He sat there for a long moment, his mind spinning. The feeling was too intense to be just an illusion.
He turned his thoughts inward, his voice careful. "Honored entity, what should I call you?"
The voice responded, its tone now feeling less like a cosmic broadcast and more like a tool waiting for its master.
[My name is the Pill Essence Extraction System. You can call me System.]
System. The word was unusual, but it felt fitting. It seemed like a process.
"System," Shi Ran thought, his voice trembling with a hope he hadn't felt in years. "What can you do?"
[The system has four main functions to help the Host on his path of vengeance.]
Information flooded directly into his mind.
[Function 1: The Host can extract the core spiritual essence from any alchemical ingredient or finished pill, from 1% to 100% of its total value. The ingredient or pill will remain physically intact, and its aura will stay the same. The extracted essence will be converted directly into the Host's cultivation base.]
Shi Ran's breath caught. He stared at the stalk of Crimson Sun Grass in his hand. He could take its power, and no one would ever know? He could refine a pill and secretly drain its very soul for himself before handing it over? The daring brilliance of it was overwhelming. This was a tool for unseen theft.
[Function 2: A pocket dimension linked to the Host's soul. All extracted essence is automatically stored in this space. It can hold nearly limitless amounts of raw and refined medicinal energy, perfectly preserving its potency until the Host decides to use it.]
The possibilities were staggering. He didn't have to use the stolen power right away. He could gather it, stockpile it, creating a vast reserve of energy to be used whenever he wanted. It was his own private treasure.
[Function 3: The system will hide the Host's true cultivation base. To all outside observers, your realm will appear unchanged, locked at the Peak of Foundation Establishment, unless you choose to reveal it.]
This was the shield that made the sword possible. He could grow stronger, endlessly stronger, and Yao Guang would never know. He would remain the pathetic servant in his master's eyes while a dragon grew in the shadows.
[Function 4: All refinements done by the Host will have a 100% success rate. Every pill produced will be of the highest quality, its effectiveness maximized to the absolute limit of the ingredients used.]
A 100% success rate. It was such an absurd idea in the world of alchemy that it was laughable. Even a Grandmaster Alchemist would be lucky to achieve a 70% success rate with high-level pills. This… this was godlike power. It meant he could meet Yao Guang's impossible demands with ease. It meant he could create perfect pills for himself without any waste.
He looked at the ingredients before him as a treasure trove waiting to be plundered.
"System," he thought, his voice shaking with contained joy. "Extract 10% of the essence from this Crimson Sun Grass."
[Affirmative.]
He held the herb and felt it. An invisible stream of pure energy flowed from the grass, through his hand, and into his Dantian. The herb still looked the same. Its spiritual aura felt unchanged. But he knew, without a doubt, that it was now 10% weaker.
The energy entering him was purer than anything he had ever refined. It mixed flawlessly with his own Qi. He felt his cultivation base, already at the peak of his realm, become a little more solid, a little more powerful.
A slow joyful smile spread across Shi Ran's face. It was the first real smile he had worn in seventeen years.
The night unfolded a silent revolution.
He began refining the Soul-Nourishing Pills. For each ingredient, he ordered the system to extract 10%. A bit from the Frost Dew Petals. A bit from the Ironbone Root. He was a careful thief, careful not to take too much from any single source. The pile of stolen essence in his Dantian grew steadily.
Then, he began the refinement. With the Alchemical Perfection function, the process was unnaturally smooth. Where he usually struggled, his spiritual control was now perfect. Where there was a risk of the cauldron exploding, the energies balanced perfectly. In less than an hour five peak-quality Soul-Nourishing Pills lay shining in the cauldron. His success rate was now one hundred percent.
He examined the pills. They were his ticket to freedom.
"System," he commanded. "Extract 20% of the essence from each of these finished pills."
[Affirmative.]
He held each pill, feeling the system drain a significant portion of its power into him. The pills still looked perfect, their aura still strong, just… a little less than they had been. But who would notice? Who could possibly tell that a peak-quality pill was 20% less peak than it had been a moment ago?
The combined energy from the stolen ingredients and the finished pills was enormous. He sat down and used that power to break through the barrier that had held him back for years.
The barrier to the Golden Core Realm.
It was a wall of solid diamond. But the energy he had taken was like a sledgehammer of unstoppable force.
BOOM!
A silent explosion rocked his very soul. The liquid Qi in his Dantian spun, compressed, and solidified into a shining golden core. It hummed with a power he had only ever dreamed of.
He was a Golden Core cultivator.
And to the outside world, thanks to his system, he still appeared to be the same pathetic Peak Foundation Establishment servant.
Tears streamed down his face, they were tears of hope so intense it burned.
The exhaustion that should have weighed on him after such a significant breakthrough was burned away by the raging furnace of his hatred and the intoxicating nectar of newfound hope. Sleep was a luxury for the free. He was a man with seventeen years of stolen time to reclaim.
He immediately began refining the next batch of pills for his quota.
The movements were the same ones he had performed countless times before, a muscle memory so deep it was etched into his very bones. But everything felt different. Before, each movement was an act of submission, a quiet surrender. Now, each movement was an act of rebellion, a silent theft.
He picked up a stalk of a three-hundred-year-old Frost Dew Petal, its surface shimmering with a faint light. This herb was essential for balancing the fiery nature of the other ingredients in the Soul-Nourishing Pill. It was a treasure that would fetch a high price in any market.