The carriage raced forward, and the mountains, rivers, plants, and trees swiftly retreated.

Night fell, and the moon rose high.

With a creak, the carriage finally came to a halt at the foot of a towering mountain with jagged rocks.

The old Taoist lifted the curtain, took a look, nodded satisfactorily, then reached in and picked up both Lu Li and Qin Shouren with one hand each. Stepping out, he lightly tapped his foot and descended onto a rock like a meteor. After a series of ups and downs, he reached the midway up the mountain.

After a short rest, the old Taoist exerted himself again, leaping lightly on the rocks like a ghost. Each jump propelled him upwards by over ten zhang.

In no time, the Taoist arrived at the mountain peak.

There stood an old Taoist temple with the inscription "Qingliang Temple". The Taoist kicked open the temple gate and walked in.

Behind the gate was a sizable courtyard where a young Taoist of seventeen or eighteen was looking around. Upon seeing the old Taoist enter, his face lit up with relief, and he quickly approached. "Master, you're back."

The old Taoist nodded. "I've brought back four more medicine slaves. There are two more at the foot of the mountain. Go and bring them up."

"Yes, Master!" The young Taoist bowed and hurried out of the courtyard.

To the right of the courtyard was a row of low houses with six rooms, each numbered from one to six.

The old Taoist carried Lu Li towards the low houses, first dumping him into Room 1, then locking the door behind him. He did the same with Qin Shouren in Room 2 before leaving.

After a long while, the young Taoist returned, panting and carrying two more people under his arms. He walked with a wobble, looking exhausted, and muttered curses under his breath, "Damn, that big guy eats so much. He almost broke my back."

With that, he flung open the door to Room 3 and dumped Chen Zhong inside, then did the same with Li Xiangyun in Room 4, before finally letting out a deep sigh of relief.

He then walked over to Room 6, listened for a moment, and finding no sound inside, shook his head and sighed before turning to leave.

Days turned into nights.

The next day, a ray of sunshine shone through the narrow ventilation window on the wall, illuminating the dim room.

A damp, moldy smell filled Lu Li's nostrils. He wrinkled his brow and slowly opened his eyes.

"Where... am I?"

Lu Li slowly rose, rubbing his aching head. He looked around and found himself in a dark, cramped room. It was empty, with only some dry grass and water stains.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Was I... locked up by someone?"

A sense of foreboding suddenly arose. This place looked similar to a prison cell in a book, with walls sealed tightly and only a small ventilation window.

He tried to pull the door, but it didn't budge. It was made of iron, and his heart sank.

"That old Taoist is no good."

Lu Li retreated to the wall, hugging his head with a lost look in his eyes. The old Taoist's abilities were too mysterious, and they were all in danger.

Clang.

Suddenly, a small opening appeared at the bottom of the door, and a small iron basin filled with food was pushed in.

Lu Li glanced over and saw that the food was quite good, even better than what they had in Dashicun. It was fragrant, with meat and vegetables, not like the kind used to mistreat people. This added to his confusion: what did he want to do?

"Let me out, you son of a b****..."

Just then, Lu Li heard a kicking sound from the next room, undoubtedly Qin Shouren.

Elsewhere.

In the main hall of the temple, a small three-legged cauldron was placed in the center, with flames licking out from beneath it. The young Taoist sat on a small stool, occasionally turning a knob.

As he turned the knob, the opening of the two iron plates above the fire changed, causing the flames to flare up or die down.

The old Taoist, seated nearby, looked at the young man with admiration. "Zhengping, your control over the fire is already quite skilled. Well done."

Fan Zhengping wiped the sweat from his forehead and replied casually, "It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Master. But, Master, always capturing ordinary people to test medicines may be against the will of Heaven. Maybe we should stop after this time..."

"Hmph." The old Taoist snorted. "Cultivation itself is a journey against the will of Heaven. If we fear the will of Heaven, we might as well become farmers like those ordinary people.

"Besides, it's their good fortune in several lifetimes to become stepping stones on our cultivation path. To advance further in cultivation, one must stay true to their heart. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Fan Zhengping replied, no longer arguing, and lowered his head to continue controlling the fire.

A moment later, he turned off the fire, slowly opened the lid of the cauldron, and frowned at the two black pills inside. "Master, it seems the ingredients we used this time were still not right. The Acupoint Stimulating Pill is still black."

"Is that so?" The old Taoist stood up and walked over, peering at the pills in the cauldron. "It doesn't matter. Perhaps this is the natural color of the Acupoint Stimulating Pill. Keep trying. If we succeed just once, we'll benefit greatly."

The old Taoist's name was Zhang Song, a wandering cultivator. Now over eighty, he had only reached the eighth level of Qi Condensation, highlighting the difficulty of the cultivation path.

He had found the recipe for the Acupoint Stimulating Pill in a cave by accident. It was said that successfully refining this pill could help Qi Condensation cultivators quickly open their Qi meridians, advancing their realm rapidly. Even the major sects didn't have such a pill. If he could refine it, there would be a good chance he could reach the Foundation Establishment stage before he turned 100.

However, the recipe was incomplete, with only three of the four ingredients verified. Even the original owner of the recipe had never succeeded in refining it.

That's why he kept trying different combinations of ingredients. To avoid poisoning himself with the pills, he captured ordinary people to test them. So far, he had been refining the pill for over three years, and hundreds of test subjects had died, but he still hadn't found the right combination for the remaining ingredient.

"Yes," Fan Zhengping nodded. "I'll go find someone to test it."

With that, he stood up and walked towards the courtyard, straight to Room 4. He slowly opened the door and called out to the child inside, "You can come out now."

The child was Li Xiangyun, who lit up with joy and quickly ran out, innocently asking, "Immortal, why did you lock me up? Where are Lu Li and the others?"

A hint of sadness flashed through Fan Zhengping's eyes but quickly disappeared. "They've gone to another place to cultivate. You were locked up here to train your willpower. It's okay now. My master has refined a pill for you. After you take it, you can become an immortal. Come with me."

"Really?"

"Yes."

The two then walked towards the main hall together.