Immortal Cultivation and Life-Saving Guide

Furthermore, how did the Dongyi demon head "possess" the cricket? Wasn't it trapped in the Bone Reef Sea?

After much deliberation, Wei Xi became increasingly determined to see the Eastern Yi Demon Chief with his own eyes: perhaps its current state was no longer right.

Wei Xi remembered that the power of the Nanjiang Everlasting Tree was already greatly diminished before the tribe was destroyed.
If that's the case, the rise of cultivators becomes even more complicated.

To find the answer to this question, Wei Xi's most urgent task is to get out of this mess.

"I can't keep spinning like this," Wei Xi thought. "I made a scene just now, and sooner or later someone will come to investigate. This furnace has such a complicated structure; if I get stuck inside, I'm doomed!"

Wei Xi had originally hoped that the explosion would create a way out, but after witnessing how indestructible the place was, she suppressed that idea—it wouldn't be worth sacrificing herself if it collapsed.

In Xizhou, Wei Xi had heard many ghost stories of miners being buried alive in mine collapses. She was still young and had no intention of following in the footsteps of her predecessors.

The furnace hearth was filled with materials and fragments that had been expired for who knows how long, piled up in one place, indistinguishable from ruins. A strange sense of pleasure rose in the perpetrator's heart, but it was quickly replaced by boredom due to a lack of other options.

Fortunately, every cloud has a silver lining. Kicking aside the materials at his feet, Wei Xi suddenly thought of a feasible method.

"Where did the materials come from?"

The moment this idea popped into his head, it was immediately welcomed by Wei Xi. His thoughts rushed over and cleared a path.

To date, Wei Xi has only discovered the valve that isolates the furnace hearth and the channel used to discharge impurities from the furnace.

Wei Xizai carefully searched the furnace, but still found no flaws, which only made her more certain that something was amiss here.

By placing himself in the shoes of the Eastern Yi demon chief, Wei Xi attempted to find clues.

Wei Xi's gaze quickly settled on the top of the vat, hidden in the darkness.

"How incredibly stupid!" Wei Xi cursed inwardly. "Why did it take him so long to think of that!"

It's understandable that Wei Xi didn't think of the exit point at first – the so-called "furnace" was actually comparable in size to the room she lived in at the Qingcheng Sect.

Blinded by a sensory illusion, Wei Xi couldn't help but blame himself.

To make matters worse, she couldn't think of a way to go up and check.

With a loud crash, Wei Xi kicked over the wine jar, which had long since lost its aroma.

Wei Xi was startled by her own uncontrollable movement—she was sullen and rarely got angry. This was definitely not a good time to lose her temper; who knew if such a commotion would attract something from the darkness?
Wei Xi was quite familiar with this feeling of losing control of his emotions, and quickly realized that something was amplifying them. Unlike the previous times he had acted so carelessly, this time the culprit was undoubtedly the Devouring Sun Beast's ability.

The question is, at this point in time, shouldn't the Devouring Beast have been banished from Dongyi?
"As expected," Wei Xi thought, rubbing his temples as he regained his composure, "this place is definitely not from a thousand years ago. It's probably still the Bone Reef Sea from my time, which was infiltrated by the power of demonic beasts."

"But wasn't the Devouring Beast supposed to be controlled by the Zhenhai Sect? Why did its abilities remain in the Bone Reef Sea instead?"

Wei Xi was puzzled, yet he felt that this thousand-year-old mess would probably never be solved.

Fortunately, Wei Xi had experienced similar situations several times, which meant he had learned from his bad luck that such tactics would fall apart once he realized something was amiss.

Wei Xi even had the mood to mock these monsters for having no creativity whatsoever, no wonder they ended up becoming stepping stones for cultivators.

There are two main difficulties in getting to the top of the furnace: first, the height makes it difficult to climb, and second, who knows what kind of monsters or demons might be lurking up there.

Elder Xianhua's notes record that a senior with an eccentric personality once kept a poisonous beast in his weapon-refining furnace. This poisonous beast could not withstand the heat, and it would coil up on top of the furnace when it was opened. If a young disciple had any wicked thoughts and tried to secretly open the furnace, he would be bitten to death by the frightened poisonous beast.

What's even more interesting is that the senior himself actually died from this venomous beast.

The reason was that this venomous beast preferred high temperatures when in heat, and it would lie on the still-warm magical artifact. The senior reached out to grab it, only to be bitten right in the tiger's mouth, dying before he could even finish his last words. Thinking of the snake that the Tail Cutter used to eat people, Wei Xi frowned slightly, glancing displeasedly at the dark top of the furnace.

If you use your own body, the "thread-pulling" technique can effectively solve both of these problems.

It's a pity that this skin for the Lian Gou Mang is missing.
Wei Xi paused for a moment, then relaxed his control over his body.

Sure enough, that light, empty, boneless, and fleshless feeling returned; a gust of wind could blow this skin into the sky.

While the three of them took turns recuperating in Nanjiang, Lian Gouyi attempted to draw a batch of Wind-Following Talismans. Unfortunately, Wei Qin was skilled in ice and wood respectively, and even with Lian Gouyi's help, they failed. The unfinished talismans were then stuffed into his Qiankun bag.

There are about three hundred talismans in this batch. The biggest problem is that the wind is sometimes strong and sometimes weak, and the direction is a little inaccurate.

Now Wei Xi can use himself as an example.

So for the next incense stick's time, Wei Xi flipped and tumbled inside the furnace, sometimes making intimate contact with the ground, sometimes suffering a terrible injury to his hip joint, and several times almost breaking his neck by twisting it upside down.

In short, Wei Xi flew his kite and finally ended up lying awkwardly on top of the stove.

Lian Gou's skin was light enough that Wei Xi could hold onto it without any effort. Just in case, she even used a few talismans that weren't infused with much spiritual power to support herself.

The good news is that there are no strange creatures or deadly traps on top of the furnace; the bad news is that the expected opening for placing materials has not appeared.

After a short climb, Wei Xi, who had attacked in gecko form, gained nothing but dizziness.

"No," Wei Xi thought, "running around like a headless fly won't help at all. We need to consider this from the user's perspective. If I were the leader of the Eastern Yi demons, how would I design the weapon-refining furnace?"

Speaking of refining furnaces, Wei Xi himself has broken nearly a hundred of them, but they were all the common, mass-produced kind.

She will never use a more expensive stove until Wei reduces the rate of stove explosions!
Based on his extensive experience in frying ovens, Wei Xi concluded that the oven was too large and each oven should have its own way of placing materials.

Then, Wei Xi thought of the furnaces used by early weapon refiners, which often had the effect of isolating yin and yang energies.

What if it were the other way around? Could the furnace of a demon beast have the function of isolating spiritual energy?
The risks of attempting this are obvious; Wei Xi may trigger certain mechanisms, or even attract the Eastern Yi demon leader.

But if Wei Xi doesn't try, he's unsure how much time he and Qin Feng have left.

Wei Xi gritted his teeth, crushed three spirit stones, and milky white spiritual energy spread along the top of the furnace, outlining a familiar flame totem, and then converged in a certain place.

Wei Xi understood that the place where spiritual energy gathered was probably the weakest point in the isolation measures, which was also the passage where the materials were placed.

Carefully climbing over, Wei Xi's face was resolute. He held the dagger in his mouth and traced lines on the metal, successfully finding a nearly imperceptible gap.

Considering the superb smelting skills of Deadwater City, which were comparable to those of its founder, the Eastern Barbarian Demon Chief's craftsmanship was indeed extraordinary.

Once you're on the right track, things become much easier.

Wei Xi quickly pried open the entrance to the passage through the crack, and a scorching wind and bright light rushed in.

Seeing the opening just big enough for one person to pass through, Wei Xi hesitated for a moment before finally climbing in and closing the door behind her. Still not entirely at ease, she took out a gold ingot from her sleeve, attached a warning talisman, placed it on the ground, and then left.

The opening led to a dark rock, and Wei Xi, who had regained the ability to walk upright, felt a sense of foreboding.

The next moment, the scene that came into view left her speechless. (End of Chapter)