51: Deadly Conscription

Zhou Wannian sat cross-legged, every pore on his body greedily breathing. The ten bottles of array core spiritual liquid he had "borrowed" from the Chen Family's sewers were already mostly consumed.

"Burp..."

As the last stream of warmth flowed into his Dantian, Zhou Wannian couldn't help but let out a satiated burp that smelled of Spiritual Qi.

Qi Refining Fifth Layer, Perfection!

He was just one step away from stepping into the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

"Is this the pleasure of pay-to-win... no, pay-with-life cultivation?"

Zhou Wannian felt the mana surging through his Meridians and felt a secret thrill. This spiritual liquid was the essence extracted from thousands of Loose Cultivators by the Chen Family's Formation; though purified by the Formation, it still carried a faint, restless aura of blood-fiend.

Only a freak like him, who had practiced the Turtle Breathing Technique and dealt with "underworld Talismans" year-round, would dare to swallow it raw like this. Any ordinary Cultivator would likely have suffered Qi Deviation by now, hallucinating themselves as the Chen Family Old Ancestor's grandson.

"My cultivation has risen; next, it's time to deal with this hot potato."

Zhou Wannian turned his gaze toward the corner of the table.

There lay a severed arm wrapped in layers of Talisman paper, along with that simple, ancient ring engraved with the character "Chen."

This was the "trash" he had conveniently swiped yesterday.

He didn't touch it directly. Instead, he controlled the Second-Tier Poison Thunder Drill from a distance to cautiously pry open the ring.

There was no storage space.

This wasn't a storage ring, but a... Formation Core Dharma Ring.

The inner wall of the ring was covered in miniature "Soul-Locking Patterns," and it possessed an extremely tight resonant connection with the Chen Family's main underground Spiritual Vein.

"Soul-locking... vein-linking..."

Zhou Wannian toyed with the ring, a flash of realization in his eyes. "So that's how it is. That old monster of the Chen Family never had any possibility of resurrection."

"The purpose of this ring isn't protection, but imprisonment."

"The current high-ranking members of the Chen Family are using this ring to forcibly lock their ancestor's remnant Soul within a rotting corpse, using him as a 'living Formation core' or a 'human battery'!"

"Ruthless. Truly fucking ruthless."

Zhou Wannian smacked his lips.

This Chen Family was truly "filial" enough to move the heavens. For the sake of the Family's continuation (or rather, for certain individuals' ambitions), they wouldn't even let their ancestor's corpse rest, forcing him into eternal damnation to suffer the torment of blood-fiend backlash in this half-dead state.

No wonder that severed arm had rotted and fallen off; it was the collapse of the corpse itself and the resistance of the Soul.

"This thing will be useful to keep."

Zhou Wannian sealed the ring into a specially made lead box. "If that old monster ever loses control, this ring might just be the last straw that breaks him."

As for that severed arm... he burned it to ash and flushed it down the toilet—good riddance... Having finished cleaning up, Zhou Wannian had just stepped out of the secret room when he felt the ground beneath his feet tremble slightly.

It wasn't an earthquake.

It was a violent fluctuation in the Spiritual Qi concentration of the entire Inner District.

Immediately after, noisy clamoring and urgent gong strikes echoed from outside.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

"Emergency conscription! All Alchemists, weapon smiths, and Formation masters of First-Tier Medium Grade and above, assemble at the General Affairs Hall immediately!"

"Defiers shall be executed!"

The voice carried a panicked, exasperated irritation.

Zhou Wannian raised an eyebrow.

It seemed his "oil-stealing" operation from last night had taken effect.

A massive amount of array core spiritual liquid had been lost, and the Time-Delayed Explosion Talisman he had stuffed into the sewage outlet had likely just detonated, causing a problem in one of the Chen Family Formation's circulation nodes.

The current Chen Family was like a high-speed engine that had suddenly sprung an oil leak, desperately needing "repairmen" to fill the holes.

"Fortunately, I registered as a Talisman Master."

Zhou Wannian calmly poured himself a cup of tea.

Talisman Masters belonged to "logistics ammunition production"; they usually drew Talismans in the rear and didn't have to go to the front lines to repair Formations or refine those godforsaken blood pills.

But his neighbor wasn't so lucky.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Violent pounding on the door came from outside the courtyard wall to his left.

"Tang Ruyan! Don't play dead! You're on the General Affairs Hall's list!"

"An Alchemist is exactly the talent the front line needs! Get the hell out here!"

Several fierce Cultivators from the Chen Family Enforcement Team were kicking the gate of Yard No. 87, Jia Block.

Inside the courtyard, Tang Ruyan was huddled in a corner, clutching an unfinished Pill Furnace, her face pale as paper and her whole body trembling.

She was an Alchemy fanatic, but she wasn't stupid.

Being conscripted to "assist in Alchemy" at the front lines at a time like this was essentially being used as a consumable. She had heard that last night, several Alchemists had been thrown into the blood pool by crazed Chen Family Elders to "consecrate the flags" simply because their furnaces exploded.

"I'm not going... I don't want to die..."

Tang Ruyan muttered to herself, her eyes filled with despair.

Just then.

"Ahem."

A familiar and gentle voice drifted over lightly from across the courtyard wall.

"Fellow Daoist Tang, do you need 'special cleaning services'?"

Tang Ruyan snapped her head up like a drowning person catching a straw. She scrambled to the wall and shouted in a hushed voice:

"Old Zhou! Save me! I have money! I have pills! As long as I don't have to go to the front, I'll give you anything!"

"Talking about money hurts our feelings."

Zhou Wannian's voice remained unhurried. "I'm doing this for the sake of us being neighbors. However, this is quite a big favor; you'll have to pay extra."

"I'll pay! Double!" Tang Ruyan didn't hesitate.

"Easy enough."

Before he finished speaking, a crumpled Talisman drifted over the wall, landing right in Tang Ruyan's hand.

A distorted humanoid figure was drawn on the Talisman, emitting a faint scent of blood.

"This is a modified 'Injury Substitution Talisman,' commonly known as the 'Occupational Disease Talisman.'"

Zhou Wannian's voice came through. "Stick it on your chest, and then... explode the furnace."

"Explode the furnace?" Tang Ruyan was stunned.

"Yes, use your best skills and make it explode as loudly and miserably as possible. This Talisman will convert the impact of the furnace explosion into a seemingly terrifying 'internal injury,' making you cough up three pints of blood and causing your Meridians to go haywire. You'll look like you're one breath away from death, but in reality, it's just a flesh wound."

"Remember, you have to act the part."

Tang Ruyan looked at the Talisman in her hand, then heard the increasingly violent pounding on the door; a flash of ruthlessness crossed her eyes.

Compared to being dragged off as a consumable, what was a furnace explosion?

"Old Zhou, thanks!"

She ripped the protective jade pendant from her chest and slapped the Talisman on. Then, she picked up the Pill Furnace beside her, ignoring whatever was inside, and frantically injected Spiritual Qi, even tossing in a handful of explosive "Blazing Sun Stones."

"For this old lady... BLOW!!!"

...The Law Enforcement Team Cultivators outside were just about to break down the door.

Suddenly.

BOOM—!!!

An earth-shattering explosion directly blew the roof off Yard No. 87, Jia Block.

A thick plume of black smoke accompanied by red flames shot into the sky, and the massive shockwave knocked the two Law Enforcement Team Cultivators at the door off their feet.

"Cough, cough, cough! What's the situation? An enemy attack?"

The lead Cultivator scrambled up, face covered in dust, and drew his sword to charge in.

Just then, a shrill, agonizing scream echoed from the ruins.

"My pills... my hands..."

Tang Ruyan was seen covered in blood (mostly faked by the Talisman), her hair charred black, slumped limply beside the shattered Pill Furnace. While spitting out black blood mixed with bits of internal organs (actually pig lungs), she was still neurotically grasping at the void.

"Exploded... exploded again... truth... truth lives forever in the explosion..."

Her eyes rolled back, her body twitched, and her aura was a complete mess, as if all her Meridians had been snapped.

The Law Enforcement leader rushed over, swept her with his Divine Sense, and immediately covered his nose with a look of bad luck.

"Dammit, she's crippled."

"Meridians shattered, mind lost—this is a typical furnace explosion backlash; she's suffered Qi Deviation."

"This crazy woman, she didn't explode earlier or later, she had to explode right now!"

The leader cursed and kicked a nearby stone. "Let's go! To the next house! Taking this person back is just a waste of Spirit Medicine; let her fend for herself!"

For the Chen Family, they wanted tools that could work, not useless baggage that needed looking after.

Watching the Law Enforcement Team walk away while cursing, Tang Ruyan, who was hiding in the ruins playing dead, quietly opened one eye.

Although it really hurt (after all, the furnace really did explode) and her image was completely ruined, she had survived.

"Phew..."

She let out a long breath and looked at the perfectly intact courtyard wall next door, her eyes full of gratitude and awe.

"Old Zhou... he's someone worth knowing."

"But the smell of this Talisman... why does it smell a bit like pig intestines?"

...Next door, Yard No. 88, Ding Block.

Zhou Wannian withdrew his Divine Sense and calmly sipped his tea.

"Done."

"The neighbor on the left is crippled (faked), and the neighbor on the right is sick (fake). Now, in this Ding Alley, I'm the only 'healthy' honest man left."

"This is for the best; it saves people from bothering me while I do business."

He stood up, preparing to go check on the shop.

Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet vibrated again.

This time, it was more violent than any time before.

That wasn't a Spiritual Qi fluctuation, but a literal... physical impact!

BOOM—!!!

A dull thud of impact came from the direction of the market's outskirts; even through the layers of Formations in the Inner District, it still made people's hearts tremble.

Zhou Wannian snapped his head up toward the sky.

He saw a massive ripple spread across the crimson protective Formation light screen of the market.

And at the center of the ripple, a giant flying ship flying a black skull flag was faintly visible, frantically ramming the Formation!

"Black Wind Stockade... is attacking the city."

Zhou Wannian's eyes narrowed.

Old Mute's intelligence was correct.

The timing was perfect.

"The chaotic times have officially begun."

Zhou Wannian put down his teacup and turned to walk into the shop.

He didn't close the door; instead, he threw it wide open.

Then, he took out a new wooden sign he had prepared long ago and hung it out:

[Wartime Special: Talisman prices increased. Also buying various Magical Artifact fragments and corpse Materials (Yao Beasts only, ahem) at high prices.]

"Everyone, welcome to Wannian Talisman Shop."

Zhou Wannian stood behind the counter, a smile full of anticipation—the characteristic look of a profiteer—appearing on his face.

"Our carnival has begun."