The Vault of Failures.
That's what the disciples called it.
It was a cold, stone basement beneath the Guild. It didn't smell like money. It smelled of sulfur, ash, and volatile chemical reactions.
Guild Master Zhu unlocked the heavy steel door.
"Here," Zhu wheezed. leaning on his cane. "Thirty years of mistakes. Failed pills. Corrupted herbs. Exploded furnace slag. Take what you want. It's all poisonous anyway."
Kaelen stepped inside.
The room was filled with crates. Some were glowing with radioactive green light. Others leaked black sludge.
Kaelen took a deep breath.
He smiled.
To an orthodox cultivator, this room was a death trap.
To a Demon Lord, it was a buffet.
"Wait outside," Kaelen ordered.
"But—"
"Outside."
Zhu hesitated. Then he bowed slightly and retreated, closing the door.
Kaelen walked to the nearest crate. He picked up a handful of black, charred roots.
> **[Item Analysis]**
> **Name:** Scorched Spirit Root.
> **Status:** Corrupted by Fire Qi.
> **Toxicity:** High.
"Delicious."
Kaelen squeezed the root.
**Heaven-Devouring Scripture.**
*Whoosh.*
The black corruption flowed out of the root and into his palm. It didn't hurt. It felt like drinking hot coffee on a cold day.
> **[Energy Absorbed]**
> **[Fire Resistance +1%]**
He threw the purified (and now useless) dust aside.
He moved deeper into the room. He didn't just want energy. He wanted materials.
He stopped in front of a lead box in the corner. It was covered in warning talismans.
"System. Scan."
> **[Target Detected]**
> **Name:** Blood-Rot Orchid.
> **Grade:** Earth Tier (High).
> **Effect:** Dissolves flesh upon contact.
> **Usage:** Poison.
Kaelen grinned.
"Earth Tier."
In Silver City, a "Human Tier" herb cost 100 stones. An "Earth Tier"? It was priceless. The Guild had thrown it away because they couldn't touch it without dying.
Kaelen opened the box.
A red flower pulsed inside like a beating heart. The air around it sizzled.
Kaelen reached out. His hand coated in a thin layer of his new Qi.
He grabbed it.
*Sizzle.*
His skin blistered slightly. The System deleted the pain.
He shoved the deadly flower into his spatial pouch.
"I can make a bomb with this," he mused.
He spent twenty minutes looting. By the time he was done, his spatial pouch was full of high-grade poisons, volatile minerals, and corrupted ores.
He walked out.
Zhu was waiting. Sweating. Clutching his chest. The Fire Poison was flaring up.
"Did you... find anything?" Zhu asked weaky.
"Enough," Kaelen said.
He walked up to the old man.
"Sit down. Shirt off."
Zhu obeyed. His chest was covered in black veins that pulsed with heat. The Fire Poison was attacking his heart.
"This will hurt," Kaelen said. He didn't sound sorry.
"I can take it," Zhu gritted his teeth. "Just cure me."
Kaelen placed his hand directly over Zhu's heart.
He didn't use needles. He didn't use herbs.
He used himself.
**Heaven-Devouring Scripture: Siphon Mode.**
*PULL.*
Zhu screamed.
It wasn't a normal scream. It was the sound of a soul being scraped.
To Zhu, it felt like Kaelen was ripping his heart out through his ribcage.
But to Kaelen?
It was a feast.
The Fire Poison—accumulated over sixty years of alchemy—rushed into Kaelen's body. It was dense. Potent.
It slammed into Kaelen's meridians.
> **[High-Density Fire Qi Detected]**
> **[Assimilation in progress...]**
> **[cultivation Rising...]**
Kaelen's skin turned red. Steam rose from his shoulders.
The energy was violent. It tried to burn him from the inside.
But Kaelen's soul was vast. He crushed the rebellious energy. He forced it to submit. He packed it into his muscles. Into his bones.
*Body Refining Stage 5 (Mid).*
*Stage 5 (Peak).*
*Stage 6.*
*BOOM.*
A shockwave of heat blasted through the hallway.
Kaelen released Zhu.
The old man collapsed, gasping. He touched his chest.
The black veins were gone.
His breathing was deep. Clear.
"Gone..." Zhu whispered. Tears streamed down his face. "Sixty years of pain... gone."
He looked up at Kaelen.
He expected to see a savior. A benevolent healer.
Instead, he saw a monster.
Kaelen stood there. His shirt had burned away, revealing a torso of lean, steel-like muscle. His veins glowed with a faint magma-orange light before fading back to normal.
Kaelen cracked his neck.
"Thanks for the meal," Kaelen said.
Zhu froze. "Meal?"
"The poison," Kaelen said, putting on a fresh robe from his pouch. "It was spicy."
Zhu trembled. He realized then that he hadn't made a deal with a doctor. He had made a deal with a devil.
But he was alive.
Zhu scrambled to his knees. He pressed his forehead to the floor.
"Thank you... Young Master Vane. The Alchemy Guild owes you a life debt."
Kaelen looked down at the most powerful man in the city bowing at his feet.
"I don't want a debt," Kaelen said.
He threw a list of materials on the floor.
"I want these. Delivered to the Vane Manor. Tonight."
Zhu grabbed the paper. "Yes. Yes, of course."
Kaelen turned and walked away.
He checked his status.
> **[Status]**
> **Cultivation:** Body Refining Stage 6 (Early).
> **Physical Trait Acquired:** Minor Fire Resistance.
Stage 6.
He was now equal to Thorne.
"No," Kaelen corrected himself as he walked out into the blinding midday sun.
"Thorne is a Stage 6 mortal."
Kaelen clenched his fist. The air distorted around his hand.
"I am a Stage 6 calamity."