Elder Tang’s son was gentle and understanding. He looked more graceful after putting on the monk’s robe. If one could ignore the human heads growing out of his body, he could be considered a handsome intellectual.
“Your divine destiny is…” Gao Ming hadn’t figured out what to say when the young man shrugged casually.
“The mortal skin is nothing but a shell. It dissolves into dust in the flick of a finger. Only the heart of Dao is as strong as a diamond. When the soul enters the divine palace, it’ll achieve permanence.” Elder Tang’s son had reached enlightenment. His understanding of Dao was greater than that of the villagers and paper dolls on the first floor.
“This child cannot be saved. He has been fully assimilated.” Fu Shu grumbled in Gao Ming’s ears. “Don’t waste time with him. We’re going to the third floor.”
Gao Ming looked around and saw robed people sitting around the pill furnaces. Even further away, there were people moving through the different pill rooms. They entered the rooms to take the ingredients based on the prescriptions given but whenever they left a room, something would be missing from their bodies.
“Friend, are you looking for the path to the third floor?” The young man was very friendly. He pointed at the giant furnace in the middle of the room. “The path is inside the furnace. If you can cultivate the pill of enlightenment, the path will be shown to you. That was how my father went upstairs. Or you could learn from the town’s butcher. He sacrificed his body to the furnace and used endless external objects to cultivate his body. He also found the path.”
Neither of the paths sounded good to Gao Ming. He felt like there had to be another way, “What about the others? Where is the night-watcher?”
“I don’t know about the others.” The young man kindly showed Gao Ming around, “Those are the pill rooms. You are free to pick any ingredients you require. However, do not enter the black room inside the pill room. That is the room that reeks.”
“Thank you. I think we’ll take a look around on our own.” Gao Ming noticed the young man was silently getting close to them. He seemed to want to steal Gao Ming’s body. Gao Ming quickly left with Bai Feng.
“Friend, wait. I have some pill-refining lessons. I can share them with you.” Elder Tang’s son chased after Gao Ming. When they ran past the giant furnace, a light scent of blood came from the furnace. Then, a purple flame emerged from the furnace. A horrible scream echoed from within.
It sounded like someone was ramming their head into the furnace walls. The person didn’t hold back because the giant furnace started to shake.
“Kill me! This is so painful! I don’t want to do this anymore! Please kill me!”
The purple fire burned. Eventually, the screaming turned into crazed laughing. Slowly, the laughter became relaxed and gentle. The furnace stopped vibrating. Golden patterns surfaced. It was time. The furnace door opened. The thick pill fragrance swept through the venue. The second floor became warmer.
“Such a phenomena after refinement! That friend’s refined pill has to be amazing!” Elder Tang’s son was too distracted by the fragrance to chase after Gao Ming. He turned around to stare at the furnace. There were many others like him.
“I’ve spent my life to guard the plaques for you. I didn’t expect this eye-opening experience at the end of my life!” The voice in the furnace sounded old but cunning. An elder covered in purple fire scars slowly walked out of the furnace. He was naked. The pill patterns branded on his skin intertwined to form a picture of the galaxy.
“Ceremony master?” Gao Ming recognised the man easily. He encountered him when Gao Ming accosted the Dream Priest. “Is the Dream Priest here too?”
“Old master, have you succeeded in your cultivation?” Elder Tang’s son ran over impatiently. He bowed politely.
“I have not married. I spent most of my life in the ancestral hall. Every day and night, I accompanied the day. Even though my life is boring, I have a pure heart.” The old man pulled on his beard. He was about to die originally, but he had aged backwards. His physique became better than most youth. “I have nothing to hold me back. I used my Dao Heart to refine the pill, and I have succeeded.”
“You lie! I can sense the Tang Family’s bloodline in you!” A human head near Elder Tang’s son’s shoulder suddenly shouted.
“Yes. He is a bastard. He used the offerings many families have given to our ancestors to refine his pill. He spent his life at the ancestral hall because he had been stealing all of our offered sacrifices!” Behind the furnace door, a half-melted face appeared. He tried to crawl out, but his body had been fully ruined. It became a pool of wiggling, black water. Only the ceremony master had succeeded in this batch of ‘medicine’.
“I know my friends will not believe in the words of an abandoned pill.” The ceremony master licked his lips and hurried towards the pill room.
“The path to the third floor is inside the furnace. Where are you going?” A robed villager stopped him.
“Is it because you haven’t really found the path to lead you upstairs?” A human head on Elder Tang’s son’s calf accused, “The abandoned pill might be right! You have been stealing the offerings the villagers gave our ancestors. You desecrated everyone’s faith!”
The ceremony master laughed until tears rolled down his eyes. “I’ve guarded the ancestral hall for the villagers all my life, and you’re calling me a thief?!” Original content can be found at novｅlfire.net
“You guarded it so that you could have an easier time stealing for it!”
“Do you have any proof?” The ceremony priest waved his hand. The pill scars invoked immortal air.
“Elder Tang has cursed our bloodline. Once I take a drink of your blood, I can tell if you have offered our Tang Family’s plaques up for pill refinement.”
Gao Ming frowned when he heard that. The children from the Tang Family didn’t really care about their ancestors, but they wanted to drink the old man’s blood. More people surrounded the Ceremony Master.
The Ceremony Master was cornered. He had no choice but to extend his hand. “The innocent has nothing to fear. I’ve guarded your ancestral hall for life and have never asked for anything. I didn’t expect all of you to stop me the moment I took my first step towards godhood. People like you want to ascend?! Laughable!”
“Let me test you!” Elder Tang’s son strode forward. The ceremony master didn’t move. The son grabbed his arm. Elder Tang was transfixed when he saw the palm that radiated pill fragrance. He looked at the pill patterns with fascination. His mouth watered, and saliva leaked out of his mouth.
The greed inside his clear eyes couldn’t be hidden anymore. He opened his jaw and bit down!
The delicious blood splashed everywhere. Elder Tang’s son was like a man in the desert who had found water. The heads in his body lost control. They bit at the ceremony master.
The scary thing was the others didn’t think this was gory. In contrast, they rushed towards the ceremony master!
Their expressions were as detached as before. Their robes were spotless. However, they grabbed the ceremony master like the latter was not a person but a walking medicine!