Becoming a god starts with one certificate becoming eternal.

Ye Xiao sat against the wall, his breathing extremely low, until he was sure that the two people in the room were sleeping soundly.

He opened his eyes, got up and went to the backyard, where he took out the five porcelain vases from his pocket.

The porcelain vase gleamed coldly in the moonlight.

They are not simply medicine; they are the fuel that allows Ye Xiao to recover.

He didn't pick or divide, he just pulled out the plug and looked up.

The medicine entered my mouth crisply and cleanly.

After the medicine entered my stomach, there was no heat or impact, but I could clearly feel that the emptiness in my body had been greatly restored.

The next moment, he pulled the plug and looked up.

The second bottle of medicine was ingested.

There was still no surging heat or violent impact, but the hole that had been torn open inside the body was clearly filled in again.

It's like throwing bundle after bundle of firewood into a dying fire.

He didn't stop.

The third bottle.

……

The ninth bottle.

Every bottle I swallowed felt exactly the same.

no difference.

There is no distinction between different medicinal effects, and there is no such thing as "treating the symptoms".

It simply and directly became the fuel he truly needed.

Until the tenth bottle of medicine was ingested.

Ye Xiao stood quietly, without making any immediate move.

Take a breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

The feeling deep in my chest, that constant lingering sensation, like a piece of me had been hollowed out, finally disappeared completely.

It's neither about suppressing it nor about forcibly maintaining it.

Instead... it's gone.

"As expected." Ye Xiao slowly exhaled, confirming his suspicions.

The properties, effects, and types of medicine are all irrelevant.

As long as the medicinal power is sufficient, the fuel lacking in the [One Certificate, Eternal Certificate] skill within one's destiny can be replenished.

Simple, crude, but absolutely effective.

This medicine... is just too expensive.

Now that he had recovered, he wasted no time and immediately left home.

……

The fire in the North Furnace was still burning.

In the darkness, the dark red glow surging from the furnace resembled a crouching old beast, breathing heavily and slowly.

When Ye Xiao stepped into the furnace area, several veteran workers subconsciously looked up.

"This kid couldn't even stand up properly last time. I thought he'd be out for half a month, or even die out there... How come he's back in just three days?" An old worker looked puzzled. "And why does he look so energetic?"

Another older worker sneered, "I don't believe this crazy guy who's willing to risk his life for money can last much longer."

Ye Xiao ignored the others and walked straight to the edge of the stove.

Climb, step, fall.

His movements were slow, yet perfectly steady, and the cold wind couldn't harm him in the slightest.

The moment I stepped onto the edge of the furnace, a wave of heat hit me.

The firelight stretched his shadow extremely long, and the scorching heat was overwhelming.

Ye Xiao resumed his stance training.

Blood pile.

The moment the foot landed, the fire in the furnace surged violently again.

But Ye Xiao remained calm and composed, as if he were unaffected.

The muscles tensed, and the blood was forced to rush upwards.

Not long after, in a corner of my field of vision, a familiar number from my destiny quietly began to move.

【Crimson Blood Stake - Minor Completion: 561/600】

This was a long-awaited increase in the Crimson Blood Stake, but Ye Xiao ignored it and continued to use the force of the Collapsing Mountain Fist to shovel iron.

The roar of the furnace drowned out all other noises.

Ye Xiao stood in front of the fire, his back straight, his movements nimble, showing no sign of weakness or fatigue.

He was already close to mastering the Crimson Blood Stance, but lacked fuel to continue his cultivation. Now he was able to cross that threshold in one go.

……

The Green Owl Gang.

Wild Wolf sat under the lamp, listening to Li Yi's report.

"I've already inquired with the North Furnace Plant."

Li Yi's forehead was sweating: "The workers who topped the furnace were talkative, but they all said the same thing: there was a guy named Ye Xiao in the Silent Alley who suddenly went crazy and topped the furnace a while ago, but then he stopped."

Wild Wolf tapped his fingertips on the table, then looked up and asked, "How long did you hold out?"

After a moment's hesitation, Li Yi said, "For six or seven consecutive days, I heard they barely rested."

"impossible."

Wild Wolf said directly, "In the environment of the North Furnace, let alone ordinary workers, even someone like me who is close to a quasi-martial artist, or even a true quasi-martial artist, could not go so many days without rest."

"That's exactly what they said," Li Yi explained. "I thought it was absurd when I first heard it, and I even checked with the foreman to confirm it, and it turned out to be true."

"Looks like someone with a physical abnormality; no wonder he was able to turn things around in the Silent Alley."

Wild Wolf's eyes narrowed slightly: "Keep an eye on him, but don't get too close, and don't alert him. I need to know where he's been, who he's met, what level of strength he's reached, and whether he has any powerful backers."

Li Yi nodded repeatedly: "Yes!"

The wolf placed the thin piece of iron wire on the fire to heat it, then rolled it up, making it look like a tiny tongue.

A hint of interest slowly gleamed in his eyes.

"In a place like Silent Alley, it's almost impossible for two special people to appear at the same time."

"It seems that the person who killed Zhang Tu is most likely Ye Xiao."

"interesting."

……

The fog hasn't lifted yet.

Ye Xiao emerged from the North Furnace, his body still burning with heat, yet his bones remained firm.

He was about to return to the alley when he paused at the alley entrance.

Someone was standing there.

He stood there, neither leaning against the wall nor seeking shelter from the fog, as if afraid of being seen, yet also afraid of being ignored.

"Brother Xiao."

A familiar voice rang out, so soft it seemed as if afraid of disturbing the fog.

Ye Xiao looked up, saw the face clearly, and his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly: "What's wrong with you?"

Lin Yan looked thinner than before, his face was ashen, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

He glanced left and right before throwing out his words, as decisively as rolling dice:

"My mother is dying, and I want to borrow money from you."

As he finished speaking, his throat tightened noticeably, but he didn't avoid Ye Xiao's gaze. Instead, he raised his chin slightly, as if trying to save face.

"How much?" Ye Xiao asked.

Lin Yan's lips twitched, as if he wanted to get a better deal first, but in the end he gritted his teeth and gave the truth: "Three strings of cash."

He quickly added, as if afraid Ye Xiao would misunderstand that he was asking for an exorbitant price: "It's not that I'm raising the price, it's just that the clinic asked for this number. You know, once a patient with a mute alley gets into the clinic, the price becomes unaffordable."

"She's been having trouble breathing these past few nights, and she's been awake the whole time, saying she feels tightness in her chest." He unconsciously rubbed his fingertips inside his sleeve, as if trying to shake off a sense of helplessness: "The unknown medicine that Aunt Zhang next door gave me a while ago is no longer working."

"I went to ask the clinic." Lin Yan lowered his voice a little, as if laying out the bills one by one: "They made it very clear... three strings of cash as the minimum, not a penny less and they won't treat you."

For someone in the Silent Alley to ask for a loan is inherently more difficult than being stabbed in the back.

Lin Yan neither said he needed help nor that he was going to die.

He simply laid out the facts one by one.

Ye Xiao didn't ask any more questions. He took out a money pouch from inside his waistband, untied the string, and handed it over in a swift and efficient manner.

Lin Yan was taken aback. He didn't expect that after confirming the situation, the other party wouldn't ask any more questions.

He glanced at the weight of the money pouch, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he instinctively pulled his hand back, saying, "Brother Xiao, you don't need so much..."

He stopped talking before he could finish.

He knew very well that even if Ye Xiao had money now, it was all earned in the Northern Furnace... Every penny there was earned with his life.

Seeing that he was still hesitating, Ye Xiao stuffed the money into his hand: "Take it, use the extra to buy food."

Lin Yan clutched the money pouch, her knuckles turning white. Her lips moved a few times, as if she wanted to say something nice, but then thought nice words were cheap, so in the end she just squeezed out in a muffled voice:

"I will pay it back."

He paused, then, as if afraid the sentence would be too vague, added something even more poignant, something more like himself:

"Not now... wait until I'm capable, then I'll pay you back with interest. No, I won't calculate interest with you, I'll tell your fortune."

Ye Xiao looked at him and suddenly said, "No need to rush to pay it back. This money is far less useful to me than you are right now. And remember, you owe money, not your life."

Lin Yan understood.

He swallowed hard and nodded vigorously, as if to etch this debt deep in his heart.

Lin Yan took a breath, and his gossipy nature resurfaced a little, but it wasn't annoying: "Brother Xiao, don't worry, I'm tough. Don't let my current state fool you, I can be used as a rope or a net if needed. I will definitely pay you back."

After saying that, he didn't linger any longer and turned to run into the fog.

His back was frantic, yet composed, as if he had finally grasped something that could save lives.

Ye Xiao stood there, watching the shadow disappear, before slowly exhaling.

……

The fog dissipated very slowly.

When Ye Xiao arrived outside the Canglong Martial Arts Hall, the outer training ground was already full of people.

There were no sounds of fists, no shouts or curses.

The outer disciples were almost all standing in a stance, their breaths extremely low, with only the soft sounds of their clothes rubbing and their heavy breathing filling the air.

The assessment has begun.

Ye Xiao glanced at it and then looked away.

For him, these things no longer mattered.

He walked along the very edge of the training ground for a while, without squeezing into the crowd or trying to attract attention, and simply stopped by a blue stone near the edge of the field.

He Lin, carrying a medicine bucket, noticed him and quickly walked over, lowering his voice to say, "Why are you only arriving now? The assessment has already started; even if you wanted to participate now, it would be too late."

"I will not participate in the assessment," Ye Xiao said.

He Lin opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but seeing Ye Xiao's indifferent expression and knowing that time had passed, he could only sigh.

He had always thought highly of Ye Xiao, even if the chances of him winning were slim, it wasn't entirely hopeless.

At this moment, besides feeling regret, he also felt a bit disappointed.

Ye Xiao looked up at the arena.

Most people practicing Zhan Zhuang (standing meditation) grit their teeth, breathe heavily, and sweat drips down their chins.

However, some powerful individuals, who were far from reaching their limits or had already collapsed and could no longer hold on, couldn't help but chuckle in a low voice after spotting Ye Xiao.

"Those who come from the Silent Alley are all useless; they don't even have the courage to participate."

"What's the point of practicing standing meditation so diligently all the time?"

"Without any ambition, they are destined to remain at the bottom for life. It's truly shameful to be in the same outer sect as such a person."

Whether they looked down on Ye Xiao from the start or were trying to gain a sense of superiority from him after failing the assessment, they all mocked him without any restraint.

He Lin's face darkened upon hearing this, and he was about to speak when Ye Xiao raised his hand, indicating that he didn't need to worry about it.

He did not defend himself.

He didn't even linger his gaze on those people for a moment longer.

In his eyes, these words were meaningless.

Tang Qi was also practicing his stance, with little sweat on his forehead and even a smile on his face: "If you're not going to participate, get lost. Don't stand here in the way. The assessment is most afraid of people like this who just want to watch the show. If someone falls and hits you, they might blame the martial arts school."

The people around them laughed along.

Xue Chan's gaze lingered on Ye Xiao for a moment, but she said nothing before quickly returning her attention to the arena.

Just then...

"Bang!"

One of the students near the edge of the field suddenly swayed, his stance completely collapsed, and he seemed to be drained of all his strength, falling straight outwards.

He fell in the direction that was right next to the row of training stone locks piled up on the side of the field.

Stone locks have hard edges; if one hits one, it can break bones at best, or cause immediate unconsciousness at worst.

People nearby wanted to help, but they were also stuck in the stake. If their breathing became disordered, their legs would go weak, and there was no time to react.

Ye Xiao stood to the side, so close to the fallen person that there was no room for him to take a step back.

If he did nothing, he would likely be implicated. The next moment, he took a step and then reached out to grab the man's shoulder.