“Seeing Master made me happy, but also sad. He had aged far too much compared to before. My aptitude for the alchemy dao is probably quite good. Becoming the forty-fifth alchemist in the pill tower before the age of thirty caused quite a stir. Even the senior practitioners said I was a true alchemy dao prodigy. Many of them pleaded with my master to send me away, to preserve a spark. Yet my master refused.

“Actually, I understood. The alchemists here had to refine pills day and night without rest, trying to meet the front lines’ demand. The attrition among alchemists was severe. All the previous forty-fifth alchemists had worked themselves to death. But I wasn’t afraid, and I didn’t want to leave. I came here with no intention of going back.”

There seemed to be a defect in the jade token, because a portion of the information was missing at this point.

“Today, I refined twelve furnaces of pills. I’m exhausted, but very happy. With my pills, maybe fewer people will die at the front lines. But it’s not enough, far from it. The casualties are too much, and the demand for pills is too high. I have no choice but to refine pills with all my might, refining pills for... three years? Five years?

“I’ve forgotten how long it’s been since I last left the pill chamber. I came out today for a look and saw many new faces. The senior practitioners who were so kind to me were nowhere to be seen. I knew they were probably dead. Maybe I’ll die too, but before I do, I have to refine enough pills.

“Bad news just came from the front lines. Our defense line keeps retreating. We might not be able to hold much longer!”

Reading up to here, Gu Han felt a heavy feeling on his chest.

“Today, Master gave me several pill formulas. He said these were newly developed pills. They are the Violent Blood Pill, the Marrow-Draining Pill, the Soul-Devouring Pill, the Fallen Meteor Pill, the God Severing Pill...

“I know the consequences of taking these pills, but I still refined many of them. I understand that we probably really can’t hold on. But behind us are our kin, our clansmen, our homeland. If we are defeated, all of this will be destroyed! We must not fall! I imagine those on the front lines, who chose to take these pills, probably felt the same way.”

The further he read, the less information was recorded in the jade token, and the greater the gaps in time became.

“Today marks my tenth year in the Profound Pill Camp. My cultivation foundation is mostly destroyed. I feel like I’m about to die. I put my life on the line to refine pills, but it seems to have done little good. Our defense line has shrunk to its last. The final battle should be here soon. Bad news keeps coming from the front lines. Like most people, I’ve become numb. Numbly refining pills, numbly living, numbly accepting fate.”

Gu Han couldn’t bear to read on. Between the lines, he could feel the man’s fury and despair at that time. Thinking of the front lines, the war, and the mass-produced pills he had seen earlier, realization dawned on him. This place was likely part of a cultivator army corps, called the Profound Pill Camp. As for the name “Profound Pill Pavilion,” it was just a random name given by outsiders who didn’t know the true situation.

He also understood why not even slightly higher-ranking pills could be found. They simply weren’t enough! That war had to be extremely brutal. Any high-tier pills had probably been consumed long ago. Only those that could be mass-produced were left behind and preserved until now.

He sighed softly and continued reading. There was even more gap in information, leaving only a very small portion. Nevertheless, from this content, he discovered something different.

“Finally, some good news! I heard that when the front line was about to fall, a mysterious person arrived! Although we still lost many people, those things couldn’t step one foot past our defense line! He was too strong!

“We survived again! This is already the seventh time he’s held back their attacks! I feel hope again!

“So, today I left the Profound Pill Camp for the first time and secretly met him. He was very young and mysterious. No matter how many times I asked, he refused to reveal his identity. But when he heard my name was Dan Chen, he looked very surprised, as if he knew me!”

Gu Han’s heart stirred. Dan Chen?

He glanced at the humanoid figure. “Could you be Dan Chen?”

Upon hearing this name, the humanoid figure trembled even more violently. His reaction to these two words was far greater than to the forty-fifth pill chamber.

“It really is you!” Gu Han raised the jade token, his heart pounding. “Don’t worry. You’ve helped me so much, so I’ll help you too. If you have any unfulfilled wishes recorded in here, I will do my best!”

This time, the humanoid figure seemed to understand his words. He gradually calmed down, tilting his head slightly as if looking at Gu Han.

Gu Han continued reading.

“I’m absolutely sure I’ve never seen him before! But the way he looked at me clearly wasn’t a first meeting. That’s very strange. He also told me not to come within one zhang of him. I didn’t dare ask why and just did as he said. Strong people always have some strange rules. But after seeing him, I felt a bit disappointed. If only my talent lay in combat rather than the alchemy dao, maybe I could fight alongside him.

“Before leaving, I couldn’t help but ask him, can we survive? Still, he claimed defense was never his goal or his style. He wanted to find an opportunity to counterattack, to kill the mastermind behind it all. These words gave us great confidence! On my way back, Master caught me and gave me a thorough scolding. Actually, I know Master secretly went to see him too.”

At this point, a large chunk of the information was missing again. Gu Han temporarily had no mind to continue reading.

One zhang! Gu Han put great emphasis on this. Ever since the humanoid figure started following him, the distance between them had also been exactly one zhang.

He was extremely puzzled. “Could there be something in common between me and that mysterious person? Is that why it mistook me?”

Pushing aside his doubts, he let his divine sense fall upon the jade token again. Only one very short segment remained. Perhaps Dan Chen’s lingering obsession lay within there.

“The decisive battle is here! During this time, we refined many pills and sent them all to him. We all understood that even with his strength, winning this war probably wouldn’t be easy. Oh, right. He also told us not to die. Actually, life and death don’t matter to us anymore. He said he would definitely win, so we’ll wait for him here!

“If he doesn’t return in a day, we’ll wait a day. If he doesn’t return in a year, we’ll wait a year. We’ll keep waiting until the moment he returns victorious. Even if it’s a thousand years, even if it’s ten thousand years, even if we die, we will keep waiting!”

The information ended abruptly here. At the same time, the jade token turned into fine powder as if fulfilling its purpose, slowly sifting through his fingers. He stared at the humanoid figure, standing there motionless as if waiting for news of that victory.

Gu Han let out a desolate sigh. “In the end, you never got to wait for him.”