"That thing... it’s not meant for living people to eat."
"It’s for corpse-puppets."
Gensheng narrowed his eyes. "Bai Jingzi was an evil cultivator specializing in 'Harvesting and Supplementing.' Why would he keep a pill recipe in his storage bag that he couldn't use? Besides, he was already at the Foundation Establishment stage."
"Does Senior Brother take me for a three-year-old child?"
"Aiyoh, you really don't believe me?" Li Chan stood up straight and paced toward Gensheng. "He could use it, but not like that. His cultivation path is about peeling away layers—taking the essence and making it his own. It's delicate work. But this Human-Pill? You swallow it whole. One gulp. Do you understand the difference?"
"Heaven, Earth, and Man form the Three Talents. A human is born with spirit and three souls: the Ethereal, the Swift, and the Eerie. These are the root of a person. And how is this pill made?"
"You take five pure virgins with Pseudo-Roots, throw them alive into a cauldron, and simmer them with True Fire and toxic herbs for eighty-one days!"
"Think about that image. Those five people are refined alive. Their terror, their indignation, their resentment, their curses... it all condenses into that one pill. You, a living man with your own souls intact—what happens if you shove that into your body?"
"It’s like personally inviting five vengeful ghosts to move into your house. They’ll sing in your brain and dance in your dantian until they kick your own soul out! Best case scenario? You lose your mind and become a drooling lunatic. Worst case? Your soul is scattered, and your body is hijacked by five grudges, turning you into something neither human nor ghost."
Li Chan looked at Gensheng triumphantly. Gensheng, however, turned his gaze to Li Simin.
"But your 'precious treasure' here is different!" Li Chan exclaimed. "She is a corpse-puppet. No soul, no consciousness. This pill is poison to you, but a supreme tonic to her! Think about it—those five resentful souls entering her body will provide a foundation. It can forcibly birth a 'Pseudo-Soul' within her, allowing her to develop her own sentience."
"Junior Brother!" Li Chan slapped Gensheng’s shoulder. "She has a Foundation-stage body, but not a Foundation-stage cultivation. This is how you bridge that gap."
The mine shaft fell into a long silence. Gensheng stood still, deep in thought. Finally, he bent down, picked up the three packets of herbs, and tucked them carefully into his storage ring. He looked up at Li Chan and gave a solemn, respectful bow. Disappointment lingered on his face, but it was coupled with genuine gratitude.
"Thank you, Senior Brother, for clearing the fog."
"Forget it. My delivery is done; I should be going." Li Chan’s voice grew heavy as he toyed with an old jade pendant at his waist. "Nurture your corpse well. Don't worry about anything else. Master is gone; you must stay alive. Our lineage cannot be broken."
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
As Li Chan turned to leave, Gensheng called out. "Senior Brother."
"Yes?"
"The spirit stones... give them back." Gensheng’s voice was flat. "Your Junior Brother is a bit short on cash."
Li Chan jumped as if stung. "Say that again? My ears are a bit bad today."
"You said it yourself—we're all each other has. Isn't it natural for a Senior to support his Junior? A thousand stones is likely pocket change to you, but to me, it’s my lifeblood."
"You think I don't know you're refining pills and drawing talismans? You're not broke! Stop talking nonsense!" With that, Li Chan transformed into a cicada and vanished into the darkness.
Gensheng, seeing the shakedown failed, looked at Li Simin and began to mutter to himself.
"Simin, oh Simin..." His voice echoed in the hollow mine. "Senior Brother says this pill isn't for humans. But then again... when have I ever considered myself a human?"
"Five Qi-Condensation grudges think they can overturn my world? I’m taking this pill." His tone left no room for negotiation. "Once I reach Foundation Establishment, no one in this Qingzhou region will ever toy with us again. At that time, whatever you want, I will find for you. Not just five people—I’ll bring you fifty, five hundred, just so you can taste what a Human-Pill is like."
Endless Swamp, Isolated Island.
Gensheng returned to the island. He set the Myriad Insect Tripod in the center and retrieved the five warm corpses, tossing them one by one into the cauldron. The Ghost-Bone Flower, Rotting Corpse Vine, Hundred-Ghost Mushroom, Soul-Devouring Grass, and Blood-Crying Willow Heart followed.
As the herbs entered, the five corpses seemed to come alive, twitching violently within the pot.
"RISE!"
A flame—neither red nor yellow, but a sickly black-green—ignited in his palm. This was his True Fire, fueled by his spiritual power and the death-qi of his wasps. The temperature spiked. A sickening stench of scorched flesh and acrid herbs wafted through the cracks of the cauldron.
Screams, curses, wails of despair...
Gensheng remained deaf to it all. He sat before the cauldron, all six arms pressed firmly against its surface, focusing his entire being on controlling the corpse-fire.
The eighty-one days began.
The wails didn't fade with time; they grew sharper. By the tenth day, they weren't just screams, but articulate curses. “Give me back my life... give me back my life...”
Gensheng was a mountain. To him, this was no different from the noise of rats in the servant quarters' sewers. It was just noise.
But by the thirty-sixth day, the voices intertwined. They began to act out a grotesque play in his mind. He heard the thief bragging about his coins; he heard the girl weeping over betrayal. These emotions tried to force their way into his sea of consciousness.
Gensheng remained unmoved. Why would a "cockroach" feel ripples of emotion?
Then, a different voice cut through the chaos. It was clear, yet carried the desolation of a dead end.
"Ten years of cold study, unnoticed by man; one stroke of fame, known by the world... Heh... what a load of shit!"
"My belly is full of the Sages' books, yet I couldn't trade them for three ounces of silver to fill my starving gut! Fame and fortune are but reflections in a mirror. The Immortal Path is even more of an illusion!"
"I hate it! I hate the injustice of the Heavens! I hate the ruthlessness of this world!"
The voice rose into a rhythmic chant:
"I hate that I was born without the roots of wisdom, possessing only a heart to save the world with prose."
"I hate that my life is thinner than paper, while the Immortal Gates only embrace the high-born."
"I hate that I sat in the mud for too long, mistaking demons for gods."
"Today my flesh is cast into the tripod, refined into a pill to aid your frame."
"If one day you ascend to the heavens, do not forget my soul within this hearth!"