A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Sword-Forging Servant and Ascending to Immorta

Foundation Building Pill.

This thing is enough to cause a group of peak Qi Refining disciples to fight tooth and nail. Even within the inner sect, it's not something any disciple can just take out.

Zhou Lingxuan's Adam's apple bobbed.

He desperately needs this.

His Body Tempering Realm cultivation might be enough in the abandoned hall, but once he leaves the abandoned hall, even a Qi Refining cultivator could put him in grave danger.

If one can use this Foundation Establishment Pill to rebuild their spiritual root and enter the Qi Refining Realm, many things will become much easier to accomplish.

The temptation is great.

Zhou Lingxuan did not reach out to take it.

Having spent over a century struggling in the lower echelons of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion, his only rule for survival was to never take on a deal he couldn't handle.

He looked away from the jade bottle and pointed to the parchment that had just been pushed back.

"Miss Xue, the item is indeed a fine one, but I have never used a pill furnace before."

"If you just give me a piece of paper and I can't understand it, blindly accepting it will only ruin your materials."

Upon hearing this, Xue Yi's previously slumped shoulders instantly straightened.

She moved with lightning speed, grabbing the parchment and slapping it into Zhou Lingxuan's hand, as if afraid he would change his mind.

"You look first! You can talk after you've read it!"

She stretched out her fingers, which were covered in black ash, and pressed them hard twice on the drawing.

"This is an ancient formula I copied in the library, called the 'Three-Legged Flowing Cloud Furnace'."

"The standard alchemy furnaces made by those old-fashioned craftsmen in the equipment hall have very rough inner walls, making it impossible to control the heat. I've been wanting to have one custom-made for me for a long time."

Xue Yi rattled off her words in rapid succession.

"These drawings are very detailed! The appearance, dimensions, and thickness are all marked; you just need to follow them when printing!"

Seeing that he remained unmoved, Xue Yi took another half step forward.

"Those people at Qitang, every time I ask them to make a custom order, they just try to fool me with standard-issue stoves."

"The pills I refine cannot be made with even the slightest difference in the heat. The inner wall of the standard furnace is uneven, so the medicinal power cannot be concentrated at all."

Zhou Lingxuan still didn't take the paper.

"Miss Xue, the Weaponry Hall has professional weapon refiners, and they're unwilling to do this kind of work. You're asking me to be a menial laborer?"

"They're worried I fry things too fast and ruin their reputation!"

Xue Yi stomped her foot angrily.

Zhou Lingxuan had no choice but to unfold the parchment.

Using the dim moonlight outside the side courtyard, he leaned closer to examine it carefully.

The drawings were very complicated.

Over the past century, he has worked in the handyman's workshop, handling a total of one million iron swords.

He has handled iron ore of various qualities and experienced the shockwaves from millions of hammer blows.

Although those iron swords were just ordinary objects, the countless hammer blows had long since given him an almost instinctive intuition about their physical structure.

He could tell with his eyes closed where to make the material thicker and thinner, where to place it under stress, and where to place it prone to cracking.

The outermost edge of the drawing was densely covered with various curved lines.

Those are array patterns for controlling fire and gathering spiritual energy.

It is also the most crucial element in refining the alchemy furnace.

Zhou Lingxuan ignored the array patterns and focused his gaze on the cross-section of the furnace itself.

The bottom is thickened, the three legs stand upright, the abdomen is hollow, and it tapers upwards.

As he looked at the drawing, he gestured in the air with his finger.

"The furnace bottom is three inches thick, and the surface exposed to the fire needs to have extremely high heat resistance."

"The abdominal curve is very large, and the sheet metal here must be hammered evenly enough, otherwise it will easily crack when it expands due to heat."

"The most troublesome part is these three legs, which need to be molded as one piece with the furnace bottom."

Zhou Lingxuan silently calculated in his mind.

The more he looked, the more his brows relaxed.

Putting aside the mysterious array patterns, if you only look at the physical structure of this thing, it is actually just a large, thick-bottomed iron can.

The only challenge is that the inner wall must be absolutely flat, without the slightest flaw.

This might be difficult for others, since the interior of the alchemy furnace is small and it's hard to wield the hammer.

But for those hands that have struck a million swords, it's really not a difficult task.

It just takes a little more time to flatten it little by little with a small hammer.

Zhou Lingxuan rolled up the parchment and stuffed it into his sleeve.

"I can handle the shapes."

"The inner wall can also be guaranteed to be flawless."

Xue Yi's eyes lit up, and she was about to jump up when Zhou Lingxuan raised his hand to stop her from speaking.

"Miss Xue, even a skilled cook can't make a meal without rice."

"We have the blueprints, but where are the spiritual materials for forging the alchemy furnace?"

He spread his hands and pointed to the empty side courtyard.

"You can't expect me to piece together something for you from all this shattered scrap metal, can you?"

"Furthermore, this three-legged cloud furnace has extremely high requirements for fire resistance; ordinary refined iron simply cannot withstand the prolonged scorching of the earth fire."

Xue Yi was overjoyed, and a smile revealed her white teeth on her face, which was covered in soot.

"The materials are easy to obtain!"

She waved her hand confidently, her chin held high.

"But I'm just an alchemist; I carry only spiritual herbs with me. How could I possibly be carrying around those heavy iron ore?"

She spun around twice, seemingly pondering something.

"The main materials needed for this three-legged cloud furnace are red copper and cold iron. I can get some from the inner gate's warehouse, and I'll try to find the rest of the auxiliary materials at the market."

She stopped and held up two fingers.

"The latest it can be is the day after tomorrow!"

"I'll have someone secretly deliver the materials to the abandoned hall the night after tomorrow!"

Zhou Lingxuan didn't reply. He first picked up the cloth bag full of waste pills and then slowly spoke.

"The materials can be delivered."

"But I made a promise beforehand."

He looked directly at Xue Yi.

"The fire in the abandoned hall is very strong, so I have to slowly heat this furnace; I can't rush it."

"You cannot rush the progress during this period."

"Furthermore, no one should be brought to supervise the construction of the abandoned hall."

Zhou Lingxuan spoke in a calm tone, yet he set the rules very firmly.

"I'm just an old garbage collector. If you bring people over and cause me trouble, I'd rather not even bother with this stove."

Xue Yi looked down at her tattered blue robe and then smelled the pungent, burnt odor emanating from her body.

All she wanted to do was get back to her place and take a long, hot bath.

She wouldn't go to a dilapidated place like the abandoned hall, which was full of toxic fumes and waste.

"Who wants to go to your lousy place to supervise the construction!"

Xue Yi nodded repeatedly, resealed the small jade bottle containing the Foundation Establishment Pill, and carefully put it into her storage bag.

She proudly raised her chin and waved at Zhou Lingxuan.

"As long as the furnace you build doesn't explode, this Foundation Establishment Pill is yours."

"Just wait to collect the materials the day after tomorrow!"

After saying that, Xue Yi covered her nose and wished she had more legs, and ran out of the side courtyard as fast as she could.

Zhou Lingxuan stood there until the blue figure completely disappeared into the night before his tense shoulders finally relaxed.

He looked down and checked the cloth bag in his hand, making sure the opening was tied tightly and no waste pills were leaking out.

A mountain breeze blew by, and the acrid smell in the side courtyard dissipated somewhat.

Zhou Lingxuan didn't linger any longer. Clutching the alchemy furnace blueprint and carrying the discarded pills, he quickly disappeared into the night and headed towards the abandoned hall.

Speechless all the way.

Zhou Lingxuan evaded the patrolling disciples and returned to the abandoned hall without incident.

He pushed open the door of the wooden house, turned around and slammed the latch shut, then moved the chipped wooden table and propped it against the door.

After doing all that, he sat down on the bed.

Too much happened tonight.

First, he encountered a Qi Refining Stage 4 assassin on the mountain path and nearly lost his life.

Then he took on the job of forging alchemy furnaces at the alchemy hall and received a promise of Foundation Establishment Pills.

Zhou Lingxuan touched his chest.

Beneath that soft armor, the ribs, injured by the sword energy, still throbbed faintly.

Instead of resting, he untied the cloth bag full of waste pills and poured it onto the bed.

Dozens of black, discarded pills rolled out, emitting a pungent medicinal odor.

Zhou Lingxuan's mind stirred slightly.

A small purple jade hammer appeared in the palm of his hand.

He picked up a discarded pill and gently tapped it with a small hammer.

The discarded pill instantly turned into a pool of black ash, and the rampant toxicity and residual medicinal power within were completely devoured by the small hammer.

A purple light flickered.

An extremely pure medicinal power flowed back into his meridians through the small hammer.

Zhou Lingxuan closed his eyes and guided the medicinal power to circulate within his body.

The medicine was extremely potent, with a scorching heat.

If an ordinary body-tempering cultivator were to swallow it directly, their internal organs would be burned through instantly.

But after being transformed by the Purple Jade Hammer, this ferocity was completely tamed and turned into the purest nourishment.

Wherever the medicine goes, the meridians are widened again, and the damaged muscles and bones heal quickly.

The dull pain in my ribs gradually disappeared, replaced by a warm, tingling sensation.

The quality of this batch of discarded pills is indeed extremely high.

After absorbing just ten pills, Zhou Lingxuan felt that all the energy he had used up during the day had been replenished.

He didn't stop, continuing to tap the remaining waste pills with a small hammer.

Half an hour later.

All that remained on the bed board was a pile of black ash.

Zhou Lingxuan opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath.

My body's Qi and blood are so full that I feel like I'm about to break through a certain critical point.

His cultivation at the eighth level of Body Tempering was completely stabilized.

He clenched his fist, feeling the power transmitted between his knuckles.

My current physical condition is better than ever before.

As long as he obtains that Foundation Establishment Pill, he is fully confident that he can rebuild his spiritual root and break through the barrier of the Qi Refining Realm in one fell swoop.

Zhou Lingxuan walked to the table, spread out the parchment, and flattened it with two paperweights.

In the dim candlelight, every line on the drawing was clearly visible.

He extended his index finger and slid it down little by little along the cross-sectional diagram of the furnace.

In his mind, the forging workshop that Old Qin had carried back was already in operation.

The fire in the furnace is rising.

The iron block was heated until it was red-hot.

Zhou Lingxuan's gaze lingered on the junction between the bottom of the furnace and the inner wall.

This is the most difficult part to handle.

An ordinary hammer won't hit it; if the force is slightly off, it will leave a dent.

He raised his right hand, made a loose fist like a hammer, and tapped it lightly in mid-air.