As Ethan confirmed that the sugar on his chest was indeed real, his heart pounded wildly. His first instinct was to tell Dr. Lio.

But as he was about to step forward, other thoughts flashed through his mind. He knew that his hallucinations held more than just sugar cubes; there were other, more valuable things!

Tasting the sweetness dissolving in his mouth, Ethan paced around the room. "This is an opportunity! A chance that could make Anna and me rich overnight, even take me to the pinnacle of life!" he thought excitedly.

"I can't tell Dr. Lio. I don't want to end up as a lab specimen, and besides, this isn't something he should handle," Ethan thought to himself.

"However, I can't jump to conclusions so quickly. I need to fully understand what's going on," he decided resolutely.

As he pondered, the environment began to twist and change, and the clean, orderly hospital room started to fade away.

Accustomed to such transitions, Ethan quickly stashed his worksheets and books into his bag and tossed it into a corner to prevent his hallucinating self from tearing them up.

He then pressed the red button beside his bed. In the last moments before the transition, he saw nurses enter and strap him to the bed.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the crude, icy cave, with the "junior brothers and sisters," all with physical deformities, curiously looking at him.

Sitting up from the cold stone floor, Ethan surveyed his surroundings with a new perspective. Though a hallucination, it now seemed like a treasure trove filled with riches.

Perhaps he wasn't sick but had a rare and exceptional ability that the doctors couldn't detect.

"Maybe I'm not ill at all. Yes, that's right, I'm not sick."

He was tired of being labeled as mentally ill, tired of the strange looks from everyone.

It felt like he had ceased to be human the moment he fell ill and had become something else entirely.

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The thought of possibly shedding this label in the future filled Ethan with indescribable excitement.

Feeling quite pleased, Ethan playfully ruffled the hair of a bald man who came over, chuckling, "Haha, this is really interesting."

"What are you doing gathering here? Get back to work! If the master's elixir is not prepared properly, and his great ascension is ruined, he'll flay you alive!" An extremely annoying voice echoed from the cave entrance.

Turning, Ethan saw the haughty Taoist who had relayed messages earlier, his face still bearing an arrogant expression, as if speaking with Ethan and the others was beneath him. Ethan remembered this guy; his Taoist name seemed to be Yang.

Yang, feeling challenged by Ethan's blatant scrutiny, strode over with his dust whisk. "Ethan, it's a shame you weren't chosen as the master's elixir this time."

Ethan couldn't care less about Yang's sarcasm, focusing instead on the round jade pendant hanging at Yang's waist. "This must be an antique, right? If I sold it in the real world, it'd be worth a lot, wouldn't it?"

"How should I get it? Like the sugar cube, just grab it and press it against my chest?"

Yang, mistaking Ethan's silence for fear, scoffed and turned to leave the area where the elixir workers were.

Ethan, watching his retreating figure, made up his mind. That jade pendant would be his next object of experimentation.

As for how to acquire it, the plan was simple: steal it at night. "That pendant is great, but it'll be mine soon."

A small, pale hand reached out and gently tugged at Ethan's coarse garment. A soft voice whispered, "Ethan, better get back to work, or there'll be no food for us."

Turning, Ethan saw the albino girl he had helped before. He handed her the remaining half-melted black sugar and then returned to his workstation to resume his duties.

For now, he decided not to act too outlandishly, either here or back in the hospital. Telling anyone about these extraordinary events seemed inappropriate. He needed to understand the rules of this phenomenon better before making any further plans.

The day's work ended amidst the monotonous pounding of the mortar. Late at night, lying in the communal sleeping area, Ethan slowly opened his eyes amid the snoring and teeth grinding of others.

The pitch-black cave, devoid of windows, was navigable as Ethan felt his way towards the door, holding a piece of glowing green stone he had ground earlier. Though conspicuous in the darkness, Ethan was indifferent.

"If someone finds me, I'll just return to the hospital. I have an escape route, so what's there to fear?" he murmured confidently, walking through the cave.

He was familiar with the vast network of the cave, having spent some time here. Soon, he found his way into Yang's cave. Though simple, a solitary large bed indicated Yang's elevated status compared to the elixir workers.

Surprisingly, Yang was not in the cave, but his clothes were. Ethan quickly snatched the jade pendant from the robe.

Outside, examining the pendant under the light of the glowing stone, Ethan admired its translucent quality, smooth roundness, and exquisitely carved cloud patterns. Even to an untrained eye, it was clear this was a piece of high-quality jade.

The more Ethan looked at it, the happier he became. "If I can bring this to the real world, this pendant alone could cover mine and Anna's college fees for four years."

"Hehe, Anna, get ready to be a little rich girl," he whispered, pocketing the pendant and turning back.

Everything was going smoothly, but things can't always be so easy. As he neared the exit, he rounded a corner on the stone steps and came face-to-face with a group of young men and women, their shocked faces flickering in the light of their torches.

Both parties were startled, standing still in silence for a long while.

Finally, Ethan spoke, pointing at Yang with the glowing stone, "Brother Yang, with that outfit, have you been demoted to the elixir room?"

Not only Yang was there, but also other Taoist boys, including one who had fanned the alchemy furnace, now all dressed in simple hemp garments.

Yang, lacking his usual arrogance, quickly approached Ethan and whispered, "Let's go! We're escaping this damned place! The guard has been bribed."

"Escape? Oh, so you mean you're going to—"