Grim News from the Cultivation World

Deeply moved. There really was genuine sentiment in the cultivation world; true love truly existed here. "Don't worry, Senior Sister, I'll definitely take care of myself." Chen Zhuo nodded solemnly and added, "Rest assured, Senior Sister! Aside from your drugs, I won't represent anyone else's! In a few days, you can buy up drugs outside at low prices, and I'll handle sales to the outside. We'll align our granularity and synergize our one-two punch—it's guaranteed to yield massive returns on minimal capital!" Go out and buy the drugs himself? Too much trouble! Better to delegate it to Senior Sister Si Jing. If the Immortal Mansion ever launched a "Special Crackdown on Counterfeit Drugs" and he was running around in the thick of it, he could easily get clobbered by the iron fist of the Immortal Mansion and branded a "counterfeit drug dealer." Let Senior Sister handle it. With that extra layer between them, even if he were caught, hiring the best lawyer would shave years off his sentence or perhaps even secure an acquittal. Furthermore, this way he wouldn't be selling directly, nor would he be buying en masse from various sources. The chain of evidence would be insufficient, so at most they could classify him as a buyer—nowhere near enough to convict him as a "counterfeit drug dealer"! As long as no Nascent Soul True Monarchs or Golden Core True Persons were suppressing him, the Immortal Mansion still followed the law! Hearing Chen Zhuo's pledge, Senior Sister Si Jing was moved as well. She immediately nodded, gazing at Chen Zhuo with her bright eyes. "Qiang shang lia!" "Qiang shang lia!" "..." Soon, this micro-business meeting of the illegal underworld drug ring known as the Yixin Society came to a successful close. Senior Sister Si Jing and Chen Zhuo bid each other formal farewell. Senior Sister Si Jing had a dinner gathering afterward, so she didn't linger to chat. With Chen Zhuo's mind entirely consumed by shooting up drugs, he naturally wasn't going to stick around for any dinner. After exchanging pleasantries, he returned to his cave dwelling. "Ah, Azure Dragon." Looking at the teal-green liquid, Chen Zhuo was itching to try it. Even so, he wasn't reckless enough to jump straight into an intravenous injection. Instead, he first opened his spiritual communication jade slip and looked for videos by influencer streamers to see how they injected it. As it turned out, Chen Zhuo discovered that most of these streamers were cultivators at the Qi Refining pinnacle, shooting up Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers. Injecting nine varieties in one go. Utterly insane. Opening a random video, bullet comments immediately drifted across the screen: "Rest in peace," "Transferring to soul cultivator class in progress," "Physical body sale contract already signed with Daluo Domain," and the like. Upon checking into it, he learned the truth. A few months ago, the streamer had overdosed on Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers and already passed away. "Uh..." Seeing this, Chen Zhuo was momentarily at a loss for words. Was Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers really that dangerous? After searching through several more videos, he found that without exception, virtually all of these streamers had died from exploding bodies within the past six months or so after injecting Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers. The lucky ones managed to leave an intact corpse behind, having signed a contract with a demonic path enterprise from Daluo Domain to sell their bodies to outfits like the Corpse Puppet Sect. The unlucky ones had exploded directly into a cloud of bloody mist. The survival rate was abysmal. "Can it really be that bad?" Chen Zhuo muttered to himself, his heart pounding with trepidation. Yet looking closely, all these streamers shared a common trait. The Qi Refining pinnacle. Lacking the money to purchase Foundation Establishment injections, meridian-protecting medicines, or Foundation Establishment spiritual items, they could only pin their hopes on the massive spiritual energy of Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers to help them charge at Foundation Establishment. Under such conditions, however, the probability of a successful breakthrough was less than five percent. In other words, out of twenty people who attempted it, only one could succeed. Downright terrifying. "Isn't there any guide suited for beginners?" Nursing a headache, Chen Zhuo searched a bit longer before having an epiphany. He immediately spent thirty spirit coins to purchase a membership on a video platform. Sure enough, quality content was recommended right away. "Damn capitalists. The streamers uploaded the videos, yet without coughing up cash, they won't even let you watch?" Feeling slightly fatigued, Chen Zhuo nevertheless clicked on the video with the highest view count. "Grim news from the cultivation world: Chang Youche, an impending graduate of Shuxing Sword Dao Junior College in Taiqing Domain and an eleventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator, suffered an unfortunate meridian rupture due to an overdose of Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers. He passed away at the age of thirty-six..." No real person appeared in the video; it merely narrated a case study, much like a criminal investigation program. Soon, however, after detailing the violent pharmacological properties of Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers, the video moved on to explain how to gently and safely inject the first six formulations of the regimen. In reality, all nine drugs of Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers were very useful formulations. If injected properly, no issues would arise. The problem was that these nine drugs were relatively cheap, presenting an extraordinary opportunity for many late-stage and pinnacle Qi Refining cultivators who lacked immortal dao potential. Although there was a tiny bit of risk, wouldn't blowing up just mean transferring over to become a soul cultivator? Recently, Yuqing Domain and Daluo Domain had collaborated on numerous engineering projects for soul cultivators, and soul cultivators could still cultivate up to the Foundation Establishment stage anyway. It was just that... There were quite a few restrictions. Nothing too critical. And if someone happened to be that one in twenty, they'd become a bona fide Foundation Establishment cultivator! The treatment and benefits were worlds apart. This had become especially common over the past two to three centuries. The reason was simple. More than five hundred years ago, the Immortal Mansion suffered from scarce resources. If you wanted to break through realms—such as achieving Foundation Establishment or forming a Golden Core—you had to prove yourself to the Immortal Mansion and obtain a Foundation Establishment Certificate or Golden Core Certificate issued by them before you were permitted to advance. Otherwise, it counted as unlicensed Foundation Establishment or unlicensed Golden Core formation! Five hundred years ago, however, out in the Astral Realm, the Immortal Mansion discovered a new world. And so, an immortal war over that world began. The Immortal Mansion led the offensive. At one point, they swept into that world and plundered vast quantities of resources. With resources suddenly abundant, Foundation Establishment Certificates and Golden Core Certificates were swept into the dustbin of history, waiting only for the next resource shortage to be reinstated. Consequently, under these circumstances, quite a few cultivators died from exploding bodies on the path of Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers. After all, this was the best of times. Without the fetters of a Foundation Establishment Certificate, who wouldn't want to make a gamble at Foundation Establishment? "Azure Dragon is the first dragon of Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers. This spiritual fluid is characterized mainly by mild pharmacological properties. The sustained-release tablets can be taken with complete confidence—one pill a day poses no issues whatsoever. The injectable version is also quite safe; after injection, late-stage Qi Refining cultivators can simply circulate their cultivation art normally. "Cultivators in the middle stage of Qi Refining may experience a burning sensation in their meridians. There is no need to worry—this is merely due to the potency of the spiritual energy, causing brief discomfort before the body adapts. It requires harmonizing internal and external spiritual energy, and renting a spirit-gathering chamber is recommended..." As the voice from the video continued, Chen Zhuo studied attentively. After thoroughly mastering every key point, Chen Zhuo deftly activated the Boundary-Breaking Bead. With a flash of black light, he arrived inside his cave dwelling in Yunjin Market. The moment he arrived at Yunjin Market, Chen Zhuo couldn't help taking a long, deep breath. "Exhilarating!" Every time he came here, he felt the profound relief of finally finding a toilet in the middle of diarrhea. The concentration of spiritual energy here was so rich that it practically made Chen Zhuo reluctant to leave. Even so, after taking in the world's spiritual energy, Chen Zhuo wasted no time. He rolled up his sleeve and used the rubber tubing that came with the drug to tie off his arm. The sense of déjà vu was overwhelming; Chen Zhuo handled it with practiced ease. Aligning the needle with a vein on his arm, Chen Zhuo plunged it in. The tip pierced his skin! Chen Zhuo slowly depressed the plunger, injecting the teal-green fluid bit by bit into his body. At first, there was no reaction other than an icy-cold sensation. Soon, however, a wave of restless heat swept through his entire body. "Yahoo!" Chen Zhuo let out an involuntary cheer, his eyes turning slightly bloodshot. "This stuff is so pure—what a kick!" After that surge of excitement, Chen Zhuo knew exactly what he had to do next. He immediately sat cross-legged and circulated the Ten Thousand Trees Homage to Origin Art with everything he had! "I've already expended so much immortal dao potential! World's spiritual energy, come to me!"