"Should I begin the attack?" Liu Xing muttered. He quickly concluded it was not the best decision. He had limited time to kill them all, and even if he eliminated these ten, it wouldn't be over. Sooner or later, he would have to tangle with the other ten, and it would be better if he at least knew their location.

"It would be nice if there was a way to replenish my air."

The more he learned about these spirit beasts, the more anxiety laced his confidence. He had a chance of killing them, but could he do it quickly? He intended to kill them silently, one by one, but he was sure that at some point he would need to fight several at once. When that happened, the commotion would only draw more of them, complicating the battle.

As he swam around the Alchemy Hall, he debated whether to attack or continue searching for the other ten spirit beasts. Suddenly, he spotted two giant double doors at the base of the tower. They were closed, but they gave him an idea. What if he ignored the spirit beasts and rushed inside instead? His main objective was the Heaven Severing Pill, after all. Wouldn't it be wiser to secure it first?

His heart beat with excitement, as if he had just reached the right conclusion. He put more power into his movements. It was a great idea, one that could potentially solve his air problem. He was sure the Alchemy Hall itself wasn't submerged, so there had to be air inside. If he could use it as a base, he would have more time to deal with the spirit beasts. More time meant more opportunities to think, plan, and observe, increasing his chances of killing them smoothly.

As he considered this, he saw stairs carved into the jagged rock forming the foundation of the Alchemy Hall. The stairs wound around the massive stone and ended in front of the golden gates, which were perilously close to the eel. In order to enter, he would have to confront the creature. Even if he were invisible, the eel would surely react to the gates opening. But the staircase wasn't a single path; it split in the middle. While one path led to the gates, the other wound toward the back of the foundation. Following it, he saw several more stairways branching off, each leading not to the tower, but to openings in the rock itself. He looked up at the tower and realized the Alchemy Hall wasn't just the structure above, but also the massive stone foundation it was built upon.

Liu Xing swam toward one of the openings, which revealed a tunnel with jagged walls and a ceiling. As he touched his feet to the ground, he saw a door at the end of it. A blue gem set in the center of the door emitted a soft light, illuminating the passage. Grinning, Liu Xing saw a fluctuating bubble barrier between the water and the door, exactly like the one he had passed through before. As he glided slowly down the tunnel, a key aspect of the Alchemy Hall clicked into place. There was one problem with entering the Alchemy Hall. He wasn't a member of the Jin clan and had no key to enter. An invisible barrier had kept the spirit beasts at bay for three years. How could he, a stranger, get inside? His only solution was to go back to the shipwreck and ask for a key, or, if all else failed, try to destroy the door. However, there was a chance that he didn't need a key at all.

"The bubble," he muttered, arriving in front of the barrier, its surface fluctuating as if being punched rapidly from within.

The bubble around his head could be the key. After all, it could only be obtained by passing through the secret tunnel beneath the lighthouse, a path known only to the Jin clan. Therefore, anyone with such a bubble was likely one of them. He pushed his hand through the barrier. While convenient, it seemed terribly insecure. If he had built this place, he wouldn't have allowed such a simple bypass, but he hoped it was just that easy.

With a soft pop, Liu Xing passed through the barrier. He took a deep breath to test the air. There was always a chance the space was dry but lacked oxygen. As he inhaled, refreshing air filled his lungs, and as he exhaled, his body relaxed. Realizing he had found a safe haven, he smiled confidently. This would give him more time to study the spirit beasts. But that could wait. He was on the doorstep of the Alchemy Hall; it was time to secure the Heaven Severing Pill before reaping the bonus rewards.

The thought of getting his hands on the Heaven Severing Pill made him smile. The mission was proceeding smoothly; so far, no enemy had even managed to scratch him. Perhaps he was on a lucky streak. To test it, Liu Xing placed his palm on the door, right below the faintly shining blue gem. With a slight push, the door swung open with a faint creak. He half-expected something to leap out and end his luck, but even when the door was fully open, nothing attacked him.

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Liu Xing stood there as the room beyond greeted him with fresh, warm air. A chandelier hung high above, illuminating a spacious octagonal hall. The hall's theme was red and gold, not gaudy but homey. Golden torches flickered with ornamental orange flames along the walls, though they emitted no discernible heat. A red carpet, outlined in gold, extended from his feet to a larger octagonal carpet in the center, from which seven other paths branched off toward seven other doors. The central carpet was adorned with a golden spiral pattern.

Liu Xing walked toward the center, studying the hall. Large paintings decorated the walls, each perhaps three meters tall and six meters wide, complemented by smaller pieces. The one he had come through featured a great crow. Another displayed the symbol of the Jin clan. There was also a towering mountain, a lush valley, and a blue ocean. Doors were set below each painting, flanked by potted plants.

The place was different from what he expected. For an Alchemy Hall, he had pictured rows of herbs and materials for creating pills and elixirs.

"Is anybody here?" Liu Xing called out, his voice echoing off the walls. Jin Wuyi should be here, though his fate was uncertain. On one hand, a cultivator could have survived for three years. On the other hand, Liu Xing wouldn't be surprised to find only his remains.

Liu Xing closed his eyes, sensing the qi around him. His heart began to beat faster and faster. This was it—the location of the Heaven Severing Pill. Bringing it back to the sect would earn him a favor from Elder Zhang Zhenking. With that favor, he could ask for anything. He could even use it to resolve his problem with the elder who had tried to crush him with a mountain. But the best way to use a favor was not to use it at all, but to hold it as leverage, securing Elder Zhang Zhenking as his backer.

"I remember that I only need to bring back half of the pill?" Liu Xing muttered, opening his eyes. He walked toward a door beneath a portrait of a man with sharp eyes, sword-straight eyebrows, and a calm expression. The man wore a black and red robe with the Jin clan symbol on his left breast. Liu Xing assumed this was Jin Wuyi, as the only qi he could sense in the entire place originated from behind that door.

As he walked, he took out his token to review the mission details that Elder Zhang Zhenking had given him.

Title: Special Mission to Retrieve Heaven Severing Pill

Description: This mission is given to the disciple named Liu Xing to retrieve a pill called the Heaven Severing Pill. The mission was issued by Elder Zhang Zhenking. The reward for completing the mission is a favor from Elder Zhang Zhenking.

Location: The Heaven Severing Pill is located in the Wild Tide Region, specifically in a small city called Water Tower City.

Parameters: To complete this mission, disciple Liu Xing needs to retrieve the pill within two weeks from the day the mission was issued. The pill needs to be intact, or if it is impossible to retrieve it in intact condition, it needs to be brought back to the sect with at least half of it.

Punishment on Failure: Disciple Liu Xing's sect points will be deducted by five hundred points, and promotion to the Inner Court will be denied for at least forty years.

"The mission said that I need to bring back an intact pill," he said, pinching his chin and observing the simple text. "However, if it's impossible to bring it back intact, I at least need to bring half of it."

He studied the odd phrasing. It had to be intact, but it was also okay if it wasn't. The Heaven Severing Pill was rumored to be a heaven-defying elixir, one that could increase his innate talent. An item like that was priceless, even in his sect. He was checking whether he could consume half and get away with it.

When Liu Xing arrived at the door, he pushed it open. He surveyed the room and saw it was a bedroom, with a bed across from the door, a wardrobe, and a small desk to its side. Shelves lined the walls, but his eyes focused on the center of the room. A large black cauldron stood there, its height reaching his waist and too wide for him to wrap his arms around. A corpse was leaning its back against the cauldron. It wore a dusty red and black robe, its skin as dry as a dead tree in the desert. Its eyes were closed, and its eyelids looked so brittle that a single touch might make them crumble. Bones were strewn around the room. Liu Xing narrowed his eyes. The majority of the bones were piled on one side of the cauldron, as if deliberately placed there. He could deduce what had happened to them.

He inhaled deeply, walked toward the corpse of Jin Wuyi—the only intact bones in this room—and said to him as if he was still alive, "You must be really hungry, huh, to do such an inhumane thing to try to survive."

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