NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Stealing the Male Lead’s Golden Finger:
Tang Mo didn’t head straight down the mountain. Instead, he hurried into the Alchemy Pavilion.
The original owner, being cautious by nature, not only refined essential market-demand pills like Blood Replenishing Pills to support the household but also stocked up on other pills for emergencies.
Tang Mo quickly gathered all the pills stored in the pavilion and stuffed them into his storage pouch. Consider this his final paycheck.
After all, these pills were originally refined by the former Tang Mo. Taking back what was his—nothing wrong with that, right?
He also had a good grasp of Ye Qingyi’s temperament. As the esteemed Sword Sovereign of Qingyi, even if she sensed what he was doing with her divine sense, she wouldn’t lower herself to stop him.
Besides, she was too busy at the moment—the three ungrateful wolves were holding a meeting in the Sect Master’s Hall.
After sweeping the place clean, Tang Mo checked his storage pouch. Though the quantity wasn’t large and none of the pills were high-grade, they were enough as starting capital.
Once he got to Lingxu City and sold them off, he could use the profits to refine even better pills for the market. Spirit stones would start rolling in.
After all, high-level alchemists were among the most profitable professions, and the original owner had a rare Pill Spirit Root—one in a hundred thousand!
He was a natural talent in the path of alchemy, far superior to those who had learned through sheer luck.
Worried about his damaged dantian hindering his cultivation?
The original owner had managed to heal Ye Li and even helped restore some of her cultivation…
Yet, he had been unwilling to spend the resources to heal himself.
“How pathetic.”
Recalling the original owner’s life—one fit to be enshrined in a temple—Tang Mo sighed.
“Forget it, it was all the author’s doing anyway.”
Little Tang, this cultivation world is too deep for you to handle.
Leave it to me. Watch how I handle it.
With a grin, Tang Mo tightened the storage pouch. “Time to leave the mountain.”
Once he settled in Lingxu City, even Ye Qingyi wouldn’t be able to touch him for a while. As long as he stayed outside the sect, he could at least delay his inevitable cannon fodder fate.
The original owner had built many connections—he wasn’t completely without allies.
Tang Mo turned to leave, walking quickly. He didn’t notice the slightly raised floorboard near a cabinet.
His boot accidentally kicked it, flipping it open to reveal a hidden compartment beneath!
Tang Mo froze, then crouched down to take a closer look.
Inside, there really was something.
A plain, pitch-black wooden box.
Tang Mo carefully picked it up with both hands, swallowing hard.
“Holy—”
After twenty years of never pulling a single good drop from gacha, he was momentarily dazed.
Could it be… that he was actually as lucky as the male lead?
He could faintly sense spiritual energy radiating from the box—clearly, whatever was inside was leagues above ordinary pills.
Cautiously, he opened the lid.
Inside, resting on a velvet cushion, was a perfectly round, blood-red pill the size of a dragon’s eye.
Golden threads wove across its surface, forming an intricate lotus pattern.
Even with all the alchemical knowledge inherited from the original owner, Tang Mo couldn’t recognize it.
He was just about to put it away for further research when the pill suddenly trembled violently, buzzing as if it were alive.
Tang Mo’s eyes widened.
Before he could react, the pill shot out from the box, slipped through the narrow gap in the lid, and—
—flew straight into his slightly open mouth, sliding down his throat!
“Urgh—cough, cough!”
Doubling over, Tang Mo gagged and coughed violently, but no matter how much he retched, the pill wouldn’t come back up.
I’m doomed!
Curse my greed!
Panic surged in him as he felt an overwhelming surge of medicinal energy spreading inside.
A burning heat and bone-chilling cold flooded his body simultaneously, as if he were being torn apart by both fire and ice. The pain grew unbearable, reaching his eyes—
“Aah—my eyes!”
He collapsed, clutching his face as his vision blurred with a sea of red. Tears of blood streamed down his cheeks.
Just when he thought he might die before even facing his cannon fodder fate, the energy within him slowly settled.
The excruciating pain subsided, replaced by a soothing warmth washing over his meridians, as if healing and reassuring him.
The pain vanished completely.
Tang Mo was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily as he wiped away the blood from his face. Relief washed over him.
He cautiously examined his body, realizing that his meridians and spiritual energy flowed much more smoothly than before.
“At least it wasn’t poison…”
But then—
When he glanced at the wooden box he had dropped, his vision suddenly changed.
A faint mist appeared around the edges of the box. Within moments, small words materialized in the air, labeling it:
“Material: Millennium Obsidian Wood. Effect: Preserves pills and seals medicinal energy.”
No way…
Tang Mo blinked, but the words remained.
A sudden thought struck him, and he quickly raised his arm.
He could clearly see the meridians glowing faintly green beneath his skin, the flow of spiritual energy and blood visible as if under an x-ray!
Looking downward, he saw a reddish glow surrounding his dantian—evidence of his old injury.
There was no doubt about it.
The pill he had swallowed was the legendary Three Flowers Convergence Pill from the novel!
This was supposed to be a fateful encounter for the male lead, Lin Xuan! The author had hyped it up, describing it as a relic left behind by the Grandmaster of Alchemy—one-of-a-kind in the entire world!
The agonizing fire-and-ice pain just now had washed his body clean, and the power had settled into his eyes, granting him two abilities:
Appraisal and Diagnosis.
The first allowed him to analyze any material at a glance—its composition, properties, and effects.
The second let him see through a person’s meridians, organs, and qi flow, instantly identifying hidden injuries, illnesses, or poisons, marked with different colors based on severity.
In the novel, Lin Xuan had used this Spirit Eyes ability to identify hidden treasures, diagnose people, and then refine the perfect pills to cure them.
With that, he gained fame, made a fortune, and charmed his way into building his first harem.
But now?
Tang Mo had stolen that golden opportunity.
If not for the risk of alerting Ye Qingyi’s divine sense, he would have laughed out loud.
Not only did he still have his original Pill Spirit Root, but he had also obtained the Three Flowers Convergence Pill, unlocking Spirit Eyes…
Forget Lin Xuan—he was the real protagonist now!
But a second later, Tang Mo took a deep breath.
No, don’t get cocky. No reckless moves. Focus on survival first.
If he wasn’t careful, he could still end up as cannon fodder.
Calming himself, he carefully stored the Millennium Obsidian Box in his pouch. Anything with a “millennium” label had to be worth a fortune.
Just as he finished, hurried footsteps approached outside.
A petite girl in a blue disciple’s robe, her hair in twin ponytails, rushed in, clutching a broom.
Seeing Tang Mo standing there unharmed, she let out a deep sigh of relief.
“Senior Brother, I thought I heard you shouting in pain… You look so pale! And you’re covered in sweat!”
“It’s nothing, Zi Que,” Tang Mo reassured her, subtly suppressing the glow in his eyes.
Good thing he caught that in time—otherwise, he would’ve seen her meridians and qi pathways like a tangled traffic map.
After scanning him for injuries, Zi Que finally relaxed…
…only to realize with wide eyes that Tang Mo had completely emptied the Alchemy Pavilion.
“Senior Brother… Is the ceremony really that expensive? Did you have to sell everything?”
“No, I’m leaving the sect.” Tang Mo smiled gently. “You don’t have to call me Senior Brother anymore.”
Zi Que froze.
So that “let him leave” message from earlier… meant exile?
Her eyes instantly welled with tears. “It’s good that you’re leaving… You should’ve left long ago! But you saved me, took me in, and guided me in cultivation… I don’t call you Senior Brother because of the sect—I call you that because you’re family!”
Unlike Ye He, Zi Que had been a loyal companion.
Tang Mo gently patted her head. “If you ever need me, come find me. I’ll take care of you.”
Zi Que choked back tears and nodded.
With that, Tang Mo turned, stepped past the sect gates, and descended the mountain.
Not a single person came to see him off—except Zi Que, kneeling on the steps, crying.
Ten years of devotion… worth less than sixty silver taels.
Tang Mo scoffed and walked on.
This was farewell.
He would never return.