Pure Unlucky Guy

Zhou Xuan hid in the darkness beneath the window, the vigilance in his eyes instantly hardening into bone-chilling frost.

He silently poked his head out just enough to peer through the gap in the window, locking his gaze onto the sneaky figure flickering in the night outside the door.

It was him!

Zhou Xuan recognized that face.

The guy was called Li San, a veteran of the Chore Servant Courtyard who was usually taciturn but always hid a sense of resentment and malice in his eyes.

Zhou Xuan remembered that this guy's talent was no better than his own; he also possessed a mediocre four-element spiritual root.

Having struggled in the Body Tempering Realm for seven or eight years, he was now only at the sixth level of Body Tempering.

The sect had a rule: only chore disciples who broke through the Body Tempering Realm and stepped into the Qi Refining Realm were eligible to apply to become outer sect disciples.

Only then could one truly be considered to have embarked on the path of immortality.

Outer sect disciples, while still at the bottom of the sect's hierarchy, were worlds apart from chore disciples.

They had fixed mountain caves, instructors who taught them collectively, and a monthly supply of medicinal pills and spirit stones.

They no longer had to live like chore servants, doing the hardest and most exhausting labor for a monthly stipend of less than half a spirit stone, waiting for death in despair.

For this ethereal opportunity, countless people in the Chore Servant Courtyard would break their heads trying to get ahead.

Li San was clearly one of them.

For a mere mid-grade spirit stone, he dared to take such a risk, killing for loot!

A cold, extreme arc curled at the corner of Zhou Xuan's mouth.

You want to take my life to trade for your future? Keep dreaming!

Sixth level of Body Tempering?

It was indeed much stronger than his own current third level of Body Tempering.

If they fought head-on, he probably wouldn't even last three moves.

But who said I was going to fight you head-on?

Zhou Xuan sneered in his heart, his right hand silently reaching into his robe.

The cold, hard sensation greeted his touch; he had already gripped that cultivation world grenade tightly in his palm.

Killing intent sprouted wildly in his heart.

Damn it, do you really think I'm still that piece of trash who lets anyone bully him?

Outside the door, Li San was still psyching himself up, his suppressed voice filled with greed and self-hypnosis.

"Zhou Xuan, if you want to blame someone, blame your own bad luck. Who told you to offend Senior Brother Zhao Long!"

"Rest in peace. Your death will pave the way for my path to immortality!"

As his voice fell, Li San's eyes turned fierce in an instant.

He no longer hesitated, drawing a gleaming short blade from his waist, taking a running start, and slamming into the dilapidated wooden window!

Bang!

Wood chips flew everywhere!

Li San's figure leaped through the shattered window like a wildcat!

He landed with a roll, immediately crouching on the ground with his short blade held across his chest, vigilantly scanning the pitch-black wooden hut where he couldn't even see his own fingers.

"Where is he?"

He lowered his voice, like a predatory wolf, a threatening low growl emanating from his throat.

"Zhou Xuan, I know you aren't asleep. Come out and die obediently, and I might still give you a quick end!"

However, the only response was a deathly silence.

Just as Li San was fully focused, attempting to find Zhou Xuan's figure in the darkness.

A black shadow, like a ghost, dropped silently from the rafters above his head!

Alarm bells rang in Li San's heart; the instincts of a sixth-level Body Tempering cultivator made him react without thinking, looking up and letting out a roar as he prepared to swing his blade to parry!

"You're courting death!"

He opened his mouth, but the sound hadn't fully escaped his throat.

However, what he saw was not the flash of a blade, nor a sneak attack with fists or feet.

It was an enlarged palm, and in that palm, a scorching medicinal pill emitting an ominous red glow!

The hand was as fast as lightning, giving him absolutely no chance to react!

In his eyes, filled with sheer terror, the pill was precisely and directly shoved into his wide-open mouth!

Mmph!

Li San's eyes instantly bulged like copper bells!

A scorching heat, as if it were about to burn through his throat, instantly spread from his mouth to his esophagus!

He wanted to vomit, to scream, to cry for help!

But Zhou Xuan didn't give him the slightest chance!

The moment he shoved the Blazing Fire Bead inside, Zhou Xuan's body acted like a tightly coiled spring, launching himself violently backward!

At the same time, with a flick of his mind, the Black Iron Shield he had just repaired instantly appeared before him, held firmly in place to block his front!

BOOM!

A deafening roar erupted suddenly within the silent Miscellaneous Affairs Department!

Terrifying flames instantly swallowed the entire dilapidated wooden hut!

A violent shockwave, carrying countless burning wood splinters and bits of flesh, swept wildly in every direction!

Zhou Xuan felt an irresistible force slam into the Black Iron Shield; he was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into a distant corner.

Pfft!

He spat out a mouthful of blood. His internal organs felt displaced, and his ears were buzzing, leaving him temporarily deaf.

But he couldn't afford to worry about that.

He stared fixedly at the center of the explosion.

Nothing remained there.

Li San, along with the short blade in his hand, had been blown to pieces by an explosion comparable to the full-force strike of a ninth-stage Body Tempering cultivator.

The air was thick with the pungent stench of burning and blood.

On the ground, only unrecognizable, shredded remains of flesh and blood were left, proving that a living person had been there just moments ago.

Zhou Xuan watched the scene, his eyes devoid of pity, filled only with cold indifference.

Such a massive commotion would soon attract others.

Enduring the intense pain throughout his body, he quickly retrieved the Black Iron Shield into his Universe Bag before anyone else could arrive.

Then, leaning against the corner, he instantly plastered a look of sheer terror and soul-shattering fright onto his face, his body trembling uncontrollably, his eyes unfocused as if he had been scared out of his wits.

Sure enough.

In less than ten breaths.

"What is going on!"

"Who dares to cause trouble in the Miscellaneous Affairs Department!"

A furious roar, like a thunderclap, approached from afar.

Immediately following, a powerful, suffocating pressure of spiritual energy descended with a boom!

Zhou Xuan felt as if an invisible mountain had suddenly crushed down upon him, worsening his already injured body.

His bones groaned under the unbearable weight, and he nearly fainted on the spot.

Foundation Establishment realm!

It was Manager Wang!

A gloomy figure was the first to rush into the half-collapsed wooden hut.

The person who arrived was none other than the manager of the Chore Servant Courtyard!

He caught sight of the messy carnage on the ground at once, as well as Zhou Xuan, who was huddled in the corner, covered in blood and shivering.

"It's you?"

Manager Wang's brows furrowed tightly, a flicker of disgust and impatience flashing in his eyes.

"What happened here?!"

His voice contained spiritual energy, striking Zhou Xuan's heart like a heavy hammer.

Zhou Xuan acted as if he had been scared out of his mind, trembling as he looked up, his eyes filled with the fear and confusion of someone who had just survived a disaster.

"I don't know."

His voice was hoarse, shaky, and intermittent as he said, "Someone suddenly rushed in through the window and said he wanted to rob me."

By now, the surrounding chore disciples had also been alarmed; they gathered around cautiously, holding torches, and all gasped in horror when they saw the tragic state of the room.

Manager Wang barked impatiently, "Rob you? And then what!"

"Then he saw a medicinal pill by my bed, grabbed it, and ate it right away..."

Zhou Xuan's acting had reached a state of perfection; he pointed at the bloody mess, his voice laced with a sob.

"And then... it just exploded!"

"A medicinal pill?" Manager Wang's eyes narrowed.

The surrounding chore servants were also in an uproar.

"What kind of pill has such power?"

"It exploded after being eaten? What kind of lethal poison is that?"

Zhou Xuan seemed to just realize what was happening and hurriedly added, "It was a pill that Senior Sister Zhang Ling botched today. I went to clean the alchemy room this afternoon, and since the pill didn't seem to have any reaction, I thought I'd bring it back to see if I could absorb any residual spiritual energy..."

As his words fell.

The entire scene instantly plunged into a deathly silence.

An extremely strange expression appeared on everyone's faces.

The gloomy face of Steward Wang turned as black as the bottom of a pot in an instant.

Zhang Ling?

The Explosion Immortal?

After hearing this, the way the group looked at the pile of minced meat on the ground changed instantly.

There was no longer any horror in their eyes, only a deep, complex emotion mixed with pity and the feeling that the victim had it coming.

Good grief!

This guy was a pure, unadulterated unlucky fool!

You, Zhou Xuan, are an idiot for daring to keep the Explosion Immortal's failed pill by your bedside like a treasure.

But you, the robber, are a complete and utter moron!

Of all things to rob, why did you have to pick that?

And if robbing it wasn't enough, you actually dared to shove it straight into your mouth?

If this isn't asking for death, what is?

The death of a mere servant was nothing of consequence in the Spirit Sword Pavilion, especially when it was such a stupid, near-suicidal way to go.

Steward Wang's face was livid. He couldn't be bothered to waste any more breath on Zhou Xuan and said coldly to a disciple who looked like an overseer nearby, "Go, verify his identity!"

Soon, the results came out.

"Steward, it's Li San, at the sixth level of Body Tempering."

Upon hearing this result, the way Steward Wang looked at Zhou Xuan became even more disdainful.

Li San, sixth level of Body Tempering.

And Zhou Xuan? A piece of trash universally recognized by them as someone who couldn't even stabilize the first level of Body Tempering.

Ask him to kill someone at the sixth level of Body Tempering?

What a joke!

Let alone killing him, even if Li San stood still and let him hit him, he wouldn't even be able to break his defense!

In an instant, Zhou Xuan's suspicion was completely cleared.

In everyone's eyes, there was only one truth: a servant driven mad by poverty had tried to kill for loot, only to mistake a bomb for a candy and send himself to the afterlife.

"Bad luck!"

Steward Wang waved his hand in disgust.

"Clean this place up. Li San brought this upon himself; he has only himself to blame!"

With that, he didn't spare Zhou Xuan another glance, turned around, and flicked his sleeves as he left, as if staying for even one more second would dirty his shoes.

A crisis that could have been fatal was thus dissolved into nothingness by Zhou Xuan in a way that was absurd, yet perfectly logical.