The color drained from Ling Mo's face in an instant. He stared blankly at Lei Xiaotian, his lips moving several times, yet not a sound came out.
"What? Scared?"
A cold, harsh curve touched Lei Xiaotian's lips. "If you are afraid, it is not too late to back out. I can give you a sum of silver. Go far away, hide your name and identity, and perhaps you can still scrape out a miserable life."
"No! I'm not afraid!"
Ling Mo abruptly raised his head, and a crazed hatred burst from his eyes, that hatred like flames made real. "As long as I can kill that bastard, avenge my father, avenge the hundreds of brothers in Black Wind Village, I am willing to pay any price!"
His voice was hoarse with agitation, every word seemingly squeezed out through clenched teeth.
Lei Xiaotian watched him for a long while before slowly nodding. "Good. With that resolve, you have not disgraced your father."
He paused, then continued, "Since your heart is set, I might as well lay it all bare. With your current strength, wanting revenge is nothing more than a fool dreaming in broad daylight. But our Blood Saber Sect does possess something that can transform you completely in a short time."
Ling Mo's breathing suddenly quickened, and a spark of hope reignited in his eyes. "What is it? Uncle Lei! Please tell me!"
Lei Xiaotian walked over and sat in the seat of honor. He picked up the teacup on the table but did not drink, merely lightly stroking its side with his fingers. "This item is called the Blood Fiend Pill."
"The Blood Fiend Pill?" Ling Mo repeated, his eyes full of longing.
"That's right."
Lei Xiaotian set down the teacup, his voice low and slow. "This Blood Fiend Pill is a secret legacy of our Blood Saber Sect. If an ordinary martial artist takes it and can endure the medicine's backlash—a brush with death nine times out of ten—his power will soar overnight, his sinews and bones will be reforged, and he will directly gain the strength of a Super First-rate martial artist."
"Super First-rate?"
Ling Mo cried out in shock, his eyes bursting with unbelievable ecstasy.
His father, Ling Batian, had cultivated bitterly for most of his life and had only reached Super First-rate. Yet this Blood Fiend Pill could actually let someone ascend to heaven in a single step!
"Uncle Lei! Do you... do you have this pill?" Ling Mo's voice trembled with excitement.
Lei Xiaotian watched his fanatical expression, but his gaze grew somewhat complicated. "Naturally, the pill exists. But there has never been a free lunch in this world."
"The Blood Fiend Pill can grant you formidable power, so naturally, it will require you to pay a corresponding price."
Ling Mo urgently asked, "What price? As long as I can have my revenge, I am willing to do anything!"
"The first price," Lei Xiaotian said, raising one finger, "is that after taking the Blood Fiend Pill, your path in the Martial Dao will have reached its end."
"For the rest of your life, your cultivation will remain fixed at the Super First-rate realm. You will make no further progress and will never be able to enter the Innate Realm."
At those words, the wild joy on Ling Mo's face faltered slightly.
The Innate Realm was the realm every martial artist dreamed of attaining.
But he swiftly cast this hesitation to the back of his mind. Ling Mo knew his own aptitude well; reaching Super First-rate in this lifetime would already be the absolute limit.
As for the Innate Realm, he had never dared hope for it. If this pill could let him ascend to heaven in one step, it would at least save him decades of bitter cultivation.
"I don't care!" Ling Mo gritted out. "As long as I can personally kill my enemy, I would be willing even if it meant dying immediately, much less merely being unable to enter the Innate Realm!"
Lei Xiaotian seemed to have expected this answer long ago and continued, "The second price is also the most crucial one. The Blood Fiend Pill's medicinal properties are fierce. Though it can forcibly stimulate the human body's potential, it will also leave behind a hidden danger in your body that is difficult to eradicate."
"Every year, you must take a Life-Extending Pill personally refined by the Sect Master in order to suppress the Blood Fiend Pill's backlash."
"Otherwise, once the medicine turns against you, your meridians will snap inch by inch, your flesh and bones will melt away, and you will die as a puddle of pus and blood amid endless agony."
After hearing this, Ling Mo felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar. A chill rushed from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.
He needed to take the antidote every year? Did that not mean that from this day onward, his life and death would be entirely in another's hands, and he would become nothing more than a tool of the Blood Saber Sect?
He looked at Lei Xiaotian, his lips turning pale. "Uncle Lei... this... this..."
"Worthy nephew, I am not telling you this to frighten you."
Lei Xiaotian's tone was calm. "The choice is in your hands. Will you choose to scrape out a humiliating existence, or drink poison to quench thirst and gamble for a chance at revenge? Weigh it yourself."
The hall fell into dead silence.
In Li Mo's mind, scene after scene flashed past. His father's final instructions, the laughter and joy of Black Wind Village, and that hateful culprit...
"Father... brothers..." Li Mo closed his eyes in pain. His hands clenched tightly into fists, his nails digging deep into his palms until threads of blood seeped out.
On one side lay freedom, but a humiliating existence; on the other, being controlled by others, but gaining the power for revenge.
Hatred, like the fiercest poison, rapidly devoured his reason.
He suddenly opened his eyes. Only a blood-red haze remained in them, without the slightest trace of clarity.
"I choose!" Li Mo's voice was as hoarse as a broken gong. "I choose the Blood Fiend Pill! Uncle Lei! Please grant me the pill!"
He dropped to his knees again. This time, his forehead slammed heavily against the cold bluestone floor with a dull thud.
"As long as I can have my revenge, from this day onward, I, Li Mo, will be a dog of the Blood Saber Sect! Whoever the Sect Master tells me to bite, I will bite! No objections!"
Lei Xiaotian looked at Li Mo, who seemed possessed by madness. A trace of pity flashed through his eyes, but far more of it was cold indifference.
He slowly rose to his feet. "Since you have made your choice, follow me."
He turned and headed toward a hidden door at the rear of the main hall. "The Blood Fiend Pill is no ordinary object, nor is it something I can grant at will. To obtain it, you must meet someone."
Li Mo sprang up from the ground and followed without hesitation.
At that moment, he had only one thought in his heart: revenge! For that thought, he could pay anything!
Beyond the hidden door was a deep stone stairway descending into darkness.
Lei Xiaotian led the way in front, with Li Mo close behind him.
The stairs twisted and turned, as if they had no end. Darkness filled the surroundings. Only luminous pearls embedded in the walls at intervals gave off a dim green glow, barely lighting the path beneath their feet.
The air was thick with a strange mixture of faint blood stench and medicinal herbs, making one want to vomit at the smell.
Li Mo forcibly endured the discomfort, but his heart grew ever more excited. He knew that he was getting closer and closer to the Blood Fiend Pill that could grant him immense power.
After an unknown length of time, a glimmer of light finally appeared ahead.
It was an enormous stone door. On either side stood two guards dressed in blood-red fitted uniforms, their auras fierce and formidable.
The guards' temples bulged high, their gazes sharp as eagles'. They were clearly first-rate experts.
Upon seeing Lei Xiaotian, all four guards bowed in unison. "Greetings, Hall Master Lei!"
Lei Xiaotian nodded and pointed to Li Mo behind him. "He is the son of an old friend and seeks the Blood Fiend Pill. I have already examined him; he meets the requirements. Take him to see Elder Yao."
One of the guards glanced at Li Mo. His gaze was so icy and devoid of emotion that Li Mo could not help shivering.
"Yes, Hall Master," the guard replied, then said to Li Mo, "Follow me."
Li Mo glanced at Lei Xiaotian, who gave him a slight nod.
Li Mo drew a deep breath and followed the guard through the enormous stone door that radiated an ominous aura.
He knew that from the moment he stepped through this door, his life would be completely changed.