After Zhou Ye finished speaking, he let out another heavy sigh. His twenty-year-old face, which looked uncannily like that of a fifty-year-old man, was etched with resignation and numbness.
He looked at Zhou Xuan as if he were looking at his own self from half a year ago. In his eyes was the last shred of pity a survivor could spare for someone about to die.
"Brother, that's all I have to say. Take care of yourself."
The other Chore Disciples nearby also cast glances at him from a distance. There was no mockery in their eyes, no schadenfreude.
Only a profound sorrow for one of their own.
It was as if, in their eyes, Zhou Xuan was already a dead man with Black Qi pouring from his whole body.
"Ugh, another unlucky bastard."
"Fairy Danhuo, tsk, tsk. That kid probably won't last three days."
"He just got here and they've already given him this job. He must have offended someone."
Their whispers drifted over on the breeze, every word like a dirge played in advance for Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan shook his head helplessly, just managing to squeeze a trace of bitterness and despair onto his face.
Was this really necessary?
Inside, he was shouting at the top of his lungs.
For you lot, this is a death sentence. For me, this is the best damn news I could've hoped for!
The fiercest!
The most toxic!
The most likely to explode!
Didn't that mean the Spiritual Energy left inside was the most violent and abundant, too?
Wouldn't that mean the Gold Touch Value he could convert would be through the roof?
Zhou Xuan was overjoyed, but on the surface, he looked utterly dejected.
He cupped his hands to Zhou Ye and rasped out his thanks, then dragged his heavy steps toward the exit of the Miscellaneous Affairs Department.
With every step, he felt the sympathetic gazes at his back pricking him like needles.
But what he was thinking was: What are you looking at?
You bunch of beggars sitting on a mountain of gold!
I'm going treasure hunting!
Once I make it big, you won't even be worthy of carrying my shoes!
The Inner Sect of the Spirit Sword Pavilion was dotted with towering peaks, shrouded in Immortal Qi.
As the Sect's main center for alchemy, Pill Peak was especially rich in Spiritual Energy, and the air was filled with a refreshing medicinal fragrance.
Compared with the stench of rot, scorching ash, and blood that hung around the Miscellaneous Affairs Department, it was like heaven and earth.
Zhou Xuan took a deep breath and felt every one of his thirty-six thousand pores relaxing.
What a wonderful place!
He went to the steward's office at the foot of Pill Peak and respectfully bowed to an Inner Sect Disciple who was meditating.
"Senior Brother, I'm Zhou Xuan from the Chore Servant Courtyard. I've been ordered to go to Senior Sister Zhang Ling the Pill Room and dispose of the waste pills."
The steward slowly opened his eyes. When he heard the words "Chore Servant Courtyard," a hint of barely perceptible disdain flickered in his gaze.
But when he heard "Fairy Danhuo" and "dispose of the waste pills," that trace of disdain instantly turned into undisguised shock and pity.
He looked Zhou Xuan up and down. His gaze was exactly like those of the Chore Disciples at the Miscellaneous Affairs Department.
Another one coming to die?
"Command Token."
He spat out the two words coldly.
Zhou Xuan hurriedly handed over his Chore Disciple Command Token.
The steward took it, glanced at it carelessly, then tossed it back and pointed to a path leading up the mountain. His voice carried a trace of impatience.
"Follow this path up. At the halfway point, you'll find D-13 Pill Room. That's her place."
With that, he closed his eyes and resumed meditating, as if even looking at Zhou Xuan would dirty them.
Zhou Xuan didn't care. He picked up his Command Token, thanked him, and quickly headed up the mountain.
His mind was already filled with the Gold Touch Value he was about to get. He had no time to bother with a nobody like that.
Soon, following the room numbers, he found D-13 Pill Room.
Outside the Pill Room stood a young woman in a fiery red dress, hands on her hips and cheeks puffed with frustration. Her pretty face was full of chagrin.
She was stunning, with skin white as snow and features as lovely as a painting. But between her brows was an unmistakable air of spoiled arrogance and fiery temper.
This had to be the legendary Explosion Immortal, Zhang Ling.
Good thing the Pill Room door was still intact. It looked like the explosion this time hadn't been too powerful.
Zhang Ling noticed Zhou Xuan approaching, too. When she saw the faded gray Servant Robe he was wearing, she immediately frowned in annoyance.
"You're the one who came to clean up?"
"What took you so long?"
She didn't even give Zhou Xuan a chance to answer. Pointing at the shut door behind her, she ordered him around imperiously.
"Hurry up and clean everything inside. I blew the place to pieces!"
"Get moving! I still have another batch to refine once you're done!"
As she urged him on, she started muttering to herself.
"Honestly, I controlled the heat perfectly this time. How did it explode again?"
"Next time I'll change the formula. Just you wait—I, Zhang Ling, will refine a perfect Red Flame Pill!"
Listening to her confident declaration, Zhou Xuan felt a chill crawl up from the soles of his feet.
Was this really alchemy? She was developing weapons of mass destruction!
He ranted inwardly, but didn't dare show it on his face. He just nodded and bowed repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, Senior Sister. I'll get right to it!"
Zhang Ling impatiently waved her hand, as if shooing away a fly.
"Go on, then. Make sure you clean it up!"
Zhou Xuan pushed open the Pill Room door, and a wave of heat, carrying a scorched smell and dense fire Spiritual Energy, rushed straight at him.
The force of it made him stumble back a step.
Good grief!
Once he'd adjusted to the light and the smell and could see inside the Pill Room, he still couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath, despite having braced himself for this.
The entire Pill Room was pitch-black.
The walls, floor, and ceiling were all as black as the bottom of a cooking pot.
In the center, the Alchemy Furnace, forged from top-quality Mystic Iron, had been blown to pieces. Fragments were scattered everywhere.
Some charred dregs and several dark-red Pills, which seemed to still be burning, were scattered across the floor nearby.
With destruction like this, I'd believe you if you said you'd been making a batch of grenades!
Zhou Xuan's face turned even blacker than the bottom of a pot.
Of course, that was because he'd been stained by the thick smoke billowing inside.
He carefully entered the Pill Room, but his eyes were fixed on the few dark-red Pills on the floor.
They were only about the size of a thumb, dark red all over, with unsteady flames flickering across their surfaces.
A violent yet pure fire-type spiritual force radiated from them.
Even from several steps away, Zhou Xuan could feel the terrifying power they contained!
I've struck it rich!
This time, I've really struck it rich!
Suppressing his excitement, he took out the handkerchief from earlier and approached the shattered Alchemy Furnace one step at a time.
He crouched down, used the handkerchief to protect his fingers, and carefully picked up one of the dark-red Pills.
It was scorching hot to the touch!
The moment his fingertips touched the pill, the system notification rang out in his mind like a thunderclap!
[Beep! Detecting absorbable intermediate energy resource—Inferior Red Flame Pill (highly unstable)!] [Absorb? Can be converted into 30 points of Gold Touch Value!]
Thirty points!
Zhou Xuan's pupils constricted, and his heart pounded!
Just one!
One single inferior pill ruined during refinement could be converted into thirty points of Gold Touch Value!
That was worth ten Low-grade Spirit Stones!
There were still four or five more on the floor!
Zhou Xuan's breathing instantly grew ragged. His eyes gleamed as he stared at the Pills on the floor, practically drooling.
Explosion Immortal?
How the hell was she an Explosion Immortal?
She was a child goddess who showered wealth!
A Wealth-Spreading Guanyin!
My own personal fairy!
"Absorb them! Absorb them now!"
Zhou Xuan roared inwardly.
[Beep! Absorbed Inferior Red Flame Pill. Gold Touch Value +30!]
A warm current flowed into his mind. Watching the Gold Touch Value on the system panel increase in an instant, Zhou Xuan trembled with excitement.
He wanted nothing more than to kneel down right then, grab Zhang Ling by the leg, and cry out through his tears: "Fairy! I'll take care of all your waste pills from now on!"
Please, keep exploding every day, night after night—never stop!
But before he could recover from his joy—
A sudden change came over everything!
Beside his foot, another Red Flame Pill waste pill that no one had touched suddenly blazed with light!
Buzz!
The pill shuddered violently, letting out a shrill hum.
One dazzling crack after another appeared across its dark-red body. The violent fire-type spiritual force burst outward like a wild horse breaking loose!
The air around it visibly warped and grew hotter!
Oh no!
The medicinal energy inside had completely gone out of control. It was going to explode!
Zhou Xuan's face turned deathly pale, and it felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen in that instant.
He could feel that this waste pill was about to unleash several times the power of the one he'd just absorbed!
At this distance—
He couldn't possibly get away in time!
Rush over and touch it with his hand to absorb it?
What a joke!
He'd be blown to charcoal before he could even touch it!
It was over!
A wave of despair and unwillingness swallowed him whole.
Damn it! I'd only just seen hope!
But at this critical moment—
Just as the waste pill was about to blow apart—
The azure system screen before Zhou Xuan's eyes suddenly began flashing wildly!
Lines of blood-red warning text appeared one after another, flooding his vision!
[Warning! Detecting a highly unstable intermediate energy resource!] [Warning! Energy structure on the verge of collapse! A violent explosion will occur in three breaths!] [Warning! Estimated explosive force is enough to threaten the host's life!]
Zhou Xuan's heart sank to the bottom.
As if I needed you to tell me!
Don't you think I know that?!
And yet, just beneath the blood-red warnings, a new golden prompt, glowing with the light of hope, suddenly popped up!
[Optimization solution detected!] [Spend 10 points of Gold Touch Value on Enlightenment to stabilize its energy structure, defuse the crisis, and improve the pill's quality?]
Before you continue