"Earthfire Stone, golden nanmu, thousand-jin Black Iron..."
Evan Lin wrote out a list, went down to the third floor, and handed it to Alex Fu, who was waiting below.
Alex glanced at the items on the list, scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Young Lord, I know golden nanmu and thousand-jin Black Iron, but what's Earthfire Stone?"
He didn’t understand what this stuff was for. When he saw Evan coming out with the list, he’d thought it was another pill recipe and got excited for nothing.
"Earthfire Stone—you can send people to search around Hillview Gully. There should be some underground in the area. The stones are red and extremely hot."
"Also, in a few days, people from Medicine King Valley in Seacrest Prefecture will come to negotiate with you. Any issues that need smoothing out, you two can figure out yourselves. My requirement is: from now on, Miracle Hand focuses on pill-refining, Medicine King Valley handles herb supply and gathering, and both sides share resources."
Evan kept it simple, and Alex nodded repeatedly.
Whatever Evan said, Alex would just do it. Right now, Evan’s release of the Heart Sutra of the Pill Master was enough to excite all of Miracle Hand. Compared to the old master, this new Young Lord was way more impressive.
While Evan was upstairs, Alex had already read the Heart Sutra of the Pill Master a few times. The manual was insanely concise—tons of problems he’d never figured out were explained in just a few sentences, opening his mind instantly.
That just made Alex admire Evan even more—he wouldn’t dare show any disrespect.
"I'll give the order right away and have them search the area."
Alex took his leave, and Evan wandered around Miracle Hand Pavilion again.
The shopkeepers inside eyed Evan with eager faces, practically wishing they could hand over all their goods to him.
They’d just gotten word that Miracle Hand had officially changed masters, and the new Young Lord was crazy powerful. Even the shop owner who’d refused to sell Evan the Black Iron Box at first was now trembling in fear.
Evan browsed a couple rounds but didn’t see anything worth grabbing, so he left the pavilion.
Outside Miracle Hand Pavilion, out on the market street, tons of visiting bosses were still pointing at the building, faces full of shock.
None of them knew what had actually gone down inside—just that the fire pillar shooting up earlier was terrifying.
Evan squeezed through the crowd and headed to the house where Leo Liu was staying. Thanks to the top-grade Golden Marrow Pill, Leo was burning up, sweating all over and writhing in agony on the bed.
Byron Liu was still out cold beside him.
Evan stood by the window outside, watching Leo on the bed. He’d planned to call Leo and head back to Capitalview City right away, but seeing this, he decided to wait.
It wasn’t until the next day that Leo finally woke up, feeling an incredible comfort all over his body. He sat up, still buzzing with excitement, and jumped in surprise when he saw Evan standing outside.
"Since you’re up, freshen up, grab some food, and let’s head out."
Evan looked Leo up and down, nodding slightly.
The Golden Marrow Pill had done wonders for Leo—strengthening his meridians and flesh. He didn’t look much different yet, but his physical power was clearly boosted.
"I feel like I’ve got endless strength now! Thank you!"
Leo was over the moon and bowed deeply to Evan.
He’d just finished bowing, still grinning, when he noticed Byron Liu still sprawled unconscious on the floor. Leo’s face froze; then, worry flashed in his eyes as he looked at Evan. "Master... could you maybe...?"
He trailed off awkwardly—Byron had treated Evan pretty terribly on the trip, and the fact that he was still alive and lying here was, in Leo’s eyes, already a huge favor from Evan.
"Sure. We still need someone to drive, after all."
Evan nodded and tapped Byron lightly on the forehead with his toe.
Byron finally opened his eyes, looking around in total confusion.
...
On the drive back, Byron was convinced he’d just had a wild dream—one where he ended up on the third floor of Miracle Hand Pavilion watching immortals battle. He kept driving while excitedly telling Leo all about what he saw in the 'dream,' still a little shaken.
As he talked, he kept glancing at Evan in the back seat, suspicion all over his face.
For once, Byron didn’t have much to say about Evan the whole way, which was a relief for Leo. He didn’t bother explaining anything—if Byron wanted to treat it like a dream, so be it.
"Alright, we’re in Capitalview. You, get out here!"
Once they reached the city, Byron pulled the car over and looked at Evan in the back seat.
"Uncle!"
Leo jumped, calling out to Byron in a panic, worried Evan would get mad.
"Don’t worry. If you run into trouble later, just call me." Evan nodded to Leo and got out of the car.
It was already afternoon. Evan stretched lazily on the street and headed home.
On the way, he took out the Black Iron Box and the half piece of Thousand-Year Nirvana Leaf, fiddling with them in his hands.
"The Nirvana Leaf is actually pretty useful. If I ever get the chance to gather the rest of the ingredients, I could try refining a Nirvana Fire Rebirth Pill. That’d be a real rebirth."
Evan shook his head. It sounded easy, and his pill-refining skills were solid, but he had no idea if Earth even had all the herbs needed for the Nirvana Fire Rebirth Pill.
He tossed that thought aside and turned his attention to the Black Iron Box in his hand.
Calling it a box was generous—it looked more like a solid chunk of pitch-black iron.
When Evan first got it, he’d only probed it lightly with spiritual qi, never really digging deeper.
"I just don’t know if this thing is really what I think it is. If it is, I might have to bump up my trip to Southriver Sword Sect."
A glint flashed in Evan’s eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
Thinking of this, Evan sped up, weaving through the crowd and heading quickly toward his apartment complex.
When he got home and opened the door, the place was empty.
Evan tossed his backpack aside and pulled out the Dustleave Sword from the room.
The sword was massive—way too inconvenient to carry around. Evan had left it in the room while visiting Miracle Hand.
Now, as he drew it out, the Dustleave Sword gleamed with a chilling edge.
Evan held the sword in his left hand, the Black Iron Box in his right, eyes flicking back and forth between the two.
"Hope this goes the way I want."
Muttering to himself, Evan took a deep breath, closed his eyes slightly, and called out, "Protect the law!"
As soon as he spoke, the Three Maiden Spirits from the Soul-Sacrifice Beauty Scroll and the little fire-colored python from the Scarlet Flame Command all emerged, sealing the room tightly.
In the next instant, spiritual qi surged all through Evan’s body.