fairy family

Chapter 222 Xuanhuang True Flame, Stealing Oil
At the bottom of the Refining Peak, beneath layers of rocks, lies an even more solid and substantial body of metal.

Yu Que followed the crevice in the mountain and fell for nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine feet before finally landing at the foot of the copper furnace on the Refining Peak.

Indeed, this bronze furnace at Huangshan Taoist Palace is only one zhang short of being ten thousand zhang tall.

After some thought, Yu Que agreed to watch the fire at the bottom of the furnace. He also secretly inquired whether such a tall bronze furnace was a magical artifact crafted by a primordial spirit immortal.

To everyone's surprise, the Peak Master of Refinement smiled without saying a word. After pondering for a few breaths, he finally said, "Could an ordinary immortal refine such a bronze furnace?"

These words sent a chill down Yu Que's spine. He immediately recalled the legendary story of an ancient emperor refining elixirs and ascending to immortality in Mount Huang.

He secretly wondered, "Could the story be true, and this bronze furnace be something left behind by that emperor from back then...?"

Suddenly, a muffled voice transmitted down from the top of the furnace, thousands of feet high:
“Young man, every day at Chenshi (7-9 AM), I will open the furnace. I will refine it every three days, refine it every seven days, and clean the furnace once every ten days.”

This stove is an old artifact, and it lacks spiritual energy, making it quite inconvenient to use. You and I, father and son, should work together more from now on.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Que immediately cupped his hands and responded loudly:
"The students know that if they need anything, the teacher should just give the order."

The Peak Master of Refinement Peak said with a smile:
"Good. You can stay under the stove and familiarize yourself with the surroundings."

Although this furnace is old, it is in good overall condition. The various ghosts and monsters that may appear inside might be a bit frightening, but you don't need to worry too much about them.

The other party then gave Yu Que a few more detailed instructions before falling silent.

Then, a clanging sound rang out, and the many mechanisms above Yu Que's head closed, plunging him into darkness. He felt as if he were in a heavily sealed, death cell.

Faced with this situation, Yu Que's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly regained his composure.

Upon entering this place, he used the excuse of explaining matters concerning his cave dwelling to spread the word that he was to watch the furnace for the Peak Master of Refining. He even risked incurring the displeasure of the Xuan Tu Master by sending his own warrior to the Xuan Tu Temple to inform Gong Dongxue of this matter.

Unless the peak master of the Refinement Peak is completely out of his mind, the other party shouldn't have imprisoned a true disciple at the bottom of the furnace.

Amidst the towering rocks, Yu Que shifted his gaze from the heavy furnace to behind him.

His eyes flickered as he thought to himself, "Besides, I'm not inside the furnace. Even if the Refinement Peak Master wants to imprison me, I can't damage the furnace, but surely I can damage the rocks around it?"

"We'll just have to put in some effort to dig a tunnel to get out."

呲呲呲!
Yu Que gently made a hand seal, and the wisps of sword energy passed through the mountain behind him as easily as passing through tofu, and were not blocked even after traveling dozens of feet.

After confirming that his "back path" was unobstructed, he nodded in satisfaction and then focused all his attention on the heavy, grayish-yellow bronze furnace base in front of him.

He wandered around and looked around. Perhaps because he had been preaching recently, the peak master of the Refinement Peak had not opened the furnace, so there was not a trace of ash at the bottom of the furnace.

Yu Que did not sense the so-called "fire poison" mentioned by the other party.

However, he boldly probed his divine sense into the bronze furnace and immediately sensed a restrained heat and power within it.

Although the bronze furnace wasn't hot, its interior felt like it was imprisoning a volcano, burning extremely hot.

Before Yu Que's divine sense could penetrate the furnace, it was burned off, and his soul felt as if it were being pricked by needles.

With a whoosh, a burst of crowfire suddenly erupted from his body, timely suppressing the injury and stabilizing his Yin spirit.

He was astonished: "We haven't even really encountered it yet, and with the furnace body as a barrier, its power is already so formidable."

It truly lives up to its legendary name, 'Earth Fire'.

Compared to the earth fire in the furnace, the crow fire on Yu Que's body was like a tiny spark.

As Yu Que was startled, the furnace trembled slightly. A gentle divine sense suddenly spread down the furnace, examining it. Then, as if discovering something, it moved towards Yu Que and curiously transmitted its voice:

"You rascal, did you just test the fire in the furnace?"

The other party chuckled and said, "Haha, this fire is called 'Mysterious Yellow True Flame,' which is much more ferocious than your little crow fire. If you are really burned, remember to call out to me quickly, and loudly."

This place is far away from me and is protected by numerous array formations, making it impossible for my divine sense to constantly monitor it. This consumes a great deal of energy, and it will be even more difficult after the furnace is opened..."

While the other party was transmitting their voice, Yu Que noticed that the runes on the bronze furnace were also flashing, and streams of spiritual energy suddenly flowed back from the furnace and landed on him.

"Thank you for your concern, teacher."

Yu Que immediately bowed.

Although he was not injured, only his soul was slightly depleted, he was happy to take the free spiritual energy.

The peak master continued to inspect the furnace. After transmitting a few more words, the other party's divine sense was withdrawn in a flash, and the bronze furnace returned to calm. It seemed that the other party was indeed unable to pay too much attention to the bottom of the furnace.

This also happens to fit the reason why the other party wanted Yu Que to observe the furnace and watch the fire.

Yu Que felt a slight sense of relief: "This person can't notice this place. In that case, if I make some small moves here, the other party shouldn't be able to detect them."

However, after thinking it over, he decided to wait and see how things went.

Several days passed quickly. With a hum, the massive bronze furnace trembled slightly, and a surge of heat suddenly emanated from it, startling Yu Que, who was sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the furnace, awake.

A melodious shout also slowly drifted from the top of the furnace, thousands of feet high:

"Turn on the furnace."

Yu Que immediately perked up and looked at the towering bronze furnace before him.

With a whoosh, the patterns on the furnace body lit up, and streams of spiritual energy swept in from all sides, enveloping him and filling him with joy.

But then he noticed that there were faint traces of what could be cracks or runes on the furnace body. Inside, he could see reddish-gold flames surging, and wisps of poisonous smoke were also spreading out of the furnace, quickly turning the bottom of the furnace into a thick cloud of smoke.

Yu Que released his divine sense and discovered that within the thick smoke, his divine sense could not even extend more than a foot around him.

This poisonous smoke and fire not only obscures vision, but also particularly obscures consciousness.

Yu Que was both surprised and delighted: "No wonder the Peak Master of the Refinement Peak told me to call out with my voice when I asked for help. He is not only unable to pay attention to this place, but he is simply incapable of doing so."

Especially after the other party opens the furnace, most of their energy is focused on the material they are refining, leaving them with little energy to look at the bottom of the furnace.

In this way, Yu Que can indeed move around freely at the bottom of the furnace without worrying about being spied on.

He got up with a calm expression and strolled through the thick toxic smoke, feeling no discomfort whatsoever.

And soon, he saw the monsters and ghosts that the peak master of the Refinement Peak had mentioned.

A series of ghostly wails and howls echoed.

Inside the bronze furnace, a large number of ghosts descended from the sky and fell into the true fire within. They were annihilated like a whirlwind, and flowed continuously like a waterfall, transforming into wisps of ghostly and yin energy, which served as fuel for the true fire in the furnace.

This scene made Yu Que realize something and feel invigorated:
"So that's how it is. This furnace uses ghost souls as firewood to burn and refine ghosts, while spiritual energy and other things are just auxiliary."

As he expected, wisps of ghostly and yin energy, along with the poisonous smoke, seeped out from the cracks in the bronze furnace and settled around the bottom.

Out of caution, Yu Que ignored these ghostly and yin energies, keeping his eyes closed and his mind focused, remaining unmoved.

Thus, these ghostly and yin energies swirled around the bronze furnace, mingling with spiritual energy to create a chilling environment, making half of Yu Que's body scorching hot and the other half cold, blurring the lines between yin and yang.

This was nothing short of torture for his body and soul.

However, Yu Que remembered the benefits of "refining the heart" that the peak master of the Refinement Peak had told him. He did not think of avoiding it, but endured it and tried to use it to temper himself.

After half a day, just as the other party had said, amidst the interplay of hot and cold, yin and yang, Yu Que's internal energy condensed into a trace.

This delighted him: "What a wonderful place!"

In particular, he was looking at the crowfire that was hovering above his head, constantly spewing poisonous smoke.

Its fire was also refined to a higher level.

Although the improvement in these two aspects is not significant, the cumulative effect over time cannot be ignored.

In addition, Yu Que had just tried circulating his true energy and focusing his mental energy on the ancestral temple.

Although he failed, he should be able to cultivate his mind and practice simultaneously without delaying his own cultivation if he has more time to familiarize himself with the process.

Just as Yu Que was overjoyed, a helpless voice echoed from the top of the towering furnace:

"Young man of the Yu family, don't be lazy. If the temperature of the furnace doesn't rise, I'll lock you up for a few more years."

The peak master of the Refinement Peak rebuked:
"Hurry up and disperse the ghostly energy at the bottom of the furnace, lest it accumulate and interfere with the bronze furnace!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Que immediately responded loudly, "Yes!"

He snapped out of his daze and unleashed his true energy, dispersing the stagnant ghostly and yin energies around him. He then guided the energy into a formation at the center of the furnace, where it gathered and suppressed the stagnant energy, allowing it to flow back as much as possible.

With the absence of yin energy surrounding the furnace, the scene of yin and yang converging temporarily subsided, and the temperature of the furnace slowly increased again.

After a moment, the Peak Master of Refinement Peak also slowly transmitted a voice:
"good."

And so, Yu Que sat cross-legged under the furnace and began his diligent practice of observing the furnace and refining his mind.

Whenever the furnace is lit in the mountains, he has to be careful of the yin energy gathering at the bottom of the furnace, just like a little bee carrying "nectar" back and forth, busy all the time.

His diligent and dedicated actions greatly comforted the Peak Master of Refinement.

In less than a month, the other party had provided a considerable amount of spiritual pills, allowing him to focus on his work at the bottom of the furnace.

While Yu Que readily accepted the spiritual pills, his hands were naturally covered in a nectar-like yin energy, from which he stole a considerable amount of profit.

Both the elderly and the young were extremely relieved by this.

(End of this chapter)