Zhou Xuan hid in the darkness beneath the window, the wariness in his eyes instantly turning to bone-deep icy chill.
He silently peeked out, half his head emerging as he stared through a crack in the window at the furtive figure that flickered in and out of sight beyond the door.
It was him!
Zhou Xuan recognized that face.
The man was called Li San, an old hand in the Chore Servant Courtyard. He was usually quiet, but his eyes always concealed a streak of resentment and malice.
Zhou Xuan remembered that Li San's talent was hardly any better than his own. He, too, had a mixed Spirit Root with four elements.
After struggling in the Body Tempering Realm for seven or eight years, he had only reached the sixth level of Body Tempering.
The Sect had a rule: Chore Disciples could apply to become Outer Sect Disciples only after breaking through the Body Tempering Realm and entering the Qi Refining Realm.
That was when one truly set foot on the Immortal Path.
Outer Sect Disciples were still at the bottom of the Sect, but compared to Chore Disciples, they were worlds apart.
They had their own mountain peaks and Cave Abodes, instructors who taught them together, and a monthly supply of Pills and Spirit Stones.
They no longer had to toil away at the hardest, most exhausting jobs like servants, earning a monthly stipend that didn't even amount to half a Spirit Stone, slowly waiting to die in despair.
For this elusive chance, countless people in the Chore Servant Courtyard fought tooth and nail.
Li San was clearly one of them.
For the sake of a mere Mid-grade Spirit Stone, he dared to take the risk of killing and robbing!
The corner of Zhou Xuan's mouth curled into a smile so cold it seemed to freeze the air.
You want to take my life and trade it for your future? Keep dreaming!
The sixth level of Body Tempering?
It was indeed far stronger than Zhou Xuan's current third stage of Body Tempering.
If they fought head-on, he probably wouldn't last three moves.
But who said he was going to fight you head-on?
Zhou Xuan sneered inwardly as his right hand silently slipped into his robe.
A cold, hard sensation met his fingers. He had the Immortal Cultivation World Grenade clenched tightly in his palm.
Killing intent sprouted wildly in his heart.
Damn it, did he really think Zhou Xuan was still that worthless pushover everyone could bully?
Outside, Li San was still working himself up. His hushed voice was full of greed and self-hypnosis.
"Zhou Xuan, if you want someone to blame, blame your own bad luck. Who told you to offend Senior Brother Zhao Long?"
"Rest in peace. Your death will pave my Immortal Path!"
As the words fell, Li San's gaze turned vicious.
He stopped hesitating, drew a gleaming short blade from his waist, ran a few steps, and slammed himself toward the rickety wooden window!
Bang!
Wood splintered everywhere!
Like a civet, Li San leaped through the shattered window and into the room!
He landed with a roll, immediately crouched low, and held the short blade across his chest as he warily scanned the pitch-black wooden hut, where he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face.
"Where are you?"
He lowered his voice, like a wolf stalking its prey, and let out a threatening growl.
"Zhou Xuan, I know you're awake. Come out and accept your death, and I'll make it quick!"
But the only answer was a deathly silence.
Just as Li San focused all his attention on searching the darkness for Zhou Xuan's figure,
a shadow dropped soundlessly from the rafters above him, like a ghost!
Alarm bells rang in Li San's mind. The instincts of a sixth-level Body Tempering cultivator kicked in. Without a second thought, he looked up with a roar, ready to parry with his blade!
"Looking for death!"
His mouth opened, but before he could finish shouting,
what he saw wasn't a flash of blades, nor a fist or foot striking from the shadows.
It was an enlarged palm—and the scorching pill in it, radiating an ominous red glow!
That hand moved as fast as lightning, giving him no chance to react!
As Li San stared in utter horror, the pill was precisely shoved straight into his gaping mouth!
Ugh!
Li San's eyes bulged like copper bells!
A scalding heat, as if it would burn right through his throat, swept from his mouth down his esophagus!
He wanted to spit it out, shout, call for help!
But Zhou Xuan gave him no chance!
The instant he stuffed in the Blazing Fire Bead, Zhou Xuan's body shot backward like a spring wound tight!
At the same time, with a mere thought, the Black Iron Shield he had just repaired appeared in front of him, and he braced himself behind it with all his might!
Boom!
A deafening explosion suddenly ripped through the silent Miscellaneous Affairs Department!
Terrifying flames instantly swallowed the entire dilapidated wooden hut!
A savage shock wave, mixed with countless burning splinters and flecks of flesh, swept madly in every direction!
Zhou Xuan felt an overwhelming force slam into the Black Iron Shield. He was hurled away like a kite with its strings cut, crashing hard into a distant corner.
Pfft!
He spat out a mouthful of blood. His Five Viscera and Six Bowels felt as though they had shifted out of place, and his ears rang so violently that he temporarily lost his hearing.
But he couldn't worry about any of that.
He stared fixedly at the center of the explosion.
There was nothing left there.
Li San and the short blade in his hand had both been blown to pieces by an explosion comparable to the full-force strike of a ninth-level Body Tempering cultivator.
The air was thick with the stench of charred flesh and blood.
On the ground lay only scraps of flesh and blood, too mangled to recognize, proof that a living person had been there just moments before.
Zhou Xuan looked at the scene without a hint of pity, his gaze utterly cold and indifferent.
An explosion this loud would soon draw others here.
He endured the pain wracking his body and quickly stowed the Black Iron Shield in his Universe Bag before anyone arrived.
Then he leaned against the wall and instantly put on a look of sheer terror, as if his soul had fled his body. His whole frame trembled uncontrollably, and his eyes went vacant, as though he had been scared witless.
Just as expected.
Before ten breaths had passed,
"What happened?"
"Who dares cause trouble in the Miscellaneous Affairs Department?"
A furious roar boomed closer like a clap of thunder.
A powerful spiritual pressure, so overwhelming it left one gasping, crashed down!
Zhou Xuan felt an invisible mountain slam down on him, making his already injured body suffer even more.
His bones groaned under the unbearable weight, and he nearly passed out on the spot.
Foundation Establishment Realm!
It was Chief Steward Wang!
A gloomy figure was the first to charge into the half-collapsed wooden hut.
It was the head steward of the Chore Servant Courtyard!
At a glance, he saw the bloody mess on the ground and Zhou Xuan huddled in the corner, covered in blood and trembling.
"You?"
Chief Steward Wang's brows drew tightly together, a flash of disgust and impatience in his eyes.
"What happened here?!"
His voice carried spiritual power, pounding Zhou Xuan's heart like a heavy hammer.
As if scared out of his wits, Zhou Xuan shakily lifted his head, his eyes full of the fear and bewilderment of someone who had barely survived.
"I don't know."
His voice was hoarse, trembling, and broken as he said, "Someone suddenly came in through the window and said he was going to take my things."
By then, the commotion had roused the surrounding Chore Disciples. They approached cautiously, holding torches. When they saw the carnage inside, every one of them sucked in a sharp breath.
Chief Steward Wang barked impatiently, "Take your things? Then what?"
"Then he saw a pill beside my bed and snatched it up. He swallowed it right away..."
Zhou Xuan's acting was already flawless. He pointed at the bloody remains, his voice breaking into a sob.
"Then it... it exploded!"
"A pill?" Chief Steward Wang's gaze sharpened.
The surrounding servants erupted in commotion.
"What kind of pill is that powerful?"
"It explodes when you eat it? What kind of vicious medicine is that?"
As if only then remembering, Zhou Xuan hurriedly added, "It was one of Senior Sister Zhang Ling's failed Pills from today. I was cleaning the Pill Room this afternoon, and the Pill didn't seem to be doing anything, so I thought I'd bring it back and see if I could absorb some leftover spiritual energy from it..."
As soon as the words fell,
the whole scene sank into dead silence.
An extremely strange expression appeared on everyone's faces.
Chief Steward Wang's gloomy face went black as the bottom of a cooking pot.
Zhang Ling?
Explosion Immortal?
After hearing that, everyone looked at the pile of mangled flesh, and their expressions changed at once.
Their horror gave way to something complicated and deeply felt, a mixture of pity and the sense that the dead man had gotten exactly what he deserved.
Good grief!
This poor bastard had been dealt the worst luck imaginable!
Zhou Xuan was an idiot for putting Explosion Immortal's failed pill beside his bed like it was some treasure.
But the robber? He was a complete and utter fool!
Of all things, he had to steal that?
And as if that weren't bad enough, he'd shoved it straight into his mouth?
If that wasn't asking to die, what was?
The death of a servant or two was no great matter to the Spirit Sword Pavilion, especially when it was such an absurdly stupid death—practically suicide.
Chief Steward Wang's face turned livid. He couldn't be bothered to waste any more words on Zhou Xuan, so he said coldly to a disciple who looked like an overseer, "Go. Confirm his identity!"
The result came quickly.
"Chief Steward, it's Li San, sixth level of Body Tempering."
Hearing this, Chief Steward Wang looked at Zhou Xuan with even more contempt.
Li San, sixth level of Body Tempering.
And Zhou Xuan? A useless piece of trash whom everyone agreed couldn't even maintain the first level of Body Tempering.
As if he could kill a sixth-level cultivator!
Forget killing him—Li San could have stood still and let Zhou Xuan hit him, and Zhou Xuan still wouldn't have gotten through his defenses!
In an instant, every suspicion against Zhou Xuan was dismissed.
As far as everyone was concerned, there was only one explanation: a servant driven to desperation by poverty had tried to rob and kill, then mistaken a bomb for a candy and sent himself straight to the afterlife.
"What a nuisance!"
Chief Steward Wang waved his hand in disgust.
"Clean this place up. Li San brought this on himself!"
With that, he didn't spare Zhou Xuan another glance. He turned and swept away, as if staying another second would dirty his shoes.
A crisis that could have cost him his life had been dispelled by Zhou Xuan in a way that was absurd, yet perfectly plausible.
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