Chang Le collapsed in the mud, long past the point of having anything left to vomit. Bitter bile clawed up his throat, burning as it rose. Each dry heave pulled at every bruise in his body, yet the physical pain meant nothing compared to the sight before him.
In the iron cauldron, murky broth rolled in heavy bubbles.
A child's severed head floated among the meat.
The air reeked of something thick and cloyingly sweet—so sweet it turned rancid in the nose, like decay from the depths of hell. The vacant eyes of the child burned themselves into his mind.
Ye Yuetang stood a short distance away, her expression as cold as frost. Her gaze swept once across the pot, once across the hysterically laughing villager cornered nearby, and finally settled on Chang Le's shaking figure.
She appeared composed.
But her lips were pale, and the air around her felt several degrees colder than usual.
"W-why…" Chang Le's voice scraped from his throat. "This is outside Wuyou City… at the foot of Pudu Mountain. How can this happen?"
From the shadow of a clay hut came a voice so frail it seemed it might break mid-breath.
"If you cannot bear to see… then leave. Don't ask so much…"
An old man emerged, skin clinging to bone, leaning on a crooked cane. The village head of Tiantou Village.
"Old sir!" Chang Le tried to stand but his legs refused to cooperate. "What happened? That—"
The old man's cloudy eyes held no light.
"Gone," he rasped. "All gone. Last year, demon insects came. Black clouds covered the sky. By dawn… not a grain left in the fields."
He paused to cough.
"Seed grain eaten. The Immortal Sect? Why would they care if ants live or die? People starved. Too many to bury."
Chang Le felt something cold crawl along his spine. "You could hunt. There are beasts in the mountains."
The old man's expression twisted.
"Hunt? Without grain, you go into the mountains every day. Tigers. Demon wolves. Go often enough and you will meet them. Wang's family. Li's son. Good hunters. None came back. Not even bones."
Chang Le turned toward the distant brilliance of Wuyou City, its radiant towers rising like a promise.
"What about the city?" he whispered. "The Immortal lords… couldn't they help? Even a little?"
The old man followed his gaze.
Then he asked quietly:
"When you walk, do you notice the ant crawling toward your foot?"
…
Chang Le could not answer.
The chill in his chest spread outward until his limbs felt numb.
Immortals cultivated for themselves. For longevity. For transcendence.
Who cared about the dust beneath their feet?
Ye Yuetang tugged at his sleeve.
"Let's go."
Back in their rented courtyard, Chang Le fell into silence.
For days he lay staring at the ceiling beams, food untouched beside his bed. The clever light in his eyes dulled to gray.
Tiantou Village replayed in his mind endlessly—the cauldron, the old man's question, the splendor of Wuyou City towering above it all.
For the first time, he understood.
Cultivation was not romance.
It was devouring.
Ye Yuetang watched him quietly. Though aloof by nature, she was not heartless. This broken, listless Chang Le was not the roguish Medicine Boy she knew.
One afternoon, she set a bowl of spirit-rice porridge beside him.
"The pill toxin inside you," she said evenly. "Has it flared again?"
Chang Le blinked.
"If you still need… purging," she added, gaze shifting away, "I can help."
He shot upright as if struck by lightning.
"Need it! Desperately!" he blurted, scrambling forward. "Yuetang, I knew you cared—"
And then—
Nothing.
He froze.
No response whatsoever.
Cold sweat drenched his back.
Not now. Not at this critical moment.
The more frantic his thoughts became, the worse it grew. Absolute silence below the waist.
Ye Yuetang waited. Then frowned faintly.
"Perhaps," Chang Le stammered, red-faced, "my injuries haven't healed. Or that Five-Second True Man pill damaged… the root. Yes. That must be it."
Ye Yuetang did not laugh.
"If so," she said gently, pushing the bowl toward him, "rest. And stop overthinking."
He drank the porridge.
Halfway through, he muttered quietly, "This world is wrong."
She paused.
But did not argue.
Life resumed.
They took missions. Earned spirit stones. Bought the cheapest herbs available.
Chang Le fed them all into the System.
The results were… questionable.
Running speed increased—
But only backward.
Vision sharpened—
But only behind his own rear.
Eloquence improved—
But he could only speak in tongue twisters.
He swallowed them anyway.
Industrial waste was still better than nothing.
Then one day—
The System's virtual cauldron erupted in golden light.
A pill formed, deep blue as a star-filled sky, Dao patterns swirling across its surface.
[Effect: Gain Peerless-Grade Water Spiritual Root]
[Side Effect: Scatter cultivation and restart]
Chang Le's heart pounded.
Peerless grade.
One in ten thousand.
To others, the side effect meant destruction.
To Ye Yuetang?
It was liberation.
Without hesitation, he rushed to her.
"Trust me," he said, eyes blazing.
She did.
The pill dissolved the moment it touched her tongue.
Cool power flooded her body—
And then violently tore apart her cultivation.
Golden Core shattered. Foundation Establishment collapsed. Spiritual energy vanished.
She coughed blood, aura reduced to mortal.
Chang Le caught her.
"It must destroy to rebuild," he said quickly. "Old foundations must fall."
He could already feel it—the birth of a flawless water root.
Soon after, they brought her to Pudu Mountain's disciple selection.
When her hand touched the Spirit-testing Stone—
The plaza exploded in blue light.
"Peerless water root!"
A peak lord descended from the sky.
One sentence changed everything.
"Will you become my personal disciple?"
Ye Yuetang bowed.
She only made one request:
"Allow my Medicine Boy to follow."
Granted.
Pudu Mountain rose like a heavenly kingdom among the clouds.
From above, the crowds below looked like ants.
Chang Le watched quietly.
"With talent, chickens and dogs ascend," he murmured. "Without it, you're less than dust."
Now settled at Qingxi Peak, Ye Yuetang collected her resources.
Chang Le slipped into his room and refined another pill.
This time—
[Primary Effect: Increased affinity with water spells]
[Side Effect: Cannot learn fire techniques]
He grinned.
Balanced materials produced balanced results.
He needed more herbs.
More experiments.
More refinement.
And as for Ye Yuetang…
Now that his side effects had passed and he held something truly valuable—
Surely this time, she would not refuse.