The next day, in the Heavenly Baleful Gang's main hall.
Wang Yi, the head of the Heavenly Baleful Gang's Enforcement Hall, said to Gang Leader Tang Yinian.
"Gang Leader, last night, the homes of three of our men caught fire. All three were burned to ashes."
Tang Yinian had the back of a tiger and the waist of a bear, with a long saber scar across his face. He looked exceedingly fierce and terrifying.
"Oh? Someone actually dared to provoke our Heavenly Baleful Gang in Salt City."
Tang Yinian sat in the gang leader's seat with the bearing of a great general. There was no anger on his face; instead, he seemed rather intrigued.
He had only recently broken through to the Innate Grandmaster Realm. Before his breakthrough, his martial arts had already made him a top-tier expert in the martial world, more than enough to lord over Salt City.
Now that he had entered the Innate Realm, he belonged among that tiny handful standing at the very pinnacle of the martial world.
In Gan Kingdom's martial world, the number of people stronger than him definitely did not exceed two digits.
At once, his ambitions began to swell. He was no longer content with merely dominating Salt City. He believed he now had the capital to establish a sect and laugh proudly over the martial world.
Moreover, the gang had the ever-mysterious immortal, Extreme Yin, which caused Tang Yinian's ambitions to inflate even further.
However, Extreme Yin had never cared for worldly power, devoting himself wholly to cultivation. This left Tang Yinian unable to fathom what Extreme Yin truly had in mind.
The relationship between Extreme Yin, the Heavenly Baleful Gang, and Tang Yinian had always been subtle. There was no friendship between them; they were bound only by mutual interests.
Extreme Yin used the Heavenly Baleful Gang to gather spirit herbs and medicinal slave apprentices for him, while the Heavenly Baleful Gang used Extreme Yin's name to intimidate martial experts who came seeking trouble.
"Have you found out who did it?" Tang Yinian asked.
Wang Yi said, "According to our investigation, this matter is inextricably linked to Elder Extreme Yin's disciple."
Tang Yinian's spirits lifted. "Extreme Yin's disciple did this! Then we must handle this matter with caution. You may withdraw first. I will deal with it personally."
After Wang Yi left, Tang Yinian muttered to himself.
"I have not seen Elder Extreme Yin for quite some time. Perhaps it is time to find a suitable opportunity to pay him a visit."
Over the following days, Song Wen barely left the courtyard, constantly circulating his cultivation to refine the blood qi within his body.
By his calculations, Extreme Yin should emerge from seclusion within the next few days. He could not let Extreme Yin notice the abnormality in his blood qi, or all his previous efforts might go down the drain.
Four days later, Extreme Yin emerged from the Pill Chamber in high spirits.
Before opening the furnace to refine pills this time, he had felt that his pill-refining skill had improved, so he increased the amount of ingredients. Sure enough, just as he had expected, he successfully produced four pills from this batch.
The pills were also of decent quality, with a faint medicinal fragrance drifting from them.
"Song Wen, come to the second floor at once."
Having just emerged from seclusion, Extreme Yin could not wait to have Song Wen test the medicine.
Song Wen's face filled with terror. His knees buckled, and he fell to them before Extreme Yin, pleading in a begging tone.
"Master, can you spare me from testing medicine again, for the sake of how diligently I have tended your medicinal fields?"
Extreme Yin remained unmoved and replied calmly.
"Rest assured. This batch was refined with exceptional success, so there should not be any serious side effects. You may even turn misfortune into fortune and break through to the Qi Refining Second Layer. You should know that even my own cultivation is only at the perfected Qi Refining Third Layer."
Song Wen's pupils contracted. He had gained another crucial piece of information: Extreme Yin possessed only Qi Refining Third Layer cultivation, though he was still far stronger than Song Wen.
Still kneeling, Song Wen shuffled forward until he reached Extreme Yin. He grabbed Extreme Yin's robe with both hands and continued pleading. "Master, we can recruit another batch of new disciples. Once some of them successfully guide qi into their bodies, we can use them to test the medicine."
Extreme Yin snorted coldly and casually waved a hand, knocking Song Wen back half a zhang.
"Hmph! Recruiting new disciples to test medicine would take at least over a month. Where would I find the time to wait that long?"
"You will eat this pill today whether you want to or not. If you refuse, I will slaughter you right now."
"Master, I..." Song Wen raised his head and looked pleadingly at Extreme Yin, as though begging him to show mercy.
With a gloomy gaze, Extreme Yin took out a porcelain bottle and poured a Blood Qi Pill into his palm.
Then, in two or three strides, he arrived before Song Wen. "Eat it."
As though intimidated by the powerful aura radiating from Extreme Yin, Song Wen tremblingly reached out and accepted the pill.
However, Song Wen did not immediately put it into his mouth. Instead, he stared fearfully at the pill in his hand, as if unable to decide whether to eat it or not.
From past experience, Extreme Yin knew that for the pill's effects to be verified, Song Wen had to cooperate willingly.
If Song Wen was determined to die and swallowed the pill without circulating his cultivation to refine it, the pill would continuously drain his blood qi until he died.
Only if Song Wen had the desire to live and actively circulated his cultivation to refine the pill, digesting its medicinal power as quickly as possible, could they determine whether it truly had the effect of breaking through a realm.
Thus, Extreme Yin softened his tone.
"Rest assured. As your master, I guarantee that this will be your final medicine test. Whether it succeeds or fails, I will never use you to test medicine again. Furthermore, I will grant you the true antidote to the Seven-Day Heartbreak Pill. At that time, you will gain true freedom. Whether you remain in the Heavenly Baleful Gang afterward will be entirely your own decision."
Song Wen's expression shifted slightly, as though Extreme Yin's words had moved him. He looked up at Extreme Yin and said.
"Very well. I hope Master keeps his word."
In truth, Song Wen did not believe a single word Extreme Yin said.
How could Extreme Yin possibly let him leave? Had Song Wen not seen how all those young people who failed to successfully guide qi into their bodies had been ordered buried alive by Extreme Yin, merely to prevent the cultivation method from leaking out?
Everything Song Wen had done was merely an act, intended only to lull Extreme Yin into complacency. He feared that agreeing to test the medicine too readily would make Extreme Yin suspicious.
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