As soon as Li Huowang swallowed the elixir, he felt a warm fire burning in his Dantian, and that fire seemed to grow stronger and fiercer by the second. The heat was so intense he almost forgot the nausea and revulsion surging up from within.
"Xuanyang, go rest now. This medicine is powerful; it'll take some time to fully absorb."
"Yes, Master."
Stumbling back to his own quarters, Li Huowang gripped the doorframe and retched violently, but all that came out was a little clear fluid. The elixir had already been fully absorbed.
CREAK. CREAK. Li Huowang's joints groaned as his body trembled and spasmed uncontrollably.
At that moment, the fire in his Dantian had already followed his meridians into his limbs. He now felt like he was wearing a thick winter coat in the middle of summer, his whole body practically boiling.
The heat clouded his mind. Lying on his bed, Li Huowang stared at the spinning ceiling, thinking over everything that had just happened and remembering the terror and despair in the eyes of everyone inside the ingredient room.
I've become Master Danyang's disgusting accomplice, forcing upon others the same treatment I've suffered myself. They might be illiterate, but they aren't stupid. Before absolute power, anything I try is pointless.
Li Huowang roared furiously inside his mind. I have to kill him. I must find a way to kill him!
His right hand unconsciously squeezed the edge of his stone bed, and with that final inner shout, the veins on the back of his hand bulged.
With a CRACK, a chunk of the hard stone bed broke off in his grip.
This sudden change took Li Huowang by surprise. He looked at his hand, then at the chunk of stone he was grasping. It suddenly clicked—this was the elixir's effect.
It wasn't just strength. Everything was different. Li Huowang even felt his vision had grown keener. That elixir made him feel reborn, as if he had been completely transformed.
But as soon as he remembered how he had gained these powers, the nausea welled up in him once again.
"Brother Li, are you all right?" Bai Lingmiao peeked cautiously through the doorway.
Li Huowang lifted his head and looked at her, his expression conflicted, at a loss for words.
Bai Lingmiao stepped forward and said, "Brother Li, you don't have to blame yourself. We all know you had no choice. If… I mean, if Master sends me in next time, you don't need to swap me out for someone else. After all… we all end up the same way."
Li Huowang didn't want to discuss this. Seeing blood trickling from her forehead, he took out an elixir he'd prepared before and offered it to her. "Take it. It'll stop the bleeding."
Seeing the elixir in his hand, Bai Lingmiao shook her head violently in fear. "I'm not taking any elixirs. Absolutely not."
Li Huowang forced a laugh and tossed the elixir on the floor. "You're right. All medicine is three parts poison. It's definitely not good for you."
Bai Lingmiao bit her lip, thought for a bit, then looked at Li Huowang and asked, "Brother Li, are you planning to move against the Master?"
Li Huowang's expression changed. He glanced nervously at the doorway and rushed over to shut the door tight.
"It's fine; Master can't hear us now. He uses 'Lord You' to spy on us. On market days, 'Lord You' has to go to the market too."
"What is 'Lord You'?" Li Huowang asked, puzzled. It was his first time hearing the term.
"'Lord You' is just 'Lord You.' You can't see or touch it. My grandfather said only powerful cultivators can command them."
"Oh?" Li Huowang's interest was piqued, and he made a mental note. This information could be crucial.
"When are the market days?"
Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao looked at him in confusion. "The first and fifteenth of every month are market days. Brother Li, how do you not know that? Didn't your parents ever take you to the market?"
Li Huowang shook his head. The memories in his mind—whether real or illusory—proved that he had only ever lived in cities and had never participated in rural market gatherings like this.
"Brother Li, let's get back to the matter at hand. Are you really planning to go against 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 firmly. "Then count me in, Brother Li. I want to help with something like that!"
Li Huowang looked at the girl before him and her unwavering gaze. Perhaps Bai Lingmiao wasn't as fragile as he had imagined.
"All right, you're in." Li Huowang agreed. He really did need helpers right now.
After thinking carefully for a moment, Li Huowang spoke to her with a grave expression. "The two of us aren't enough. Go and watch the ingredient room. See if you can find anyone else who harbors resentment."
Others might not dare to oppose Master Danyang, but the Medicinal Guides in the ingredient room were doomed anyway. Among them, there had to be those unwilling to accept their fate. This is a fundamental conflict. There must be people among them I can win over.
"Okay." Bai Lingmiao nodded and turned to leave.
After sitting for a while, Li Huowang picked up the round Jade Pendant tied to his waist, recalling the senior apprentice who had failed to escape.
Xuanyang, Xuanyang… Were you all gathered together like this back then? I hope I don't end up like you.
Over the following period, Li Huowang began to immerse himself completely in life at the Qingfeng Daoist Temple. He organized the ingredient room until it was in perfect order, with regard to both people and materials.
Faced with such an eager disciple, Master Danyang naturally had to reward him. He taught him all the basic types of elixirs, seemingly treating him as a true apprentice.
These ordinary elixirs weren't very effective; at most, they allowed Li Huowang to treat a minor cold or a small wound.
Furthermore, Li Huowang didn't know if it was just Master Danyang's elixirs or if all elixirs in this world were the same, but they all had a limit. If one took too many, healing would turn to harm.
There were also taboos. They could not be mixed, as mixing them could easily lead to disaster.
Rather than saying Li Huowang could now be a clumsy healer, it was more accurate to say he had become a competent poisoner.
The elixirs were not the crucial part. What mattered was that Li Huowang's relationship with Master Danyang gradually warmed through their interactions.
Sometimes, when Master Danyang was performing Alchemy, he would even let Li Huowang assist him.
When Master Danyang took another Daoist Boy as his apprentice, Li Huowang was no longer the newest member. He had thoroughly integrated himself into the Qingfeng Daoist Temple.
Through such close contact, Li Huowang confirmed his suspicion: Master Danyang truly could not read, and he was extremely hostile toward any disciple who could. He would not allow his apprentices to surpass him in any matter, which was why he only chose illiterate ones.
This made Li Huowang feel that something was wrong. He still remembered what Master Danyang had once told him.
"Because the method for becoming an immortal is written in the Heavenly Book from the Lord, and the Heavenly Book was handed to me personally by the Lord himself! Tell me, who else in the world could become an immortal? He said I could, so I definitely will!"
If, as he claimed, the Lord gave him a Heavenly Book, but all his disciples were illiterate, and he himself couldn't read—then who read it to him?