The sword seller, dressed in red, deserves applause for the prankster.

Chi Miao's red vein was thick, straight, and dull, looking like a cut-up loach that had been dried in the sun—pitch black!

This does not meet the selection criteria for Danwen at all!

Jingming looked at Puqing: "Uncle-Master Puqing, is this the ancient relic you mentioned that she might find?"

Pu Qing: "...Tell me, how old is this crimson pattern?"

Jingming: "..."

It's more than just old!

Chi Miao: "Isn't this one pretty good? Look at it, whose is it copied from? What special abilities does it have?"

Pu Qing looked at Chi Miao with eyes that showed concern for children with intellectual disabilities.

"Not just any pill pattern can possess special abilities; only a very few top-grade pill patterns do. Yours doesn't seem like one at all, does it?"

Why did Yan Ge take in such a foolish apprentice?

He examined it carefully again: "But I really can't tell who this mark was copied from. I have no recollection of it at all."

Chi Miao: "Are you slacking off at work?"

Pu Qing's eyes widened, and he quickly retorted, "Pah! I've been here all these years, which crimson mark don't I recognize? You're saying I'm slacking off!"

He works very diligently!

Chi Miao shrugged and pointed to the one he had chosen.

"Didn't you recognize this one?"

Pu Qing blushed: "This...this one is indeed a bit strange. Under normal circumstances, even if the pill pattern is damaged or incomplete, it should not be completely devoid of light. Let me check what's going on with this pill pattern."

As he spoke, he took out a stack of books that looked like they hadn't been touched in a long time and were dusty enough to be picked up when placed on the table, and began to examine them.

"This one isn't it!"

"This one isn't it either!"

"How come I can't find it?"

He searched for a while, and Chi Miao and Jing Ming looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chi Miao used the All Things Hub to send a private message to Jingming.

[Minister of Talent: Shall we just leave?]

[I don't like gossip: Why don't you wait and see what's going on with this crimson pattern, or choose another one?]

This cinnabar pattern looks terrible no matter how you look at it.

Chi Miao smiled.

"He's the one."

So Elder Puqing, who was still engrossed in researching, didn't notice that Chi Miao had taken the Danwen from the table and that the two of them had left.

As the sun set, Elder Puqing's head was practically steaming.

Finally, he shouted excitedly, "Found it!"

"Chi Miao, you know what, you really have to admit, this cinnabar pattern on your face is truly extraordinary!"

When no one responded, he finally looked up.

Look left, look right.

"Where are they? Where are they?!"

"Hold!!!"

He suddenly had a bad feeling.

This cinnabar pattern... can't be used carelessly!!

……

After returning to her room, Chi Miao quickly prepared to absorb the black cinnabar pattern.

The cinnabar pattern seemed to come alive in Chi Miao's hands, constantly twisting and turning.

Chi Miao commented: "Is this thing really okay? It feels a bit disgusting."

Gou Shi System: "Don't worry, you're not as disgusting as me."

Chi Miao: "?"

The Gou Shi System instantly broke out in a cold sweat: "I... I mean, of course this Danwen is disgusting, and its skills are even more disgusting. If it weren't disgusting, how could it be worthy of being your Danwen, Su Su-chan?!"

Chi Miao: "Really? How disgusting is it?"

Gou Shi System: "I don't know the specifics, but I feel a strange sense of familiarity about this. For some reason, I feel that this thing is particularly suitable for you, and... this Dan rune, if nothing unexpected happens, should allow you to use Golden Core techniques directly at the Void Core stage."

Chi Miao's eyes lit up: "Really?!"

She still needs to accumulate experience for a while before she can advance to the Golden Core stage; she can't break through immediately.

Giving her a Golden Core skill before she even reaches the Golden Core stage would definitely be a trump card in battle.

Chi Miao couldn't wait and condensed one of his illusory cores that was most compatible with the black cinnabar pattern.

That is... a Wood-type Void Core.

Gou Shi System: "Merge them. Just put the two together. The ability of this Danwen should be considered a small domain, related to gas. Actually, it should belong to the wind system, a branch of the wood system. It's quite suitable for you to use a wood-type illusory core."

Chi Miao acted immediately.

The moment the black cinnabar pattern came into contact with the wood-elemental nascent core, something unexpected happened.

The thick, straight, and dull cinnabar patterns suddenly seemed to liquid up and completely enveloped her nascent cinnabar.

"Holy crap?! What is that?!"

She was so frightened that she tried to get the thing off, but at that moment... the Dan pattern completely merged with the illusory core, becoming a strange illusory core with a very bizarre color, like the universe with stars.

Chi Miao: "I...I'm not going to be crippled, am I?"

Although she lost this golden elixir, she still has five more.

But wouldn't that be too wasteful? People would curse me to death if they found out.

Gou Shi System: "Whether it's useless or not, you can sense it for yourself, can't you?"

Chi Miao sensed it.

The aura of my nascent core is far stronger than before!

It is even more mysterious and powerful than the Golden Core that Wenren Yi forcibly broke through to before!

And...it gave her a strange feeling.

It seems... this golden pill can absorb something.

Moreover, she truly felt that she could use this illusory core to unleash a Golden Core technique, which was indeed a realm.

Chi Miao tried it out...

……

outside the house.

The staff of the talent wholesale department were all sitting in the lobby eating sunflower seeds.

They chewed and chewed, completely unaware that danger was already creeping in.

Rong Xuanji looked at Ying Wuhuo and Jin Shengfei: "How's your research going?"

The two shook their heads.

Jin Shengfei: "I have absolutely no information whatsoever. I don't even know who Rong Yue is."

Jingming also said, "Amitabha, if you have no news, I do have someone here who can tell."

Yu Wuxin felt a chill run down her spine, her eyes wide with shock as she looked at Jingming: "You...you...you're not going to look for that man, are you?!"

Jingming closed his eyes and nodded: "Chi Miao has helped us a lot. Now that Chi Miao wants to know the truth, we should do our best to help her. However... it will require you to make a sacrifice."

He spoke with great righteousness and awe.

Everyone else stared blankly.

Yu Wuxin hugged her frail self: "I don't want to! I don't want to! You're making me sell my dignity!!"

He tried to run away, but the next second Jingming stretched out a Buddha's hand, grabbed him, and stuffed a big apple into his mouth to gag him.

Everyone: "..." How brutal.

Rong Xuanji looked at Chi Miao's room with a puzzled expression.

"Speaking of which, does it really take this long for you to fuse the pill patterns? Why isn't Chi Miao out yet? I have a bad feeling."

"Shall we go take a look?"

The group agreed to meet and ran to Chi Miao's door.

The moment they were about to open the door.

Chi Miao shouted, "Don't open the door!!"