Chapter 123: The Mystic Elixir Furnace

Page 1/3
The West City was the most prosperous district of Antan City! Within the West City stood numerous grand mansions, all belonging to those of high rank or overwhelming power. Additionally, some of the top great clans, major sects, and influential schools had established branches here. Many who came to Antan City seeking masters would try their luck at these branches. The West City also contained areas dedicated to commerce and pleasure.

However, despite the bustling and lively nature of the West City, killing was strictly prohibited on its streets. Inside those mansions and sect branches, however fierce the battles, it was permitted—provided the owners of these estates or branches allowed it.

Flying was banned above Antan City, but this restriction applied only to the weak. Once one became a Daoist of the Primordial Spirit realm, they were no longer subject to this limitation.

The West City was extraordinarily vibrant, especially the Yibao Market, where tens of thousands of cultivators set up stalls. It was a place exclusively for cultivators to buy, sell, and trade treasures. Curious, Yuntian went to have a look. The Yibao Market was a vast plaza densely packed with stalls, each accompanied by a white stone inscribed in black characters listing the items the stall owner wished to exchange.

The Yibao Market was a kaleidoscope of treasures, bizarre and diverse. The advantage of trading here was relatively low prices; the downside was the lack of security. Since killing was forbidden only on the streets, it was permitted within the market.

“There are indeed some surprisingly good treasures here!” After wandering casually, although none of the various spiritual materials and treasures caught Yuntian’s eye, his comprehension of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, combined with his keen sensitivity to spatial and powerful soul auras, allowed him to discover one or two items that brought him slight delight.

The treasures were covered in dust, and even their owners did not know their true value. Thus, Yuntian paid only a small price—no more than ten jin of spirit liquid—to acquire two chosen spiritual materials. He also picked up some miscellaneous spiritual items for nearly a hundred jin of spirit liquid before quietly leaving the Yibao Market.

About half an hour later, Yuntian arrived before a modest mansion in the West City of Antan. Although the mansion was not small—about two hundred meters in length and width—it appeared insignificant and tiny compared to others in Antan City, located in a rather remote area.

Knocking on the gate, Yuntian produced a token carved with white clouds. Instantly, an elderly innate spirit being who opened the door wore a respectful expression, bowing hurriedly: “Young Master Yuntian!”

“Oh? You know my identity?” Yuntian raised an eyebrow, asking casually as he strode inside without ceremony.

The elder, dressed in a simple gray robe, closed the door and carefully led the way: “Our clan was informed over two months ago that Young Master Yuntian would come to Antan City. Please, Young Master!”

Page 2/3
“Please wait a moment, Young Master Yuntian. I will go fetch the steward,” the elder said, ushering Yuntian into a well-decorated parlor before respectfully withdrawing.

Yuntian sat down casually, but shortly after, a middle-aged man in a purple brocade robe hurried in with a warm and courteous smile, bowing slightly: “Haha… Young Master Yuntian, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time! Allow me to introduce myself—I am Yun Chen. Tracing back several generations, we share the same lineage. By seniority, I should address you as nephew.”

“Uh… cough, Yun Chen steward, you flatter me,” Yuntian said with a light cough, slightly overwhelmed by Yun Chen’s enthusiasm. “I’m a bit tired from the journey. Please arrange a guest room for me—I need some rest.”

Yun Chen was momentarily taken aback but quickly nodded with a smile and personally led Yuntian to the best guest room in the mansion: “Young Master Yuntian, this guest room also has a cultivation meditation chamber, an artifact forging room, and a pill refining room, all protected by formidable defensive formations. You can rest assured to use them…”

“That’s enough, I understand. You may leave now. I will instruct you if anything is needed,” Yuntian interrupted.

Yun Chen respectfully acknowledged and withdrew obediently, harboring no dissatisfaction. Though he was a Purple Mansion cultivator and held some status in the Yun clan, Yuntian was a peerless genius highly valued by the clan’s forebear. Rumor had it he once killed Tie Zhan, a Divine Demon who had reached the pinnacle of the Purple Mansion’s Body Refining path. With such strength at a young age, his future achievements were boundless, and it was likely he would become a Daoist of the Primordial Spirit realm like the forebear. Yun Chen dared not treat him lightly.

After sending Yun Chen away, Yuntian activated the guest room’s defensive formation and entered the artifact forging room.

The forging room was simply arranged, containing only a low-grade human-tier Eight Trigrams Furnace treasure, suitable for forging ordinary artifacts but utterly inadequate for crafting powerful, formidable ones.

Seated cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the forging room, Yuntian produced with a flick of his hand an irregular, elliptical jet-black ore two meters long and one foot thick, along with a dusty, unremarkable three-legged ancient pill furnace.

Drawing out the Silver Dragon Sword, Yuntian effortlessly cleaved the black iron ore in half, revealing within it a basketball-sized, purple-black ore that even the sword’s aura could only leave a shallow mark upon. The attached black iron was shattered and fell away by the sword’s aura, and the entire purple-black ore emitted a heavy, oppressive aura.

Black Iron was only used for forging human-tier artifacts. But the accompanying Purple Crow Gold was capable of forging heavenly-tier artifacts, its value worlds apart.

However, what truly caught Yuntian’s attention was not the Purple Crow Gold but the dusty, inconspicuous three-legged pill furnace.

Page 3/3
With a sharp clang of metal against metal, Yuntian struck the pill furnace fiercely. Though it trembled slightly, it remained intact, only revealing some intricate gray runes on its surface. These runes, resembling a spider’s web, tightly encased the entire furnace.

“Indeed, it has a seal,” Yuntian narrowed his eyes as he studied the gray runes appearing on the furnace. “The art of formation and rune inscriptions in this world is not to be underestimated! This seal is quite extraordinary.”

After repeatedly attacking the furnace to reveal its runes and studying them for nearly half a day, Yuntian finally broke the seal.

A hum resonated as the seal shattered and vanished. The pill furnace trembled instantly, glowing with a dark red radiance. A scorching aura warped and shook the surrounding space. Fortunately, the pill refining room’s formation suppressed the aura, and Yuntian quickly subdued it, preventing any leakage.

“Ah… suffocating! Suffocating! Finally, I can breathe!” A crisp voice came from within the pill furnace, which Yuntian’s palm, radiating golden light, was pressing down upon. Then, a flickering, illusory figure of a red-clad child appeared atop the furnace.

Upon seeing Yuntian, the red-clad child glared and exclaimed, “You freed me from the seal? Impossible! With your weak cultivation, how could you break the seal that old man left on me? Absolutely impossible!”

“A treasure spirit?” Yuntian narrowed his eyes, a slight smile curling at the corner of his lips. For a treasure spirit to possess independent thought and will, it would have to be at least an immortal-tier treasure. Judging by Yuntian’s keen perception, this pill furnace was far more than immortal-tier—it was likely a Pure Yang treasure.

The red-clad child sneered at Yuntian, “What are you laughing at? With your meager strength, do you really think you can subdue and refine me?”

No sooner had the red-clad child spoken than the dark red pill furnace suddenly emitted a far more terrifying aura. Dark red flames surged upward, instantly dimming the golden light in Yuntian’s palm.