Chapter 28: Embezzlement

A cultivator's strength is composed of three aspects.

Realm, Divine Abilities, and Dharma Tools!

All three hold pivotal importance. Previously, he couldn't afford them, but now that he had worked for two months and was finally "fattened up with oil," he could naturally consider equipping himself in every aspect.

Meanwhile.

At the Xu Family Pill Shop, after Wang Yu left, the Zhu grandfather and grandson huddled together. The young master, who had been arrogant and overbearing during the day, spoke to Old Man Zhu with a hint of nervousness.

"Grandpa, can that Wang Yu really shoulder this blame?"

"He cannot."

Old Man Zhu shook his head, his gaze extremely cold.

"Find a few more alchemists and have them shoulder it together."

Little Zhu immediately felt a surge of guilt.

"If it weren't for me offending that person from Evil God Peak, you wouldn't have to take such risks, Grandpa."

"Don't talk nonsense; there is no need for such words between us. Besides presenting a large amount of spirit stones to clear your crime, the pill shop also needs scapegoats, otherwise, we still won't have peace. For the time being, avoid appearing at the shop. If anything goes wrong with this matter, leave the sect as soon as possible and find a way to smuggle yourself through the Two Domains Pass."

The Zhu grandfather and grandson had already reaped massive private profits from the newly opened Xu Family Pill Shop to use for clearing their crimes.

This system of "clearing crimes" was also a major characteristic of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect.

Aside from sins like betraying the sect, any mistake could be offset with spirit stones. They were essentially using one crime to cover another; the difference was that Foundation Establishment Deacons were easier to bully, and there were ways to make others take the fall.

This was the true reason for the high wages in the employment contracts, rather than being out of Deacon Xu's goodwill.

During the day, Little Zhu's mockery of Wang Yu was actually an attempt to make him back down. After all, for a third-layer Qi Refinement alchemist to embezzle tens of thousands of spirit stones was too absurd—who would have the guts?

No one would believe such a person was the culprit! That was why he was so eager to drive Wang Yu away, to prevent any trouble from arising.

Unfortunately, Old Man Zhu had set his sights on Wang Yu. The old man was as cunning as a demon; pinning such a massive amount of spirit stones on a single person would be somewhat unreasonable.

After all, the stolen funds would eventually have to be recovered. The larger the group, the lower the amount per person. They couldn't track the exact destination of every single spirit stone, which provided them with room to maneuver.

When it came to bookkeeping, he was a professional!

…………

…………

The next day.

Wang Yu hummed a little tune as he leisurely headed to work at the Xu Family Pill Shop. Without the oppression of his time as a spirit slave, he was now working to earn money for himself, and his mindset had changed accordingly.

"Old Zhu, how is business today?"

At the beginning of the Si hour (9:00 AM).

As Wang Yu stepped through the doors of the pill shop, Old Man Zhu was busy transcribing something behind the counter. Wang Yu was about to go over for a chat.

However, he heard the old man say, "Alchemist Wang is here. The furnaces in the Earth Fire Chamber have been warmed up, and there is a boy at the entrance responsible for delivering herbs."

Wang Yu paused, a doubt arising in his heart. To brush off a casual chat and immediately send him to refine pills—what did that mean?

Just then, a customer arrived to settle a bill for a bottle of Spirit Returning Pills.

"Shopkeeper, I'll take this bottle. Make it quick; I have a mission to complete before leaving the sect."

"Ah, yes, yes, of course."

Seeing this, Wang Yu walked toward the Earth Fire Chamber in the backyard. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it felt. Ultimately, only five words remained in his mind: [This is a Demonic Sect!]

Suspicion, vigilance, and decisiveness were all fine virtues of a demonic cultivator. He was gradually developing this instinct. There were suspicious points regarding Old Man Zhu; regardless of whether they were big or small, he had to remain on guard.

He buried this matter in his heart for the time being, deciding to deal with it after work.

Since the contract was signed, he still had to complete his daily tasks. Operating with one arm was somewhat difficult, meaning Wang Yu had to complete fire-control seals and pill-condensation seals with a single hand!

Refining pills was even more taxing on his mental energy. Each time he refined two batches, his spiritual power was sufficient, but his divine sense would be exhausted. He needed to take short naps and enter a state of "empty thought" to recover quickly.

This also had its benefits. Recovering after pushing the divine sense to its limit was like exercising; just as muscles become stronger through constant tearing, so does the divine sense.

Intensity, upper limits, and the degree of fine control all grew steadily through each cycle of recovery. Even if the growth was minuscule each time, it was steady progress.

Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without accumulating small streams, one cannot form rivers and seas!

It was through these inadvertent instances of persistence and accumulation that a seed could eventually grow into a towering tree. His mediocre spiritual root aptitude made Wang Yu value every single improvement.

Realizing that pill refining served as training for his divine sense, he invested even more focus, gradually becoming completely immersed in it.

Unknowingly, the day passed.

Five batches of Spirit Returning Pills and five batches of Inedia Pills. The former yielded 32 pills, and the latter yielded 29. Wang Yu only handed over the mid-grade pills; any high-grade pills that emerged went straight into his own pocket.

He also had about a bottle's worth, which fell under the category of reasonable fire loss.

If it weren't for the fact that these simple first-tier spirit pills had almost no possibility of causing a furnace explosion, he could have even swallowed a few extra medicinal ingredients; it was truly a pity.

He meditated for a short while to calm his breathing.

Only then did he leave the Earth Fire Chamber and head to the front hall of the shop. By now, the crowd had dispersed. Old Man Zhu was talking to three cultivators; seeing Wang Yu emerge, he hurriedly called out.

"Alchemist Wang, come over here quickly. These three are the alchemists who will be joining the Xu Family Pill Shop in the future. Come and meet them."

A man in a square kerchief and blue robes, possessing a scholarly temperament, introduced himself: "I am Zhou Tao, eighth-layer Qi Refinement, first-tier high-grade alchemist, and an outer disciple of Five Yin Peak."

Wang Yu understood immediately. Since this person's cultivation was still at the outer disciple level, he was undoubtedly a generation of cultivator without a powerful background, intending to pursue the path of a Deacon or Elder.

As for Five Yin Peak, it belonged to the seventh peak of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, specializing in the arts of commanding ghosts and gods—a method that was eerie and difficult to guard against.

The remaining two were more ordinary, but they shared one commonality: they had no background!

"I am Huang Kai, sixth-layer Qi Refinement, first-tier mid-grade alchemist, and an outer disciple of Blood Underworld Peak."

"I am Luo Pinghu, fifth-layer Qi Refinement, first-tier mid-grade alchemist, and an outer disciple of Heavenly Corpse Peak."

Zhou Tao, Huang Kai, and Luo Pinghu. Wang Yu glanced at Old Man Zhu and gave a standard self-introduction of his own.

Upon learning that he was only at the third layer of Qi Refinement and was refining pills with one arm, they all expressed surprise. They had intended to invite Wang Yu to a restaurant for a meal to discuss the Dao of Alchemy, but he declined.

There was no time to lose; it would be best to head out and investigate as soon as possible.

Considering the various possibilities, he planned to personally visit Deacon Xu. The shop had been open for several days, yet he had not even met the person in charge. It was quite improper.

Deacon Xu held a post in the Evil God Market. Generally speaking, one would hold a post in the market associated with their respective peak. When outer disciples are promoted, they are given nominal positions—just a title and the lowest tier of benefits.

Most are still dispatched out of the sect to certain resource-rich areas occupied by the sect to guard a territory.

Only when inner disciples are promoted do they receive substantive positions, such as Deacons of the Law Enforcement Hall, the Hall of Dharma Transmission, or the Hall of Missions... and so on. Backed by the sect mountain, they lack nothing and are very safe.

There is also another group that is sent to garrison various cities under the command of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect.

(End of Chapter)