[Consumed inferior-grade Strength Pill. Gained side effect: chain farting.]
Seeing the notification flash before his eyes, Lin Yuan steadied his mind and chose not to transfer the side effect to anyone else.
Chain farting was annoying, but still bearable.
He immediately began sensing the changes in his body. The Strength Pill truly had some effect. After consuming it, his blood circulation sped up and indirectly increased his strength, but the effect did not last long.
Soon, the medicinal power faded, and the strength boost disappeared.
Pfft—pfftpfftpfftpfft!
A rapid burst of farting sounds erupted, almost lifting the robe behind Lin Yuan.
“Ah! It failed again!” The little girl noticed Lin Yuan’s strange reaction and puffed her cheeks in frustration. If the refinement had succeeded, this would never have happened.
“Actually… your Strength Pill did increase my strength a bit, but now the effect is gone again,” Lin Yuan could not help replying.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Hahaha, my Strength Pill works! Grandpa, this pill servant said my Strength Pill works!”
The little girl vanished in an instant.
Lin Yuan was slightly stunned. That terrifying speed proved her realm was definitely higher than his, and she had clearly cultivated some kind of movement technique.
He shook his head and stopped thinking about it, then headed to the Fragrant Pill Pavilion.
“The new pill servant, Lin Yuan? My surname is Qian. I am the elder of the Fragrant Pill Pavilion. From now on, you will follow my orders. Understand?” Elder Qian was a pot‑bellied man with a lukewarm tone and a businesslike attitude.
Before Lin Yuan could reply, he continued, “There are not many rules here. If someone comes to find you to test pills, you test them. If no one looks for you, then you stay safe. Do you understand?”
Lin Yuan cupped his hands, “Understood.”
Being a pill servant was only temporary. Once the Servant Quarters disciple competition began in half a month, he could shed this identity and become an outer sect disciple.
Pfft— The Strength Pill’s side effects were still present, and he accidentally let out another loud fart.
“On my way here, I met a little girl. She forced a Strength Pill into my hand, and after eating it, I became like this,” Lin Yuan awkwardly explained.
“Little girl? That must be Elder Sang Mu’s granddaughter, named Sang Xiaoya. If you see her again in the future, you must be polite, polite, and even more polite.”
Among the three Golden Core Realm Elders of the Pills Department, Elder Sang Mu ranked second, and his granddaughter was naturally extremely precious.
Lin Yuan suddenly understood.
No wonder that little girl had such terrifying cultivation at such a young age—she actually had a Golden Core Realm grandfather.
“I will always keep this in mind.” He cupped his hands again.
“Disciple?” Elder Qian chuckled softly twice and then flicked his sleeve as he left. Lin Yuan was confused but did not dwell on it.
Behind the Fragrant Pill Pavilion was a dense bamboo forest where rows of bamboo huts stood. That was where the pill servants lived.
He did not mind and casually found one to settle in. Passing pill servants merely glanced at him and paid no further attention. They were struggling to survive themselves and had no energy to care about others.
Just after he finished tidying up, the hut door was suddenly pushed open, and a bright-eyed, delicate young girl walked in.
It was the same girl who had fed Lin Yuan the Strength Pill earlier. Behind Sang Xiaoya stood a white-robed old man with a kindly face.
“Grandpa, he personally said it. The Strength Pill I refined worked.”
Sang Xiaoya’s grandfather… wasn’t that Elder Sang Mu of the Golden Core Realm?
Lin Yuan hurriedly stepped forward to greet, “Greetings, Elder Sang Mu.”
“Hmm, the new pill servant? Since you took the pill Xiaoya refined, you will test her medicines exclusively from now on,” Elder Sang Mu casually said.
To him, Lin Yuan was just a toy to make his granddaughter happy, nothing more.
“Since it is Elder Sang Mu’s instruction, this disciple naturally obeys.” Lin Yuan had no objection and no qualification to object.
After the two left, the bamboo hut quieted down.
From time to time, painful cries from other pill servants echoed from the distance, but they soon faded again.
Some pills did not show their side effects immediately but tormented the testers slowly. Because of this, normally no one came here unless necessary, and pill servant testing requests were sent only through their identity tokens. You are reading on novelping . com, the official source.
“No one is disturbing me. Good. Let’s begin cultivating.” Lin Yuan took out the copied Nine Yin Congealing Evil Technique and began absorbing yin energy according to its recorded method. Although it was daytime, the bamboo forest was extremely shaded, allowing yin energy to accumulate easily.
Moreover, many pill servants were suffering from illnesses, and sickness was also a form of yin energy that could be refined into evil energy.
According to Lin Yuan’s understanding, evil energy was like a group of bandits that forcibly dragged the free‑floating spiritual Qi in the air to him to absorb. This indeed made cultivation much faster, but the side effects were terrifying—intense pain, like thousands of needles piercing into bone.
Lin Yuan did not transfer the side effects. After only half a circulation, the pain became unbearable, and he had to stop. “No wonder no one cultivates this. With pain like this, whoever can complete this technique must be a monster.”
Just as he was gritting his teeth in agony—
Bang!
The wooden door was kicked open, and five bulky men strode in. They wore Servant Quarters uniforms, clearly also Servant Quarters disciples.
Unlike the average skinny servants, these men were well‑fed with strong builds, clearly living quite comfortably.
“Well now, so you are also from the Servant Quarters. How did you fall this low?” The leading man walked straight up to Lin Yuan and looked him over.
“Brother, you know being a pill servant means life and death are up to fate. Who knows when you’ll die. We brothers pity you and don’t want your corpse left in the wild, so we’ll help you collect it. But collecting bodies isn’t free. Coffins and funeral paper all cost money. Understand?”
Lin Yuan sneered in his heart.
Others collected protection fees from the living. These people were collecting money for when he died.
Truly ridiculous. Where people gathered, there was always a dark underworld. Even pill servants were being extorted.
Expressionless, he replied, “I have no money. If I had money to give gifts, I wouldn’t be a pill servant.”
The leading man froze, then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. This… sounded reasonable. “Go check.”
Still unwilling to leave empty‑handed, he signaled two men to search Lin Yuan’s pack.
Lin Yuan stood aside calmly as they untied the rope and rummaged through it. Anything valuable was inside his storage ring.
The pack only contained spare clothes, so he had nothing to fear. The two searched thoroughly and found nothing, then shook their heads at the leader.
“Tch, I thought we found a fat sheep, but it’s just a penniless ghost. What bad luck. Let’s go drink!” The leader cursed in irritation and left with his men.
After their silhouettes disappeared, Lin Yuan smirked faintly and closed the door.
[Selected side effect bearing targets: Ding Yaozu, Ma Ming, Zhao Dabao, Zheng Kai, Wang Wei.]