Chapter 14: Helper

As soon as Li Huowang swallowed the pill, he felt a warm fire ignite in his Dantian, and this fire seemed to grow increasingly intense. The heat was so overwhelming that he ignored the nausea and revulsion welling up inside him.

“Xuan Yang, go back and rest. The pill’s effects are strong, and it will take some time to fully absorb them.”

“Yes, Master.”

Stumbling back to his living quarters, Li Huowang leaned against the doorframe and dry-heaved, his mouth wide open. However, he could only bring up clear water. The entire pill had already been completely absorbed.

Crack, crack. Li Huowang’s joints popped and cracked throughout his body, and his limbs convulsed uncontrollably. By now, the fire in his Dantian had spread along his meridians to his limbs. He felt as if he were wearing a thick cotton coat in the middle of summer, his entire body seeming to be boiling.

The intense heat made his mind hazy. Li Huowang lay on the bed, watching the ceiling spin above him, thinking of everything that had just happened, and recalling the terrified, despairing gazes of everyone in the ingredient room. He had become Dan Yangzi's disgusting accomplice, forcing upon others what had been forced upon him. The other person might be illiterate, but they were not foolish. In the face of absolute power, anything he did was futile.

“I must kill him. I must find a way to kill him!” Li Huowang roared in his heart.

His right hand unconsciously gripped the edge of the stone bed, and as he screamed the last sentence in his mind, veins bulged on the back of his hand. With a ‘crack’, he forcefully broke off a piece of the hard stone bed.

This unexpected change startled Li Huowang. He looked at his hand, then at the piece of stone he was holding. He immediately realized this was the effect of the pill. It wasn't just his strength; other aspects had changed too. Li Huowang even felt his eyesight had improved, allowing him to see further. That pill had given Li Huowang a feeling of complete transformation. But as soon as he thought about how this ability was gained, nausea surged in Li Huowang's heart once more.

“Senior Disciple Li? Are you alright?” Bai Lingmiao cautiously peeked her head in from the doorway.

Li Huowang raised his head and looked at her with a complicated expression, unsure what to say for a moment.

Bai Lingmiao took a step forward and said, “Senior Disciple Li, you really don't need to blame yourself. We all know you had no choice. If... I mean, if Master asks for me again, don't try to substitute someone else, because... everyone's fate is the same anyway.”

Li Huowang didn't want to discuss it. Seeing her bleeding forehead, he took out the pill he had previously refined and offered it to her. “Eat this; it can stop the bleeding.”

Bai Lingmiao saw the pill in Li Huowang's hand, but shook her head vigorously in fear. “I won't take pills, absolutely not.”

Li Huowang gave a few dry laughs, and casually threw the pill on the ground. “Yes, indeed. All medicine is three parts poison; it's certainly not good to take.”

Bai Lingmiao bit her lip, thought for a moment, then asked Li Huowang, “Senior Disciple Li, are you planning to deal with Master?”

Li Huowang's expression changed, and he nervously looked towards the door, then quickly rushed to close it properly.

“It's fine, Master can't hear us now. Master relies on ‘Patrol Elder’ to keep watch. Every time it's time for the big market, ‘Patrol Elder’ goes back to attend it.”

“What is ‘Patrol Elder’?” Li Huowang asked, puzzled. It was the first time he had heard that term.

“Patrol Elder is Patrol Elder, you see. It’s invisible and intangible. My grandfather told me that only highly cultivated masters can command them.”

“Oh?” Li Huowang's heart stirred. He made a mental note of this point. This information was crucial for him.

“When is the big market held?”

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao looked at him with confusion. “The big market is held on the first and fifteenth of each month, Senior Disciple Li. How do you not even know that? Didn't your parents ever take you to a market?”

Li Huowang shook his head. The memories in his mind, whether real or illusory, indicated that he had previously only lived in a city and had never participated in a rural exchange event like a market fair.

“Senior Disciple Li, let's get back to the main topic. Are you really planning to deal with Master?”

Li Huowang's expression hardened. “Of course. I wish I could eat his flesh and drink his blood!”

Bai Lingmiao took a deep breath and nodded forcefully. “Then, Senior Disciple, count me in. I want to help with this too!”

Li Huowang looked at the young girl before him, and her determined gaze. Perhaps Bai Lingmiao wasn't as frail as he had imagined.

“All right, you’re in.” Li Huowang agreed, as he truly needed help now.

After pondering for a while, Li Huowang said to her with a grave expression, “The two of us aren't enough. First, go to the ingredient room and see if there are others who are discontent.” Others might not dare to resist Dan Yangzi, but the medicinal ingredients in the room were destined to die. There were bound to be those who resented this. This was a fundamental conflict. He could definitely find allies among these people.

“Understood.” Bai Lingmiao nodded and turned to leave.

After sitting for a while, Li Huowang picked up the round jade pendant tied to his waist. He remembered the senior disciple who had failed to escape.

“Xuan Yang, Xuan Yang, was this how your group was gathered back then? I hope I won't meet the same end as you.”

For a period of time afterward, Li Huowang began to fully immerse himself in Qingfeng Temple. He organized the ingredient room meticulously, both the people and the materials. Faced with such an obedient disciple, Dan Yangzi naturally bestowed favors upon him. He taught Li Huowang about various basic pills, as if genuinely nurturing him as a disciple.

These common pills weren't very effective; at most, they could help Li Huowang treat minor colds and external injuries. Moreover, Li Huowang didn't know if it was just Dan Yangzi's pills or all pills in this world, but pills had limits. Taking too many could turn a cure into harm. There were also taboos; they couldn't be mixed, as mixing them could easily lead to problems. Rather than saying Li Huowang could now be a mediocre doctor, it was more accurate to say he was a competent poisoner.

The pills weren't the main point; what was crucial was that Li Huowang's relationship with Dan Yangzi gradually warmed through this contact. Dan Yangzi even sometimes allowed Li Huowang to assist him while refining pills. When Dan Yangzi accepted another Daoist acolyte as a disciple, Li Huowang was no longer the youngest. He had completely integrated into Qingfeng Temple.

Through such close contact, Li Huowang confirmed his suspicion: Dan Yangzi was indeed illiterate, and he was extremely averse to others learning to read. He didn't allow his disciples to surpass him in anything. Therefore, the disciples he found were almost entirely illiterate. This made Li Huowang feel something was amiss. He remembered what Dan Yangzi had told him earlier.

“Because the method to become an immortal is written in Lord Lao's Heavenly Scripture, and Lord Lao himself delivered the Heavenly Scripture into my hands. So, I ask you, who else in this world can become an immortal? He said I can become an immortal. I definitely can!”

Since the 'Lord Lao' he spoke of had given him a Heavenly Scripture, and his other disciples were illiterate, and he himself was illiterate, then who had read it to him?