When Leo Blaze confirmed that the sugar at his chest was indeed real, his heart pounded fiercely, and the first instinctive thought surfaced in his mind: "I need to tell Dr. Li!"<br><br>But as soon as he lifted his right foot, it hovered in the air as other thoughts burst into his mind. He knew that his illusion contained more than just sugar; there were other things, even more valuable items.<br><br>While savoring the sweetness melting in his mouth, Leo Blaze paced slowly around the hospital room. "This is an opportunity! A chance that might bring Anna Yang and me overnight wealth! It could even be an opportunity to reach the peak of life!" His excitement quickly confirmed this thought.<br><br>"I can't tell Dr. Li; I don't want to be sent to a lab for dissection. Besides, this isn't his concern," Leo Blaze thought to himself. "However, I can't jump to conclusions about this matter so quickly. I need to thoroughly understand what's going on here first," he reaffirmed his intentions internally.<br><br>Just as he was thinking this, the surrounding environment began to distort and change; the clean and tidy hospital room started to fade. Leo Blaze, already accustomed to such occurrences, quickly stuffed the papers and books into his bag and tossed it to the far corner to prevent his illusion-entranced self from tearing it apart.<br><br>Next, he pressed the red button beside the bed. A few seconds later, he saw the final scene of several nurses entering, tying him to the bed with restraining straps.<br><br>When he opened his eyes again, the cold, austere cave environment returned, and the "junior brothers and sisters" with physical defects curiously observed him. Sitting up from the cold stone, Leo Blaze once more examined everything around him from a unique perspective.<br><br>Although this was an illusion, it appeared to him as a treasure trove filled with riches.<br><br>Perhaps he wasn't sick at all, but possessed an extremely rare superpower, only those quack doctors couldn't detect it. "Maybe I'm not sick at all. Yes, that's right, I’m not sick."<br><br>Over the years, he had truly had enough of the schizophrenia label; everyone looked at him with strange eyes. As if the moment he got sick, he ceased to be human and became an alien. Just the thought of possibly shaking off this label in the future excited Leo Blaze to no end.<br><br>In a very good mood, he reached out to joyfully rub the bald head that came over. "Haha, this is really interesting."<br><br>"What are you gathered here for? Get to work quickly! If you ruin the Master's quest for eternity by not preparing the herbal catalyst properly, he'll peel you alive!" An extremely irritating voice came from the cave entrance.<br><br>Turning his head, Leo Blaze saw that the speaker was the aloof Taoist from earlier who'd relayed messages, still wearing a haughty expression as if talking to Leo Blaze and these herbal catalysts sullied his eyes.<br><br>Leo Blaze remembered this guy's name, this illusionary fellow's spiritual name seemed to be Xuan Yang.<br><br>Facing Leo Blaze's blatant scrutiny, Xuan Yang clearly felt provoked and shook the whisk in his hand, walking up to Leo Blaze. "Brother Leo, it's a shame you didn't become the Master's herbal catalyst this time."<br><br>Leo Blaze couldn't be bothered with his sarcastic tone, his attention focused entirely on the round charm necklace hanging from Xuan Yang's waist. "This thing must be an antique, right? If I bring this to the real world and sell it, it must be worth a lot of money, right?"<br><br>"But how should I do it? Just like with that sugar, snatch it and put it on my chest?"<br><br>After a few words without reaction from Leo Blaze, Xuan Yang assumed the other was afraid, gave a contemptuous tilt of his head, and turned to leave the place meant for herbal catalysts.<br><br>Watching his retreating back, Leo Blaze set his mind on a plan. This charm necklace would be his next experiment to attempt transferring.<br><br>As for acquiring it, nothing could be simpler—just steal it at night. "That charm necklace is great, but soon it'll be mine."<br><br>A small white hand, somewhat reflective, reached over and gently tugged on Leo Blaze's coarse linen sleeve. A soft and sweet voice spoke in his ear. "Brother Leo, hurry and work, if we don't finish, there'll be no food."<br><br>Turning, Leo Blaze saw it was the albino girl he had helped before. After thinking for a moment, he reached into his pocket, pulling out the half-melted brown sugar left and placed it in her hand, then turned to his spot to begin working with the pestle.<br><br>For now, whether it was here or at the hospital, he decided not to act too conspicuously. Such an astonishing matter wasn't suitable to tell anyone; he had to slowly understand the rules behind it before making further plans.<br><br>The day's work ended with the dull sound of pestle grinding. Late at night, accompanied by the sounds of snoring and teeth grinding, Leo Blaze lying on the communal sleeping space slowly opened his eyes. In the pitch-black cave devoid of windows, Leo Blaze felt his way toward the door.<br><br>He first went to his workplace, picking up a piece of greenstone he'd ground that emitted a faint glow, enough to prevent him from groping in the dark cave. Although holding such a stone was conspicuously bright in the pitch-black, Leo Blaze didn't care at all. "If someone finds me, at worst I'll retreat to the hospital. I have an escape route, so why should I be afraid?" He smugly muttered to himself as he walked alone.<br><br>This entire illusion had appeared because of him; would he be afraid of an illusion he created, even if he couldn't control it yet? The vast cave, Leo Blaze had been here a while and knew the place well.<br><br>He quickly snuck into Xuan Yang's cave. Although still simple, the large solitary bed clearly distinguished Xuan Yang from Leo Blaze and the other herbal catalysts.<br><br>What surprised Leo Blaze, however, was that Xuan Yang wasn't in the cave. Though he wasn't there, his clothes were. Leo Blaze didn't care about details; his right hand reached into the robe and tugged out the charm necklace.<br><br>After sneaking out of the cave, he carefully examined the round charm necklace under the glow of the greenstone. The necklace was crystal clear, smooth, with exquisitely carved cloud patterns. Even someone like him who didn't understand such matters could tell it was of fine quality.<br><br>The more he looked, the happier Leo Blaze felt. If he truly could bring this to the real world, this charm necklace could at least cover Anna Yang's and his four years of college tuition. "Hehehe~ Anna Yang, Anna Yang, just get ready to become a little rich woman," Leo Blaze said, stowing the charm necklace in his pocket and headed back.<br><br>Everything went smoothly, but sometimes things can't always be so smooth. Just as he was about to reach the door, he turned a corner on the stone steps and bumped into a group of people.<br><br>They were a bunch of boys and girls around Leo Blaze's age, their terrified faces flickering under the reflection of a flame box one held. Both parties were startled, frozen in place for a while without speaking.<br><br>Finally, Leo Blaze spoke, pointing his glowing stone at Xuan Yang standing in the crowd, dressed in linen clothing. "Brother Xuan Yang, what’s with this outfit? Have you been assigned to the material room?"<br><br>Not only Xuan Yang, but others involved in various tasks like the Taoist child who fanned the alchemy furnace were among them. However, regardless of their previous duties, they were all now in linen clothes, nothing else.<br><br>At this moment, Xuan Yang no longer displayed the arrogance he had during the day; his expression shifted rapidly before he approached Leo Blaze and lowered his voice. "Come! Let's escape this ghostly place together! The senior guarding the gate has already been persuaded."<br><br>"Escape? Oh! So you're—" The word 'escape' was yet to leave Leo Blaze's mouth when Xuan Yang clamped his hand over it.)
