Chapter 12: The Legendary Calamity-Avoiding Pill

Chapter 12: The Legendary Calamity-Avoiding Pill

"Congratulations, host, on triggering the side quest: Subdue the Jiangnan Demon. This quest rewards 50 points and 500 prestige points."

Another quest? The previous limited-time main quest hasn't been cleared yet, and now a side quest is coming in. Doesn't the system know he's got enough on his plate?

Xue Youtan shot off a blunt triple rejection: "No thanks, I'm good, pass."

"Doesn't host brother even care about the 500 prestige points reward?" System Sister's voice chimed in from the split-personality system. "Didn't big bro tell you that once your prestige points hit a certain level, you can exchange them for a high-level master point gift pack?"

High-level master point gift pack? Remembering how last time he blew 300 points just to get a one-night tour of Pei Zhi's bedroom, Xue Youtan wished he could jump up and slap System Brother across the face. And now they're trying to con him into springing for the high-level gift pack?

Did they really think he was that easy to fool?

Seeming to sense Xue Youtan's anger, System Sister let out a few whines, and a display screen appeared before him. "I'm telling the truth, big bro. The high-level gift pack has tons of options you can pick from."

Sure enough, the screen was full of all kinds of weird and wild options.

For example, the first row had "Heart Seal," the second row had "Sky-Severing Sword," the third row had "Time Lock"...

They all sounded ridiculous just from the names alone, until he hit the nth row: "Calamity-Avoiding Pill."

Calamity-Avoiding Pill!

Xue Youtan stared at those three words on the screen, so hyped he nearly tumbled out of his chair.

This thing was a total cheat code! He remembered in *Senior's Split Personality*, the transmigrated programmer used the Calamity-Avoiding Pill to fake his death and get out, which led to the happy ending.

The name was exactly the same. He just wasn't sure if the one in his system was the same legendary pill from the story.

Without thinking, Xue Youtan reached out and tapped the "Calamity-Avoiding Pill" option.

But the option was grayed out—totally unclickable.

"This row of master point options is part of the high-level gift pack. It only unlocks for exchange once your prestige points hit a certain level. Just hang tight, big bro."

System Sister only explained after Xue Youtan had tried clicking it multiple times with no luck.

"So how much do I need to get before I can trade for it?" Xue Youtan's voice was getting impatient.

If he could actually get his hands on the Calamity-Avoiding Pill, then as long as he racked up enough points before the Qilin Lock dungeon started, he'd make it out alive!

"Okay, let me look that up for you. One sec..."

"Unbelievable! That bastard's lost his damn mind!"

Before System Sister could finish checking, Xue Youtan was snapped back to reality by Feng Mingjue's furious roar.

He looked up and saw Xiao Yiheng had walked into the hall at some point, with Li Luoshu trailing behind him.

He hadn't even punished Xiao Yiheng that hard over the Cold Pool thing, so why was the guy out here showing off instead of staying in his room reflecting at a time like this?

Catching Xue Youtan's eye, Xiao Yiheng yanked Li Luoshu forward. "Master, Junior Brother saw this with his own eyes. There's no way it's fake. Please come with Master Uncle to catch them red-handed and deal with this properly."

Huh? What's going on? He'd zoned out during the system chat and totally missed the context. Could someone please fill him in?

"This disciple Li Luoshu says your newly rescued beast-eared disciple brought demon clan folks to break through the mountain gate's barrier."

Yueli really lived up to being the original female Xue Youtan's fake CP. The second he frowned, Yueli read his confusion and repeated what Li Luoshu had said in the main hall.

Hearing that, Xue Youtan's eyes lit up.

He hadn't expected the male lead to get caught red-handed when the countdown was only half over.

The male lead really lived up to his name—famously quick.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get him! Move it, move it! Any later and he'll be gone."

Xue Youtan shot up from his chair, rubbing his hands together, practically dying to rush over and whip Pei Zhi himself.

Yueli hadn't expected Xue Youtan to react like that. He'd figured that with all the effort Xue Youtan had gone through—taking a blade for the kid and curing his poison—he must have some soft spot for Pei Zhi. But instead, Pei Zhi getting in trouble made him this happy, like he'd been waiting for this moment.

By the time everyone got to the back mountain, Pei Zhi and the demon clan folks were already trapped inside Feng Mingjue's formation.

The woman in red leading them wore a veil. Seeing things go south, she whipped out her whip, looped it around Pei Zhi's neck, and yanked it tight. "Let us go, or he dies."

"Go ahead, kill him! This piece of trash Pei Zhi teamed up with the demon clan to break into the mountain—that's a death sentence. Kill him and you're doing Cangya Mountain a favor by getting rid of him. We should be thanking you!"

Xiao Yiheng jumped in fast. Before Xue Youtan could even open his mouth, the guy had already blabbed through all the lines.

Tsk, why was this kid so damn determined to steal the spotlight?

No wonder in the *Empire* ending, he got his tendons sliced and his tongue ripped out.

Pei Zhi, trapped in the formation, seemed to snap back to his senses from the choking. The bloodshot red in his eyes from the charm poison faded a bit. He scanned the crowd and instantly locked onto Xue Youtan in white.

Even though Xue Youtan wasn't standing out and his clothes were similar in color to everyone else's, Pei Zhi still spotted him right away.

"Master, I didn't..." Pei Zhi started, trying to defend himself, but the whip around his neck suddenly yanked tight, cutting him off.

"At this point, you're still hoping your master will save you?" The woman in red leaned in close, her hot breath brushing his ear. Pei Zhi frowned and turned his head away, clearly disgusted.

Catching his little flinch, the woman got even bolder. She pressed her lips closer and even shoved her body against his.

"Sending a brat who hasn't even hit the Qi Refining Stage to fight me for the Netherworld ganoderma—if you ask me, your master never planned for you to come back alive."

"Don't try to stir shit here. If I hadn't let my guard down and gotten poisoned, you wouldn't stand a chance against me!"

Pei Zhi wasn't lying.

His body was different from normal people's. During the fight, he could clearly feel that the stronger his opponent, the more it unlocked his potential. Earlier at the Netherworld River, he'd already grabbed the Netherworld ganoderma. If he hadn't been hit with that charm poison, he wouldn't have ended up in such a mess.

"Caught off guard?" The woman laughed like she'd just heard the funniest joke ever. "You seriously think you just slipped up? Hahaha, do you know what's on that jade token at your waist?"

"The Past Incense smeared on your jade token is the perfect trigger for the charm poison."

Hearing that, Pei Zhi's pupils shrank as he stared at the lotus jade token carved with the character "Pei," his face slowly going cold.

Because before he left, Xue Youtan had definitely touched his jade token.

Last night, when Xue Youtan sent him off to the Netherworld River, his jade token fell on the ground as they were parting. Xue Youtan picked it up and put it back on for him.

It was such a small thing that if the woman hadn't brought it up, he probably never would've thought of it again.

Pei Zhi looked at Xue Youtan again, but this time, there was less hope in his eyes and more of an unreadable darkness.