The underground labor quarters were steeped in a heavy, suffocating silence long before the first bell of dawn. In the small, windowless stone cell, the air was stale, thick with the scent of damp moss, dried sweat, and the faint, lingering odor of sulfur that Railin had carried back from the lower annex.
While his two roommates snored fitfully on their thin straw pallets, Railin remained seated cross-legged in the furthest corner of the room. He sat in complete immortality-like stillness. His breathing was so slow, so shallow, that to any casual observer he would have appeared as nothing more than a corpse propped against the rough granite wall.
Within his body, however, a quiet transformation was taking place.
The crude Blood-Refine Bead he had synthesized and swallowed during his ordeal in the furnace room had fully dissolved in his stomach. The concentrated essence of the Blood-Nourishing Grass—stripped of its volatile toxins by his Ashen Devouring Qi—had bled into his bloodstream like liquid fire. It wasn't the violent, destructive heat of unrefined spirit herbs, but a deep, comforting warmth that saturated every fiber of his being.
Railin kept his eyes closed, directing his inner focus toward his dantian.
The shattered remnants of his meridians still looked like crushed porcelain, dark and useless. But surrounding those broken pathways, his muscle tissues were drinking in the refined blood energy. Microscopic tears in his flesh were knitting together with incredible speed. His bones, once frail and brittle from years of malnutrition and grueling labor, were becoming noticeably denser, taking on a subtle, metallic toughness.
My physical body is absorbing the essence far faster than I anticipated, Railin thought, his mind cold and analytical. Without whole meridians to channel spirit qi into formal cultivation realms, my physical vessel must become the container for my power. If I cannot cast magnificent sword techniques like the inner disciples, I will make my body an indestructible fortress.
He opened his hand beneath his wide sleeve. Lying against his palm were the remaining three failed pill cores he had harvested from the lower annex before Gu Kang's interruption.
They were rough, covered in blackened soot, and oozing faint traces of noxious vapor. To an ordinary alchemist, these were dangerous scraps of volatile waste, unfit even for low-grade spirit beasts. But to Railin, they were raw, unpolished diamonds waiting for his dark energy to cut away the surrounding rock.
Railin did not dare attempt to refine them inside the shared sleeping cell. The toxic fumes released during the extraction process, however small, would draw suspicion if his roommates woke up coughing blood. He needed privacy, time, and access to more waste.
GONG! GONG! GONG!
The harsh, heavy bronze bell at the central intersection of the labor quarters shattered the morning quiet. The deafening vibrations rattled the iron bars of the cells, instantly shocking the sleeping servants awake.
"Up! Get up, you useless dogs!"
A loud, coarse voice echoed down the stone corridor. It wasn't Overseer Lin's voice this time, but one of his lower-ranking assistant guards, banging a wooden truncheon against the doors.
Railin's roommates scrambled out of their straw beds with wide, panicked eyes, frantically adjusting their rags. Railin slipped the three failed pill cores deep into the secret folds of his tunic, smoothed down his frayed collar, and slowly stood up. He lowered his posture, letting his shoulders slump into the familiar, pathetic stance of an exhausted servant.
When the cell doors were unbolted, the labor disciples spilled out into the corridor like a herd of frightened cattle, forming a ragged line against the damp wall.
Railin stood near the back, his eyes downcast. As he walked past the assistant guard, he overheard two senior servants whispering frantically near the torchlight.
"...did you hear about Gu Kang?"
"Yeah! They say his shoulder joint was shattered into splinters! The healers at the outer infirmary had to pop it back in, but his tendons are completely torn. He won't be able to lift a bucket for at least two months!"
"How did it happen? Did he get attacked by a rogue beast in the lower levels?"
"No! Gu Kang claims he slipped on wet stone while chasing a rogue servant, but the guard who found him said his arm looked like it had been hit by a runaway iron carriage..."
Railin kept his expression completely blank, his footsteps soft and rhythmic. A faint, cold glint flickered deep within his dark eyes before vanishing instantly. Gu Kang's pride had forced him to lie. Admitting that he had ruined his own arm while trying to assault a broken cripple would have destroyed what little reputation he had left among the labor disciples. The lie served Railin perfectly.
The line of servants reached the central courtyard of the labor quarters—a vast, hollow cavern cut directly into the mountain rock. High above, narrow iron grates allowed thin, dusty shafts of pale morning sunlight to filter down through the gloom.
Standing atop a raised stone platform at the center of the courtyard was Overseer Lin.
The fat overseer looked even more foul-tempered than usual. His small, beady eyes swept over the gathered crowd of hundreds of servants like a hawk searching for prey. His thick hand gripped the handle of his iron staff so tightly that his knuckles were white.
Beside Overseer Lin stood the two muscular lackeys who had accompanied Gu Kang the previous night. They looked pale, nervously shifting their weight and darting trembling glances toward the back of the crowd—specifically searching for Railin.
"Silence!" Overseer Lin's voice boomed across the cavern, suppressed Spirit Refining Qi giving his tone an abrasive, ear-splitting weight.
The chaotic chatter among the servants instantly died out. Fear hung heavy in the damp air.
Overseer Lin stepped down from the platform, his heavy leather boots thudding against the flagstones as he slowly walked down the central aisle. The crowd of servants parted like water, heads bowed in terror.
Lin stopped directly in front of Railin.
The oppressive atmosphere around them thickened instantly. The surrounding servants held their breath, instinctively taking a half-step back to distance themselves from whatever wrath was about to descend.
Overseer Lin stared down at Railin for a long, agonizing moment. His eyes were narrowed into thin slits, scanning Railin's face, his ragged clothes, and his hands. He was looking for any sign of hidden strength, any trace of rebellion, or any physical injury that would explain the strange report he had received from the infirmary that morning.
Railin did not flinch. He kept his head lowered at the exact angle expected of a terrified servant, his breathing shallow, his frame appearing weak and trembling slightly as if intimidated by Lin's overwhelming presence.
"Railin," Lin said, his voice terrifyingly quiet.
"Overseer Lin," Railin replied rasily, keeping his tone submissive.
"Gu Kang is currently lying in the infirmary with a ruined shoulder," Lin said, stepping closer until the heavy, wine-stained heat of his breath washed over Railin's face. "He claims he slipped on the damp floor near the lower annex. But his two friends here..." Lin gestured backward with his iron staff without looking, "...claim that you were present when it happened."
The two lackeys behind Lin shuddered, lowering their heads even further.
Railin immediately dropped to one knee, clutching his hands together in feigned panic. "Overseer! Please have mercy! Brother Gu... Brother Gu was angry with me because I was slow in bringing the ash buckets out! He tried to kick me to teach me a lesson, but the floor near the annex was covered in slick water and chemical oil! I slipped to avoid the blow, and when Brother Gu missed, his momentum carried him full-force into the stone archway! I tried to catch him, but I was too weak!"
Railin's voice trembled with such authentic terror, such convincing helplessness, that several servants nearby cast glances of pity toward him.
Overseer Lin's jaw tightened. He glared at Railin's trembling shoulders, then turned his murderous gaze back to the two lackeys.
Lin was no fool, but he was incredibly arrogant. He knew Gu Kang was a reckless bully who often used brute force to steal rations. To Lin, the idea that Railin—a cripple whose meridians he had personally checked months ago and deemed completely shattered—could intentionally harm a senior labor disciple was utterly preposterous. A ant cannot break the leg of a dog; the dog simply stumbled over a rock.
Furthermore, if Lin publicly admitted that a cripple under his jurisdiction had somehow outmaneuvered his top enforcer, it would make Lin look like an incompetent fool in front of the lower administration.
"A clumsy pig and a useless dog," Lin spat, his eyes full of utter disgust. He slammed the butt of his iron staff onto the stone floor with a deafening BANG!
"Listen to me, all of you!" Lin shouted, his voice echoing off the cavern walls so every servant could hear. "The lower annex was fully cleaned last night! The task was completed! But because of Gu Kang's sheer stupidity and incompetence, he has rendered himself useless for the next two months. There will be no extra ration allowances distributed to his group!"
A quiet murmur of relief and subtle satisfaction ran through the crowd of servants. Gu Kang had stolen from many of them; seeing him stripped of his influence was a rare piece of justice.
Lin turned his glare back down to Railin, his eyes glittering with cold malice. "And as for you, Railin..."
Railin remained on his knee, his head bowed. "Yes, Overseer?"
"You think you got lucky because the lower annex is clean?" Lin sneered, leaning down close to Railin's ear. "Don't think for a second that this makes us even. The Alchemy Department was so impressed by how quickly the lower annex was cleared that they have requested the same servant to take over the permanent maintenance of the Waste Purification Vaults."
The moment the words left Lin's mouth, several older servants in the crowd gasped in horror.
The Waste Purification Vaults were far worse than the lower annex. The annex was merely where burnt slag was dumped; the Vaults were where the most volatile, toxic, and chemically unstable byproducts of high-grade elder alchemy were stored in deep subterranean vats. The air inside the Vaults was so saturated with poisonous spirit fumes that even junior outer disciples refused to step near them without specialized protective talismans. Sending a labor servant there permanently was equivalent to issuing a slow, agonizing death sentence within three months.
Overseer Lin grinned darkly, watching Railin's face for the sudden panic he expected to see.
"You will report to the Vaults every single night after your daily duties," Lin whispered maliciously. "You wanted work? You have it. Let's see how long your broken body lasts when you're breathing the breath of the dead."
Railin kept his head bowed, masking the overwhelming, lethal joy that surged through his entire body.
The Waste Purification Vaults? Where the high-grade elder alchemy waste is stored?
Railin had to exert every ounce of his supreme self-control to keep from laughing out loud. To Overseer Lin, this assignment was the ultimate punishment—a slow execution disguised as labor. But to Railin, who possessed the Ashen Devouring Qi, Overseer Lin had just handed him the keys to the supreme treasury of the entire academy. The waste of elders contained remnants of high-tier spirit herbs that inner disciples could only dream of seeing.
"I... I understand, Overseer Lin," Railin stammered, his voice sounding hollow, defeated, and broken. "I will obey."
"Good. Now get out of my sight and get to work!" Lin barked, turning his back on Railin and marching back toward the platform to assign the daily chores.
Railin slowly stood up, keeping his shoulders slouched as he merged back into the crowd of servants.
As he walked away toward his daytime duties, he reached into his sleeve and lightly touched the three failed pill cores resting against his chest. The coldness in his eyes burned with an terrifying intensity.
"Thank you, Overseer Lin," Railin murmured silently into the gloom, a dark, predatory smile fading from his lips as quickly as it had appeared. "You are truly my greatest benefactor.
See you in next chapter....