Allies

As soon as Li Huowang swallowed the pill, he felt a warm sensation ignite in his dantian, like a small flame steadily growing stronger and hotter.

The heat spread quickly through his body, so intense it overwhelmed the nausea and revulsion bubbling up inside him.

"Xuanyang, go back and rest," Dan Yangzi said with a casual wave. "This pill is potent—it'll take time to absorb fully."

"Yes, Master," Li replied, bowing respectfully.

Stumbling back to his quarters, Li leaned against the doorframe, dry-heaving violently. But no matter how much he retched, only clear water came out; the pill had already been fully absorbed into his system.

His body began to tremble, and his joints cracked audibly as his muscles spasmed uncontrollably.

The fiery heat in his dantian coursed through his meridians, spreading to every corner of his body. It felt as though he was wearing a thick winter coat in the middle of summer, his entire body boiling from the inside out.

The heat made his head swim. Lying on his stone bed, he stared at the spinning ceiling above him, his mind flooded with memories of what had just happened—the alchemy room, the storeroom, the terrified and hopeless gazes of the workers.

He had become Dan Yangzi's accomplice, carrying out the same horrors inflicted upon him and forcing them onto others.

Dan Yangzi might have been illiterate, but he was far from foolish. Against such overwhelming power, nothing Li could do felt like enough.

"I have to kill him. I must find a way to kill him!" Li screamed internally, his heart pounding with rage.

Without realizing it, his right hand clenched the edge of his stone bed. As he screamed those words in his mind, the veins in his hand bulged.

Crack! The edge of the stone bed shattered, a chunk breaking off in his hand.

Li stared at the stone fragment in disbelief, then at his hand. It didn't take long for him to realize what had happened. This is the pill's effect.

Not just strength—his senses also felt sharper. His vision seemed clearer, capable of seeing further than before. The pill had transformed him, leaving him feeling like a new man.

But as soon as he thought about how this power had been obtained, a wave of nausea rolled over him again.

"Senior Brother Li? Are you okay?"

The timid voice of Bai Lingmiao brought him out of his daze. She peeked cautiously through the door, her pale face full of concern.

Li looked up at her, his expression complicated. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

Bai Lingmiao stepped into the room hesitantly. "Senior Brother, you don't need to blame yourself. We all know you have no choice. If..." She paused, her voice trembling. "If Master decides to take me again, don't send someone else in my place. It doesn't matter... our fates are the same anyway."

Li didn't want to discuss it further. He noticed the blood on her forehead and handed her one of the pills he had just refined. "Take it. It'll stop the bleeding."

Bai Lingmiao stared at the pill in fear and shook her head violently. "I won't take it. I'll never take any of Master's pills."

Li chuckled bitterly and tossed the pill aside. "You're right. All medicine is poison. It's better not to take it."

Bai Lingmiao bit her lip, hesitating before finally asking, "Senior Brother Li... do you want to deal with Master?"

Li's expression darkened, and he quickly turned to close the door, his body tense.

"Don't worry," Bai Lingmiao reassured him. "Master can't hear us now. He relies on 'Old Lord You' to spy on us, and during market days, Old Lord You has to leave to attend the gathering."

"Old Lord You?" Li asked, puzzled. It was the first time he'd heard the term.

"It's... it's just Old Lord You," Bai Lingmiao stammered. "You can't see or touch it. My grandfather said only highly skilled Daoists can summon and command them."

"Really?" Li's interest was piqued. He filed the information away—it might prove crucial.

"When are the market days?"

Bai Lingmiao looked at him in surprise. "The first and fifteenth of every month, of course. Senior Brother, didn't your parents ever take you to the market as a child?"

Li shook his head. In the hazy memories of his past—whether real or imagined—he had only ever lived in cities. He'd never experienced the rural tradition of market gatherings.

"Let's get back to the point, Senior Brother. Do you really want to deal with Master?"

Li's expression hardened. "Of course I do. I want to rip him apart and drink his blood!"

Bai Lingmiao took a deep breath and nodded firmly. "Then count me in. I want to help!"

Li looked at the girl before him and saw the determination in her pale, fragile face. Perhaps Bai Lingmiao wasn't as weak as he had thought.

"Alright. You're in," Li agreed. He knew he needed allies.

After a moment of thought, he added, "But the two of us aren't enough. Go back to the storeroom and keep an eye on the others. See if anyone else is discontent."

While many might be too scared to oppose Dan Yangzi, the medicine extractors in the storeroom were doomed to die eventually. Surely some of them harbored resentment—a fundamental conflict that Li could exploit.

"Understood," Bai Lingmiao replied, turning to leave.

Li sat alone for a while, fingering the circular jade pendant tied to his waist. He thought of the senior brother who had failed to escape.

"Xuanyang... Xuanyang, was this how you and your group started? I can only hope I don't meet the same end as you."

Over the next few days, Li Huowang immersed himself in life at Qingfeng Temple. He brought order to the storeroom, organizing both people and supplies efficiently.

Dan Yangzi noticed his efforts and rewarded him accordingly, teaching him the basics of refining various pills. It almost felt as though he was being groomed as a proper disciple.

The pills Dan Yangzi taught him to make weren't particularly powerful—mostly for treating minor illnesses and wounds.

But Li noticed something peculiar. Whether it was due to Dan Yangzi's methods or this world's rules, the pills all came with limitations.

Overdosing turned medicine into poison. Mixing pills could lead to disastrous consequences.

Instead of feeling like a novice healer, Li felt more like a budding poisoner.

Through these interactions, Li grew closer to Dan Yangzi. He was even allowed to assist during alchemy sessions.

When Dan Yangzi took on a new disciple, Li was no longer the youngest. He had fully integrated into Qingfeng Temple.

This proximity allowed Li to confirm one of his suspicions: Dan Yangzi was indeed illiterate and fiercely resented anyone more educated than himself.

He deliberately chose disciples who couldn't read, ensuring none of them could surpass him in knowledge.

But this raised a troubling question.

Li recalled Dan Yangzi's boast: "The method to achieve immortality was written in the heavenly book gifted to me by Lord Laozi himself!"

If none of the disciples could read, and Dan Yangzi himself couldn't either, then...

Who read the heavenly book to him?