[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-nothing-is-taboo":3,"chapter-nothing-is-taboo-nothing-is-taboo-chapter-15":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Nothing Is Taboo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2310400,4514,"Chapter 15: The Run-Mountain Man","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-15",15,"\u003Cp>Hao Erge screamed as the giant spider scurried toward him, its massive fangs gaping wide!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Haishan had another trick up his sleeve—meant for Xu Yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after a quick glance, that bastard Xu Yuan had vanished somewhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What a sneaky bastard!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Haishan could no longer afford to wait; his only option now was to flee for his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Maiden valued him because of that one potion—but he was still a ninth-rank Alchemist, and Alchemists had their own methods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, this “external pill” was forged from a spider demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his hand, he still clutched another external pill—the life-saving gift from his sect, containing a single slash from a seventh-rank Wu Xiu!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Haishan turned the fire in his belly into two fiery tails, attaching them to his legs; with a surge of power, his speed multiplied severalfold as he smashed through the villagers and vanished behind the village gate in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gate stood wide open—Wu Haishan was about to escape, and he silently swore: When I get out, I’ll report this to the sect, and next time I’ll bring an army and slaughter every last soul in this village!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, a massive shadow erupted from the dead tree in the village, spreading its wings and hurtling toward him—faster by several times than Wu Haishan with his fiery tails!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, the shadow caught up to Wu Haishan, who roared: “Come on then!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He launched the external pill from his mouth!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pill soared into the morning light, its surface gleaming with metallic luster, then exploded with a thunderous crash—a terrifying blade qi erupted from within!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shadow hadn’t anticipated this move; with no time to dodge, it braced itself and took the slash head-on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CLANG!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A loud crash echoed as the shadow staggered to the ground—but its motion wasn’t slowed; a dark, gleaming blade flashed once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PTH—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A common woodcutter’s axe, deeply embedded into the junction of Wu Haishan’s neck and shoulder, nearly cleaving his upper body in two!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the wound, sparks hissed outward, burning his blood dry and releasing a foul, stinking odor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Haishan’s eyes bulged with terror; his Adam’s apple bobbed twice, emitting two muffled sounds before he died, unwilling to let go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Old Run-Mountain Man pulled the axe from the corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He still wore the great cloak stitched from countless feathers—about a third of them now severed by that single slash!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His yellow crystal glasses were askew; Xu Yuan, hiding in the shadows, glimpsed that the Old Run-Mountain Man’s eyes were entirely white.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Old Run-Mountain Man adjusted his glasses, wiped the axe clean, glanced once toward where Xu Yuan hid, then walked off without a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The villagers surged forward and tore Wu Haishan’s body apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the village’s rule: when trouble arose, the Run-Mountain Man handled it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The villagers handled the cleanup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Wu Haishan dead, the giant spider froze in place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its massive fangs hovered just a foot from Hao Erge’s neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Erge shrieked: “Aunt Tang! Help me—!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mother from the house where Wu Xiu Old Chen had stayed last night stepped out, flicked her slender fingers a few times, severed the silk, and pulled Hao Erge free from the web.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Chen and his companions were also “handled” by the villagers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan emerged trembling, shook the goods in his hands, and forced a smile: “I’m a real peddler—let’s keep trading.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By mid-afternoon, all of Xu Yuan’s goods had finally been traded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside him now lay a pile of mountain produce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many of these items were valuable—sell them outside and he could make ten times their value.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Xu Yuan felt no joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The villagers haggled over every bit; Xu Yuan had to bargain back and forth with them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan wanted to finish quickly—let them name the terms, and he’d leave at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he kept feeling eyes—behind those yellow crystal lenses—watching him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan dared not show the slightest flaw!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he acted even slightly unlike a real peddler, that blood-drinking axe would split his neck next!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With all this delay, he had no time to leave the mountains today—he had to spend another night at Jiao Erbo’s house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiao Erbo, seeing how well Xu Yuan had “traded” all day, raised the room fee by ten cash; Xu Yuan paid without hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night, Xu Yuan didn’t sleep; more than half the mountain goods were herbs and ores—he fed them to his belly fire and refined them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the many cultivation methods, “Feishi,” simply meant “eating.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But not like ordinary people eat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ordinary people who ate these would die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Seven Sects’ cultivators each consumed different things; Alchemists had the broadest range.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They ate everything—belly fire could refine anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Xu Yuan had no master to guide him; whether as a Life Cultivator or Alchemist, he could only stumble forward alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So once these “Feishi” entered his belly, Xu Yuan had to sort and refine them separately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Herbs with similar properties were grouped together and refined into a single pill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ores were simpler: gold, silver, copper, iron—all smelted into one “Golden Pill.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But these ores from Ghost Witch Mountain were extraordinary, far superior to ordinary ores outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, Xu Yuan pulled out a gray-black external pill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon close inspection, it resembled low-quality amber, sealed inside was a spider.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was Wu Haishan’s external pill, taken by the mother and daughter next door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan paid a “high price”—three entire kitchen knives—to get it from them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other external pill, containing the seventh-rank Wu Xiu’s slash, could be used only once—then it vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan washed the pill clean, swallowed it, refined it with his belly fire, and claimed it as his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spider inside the external pill was a demon; captured and forged into an external pill by someone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan estimated the spider was roughly equivalent to a ninth-rank cultivator; the one who forged it into a pill must have been at least eighth-rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since the spider demon itself was weak, the external pill was only ninth-rank quality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After this night’s cultivation, Xu Yuan felt his Alchemist level had finally reached ninth-rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The standard for an Alchemist to “enter the ranks” was to condense five “pills.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan had just refined over a dozen by sorting them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though each pill was weak, the quantity was sufficient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His father had told him many stories about the Seven Sects before he died; after his father’s death, his stepmother had explained them to him several times in detail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The standard for advancing from ninth-rank to eighth-rank was to condense one’s own “internal pill.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pills Xu Yuan had just made were not true “internal pills.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alchemists must be extremely cautious when condensing an internal pill!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, Xu Yuan now had no idea what kind of internal pill he should form—he needed more time to refine his path before he could clearly see his direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1163,"2026-06-20T12:07:23.516Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","1de9a0489560aaff624c2112ac85ec6869e5b5b2035802f6e066fc35d8a1b163","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-16","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-14",413,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnothing-is-taboo-cover.jpg"]