I'll Slaughter My Way to Immortality on the Bones of Betrayers - Chapter 18:

Chapter 18: If You Want to Die, Just Charge In!

Lu Hengge hadn’t stepped out. He was waiting. Given Ye Feng’s cautious nature, since he had sent someone to assassinate him, he would definitely come check in person to confirm whether the assassination succeeded.

As for Mo Hu, she had already left the wooden hut. She hadn’t wanted to leave, but Lu Hengge had forced her to go. For someone from the demon race, staying in the Three Thousand Dao Sect was far too dangerous. One careless misstep, and it would mean death with no hope of reincarnation. Mo Hu was indeed a bit proud and temperamental, but most of the time, she was obedient to Lu Hengge. Only after he repeatedly assured her that he would be fine did she reluctantly leave.

After cultivating sword bones and copper skin and comprehending the essence of the Sword Heart, Lu Hengge could finally leave the sect. Ultimately, it was because the Sword Prison was too important.

“In nine more days, after I visit Elder Yao at the Pill Hall, I’ll enter the Sword Prison!” Lu Hengge was already eager to go, but because of the ten-day agreement, he had to endure a bit longer.

By noon, Lu Hengge was starting to get impatient. Ye Feng and Qiu Liu really were slow!

Suddenly, a thought struck him. “Today is the pill distribution day. Those two idiots are probably at the Pill Hall.” No wonder they were taking so long. Given Elder Yao’s temper, those two were likely not even allowed through the doors.

That thought instantly lifted Lu Hengge’s mood.

…

At the Pill Hall, the place was packed and buzzing with noise. All the disciples who had come to receive pills were blocked outside the main gate—no one could enter. The clamor was deafening.

The young pill apprentice guarding the gate was in a tough spot. Yesterday, he had tried to report the strange behavior of the Holy Son and Elder Yao to the sect master, only to be told by other elders that the sect master was in seclusion. With no other choice, the apprentice had returned to the Pill Hall. Today’s chaos? It had been fully expected.

“Fellow disciples, please hear me out!” the apprentice shouted.

No one paid him any attention.

Alchemists held a high status, but a mere apprentice still in training had no real authority. The sect disciples simply ignored him.

Seeing this, the apprentice gave a bitter smile. These people were so fickle!

“Junior Brother Han, today is pill distribution day according to sect rules. What do you mean by saying there are no pills?”

“If the Pill Hall doesn’t distribute pills, where are we supposed to get cultivation resources?”

“I’ve reached a moment of enlightenment. I’m just one pill away from a breakthrough. Now you’re telling me there’s no distribution today? Are you kidding me?”

“Junior Brother Han, give us a proper explanation!”

“The Holy Son refined those pills. Is the Pill Hall trying to hoard them?!”

…

Voices of scolding and accusation filled the air, giving everyone a headache.

The pill apprentice couldn’t say a word in defense.

To be honest, there were pills. But the problem was, the Holy Son had stored them all in his own storage ring and had no intention of distributing them. How could they blame the Pill Hall for hoarding?

“Everyone, the issue is a serious shortage of herbs. Even if we wanted to refine pills, we simply didn’t have the ingredients,” the apprentice said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Technically, he wasn’t lying.

The Pill Hall’s medicinal resources came from three main sources. First was their own medicinal garden. In recent years, the garden had yielded poorly, and most sect disciples were aware of this. Second was the alchemists venturing out to gather herbs—but that depended entirely on luck. Even if you knew where a herb was, you might come back empty-handed. After all, others could steal it, or there might be a beast guarding it.

The third source was Pill Hall missions. Disciples could take herb-gathering tasks and be rewarded upon completion. But in recent years, very few were willing to take them. These missions required leaving the sect, which took time away from cultivation. They also carried high risk. One mistake and you’d be injured—lightly would delay training, heavily might leave a lasting wound.

Besides, after so many years, disciples had grown used to simply showing up and collecting pills. None had considered that one day, the Pill Hall might run out of ingredients…

As the shouting began to die down, the apprentice let out a long sigh of relief.

He had finally muddled through it!

But the very next moment, two people squeezed through the crowd.

Qiu Liu’s shrill voice rang out, “Our Three Thousand Dao Sect is the pinnacle of the Immortal Path. How could it possibly be short on herbs? This is clearly the Pill Hall trying to hoard the pills my senior brother refined!”

“Senior Brother Han, most of the pills in the Pill Hall were made by my senior brother. Whether there are herbs or not, he would know best. If you refuse to distribute them today and he hears of it, he’ll be furious.”

Ye Feng’s sickeningly sweet voice followed, making others nauseous.

The apprentice’s face froze. Crap! He had completely forgotten about these two walking disasters.

The next second, the crowd outside the gate burst into an even louder uproar.

“The Holy Son worked hard refining pills, and the Pill Hall just wants to keep them all!”

“When has the Three Thousand Dao Sect ever lacked herbs? Don’t insult our intelligence. We’ll report this to the Holy Son and the elders for judgment!”

“Where is the Holy Son?!”

“If you won’t distribute pills today, we’re not leaving.”

“The pills must be inside the Pill Hall! Let’s rush in and see for ourselves!”

The apprentice tried to calm everyone down, but it was no use. He was so frustrated he wanted to curse. If he weren’t weaker than the people before him, he would’ve slapped them all already.

The truth was, this decision to halt distribution had been made jointly by the Holy Son and Elder Yao. And yet everyone kept crying out for the Holy Son like infants crying for milk.

But the problem wasn’t that the mother had no milk—it was that she didn’t want to feed them!

Fine. Let them be.

With this many people forcing their way in, there was no way he could stop them.

The apprentice stepped aside.

The crowd was delighted. To them, the Pill Hall had just conceded.

Just as many were about to storm in, a celestial river descended from the sky above the Pill Hall. The air filled with a rich medicinal fragrance, and dazzling spiritual herbs floated within the river of starlight.

Everyone was stunned.

“Elder Yao!”

“That’s Elder Yao’s Xuantian Treasure Diagram!”

“One drop of water can revive the dead, one wisp of Qi can separate Yin and Yang!”

Under normal circumstances, they would’ve rejoiced. This descending river of stars was filled with treasures and opportunity.

But now, it was chilling.

Worse still, strands of black death Qi flowed within the river along with the herbs.

For cultivators, touching death Qi was akin to self-destruction.

The Xuantian Treasure Diagram could save—or kill.

And with a heaven-defying artifact like this, the line between saving and killing was blurred—it all depended on how its wielder wanted to use it.

“If you want to die, just charge in,” came Elder Yao’s voice. “I won’t stop you.”

His figure was nowhere to be seen, but the atmosphere froze over instantly.

At that moment, every disciple of the Three Thousand Dao Sect suddenly remembered just how terrifying someone half a step into the Great Ascension Realm truly was. This Pill Hall Master, usually so amiable, was not to be provoked.