Chapter 21: The Path to Immortality

Before Li Huowang lay two metallic red pills, each the size of a fist, two wriggling, fleshy pills that seemed alive, and two decayed black pills emitting a nauseatingly pungent stench.

Satisfied, Li Huowang nodded. He had added everything he could think of into the concoction. With so many dangerous ingredients, these pills were guaranteed to kill—they would leave no trace of life behind.

A single burning incense stick stood to the side, symbolizing the final moments of the year. According to the bogus cultivation method Li Huowang had concocted, one had to consume the pills precisely at the turning of the year to absorb the celestial energy descending from the heavens.

Sitting cross-legged, Li Huowang held one of the red pills, preparing himself. He was ready to die. Surprisingly, he felt an odd sense of calmness.

Indeed, he hadn't made any contingency plans.

Li Huowang was fully aware that he would have to take the pills first. If he didn't, Dan Yangzi would never dare to ingest them. Despite Dan Yangzi's recent display of camaraderie during the New Year's feast, claiming that they would "ascend together," it was nothing more than a ploy to use him as a guinea pig.

But there was one thing Dan Yangzi hadn't accounted for: Li Huowang didn't care about his own life.

Li Huowang had already let go of his fear of death. He didn't belong in this world to begin with.

His sole purpose in staying alive was to witness Dan Yangzi—a vile, disgusting creature—be lured into his meticulously laid trap and perish.

Across from him sat Dan Yangzi, who also held one of the red pills.

Both of them stared at the incense stick, its flame gradually shrinking as the end of the year approached.

When the incense was about to burn out, Li Huowang inhaled deeply and swallowed the pill in his hand whole.

Dan Yangzi, however, paused mid-action, his full attention focused on Li Huowang's reaction.

Feigning euphoria, Li Huowang paid him no mind. He swallowed the remaining two pills, closed his eyes, and placed his hands on his knees in a meditative pose.

Sweat streamed down his face as his body began to tremble, but an uncontrollable grin spread across his face.

"So much innate celestial energy! This... this is... I understand now! I've achieved enlightenment! I'm about to ascend!" Li Huowang's voice was filled with exhilaration.

Dan Yangzi's expression betrayed a flicker of anxiety, but after seeing the strands of white smoke rising from Li Huowang's head, he finally devoured the three pills in one go.

Closing his eyes, Dan Yangzi crossed his legs and began circulating his internal energy through the fabricated cultivation technique Li Huowang had taught him.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang slowly opened his eyes, gazing at his master with an even broader smile.

When he saw black veins spreading across Dan Yangzi's body and his head also emitting white smoke, Li Huowang let his legs collapse from their meditative pose. He clutched his stomach in excruciating pain, yet he laughed maniacally.

"Dan Yangzi! Oh, Dan Yangzi! You won't achieve immortality—you'll become a ghost instead! We'll be companions on the Bridge of Helplessness! Hahaha!"

Dan Yangzi seemed to hear the outburst but didn't respond. He remained seated, his eyes tightly shut, gritting his teeth as he frantically continued the fabricated meditation.

"You're still practicing? You fool! It's all nonsense I made up! I stole it from some random xianxia novel! Hahaha! Oh, my stomach—it hurts so much! Hahaha!"

Writhing on the ground, Li Huowang crawled toward Dan Yangzi. Laughing hysterically, he slapped his master's pale, bloodless face with a trembling hand. "Hey! Are you deaf? I'm talking to you!"

Another slap. Yet Dan Yangzi remained motionless.

Li Huowang reached into his pocket, pulled out another pill, and swallowed it. Instantly, his veins bulged, and an overwhelming surge of strength coursed through his body.

"I told you to stop cultivating! Didn't you hear me?" With newfound strength, Li Huowang punched Dan Yangzi square in the face, caving in his crooked nose and protruding jaw.

Dan Yangzi's mouth filled with blood as his eyes snapped open, glaring venomously at Li Huowang. With a wave of his robe, Dan Yangzi sent Li Huowang flying backward.

"Get out of my way! You delusions can't stop me from achieving immortality! I'm on the brink of ascension! The Grandmaster is coming to receive me!" Dan Yangzi roared, his voice reverberating through the room.

Sprawled on the floor, Li Huowang didn't bother to get up. He lay there, watching his master with a vacant expression. "He's lost it," he murmured. "His obsession with immortality has completely driven him mad. Damn it, my stomach really hurts..."

One sat cross-legged while the other writhed in pain. Time crawled by, and the agony in Li Huowang's abdomen grew unbearable. His body curled into a fetal position, his screams of pain turning to groans.

"Why does it hurt so much? How long do I have to endure this? Damn it, I should've brought a knife to end it quickly," Li Huowang muttered as he rolled across the floor.

The searing pain dragged him to the brink of unconsciousness. In the haze of his mind, he saw a familiar face—Yang Na.

"Yang Na, have you come to take me away?" he whispered.

Her face melted and reformed into that of his attending physician. "Patient in bed 14 is losing consciousness. Initial diagnosis: food poisoning. Quick! Bring the electric suction device for gastric lavage!"

Li Huowang closed his eyes, a faint smile on his lips. "A stomach pump? In a psychiatric hospital? Come on... you guys need to make your hallucinations more logical..."

Uttering these final words, his consciousness faded entirely.

Yet in this state of void, he felt strangely comfortable. The pain in his abdomen was gone.

Li Huowang sensed his body falling, endlessly plummeting into a bottomless abyss.

"Li Huowang! Stay strong! You promised me!" a desperate, female voice rang in his ears.

Time became an indistinct blur. Then suddenly, Li Huowang's eyes flew open. He propped himself up with his hands and began retching violently.

Out came a grotesque amalgamation of black liquid, strands of hair, deformed chunks of flesh, fragments of dumplings, and bits of internal organs.

The hideous mass twitched a few times before lying still in the pool of dark fluid.

Frozen in place, Li Huowang stared in disbelief. "I'm alive? How is that possible? If I survived, then what about Dan Yangzi—?"

Cold sweat dripped down his back as he turned to look at his master. His jaw dropped, his face frozen in horror. "What the hell... is that?"

Dan Yangzi's body had undergone an unimaginable transformation. His grotesque head split open, revealing three fleshy, gaping mouths, each nested with smaller mouths filled with jagged, yellow teeth, writhing and snapping at one another.

His body was no better. Pitch-black feathers, sticky with tar, pierced through his flesh like spikes.

"What... what is this? Three flowers above the head? The ascension to immortality?" Li Huowang stammered.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the three grotesque mouths opened wide, and Dan Yangzi's voice rang out in three distinct tones—young, middle-aged, and old—all shouting in unison: "So this is it! I've achieved enlightenment! Hahahaha!"

"Boom!" Dan Yangzi's monstrous body exploded, spraying blood and flesh across the entire alchemy room."