Zhou Xiaotian's murderous intent

Piles of cut Thunderwood had been set off to one side.

They still crackled, rippling with electric arcs.

The Thunderwood's lightning properties had been preserved perfectly.

It was far superior to the Thunderwood tree he had felled.

Even if he went back to report in, his Thunderwood would be sent straight back.

"Senior Brother Niu, Lin Shisan will never forget your great kindness."

Lin Shisan murmured another word of thanks to Niu Shan.

He inspected the storage ring again.

Besides the cut Thunderwood, several other spots gleamed with points of light.

He counted carefully. There were twenty Spirit Stones in all.

In the innermost corner, he also discovered two small, lustrous jade bottles.

"Body... Body Tempering Liquid..."

Lin Shisan recognized them at a glance.

He was so excited that he almost cried out.

The words "Body Tempering Liquid" were also scrawled crookedly on the bottles.

Although Lin Shisan had only arrived at the Azure Cloud Lineage a few days ago, his father had taught him about it long before.

Body Tempering Liquid was inferior to Body Tempering Pills, but it was particularly effective for those in the body tempering realm, especially below the Body Tempering Third Layer.

"I'm rich."

Lin Shisan's hands trembled as he opened a bottle.

It was well over half full of Body Tempering Liquid.

Together, the two bottles held about a pound.

At market prices, it was worth at least a hundred Spirit Stones.

Adding the twenty Spirit Stones from earlier brought the total to a hundred and twenty.

At Lin Shisan's current monthly allowance of two Spirit Stones, he would have to work a full sixty months-five years-to earn that much.

This was undoubtedly a windfall, and a colossal one at that.

"Senior Brother Niu was just a Servant Disciple. How did he have so many Spirit Stones?"

"Could this be what that long-faced member of the Law Enforcement Team was looking for?"

Alongside his excitement, unease began to rise in Lin Shisan's heart.

It even grew into outright dread.

Recalling the look in that long-faced member of the Law Enforcement Team's eyes, Lin Shisan felt his hair stand on end.

This had become a hot potato.

Then there were the words the man had spoken before leaving.

However he looked at it, this was no blessing. It was a great calamity instead.

Had Chen Yang's hesitant words meant that he had heard something too? Was he also hoping to scoop up a bargain?

Was he looking for this ring as well?

Rather than some Locator Ring?

How could a Locator Ring fail to locate anything?

"Szz, szz..."

As Lin Shisan stood at a loss, he suddenly felt a wave of burning heat and tingling wash through him.

The two gouges left by the electric arcs on his chest began oozing black, bloody fluid again, giving off a foul stench.

His limbs, which he had only just regained the use of, seemed to be stiffening again.

No wonder Niu Shan's face had instantly turned into a funeral grimace, as though his grandmother had died, when he drew the Thunderwood assignment.

So this Thunderwood could give his Black Maple Bamboo a run for its money. Neither was something an ordinary person could withstand.

"Body Tempering Liquid not only tempers the body, but can also be drunk directly to heal injuries. It's especially effective on external wounds."

Lin Shisan recalled his father Lin Qinghan's explanation.

Body Tempering Liquid could be diluted for a bath to improve cultivation, or drunk directly.

Body Tempering Liquid was a medicine that drew impurities out of the body, and drinking it helped treat both internal and external injuries.

Its effects were particularly striking on external wounds.

But the process was painful, tormenting a person until they wished they were dead.

It was like walking along a sheer cliff, where one misstep could send you plunging into an abyss beyond redemption.

"Glug, glug..."

With no room to worry about eternal damnation, Lin Shisan picked up a bottle and took a small sip.

"No effect?"

"Not enough?"

He waited for quite a while.

Apart from growing hotter all over and having his true qi surge chaotically through his dantian, he noticed no particular effect.

More importantly, the burning, tingling sensation was worsening, and everything below his waist seemed about to stiffen again.

"Father wouldn't lie to me."

Lin Shisan raised the bottle and took two large gulps this time.

He drank at least four or five times as much as before.

Compared to side effects that would make him wish he were dead, staying alive was what mattered now.

"Thud..."

Realizing too late, Lin Shisan fell to the ground with a thud.

Everything below his waist had gone rigid.

At the same time, he felt as though ants and insects were crawling all over him.

Their bites made him claw and scratch at himself.

The burning grew fiercer, as though he had been propped over a fire to roast.

Two serpentine electric arcs swelled out of the gouges on his chest.

"...Splash!"

In one careless moment, Lin Shisan toppled into the stream.

A bone-piercing chill drove straight into his body, burrowing into his internal organs.

The clashing currents of heat and cold bent Lin Shisan's body into a bow.

His grimacing face twisted out of shape.

To avoid attracting attention, he clenched his teeth and dared not make a sound.

If he called over that long-faced member of the Law Enforcement Team, or even Chen Yang, he would be as good as dead.

In just a few breaths, Lin Shisan's entire body went rigid.

Defiance still lingered deep in his eyes. In a haze, he seemed to see his father approaching, to see that kindly, smiling face.

"...Bang!"

It was the following morning.

The location was the Pill Room that Lin Shisan cleaned.

A middle-aged man with a bushy beard stood there, glaring furiously with an imposing air.

His bulging, ox-like eyes seemed capable of glaring someone to death.

He was Zhou Xiaosheng, the Chief Steward of the Azure Cloud Lineage.

Naturally, he had come to inspect the place personally with a purpose in mind.

He wanted to befriend Zhao Xun, the star of today's pill refinement.

He hoped to use this opportunity to climb another rung.

He wanted to earn a few favorable marks in this year's Merit Ledger, perhaps even secure an elder's position.

He had arrived early that morning full of enthusiasm, only to be told that the ingredients Zhao Xun needed for his pill refinement were not yet ready.

The most crucial ingredient, Black Maple Bamboo, was completely absent.

With a crash, Zhou Xiaosheng smashed the teacup Chen Yang had just handed him.

His black robes snapped and fluttered, frightening Chen Yang into a cold sweat.

The other four Servant Disciples trembled along with him, not daring to so much as fart.

"Chen Yang, is this how you handle things?"

Zhou Xiaotian reached out with his right hand.

He lifted Chen Yang into the air from a distance.

It was as easy as picking up a chick.

"Just... me, the day before yesterday, four-"

"I personally handed you the list of ingredients."

"It's already the Third Quarter of the Chen Hour, and you're telling me the ingredients aren't ready?"

"Are you looking down on me, Zhou Xiaotian, or on our Outer Sect Steward Zhao Xun?"

"Th-this... I... cough... cough..."

Chen Yang's face turned livid as he struggled.

His hands slapped frantically.

He could no longer speak coherently. There was only incessant coughing and a pleading look in his eyes.

"Bang..."

Chen Yang was hurled away.

He slammed straight into a pillar in the Pill Room.

Three ribs broke on the spot, and he could not get up from the floor for a long time.

His nose was crooked, his face had turned purple, and his two front teeth were gone.

The four Servant Disciples stood rooted to the spot.

They were utterly cowed by Zhou Xiaotian's towering fury.

This was no joke. Zhou Xiaotian was the Chief Steward, just one step away from becoming an elder.

Chen Yang might be their supervisor and their boss, but compared with Chief Steward Zhou Xiaotian, he was a firefly beside the radiant moon.

None of them dared invite his wrath. They were terrified of drawing the fire onto themselves and courting death.

Zhou Xiaotian's murderous intent was overwhelming. Even Chen Yang meekly showed him respect. How could insignificant small fry like them afford to provoke him?