25: Chapter 25 Top-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill?

Crack.

This crisp sound was drowned out by the distant clamor of galloping hooves.

Ye Feng clenched his fingers; the Shadow embedded in the wall didn't even let out a groan before his neck bones were instantly reduced to powder.

He was a death soldier, but unfortunately, he had encountered someone even more unreasonable than Yama.

The Devouring Vortex in Ye Feng's palm suddenly reversed; the suction originally used to absorb Spiritual Qi now transformed into a meat grinder for destroying evidence.

The Shadow's corpse, along with the broken dagger and even the poison smoke that hadn't fully dissipated, were forcibly collapsed toward the center by an extremely domineering force.

Within a few breaths, a living man had been turned into a fist-sized, mottled dark-red blood bead.

Expressionless, Ye Feng casually tossed the blood bead into the broken furnace that was still burning waste medicinal residue.

The flames flared up with a sizzle, and the last trace of blood scent was perfectly masked by the scorched smell of herbs.

Destroying the evidence, clean and efficient.

Boom!

The already precarious half-wall of earth completely collapsed.

A warhorse, crimson from head to tail, neighed as it trampled the door planks on the ground, barging into the small, dilapidated house with a suffocating cold wind.

As the hooves landed, they happened to stomp right onto the row of medicine cabinets that held Master Ling Xu's life's work, sending wood splinters flying.

The leader was dressed in gold-thread soft armor with a Qilin jade pendant hanging from his waist; his long, narrow phoenix eyes held an indifference that viewed all living beings as mere grass.

The Third Prince of Great Xia, Xia Yunting.

Behind him, two rows of Black-armored Imperial Guards held powerful crossbows, their cold arrowheads instantly locking onto the old man and the youth in the room.

Xia Yunting pulled the reins, his gaze sweeping across the empty wall before finally resting on the speck of ash on Ye Feng's fingertip that hadn't been flicked away yet.

Dead?

The "Shadow" he had planted as a hidden agent—not even a corpse was left?

"Where is he?"

Xia Yunting's voice was soft, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness.

Master Ling Xu, cowering in the corner, rolled his eyes in terror and nearly fainted.

Before Ye Feng could speak, Han Tie, whose eyebrows had been singed, lunged toward the horse like he was grasping at a lifesaver.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, you've finally arrived!"

Han Tie pointed at Ye Feng, his eyes filled with malice and greed. "This kid practices the Evil Path! Just now, I saw it with my own eyes—he swallowed poisonous herbs, used his body as a furnace, and refined a top-grade Medicinal Pill! Shadow... Shadow must have been killed by his sorcery!"

While shouting, his gaze remained fixed on the still-warm Medicinal Pill in Ye Feng's hand.

That was a Top-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill.

If he could get this evidence, he could not only convict the boy but also take the pill for himself and present it to Your Highness to claim credit.

"Sorcery?" Xia Yunting's brow quirked slightly.

"Exactly! What proper alchemist would swallow medicinal ingredients? This must be the methods of the Demonic Cult!" Han Tie no longer cared about his dignity and lunged at Ye Feng. "Hand over the Medicinal Pill! This is evidence!"

He was gambling.

Gambling that Ye Feng wouldn't dare strike in front of the prince.

Unfortunately, he had gambled on the wrong person.

Watching the filthy hand reach out, a cruel arc curled on the corner of Ye Feng's mouth.

You want it? Then I'll give it to you.

Just as Han Tie's fingers were about to touch the Medicinal Pill, Ye Feng's fingers snapped shut.

Snap.

That priceless Top-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill was crushed into powder in his palm.

Han Tie's heart bled at the sight, but in the next second, Ye Feng backhanded him, smearing the powder—mixed with violent Sword Intent and scalding medicinal power—firmly onto Han Tie's forehead.

"Since Alchemist Han likes it so much, consider it a reward."

The medicinal powder sank into his flesh.

The marrow-cleansing power within was already domineering, not to mention the wisp of Ancient Sword Qi that Ye Feng had just refined into it.

"Ahhh—!"

Han Tie let out a shriek like a slaughtered pig.

The skin on his forehead festered and burst at a visible rate; it wasn't corrosion, but rather being sliced into a thousand pieces by countless tiny, invisible wisps of Sword Qi.

Blood mixed with medicinal dregs flowed all over his face, and he rolled on the ground in agony.

"He's crazy! He's insane! The pill exploded!"

The cruelty on Ye Feng's face vanished instantly, replaced by a look of panic as if he were an unworldly boy.

He stumbled back behind Master Ling Xu, clutching his head and trembling. "It's not my fault! He's the one who insisted on grabbing it! The pill had too much fire energy, and he grabbed it before it even cooled... it was his own greed!"

The acting was exaggerated, but effective.

At least in Xia Yunting's eyes, this was just a wild, foolish kid whose luck was so good he could form a pill even when the furnace exploded, yet understood nothing of medicinal principles.

Xia Yunting ignored the screaming Han Tie on the ground and took a deep breath.

A strange scorched fragrance permeated the air.

It was the pure medicinal power dissipating after the pill was shattered.

With just one breath, Xia Yunting felt the "Cold Fiend Poison" that had tormented him for months show signs of loosening.

This wild kid actually had some skill.

"Enough."

Xia Yunting barked coldly, and Han Tie was immediately dragged away like a dead dog by two guards.

He looked down at Ye Feng with a gaze that seemed to be appraising a piece of merchandise.

"Whether it's luck or sorcery, to be able to refine a pill of this quality makes you a talent of sorts."

Xia Yunting turned his horse, leaving everyone with a cold view of his back.

"Take them away. Send them to the 'Earth Fire Hall'."

Several guards immediately stepped forward, roughly shackling Ye Feng and Master Ling Xu with Black Iron Shackles that suppressed their Spiritual Qi.

"Your... Your Highness, what are we going to the Earth Fire Hall for?" Master Ling Xu asked tremulously.

Xia Yunting didn't look back; his voice drifted over with the sound of hooves, cold enough to freeze:

"The poison in my body requires a 'Nine Yang Restoration Pill'. I will give you three days."

"Refine it, and you live."

"Fail, and that furnace from just now will be your final resting place."

Ye Feng lowered his head, his messy hair concealing the sharp light that flashed through his eyes.

The Nine Yang Restoration Pill?

That was a Rank Four pill; besides requiring extremely strong fire-control abilities, it also needed a very specific flame environment.

It seemed the Prince's Mansion hid some extraordinary treasures.

This wasn't going to prison; it was clearly just changing locations to nourish himself.

Ye Feng obediently allowed himself to be escorted onto the prison carriage. As the wheels rolled forward, the heat from deep underground grew stronger. The Devouring Sword Body within him seemed to sense something and began to tremble with excitement.

Half an hour later, the prison carriage stopped before a pitch-black palace cast entirely from refined iron.

There were no windows, only a gate just wide enough for one person to pass through. Billowing heat waves seeped through the cracks of the door, distorting the surrounding air until vision became blurred.