The pale moonlight streamed through the jagged opening of the cave, its silvery beams battling the dark shadows, but it couldn't banish the darkness from within the cave, nor the darkness within Aiden's mind.

Aiden inhaled deeply, taking in the earthly scent of moss and stone mixed with the poison from the corpses of the beast lying deep inside. The corpses had reappeared, and he wasn't in the mood to use Corpse Explosion and clear them.

Two days. He only had two days before he had to take part in the mandatory weekly quest, and he had nothing but his bare fists to kill his opponents. Opponents from outside and within the sect. With Wun Xia Ja's mind behind the recent actions, he bet someone might try to take him out of the equation.

Aiden lifted the juicy piece of meat and stuffed it inside his mouth. Despite being depressed, he couldn't let his stomach go hungry, and while coming to the secret cave, he had robbed a poor labor disciple of his freshly cooked food. It was all because of the enticing scent of the pork that attracted him. Who asked that girl to cook pork when Aiden hadn't eaten anything since morning and spent his brain cells battling with opponents stronger than him?

Greasy drippings ran down his hand, making his stomach growl even louder. The savory aroma of the pork filled his nostrils, intensifying his hunger pangs. Aiden licked his lips, tasting the remnants of the juicy meat, as the warm fat coated his fingers. The stolen meal was a welcome respite from the stress of the day, even if it came at the expense of some poor labor disciple.

The young woman was startled when she spotted him, a mysterious figure in a mask suddenly striking out of the blue. He nearly got caught red-handed as Gun Pu glimpsed him striding from her shack, his face still hidden behind the mask, but he was drunk and went on his own route.

Gun Pu.

Aiden suddenly remembered his quest to kill Gun Pu—a task that would reward him with a valuable battle skill.

However, he couldn't kill Gun Pu otherwise, once people investigated his death, they might find his hand in hiding death.

"Damn it, is there no way to kill him without getting caught?" Aiden paced around the cave, ignoring the juicy fat dripping from his fingers.

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There was one, and he had a perfect ingredient for it. The rotten beast corpses.

Sneering, Aiden marched towards the depth of the cave. This was going to be an interesting hunt.

***

Soil came out rapidly as Aiden dug into the corner of his old hut. The guy owning it lay unconscious in the corner, his nose broken, blood leaking. The sect had given his old hut to someone new right after he became an outer sect disciple. Not that he cared about it, but still. Anyway, he cared least about the sect and their puny politics.

After digging a couple of feet, the knife shattered. After tossing it into the corner, he retrieved another one and continued digging. The more he dug, the easier and faster it got. Surprisingly, he could find the soft spots easily and every stab eased his job.

System: Your skill Gold Digging has increased your digging speed by 50%.

No wonder.

A small mound of soil accumulated behind him while the hut became dusty. Unconscious man sneezed, his hands moving a little, him showing signs of waking up.

Aiden turned back and slapped on his neck, knocking him out instantly.

He had entered the hut with a mask, so he should be fine from a mortal investigation method.

After spending ten minutes, he finally found a small storage pouch Li An had hidden deep inside. Li An's months of humiliation were stored inside. Whatever he found while scrubbing elder's backyards, Li An stored inside this pouch, and most of them were poison pills.

Grinning, Aiden plucked a few pills from the pouch. Their exteriors were cracked, and a pair had darkened to shades of red and blue. Li An had gathered pills from the waste buckets of the elders and stashed them away. At first, he'd hoped to stumble upon a valuable remedy, but it soon became a habit. This obsession led him to discover the Second Life Pill, which ultimately sealed his fate.

These were the failed Bronze Grade pills. Like other things, pills were graded as Bronze, Silver and Gold Grade. Every pill had a certain amount of poison in them, and when the poison accumulated overpowered the medicinal strength, the concoction failed and the pill was discarded. It wasn't a poison pill yet, and one wouldn't die right away, but having memories of old man Li, Aiden had ways to convert this into a real poison pill.

He couldn't use this pill directly, and he had to use something else, and the beast's blood he had collected would be useful here. The blood had a strong corrosive property, and by mixing the poison pill inside, he could use it as a killing agent.

If only he had a furnace, he could have concocted a poison pill straight away, but he lacked one. So, he had to use the beast's blood and modify one of the easiest recipes from old man Li's memories. It wasn't going to be an easy task, and he had to prevent himself from getting caught in the poison, as he couldn't just ask Gun Pu to eat the pill on his own accord.

Whatever. Even if it failed, he would use more pills and succeed.

It was time to kill Gun Pu.