What the hell is the "kill line" when you're in America?

A guy wearing a baggy hoodie crept up to us furtively.

His entire face was hidden in shadow, revealing only a set of teeth that were stained yellow from smoking.

"Hey buddy, wanna grab something good?"

Li Ang glanced at him but didn't say anything.

[The critical stage: critically ill (dependent on elixirs, delirium, and internal organ deterioration)]

Another one who's about to die.

"Don't go, friend." The hooded man blocked Li Ang's way and took out a small transparent plastic bag from his pocket.

The bag contained several blue pills.

"Oh friend, heavenly gospel, one pill will guarantee you forget all your troubles and all your pain."

He winked and grinned lewdly.

"Look at them."

He pointed to the crowd not far away, gesticulating wildly and acting like madmen.

"They're all my clients, it's so much fun to have fun together."

Li Ang looked at those people; their eyes were lifeless, their movements were contorted, and drool hung from the corners of their mouths. They didn't look "happy" at all.

They were simply a bunch of walking corpses whose bodies and souls had been hollowed out.

"roll."

Li Ang squeezed out a single word through gritted teeth.

"Don't be ungrateful, brother." The hooded man's face darkened. "I'm just trying to be helpful."

"I said, get out."

Li Ang's eyes turned cold, and a trace of killing intent, accumulated over a hundred years in the blood-soaked world of cultivation, unconsciously surfaced.

The hooded man froze, instinctively took two steps back, muttered "madman" under his breath, and then turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Li Ang withdrew his gaze, but a chill ran through him.

He has wiped out many demonic sects.

Some demonic sects were refined in an instant, some fed on souls, and some commanded thousands of corpses to conquer cities and territories.

Those scenes were bloody, cruel, and disgusting.

Even the most ruthless demon only uses people as "materials" for cultivation.

Here, these people actually turned themselves into "waste".

They didn't need the tyrant to lift a finger; they sent themselves to their doom.

This is even more demonic than the demonic path in the cultivation world.

Li Ang's mouth felt dry; he couldn't understand it.

In this world, the human heart is a demonic land, and desire is the inner demon; without external force, one will inevitably fall into depravity.

The system's voice sounded at an inopportune moment.

In the past, cultivators sought immortality by consuming elixirs, only to die from the poison attacking their hearts. Today, mortals seek fleeting pleasure by ingesting poisons—different paths leading to the same end.

[Mission issued: The devil is one step ahead]

[Mission Objective: As a qualified demonic cultivator, how can you tolerate such inferior pills poisoning the world? Please personally refine a more potent "Bliss Pill" with fewer side effects and successfully sell it to ten people.]

[Task Reward: +3 freely allocable attribute points, +50 magic points]

Li Ang stopped abruptly, his lips twitching slightly.

He suspected that he had heard wrongly.

"System, say that again?"

[Mission Objective: Refine and sell "Ecstasy Pills" to guide them to their blissful end in a more efficient way.]

[Mission Supplement: Your elixirs should be like celestial dew from the heavens, so delicious that one cannot resist them once tasted; yet they should also be like maggots that gnaw at the marrow and drink the blood silently. This is the true essence of demonic alchemy.]

Li Ang stood there, speechless for a long time.

He'd seen outrageous things, but never anything this outrageous.

Should we send him to refine pills, or even to make this kind of thing?

And they still need to sell them?

This system is more sinister than all the demons he has ever killed combined!

Isn't this a classic case of "good money driving out bad"? Using even more powerful elixirs to seize the market?

"I won't do it," Li Ang resolutely refused in his heart.

He has his bottom line.

In the world of cultivation, he kills and steals treasures in order to survive and to go home.

But he never laid a hand on ordinary people, much less would he use such despicable means to harm a group of already pitiful people.

But the system's next prompt shattered Li Ang's hopes.

[Task Time Limit: 14 days]

[The host has refused the task; the system will implement punitive adjustments.]

[Mission failure penalty: 5 points will be randomly deducted from one of your basic attributes.]

Li Ang's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

for a long time

He took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the irritation in his heart.

The body and skeleton are mortal beings; if they drop a few points, they will be even less able to move than ordinary beings.

Alchemy.

He's very familiar with this stuff.

In the world of cultivation, although he mainly cultivates the art of killing, he also dabbles in various cultivation arts such as alchemy, weapon crafting, talisman drawing, and array formation.

Especially in alchemy, in order to survive in various desperate situations, he studied many methods of refining strange pills using poisonous insects and demonic herbs.

The "Ecstasy Pill" that the system made him refine is, to put it bluntly, a pill that can induce strong emotions in people.

The principle behind it is simply the use of potent medicinal materials.

This kind of elixir is considered a low-class item even among demonic cultivators, and is despised by them.

But the system requires him to refine something "more effective and with fewer side effects".

This is a bit interesting.

Isn't this just turning a one-time transaction into a long-term business?

In a gentler way, people are lured into the abyss without even realizing it.

This system truly understands the essence of the demonic path.

They want to be both a devil and a saint.

To refine this elixir, you first need the ingredients.

Where is he going to find materials now?

Li Ang's gaze swept over Parker Market.

This place is a mixed bag; they probably sell all sorts of things here.

There are vendors selling fresh flowers, seafood, and handicrafts.

But there are many more people hiding in the shadows, engaging in all sorts of shady deals.

Li Ang's gaze finally settled on a stall selling herbs.

The stall owner was an elderly white man wearing glasses, who looked quite refined.

The stall was filled with various bottles and jars containing dried plant roots and leaves.

[Kill threshold: Medium]

An ordinary businessman.

Li Ang walked over, his gaze sweeping over the bottles and jars.

These are all common spices and herbs.

The flower was withered and curled, yet its original eerie form was still discernible.

"What is this?" Li Ang asked, pointing to the jar.

"Oh, this?" The old man adjusted his glasses. "This is the 'Angel's Horn,' but its sap is poisonous, so handle it with care."

In the world of cultivation, this is one of the main ingredients for refining "Bewitching Pills".

How much?

"Ten dollars an ounce," the old man said. "But I must warn you, this stuff can't be taken internally, it'll kill you."

Li Ang nodded and pointed to another jar, which contained black, rice-grain-sized seeds.

"What about this one?"

"These are the seeds of the 'Devil's Root,'" the old man explained. "A very potent laxative; half a pill can keep you in the toilet all day."

Known as "Heartbreak Grass" in the cultivation world, it is extremely poisonous.

However, if it is combined with other medicinal herbs...

Li Ang had made up his mind.

I ate and drank some food earlier, and I still have about a hundred dollars left in my pocket.

In the world of cultivation, this amount of worldly money can't even buy a single, lowest-grade spirit stone.

"Angel's Horn, ten dollars an ounce."

"Devil's Root Seeds, twenty dollars an ounce."

The old man's quote was clear and concise.

However, Li Ang still needs a few auxiliary medicines to neutralize the potency of the main medicine and harmonize its effects.

Otherwise, what would be refined would not be the "elixir of bliss," but rather the poison that kills on the spot.

"This one, and this one too."

He pointed to a jar of dried purple flower petals and a small packet of unassuming grass seeds.

The old man glanced at it and adjusted his glasses.

"Lavender, six dollars an ounce."

"Mint, four dollars an ounce."

Li Ang nodded.

"Give me half an ounce of everything," Li Ang said.

"Half an ounce?" The old man frowned, but adhering to the principle of selling without asking questions, he still gave Li Ang half an ounce of each item.

"Thirty dollars in total."

Li Ang paid the money and put the paper packets into his pocket.

"Young man, I still have to remind you," the old man said, adjusting his glasses and lowering his voice.

"Never mix 'Angel's Horn' and 'Devil's Root' together; it can be fatal."

Li Ang glanced at him but didn't say anything.

This old man is interesting.

[Cut-off threshold: Medium (Basic knowledge of pharmacology, but only superficial, no significant achievements)]

He turned to leave, and the old man's kind reminder came from behind him.

"Especially, it cannot be heated, absolutely not!"

Li Ang ignored the old man.

Without heating? Would that still be called alchemy?