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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Master
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Chapter 1: Master
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Li Huowang raised the pestle in his hand and pounded boredly into the mortar over and over, slowly grinding the mud-flecked luminous green stone inside into powder.
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Though the cave was damp and cold, and he wore only a rough cloth garment, his face was full of indifference, as if none of it mattered to him in the slightest.
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He wasn't the only one in the cave. There were other men and women as well, all with their hair bound up and dressed in the same coarse hemp cloth.
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The only thing that set them apart from Li Huowang was the obvious physical defects on their bodies—albinism, polio, and all manner of other ailments.
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Every kind of congenital or acquired deformity could be found here. The small Material Room cave was like a museum of freaks.
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These people did the same work as Li Huowang—pounding things—but the materials varied: metals and stones, medicines and more. Yet it was clear that some of them weren't focused on the job.
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"Ah!" A woman's terrified scream drew everyone's eyes.
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Over by the cave wall, a harelipped fat boy leered sleazily as he tried to drag an albino girl into his arms.
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"Lemme just touch it once, swear just once, heh heh heh~"
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Li Huowang ignored the noise, closed his eyes, and kept steadily pounding away at his own work.
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As the woman's cries by his ear grew more and more pitiful, the irritated Li Huowang muttered a curse under his breath, grabbed the stone mortar with one hand, and stood up.
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"Thud." Stone crashed into bone with a dull sound.
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The cleft-lip fatty, head split open and bleeding, plopped down onto the ground in a daze. Clearly stunned by the blow, it took two seconds before his face twisted in agony as he clutched his wound and let out a dry howl.
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The white-haired, pale-skinned girl who'd escaped being defiled clutched at her clothes in fear and hid behind Li Huowang.
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"I'll tell ya! You're done for! You know what kinda guy I am to Master? If he finds out, he'll kill ya!" The cleft-lip fatty threatened with unusual fury.
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"What the hell is he? He ain't even a fart!!" Li Huowang's words stunned the entire room into dead silence.
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None of the others present had ever imagined that the man in front of them would dare say something like that.
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Seeing the looks on the faces of these so-called senior and junior brothers, Li Huowang took a deep breath and forced down the anger in his heart.
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"What's wrong with me? Why am I getting mad at these things? My personality isn't supposed to be this hot-headed. I can't let these things change who I am. That wasn't the real me just now. Calm down, calm down."
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As Li Huowang worked to steady his emotions, someone called to him from the entrance.
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"Junior Brother Li, Junior Sister Wang, Master summons you both." The tall young man who called out clearly held a higher status than Li Huowang. He wore a cyan Daoist robe.
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Though the robe looked very worn, with cuffs faded white from washing, it was still countless times better than the ragged hemp cloth on Li Huowang.
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He held a horsetail whisk tucked under one arm and looked down at the juniors before him with a hint of arrogance in his eyes.
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The moment the young Daoist appeared, the bloody fatty's face lit up with malicious glee. "Haha! You're done for!! It's your turn now."
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But Li Huowang completely ignored him and turned to follow the crooked-mouthed woman drooling at the mouth toward the entrance. Her face was waxy pale and looked extremely unhealthy.
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After just two steps, he felt someone tugging at his sleeve, holding him back. Li Huowang turned to see it was the albino girl he'd just saved.
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Tears welled in her eyes as she shook her head nonstop, her gaze filled with terror.
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The cold Li Huowang didn't react at all. With a forceful shake of his sleeve, he strode ahead briskly.
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Beyond the Material Room lay a much larger cave. Its walls held plenty more side caves like it, used for other purposes. Judging by the pitted, uneven surfaces, whoever had built this place clearly wasn't much of a craftsman.
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The entire cave system was huge, riddled with tunnels large and small branching in every direction, like an ant nest magnified many times over.
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Decayed plaques of peachwood were nailed above each little cave mouth, the names carved deep into the wood with forceful strokes: Spirit Palace Hall, Old Precepts Hall, Celebrate Ancestors Hall, Four Sovereigns Hall.
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A naturally formed cave karst had somehow been turned into something resembling a proper Daoist temple.
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As the two continued onward through the cave, the crooked-mouth woman suddenly pulled a black lump from her pocket and held it out to Li Huowang, speaking in her dazed and foolish voice. "Wanna eat some rock candy?"
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Li Huowang's brow furrowed slightly. Seeming to understand her simple-mindedness, he impatiently took it and stuffed it directly into his sleeve.
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Seeing him accept it, she pulled out another piece and shoved it into her own mouth, then continued with a silly grin. "Good to stick with Master. Get candy to eat."
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Li Huowang had no intention of responding. The two kept walking, covering about a quarter of an hour until an ancient, jet-black towering alchemy furnace appeared before him.
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Blue smoke billowed from the cauldron, stabbing straight up to the ceiling. The furnace was enormous, like a metal mountain.
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As he drew nearer, the furnace seemed to grow larger and larger until its shadow completely engulfed him. The sight filled Li Huowang with a profound sense of oppression.
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What oppressed him wasn't just the massive five-tiered furnace, but also the figure standing before it.
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From behind, the man wore a cyan Daoist robe, his hair pinned up under a Daoist crown, gray at the temples. He had an air of profound immortality about him.
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Seated on the ground, he appeared to be doing the exact same thing Li Huowang had been—pounding with a pestle. But his pestle was far larger, like a massive pillar.
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With each rise and fall, the clash of metal and stone echoed endlessly through the cave.
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"M-Master!" The crooked-mouth woman clumsily pinched the thumb of her left hand with her right, laid the remaining four fingers atop her right hand's fingers, held both hands to her chest, and bowed deeply to the figure's back, her eyes brimming with reverence.
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The moment she spoke, the grating sound of impacts ceased.
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The figure turned around. Though Li Huowang had been prepared, his pupils still contracted slightly in shock.
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The Daoist's front was utterly different from his back. Immortal from behind, but from the front, he was a disgusting, scabby-headed old man, his bucktoothed mouth exposing a sparse scattering of yellow teeth to the air.
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"You've come? Good disciple, I've been waiting."
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With a flick of his filthy Daoist robe, the old Daoist leaped into the air, seized the crooked-mouth woman by the neck with one hand, and dragged her back.
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Before the foolish woman could utter another half-syllable, she was instantly hurled into a half-person-high stone vat. In the next moment, Master gripped the stone pestle with both hands in a grotesque grimace and smashed down hard.
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"Ding Chou extends my lifespan! Ding Hai guards my soul! Jia Zi protects my body! Jia Xu preserves my form! Jia Shen solidifies my fate! Jia Wu guards my soul! Jia Chen manifests my spirit!"
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With one hand, he hoisted the vat weighing hundreds of jin and dumped its entire contents into the alchemy furnace before him. Then, his face alight with extreme excitement, he thrust both hands fiercely into the air.
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"Light the furnace! Refine the pill!"
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Two Daoist boys with exaggerated smears of rouge on their cheeks emerged from the shadows. They fanned the flames while pouring in various ingredients—metal and stone powders, along with plenty of live, wriggling things.
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Before long, a bizarre, thick fragrance permeated the air.
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At that moment, the scabby-headed Master closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Stroking the few whiskers on his chin, a satisfied expression spread across his filthy, ugly face.
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As he slowly opened his eyes and clasped his hands behind his back, he turned to look at Li Huowang. "I hear you've been calling this Daoist Lord a fart? Is that true?"
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In an instant, the air around them seemed to solidify.
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Facing this so-called Master who killed without blinking, Li Huowang showed no reaction. He slowly closed his eyes to steady his quickened breathing and silently repeated to himself: "You can't fool me. It's all fake. All of it."
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"Speak up! Cat got your tongue? Huh?!" With Master's footsteps drawing ever nearer came the overwhelming stench of blood wafting from him like a solid wall.
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The trembling Li Huowang clenched his teeth fiercely and forced his eyes open with every ounce of strength in his body.
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The dim, oppressive cave temple vanished in an instant. In its place appeared a bright, clean hospital room filled with fresh air, and his lower body was tightly bound to the bed with restraint straps.
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(End of Chapter)