Damned Healer-Chapter 735: Dedicated Life

Pyreus was cultivating when he received a message from Darian. He quickly got up and left the palace.

When he reached the teleportation inscription inside the Golden Crow Sect, it lit up. Soon, three figures appeared at its center.

Pyreus immediately narrowed his eyes. He saw Darian; right behind him were two figures he remembered from the entrance test. One was… a very plain and average girl from the Mortal Plane. As for the other…

She was a figure hated by practically everyone, inside and outside the sect. She arrived and, seeing his serious gaze, lowered her head without looking at him directly. That alone made Pyreus uneasy, feeling that something was very wrong and different about her in every way.

Her clothes were in tatters, torn in several places. But she was radiating incredible vitality and health.

"Is Master in the Palace?" Darian asked lightly.

Pyreus took a deep breath. "Yes, he is resting to recover faster."

"I need to speak with him, it's really important." Darian continued, and Pyreus nodded.

…

Shortly after, the four of them entered the 14th Palace.

Chrysos appeared before them, looking at the two guests Darian had brought, somewhat thoughtful.

Darian made a casual gesture, sending a spatial ring toward Chrysos.

He caught it indifferently and checked the contents…

In that instant, he almost jumped in shock.

Turning to Darian, his lips moved without any sound coming out.

"I got this pill recently. It seems to have the same effect as the Pill you needed, right?" Darian said with a slight smile.

Chrysos sighed. "Same effect? This thing will help me recover and greatly boost my cultivation. Each cultivator can only use one of these twice in their lifetime. But buying even a six-circle one is already extremely complex. When one appears, massive auctions are organized, and everyone tries their best to get it."

"Excellent. As the good disciple I am, I did a fine job helping my Master, didn't I?" Darian gave him a meaningful look. Then he turned to the two behind him.

"I was thinking… Master needs people for his Palace, now that he's destined to become someone truly great… not that he ever stopped being, you know. And these two are quite talented and currently free. Why not make them your disciples as well?"

Chrysos nodded. The message couldn't have been clearer.

"Good job finding them. Looks like the heavens smiled upon my Palace," Chrysos said and fixed his gaze on them. "Do you wish to become my disciples?"

"YES!"

The two nodded eagerly in sync, then bowed.

Pyreus was frozen in place. Chrysos snorted and waved his hand, sending two emblems toward them.

"Darian, you will personally take care of them. If anything comes up, call me." Chrysos said and turned, hurrying away to absorb the giant pill.

Pyreus remained stunned where he stood, wondering what was inside that spatial ring.

"You are now disciples of the Golden Crow Hall," Darian said calmly to them, and then turned to Pyreus. "Limdiss needs new clothes, you can't let her embarrass Master wearing that, right?"

Pyreus jumped and nodded hurriedly, then rushed into the palace interior.

Darian smiled faintly and motioned for them to follow.

Inside, he gave simple orders. Emina would focus on her cultivation for now; later, she could go out to work and use everything Darian had given her. As for Limdiss…

He took the Alchemy Emperor Emblem and used it to create a mark, then sent it to her. Just like that, she technically became his disciple as well.

"Relax and rest for a few days. You need to eat and sleep properly for your mind and body to stabilize. After that, go to the Hellfire Pill Sect. There, you can study and gather herbs. I want you to come back every three months and bring me 'Celestial Gathering' type pills. No need to worry about their quality for now."

Darian knew the most important type of pills were those not meant to be swallowed directly, but rather to attract the universe's Celestial power and assist in cultivation.

But to make that type of pill, materials beyond even high-level ones were required. These were things that only existed in the Hellfire Pill Sect. That was why they were so respected across the universe. The difficulty level varied greatly, but it wasn't impossible for those who studied the arts within that sect.

Because of that, Darian was certain that, with Limdiss's talent, it wouldn't take long for her to produce increasingly better pills.

As for her safety, Limdiss was now a disciple of the Palace Master. With the emblem he gave her, she just had to activate it, and Chrysos would sense where she was and come save her. Everyone knew this, and no one would dare touch her.

It wasn't just fear of Chrysos; the entire Golden Crow Sect could be mobilized by him, along with all the Palace Masters. In short, no one could try anything against her now.

Inside the Hellfire Pill Sect, it was even harder for something like that to happen, since it would stain the honor of that entire sect. Not to mention Limdiss would spend almost all her time isolated studying.

She trembled, clenching her fists. He hadn't just given her safety; he had also given her an opportunity that very few in the universe ever had.

***

A little over three months passed slowly, with complete calm inside the 14th Palace.

On that day, Limdiss returned with a dignified expression and knocked softly on Darian's door. When he came out, she bowed and extended her hand.

"Master, I brought everything."

Darian took the spatial ring from her hands.

Inside… he saw a dozen circleless Treasure Pills, exactly what he had asked for. He nodded soon after, very satisfied. He had expected one or two of these, but she was improving very quickly.

The effect of each one was one-fifth of the Stargazer Stone he possessed, but they carried almost half mundane impurities mixed in; that was why the Stargazer Stone was considered so incredible.

But that wasn't even remotely a problem for Darian. He could use everything together and still push it to the absolute limit; like that, he would create a heaven-defying cheat for his cultivation.

Darian spoke calmly. "Good work. You can rest a bit. Next time, bring the same pills, and also some more common ones that are easy to sell. Emina will sell all the extra pills you make. The money from them will be split 50% for each of you."

"No, Master keeps my share." Limdiss replied abruptly, her eyes shining.

Darian shook his head. "You keep your share. Besides needing it for your cultivation… you should also dedicate part of your time to using that money. Your mission is to use part of it to help other people. Go to the Mortal Plane and find those in need. That is your karma that must be repaid; you will spend your entire life doing this, giving a thousand times more back to the world to compensate for the suffering you already caused."

She froze, but quickly lowered her head and nodded in understanding.

Her life would be devoted to learning alchemy and meeting his expectations. But he had also given her the chance to help, with her own hands, as many people as she could.

***

One month later, inside the room. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Darian was seated atop the Stargazer Stone, surrounded by pills that floated and shone like stars around him.

*Crack*

A muffled sound echoed from inside Darian. He opened his eyes, excited.

"Second level of the Celestial Soul Realm in thirty days… all with pills of just this level… incredible."

Clenching his fists, Darian felt the Celestial power flowing stronger and stronger inside him.

Every three months, more high-level pills would arrive. And Emina was also selling his goods and multiplying all the money. Her speed wasn't as great as before, but she was quite competent and creative. On top of that, using Darian's status as an Alchemy Emperor and Palace Master Chrysos's name, everything was easier.

Darian didn't care about any of that, and every month she came and handed him dozens of Indigo Jades; all of it was absorbed into cultivation energy as if they were pills. For others, that stuff contained too many impurities, and it was difficult for someone at his level to cultivate with it, but Darian had no problem at all.

In short, combining these two sources, his cultivation wouldn't slow down for a long time now, even though it would keep getting harder.

***

One year later, Darian's eyes opened, and an intense light covered him.

"Celestial Tribulation Realm!"

In two years inside this sect, he had reached the fourth cultivation realm. That speed could shock the heavens and the earth within this universe. But he was isolated in the Palace, and no one knew yet.

Just as he was about to continue…

He felt a message from Chrysos reaching him, summoning him. Darian calmly left and went to meet him.

...

Inside a hall, Pyreus was there as well, since he had also been called.

When Chrysos saw the two of them, he spoke lightly, "You should prepare yourselves. In seven days, the Golden Celestial Lake will be opened to all disciples of the Golden Crow Hall. This is the best cultivation place in the sect, where even the Palace Masters only have the right to enter once a year, for a single day. After that, the Primordial Bloodline will also be distributed earlier than expected to everyone who hasn't received it yet."

The two nodded curiously. Seeing this, Chrysos explained directly:

"The main reason for opening the Golden Celestial Lake in seven days is that the Sect Leader will select a new direct disciple. But that has nothing to do with you two. What you need to do is not waste even a single second inside the Golden Celestial Lake. It's unlikely this opportunity will repeat itself."