Chapter 7: Return to the Bar

After taking Yin Haitao away, Li Mingxing instructed this longtime street hustler to find a temporary place for them to stay. Once that was settled, he sent Yin Haitao to a chemical supplies store to buy some materials for his experiments.

Looking over the list Li Mingxing provided, Yin Haitao couldn't help but give a warning: “Sir, you’re not planning to make drugs, are you?”

Li Mingxing glanced at him. “How did you know?”

This startled Yin Haitao. “Sir, you really can’t do that now. The authorities are cracking down hard these days. Maybe wait a while before you try something like this.”

Li Mingxing merely chuckled. It was clear Yin Haitao had misunderstood, imagining Li Mingxing was about to start manufacturing narcotics. But Li Mingxing didn’t bother to explain. Instead, he kept his face cold and said, “Just do as you’re told.”

With that, Yin Haitao didn’t dare protest further. He carefully bought all the materials Li Mingxing needed, taking extra detours to avoid drawing suspicion.

Li Mingxing was quite satisfied with this behavior. Yin Haitao was clever, had his own ideas, and could voice his opinions. Yet, if their opinions clashed, he would obey orders and carry out tasks cautiously. Such a man was undoubtedly a valuable subordinate.

With a promising subordinate at hand, Li Mingxing paid even greater attention to his interactions with him. When Yin Haitao finally realized Li Mingxing wasn’t making drugs but rather concocting a poison for assassination, his emotions were like riding a rollercoaster. First, he was excited that he wouldn’t have to cook narcotics, but that excitement quickly turned to dread at becoming the lackey of a killer.

Even though he was a hoodlum, Yin Haitao’s greatest hope was to live like a normal person—not constantly on the run, hiding from the law.

But Li Mingxing was hardly a master at reading people. The highest position he’d ever held was as a classroom group leader, and his main job had been collecting homework; how could he possibly be skilled at discerning what others were really thinking? As far as he could tell, after accepting the money, Yin Haitao seemed more obedient and diligent. Before long, Yin Haitao had returned with the snake and scorpion venom as Li Mingxing had requested.

Li Mingxing’s production of poison sped up considerably, now that he was motivated by the prospect of completing a side quest and soon seeking a reward from his mentor. About half a day later, he had Yin Haitao go out and buy rabbits and chickens.

With a dagger coated in his newly made poison, Li Mingxing ran some tests. The results were disappointing: while the substance was certainly toxic, its effects were weak. Even a small rabbit took three minutes to die after being stabbed. If used on a person, it might not even have an effect.

Seeing Li Mingxing’s disappointment, Yin Haitao spoke up. “Sir, there’s really no need for you to make your own poison. I know a place that sells snake venom. Wealthy people use it as a tonic; as long as you have the money, we can get plenty.”

Tempted by this, Li Mingxing took out one hundred thousand yuan and placed it before Yin Haitao. “Go buy some for me. I want snake venom, and if there’s scorpion venom, get that too. The more, the better.”

Yin Haitao hesitated, but ultimately took the money. He knew that before, running errands for Li Mingxing was just for the sake of safety and a paycheck. But now, accepting this sum meant he was truly following Li Mingxing as his boss—unless Li Mingxing drove him to the brink of death, he would never consider betrayal.

Of course, Li Mingxing had no inkling of these inner workings. After all, he’d never been more than a classroom monitor. All he knew was that Yin Haitao had become more diligent after receiving the money, quickly acquiring all the venom he needed.

When Li Mingxing received the snake and scorpion venom, a sudden intuition struck him: if he heated the snake venom to around 45 degrees and mixed it with scorpion venom in a one-to-one ratio, a potent new toxin would result. This intuition seemed to be the real reason for this side quest—it would only be truly complete if he followed the prescribed steps to create the toxin.

Li Mingxing proceeded with great care, dividing the venoms into equal portions and heating the snake venom over an alcohol lamp. The moment the thermometer in the snake venom hit 45 degrees, he poured in the prepared scorpion venom.

The liquid in the bottle immediately changed color, from translucent yellow to a vivid green. Without regard for the temperature, Li Mingxing grabbed the bottle from the flame as soon as the transformation occurred.

He didn’t bother testing the new toxin. Instead, he turned to Yin Haitao. “Pack everything up. I’m taking you somewhere.”

Donning the clothes and mask he’d gotten from that young man, Li Mingxing took up the vial of poison, pulled Yin Haitao along, and summoned the silver thread that led to the mysterious bar.

It was Yin Haitao’s first time entering this enigmatic establishment, and like Li Mingxing before him, he was left speechless with shock. Li Mingxing paid him no mind and began searching for his mentor.

Soon, he spotted Raymond waving from a nearby table.

Dragging the still-stunned Yin Haitao over, Li Mingxing was about to speak when Raymond interrupted, “That’s a good outfit for an apprentice hero—offers a certain degree of anonymity, though for people like us, it’s not much use. But if you’d like, I could help you out, at least make this set of clothes so that no hero below the rank of lord could see through it.”

Li Mingxing was tempted, but hesitated, “I’d like that, but…”

“Don’t worry. Think of it as a small investment on my part. No charge.” As Raymond spoke, he tapped Li Mingxing, and the clothes transformed into a cloud of black mist, enveloping Li Mingxing and hiding his true self within.

Li Mingxing was exhilarated by the change, but before he could thank Raymond, his mentor’s attention turned to Yin Haitao.

“This is the follower you’ve chosen? I see, as an apprentice hero, you can have three followers. With your O-rank imperial aura, you can lead one more. You don’t have a city yet, so you can’t use the city bonuses for followers, and you haven’t learned command, so you can’t increase your numbers that way. That means you can have four followers at this stage.”

With that, Raymond handed him four black diamonds. “Take your subordinate to the Demonizing Pool and give one diamond to the overseer. They’ll transform your subordinate into an incorporeal form. Remember, you only have four slots for followers now. Any others, without a black magic diamond for protection, will become basic incorporeal troops if they enter the pool and can only advance to follower status after reaching elite level.”

Li Mingxing accepted the four black diamonds and cast a glance at Yin Haitao. He hesitated—follower slots were so limited; was it wise to use one on Yin Haitao when he might meet even stronger candidates in the future?

The hesitation lasted only a moment. Soon, he rose and led Yin Haitao to the Demonizing Pool where he himself had once transformed into a scorpion-lion hatchling.

At that moment, another apprentice hero was having his own follower transformed. When he saw Li Mingxing enter with Yin Haitao, he first shot Yin Haitao a disapproving look, then stared at Li Mingxing in surprise.

Li Mingxing understood—the man was surprised because of the mysterious clothes obscuring his identity. He said nothing, simply observing.

Soon, a huge figure climbed out of the pool. Li Mingxing saw that the man’s skin was a grayish green, his muscles so pronounced he resembled a humanoid gorilla, and the protruding lower canines confirmed his new form: an orc.

Such a sight didn’t phase Li Mingxing, but it startled Yin Haitao. “Sir, I won’t turn into that, will I?”

Li Mingxing glanced at him coolly. “That’s only temporary. He’ll revert to normal, and you might not take that form at all—it depends on your attributes.”

Sure enough, the orc soon returned to his human appearance, dressed, and hurried out with his apprentice hero. As they passed, the apprentice hero shot Li Mingxing a fierce look, as if accusing him of spying.

Li Mingxing paid it no mind. He approached the pool overseers, handed them a black magic diamond, and gestured to Yin Haitao.