Inside his dimly lit room, the soft humming of fluorescent lights above served as the only backdrop to the thunderous excitement in Zhang Wei's heart. After placing the jade hairpin imbued with the spirit of the Empress Dowager safely inside a sealed spiritual talisman pouch, he turned toward the next item in his collection of supposedly "useless" junk from the black market.
Kneeling down with careful intent, Zhang Wei pulled out the largest and most awkward item from the battered duffle bag a dusty, cracked, and aged pill furnace. Its surface was jagged, chipped in places, and covered with grime, corrosion, and ash marks that gave it the appearance of an ancient relic long abandoned in the annals of time. A faint metallic scent mingled with earthy decay, almost as if the furnace had absorbed centuries of blood, herbs, and fire.
Zhang Wei's fingers brushed across the surface, and the moment he did, a subtle pulse of warmth passed through his fingertips. His eyes narrowed. This wasn't any ordinary cauldron.
Activating the All-Seeing Eyes, Zhang Wei's pupils glowed with a radiant golden light, resembling twin suns in the darkened room. Complex patterns, hidden inscriptions, and arrays began glowing faintly across the cauldron's bronze-like skin. Faded words shimmered into view lines etched with divine craftsmanship words long lost to history.
"'Heavenly Flame Shall Bow… Medicine Rules Life and Death…'" Zhang Wei muttered under his breath, reading one of the glowing phrases.
But what truly made his breath hitch was the line of fate glowing brighter than anything else he'd seen so far like a brilliant golden thread tethered to the heavens themselves, looping from the cauldron directly into his body.
"System," Zhang Wei said solemnly, his voice steady despite the rapid beat of his heart. "Appraise this."
The familiar chime rang.
Ding!System Notification:Item Identified – Ancient Pill Furnace of the Pill KingOrigin – Mortal Realm, Human Race EraOwner – Pill King (Later ascended as Pill Immortal of the Upper Realms)Legacy Status – Incomplete but intact inheritance sealed withinHost, this artifact contains the alchemical inheritance of the Pill King, a peerless genius who transcended mortality through his mastery of medicine and flames.Would you like to assimilate and repair the furnace? Cost: 20 Spendrift Points. Assimilation will allow the System to integrate the Pill Furnace, unlocking the Pill Refining Feature for the host.
Zhang Wei's heart slammed against his chest.
"The Pill King?!" he gasped. "That's one of the greatest human cultivators in the legends of alchemy!"
He had read myths stories carved into tattered scrolls and told by eccentric historians that spoke of a time when the human race had a cultivator so skilled in alchemy that gods and demons alike sought his pills. To think that such a relic would fall into his hands at a back-alley stall for mere scraps!
"System… use my savings," Zhang Wei said resolutely. "Turn 20,000 RMB into 20 Spendrift Points and start the repair and assimilation process."
Ding!Host has exchanged 20,000 RMB for 20 Spendrift Points. Host now you only have 10,000 RMB....
Repairing the Pill Furnace… Assimilation Commencing…
The furnace began to glow faintly. First, the jagged cracks along its surface started sealing with radiant light. Then, the ancient symbols embedded into the cauldron reignited in golden brilliance, re-aligning into a sacred pattern.
Suddenly.....
BOOOM!
A vortex of spiritual energy burst forth from the furnace, engulfing the entire room in light. Zhang Wei's eyes widened as phantom projections of mythical beasts soared out from the furnace Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise the Four Divine Beasts circled overhead before merging into a great wheel of Yin and Yang above the furnace.
Flames of red, blue, and white spun around him, and the entire house seemed to tremble faintly. Fortunately, Zhang Wei had activated a suppression barrier from the system earlier to avoid detection this level of energy would have attracted the attention of every cultivator in a 1000 kilometer radius otherwise.
Ding!Host has absorbed traces of bloodline essence from the Four Divine Beasts and Yin-Yang energies stored within the furnace. Assimilation with hidden bloodline has been initiated. Host all the Bloodlines annd Souls have been assimilated to your hidden bloodline and the Souls of the Four DivineBeast have been merged with your mortal soul with the help of the Yin and YangSoul...
Host will now inherit Pill King's Mortal Realm Alchemy Inheritance.Note: This knowledge is but a grain of sand compared to the ocean that is the complete legacy of the Pill Immortal.
Ding!Host, system assimilation of the Pill Furnace has reached 100%.Pill Refinement System unlocked.Host may now refine pills via system interface by inputting the required ingredients.Would you like to commence memory imprinting?
Zhang Wei clenched his fists and closed his eyes. "Do it."
Zhang Wei could barely breathe. He stumbled backward, sitting down as streams of golden scripture unfurled in front of him alchemy techniques, herbologies, pill refinement arrays, and Heavenly fire control methods all flowing into his mind like a raging river.
The golden scripture that hovered in the air turned into pure light and surged into his forehead like a comet entering the sea. His consciousness was instantly swallowed by a wave of knowledge his mind tossed through visions of giant furnaces, mountains of spiritual herbs, divine flames hotter than the sun, and countless pills glowing with the power to heal, enhance, and resurrect.
The torrent of knowledge was overwhelming.
"AHHHHHHH!" Zhang Wei screamed as his mind felt like it was being split open.... No, reforged!
He collapsed, sweat pouring down his forehead, eyes rolled back as the final strand of the Pill King's inheritance sank deep into his divine consciousness.
Everything went still.
Zhang Wei's breathing slowed… his body relaxed…
He had lost consciousness.
And thus, another legacy was awakened within the boy destined to rewrite the heavens.