Chapter 1

In the eastern part of the vast and boundless Xuantian Continent, at the edge of the Ancient Cang Mountains, in the city of Luohuang, within the Li Family’s medicinal chamber, which was a heavily guarded area.

"Li Chen, today is your last day of testing the medicine. Tomorrow, the Third Miss will take you to the Xuan Yun Sect and give you to one of her senior brothers as a medicine slave!"

Li Mingyun, who supervised the medicine slaves, frowned slightly as he looked at the half-human-sized water tank against the wall, where a scar-faced youth was locked with his hands, completely submerged in a pungent medicinal liquid.

"I understand, Sir!"

Li Chen shrank his neck and lowered his head, his humiliation and unwillingness flashing in his eyes hidden by his hair. When he raised his head, his usual timidity had returned.

Li Mingyun, expressionless, took out a jade bottle, poured out a thumb-sized, crystal-clear, and smooth pill, and flicked it lightly. A flash of light passed, and the pill landed directly in Li Chen’s mouth.

"Ah!"

As soon as the pill entered his mouth, Li Chen’s face was covered in veins, the dark red scar on the left side of his face flashed with a blood-red light, matching the bruise on his face, distorting his entire face, making him look even more ferocious and terrifying.

The chains clattered, and the scream lasted for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before Li Chen gradually calmed down. A faint, milky gray vortex appeared above his head.

"A natural qi vortex, it’s rare for a young person with the potential to reach the Pill Vortex Realm to appear in this wild land. Unfortunately, he’s a natural waste, with blocked meridians, unable to condense inner breath!"

Li Mingyun frowned, his face gloomy, as if recalling some unpleasant past.

But his words were astonishing. After all, the strongest in the entire Li Family was the old patriarch who had been in seclusion for many years, rumored to be a True Refinement Realm expert.

The way he spoke, as if he didn’t even consider the Pill Vortex Realm martial artists, made his words and demeanor in the dim medicinal chamber, under the hoarse cries and rising mist, seem incredibly mysterious.

"Sir, the scent of the purple荆flower and black cloud grass is a bit strong, I think I used too much!"

After about an hour, Li Chen slowly woke up, his face flushed, the bruises from the Third Miss’s scolding having faded somewhat. He unlocked his handcuffs and stepped out of the water tank.

Li Mingyun casually took out paper and pen to record something, then waved him away. But as he watched Li Chen’s figure, his deep eyes were full of doubt: "This boy’s physique is truly special, he’s not afraid of the toxicity in the failed pills and can even temper his body. I’ve been unable to find the problem in three years. If it weren’t for his blocked meridians, he would be a decent choice!"

...

The next morning, under the indifference of the clan members who were seeing off the Third Miss, Li Yuerong, and the disdainful gazes of the servants, Li Chen set off for the Xuan Yun Sect.

Time passed quickly, and before long, Li Chen had been in the Xuan Yun Sect for several months.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

In the dim night sky, where the fingers were barely visible, in a secluded mountain hollow on Luoyun Peak, a person was sitting by a well, with two large wooden buckets beside him.

"It’s time to go back!"

After massaging his sore shoulders, Li Chen took a deep breath, forced his tired body to stand, and placed the pole on his shoulder. This was already the seventh trip of the day. Even with his astonishing physical strength, comparable to a third or fourth-layer Inner Breath Realm martial artist, he was exhausted.

His work over these few months, besides testing whether the pills were successful and explaining the pharmacological principles of failed pills, also included cleaning the courtyard and fetching water.

If it weren’t for his body being tempered by the toxicity of the failed pills over the years, a normal person without inner breath would have been worked to death.

"You’re asking for death!"

The explosive shout filled with killing intent made Li Chen, who was about to stand up, shudder. He crouched behind the wooden buckets, slightly exposing his head to look at the distance.

In the dark night, a pair of eyes flashed with an unusual light.

"Liu Qingyu, don’t push me too far!"

Not far away in the forest, there were continuous thuds and the sound of metal clashing. It was a true depiction of a dark and stormy night, perfect for murder.

This place was secluded, with the forest and rock piles blocking the sound from spreading.

Only Li Chen, who was below, could hear clearly.

"Ah!"

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a faint scream came from the distance, followed by the sound of someone stumbling towards this place, making Li Chen’s heart skip a beat.

He hid here not to gain any advantage but to avoid being discovered by the Xuan Yun Sect disciples who were fighting.

As a slave, any disciple could step on him, and if discovered, he would be killed to silence him.

Where there are people, there are struggles. Li Chen, who had grown up with facial defects and an inability to condense inner breath, though only fourteen or fifteen years old, had a very mature mind. He had long been accustomed to the cold and indifferent world.

In the Xuan Yun Sect, he had heard many stories. The disciples were not as harmonious as he had imagined, and the disappearance of a disciple or two was a common occurrence.

"Let’s die together!"

"Damn it!"

The sound of rolling and the rustling of stones came towards the mountain hollow.

"Phew! Dead?"

Li Chen stared at the black shadow sliding down, holding his breath for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Seeing no more movement, Li Chen hesitated for a while before daring to approach.

He could vaguely see two blue-robed disciples lying among the rocks, motionless. Li Chen recognized the blue robes as those of outer disciples.

"Cough, cough!"

One of them suddenly coughed weakly, raising his head to see Li Chen, "Save me!"

"Ah... Oh!"

Li Chen shivered, hesitated for a moment, and his sense of kindness made him tentatively approach, reaching out to support the man’s shoulder.

Swish!

A flash of light passed before Li Chen’s eyes, the cold gleam of a blade. Instantly, his hair stood on end, and the reaction honed by the Third Miss’s beatings made him remain calm. Without hesitation, he fell backward and kicked out.

Thud!

Two muffled sounds followed, and the man was kicked away, colliding with the rocks and spitting out a stream of blood. The dagger, which had been flashing with cold light, clattered to the ground, and the man twitched a few times before falling silent.

"Phew... Uh!"

Li Chen panted heavily, swallowed, and looked at the blue-robed man, who was now silent, feeling a wave of fear.

But then, a sharp pain hit his chest, and he instinctively looked down.

Below his left chest, blood was seeping out, and a chill spread through his body, a sign of excessive blood loss.

"No... I won’t give up... I haven’t... achieved the status of a martial artist... I haven’t... made Grandpa... rest in peace..."

With a thud, Li Chen’s vision blurred, and he fell backward, mumbling incoherently, with a large amount of blood foam gushing from his mouth.

Although he had only been in the Xuan Yun Sect for a few months, despite the hardships, he had hoped for a chance to break free from his physical constraints, to cultivate inner breath like a normal person, and to fulfill Old Li’s wish.

But today, his kindness had led to this disaster, truly proving the old saying—human hearts are unpredictable!

"I can’t die..."

His strong will kept him from fainting. He struggled to turn over and reached into the other man’s chest.

His hand touched something cold—two medicine bottles.

Li Chen recognized them as the low-grade Inner Breath Pills issued to outer disciples, but they were useless to him.

Struggling to stay conscious, he reached again and found a palm-sized jade box. He pulled it out and opened it, revealing a walnut-sized, mottled, and faintly glowing crystal core.

"A demon core!"

Li Chen’s eyes narrowed, and he took a deep breath, staring at the demon core, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.

Although he knew they were fighting over some treasure, he never expected it to be a demon core.

Judging by the size of the demon core, it belonged to a late-stage first-rank demon beast, which required a seventh-layer Inner Breath Realm martial artist to handle.

Such a demon core was worth several high-grade Inner Breath Pills, or even dozens.

As a medicine slave for the Li Family for three years, he had been exposed to various failed and successful pills, but none had been useful to him, except for making his body stronger than an ordinary martial artist.

The only thing he had never seen or tried was a demon core.

However, a demon core could not be consumed directly. It contained the unique demonic aura of a demon beast, a highly volatile and destructive force.

If consumed rashly, it would tear the meridians and cause the body to explode. Strong martial artists could refine and remove the demonic aura through cultivation, or use special methods, but only for demon cores of lower cultivation. For demon cores of equal cultivation, success was extremely difficult.

For someone like Li Chen, who had no inner breath, even a first-rank early-stage demon core would be fatal, let alone a late-stage one, especially given his current injuries.

"Let’s take the risk, life or death, it’s all on this one move!"

As his body grew weaker, Li Chen shivered, gritted his teeth, and swallowed the demon core whole.

With a gulp, it went down his throat, not as hard as expected, but a chill spread through his body, making him shiver. Then, a sharp pain spread from his abdomen throughout his body.

"Ugh!"

Struggling to suppress the intense pain, cold sweat poured down his body. Li Chen clenched his teeth and forced himself to sit cross-legged, placing his hands on his dantian, and began to circulate the Li Family’s high-level human-grade cultivation technique, the Fusion Yang Technique, which he had practiced for three years.

This technique was given to him by the Li Family’s upper echelons when he first became a medicine slave, after he reached the Inner Breath Realm in just over a month. They had tried to win him over, even proposing a marriage alliance, but he turned out to be a waste, unable to condense inner breath.

"Phew!"

His internal qi and blood churned, and he spat out three streams of blood. The pain, like a soul-tearing agony, almost made Li Chen lose control and scatter his cultivation technique.

Fortunately, his willpower had been honed through years of suffering from failed pills, and he managed to hold on. However, the wound on his left chest, exacerbated by the violent demonic energy, spurted a spray of blood.

His face was covered in veins, his eyes wide with bloodshot, and Li Chen felt his body about to explode. No one could see the ugly scar on his left cheek, which suddenly flashed a terrifying dark red light.