He walked straight up to Fang Zhiyi. Fang Zhiyi felt a pungent odor mixed with blood and dirt rushing toward him, and then the old Taoist reached out and grabbed Xu Xiaoya.
At this point, Fang Zhiyi could no longer afford to hesitate. The money on him had been taken by the bandits the day before, but they hadn’t even glanced at the talismans he had drawn. He pulled a lightning-inducing talisman from his waist and slapped it directly onto the old Taoist.
“By my command!”
The old Taoist’s outstretched hand froze in place, and his gaze slowly shifted downward. Fang Zhiyi’s heart sank. Sure enough, in the next moment, the old Taoist grabbed his arm. Fang Zhiyi stumbled back two steps, but the old Taoist stayed right on him. His arm was seized tightly, the old Taoist’s hand clamped around it like iron pliers, causing sharp pain.
“Damn it!” Fang Zhiyi cursed.
To his surprise, the old Taoist suddenly said, “You know sorcery? Who sent you?”
Fang Zhiyi was stunned.
The old Taoist shook his head and muttered to himself, “No, your talisman is wrong.” He tore the talisman off his own chest, glanced at it, and said, “Your talisman has no primer.”
Fang Zhiyi was stunned again.
Primer?
Seeing Fang Zhiyi frown, the old Taoist continued, “Drawing talismans requires balancing the five elemental energies… Though your talisman is drawn correctly, it lacks the metal-element energy.”
“Master, may I ask what metal-element energy is?”
The old Taoist froze for a moment, as if suddenly remembering that he was supposed to be this young man’s master. He let out a couple of harsh laughs. “It’s metal-element shards. The power of the metal element within them is extremely strong—the perfect material for summoning lightning!” He paused. “Too bad I’ve never seen one.”
Fang Zhiyi was momentarily speechless. You’ve never seen one, so why are you talking nonsense?
He also realized that the logic governing the operations of this world was extremely meticulous. His talismans were empty shells, and his hopes seemed dashed again.
The old Taoist suddenly slapped his head, as if remembering something.
He turned to look at Xu Xiaoya. “Disciple, help your master concoct the elixir!” Without caring whether Xu Xiaoya agreed, he grabbed her by the neck like a chicken and started walking. After a few steps, he turned back.
“You seem to know a bit about cultivation techniques, don’t you?”
Fang Zhiyi nodded.
“You come along too!”
Watching him drag Xu Xiaoya away, Fang Zhiyi gritted his teeth and followed.
This was the first time he had encountered such a hellish difficulty, but it seemed he had no choice now.
The old Taoist led him through the main hall and straight to the backyard. On both sides of the yard stood low, squat buildings with doors tightly shut and windows nailed shut with wooden planks. But even so, Fang Zhiyi could see eyes staring out through the cracks in the planks.
“Master, what’s in these houses…” Fang Zhiyi knew this madman liked being called “Master.”
Sure enough, the old Taoist didn’t stop walking but replied, “Just failed experiments. I kindly tried to help them ascend to immortality, but they were unworthy! Don’t you end up like them—neither human nor ghost, those wretched things.”
As he spoke, they left the yard. Beyond the wall was a cliff face. The old Taoist headed straight for a pitch-black cave.
Fang Zhiyi had already imagined countless ambush tactics, but he realized each one was almost suicidal.
After walking through the cave passage, the space suddenly opened up. A deep pool appeared before Fang Zhiyi, with two natural paths on either side. Stone steps led to the far side of the pool, where a massive elixir furnace stood.
At that moment, Xiaoxiaohei came online again: “Host, danger warning. You can escape now—escape success rate is thirty percent…”
Fang Zhiyi was furious. “Shut up!”
But the old Taoist suddenly paused and slowly turned to face Fang Zhiyi. “Disciple, who are you talking to?”
Fang Zhiyi’s back was drenched in cold sweat. Could this old bastard hear him communicating with Xiaoxiaohei?
He tried to look confused. “No one, Master.”
The old Taoist seemed doubtful. “Oh? Then I must have misheard.”
A moment later, he suddenly started asking questions: “Disciple, do you know how to refine elixirs?”
Without hesitation, Fang Zhiyi recited: “The yang of the sky as primer, the yin of the earth follows; the spirit flame ignites in the furnace, the Big Dipper sets the position; the wind of Xun blows gently, momentum like a dragon; celestial herbs and spirit flowers added in order, yin and yang merge in deep intent; dragon and tiger intertwine, chaos gives birth to auspicious vapors.”
This was a mantra he had once seen on a certain alchemy peak’s secret manual, and he had no choice but to spout it now.
The old Taoist blinked. Clearly, he hadn’t understood it, but since he was the master, he stroked his ragged beard. “Good, good, good! I never thought I, Xuan Jizi, could take on such a fine disciple! Ha ha ha! You shall be the one to refine the elixir for your master!”
Fang Zhiyi glanced at Xu Xiaoya, who was too scared to speak. “Master, refining the elixir… why did you grab her?”
Xuan Jizi looked at the little girl in his hand. “This girl has the appearance of pure yin. Using her as the elixir primer will surely produce an immortal pill!”
A flash of murderous intent crossed Fang Zhiyi’s face.
This old bastard really plans to use a living person for his alchemy? So twisted?
When he got closer to the furnace, he noticed it was covered in all sorts of alchemy chants—but they were all in plain, colloquial language.
Things like “Two taels of cinnabar, slow fire for seventy-two hours,” “One high-grade demon core, high fire for a month.” Fang Zhiyi frowned. What kind of nonsense was this?
As if sensing Fang Zhiyi’s disdain, Xuan Jizi let go of the little girl and looked at him seriously. “Disciple, in your opinion, what should be the proper steps to refine an immortal pill?”
“Since it’s an immortal pill, naturally it requires patience. If you use a living person as the primer, wouldn’t that…” Fang Zhiyi suddenly stopped. He noticed the bulging veins on the back of the old Taoist’s hand. This lunatic was temperamental and disturbed—say one wrong word, and he’d be dead.
“What I mean is, using someone like her so recklessly would be too wasteful…” Fang Zhiyi quickly shifted his tone.
Xuan Jizi looked at him with some surprise. He had expected the boy to denounce his cruelty, but it turned out he had such thoughts instead?
“So, what are you suggesting?”
Fang Zhiyi said, “We should run experiments first. In an ancient text, I read that using a pure yin body for alchemy requires auxiliary materials also rich in yin energy.” As he spoke, Fang Zhiyi suddenly cupped his fists. “Disciple is willing to seek out those other materials for Master, to help you complete the immortal pill!”
Xuan Jizi was stunned, then burst into laughter. “Good, good, good! Fine disciple!”
But in the next instant, he suddenly grabbed Fang Zhiyi by the throat. “Do you really think I’m insane?”
Fang Zhiyi’s heart pounded wildly. Xiaoxiaohei’s warnings kept flashing in his mind.
The old Taoist sneered and pointed to a wall nearby. “Those who tried to be clever like you are all dead.”
Fang Zhiyi looked at the wall. Carved into it was a chemical formula!
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
