! Beginning absorption of discarded Foundation Establishment Pills! Gained 8 Gold Touch Value! ]

...

As he listened to the system's voice, Zhou Xuan felt at ease and started chatting with the Chore Disciple.

"Senior Brother, what's your surname?"

"My name's Zhou Ye. I've been at the Miscellaneous Affairs Department for half a year."

"Hey, we're from the same family! My name's Zhou Xuan."

Zhou Xuan feigned surprise and continued to flatter him.

"Senior Brother, how old are you this year?"

Zhou Ye stopped walking and gave a self-mocking laugh.

"Twenty."

"Twenty?"

Zhou Xuan stopped in his tracks.

He examined Zhou Ye from head to toe, scrutinizing him carefully.

His hair was completely white.

His face was gaunt.

His eyes were sunken.

He looked old enough that anyone would believe he was fifty.

Zhou Ye seemed used to people staring at him like that. He sighed helplessly.

He raised a thin, bony finger and pointed at the battered basket Zhou Xuan was carrying.

"This stuff did it to me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the system's voice in Zhou Xuan's mind disappeared too.

[ Conversion complete! Congratulations, Host, you have gained 100 Gold Touch Value! ]

Zhou Xuan's grip on the basket tightened.

One hundred points!

Just a few pills were worth one hundred points!

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

Harmful?

What the hell kind of poison was this supposed to be!

These were glistening nuggets of gold!

When Zhou Ye saw Zhou Xuan fall silent, he thought the boy had been frightened.

His eyes dimmed, and his voice carried a deathly heaviness.

"I don't think I have much longer to live, either."

"When I first got here, I thought I could make it through and get ahead. Sigh!"

Zhou Xuan looked at Zhou Ye sadly. Without the system, he'd probably have ended up the same way.

This was the cruel Cultivation World, after all.

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

"Senior Brother Zhou Ye, what's the story with that Fairy Danhuo?"

At the words "Fairy Danhuo," Zhou Ye instinctively hunched his shoulders and glanced around.

Only after making sure no one was nearby did he lower his voice and lean close to Zhou Xuan's ear.

"Keep your voice down! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Her real name is Zhang Ling. She's the only daughter of Elder Zhang from the Law Enforcement Hall of the Spirit Sword Pavilion!"

"She comes from a very distinguished family!"

Zhou Xuan raised an eyebrow.

The Law Enforcement Elder's daughter? No wonder she was so overbearing.

"She loves alchemy, but her talent... Well, it's hard to describe."

A strange look crossed Zhou Ye's face.

"Let me put it this way. She's been in the sect for ten years, and she's been refining pills for ten years."

"Every single time, her furnace explodes!"

"Not once has it gone any other way!"

"So in private, we call her Explosion Immortal!"

Zhou Xuan's mouth twitched.

Explosion Immortal?

That nickname suited her pretty well.

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

"More Chore Disciples have died beneath her Alchemy Furnace than you can count on two hands!"

"Some were blown to pieces; others were suffocated to death by the poisonous fumes from her Waste Pills!"

"And the Red Flame Pills you're going to deal with are the fiercest, most poisonous, and most explosive of all her pills!"

After saying that, Zhou Ye gave Zhou Xuan's shoulder a heavy pat.

"Brother."

"Good luck. You're gonna need it."