Testing the Medicine

Just as Song Wen felt that everything was ready and all he had to do was wait for night to fall completely.

Four members of the Heavenly Baleful Gang entered the courtyard and settled into the small building. Two of them even stood guard directly outside his door.

Song Wen was instantly dumbfounded!

"Has Extreme Yin noticed that I intend to escape?"

"That can't be right. I've disguised myself perfectly all along. I shouldn't have been exposed."

Seeing that his chance of escape had been cut off, Song Wen paced back and forth in his room, restless and anxious.

No matter how hard he thought, he could not figure out how Extreme Yin had discovered him.

In truth, Extreme Yin had not discovered Song Wen's intention to escape.

Extreme Yin was simply accustomed to being cautious. He feared that if Song Wen were left alone, he might enter the second floor and steal his secrets and cultivation technique.

By sheer coincidence, this had thwarted Song Wen's escape plan.

Over the next few days, Song Wen lived in constant unease. Whenever he considered risking his life, gambling everything on climbing the cliff wall despite the danger of being spotted by the guards, the burly bodies of the four guards and the steel blades at their waists immediately sobered him up.

Song Wen noticed that the side-room area, which had been quiet for days, had become lively once more.

Young people were constantly being brought into the side rooms and then confined there, awaiting Extreme Yin's emergence from seclusion to teach them immortal cultivation techniques.

Ten days later, Extreme Yin finally emerged from seclusion.

Extreme Yin was as high-spirited as ever. He had great confidence in the pills he had refined this time.

"Song Wen, come up to the second floor with your master."

Seeing Extreme Yin suddenly appear before him, Song Wen's expression turned extremely ugly. He did not know how to resist.

Ever since encountering Gou Hang, he seemed to have become meat on the chopping block, no longer possessing any ability to resist.

After hesitating several times, Song Wen ultimately followed Extreme Yin upstairs.

"Take this pill. It will greatly increase your cultivation. Once your cultivation breaks through to the second level, you can become a core member of the Heavenly Baleful Gang and enter and leave the gang freely."

Extreme Yin tempted him with promises of gain.

At this point, the situation before him already threatened Song Wen's life. He could no longer maintain the disguise on his face.

He glared hatefully at Extreme Yin, wanting to drive a fist into Extreme Yin's smiling face. But he knew that he was certainly no match for Extreme Yin. If he angered him, he would likely end up like that chubby boy from before—rewarded by Extreme Yin with a yellow talisman, then turned into a Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki-like "acquaintance," reduced to a pile of ashes.

Weakness was the original sin!

At that moment, Song Wen understood those words with absolute clarity.

A cold smile suddenly appeared on Extreme Yin's face.

"I never expected there to be someone clever among my disciples. It seems you have already guessed the whole truth.

"But I advise you not to try to resist. Take the pill obediently. So long as you survive, I will truly grant you freedom."

Clang!

A token the size of a baby's palm was tossed onto the ground.

Extreme Yin continued.

"This is my token. With it, you may freely enter and leave any place in the Heavenly Baleful Gang."

Song Wen looked at the token on the ground, then at the pill in Extreme Yin's hand. After several rounds of hesitation and thought.

He took the pill from Extreme Yin's hand and picked up the token from the floor.

"I hope Master will keep his word!"

If his strength was insufficient, then he could only gamble on luck.

Second Ox had not died after testing the medicine for the first time, either.

"Rest assured, I always keep my word. You have seen that new arrivals are already here. As long as you survive this time, I will not need to have you test medicine again next time. You only need to help me take good care of the herb garden."

I'm afraid that once there are no more medicine test subjects in the future, you'll make me test medicine again, Song Wen thought to himself.

If he could survive this immediate crisis, he still had to find a way to leave.

Song Wen crossed his legs in meditation, tipped back his head, and swallowed the pill. At the same time, he began circulating his cultivation technique to absorb the pill's medicinal power.

As soon as the pill entered his stomach, it turned into streams of heat that rapidly raised Song Wen's body temperature.

The hot currents flowed along his meridians, coursing through his limbs and bones, spreading throughout his body.

At the same time, the vital blood throughout his body was rapidly consumed. The color gradually drained from his face, leaving it deathly pale.

As he circulated his cultivation technique, Song Wen clearly felt the hot currents in his meridians gradually being refined by the Longevity Art. In the end, they gathered in his dantian and became part of his spiritual power cultivation.

At the same time, the massive loss of vital blood left Song Wen feeling weak, as though he had been repeatedly ravaged by dozens of Japanese women.

He felt that even sitting cross-legged on the ground was difficult, and he had the urge to lie down and rest.

"Do not lie down. Once you stop circulating your cultivation technique, the medicinal power will not be refined and will rapidly devour your blood and vitality, causing you to die even faster."

Extreme Yin's voice sounded by his ear. At this point, Song Wen had no other choice but to believe what Extreme Yin said.

After all, Extreme Yin did not want Song Wen to fail, either.

Song Wen continued to grit his teeth and endure.

Just as Song Wen felt the vital blood in his body gradually being drained away, just as he felt that he could no longer hold on.

A mysterious energy suddenly appeared within his body. It emerged abruptly, without any warning.

It was as if, under the extreme pressure on his physical body, some special constitution within him had been activated.

Song Wen had no time to spare for anything else. Borrowing this power, he rapidly circulated his cultivation technique and refined the medicinal power.

Extreme Yin, who had been observing Song Wen's reaction after taking the pill, looked delighted.

Although Song Wen had also suffered severe loss of blood and vitality, his body had never shown signs of aging from beginning to end. Moreover, Song Wen was now about to finish refining the medicinal power.

Judging from the current situation, Song Wen's life was certainly no longer in danger.

Extreme Yin's eyes gleamed. He felt that success was not far away.

Half an hour later, Song Wen finished meditating. He had refined all of the medicinal power.

He opened his eyes wearily and saw Extreme Yin's outstretched hand. Extreme Yin was holding another black pill.

Before Song Wen could react, Extreme Yin had already put the pill into Song Wen's mouth.

"You need not worry too much. This pill is the Heavenly Baleful Gang's Seven-Day Heartbreak Pill. As long as you take an antidote every seven days, this pill will have no effect on you."

As Extreme Yin explained, Song Wen was far too weak to resist. The pill had already entered his stomach.

The matter was settled. Resistance was useless, and Song Wen could only accept the fact that he had taken poison and fallen under Extreme Yin's control.

Half an hour later, having barely regained some strength, Song Wen stood up, supported himself against the wall, descended from the second floor, and returned to his room.

Throughout the whole process, Song Wen realized that his body was weak to the extreme. Even walking required all his strength, and his legs would not stop trembling, as though he had been kept by several wealthy ladies.

After lying down on the bed, Song Wen began recalling the mysterious energy that had suddenly appeared at that critical moment.

Had that mysterious energy not appeared, Song Wen felt that he would most likely have followed in the footsteps of Second Ox and Zhang Cheng.

At this moment, Song Wen carefully sensed his entire body, yet he could not find any trace of that mysterious energy, as though it had already been completely exhausted.