Chapter 217: The Imprisoned Mu Qing

This was Su Mu's assessment of the Void Devourer. It was undeniably powerful. If two Gold-tier experts clashed and one wielded the Void Devourer—having continuously fed it for a month in advance, storing up an entire Gold-tier expert's worth of energy—the ensuing battle would effectively become a two-on-one fight.

Its flaw, however, lay in its inability to store energy permanently. To keep the weapon's reserves topped up, the user had to infuse it every day, effectively paying a daily storage fee to the Void Devourer. Otherwise, it would just pocket the energy for itself.

Essentially, wielding the Void Devourer meant the user could rarely maintain their peak condition, because something was constantly bleeding them dry, day in and day out.

With such extreme pros and cons, it was no wonder the Revolutionary Army had used the Void Devourer as a trading piece. During times of peace, the mere burden of keeping it fed was enough to drive someone mad.

Silver-tier experts could barely afford the toll, while Gold-tier experts simply refused to bear it. If they let the Void Devourer leech their strength every day, how could they ever advance?

Although Gold was the apex for Transcendents, that didn't mean a Gold-tier expert had no room to grow. A veteran who had accumulated power in the Gold Realm for over a decade would undoubtedly crush a newly advanced peer.

Fortunately, this drawback meant nothing to Su Mu. His mental energy was practically infinite.

The only downside was that feeding the Void Devourer accelerated the expansion of his total mental energy. His recent stunt of repeatedly falling asleep dozens of times had already caused those reserves to skyrocket.

He was lucky his physical strength had improved recently; otherwise, that little maneuver would have severely overloaded his body. Even with his Undying Body, an overload was like forcing an adult into a child's clothes—excruciatingly uncomfortable and severely restricting to his movements.

Su Mu stowed away the stuffed Void Devourer and pulled out his Pocket Watch to check the time. It was already three in the morning. Ordinary people would be fast asleep by now. The timing was perfect.

He entered the dreamscape, casting his senses outward until he located Mu Qing's dream.

With a single step, he crossed endless dimensions and finally descended into her dream.

"Duanmu Qing, there's no escape! Your Duanmu Family is destined to refine Transcendent Potions for the company generation after generation! That was your father's fate, and it is yours!" A blurry figure in black chased relentlessly after Mu Qing.

Or rather, Duanmu Qing.

Duanmu Qing fled in terror, but more and more men in black materialized around her, cutting off every avenue of escape.

"I would rather die than refine potions for you!" With a look of absolute resolve, she drew a Mithril Dagger and slashed it fiercely across her own throat, sending blood spurting from her delicate skin.

Her body collapsed weakly to the ground, her eyes rapidly turning hollow. The surrounding cold and darkness engulfed her. Only her warm blood continued to flow, the deep scarlet and the gloom intertwining over the young girl's body to radiate a bizarre, tragic beauty.

One of the men in black strolled over with a cold sneer. In his hand, he held a vial of pale gold Transcendent Potion that shimmered as if filled with flowing stars.

"You recognize this, don't you? The Divine Healing Potion. This is your Duanmu Family's greatest masterpiece. As long as we have this, you aren't allowed to die."

As the last threads of life slipped away from her, Duanmu Qing caught sight of the vial, and a look of profound, indescribable terror filled her eyes.

The scene abruptly ended. Duanmu Qing snapped awake from the nightmare.

Inside a cold, silver-white room, a young woman wearing a heavy silver metal collar lay curled up on a pristine white bed. Jolting awake from the nightmare, she found her petite body entirely drenched in cold sweat.

"Awake?" a cold male voice echoed from outside. The sound filtered into the room through a small, barred window set into the heavy silver alloy door.

Duanmu Qing shuddered instinctively at the sound of his voice. Bone-deep hatred ignited in her eyes as she locked her venomous glare on the face peering through the bars.

It was a man with a sinister face and a sharp, hooked nose.

The man offered a mocking sneer. "Have you thought it over? Agree to work for the Federal Pharmaceutical Company, and your freedom will be restored immediately. We'll even take that collar off your neck."

Duanmu Qing remained dead silent, her venomous glare fixed entirely on him.

"Your Duanmu Family is so damn stubborn. You could easily attain wealth beyond an ordinary person's wildest imagination just by saying yes, yet you insist on fighting us. I know exactly what you're thinking. You're clinging to the fact that the Duanmu Family founded the Federal Pharmaceutical Company. You think us latecomers stole your company, so you refuse to cooperate.

"But the facts speak for themselves. It was only because we latecomers stepped in that the company evolved into the world's absolute best. Who in the world hasn't heard of Federal Pharmaceuticals now?

"You people were far too rigid, completely shackled by tradition. The chairman was merciful enough not to slaughter you losers, even allowing you to keep your positions in the company, yet you still refuse to show any gratitude."

"Chu Shang, you're an animal! How dare you lecture me about gratitude?" Duanmu Qing spat, her expression icy. "You were my father's only disciple! He was the one who refined the Gold Potion for you, the one who helped you advance to Gold! And how did you repay him? You helped the company hunt him down! You locked him up and forced him to slave away day and night, refining Transcendent Potions for you!"

The mocking curve of Chu Shang's lips hardened into a cold scowl. "Master brought this fate upon himself. Who told him to get in the way of the chairman's profits?"

"You call releasing plagues and then selling the cures 'profits'? Do you have any idea how many people in this world have died because of you bastards!?" The fury in Duanmu Qing's eyes blazed fiercely.

"Heh. They died because they didn't work hard enough to earn money. If they couldn't afford the medicine, who can they blame but themselves?"

"You're a monster!"

"Duanmu Qing, you should know that history is written by the victors. The Duanmu Family is finished. As the sole surviving heir, if you don't want your bloodline completely extinguished, you'll be a good girl and cooperate."

"In your dreams... Ahhh!" The metal collar around Duanmu Qing's neck suddenly erupted with the violent crackle of electricity. Countless arcs of blue lightning surged out, tearing relentlessly through her petite frame. She shrieked in agony, her body convulsing violently across the bed.

A full minute later, Chu Shang finally released the button on his remote control. "Duanmu Qing," he sneered, "the chairman gave strict orders not to severely damage you. You're the last blood of the Duanmu Family and the final wielder of the Breath of the Wood Spirit. I'm only allowed to give you minor punishments. But if you insist on remaining this stubbornly defiant, don't blame me for tossing aside our past ties.

"Thanks to your family's groundwork, the company now commands over a thousand different Transcendent Potions, including no small number of highly addictive variants. If I wasn't worried about causing irreversible damage to your soul and ruining your ability to refine potions for us, I would have pumped them into your veins a long time ago.

"I'll give you one final day to consider. You had better think very carefully."

With that, Chu Shang turned and walked away, completely ignoring Duanmu Qing as she lay twitching like a half-dead corpse.