Jiang Chen returned to the laboratory, carrying the jar of Ghost Fire Oil and the crate of bone dust. He walked slowly, his mind racing faster than his feet.
'The array vents every hour for 0.3 seconds. I have to time it perfectly. If I'm a millisecond late, I'm ash.'
He placed the ingredients on the stone table.
"Excellent," Elder Han crooned, not even looking up from his cauldron. He was boiling something that smelled like burning hair. "You are efficient. Unlike the last servant, who tripped and spilled my Wyvern Blood. He made a nice fertilizer, though."
Jiang Chen bowed, keeping his expression blank. "Is there anything else, Elder?"
Elder Han stopped stirring. He turned around, wiping his hands on a stained rag. His expression was manic, almost giddy.
"Actually, yes. You should rest. Eat well tonight."
Han walked over and patted Jiang Chen's shoulder.
"Tomorrow is a big day. The Grand Elder is coming to inspect my work. He has been looking for a vessel capable of withstanding the Heaven-Earth Rebirth Pill."
Jiang Chen's blood ran cold.
Rebirth Pill? That sounded like a pill that erased the soul to make room for a new one.
"Grand Elder?" Jiang Chen asked, feigning awe.
"Yes," Han grinned. "If you pass his inspection, we will begin the final refinement immediately. You will be stripped, boiled in medicinal soup, and then... processed."
Processed.
The word hung in the air like a guillotine blade.
"I... I am honored," Jiang Chen stammered.
"Go to your cell," Han waved his hand. "Meditate. Keep your Qi calm. I don't want the meat to be sour."
The Holding Cell
Jiang Chen's "room" was a stone cell cut into the rock wall of the laboratory. It had a bed, a bucket, and a heavy iron door with no handle on the inside.
He sat on the bed. The silence was deafening.
"Tomorrow," Jiang Chen whispered. "I die tomorrow."
[Fact: Host survival probability upon "Processing" is 0%.]
[Conclusion: Escape is mandatory.]
"I can't just escape," Jiang Chen paced the small cell. "The sect is filled with experts. If I run, they'll catch me. I need power. Overwhelming power."
He thought of the Black Door. The Pill Vault.
"System, if I get inside the Vault... how do I carry the pills? I don't have a Spatial Bag. I can't stuff 10,000 pills into my robe."
[Solution: You do not need to carry them. You need to Devour them.]
[Proposed Strategy: "Void Stomach."]
[The System can temporarily suspend digestion, storing raw biomass and energy within the Void Space of the Serpent. Capacity is limited only by the host's mental endurance.]
Jiang Chen stopped pacing. "I can eat them all? In one go?"
[Affirmative. It will be painful. But it will be fast.]
Jiang Chen nodded. The plan was forming.
The Distraction: Tomorrow morning, when the Grand Elder arrives, Elder Han will be distracted. That is the only time the lab security might be lax.
The Infiltration: Sneak back into the Storage Room. The Heist: Enter the Vault during the 0.3-second vent window. Eat everything.
The Escape: Use the energy to blast a hole in the mountain or fight his way out. Use the Mask of the Faceless to disappear into the chaos.
"It's suicide," Jiang Chen muttered. "But staying here is execution."
He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
He checked his Status one last time.
[EV: 11]
[Strength: 5.0]
[Spirit: 2.8]
"System," Jiang Chen asked. "Do you have a clock?"
[Affirmative. Synchronizing with Alchemy Array venting cycle.]
[Next vent in: 48 minutes.]
Jiang Chen lay back against the cold stone wall. He didn't sleep. He watched the darkness, listening to the rhythmic bubbling of the cauldrons outside his door.
Every bubble was a second ticking away from his life.
"Grand Elder..." Jiang Chen's eyes narrowed, glowing with a faint, slit-pupiled light. "You want to inspect me? Come. I'll show you what a real monster looks like."
The Next Morning
The sun hadn't even risen when the commotion started.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the laboratory. The sound of disciples shouting orders. The cleaning of floors. Elder Han was frantic.
"Clean that stain! The Grand Elder hates dust!" Han screeched. "Where is the tea? Is the specimen ready?"
The iron door to Jiang Chen's cell swung open.
A disciple stood there. "Get up, trash. Elder Han wants you in the main hall. Now."
Jiang Chen stood up. He smoothed his robes. He looked calm.
"Lead the way," he said.
As he walked out, he glanced at the Storage Room door. It was closed, but unguarded. Everyone was too busy panicking about the VIP guest.
'Not yet,' Jiang Chen told himself. 'Wait for the big man.'
He walked into the main lab. Elder Han was wearing his ceremonial robes, looking nervous.
"Stand there," Han pointed to a circle of runes painted on the floor. "Do not speak unless spoken to. Do not move. If you embarrass me, I will skin you alive."
"Yes, Elder."
Jiang Chen stepped into the circle.
BOOM.
The main doors of the laboratory blew open.
A gust of wind swept through the room, extinguishing the candles. A figure floated in, suspended on a cloud of golden Qi.
He was ancient. His skin was like dried parchment, but his eyes shone like stars. The pressure radiating from him was suffocating.
Grand Elder Feng. Foundation Establishment (Peak). Half a step into the Golden Core realm.
"Han," the Grand Elder's voice was like grinding stones. "Show me the vessel."
Elder Han bowed so low his head hit the floor. "Here, Grand Elder! This is Jiang Chen!"
Grand Elder Feng floated closer. He looked at Jiang Chen. His spiritual sense swept over Jiang Chen's body like an X-ray scanner.
Jiang Chen held his breath. [Serpent's Breath] was working overtime to hide his cultivation, masking his Layer 2 energy as mere physical vitality.
"Hmm," Grand Elder Feng grunted. "Strong bones. Resilient organs. But..."
He frowned. "His soul feels... strange. Cold."
Jiang Chen's heart stopped.
"Perhaps the Soul-Rot Pill left a residue," Elder Han interjected quickly, sweating.
"Perhaps," the Grand Elder narrowed his eyes. "Boy. Come here. Let me touch your forehead."
Jiang Chen looked at the withered hand reaching for him. If that hand touched him, the Grand Elder would see everything. The System. The Serpent. The Void.
[Alert: Critical Threat.]
[Action Required: Initiate Plan NOW.]
Jiang Chen looked at the timer in his vision.
[Venting Cycle: in 10 seconds.]
Jiang Chen smiled.
"Elder," Jiang Chen said, stepping back. "I think... I left the stove on."
"What?" Grand Elder Feng blinked.
Jiang Chen turned and bolted.
He didn't run toward the exit. He ran straight toward the furnace room.
"Stop him!" Elder Han shrieked.
"Insolence!" The Grand Elder raised his hand, a blade of wind forming at his fingertips.
But Jiang Chen was already moving with 3.0 Agility. He slid under a table, kicked a cauldron of boiling acid over to create a wall of smoke, and dived through the door of the Storage Room.
He slammed the door and locked it with the key he had stolen.
"He locked himself in?" Elder Han shouted from outside. "Fool! There is no exit!"
Inside the storage room, Jiang Chen sprinted toward the Black Door.
[Venting in: 3... 2...]
He could hear the Grand Elder blasting the storage door behind him. BOOM! The metal buckled.
Jiang Chen stood before the obsidian barrier. It was humming with red death.
[1...]
The red light flickered. For a fraction of a second, the energy current paused.
[GO!]
Jiang Chen didn't hesitate. He threw himself through the barrier.
He felt a searing heat singe his robes, a static shock that nearly stopped his heart—but he passed through.
He rolled onto the floor on the other side.
He was in.
The Great Pill Vault.
Rows upon rows of jade shelves stretched up to the ceiling. Thousands of bottles glowing with gold, blue, and crimson light. The air was so thick with medicinal aroma that just breathing it gave him 1 EV.
Outside, the storage door exploded inward.
"Where is he?!" The Grand Elder roared.
Jiang Chen stood up, looking at the buffet before him. His eyes turned into vertical golden slits. His jaw unhinged slightly.
"Time to eat."