What came into view was a room filled with worldly wealth—crowns, bricks of gold, diamonds, jewels, and more.

"Wow…" Xu Mo's mouth formed an "O" of awe. It only closed after he swallowed hard.

As someone who had only spent a year in the world of cultivators and had grown up on fairy tales about kings, queens, princes, and princesses, he knew that if this treasure was placed before a mortal, and if that person had the guts—and didn't get scammed—they could build a small kingdom with it.

"Where's the vial you mentioned?" Xu Mo asked. His voice echoed across the chamber, and Su Wenqing heard it clearly.

She bent down, her face near the small hole in the wall. "Old Xu, it should be in that chamber. Search a bit. Wait, let me come in too."

"It's alright. I'll look for it myself," Xu Mo replied. He knew how difficult it was to crawl through the narrow opening.

Clang–Thud–Creak

Xu Mo rummaged through the pile of gold as if tossing aside chunks of metal.

Clink–clink—

His ears caught the distinctive sound of glass tapping repeatedly against a hard surface.

He turned his head and spotted a small, purple-colored vial rolling away. He quickly grabbed it, pulled out the cork, and sniffed its contents.

"Umm… Su Wenqing, I found it. But are you sure this isn't poison?"

"Believe me," she said. "I'm actually an alchemist. And while elixirs that help recover vitality are extremely rare, I didn't dare take it out before. I was afraid Verdant Sky Hall would seize it. So I thought, if I can't use it, then I won't let others use it either."

"That's so like you…" Xu Mo muttered and drank down the vial, choosing to trust Su Wenqing.

Ding—

[Huge energy source detected.] [Absorbing…] [System fully restored. Host can now access previously malfunctioning features.]

"Haha…" Xu Mo laughed dryly. He didn't even know how to be angry anymore. This system was always making his life harder.

"What happened? Did you become young again?" Su Wenqing asked.

Boom!!

Before Xu Mo could respond, a surge of remaining energy triggered a forced breakthrough, propelling him directly to the eighth level of Qi Condensation. He sighed inwardly. It was miserable. Just imagine—if he'd absorbed the full power of the elixir, he might've broken through to the Foundation Building stage in one go. Maybe even regained his youth.

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The loud explosion from his breakthrough didn't escape his body, thanks to his Dao of Silence.

"No. I'm still the same," Xu Mo said calmly. He crawled back through the hole—but not before storing the mountain of wealth in his Inventory. He couldn't just leave it behind. As someone constantly walking the line between life and death, he needed funds as backup.

"HOW?!" Su Wenqing covered her mouth in shock. Her reaction was justified. The elixir Xu Mo had just taken was no ordinary potion—it was a 4th Grade Elixir.

In the world of alchemy, elixirs and pills were ranked from Grade 1 to Grade 9, ascending in strength and rarity. Even within their sect, there was only one known 5th-grade alchemist who resided deep within the inner sect. Her own master was a 3rd-grade alchemist. Among the senior sisters, Su Wenqing was the only one who followed her master's alchemical path. The others had talents in various fields—formation arts, talismans, puppetry.

Xu Mo had already adjusted his cultivation level back to the 8th level of Qi Condensation to avoid attracting attention.

She approached, took his hand into her palm, and channeled her Qi into him. Yet, she couldn't detect any kind of disguise technique. As the junior sister of a formation master, she knew the basics. He had broke through only a minor Realm. Just where had that Huge Energy from the Rank 4 Elixir vanished to?

"Old Xu, this isn't normal. What you just drank was a Rank 4 Elixir. It's not powerful enough to raise the dead, but it is enough to restore someone's youth."

Then her expression shifted. She stepped back slightly.

"What's your real cultivation level? And why did you approach me?"

"Oh, please~" Xu Mo rolled his eyes. "You were the one who came running toward me. I didn't seek you out. And as for why the elixir didn't restore my vitality—maybe it's because the rules of this world won't let someone defy certain laws."

"What are you talking about? Others have—"

"I know," Xu Mo interrupted. "But maybe the ones this elixir worked on were ancient cultivators with unfathomable cultivation. I'm stuck in between. I'm at the Qi Condensation stage—too weak to be considered immortal, yet too different for mortals to accept me. Real cultivators treat me like cannon fodder. So it's no surprise that the laws of this world crush someone like me while ignoring those with power and influence."

Xu Mo crossed his arms and spoke in a tone reminiscent of a scholarly lecture. But what he said—he truly believed.

Su Wenqing opened her mouth to argue but paused. What Old Xu had said reminded her of something her master often told her while refining medicine:

"The same solution doesn't work for everyone. That's also the way of medicine. Imagine from a mortal's perspective—if you and your sister both catch a cold, the physician wouldn't just check one and prescribe two identical sets of medicine to be taken three times a day."

"I don't get it…" she had once said as a child. Her master had only cupped her cheeks gently and said, "You'll understand when the time comes."

The memory faded, and Su Wenqing suddenly sat cross-legged on the ground. She brought out a cauldron, a burner, and various herbs and plants.

Xu Mo had once gone through something similar, though back then, he had been the one undergoing the trial, unaware of how his body reacted to the outside world.

This time, he didn't disturb her.

He sat a short distance away and checked his own condition. When the residual elixir forced his breakthrough, he'd felt something strange stir inside him.

Looking over, he saw that Su Wenqing had closed her eyes. Her cauldron was beginning to heat, and the spiritual water inside had started bubbling.

Xu Mo silently took out the cultivation technique he practiced—the Dao of Silence. Though he was still far from achieving the first step, he used his current understanding of "Loneliness" to probe the Dao's aura—the one he had obtained.

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