Chapter 721: Delusion-Breaking Pill

In the mud and sand, a silent giant statue lies quietly.

Its outstretched arm is broken, leaving only the elbow, and its face is also like someone deliberately destroyed the facial features, leaving only a vague outline.

The stone statue is covered with moss and there are some cracks of varying sizes, but as long as you touch the cold outer wall, you can still feel the cold and vast will. It has been buried and covered for many years, but the power in its body is not affected by the years.

Zhang Cheng, with gray hair, stands next to the stone statue.

He is thirty years old this year, which is an old man in Jindan Country. He has felt the looseness of his teeth, and his hands, feet, waist and neck are often sore and even tingling. Whether walking or refining pills, he has become less agile.

Zhang Cheng looked at the face of the stone statue that seemed to be looking at him, put his palm on the stone wall, and whispered: "I need to find the weakness of the gods."

"Exchange with me, evil god."

"Give me your power, I am willing to pay any price."

The stone statue was silent.

…

When they were eleven or twelve years old, Zhang Cheng and his younger brother Zhang Ye would go out to pick up scraps whenever they had time, just like other people of their age.

When brothers work together, they can always gain something.

Zhang Cheng is sharp-eyed and smart, and Zhang Ye is deft and strong. They dug out all kinds of valuable small things from the ruins and valleys, such as rusty iron sheets, broken copper utensils, broken stone pots, glass pieces, and broken leather... These things can be exchanged for sugar and rice in the town.

Every time they returned with a full load, their mother would be very happy, but then worried.

"You have to be careful, beware of robbers."

Zhang Cheng always didn't care: "They can't catch us, we follow the [Divine Guards] or the caravan carriages, they dare not show up."

"There are also poisonous rain and poisonous fog, you must remember to bring a thousand-layer umbrella and a face towel."

"I know, I know."

"Don't run around, it's not safe outside... It's most important for you to practice your skills."

Mother always said tirelessly: "Cheng'er, you have to make pills well, Ye'er, you have to learn alchemy well. If you two learn your skills well, you will have no worries about food and clothing and be safe in the city."

"Don't worry, mom, we came out after finishing our homework, otherwise we couldn't come out."

Zhang Cheng said with a smile.

At that time, he always felt that his mother was too nagging, always repeating the same words.

Mother is already thirty-six years old, indeed too old.

People in Jindan Country become adults at the age of twelve, from twelve to twenty-five years old are youths, after twenty-five they will age visibly and enter old age.

There is always poisonous rain in the sky, and many places on the ground are filled with poisonous gas and pungent acid gas, and there are few clean water sources. People in the village use well water every day, but even if they use water tanks to precipitate and only boil the upper water to drink, there will still be a faint strange smell.

But these are nothing.

Everyone has come this way.

The village is okay, the real danger is in the wild. In order to eat more, people still go to the wild to look for various relics and dig three feet into the ground to pick up rags.

But there are also poisonous animals in the wild.

The most common poisonous animals are insects. They are big and small. If you are bitten by them, it is difficult to save them without timely treatment.

Animal poisonous animals attack people less, because they are also difficult to survive after being injured in the wild. But once they are provoked or make them feel that their territory is threatened, the poisonous animals will launch the most fierce attack, and the danger is far greater than poisonous insects.

But people also have ways to deal with it, that is alchemy and alchemy.

Alchemy is the transformation and enhancement of various materials such as metal, stone, leather and wood to create incredibly powerful tools. Including indestructible axes and swords, wooden oxen and iron horses that can carry goods, walls that can release flames and lightning, and flying balls that sense poisonous rain and poisonous fog.

Alchemy is to enhance and change the human body by refining elixirs. Some elixirs are highly toxic and can kill people on contact, some are miraculous medicines that can heal injuries after taking them, there are rare elixirs that prolong life, and magical medicines that make people powerful and gain various supernatural powers.

These two forces that influence the world, as well as the entire Jindan Kingdom, rely on the protection of the gods "Mountain God".

At first, the Mountain God regulated the entire world. At that time, there was no poison, people lived freely everywhere, large tracts of land could grow food, rivers and lakes were full of clean water, and people could live beyond forty years old.

But the arrival of the evil god from outer space changed everything.

The evil god destroyed the country and history of the past and wanted to completely destroy this place. The mountain god fought a fierce battle with him.

In the end, the evil god was killed by the mountain god. The evil god's blood turned into poisonous rain, his bones were buried deep underground, making it difficult for the soil to grow food, his flesh was eaten by many wild beasts and turned into poisonous beasts, and his curse spread all over everything, making the mountain god weak.

Since then, the mountain god has been recuperating in the earth, and people pray for the mountain god, offering faith and livestock sacrifices. People's piety can gradually restore the mountain god, and one day in the future, the whole world will return to its former brightness and cleanliness.

This is something that everyone in Jindan knows.

The evil god's curse can erupt at any time, turning people into monsters, killing the mountain god's people and various living things for the evil god. In order to curb the curse, the mountain god gave blessings to every child born and used the divine seal to restrain the curse.

Unfortunately, even so, it is impossible to completely suppress the evil god's hatred of death. The maximum life span of a person is forty years old. All elderly people approaching forty years old will be sent to Old Man Mountain, where they will be cared for by the Divine Guards to prevent their curse from erupting and allow them to spend their last days in peace.

There are also old people who refuse to escape to Old Man Mountain.

The Divine Guards will forcibly capture them to prevent them from becoming monsters and endangering the lives of the people.

Zhang Cheng personally saw an old man whose curse broke out.

It was a hideous old man, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, who was blocked by the Divine Guards on a small slope.

The old man was so scared that he trembled all over. He babbled for a while, and suddenly his eyes bulged, and blood began to flow from his face. His neck was raised back suddenly, and his neck was almost broken, but the old man's chest bulged outward and cracked, and an oval bloody strange thing squeezed out from inside.

The soldiers rushed forward, stuffed the strange thing back into the old man's chest, tied it tightly with a rope, and then put the old man, whose life or death was unknown, on the iron horse and took him away.

At that time, Zhang Cheng was picking up rags, and this scene shocked him greatly.

At that time, he secretly made up his mind to treat his mother well and not let her become like that old man - it is said that the old man ran away because he was crazy. His son and daughter thought he was a useless person, often beat him and scolded him, and didn't give him food, so he ran away.

...

On the day when his mother was leaving, Zhang Cheng suddenly found that he was not as calm as he thought.

The escorting Divine Guards had arrived at the door.

"Mom, you are only 37 years old. You can go at 39." Zhang Cheng tried his best to persuade.

"My health is not very good to begin with. I cough every day and my health is getting worse. I am out of breath after walking a few steps. Last time I fell, I almost lay in bed and couldn't get up. I need to provide food for one more person at home... It's better to go to Lao Ren Mountain earlier. The country will support you and won't cause trouble and burden to you."

Mother packed her bag with a smile, stuffed her old handkerchief, clothes and a blanket into the cloth bag, and tied it up skillfully: "It's not that we can't see each other. If you want to see me, write an application, and if it's approved, you can come to Lao Ren Mountain in the town to see me."

Watching his mother leave under the escort of two soldiers, Zhang Cheng felt bad.

Father died in the wild early, and mother left again. Now there are only two brothers left to depend on each other.

"Brother, can we still see mom?" The younger brother Zhang Ye was dejected.

"Of course! We have to learn skills well so that we can get priority in the application!"

Zhang Cheng secretly made up his mind to become an alchemist as soon as possible.

…

Alchemists need to spend a lot of time to perfect the recipe, but most of them produce new results between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five, and then they continue to optimize and improve.

Zhang Cheng himself has a boldness and ruthlessness that surpasses others. This boldness has brought him close to death several times, and it also allows him to test the medicine on himself in a short period of time and produce results that surpass other apprentices.

In the second year after his mother went to Lao Ren Mountain, Zhang Cheng tried out a new elixir [Calming Pill].

This is a kind of elixir that can make people clear their minds after taking it. Although the grade is very low due to the large number of similar elixirs, it is also recognized by the highest institution of alchemists in the capital [Danbu].

Zhang Cheng concealed his real achievement [Breaking Delusion Pill]. Calming Pill is only a part of the Breaking Delusion Pill.

This is a elixir that can break many spells, but it has many side effects, including vomiting, nausea, bleeding and tinnitus. To ensure that it works, you have to take at least three pills at a time, which is extremely harmful to the body.

In addition, the efficacy of the Pohuan Pill is extremely unstable. It is essentially a poison. The toxin temporarily destroys people's vision, hearing and other perceptions, making it difficult for other external abilities to take effect on it. The efficacy period is when the pill enters the body but the toxin has not completely erupted, causing the temporary loss of the five senses.

Zhang Cheng wants to find a magic pill that can completely solve the problem of the evil god's curse, so that his mother can continue to live.

To solve the curse, you must first see the curse.

Time is running out, and he must cherish every day.

After becoming an alchemist, Zhang Cheng successfully passed the application and came to the Old Man Mountain behind the town with his younger brother Zhang Ye. After passing through layers of checkpoints, he arrived at the halfway point of the Old Man Mountain, where many old people live and meet with visitors from their respective families.

Most of the old people are in good spirits. Although their hair is white and their movements are slow, their skin is ruddy. I think they are not treated badly on weekdays.

The mother also walked out of a room slowly. When she saw them, her eyes lit up: "You are here? Ye'er has grown so tall. Cheng'er, you are not as tall as your brother. Did you not eat well again?"

"No way."

Both Zhang Cheng and Zhang Ye laughed.

Then the two brothers talked to their mother about their recent situation.

In order to confirm the current situation of the curse on his mother, Zhang Cheng took out the prepared Pohuan Dan from his pocket and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Cheng'er, are you hungry? I have cakes here. The cakes on the mountain are delicious." The mother opened the cloth bag she carried with her and took out a hot baked cake.

Zhang Ye took it and ate it, smiling: "It's delicious!"

"Slow down, slow down." The mother smiled and touched his face. She turned her head and looked at Zhang Cheng next to her: "Cheng'er, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"No, it's okay."

"You still say it's okay? You have a nosebleed. What's wrong? What's wrong with you?" The mother was worried.

Zhang Ye said, "Don't worry, my brother is in good health. He is now an alchemist. He must have stayed up too late."

"Yeah."

Zhang Cheng wiped the blood from his nose and forced a smile on his pale face.

He tried to suppress his fear and confusion and clenched his trembling fingers into fists.

Because of the effect of the Barrier Breaking Pill, Zhang Cheng saw that his mother had turned into a skeleton, and her hand bones could still move. The black skull made him shudder.

Not only that, the old people around were all skeletons. However, the people who visited them were completely unaware of this, and the guards next to them were the same.

There must be some kind of magic that confused everyone.

This is not Old Man Mountain, but a skull mound.

Old Man Mountain was built in towns by the prophet at the order of the mountain god. It is impossible that he did not know this.

The only possibility is that this is the true face of Old Man Mountain.

The old people who entered the mountain died long ago.

The mountain god who used to feel upright and heroic now showed his true face of gloomy evil.

Zhang Cheng wiped the blood from his nose with his sleeve.

The world is not what it seems.

…

Zhang Cheng returned home, closed the door, and made sure that no one was snooping around before telling Zhang Ye about it.

The younger brother did not believe it at first. But during another visit two months later, he also took three pills of Polu Dan, saw a horrifying scene he had never seen before, and had to accept this cruel fact.

"Brother... why is this happening... Mom is dead..." Zhang Ye was distraught: "What should we do?"

Zhang Cheng looked into the distance, where was the Old Man Mountain in the dark.

"We have to escape from here, escape far away."

He wanted to say that we want revenge, but he couldn't say it.

Because behind the Old Man Mountain and the captive monsters, stood an irresistible mountain god.

Zhang Cheng clenched his fists tightly, and finally he slowly loosened them.

First, we have to live well.

With Polu Dan, there is a chance.