It was in an ancient world filled with martial arts. The old emperor was bedridden and did not have much time left, but he was unwilling to give up.

He issued a proclamation to all the capable people in the world. If anyone could prolong his life, he would reward them generously.

After the proclamation was issued, many people came to the capital and offered him all kinds of elixirs.

The old emperor treated them all as guests of honor.

However, the emperor's illness did not get better after consuming countless elixirs. Instead, it got worse.

In the end, the divine doctors of the Imperial Academy of Medicine knelt down and confessed to the emperor that although the elixirs in the world could cure diseases and strengthen the body, they could not prolong life.

The emperor finally came to his senses.

He was old and weak, and his time had come to an end. His old body was like a bottomless lake, and no matter how many spirit pills and miraculous medicines there were, they were no more than stones that were thrown into the deep lake. As soon as they caused a trace of a ripple, they were mercilessly swallowed up by the surging lake water.

Even if Huatuo was alive and Bian Que was reborn, there was nothing he could do.

The old emperor was very sad, but he had to accept his fate.

He was nestled in the magnificent palace, watching the clouds roll and the sun move to the west. The mountains and rivers he had fought for when he was young stretched for thousands of miles under the twilight. The rosy clouds were like fire, casting a gorgeous luster on the towering mountains. His young sons knelt outside the palace. Although they did not say anything, there was a faint sense of urgency between their brows.

The princes were waiting.

Waiting for the old emperor to die, waiting for the country to change hands.

There was no place for him in this world.

But he still wanted to live. He still wanted to live!

The old emperor's wrinkled eyelids closed slightly. A drop of turbid tear fell from the corner of his eye.

Despite all his reluctance, he still heard the footsteps of the Grim Reaper.

The footsteps were neither fast nor slow, calm and indifferent. The soldiers and princes outside the palace shouted and drew their swords, but they could not stop the footsteps at all.

The footsteps stopped beside the emperor's bed.

The old emperor struggled to open his eyes, wanting to take one last look at this world.

His blurred vision was like a blurred ink. In the center of his vision was an expressionless but exquisite face, and a pale golden paper was handed to him.

It was the imperial notice that the old emperor had once posted all over the world.

Then, he stuffed a pill into the Emperor's mouth.

The medicinal pill carried a strong fishy smell, like rotten dead wood. It made people think of vultures circling in the dusky desert, blood flowing for thousands of miles, and withered bones everywhere.

But after swallowing it, there was only a fresh fruity flavor left in his mouth.

…

Like a miracle, the old emperor's illness recovered overnight. New black hair grew out of his withered white hair, and his withered limbs regained their strength.

For the first time in several months, he didn't need the help of servants. He walked out of the palace shakily step by step, looked at the rising sun, and breathed heavily.

The first rays of the morning sun shone on his tender skin, reflected in his gradually brightening eyes, and turned into a blazing light. Every ripple carried with it an endless desire.

— — As humans, it was their bad habit to yearn for immortality.

The next day, the Emperor resumed his morning court session.

Furthermore, in the imperial court, he issued a new decree without allowing anyone to object: He appointed Xie Ziyou as the State Preceptor.

The State Preceptor's peerless appearance and ability to bring the dead back to life spread all over the world.

But in fact, the medicinal pill that the State Preceptor gave the old emperor couldn't be cured once and for all. It was like opium poppies, the more addicted one was to it, the stronger one's body would be. But one day, once the medicine was stopped, the whole person would age faster, die, decay, and turn into a pile of ashes.

The old emperor was quite dissatisfied with this.

But when the State Preceptor broke the medicinal pill in front of him and fed it to a white mouse, the Emperor saw with his own eyes that the white mouse went crazy because of the lack of medicine. It gnawed at the iron cage crazily, scratched its cheeks with its claws, and dug out its eyes until its nails broke and its skin oozed blood. Then, it collapsed on the ground, panting, and stopped breathing after a few breaths.

The Emperor felt a chill down his spine and didn't dare to mention the lack of medicine again.

The State Preceptor's medicinal pill could bring the dead back to life because it contained the soul and flesh of the living.

As the name implied, it used the flesh and blood as the furnace, the soul as the foundation, and the secret technique as the method to smelt the living into medicinal pills that could prolong one's life.

When the living died, the more painful and desperate the medicinal pill was, the stronger the effect of the medicinal pill.

The Emperor needed medicinal pills to prolong his life, and the State Preceptor needed living people to refine medicinal pills. The princes looked at their father who was getting younger day by day, and their hearts were filled with evil thoughts. They began to frequently go to the State Preceptor's residence … The whole court gradually became one. No one would never grow old, and no one could resist the temptation of eternal life.

It was just that the people in the world suffered.

When 001 and its host came to this world, the world was already in a state of darkness.

Starving people were everywhere, and the people had no way to make a living. The lucky survivors were trembling in fear and huddling in the straw huts. They would rather starve to death than go out, because once they walked out of the straw huts, what greeted them might be the sharp knives of the patrol team, the bloody furnace purgatory, and the cruel torture of begging for death.

Even the most arrogant host frowned in front of this miserable situation. His face was pale, and he was on the verge of collapse.

001 hurriedly comforted him: "Don't be afraid, we are here to save them."

The young man looked like he was about to vomit. He covered his mouth and said vaguely: "Nonsense, I am a man with the destiny of a protagonist. Shut up, did I let you speak?"

001 smiled helplessly.

They started from a small village at the border and gathered the villagers bit by bit. They accumulated strength and called on them to rise up and resist.

This was a long and difficult process.

As the scale of the rebellion army gradually expanded, their power gradually fell into the eyes of the nobles. From a speck of dust that could not be detected, it became sand that could not be tolerated in their eyes.

After that, there was a long-planned assassination.

Some people in the rebellion army were instigated by the nobles. Even those who wanted to escape persecution could not get rid of their desire for pills. This was simply an unsolvable cycle.

001's host was used to a smooth-sailing life. Because of his arrogance, he was careless and fell into the hands of the thieves.

The young man dragged his injured body and ran all the way into the dense forest. He was in so much pain that he cried out: "System, quickly change the medicine for me. Change the best medicine for me —"

Before he could finish his words, the poison in his wound acted up. He staggered and knocked into a withered pine tree by the side of the road. He immediately fainted on the ground.

001 hurriedly flipped through the system list and exchanged for life-saving medicine for the host.

However, just as it poured the medicine into the host's mouth, the sound of rustling footsteps suddenly came from not far away. The brocade boots rubbed against the withered leaves. The person's footsteps were flustered as he ran all the way in their direction.

A handsome figure appeared in 001's eyes.

It was a young man. He was tall and slender, dressed in bright clothes. His plain white snow brocade clothes were embroidered with elegant silver patterns. As he ran, his long sleeves fluttered, and his black hair fluttered behind him like a waterfall.

The sunlight passed through the gaps between the branches and leaves and landed in the person's slightly raised peach blossom eyes. It turned into a beautiful water light and rippled out like circles.

The young man's expression was anxious, but his exquisite face became even more beautiful, like a wisp of snow that illuminated the world.

It was the face of the State Preceptor Xie Ziyou on the picture scroll that was circulated among the rebellion army.

001 stood stiffly at the side and watched as Xie Ziyou pounced on his host. He frantically checked the young man's breathing and helped his upper body up to lean against a tree by the side of the road.

Xie Ziyou's hands were trembling, and his eyes were watery. His gaze landed lightly on the young man's hideous wound, then quickly turned away, as if he would be stabbed by a sharp blade if he looked at it any longer.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry …" he whispered, his voice hoarse. "System, System, how is the protagonist now? Will he be okay?

I just touched his forehead. It seems a little hot, but his arm is a little cold … "

System?

001's heart trembled.

The person in front of it … was the owner of the villain system?

Just as it was wondering, it heard a gentle voice with a hint of helplessness. It let out a long sigh.

"Don't worry, You you. You've reduced the toxicity by half. He'll be fine.

Also, we can communicate in our minds. Don't say everything out loud. Be careful not to be heard by others. "

Xie Ziyou's face was bitter and worried. "The toxicity has been reduced by half, but it's still a strong poison.

Look, his face was pale just now, but now it's suddenly turning red. His breathing is also so rapid … "

"It's a good thing that his face is turning red.

You, I know it's your first mission and it's difficult for you to adapt, but if your identity is exposed, our points will be deducted.

Can you … watch quietly from behind? Don't get so close to the protagonist? "

"But …"

Before he finished speaking, the young man who had fallen under the tree suddenly coughed violently. His eyelids trembled violently, and there were signs of Awakening.

Xie Ziyou, "!!!"

He covered his mouth in panic and looked around anxiously.

In the end, he ran toward a bush not far away in panic.

But it was too late. No matter how powerful the "State Preceptor" was, he could not run faster than the young man when he opened his eyes.

Seeing that Xie Ziyou was about to be exposed, 001 suddenly shouted in the young man's mind, "Don't open your eyes!"

The young man, "…?"

His eyelids twitched slightly, and his eyelashes trembled violently. But in the end, he closed his eyes.

"Don't open your eyes," 001 hurriedly repeated. He racked his brain to come up with an excuse to remedy the situation. "The medicine you just drank hasn't fully taken effect yet. You can't open your eyes or move. You must immediately circulate your internal energy so that there won't be any hidden injuries."

"… Really?"

The young man was skeptical.

But Fang Cai's assassination really scared him. Just in case, the young man sat cross-legged under the tree and quietly circulated his internal energy.

001 held his breath and stared at him without blinking.

After a few breaths, the golden butterfly saw that the young man was really meditating. Its wings trembled slightly, and it flew up lightly. It quietly looked into the distance.

Behind the green bush in front of it, a white light flew quietly and quickly into the depths of the dense forest.

However, the incident happened in a hurry. At the moment when he brushed past the bush, the Imperial Preceptor's brocade sleeve accidentally hooked on the sharp thorns of the bush. A small piece of snow-white cloth was torn off and hung on the branch lightly, like a flower made of snow blooming in the bush.

The young man's ears were sharp. When he heard the sound of cloth tearing, he suddenly became alert. "What's that sound?"

001 hurriedly jumped onto a branch at the side and shook the leaves.

When the young man opened his eyes, he only saw the rustling withered leaves. A few of them fell between his eyebrows, making him slightly itchy. He impatiently wiped his face.

001 finally breathed a sigh of relief.

His ears were constantly filled with the host's curses and complaints, but his body quietly moved to the edge of the bush. He quickly put away the white cloth and destroyed the corpse.

After doing all this, 001 looked into the distance and absentmindedly looked in the direction where Xie Ziyou disappeared.

— — He actually came to care about the protagonist during the mission.

Wasn't he afraid that his identity would be exposed and his points would be deducted?

For some reason, when 001 recalled Fang Cai and Xie Ziyou's worried gaze, a trace of joy suddenly surged in his heart. It was like a traveler who had been trekking in the desert for a long time and finally saw a bright green light in front of him. A slight wave of water vapor drifted in the wind.

It secretly thought to itself, "What a naive … and cute little guy."

According to what Fang Cai said, was that person's first time carrying out an antagonist's mission?

Thinking of this, 001 suddenly became worried again.

— — The State Preceptor's identity, which could bring calamity to the country and the people, angering even the heavens and people.

How long can that little cutie named Xie Ziyou maintain this naivety?