The Yellow Springs Day Trip was used for feigning death, which made Jun Changxiao quite depressed. After all, wasn’t it better to be alive? Why must one experience the feeling of death?

Speaking of death, Gou Sheng had experience, because he had truly died once. That feeling… he’d forgotten.

The System said, “This type of pill could serve as a life-saving trump card.”

“You mean when encountering a powerful enemy, take the pill to feign death? To escape disaster?” Jun Changxiao asked.

“Correct,” the System said.

Jun Changxiao shook his head. “Although this can preserve one’s life, you have to feign death for 24 hours. Never mind the enemy pulverizing you—if you’re in the wilderness, you could easily be eaten by wild beasts.”

The System said, “So it depends on where you take it and whether you use it appropriately.”

Jun Changxiao carefully examined the materials needed to refine the Yellow Springs Day Trip pill. He discovered he not only had them, but could refine several dozen pills. So he casually clicked confirm.

“Ding!”

A few minutes later, one pill was refined.

“That fast?” Jun Changxiao was immediately stunned.

Although his pill-refining skills had been improving daily through frequent pill refinement, he had just obtained this pill formula—he hadn’t even gone through the process yet, and it was done in a few minutes. Wasn’t the pace too fast?

The Yellow Springs Pill was about the same size as a Qi-Gathering Pill. Its color was grayish-dim, making it look like a failed product at first glance.

Jun Changxiao casually took it out and held it to his nose to smell. There was no particular scent, so he muttered, “Will eating this small thing immediately cause suspended animation?”

“The host can try it.”

“Get lost.”

He would definitely test it, but he’d find someone else.

For instance, Hall Master Zi, or Ye Xingchen, or He Wudi. How could he personally lead the charge?

Besides.

As the sect’s master, time was money. Being dead for twenty-four hours would absolutely be wasting his life!

“Ding! Side quest triggered!”

“Another quest?”

Jun Changxiao opened the quest panel. The content read: Please have the host consume the Yellow Springs Day Trip within two minutes [Countdown: 1:56 seconds].

“Hahaha!”

The System laughed unscrupulously!

Holding the Yellow Springs Pill, the corner of Jun Changxiao’s mouth violently twitched.

The side quest was actually forcing him to feign death. This was too wicked!

“Sect Master Jun.”

Xi Jingxuan, sitting beside him, asked curiously, “Are you holding a pill?”

“Mm.”

Watching the quest time pass second by second, Jun Changxiao, after brief hesitation, unhesitatingly tossed the Yellow Springs Pill into his mouth and swallowed it.

“I’ve already died once, so why fear dying a second…”

“Thud!”

Jun Changxiao’s consciousness dissipated, and he directly toppled sideways. By unfortunate coincidence, he fell onto Xi Jingxuan’s lap.

The girl’s unique fragrance wafted over, but unfortunately he couldn’t smell it because he was already dead!

The protagonist has died.

Story complete, scatter flowers!

Jun Changxiao suddenly toppling over and pressing on her lap made Xi Jingxuan feel as if struck by lightning. She instinctively pushed him away in a panic, but without controlling her strength properly, she directly pushed him… off!

“Whoosh—”

Head first, rapidly falling.

“Hm?”

The flying Little Demon Fairy was quite puzzled. “Why did Master jump down?”

Purple Lin Demon King and Elder Ding following behind also noticed, but didn’t think much of it. After all, given the Sect Master’s cultivation, he could perform fancy falls in various positions.

“Bang—”

Finally, before everyone’s eyes, Jun Gou Sheng fell from high altitude onto the ground, his entire head sinking into the surface.

“This…”

Purple Lin Demon King and Elder Ding were immediately dumbfounded.

Was the Sect Master being cheap? At the moment of ground contact, he actually didn’t brake in advance but deliberately crashed with his brain?

“Wait!”

Jiang Xie, observant as always, furrowed his brow and exclaimed in alarm, “The Sect Master has no life aura!”

Purple Lin Demon King and Elder Ding also realized it in the first instant. Their faces changed dramatically without exception, then they quickly flew down and pulled Jun Changxiao out like pulling a radish.

“Swish!”

Ding Xingwang placed one hand on the Sect Master’s wrist, while his other hand’s index finger curled and rested under the nostrils. Until he felt no pulse or breathing, his consciousness seemed to explode thunderously. He cried out in grief, “The Sect Master’s dead!”

…

Eternal Sect, Medicine Peak.

Li Qingyang, Xiao Zuiji, and other disciples anxiously paced back and forth outside the Medicine Hall.

“Creak.”

Shortly after, the door opened.

Elder Wei walked out with red eyes, his voice trembling. “The Sect… Sect Master… he… has no life aura. His person… has already ascended to the Nine Heavens.”

“Impossible!”

“Impossible!”

Xiao Zuiji frantically rushed inside. Upon seeing Jun Changxiao lying on the sickbed without any life aura, he fell to his knees with a “thud,” crying out in grief, “Sect Master!”

“Woo woo woo!”

Liu Wanshi also rushed in.

The little girl had already tied mourning bands around her waist, crying, “Sect Master, you died so miserably!”

Outside the Medicine Hall.

Li Qingyang collapsed to the ground as if his soul had flown away. “How… how is this possible… this isn’t real… this definitely isn’t real…”

“Dead?”

Ye Xingchen also wore a dazed expression.

Above the Eternal Sect, an oppressive and sorrowful atmosphere immediately descended.

…

That day.

The Great Hall was cleaned, and a coffin was placed in the center. Jun Changxiao lay inside with a peaceful expression, truly indistinguishable from a corpse.

Li Qingyang, Xiao Zuiji, and others wore hemp mourning clothes and knelt outside, crying until heaven and earth darkened, crying until snot and tears flew everywhere.

Although Elder Wei, Elder Ding, and others were also extremely grief-stricken, since the person was already dead, they had to follow customs. So they deliberated whether to cremate or bury.

“Really dead?”

Outside the Great Hall, Lu Qianqian stood in place, neither wearing mourning clothes nor kneeling before the coffin.

Because amidst the Eternal Sect’s collective mourning, only she maintained a skeptical attitude toward Jun Changxiao’s death. After all, how could he suddenly die when he’d been perfectly fine?

“Palace Master Xi.”

To clarify the truth, she came again to the guest residence and inquired, “What exactly was the situation at that time?”

Xi Jingxuan had already cried herself into a teary mess.

Although accidentally pushing Jun Changxiao off wouldn’t have been enough to kill him from the fall.

She still blamed Gou Sheng’s death on herself and was currently heartbroken beyond measure.

“Sect… Sect Master Jun swallowed a pill and suddenly collapsed onto me… I panicked at the time and accidentally pushed him off, and then… woo woo woo… he died!”

“A pill?”

Lu Qianqian’s willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Could that pill have been poisonous? Did he die immediately after taking it?

But even if he truly died from poison, the Sect Master shouldn’t have died so peacefully.

Based on Lu Qianqian’s understanding of Jun Changxiao, he would never do anything to seek death, so that pill must have been suspicious.

“Miao Saifeng, imprisoned in the dungeon, understands the poison path. She should be able to tell whether the Sect Master died from poison!”

While the entire sect was immersed in grief over the Sect Master’s death, only the First Disciple remained absolutely calm. This mental fortitude was indeed quite strong.

…

Inside the Great Hall.

Miao Saifeng placed her fingers on Jun Changxiao’s pulse and said calmly, “This fellow was poisoned.”

As an expert in the poison path, she could detect an extremely faint trace of toxin within Jun Changxiao’s body.

However.

Miao Saifeng was quite puzzled.

The toxin existing in his body was difficult to cause any harm. Its function was merely…

“He’s not dead.”

“He’s only had his life aura temporarily suppressed by the toxin.”

Upon hearing this, Li Qingyang, Xiao Zuiji, and the others who had cried until heaven and earth darkened all widened their eyes.

“Can you put the sword down?”

“No.”

Lu Qianqian still held her long sword at Miao Saifeng’s neck.

…

In the dark environment, the seemingly peaceful Jun Changxiao suddenly opened his eyes, the System’s notification sound ringing in his ears.

“Ding! Side quest completed. Obtained 10,000 contribution points.”

“Ding! Sect contribution points: 57,650/70,000.”

Memories flooded into his consciousness, reminding Jun Changxiao of how he had decisively consumed the Yellow Springs Pill to complete the quest. He said helplessly, “This quest is really frustrating.”

Wait!

Where am I?

Jun Changxiao raised his hand and touched a board. He broke down. “A coffin lid?”

What the hell!

They treated me as a corpse and buried me?

“Bang!”

Spiritual energy exploded, and the coffin shattered.

Elder Wei and the others in the Great Hall saw Jun Changxiao come back to life and cried out in wild joy, “The Sect Master isn’t dead! The Sect Master really isn’t dead!”

“Sect Master!”

Liu Wanshi cried, “Woo woo woo… you scared Doudou to death!”

“Don’t just stand there.”

Li Luoqiu instructed Li Shangtian and others, “Quickly take down the mourning hall, remove the spirit money and incense burners.”

In a short while, the Great Hall was cleaned up spotlessly.

Upon receiving the news, Xi Jingxuan hurried over. Seeing Jun Changxiao sitting safely in the seat of honor conversing with Elder Wei and others, tears streamed down her face.

“Ahem.”

Elder Wei coughed lightly, then withdrew with everyone else.

Only Jun Changxiao and Xi Jingxuan remained in the Great Hall.

“I apologize. The situation was rather urgent at the time, so I didn’t have time to explain before…”

His voice abruptly stopped.

Because Xi Jingxuan had already rushed over, throwing herself into Jun Changxiao’s arms, crying, “If you had died, I would have felt guilty for the rest of my life.”

“Uh…” Jun Changxiao stood frozen in place like a wooden chicken. After a moment, his hands gently rested on her back, and he smiled tenderly. “Silly girl, how could I die?”

“Splash!”

Suddenly, a basin of cold water was poured over him.

Jun Changxiao, lying in the coffin, shivered, then opened his eyes. In his vision appeared the heads of Li Qingyang, Xiao Zuiji, Li Fei, and others.

“The Sect Master’s awake!”

“The Sect Master really isn’t dead!”

—