Day and night tour

Chapter 495 The Nature of Human Elixir

Mr. Yan has lived in the heavens for a long time, so he must have taken human pills.

Those pills, with their domineering effects, could transform the rotten sky in his eyes into a spring-like world filled with exotic flowers over a very long period of time, once he had just taken one.

However, having taken Ren Dan (a traditional Chinese medicine) was not the reason why he was so knowledgeable about it.

"The Palace Master of Longevity thinks he knows everything about elixirs, but he doesn't know anything about pills at all."

Mr. Yan transformed his right hand into a claw, his five fingers penetrating deep into the bluestone. Then, with a slight hook at the fingertips, he scooped out some pebbles from the bluestone.

There are three pieces of gravel in total.

He gripped the pebbles tightly, his body levitating lightly as he rose to the edge of the alchemy furnace. There, he sat on the rim and, like tossing fish food, first tossed down a pebble.

The stone traced an arc in the air before landing on the large blue stone inside the alchemy furnace, making a crisp impact sound.

Mr. Yan carefully observed the entire process of the stone falling—he clearly saw that the arc disappeared very briefly when it had fallen to three-quarters of its length.

This sense of disappearance was fleeting, but this anomaly did not escape his notice.

He felt that the pebble vanished into thin air the moment the "sense of disappearance" appeared, as if it had been pulled into some unseen and intangible space.

"At that moment, time disappeared."

After talking to himself, Mr. Yan suddenly laughed, but it was a controlled laugh.

Then he threw down two more stones.

“Da, da!”

There were still two crisp sounds of pebbles colliding, and still two arcs created by the falling pebbles.

The two arcs, still in their trajectory, have broken off at a point.

The only difference is that the heights generated by the two breakpoints are not the same.

Mr. Yan finally couldn't hold back any longer. Holding a lantern, he burst into laughter, laughing unrestrainedly and uncontrollably.

As he laughed, he bent over and covered his stomach. If someone else were there and saw such exaggerated laughter, they would probably come up and tell him to stop laughing, saying that he would probably get a stitch in his side if he laughed any harder.

"Zhou Xuan, Zhou Xuan, how dare you hide one of the two pills right in front of Bai Yujing, Qing Yangyu, and 'Heaven and Earth'!"

"Indeed, there is a human pill. There is indeed a human pill. It was produced at the same time as the Origin Power Pill. That pill demon is the human pill."

"Where the pill demon lingers, it produces a barely perceptible medicinal property. This property diminishes extremely rapidly over time. But even after such a significant decline, the almost completely degraded medicinal property I detected still exhibited typical 'human pill characteristics.'"
Just how powerful must the medicinal properties of this pill demon be?

Mr. Yan stopped laughing, crossed his legs, and looked up at the sky.

"Should I report Zhou Xuan's weakness to Qing Yangyu? No, he's just a mediocre and stubborn man; he won't believe me."

"Report to Bai Yujing? Bai Yujing is very generous. If he knows Zhou Xuan's weakness, he will definitely acknowledge my merit in reporting him and reward me handsomely."

Twenty Yin Dan pills? Or perhaps eighty Mao Dan pills?

The elixirs offered by the alchemists were graded by the Heavenly Court and named according to the twelve two-hour periods of the day.

Among them, "Zidan" is naturally the best, followed by "Chou", "Yin", and "Mao".

Yin Dan is a third-grade elixir, and Mao Dan is a fourth-grade elixir. Even Qing Yangyu, the master of the Longevity Palace, rarely gets to taste these two grades of elixir.

Mr. Yan was just a nobody guarding the Gate of Heaven. Earning twenty Yin Dan from a single piece of information was more than enough for him.

"But is it really enough?"

Mr. Yan is an expert in alchemy, and an expert at it, a secret that even Qing Yangyu and the entire Changsheng Palace are unaware of.

Therefore, Mr. Yan understood the value of the Pill Demon better than most people.

"Twenty Yin Dan pills are certainly precious, but compared to the Human Pill refined by Zhou Xuan, they are not even worth a dirty chamber pot."

"If I find that pill and keep it for myself, that would be the luckiest thing that I'll ever encounter in my life, wouldn't you say?"

Mr. Yan lowered his head, and it was unclear who he was asking.

After a long while, a gust of wind blew against his robes, and from the human skin he was wearing, a deep, weathered voice drifted out.

"Are you out of your mind... Zhou Xuan is a ruthless man who can slay the gods of dreams."

The human skin refers to the "Dream God" as a god, rather than the more common name for the heavens—"doctor".

"Zhou Xuan's ability to kill the doctor is indeed impressive..."

"Have you been in the heavens for so long that you've forgotten what it means to be a god?" the human skin asked.

Mr. Yan ignored him and continued, "So, I'm going to steal Zhou Xuan's pill. Remember, steal, not rob."

"Stealing the elixir? If you get caught, you're doomed, aren't you?"

"I have a way to save my life."

Mr. Yan's hand reached deep into the human skin, patted his own fat, maggot-like, ugly carcass, and said,
"Don't forget, I am now a member of the Heavenly Fire Clan. The Heavenly Fire Clan is high above, looking down on all living beings. If I am captured and my identity is revealed, what can Zhou Xuan do to me?"

"Hmph..." The human skin snorted disdainfully.

"Back then, the death of Young Master Linming brought a great calamity to the entire Wuwen Mountain! The 'Sixteen Forms' of Wuwen Mountain's deities are among the most powerful gods in the heavens. Would they dare utter a single word?"

“I, Mr. Yan, dare not say that I hold a very high position in the clan, but I am far superior to that rotten centipede, Young Master Linming. If I die at Zhou Xuan’s hands, I dare not say that the Mingjiang family will be wiped out, but at least the entire East Market Street will be buried with me.”

"My ethnic identity is my life-saving talisman."

"Hmph..." The human skin looked at him with disdain once again.

Mr. Yan said no more, and facing the dawn wind, his clothes fluttering, he headed towards Mingjiang Prefecture.

……

"It's so delicious... I haven't had this much satisfaction in a long time."

"I really can't eat anymore, Da Wa, are you full?"

“Ger…” The eldest brother burped at the third brother.

Inside the secret realm, both host and guests enjoyed themselves immensely.
When Zhou Xuan entered the City God Temple, the corpses had already been completely devoured. On the blue brick floor inside the temple, there was not a trace of flesh or bone, not even the scraps left from chewing bones.

"They ate it really cleanly."

With his hands behind his back, Zhou Xuan addressed the eyes on the wall of the blood well, "Is today's dish tough enough?"

The eyes on the wall were blinking lazily, as if they were young masters in a restaurant who had eaten and drunk their fill, stretching and picking at their teeth with toothpicks: "The food today was alright, quite interesting."

Seeing the piglets' reaction, Zhou Xuan was genuinely happy, feeling the satisfaction of a caretaker feeding the piglets comfortably.

"Now that everyone has enjoyed the meal, I have two questions for you. Jingzi, how many offerings have I stored here with you?"

Suddenly, a flurry of snowflakes fell in the City God Temple, outlining three characters on the blue bricks: "Nine" and "Eleven".

"Nine incense sticks, eleven in total!"

Zhou Xuan was quite satisfied with the "sacrifice statistics" from this blood well.

The Five Styles of the Buddhist Kingdom and the Supreme Master of Escape Techniques comprise eleven people in total. However, some individuals did not complete the full nine incense sticks. Blood Well included those "miscellaneous" disciples of Escape Techniques, making a total of eleven people with nine incense sticks each, which is already quite fair.

"Wait a minute, many of those disciples who practice the art of escape have higher levels of cultivation than me, yet they're all just small fry. Does that mean I'm even a small fry..."

Thinking of this, Zhou Xuan scratched his head awkwardly. Those eyes, connected to the secret realm, naturally knew what he was thinking, and they all smiled.

"Don't laugh yet."

Zhou Xuan said, "Jingzi, I have something to ask you. Before tonight, I consulted you for divination and paid the price of three incense sticks. You answered three of my questions."

These three questions are: "How to refine a pill that will satisfy the heavens," "How to nurture the two souls," and "How to save Hua Zi."

Two of the problems have already been solved, leaving only the last one: "How to raise two souls," which Zhou Xuan has yet to answer.

Although the Source Power Pill was extremely potent and domineering, it was only effective on "Heaven and Earth," and had no effect on nourishing his two souls.

Snowflakes fell again, but this time, instead of forming words, they fell in the shape of an arrow—pointing to the location of the Blackwater Stone Temple.

"Okay, I see."

Zhou Xuan immediately understood that the method of nurturing two souls was also hidden in Danzi's body.

"This Danzi is really mysterious. He said he could help me rediscover the Jing Kingdom and nurture my two souls. As a kind of Danzi demon, what abilities does he possess?"

Zhou Xuan wanted to consult the Blood Well for divination.

Eleven offerings, each worth nine incense sticks, were stored in the blood well, providing ample ammunition. He used to be stingy with divination, but now... he had never fought such a well-funded battle.

"Well..."

Zhou Xuan was about to ask a question when he noticed that the eyes on the wall were already drowsy, each squinting, almost yawning.

"It hasn't been two days since the last divination, it's not time yet."

Divination can only be performed once a week. Even if he offers the maximum number of sacrifices, it's useless until the cooldown period is over.

"Alas, what use is all this ammunition?"

Zhou Xuan sighed deeply and then left the secret realm.

He decided to return to the real world to take a look—Danzi used a piece of flesh and blood to put Zhou Xuan into the state of taking the Human Pill, so there was a gap in the time when Zhou Xuan first saw the Jing Kingdom.

"There should be more than just a time gap; perhaps there are other anomalies as well."

……

Zhou Xuan opened his eyes, got up, and looked at the familiar bedroom.
He looked around and saw that the scene in the room was no different from before he took the "human pill".

The bookshelves, bedside tables, and writing desks are exactly the same as before, and even the books on the shelves haven't been moved.

"Tick tock, tick tock."

The clock in the room chimed softly.

Zhou Xuan quickly turned to look at the clock—the clock was still ticking, the seconds ticking round and round without any time gaps.

"The timing is back to normal, there are no more discrepancies. Could it be that the effects of my medication have worn off?"

Zhou Xuan murmured to himself, when suddenly he realized that time had changed.

"No, time hasn't been lost, but... time has slowed down."

Even without releasing any perception, Zhou Xuan's five senses are still extremely sharp, surpassing even those of a god.

He clearly sensed that the pendulum was swinging more slowly than usual, not by much, but still slower.

This also shows that the flow of time has changed.

Zhou Xuan understood the situation, immediately put on his Taoist robe, and left the bedroom.

The entire Jingyi shop was eerily quiet.

He listened outside the other two bedrooms on the second floor, but there wasn't even a sound of breathing inside.

Then, Zhou Xuan went downstairs to the shop's main hall.

The lights in the hall were still on, and the power supply seemed stable, with no flickering or dimming.

The counter in the store was exceptionally clean, without a single speck of dust.

"No, absolutely not."

Zhou Xuan remembered that before he entered the secret realm, Zhao Wuya, Yun Ziliang, and Li Changxun were drinking wine and eating braised and stewed meat.

Fu Zi isn't a good drinker; he should go to sleep.

Drinking and eating meat inevitably leaves a mess of scraps and grease on the counter, and according to their habits, the three old men, Zhao, Yun, and Li, certainly wouldn't clean it up.

As usual, if someone drinks all night at the shop, Xiao Fuzi has to get up early the next morning to clean up the mess. It's never as spotless as it is now.

"The store is empty, the counter is clean, and time seems to slow down."

Zhou Xuan felt that he was not in the real world; he had come to another dimension.

"If the space I've come to isn't the real world, then where am I?"
A spirit realm? Not quite; the underworld? Even less likely.

Zhou Xuan had been to both the Spirit Realm and the Underworld, but he had never seen such a strange sight.

"Go and take a look on the streets."

Zhou Xuan walked forward again, and when he reached the shop door, he pushed the wooden door open and stepped outside as usual.

Zhou Xuan had walked through this small area in front of and behind the gate countless times since he came to Dongshi Street.

There's a section of concrete outside the door; you have to walk forward about half a meter before you reach the three short steps that extend to the street.
But this time, Zhou Xuan felt as if he had stepped into thin air as soon as he took a step. Even though he was agile, he managed to pull his foot back.

At this moment, Zhou Xuan looked up and realized that what was in front of the door was not the street, but mid-air!
He saw his shop entrance appear dozens of feet in mid-air.

He also saw that dozens of feet below was a patch of apricot-yellow mud, and in the mud stood a huge fire tower.

That fire tower, similar to a factory chimney, had a stove door at the very bottom.

The stove door opened, and an old man dressed in tattered clothes with a leather skirt tied around his neck was throwing pieces of food into the stove to burn.

Zhou Xuan looked closely and saw that what the old man was burning was none other than human hands, feet, thighs, and so on.

The burning of these remains produced thick white smoke that rose up through the chimney.

These white wisps of smoke, after reaching the chimney opening, split into several streams and then slowly disappeared.

This scene caught Zhou Xuan's eye, and he seemed to see several unseen "people" lying at the chimney opening, greedily inhaling the white vapor—the vapor produced from the burning of severed limbs.

"What kind of place is this? And whose are those burned limbs?"

Zhou Xuan hadn't figured it out. He wanted to use his supernatural powers to descend dozens of feet underground and see everything clearly again.

But he discovered that his supernatural powers were completely useless in this mysterious space.

When he tried to jump out the door, his body's instincts told him that if he jumped, he would fall to his death.

The body's warning was strong, so Zhou Xuan tried to summon his bone fangs as part of the experiment.

But no matter how hard he tried to urge it, that bone tooth wouldn't obey him and couldn't be summoned at all.

"As expected, I can't use my supernatural powers at all."

Without supernatural powers, Zhou Xuan would not be able to descend to the underground, which is dozens of feet away from him.

He could only sit at the doorway and watch the old man continue to throw the severed limbs into the stove. The limbs were then burned by the raging fire, producing white steam, which was then consumed by the "man" on the chimney.

These scenes continued incessantly, and Zhou Xuan grew bored watching them.

However, when the old man was burning the eleventh severed limb, Zhou Xuan noticed a jade-green thumb ring on the finger of that severed limb.

Zhou Xuan seemed to have seen this thumb ring somewhere before, but he couldn't remember exactly where.

If I can't remember, I'll just stop thinking about it.

"Perhaps this is not another dimension, but a hallucination after I took the human pill."

Zhou Xuan had heard the White Deer Alchemist talk about it before. He said that the Human Elixir could enhance the incense and combat power of the consumer, and also had other benefits, but it also had side effects—the biggest side effect being that it would cause the consumer to become mentally deranged.

"Since it's a mental disorder, it's bound to produce some strange hallucinations."

Zhou Xuan shook his head, sat on the threshold, and continued to wait—he was waiting for the "illusion" to disappear.

The hallucinations are caused by the medicinal properties of the herbal pills; once the medicinal properties wear off, the hallucinations will naturally disappear.

"Wait, then."

"If these are indeed illusions, then the effects of the Human Pill are truly terrifying, capable of creating such a mesmerizing world for the consumer."

Thinking of this, Zhou Xuan subconsciously took out his pocket watch and checked the time—6:20.

……

Zhou Family Cleaning Shop, Dongshi Street

Yun Ziliang, Li Changxun, and Zhao Wuya drank to their hearts' content.

"Changxun, this red wine tastes good. At first, I thought it was just a sweet drink, something for kids. It's slightly sour and astringent, but it has a good flavor."

"Okay, but I still think it tastes better than rice wine."

Li Changxun struggled to his feet, went to the kitchen, brought out two jars of yellow wine, poured three cups of it, and then distributed them to Zhao Wuyai and Yun Ziliang.

Zhao Wuyai pushed the cup back, pointed to the clock not far away, and said, "It's already 6:20... It's almost dawn, I'm not drinking anymore, I'm going back to sleep."

"I advise you not to go looking for trouble. Just stay in the shop and drink, and nothing will happen."

Yun Ziliang pulled Zhao Wuyai over and pressed him into a seat.

"What bad luck?" Zhao Wuya asked.

"Have you forgotten what day it is today?" Yun Ziliang said. "Today is the day Hua Zi's soul returns. 'Heaven and Earth' might be up to something in the East Market right now. We living people should be careful to avoid them."

"Is there any other way to say this?"

“Then you see, if it weren’t for your grandmaster, you would have been in trouble—the path of the martial world is slippery at every turn, you have to listen to the advice of the elders.”

Yun Ziliang handed the yellow wine to Zhao Wuyai and scolded, "Drink! No one is allowed to leave before eight o'clock... Hmm... Why is the wind so strong tonight?"

He looked at the shop entrance; even though the door was tightly closed, he still felt a chilling wind blowing into the shop without any obstruction…

(End of this chapter)