Chapter 288: The Stingy Man

For Su Che, capturing Han Ying and Ming Lian and locking them in the Immortal Prison wasn’t difficult. But the problem was that everyone entering or leaving the pill-making room had to be registered. If he captured both of them, it would mean two Golden Core elders disappearing at the same time, surely alerting the higher-ups of Lingyao Mountain.
“I can’t create duplicates—there’s no way I can pretend to be three people leaving at once…”
Su Che grew worried. Anyway, he couldn’t stay here to help them make pills.
At that moment, Ming Lian glanced at the ninth-grade pill furnace in front of her and said to Han Ying, “Senior brother, I still think that even if we work together to make the ‘Wind-Fire Separation Pill,’ the success rate won’t be very high.”
“I know,” Han Ying sighed softly. “But with all the ingredients ready, we have to give it a try. If it fails, we’ll have to ask Senior Brother Changqing for help.”
Ming Lian nodded lightly, clearly lacking confidence.
The Immortal Prison held many pill masters. With just a little inquiry, Su Che learned that the Wind-Fire Separation Pill was a rather special tenth-grade spiritual pill. Han Ying and Ming Lian were likely making it to complement their dual cultivation practice, aiming to reach the later stages of the Golden Core realm together.
But since both of them were only ninth-grade pill masters, even if they worked together on a tenth-grade pill, their chances of success weren’t high.
It would take over forty days to make a batch of tenth-grade pills. The reason Han Ying brought Su Che here was so that during that time, while he and Ming Lian rested, Su Che could watch over the pill furnace without touching it, and alert them if anything unusual happened.
“Forty days should be enough…”
Su Che silently made up his mind.
Bang!
The furnace room door closed. Han Ying said to Su Che, “Lang Li, go wait in the guest room. I’ll call you if needed.”
Han Ying meant that he didn’t want Lang Li to see the process of starting the furnace and making pills, nor did he want Lang Li to learn anything from it. This showed just how stingy he was. Treating his own junior disciples as laborers without paying them was one thing, but as a senior in the sect, he was even stingy and narrow-minded in fulfilling his basic duty of teaching skills…
Su Che had nothing left to say about this man. He just couldn’t understand how such a stingy person could attract a talented woman like Ming Lian.
Seeing Su Che standing motionless, Han Ying’s expression turned cold, and he snapped, “Didn’t you hear what I said? Are you deaf?”
“Senior brother…”

Ming Lian tugged at his sleeve and pleaded softly, “It’s not wrong for a child to be eager to learn. Let him watch here.”
“That won’t do!” Han Ying refused to give in at all, shaking his head firmly. “The two stages of starting the furnace and refining the pill are the most critical and cannot be disturbed. I’m afraid he might cause some trouble during this time and affect us. You know, the success rate for this attempt is already quite low.”
Seeing his persistence, Ming Lian sighed silently and said nothing more.
Everyone knew Han Ying’s words were just an excuse. Lang Li wasn’t some ignorant child who would make a fuss at such a crucial moment. Besides, as a fifth-grade alchemist, how could he not know all the taboos during pill refinement…
Su Che stood still, not moving an inch, and looked at Han Ying calmly before asking lightly, “I’m curious. With such an attitude toward me, aren’t you worried that I might pee in the furnace as revenge while watching over it?”
What?
At these words, not only was Han Ying stunned, but Ming Lian’s expression also changed drastically.
How dare this Lang Li speak such vulgarly in front of two senior masters? Is he crazy?
“Dare you!” Han Ying stepped forward, his eyes fierce.
“A warrior can be killed but not humiliated,” Su Che said calmly. “With your character, you’ll suffer greatly sooner or later. So, I plan to send you to a place to fix these flaws. You’re still young; it’s not too late to change now.”
As soon as he finished speaking, two Ghost Kings in the late Golden Pill stage appeared behind them.
“What’s this…”
Han Ying and Ming Lian were shocked.
Two blue lights flashed, enveloping them.
Soul Capture!
Bang! Bang!
The two Ghost Kings struck simultaneously, knocking them unconscious.
Han Ying and Ming Lian had neither soul-stabilizing artifacts nor skill in refining their spiritual essence, so just two Soul Capture attacks were enough to take care of them. The Ghost Kings’ intervention was just a safety measure.
Su Che always adhered to the principle of “even when fighting a rabbit, use full strength” and would never underestimate his opponents, which was why he summoned two Ghost Kings to assist him.
The people were captured and taken to the Immortal Prison; the ninth-grade precious pill furnace in the room was also taken by Su Che.
Su Che thought to himself, “For Ming Lian’s sake, I’ll allow them to continue refining the Wind-Fire Separation Pill in the Immortal Prison.”
“Understood, master,” Lao He replied in a deep voice.
Those captured and taken to the Immortal Prison wouldn’t necessarily suffer a tragic fate. Su Che and Lao He would treat them differently. Innocent people like Ming Lian, who had suffered because of Han Ying, would be given more freedom to live.

The space of the first layer of the Immortal Prison is currently only within a range of a thousand miles. However, Su Che predicted that once the third layer is opened, it might expand to ten thousand miles. A range of ten thousand miles is about the size of some large human nations in the mortal world. For those who are not criminals, this space would certainly be sufficient for living. Su Che believed that as the Immortal Prison was opened layer by layer, the space of each layer would eventually become a world no smaller than Qi Yuan Star. By then, criminals with minor offenses could be given complete freedom within the Immortal Prison to live out their lives safely. Of course, this is all for the future; it’s just a casual thought for now… After that, Su Che maintained his calm expression, left the furnace room, and closed the door. A flame-shaped mark reading “Refining” appeared on the door, indicating that someone was refining pills inside and should not be disturbed. Once this mark was activated, the isolation barrier of the entire furnace room would automatically open, preventing anyone from realizing that the room was already empty, even the pill furnace would have disappeared. It would take forty to fifty days, or even longer, before someone would notice something was wrong and force their way into the furnace room to discover the abnormalities. “By then, I should have already achieved success and returned to Tian Xuan Zong…” Su Che thought to himself. There was only one entrance and exit to the pill room, guarded by the senior attendant, who recorded the identity, name, and entry/exit time of everyone who entered or left. Seeing Su Che coming out alone, the senior attendant asked curiously, “Lang Li, why have you come out?” “Uncles Han Ying and Ming Lian have changed their minds; they no longer need a disciple to guard the pill furnace,” Su Che explained. “It’s probably because my cultivation is still too weak to take on such a responsibility.” The senior attendant nodded. “Junior brother Han Ying was too hasty. For refining the Wind-Fire Separation Pill, they are only about 40% confident…” Su Che gave a low response, signed his name for registration, and then left the pill room. Next, Su Che returned to Lang Li’s cave, giving Old Black enough time to interrogate Han Ying before deciding on the next steps. Inside the Immortal Prison, Han Ying’s screams echoed everywhere as he suffered violent punishment from Old Black. Ming Lian stood more than ten zhang away, tears in her eyes, feeling immense pain but unable to do anything. Their cultivation had been temporarily sealed, leaving them like ordinary people, with no resistance at all under Old Black’s cruel grasp.

Ming Lian simply couldn’t figure out who this ‘Lang Li’ was. He was clearly only at the early stage of the Foundation Building phase and had grown up on Tianying Mountain—how could he possess such extraordinary powers to trap them both in such a strange space…
Bang bang bang…
Lao He punched and kicked, occasionally twisting Han Ying violently like a shrew. Under a hundred times the pain, Han Ying’s screams were like those of a pig being slaughtered.
It was obvious this wasn’t a tough guy. If it were Hei Sha Lao Gui, he would endure such pain silently without uttering a word.
“Damn stingy wretch!”
“I’ve never seen someone so cheap.”
“So fucking despicable!”
Lao He cursed while beating him, ready to vent all his pent-up anger.
If someone did even a fraction of wrong to Su Che, Lao He would return it a hundredfold. In this regard, Lao He was more petty than anyone else.
“Please stop torturing him,” Ming Lian pleaded repeatedly, trying to rush over to stop Lao He but trapped in place by some force. She could only cry and beg, “We know we were wrong. We’ll never do it again…”
Finally, Lao He paused slightly and asked in a rough voice, “Why be so kind to such a guy? How could your judgment be so poor?”
“He’s been good to me. He’s never been stingy with me,” Ming Lian pleaded tearfully. “Please stop torturing him. Just tell us what you want us to do. Stop hitting him…”
“Alright, out of pity for you, I’ll spare him for now,” Lao He snapped. “But from now on, you must answer all my questions honestly. Otherwise, you’ll suffer a hundred times more pain.”
“Okay, okay!” Ming Lian nodded frantically. “We’ll answer truthfully.”
In fact, Lao He’s telepathy didn’t care about their lies. Whether they were honest was a matter of attitude. The master had said he wanted to correct his flaws, and lying was also a flaw that needed to be fixed…
“Lu Changqing isn’t on Tianying Mountain?”
After a few questions, Su Che and Lao He received bad news: A few days ago, at the invitation of the lord of Tianwei Mountain, Lu Changqing went there as a guest. No one knew why, nor when he would return.
If it were just an ordinary matter, he might return in three to five days. But if the two mountain lords were jointly refining pills, it might take two to three months before he returned, as pill masters of their level needed about a hundred days to finish each batch of pills.

At this critical moment, we must find a way to figure out exactly why Lu Changqing went to Tianwei Mountain. If it was indeed for alchemy, Su Che would never have waited here uselessly; we need to come up with another plan.
“On Tianying Mountain, who knows the most about Lu Changqing’s personal affairs?” Lao He asked again.
“Junior Brother Lou Yu,” Han Ying and Ming Lian replied in unison.
Lou Yu, at the mid-stage of the Golden Dan cultivation level, was once Lu Changqing’s direct disciple and has now been promoted to the deputy head of Tianying Mountain. As Lu Changqing’s true confidant, it’s almost certain that he will be the next head of the mountain.
“Do we need to capture someone else?” Su Che rubbed his temples, thinking helplessly, “Things have been full of complications from the start. This trip doesn’t seem to be going smoothly at all.”