[Author: This book was once banned for over a month, and was eventually revised to its current form. If you encounter descriptions about 'absorbing others' powers and fortune' that seem confusing, please use your imagination to fill in the gaps in a terrifying direction.]

"Today, I intend to refine a supreme elixir. My disciples, watch closely."

"If this elixir succeeds, I can take you all to ascend to immortality and become ancestors!"

Inside the Broken Immortal Hall, the jagged rocks and rough stone walls created an uneven, dark, and damp environment, where snakes, insects, rats, and ants occasionally crawled by.

At the center of the hall stood a large stone cauldron, emitting thick, foul-smelling steam.

A short, middle-aged Taoist in a filthy robe, his head covered in pustules, stood beside the cauldron, speaking with a mouthful of yellow teeth.

In front of him stood dozens of children, no older than fourteen or fifteen.

They were dressed in rags, their faces dirty and hair disheveled, looking fearfully at the Scabby Head Taoist.

Brandon Jiang was among the crowd, coldly observing the area around the cauldron.

The Scabby Head Taoist claimed he was going to refine a supreme elixir, yet there wasn't a single herb in sight, only a gathering of children.

Something was definitely off.

The Scabby Head Taoist pulled out a yellowed elixir recipe, squinting at it with his mismatched eyes.

After a moment, he muttered to himself:"One of the main ingredients for the elixir is the Divine Rabbit Heavenly Ear Tree, which I don't have."

He looked at the children and smiled:"But humans are the spirit of all things, favored by the Heavenly Path."

As long as I absorb your life force and fortune, I can substitute it for the main ingredient! My dear disciples, is anyone willing to sacrifice themselves to help me achieve immortality?

Once I become immortal, I will surely take you all into the Immortal Path with me!"

The children were all terrified, scattering in all directions.

But Brandon Jiang remained unmoved, sitting calmly as if unafraid of death.

The Scabby Head Taoist's face turned cold:"A bunch of ungrateful brats. I've nurtured you for so long, and yet you won't even sacrifice your mortal bodies?"

With that, the Taoist suddenly reached out, and a terrified child behind Brandon Jiang screamed as he was pulled from the crowd and grabbed by the Taoist!

The child screamed and struggled, but the Taoist seemed oblivious, gradually tightening his grip.

Two beams of light, one white and one yellow, flew out from the child's seven orifices, forming two spheres that hovered in the Taoist's hand.

The Taoist, immensely satisfied, threw the two light spheres into the stone cauldron.

Immediately, the cauldron began to boil!

The child's face and body began to age visibly!

He struggled to walk with his now feeble legs, but in the next moment, as if by bad luck, he tripped on a protruding rock and died instantly.

"Hahahaha!!"

The Scabby Head Taoist laughed, his twisted, ugly face showing a cruel enjoyment:

"A mortal who loses their life force and fortune won't die immediately but will age rapidly and suffer the worst misfortunes in the world!

So, how long can you live without your life force and fortune? One second, two seconds, or three?"

Brandon Jiang took it all in, cold sweat dripping down his back, but his expression remained unchanged.

The Scabby Head Taoist chuckled, his gaze sweeping over the children, pausing briefly on Brandon Jiang.

He noticed that Brandon Jiang hadn't blinked or frowned throughout the entire cruel scene.

When the Taoist looked over, Brandon Jiang didn't show fear but instead gave him a gentle smile.

The Taoist was slightly taken aback but didn't act against Brandon Jiang, turning his attention to the other children.

Some children, like Brandon Jiang, also sat quietly, looking calm.

The Taoist passed over them but his eyes lit up when he saw a child sitting stiffly, trembling with a tense expression!

He reached out and grabbed the child, who immediately turned pale and struggled frantically, screaming:"No, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!!!"

In the next moment, the Taoist extracted two light spheres from the child's body and threw them into the cauldron.

The child's face aged rapidly, and he stumbled into a nearby fire, instantly turning to ashes!

The hall was first shocked, then erupted into even greater chaos!

"Mom, where are you? I'm so scared, please save me."

"Demon, you're absorbing our life force and fortune for alchemy, you'll die a horrible death!"

Watching the children flee in panic, the Scabby Head Taoist laughed:

"Fools, you're far from the essence. Mortal bodies are born and die, what does it matter if you give them up?

Sacrificing your bodies to help me achieve immortality is your supreme merit. In the future, when you ascend to the immortal realm, you'll all be immortals. Why fear this momentary pain?"

As he spoke, he grabbed one child after another, absorbing their life force and fortune, turning them into 'little old men' who died in various 'accidents.'

The hall was filled with screams and cries.

But Brandon Jiang remained unafraid, sitting motionless.

In truth, his back was soaked with cold sweat, and his expression was nearly frozen!

During his time captured by the Taoist, he had barely survived, watching as those around him were cruelly drained of their life force and fortune. He had finally figured out the Taoist's temperament.

This demon enjoyed torturing and killing, using various methods to instill fear in the children, listening to their screams before using them for alchemy.

So, if he showed no fear, the Taoist wouldn't kill him.

But this was easier said than done, and he wasn't sure how long he could keep up the act.

"I'm reaching my limit." Brandon Jiang sighed inwardly. When would this nightmare end?

***

In his previous life, he was an ordinary corporate slave in China on Earth. He inexplicably transmigrated into an orphan, growing up in a small fishing village, struggling to survive in this world.

He thought that was bad enough, but who could have expected to be captured by this Taoist and used as alchemy material!

This world was too dangerous!

***

Meanwhile, one child after another was taken, drained, and killed, while the aura in the stone cauldron grew thicker, emitting a sinister red light.

After absorbing the life force and fortune of over twenty children, the Scabby Head Taoist stopped, using a mysterious technique to refine the contents of the cauldron into an elixir.

Finally, a red-glowing pill floated out of the cauldron, spinning in mid-air.

The pill was the size of a baby's fist, irregularly shaped, with lifelike human faces on its surface.

These faces vaguely resembled the dead children, their expressions twisted as if they could scream at any moment, exuding extreme evil!

A thick, strange aura continuously emanated from the pill.

"It's done! I've finally succeeded!"

The Scabby Head Taoist was ecstatic, carefully catching the pill.

He examined it closely, then turned to the remaining children, grinning wickedly:

"I've refined the elixir, but I don't know its effects. Who's willing to test it for me?"

The children were deeply terrified. They had seen the Taoist's alchemy methods clearly, using their peers' life force and fortune to create the pill! The pill's appearance was clearly evil!

The Taoist's voice was filled with temptation: "This pill can awaken your spiritual roots for cultivation. Only those with spiritual roots can cultivate. This is a great opportunity for immortality. You must seize it!"

But the children didn't believe him.

They tried to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible, hoping not to be chosen.

But someone had to be the unlucky one.

The Taoist pointed to a child hiding in the corner.

"You, come here and test the pill!"

"Me... me?!" The chosen child turned pale, his eyes filled with despair.

But he didn't dare disobey, forcing himself to move forward step by step.

After much effort, the child finally reached the Taoist.

The Taoist, already impatient, extended his hand with the pill, commanding: "Hurry up and eat it."

The child instinctively caught the pill, looking down at the twisted faces on its surface, feeling a huge shock.

Thud—

The child's legs gave out, and he collapsed, unable to get up.

He trembled all over, kneeling before the Taoist, holding the pill, and begging for mercy.

"Master, please have mercy, spare my life. I don't want to die, I don't... ahhh!!!"

Before he could finish, his body was crushed by an invisible force, killed by the Taoist!

The blood-red pill remained intact, rolling on the ground, looking even more sinister.

"Hmph, useless! You couldn't even grasp the chance for immortality! You soiled my pill!"

The Taoist retrieved the pill, dissatisfied, and carefully placed it back into the cauldron, muttering:

"I need to clean it quickly, can't let it get dirty."

Then, he absorbed the life force and fortune from the dead child's body, turning it into rotting flesh.

The pill rolled in the cauldron, absorbing the light spheres from the child's body, becoming even more crystalline, undergoing some mysterious change.

The children shuddered at the sight of the pill, terrified of being the next test subject.

The Taoist's eyes narrowed, scanning the children, then pointed to another child:

"You, come here!"

The child was equally terrified, but with the previous example, he didn't dare beg for mercy, quickly moving to the Taoist.

He took the pill with trembling hands, smelling its nauseating odor, gritting his teeth, preparing to swallow it.

The Taoist smiled: "Good disciple, make sure to swallow the whole pill for the best effect."

"Understood, swallow it whole. Yes, Master."

The child nodded repeatedly, closing his eyes and swallowing the pill whole, not daring to bite it, forcing it down his throat.

His throat bulged, emitting red light, and after a while, he finally swallowed the pill.

The other children were thrilled, someone had finally swallowed the pill, meaning they wouldn't be chosen next!

The child who swallowed the pill was also surprised to find he wasn't dead.

He was overjoyed, quickly bowing to the Taoist:

"Master, I have not disgraced..."

But before he could finish, he was crushed by the Taoist's hand, dead instantly.

The Taoist's face twisted into a wicked smile: "You actually ate it? You don't respect me at all! If you want to eat it so badly, then become one with my pill."

He threw the child into the cauldron, extracting two light spheres!

They quickly merged with the pill.

The Taoist looked at his pill with satisfaction, laughing, then turned to the children, saying meaningfully:"Who will test the pill next?"

The surviving children covered their mouths, trying not to scream.

Endless fear and despair consumed them!

This pill, whether eaten or not, meant death. Whoever was chosen would die!

A dead end!

They were on the verge of collapse from the Taoist's torment!

Brandon Jiang was equally tense, praying not to be chosen.

But to no avail, the Taoist suddenly turned to Brandon Jiang, sneering:"Dear disciple, weren't you unafraid earlier? Come and try it!"

Brandon Jiang tensed up, the shadow of death looming over him.