Chapter 1

Li Huowang raised the pestle in his hand and, in a state of boredom, pounded it into the mortar, slowly grinding the green stone mixed with mud into powder.

Although the cave was damp and cold, the young man was only wearing rough linen clothes. However, he did not seem to care, as if he did not take any of this to heart.

He was not the only one in the cave; there were other boys and girls of similar age, all with tied hair and dressed in rough linen and hemp ropes.

The only difference between them and Li Huowang was that they all had obvious physical defects, including albinism and polio.

Various congenital and acquired physical deformities could be found here, making the small cave seem like a museum of deformities.

Their work, like Li Huowang's, was to pound things, but the things they pounded were different, ranging from metals to medicines. However, it was clear that some of them were not focused on their work.

"Ahh!" A woman's terrified scream drew everyone's attention.

On one side of the cave, a fat boy with a cleft lip was grinning lecherously, trying to pull an albino girl into his arms.

"I'll just touch you, I promise, just once, hehehe~"

Li Huowang ignored the commotion, closed his eyes, and continued his work.

As the woman's cries grew more pitiful, Li Huowang became increasingly angry and muttered a curse. He picked up the stone mortar with one hand and stood up.

"Thud" The sound of stone and bone colliding echoed.

The cleft-lipped fat boy, now with a bloody head, sat on the ground in shock, clearly stunned by the blow. After a few seconds, he twisted his face in pain and began to howl, clutching his wound.

The albino girl with white hair and skin, who had escaped being violated, clung to her clothes and hid behind Li Huowang in fear.

"I'm telling you, you're finished! Do you know who I am to the master? If he finds out, he'll kill you!" The cleft-lipped fat boy threatened, his face contorted with anger.

"What is he, a piece of shit, he's nothing!!" Li Huowang's words stunned everyone into silence.

None of the others present had ever expected this man to say such things.

Seeing the expressions of the so-called senior and junior disciples, Li Huowang took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.

"What's wrong with me, why am I getting angry with these people? My character is not so impulsive. I can't let them affect me. The me just now was not the real me, I need to calm down."

Just as Li Huowang was calming himself, he heard someone calling him from the entrance.

"Brother Li, Sister Wang, the master is calling you." The tall young man who called out was clearly of a different status from Li Huowang, wearing a blue Daoist robe.

Although the robe looked old and the cuffs were washed white, it was far better than the ragged hemp clothes Li Huowang wore.

The young Daoist held a horsehair duster in one hand and looked at the juniors before him with a hint of arrogance.

Seeing the young Daoist, the fat boy with the bloody head immediately showed a look of schadenfreude. "Haha! You're finished! It's your turn today."

But Li Huowang completely ignored him and turned to follow a woman with a crooked mouth and drooling, who looked pale and unhealthy.

After taking a few steps, he felt someone tugging at his sleeve, holding him back. Li Huowang turned around and saw it was the albino girl he had just saved.

Her eyes were filled with tears, and she shook her head, filled with fear.

The cold Li Huowang was unmoved, shook off her grip, and walked forward with large strides.

Exiting the material room, they entered a larger cave. The cave walls were dotted with smaller caves used for various purposes, their uneven surfaces indicating that the builders were not very skilled.

The entire cave was vast, with tunnels of various sizes crisscrossing, resembling an enlarged ant nest.

Rotten peach wood planks were nailed to the top of each small cave, inscribed with the names of the chambers: Spirit Palace, Old Law Hall, Qingzu Hall, and Four Emperors Hall.

A naturally formed cave had been transformed into a Daoist temple.

As the two continued walking, the woman with the crooked mouth pulled out a black object from her pocket and offered it to Li Huowang, saying in a dazed voice, "Do you want... some candy?"

Li Huowang's eyebrows furrowed slightly, seemingly aware of her simplicity, and impatiently stuffed it into his sleeve.

Seeing Li Huowang take it, she also pulled out a piece and put it in her mouth, saying foolishly, "Master is good... with Master, there's candy to eat..."

Li Huowang did not respond, and the two continued walking. After about fifteen minutes, a large, ancient, and black alchemical furnace appeared before them.

The furnace, emitting green smoke, reached the cave ceiling, looking like a small metal mountain.

As they approached, the furnace grew larger, and its shadow eventually engulfed them, making Li Huowang feel oppressed.

What oppressed him was not only the massive five-story furnace but also the figure standing before it.

From behind, the figure wore a blue Daoist robe, had tied hair and a crown, and looked very much like a sage. He was sitting on the ground, pounding the pestle, but the pestle in his hand seemed much larger, like a giant pillar.

With each rise and fall, the sound of metal and stone clashing echoed through the cave.

"Master... Master!" The woman with the crooked mouth awkwardly made a gesture, placing her hands on her chest and bowing to the figure, her eyes full of reverence.

As she spoke, the clashing sound stopped.

The figure turned around, and although Li Huowang was prepared, his pupils still contracted in shock.

The front of the Daoist was completely different from the back. From behind, he looked like a sage, but from the front, he was a leprous old man with a few yellow teeth in his mouth.

"You're here? Good disciple, I've been waiting for you." The dirty Daoist robe waved, and the old Daoist rose into the air, grabbing the woman by the neck and pulling her back.

Before the woman could say another word, she was thrown into a stone jar as tall as a person. The next moment, the master, with a grim expression, pounded her head with a fist-sized stone pestle.

With the sound of bones breaking, her head was flattened like a piece of paper, and white brain matter spurted out of her seven orifices.

This was not the end. The clashing sound echoed again as the pestle rose and fell, and every part of the woman's body met the same fate as her head.

With each strike, the flesh on Li Huowang's right cheek twitched violently.

The meat and blood splattered onto the old Daoist's face and body, but he remained unmoved, reciting something with excitement.

"Ding Chou extends my life, Ding Hai protects my soul, Jia Zi protects my body, Jia Xu preserves my form, Jia Shen solidifies my life, Jia Wu guards my soul, Jia Chen purifies my spirit!"

After thoroughly grinding his disciple into a pulp, he lifted the heavy stone jar with one hand and poured the mess into the alchemical furnace before him. Then, with an extremely excited expression, he raised his hands high.

"Start the furnace, refine the elixir!"

Two Daoist boys with exaggerated blushes emerged from the shadows, fanning the furnace and adding various ingredients, including metal and stone powders and living, wriggling creatures.

Soon, a strange, intense aroma filled the air, not of anything else but of human flesh.

At this moment, the leprous master closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stroked his chin, his dirty and ugly face showing satisfaction.

When he slowly opened his eyes, he placed his hands behind his back and turned to look at Li Huowang. "I heard you called me a piece of shit. Is that true?"

In an instant, the air around them seemed to freeze.

Looking at the master, who killed without hesitation, Li Huowang remained calm, closed his eyes, and calmed his rapid breathing, silently thinking, "You can't fool me, this is all fake, all fake."

"Speak! Are you mute? Huh?!" As the master's footsteps drew closer, the mixed smell of blood and decay hit Li Huowang like a wall.

Li Huowang clenched his teeth and, with all his strength, opened his eyes.

The dark, oppressive cave temple instantly disappeared, and a bright, clean, and fresh hospital room appeared before him, with his lower body tightly bound to the bed with cloth straps.