Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Stealing a Pill to Save Her

“If she won’t save her, we’ll find a way to save her ourselves!”

With that, Bai Yang headed straight toward the main hall.

“Eldest Senior Brother, don’t!” Lu Nan Feng’s face tightened with panic. “If Master finds out, we won’t survive!”

This was theft.

Bai Yang looked back. Determination glinted darkly in his eyes.

“Junior Sister Ye is at death’s door. I don’t have a choice. Stay here. If we’re found out, I’ll take full responsibility.”

His voice dropped, certain and cruel. “Besides, Master was only shaken today. She won’t dare do anything to me. Don’t worry.”

He had entered Master’s tutelage at five. Master had raised him with her own hands, sheltered him, protected him. Even if she found out, she would be angry—but she wouldn’t have the heart to truly punish him.

With that conviction anchoring him, Bai Yang turned and strode into the hall.

Lu Nan Feng pressed his lips together, anxiety twisting in his stomach. But a life was on the line. Even if Master punished them, saving Junior Sister Ye had to come first.

Inside the main hall, Bai Yang went straight to the Pill Repository Pavilion.

Song Wan Ning was an alchemy grandmaster. The Pavilion held countless pills—treasures that would be impossible to find outside. Here, they sat on shelves as if they were nothing, jade bottles lined up in neat rows, faint medicinal fragrance filling the air.

Over the years, Master’s gifts had never stopped. They knew exactly how formidable she was.

Bai Yang’s gaze swept the racks, sharp and fast, until it stopped. He stepped forward and snatched up a jade bottle.

His heart hammered. He popped the lid.

Inside lay a smooth, round pill with a metallic sheen—the Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill.

“Selfish to the extreme,” he muttered, lowering his head. Cold light flickered through his eyes.

An Eighth Grade pill. They said it could restore flesh to bare bones, revive what was on the verge of death. It could repair a cultivator’s body and even restore the dantian.

Junior Sister Ye was badly injured this time. Her dantian was nearly shattered. Only the Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill could save her.

And Master would rather hide it than take it out.

Bai Yang’s jaw clenched.

He shoved the bottle into his storage ring and rushed out.

—

“Chu Xue!”

Gu Qing Yuan stormed back to the peak and went straight to Ye Chu Xue’s room.

The room was packed. Sect elders stood shoulder to shoulder. Even the Sect Master was there.

Ye Chu Xue and Bai Yang were the Heaven-Questioning Sect’s brightest talents of the younger generation, famed as heavenly prodigies. Now that Ye Chu Xue’s life hung by a thread, everyone had been waiting for Gu Qing Yuan to bring the pill back.

He returned empty-handed.

Shock and disappointment flashed through Ye Chu Xue’s eyes. If Master had gone in person and Martial Uncle Song still refused…

“What’s going on?” the Sect Master demanded, brows drawn tight. “Junior Brother Gu, where’s the pill?”

“If you brought it, give it to Chu Xue right now. If we delay any longer, it won’t just be her dantian—her life will be at risk!”

“Yes, Junior Brother Gu—hurry!”

Voices pressed in from all sides.

Gu Qing Yuan’s fists clenched until the joints ached. How could he not want to take it out?

“It’s fine, Master.” Ye Chu Xue forced a weak smile, her face paper-white. “I’ve only caused trouble. If Martial Uncle Song won’t give it, you can’t blame her.”

Her voice trembled, yet she still tried to soothe them. “The Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill is incredibly precious. It’s normal that Martial Uncle Song can’t bear to part with it. Master, please don’t be angry with her.”

“Chu Xue…” Gu Qing Yuan’s heart twisted. “It’s my fault. I’m useless.”

Even now—when she was barely holding on—she was still thinking for Song Wan Ning’s sake.

And that vicious woman had stood there and watched.

“What exactly happened?” the Sect Master asked, voice heavy. “Don’t tell me even when you went, Junior Sister Song still refused?”

They had asked Junior Sister Song already. She had refused firmly. That was why they had sent Gu Qing Yuan.

“How could that be?” someone murmured, disbelief plain. “Junior Sister Song always listens to Junior Brother Gu. How could she refuse?”

“Did something happen?”

The Third Elder’s eyes narrowed.

Over the past hundred years, everyone had seen how Song Wan Ning treated Gu Qing Yuan. She would have handed him her life without hesitation. There was no way she would refuse over a single pill.

Gu Qing Yuan’s expression turned grim.

“Song Wan Ning already took the pill,” he said coldly.

He didn’t even call her Junior Sister anymore.

“What?”

“That’s bad. The Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill is extremely hard to refine, and the spirit herbs it requires are especially rare. Where can we find one so quickly?”

“Junior Sister Song isn’t injured. Why would she take it?”

Panic spread through the room like fire. Without the pill, they were finished.

Ye Chu Xue’s lips turned colorless. If the pill was gone, then she…

The door burst open again.

Bai Yang strode in, Lu Nan Feng close behind, carrying An Ze—who had just woken from his faint. Bai Yang lifted a jade bottle high.

“The pill is with me!”

His voice rang through the room. “Master didn’t take the pill at all. She just stood by and watched her die!”

A stunned hush fell, then heated murmurs exploded.

“How did Junior Sister Song become like this?”

“She has the pill and won’t save her—how can she be so heartless?”

“We’re all fellow disciples!”

“She’s a Nascent Soul Stage True Lord, yet her mind is this small?”

The elders exchanged displeased looks, their faces darkening.

“Give it here,” the Sect Master snapped.

He snatched the bottle, took the pill out, and examined it closely. Delight flashed in his eyes.

“It really is the Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill. Quick—give it to Chu Xue!”

He thrust it to Gu Qing Yuan.

“Master…” Ye Chu Xue shook her head weakly, trying to refuse. “No. Since Martial Uncle Song didn’t want to give it to me, I can’t use it. Otherwise—”

“Whatever the consequences are, I’ll take them,” Gu Qing Yuan said, voice hard. “Don’t worry about it.”

He lifted the pill and pressed it into Ye Chu Xue’s mouth.

It melted almost instantly. Color returned to her face, the gray pallor easing. Her breathing steadied. Relief swept through the room—elders exhaling, disciples brightening, hope flaring.

Bai Yang’s eyes shone.

As long as Junior Sister Ye took it, she would be fine.

Then Ye Chu Xue suddenly jerked and sprayed a mouthful of blood.

“Puh—”

Her face, which had just begun to recover, withered like a flower dropped into frost. In seconds, her skin darkened and shriveled. The flesh that had filled out dried again, cracking like old bark.

It was as if an invisible hand had closed around her throat. Her breathing turned ragged—

Two, three heartbeats later, she went limp and passed out completely.

“Chu Xue!”

Everyone surged forward, horrified.

Gu Qing Yuan’s spiritual sense slammed into Ye Chu Xue’s body.

Black poison churned in her dantian. Toxins flowed through her meridians like ink in water. Her already severe injuries worsened, spiraling out of control. Even her life force showed signs of draining away.

“How… how could this be?” Bai Yang stood frozen, voice cracking. “I saw the pill where Master put it. How did it turn out like this?”

Everyone had checked it. There had been nothing visibly wrong with the pill.

Gu Qing Yuan’s eyes turned bloodshot.

“Song Wan Ning!”

Killing intent exploded. In the next instant, he vanished from the room.