?The sun was fully up now. The smoke from the ruined Alchemy Peak was a black pillar against the blue sky, visible for miles.

  ?Jiang Chen stood at the edge of the forest, watching the distant figures of Sect Elders swarming the rubble.

  ?"If I run," Jiang Chen reasoned aloud, "I look like a fugitive. They'll put a bounty on my head. I'll spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder."

  ?"Correct," Apeiron's voice was crisp in his mind. The Soul Link was now stable, the audio quality improved from a staticky whisper to clear surround sound. "Fugitives are hunted. Victims are pitied. Go back."

  ?"Go back?" Jiang Chen grimaced. "I just blew up their mountain."

  ?"You didn't blow it up," Apeiron corrected. "Elder Han did. His forbidden array destabilized. You are merely the lucky servant who was thrown clear of the blast. You are the sole witness to his 'crimes'."

  ?Jiang Chen nodded. It was a bold gamble. If he walked back into the lion's den, he had to be perfect. One slip-up, one pulse of Void Qi, and they would execute him.

  ?He looked down at his new robes—stolen from the Enforcer—and his pristine, bronze skin.

  ?"I look too healthy," Jiang Chen noted.

  ?He took a deep breath.

  ?He reached out and snapped a low-hanging pine branch. He dragged the jagged wood across his left arm, tearing a gash in the skin. He winced, but didn't stop. He rubbed dirt into the wound. He tore his robes at the shoulder and knee. He smeared soot from a burnt stump onto his face to hide the healthy glow of his complexion.

  ?Finally, he took the stolen Enforcer's Ring, the Elder's Token, and the Void Journal.

  ?"I can't carry these," he said. "If they search me, I'm dead."

  ?He found a hollow in an ancient oak tree. He wrapped the items in a piece of oilcloth and shoved them deep inside, covering the hole with moss and mud.

  ?"I'll come back for them when the heat dies down," he whispered.

  ?He checked his internal state.

  ?[System Check: Aura Suppression.]

  [Mode: Stealth.]

  [Displayed Cultivation: Qi Condensation - Layer 6 (Simulated).]

  ?"I have masked the Void Foundation," Apeiron assured him. "To their sensors, your Dantian will look like a standard, slightly traumatized spiritual root. Do not use any skills. Do not flare your Qi. Just cry."

  ?"I can do crying," Jiang Chen said.

  ?He began to limp toward the smoking ruins.

  ?The base of Alchemy Peak was a chaotic scene.

  ?Disciples were running water buckets lines. Healers were tending to the few survivors of the initial collapse. But the center of attention was a group of three elderly men in white and gold robes hovering over the main debris field on flying swords.

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  ?The Sect Elders.

  ?Leading them was Elder Mo, the Head of Discipline. A man known for stripping the skin off traitors.

  ?Jiang Chen stumbled out of the tree line. He let his legs give out, collapsing onto the ash-covered road.

  ?"Help..." he croaked. "Water..."

  ?A disciple spotted him. "Over here! Another survivor!"

  ?Two disciples rushed over, lifting him up. They dragged him toward the triage tent.

  ?"Who is this?" one asked.

  ?"It's Jiang Chen," the other said, wrinkling his nose. "The corpse feeder. I thought he died weeks ago."

  ?Jiang Chen let his head loll back. "Elder Han... the monster... he tried to eat me..."

  ?The chatter stopped.

  ?A shadow fell over them.

  ?Elder Mo descended from the sky, his sword retracting into his sleeve. He landed silently. His presence was suffocating—a heavy, crushing pressure of the Golden Core Realm.

  ?"Put him down," Elder Mo commanded.

  ?The disciples dropped Jiang Chen instantly, bowing low.

  ?Elder Mo stared at Jiang Chen. His eyes were cold, scanning Jiang Chen's body with a spiritual probe.

  ?Jiang Chen felt the alien Qi enter his body. It prodded his meridians, checked his bone density, and hovered over his Dantian.

  ?Inside Jiang Chen's gut, the [Void Foundation] went dormant. It disguised itself as a murky, insignificant pool of Qi.

  ?"Hold steady," Apeiron whispered. "He is suspicious, but he is looking for external tampering, not an internal parasite."

  ?The probe withdrew.

  ?"You are the servant Jiang Chen?" Elder Mo asked.

  ?"Yes, Elder," Jiang Chen wheezed, keeping his head down.

  ?"Tell me what happened. And if you lie, I will search your soul, which will leave you a drooling vegetable."

  ?Jiang Chen swallowed. He pitched his voice to tremble.

  ?"Elder Han... he was crazy. He was kidnapping disciples. He kept me in a cage... he said I was 'special ingredient'."

  ?Elder Mo's eyes narrowed. "Kidnapping? We found bodies in the ruins. Drained of blood."

  ?"He was making a beast!" Jiang Chen cried out, letting a few real tears of stress leak out. "A Chimera! He injected himself with monster blood! He turned into a giant ape... and then the machine exploded!"

  ?The crowd murmured.

  ?"A Chimera?"

  "Forbidden Alchemy?"

  "So the rumors were true..."

  ?Elder Mo raised a hand, silencing them. He looked at another Elder, a woman with a jade tablet.

  ?"The energy residue matches," the woman confirmed. "We found traces of massive lightning turbulence and biological corruption. It wasn't a pill explosion. It was a failed ascension ritual."

  ?Elder Mo looked back at Jiang Chen.

  ?"And how did you survive? A mortal servant in the epicenter of a Foundation-level explosion?"

  ?This was the choke point.

  ?"I... I don't know," Jiang Chen stammered. "When he turned into the beast, he threw me. I hit the wall... fell into the drainage tunnel. Then the ceiling came down. I woke up in the woods."

  ?It was close enough to the truth to be plausible.

  ?Elder Mo stared at him for a long, agonizing minute. He was looking for a flicker of deception.

  ?But Jiang Chen had spent years lying to survive in the Corpse Pit. His fear was real. His exhaustion was real.

  ?"He speaks the truth about the tunnel," the female Elder noted. "We found a breached wall in the lower lab leading to the drainage system."

  ?Elder Mo grunted. The tension broke.

  ?"Han was a fool," Mo spat. " consorting with forbidden arts. He destroyed a thousand years of sect history for a moment of power."

  ?He looked at Jiang Chen with a mix of disgust and indifference.

  ?"You are fortunate, boy. The Heavens favor idiots and drunkards."

  ?Elder Mo turned to the disciples.

  ?"Take him to the healing hall. Once he is recovered, assign him to new quarters. The Corpse Pit is closed for investigation."

  ?"Wait," the female Elder interjected. She looked at Jiang Chen closely. "His Qi... it has stabilized. He has entered the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation."

  ?She looked at Elder Mo. "He survived a calamity and broke through his bottleneck. The Sect rules state that any survivor of a catastrophic event who shows promise is eligible for promotion."

  ?Elder Mo waved his hand dismissively. "Do as you wish. Just get him out of my sight."

  ?The female Elder looked at Jiang Chen.

  ?"Congratulations, Disciple Jiang. By the grace of your survival, you are no longer a servant. You are promoted to Outer Disciple."

  ?Jiang Chen bowed his head until his forehead touched the ash-covered ground.

  ?"Thank you, Elder! Thank you for your mercy!"

  ?Inside his mind, he felt Apeiron's cold amusement.

  ?"Well acted. You played the worm perfectly. Now, stand up. We have infiltrated the henhouse."

  ?Jiang Chen let the healers lift him onto a stretcher. As they carried him away toward the clean, white buildings of the main sect, he allowed himself a tiny, imperceptible smile.

  ?He wasn't going to the Corpse Pit anymore.

  He was going to the Outer Sect.

  ?Fresh meat.