Chapter 2: You're Actually Serious?
Inside the Alchemy Hall’s storage room, Mu Wanqing stood amid the chaos, her delicate face icy cold.
Rapid footsteps approached, and the glow of torches filtered in from outside the door.
“Who’s there?”
Captain Zhang Wu of the law enforcement team burst in with his men. When he recognized Mu Wanqing standing inside, his expression froze for a moment before he forced a smile. “It’s Senior Sister Mu! I heard a strange noise just now and thought there might be thieves. Are you alright? Were you startled?”
Mu Wanqing was the direct disciple of the Alchemy Hall elder, a position of great prestige. He dared not offend her.
She took a quiet breath, forcing herself to calm down.
“It’s nothing. I was practicing fire control techniques earlier and lost control of the flame, which triggered the medicinal power of that Dragon Blood Herb and accidentally destroyed it. I will explain the loss to the Alchemy Hall elder and take full responsibility.”
Her words were flawless.
Given her status within the sect and her identity as a prodigious alchemist, who would dare to doubt that she was merely practicing fire control?
Zhang Wu suddenly understood and quickly waved his hand. “I see! Senior Sister Mu, you’re too kind. It’s just a spiritual herb. As long as you’re unharmed, that’s what matters.” He bowed respectfully and led his men out.
…
Elsewhere.
Chu Xing slammed the door of his shabby servant’s quarters behind him and leaned against it, panting heavily.
His heart pounded like a drum.
Thrilling! Absolutely thrilling!
After three years of endurance and disdain as an outer disciple, Chu Xing had developed a calmness far beyond his years. After a moment, he sat cross-legged on his bed, sinking his mind inward.
Within his dantian, the once scattered energy sensations had completely condensed into a slender, gentle stream of qi, finer than a strand of hair, quietly suspended.
Primordial energy!
Chu Xing had finally broken through to the fourth stage of Body Tempering, gaining his first trace of primordial energy!
His heart surged with excitement, but he forced himself to contain the overwhelming joy, carefully guiding this slender energy through newly opened meridians within his body.
“Body Tempering, Stage Four!” Chu Xing clenched his fist tightly; his youthful face was filled with stubborn determination and wild ambition.
But the joy was short-lived. A grave concern swiftly clouded his expression.
According to sect rules, outer disciples who failed the final assessment after three years would be expelled from the sect and stripped of their disciple status.
Counting the days, less than half a month remained before his three-year deadline!
That was why Chu Xing had to take desperate risks.
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Stage Four Body Tempering was not nearly enough! He needed strength!
No, he had to grow stronger—fast!
Chu Xing took a deep breath, his gaze sharpening into unwavering resolve. Yet his ambition was far greater than merely avoiding expulsion.
In his mind flashed the ancient, dusty tomes he had devoured.
The records in those texts—that was the true world!
One sword to sever rivers, one fist to shatter mountains, soaring through the heavens, plucking stars and moon!
Once, these were distant dreams; now, an opportunity had arisen!
Chu Xing reached into his pocket and felt the culprit—a black stone bead, warm to the touch.
He had found it by chance a year ago in a mountain stream. It felt icy cold and heavier than ordinary stones, so he had tied it to a string and worn it around his neck, never experiencing anything unusual.
Who would have guessed this thing was a hidden treasure?
He took it from his neck and held it in his palm. Cold to the touch, its composition neither metal nor stone, it looked utterly plain.
Recalling what had just happened in the storage room—the wild medicinal power of the Dragon Blood Herb was so fierce it could have burst him open.
But the moment that power was absorbed by the stone bead, it vanished.
In its place was a pure, gentle warmth that nourished him.
“This thing…” Chu Xing’s eyes burned with fascination. “It doesn’t just consume—it transforms!”
It was like a mysterious furnace!
It could devour the chaotic, violent external energies, purify and transmute them through unknown means, and then feedback the purest, gentlest primordial energy for his own use.
That was its true, miraculous power!
His heart racing wildly, Chu Xing tried to channel his solitary trace of primordial energy into the stone bead.
At once, the bead devoured it like a beast starved for millennia, swallowing all his pitiful energy in one gulp.
Chu Xing was startled.
Yet, as the energy was consumed, he felt a faint, intangible connection form between himself and the bead.
A thought, as if guided by some unseen force, suddenly appeared in his mind:
“Absorb!”
At that moment, the black bead transformed into a streak of dark light and shot into Chu Xing’s lower abdomen.
His pupils constricted sharply, and his body froze.
He hastily sank his mind into his dantian and saw the stone bead quietly suspended in his energy sea, resonating with his primordial energy.
This thing… could be stored inside the body?!
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After a brief shock, a tremendous joy flooded his heart. The heavy weight pressing on his mind was finally lifted!
With the bead hidden inside him, there was no fear of discovery! This was his greatest trump card to establish himself and stir up the world!
Grinning broadly, Chu Xing began plotting where to find more treasures to feed this bottomless pit.
“Knock! Knock! Knock!”
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
Startled, Chu Xing’s smile froze. Who would come at this hour?
Snapping alert, he jumped from the bed and approached the door, lowering his voice to ask, “Who is it?”
Outside came a cold, restrained female voice, tinged with suppressed anger.
“It’s me, Mu Wanqing.”
Chu Xing’s eye twitched slightly, his mind buzzing.
That girl… just won’t quit!
“Senior Sister Mu? Is something wrong?” Chu Xing feigned innocence through the door.
Mu Wanqing was silent for a moment, seemingly struggling to control her emotions.
“Open the door! I have questions for you.” Her voice was low but resolute, leaving no room for refusal.
Chu Xing’s eyes flicked with cunning.
He slowly opened the door, leaving a crack just wide enough to poke out half his head, yawning sleepily.
“Senior Sister Mu, it’s the middle of the night. You’re an inner disciple prodigy, yet you come knocking on an outer disciple’s quarters… isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”
Mu Wanqing stared at Chu Xing’s shameless expression, her carefully suppressed anger flaring anew.
Ignoring his teasing, she pushed the door wide open and slammed it shut behind her.
“Cut the nonsense!” Her icy gaze locked onto Chu Xing. “What exactly happened with that Dragon Blood Herb’s medicinal power? How did you absorb it safely into your chest and break through on the spot? Show me!”
Before she finished, she actually reached out, grabbing at Chu Xing’s collar, trying to pull him aside to get a better look!
Chu Xing was dumbfounded by her boldness and instinctively took a step back.
“Seriously, Senior Sister Mu?”
“You really… break into a junior brother’s room in the middle of the night just to start grabbing him?”