Chapter 38: The Grandmaster (Part 2)
The red light shattered the clouds above Tianhuo Peak, and the fierce flames dyed the clouds a deep crimson, like blood. The clouds scattered in all directions, and half of the sky turned a bloody red color. Amidst the rolling clouds of blood, a furnace appeared, one hundred and eight zhang high, with three dragon claws supporting it from below. On its thick and heavy lid, four large spiritual beasts were cast in the four cardinal directions: the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird, and the Black Turtle. The eyes of the beasts were inlaid with precious gems that shone brightly, illuminating the air hundreds of zhang away. The furnace slowly flew towards a group of Daoist practitioners.
Lin Xiao only provided the material list and internal structure diagram required for the alchemy furnace, as well as the array diagrams that needed to be inscribed on each part of the alchemy furnace. As for the shape of the alchemy furnace, Lin Xiao did not make any rigid requirements.
One true old Daoist is a person who pursues perfection in alchemy, this cauldron's three legs are completely cast into the shape of dragon claws, each leg has sharp five claws that can tightly grip the ground. At the same time, once the cauldron is used as an attacking treasure, these three sharp dragon claws will also become a powerful lethal weapon. The dragon claws are wrapped in wispy cloud energy, and scales clearly protrude from them, with small thunder beads embedded on each scale, totaling 9,999 scales, each with 9,999 thunder beads the size of soybeans. So many thunder beads form an extremely powerful 'Three Thunder Array', once activated, it can instantly strike out forty-nine consecutive heavenly lightning attacks on the enemy.
The Three Thunder Formation is not only an attacking technique, but also a defensive array that comes with the alchemy furnace itself, sufficient to avoid being attacked by enemies or invaded by external demons during alchemy.
The outer shell of the Dan furnace is carved with countless patterns of medicinal materials, and on each plant, a faint red mist floats like a thin gauze. As the mist sways, the plants seem to come alive, gently swaying on the surface of the Dan furnace. The outlines of the plants are made from molten fire crystal solution cast into fine red lines. These lines form a 'Heavenly Fire Burning God Array' on the surface of the Dan furnace, which can release high-temperature flames to attack enemies or set up defensive formations.
The four-phase spiritual beasts on the furnace cover also formed the 'Four Spiritual Demon Array', with strong external attack power and unbreakable self-defense, which is another kind of offensive and defensive spiritual array.
One True Daoist was also under the guidance of One Line, deliberately perfecting Lin Xiao. When One Line heard Lin Xiao say that this dan furnace could not only be used for alchemy but also become a portable treasure after being refined, he instructed One True Daoist to put more effort into the dan furnace. The "Three Thunderbolt Arrays", the "Heavenly Fire Burning God" great array, and the "Four Spirits Exorcism Array", these three arrays not only consumed an unknown number of precious materials from the Yuan Sect but also exhausted One True Daoist's mental energy. However, with these three spiritual arrays, the dan furnace's attack and defense capabilities were elevated to a stunning level.
A frail and gaunt True Daoist, accompanied by eighty-one fellow disciples, stepped onto the clouds, slowly controlling the massive dan furnace as it floated towards them. With a face full of smiles, he bowed his head in greeting, then burst into loud laughter, saying to Lin Xiang: "Haha, young friend Lin Xiang, this dan furnace has indeed consumed a great deal of my energy! Hehe, such a large dan furnace, its body must be formed all at once. Even the materials used for smelting have exhausted over two hundred of our sect's disciples... Hehe, in the future, when you refine your own elixirs..."
Lin Xiao nodded and said in a low voice, "In the future, if we refine excellent elixirs, Senior Yizhen can naturally choose one first." He made a fist at his chest as a gesture of respect to Yizhen, indicating that he had already remembered Yizhen's kindness.
One True Dao person was overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear. He hastily pulled Lin Xian's hand and led him around the dan furnace, constantly explaining its benefits. The internal structure and functions of the dan furnace were clear to Lin Xian, but the external layout and some mysterious uses of this dan furnace were only understood by One True Dao person who was the master craftsman. Many small auxiliary functions seemed insignificant, but they were actually the result of One True Dao person's meticulous thoughts and discussions with his fellow disciples. These small auxiliary functions would greatly facilitate the alchemy process for the alchemists.
A true Taoist, especially emphasized the introduction of a mustard array below the dan furnace. This formation hid an eighteen-mile-long fire crystal pillar. Once the mustard array was activated, the fire crystal pillar would bring the raging heavenly fire out of the dan furnace, burning through the rock layer and piercing the underground. As soon as the spiritual veins were connected, the crystal pillar could extract the spiritual energy from the spiritual veins, transform it into a surging flame that poured into the dan furnace, providing endless power for the alchemy furnace. The crystal pillar also contained an incomplete ancient array created by the true Taoist and his eighty-one fellow disciples. When facing life-or-death situations, the crystal pillar could extract all the accumulated spiritual energy from the dan furnace, compressing it into a powerful red light that would suddenly attack the enemy's hand, which was also the killer of this dan furnace.
Lin Xiao looked at the dan furnace with satisfaction, a rare smile appearing on his face. He said softly, "So, very good, today I can start firing the dan furnace and see if it's as wonderful as Master Luo Yu said." After a pause, Lin Xiao suddenly asked, "Yi Zhen senior, what is the grade of this dan furnace?"
A truly smiling and twirling long mustache, with a pleased gaze looking up at the sky, laughed loudly: "The old Tao's alchemy skills are also top-notch in today's cultivation world, but to be honest, they can't compare to the power of a single small finger from ancient times! The old Tao usually refines artifacts, and the most powerful one is only a mid-grade treasure artifact! However, this cauldron, due to the excessive consumption of high-quality materials, plus the help of all the fellow masters, its grade should exceed that of a top-grade treasure artifact, but it still falls short of being a spiritual artifact by a tiny bit!"
With a pleased smile, the old Daoist chuckled and said: "However, this is only so in terms of its grade. If we're talking about its own quality, I'm afraid even an ordinary spiritual artifact wouldn't be its match."
He heavily patted one of the dragon claws on the Dan furnace, and the old Taoist hummed with a bit of gnashing teeth: "A treasure of over 10 million catties, who in the cultivation world has seen it? The furnace wall is three feet six inches thick! And they are all made from top-grade materials. I'm afraid even a legendary fairy artifact would need to expend tremendous effort to break open this Dan furnace!"
Yi Zhen let out a sigh, and Yi Zhen Lao Dao patted Lin Xiao's shoulder, saying in an eerie tone: "Lin Xiao, little brother! From now on, when you're traveling outside and encounter opponents you can't defeat, just open the lid of the dan furnace and hide inside. There won't be many people in the entire cultivation world who can do anything to you." Yi Zhen Dao Ren's words sounded strange, but they were indeed true. This dan furnace was truly too enormous, too cumbersome, and too sturdy. Its attacking capabilities were unknown, but for defensive purposes, it might be even better than ordinary top-grade spiritual artifacts!
Just as Lin Xiao was about to say something, a Taoist priest beside him spoke up warmly: "Since this Dan furnace is a treasure, True Master, why don't you help Lin Xiao's friend take it? If the alchemist can resonate with his own Dan furnace, the elixir he refines will be even more effective."
Before Lin Xiao could react, the True Daoist had already grabbed his wrist and dragged him to fly above the Dan furnace. The True Daoist's fingernails opened up the blood vessels on Lin Xiao's wrist, and a stream of fresh blood spurted out, sprinkling onto a red gemstone the size of a human head on the furnace lid. The hot blood was all absorbed by the gemstone.
"Hold your breath, concentrate your mind, and use the ancient Dao's instrument refinement method to subdue this dan furnace." A true Daoist shouted loudly, awakening Lin Xiao who was slightly stunned. He then quickly recited a short incantation for refining the treasure, which was only over 200 words long. However, every word was like a pearl, perfectly placed and extremely subtle. It was truly the ultimate method for refining treasures. Compared to the half-baked refinement methods of the Great Luo Dan Dao, such as flying swords, this incantation was at least ten times more profound and powerful!
Lin Xiao had no time to think of anything else, a thread of extremely hot energy from the dan furnace flowed into his body through the invisible connection of his refined blood, directly piercing his sea of consciousness. Lin Xiao held his breath and concentrated his mind, silently operating his mysterious skills, according to the spiritual key passed down by a true Taoist, he pinched a seal to receive the treasure, following the vague information transmitted from that thread of energy, carefully inserting his divine thoughts into the dan furnace, slowly engraving his heart's imprint on the core of hundreds of arrays within the dan furnace.
The onlookers, including the old Daoists and Lin Xiao himself, did not notice that a strand of seven-colored spiritual energy transformed from a lotus seed was circulating in his body, following his divine thoughts to open up the meridians in the alchemical furnace. This fine thread of spiritual energy merged with Lin Xiao's divine thoughts, condensing into shiny, gem-like seals at the core of the arrays. Each seal was connected by extremely fine seven-colored spiritual energy, forming a dense network that tightly enveloped the entire alchemical furnace. Only later did Lin Xiao slowly discover that this alchemical furnace had a stronger spiritual nature than even Luo Yu's own estimates, and when he controlled it, it was as if his arm was an extension of himself, effortless and unmatched.
After a few hand seals, the dan furnace shook slightly, and its massive body of 108 zhang shrunk slightly, shrinking from 108 zhang high to about 107 zhang 8 chi.
Lin looked foolishly at the huge Dan furnace, Qingchu also stared blankly at the Dan furnace, and asked in confusion: "Brother Lin, why not make that Dan furnace small enough to hold in his palm?" Although he was only a miscellaneous disciple of the lowest level of Yuanshu, Qingchu knew that these flying sword treasures could be reduced to an extremely small size, or even merged into the body.
A Taoist priest raised an eyebrow, and both Yi and Xin simultaneously looked up at the sky where wisps of bloody clouds were constantly rolling.
A true Daoist looked embarrassed and Lin Xiang smiled wryly, shaking his head: "The cauldron is too large in size, the materials consumed are too many, compared to Lin Xiang's small friend's cultivation, its grade is also slightly higher. Hmm, wanting to refine it to a portable level, probably... maybe... possibly... should... if not mistaken... would require the cultivation of a scattered immortal?"
Lin Xiao, who was applying ointment to the wound on his wrist, almost spat blood onto the face of a true Taoist! The cultivation of a scattered immortal? Does it take the cultivation of a scattered immortal to refine this dan furnace to the point where it can be driven at will? Scattered Immortal? In today's cultivation world, it would be a big deal to find even one hair of a scattered immortal, let alone encounter a real scattered immortal!
However, Lin Xiao didn't feel disappointed. His original intention for building this dan furnace was to use it for alchemy, and he never thought of using it as a treasure for attack and defense - although Luo Yu's design included this function, Lin Xiao understood his current actual conditions, his cultivation was too low, even if he had a top-grade treasure dan furnace, what could he do against the likes of Xue Shen Lao Zu? It was better to just quietly cultivate in Yuan Zong, waiting for an opportunity.
Lin Xiao has become very realistic, he doesn't want to take revenge for his fellow disciples and Yao'er at all. He just wants to rebuild the Great Luo Dan Dao and bring Yao'er back by his side! In fact, since learning that his mother was poisoned to death by Hua Weng Niang while Lin Shan was powerless, Lin Xiao has become very realistic. He never thought about those arduous tasks that he couldn't accomplish himself. Of course, if he had enough power one day, what would he do? Even he didn't know!
Gently patting Lin Xiao's small head with one hand, he said softly: "Cultivation is a gradual improvement, and you don't have to rush, young friend."
Lin Xiao nodded solemnly and said calmly, "The junior is not in a hurry. Cultivation has no bounds, what's there to be anxious about? In short, taking it one step at a time will surely yield results."
It was just a simple sentence, yet it caused Yi Hang, Yi Xin, Yi Yi, and Yi Zhen to sigh simultaneously. They looked up at the rolling blood clouds in the sky and couldn't help but fall into a trance. Cultivation is boundless, but life is limited. Can we really reach a conclusion by moving forward step by step? Yi Hang sighed softly: "The path of cultivation is difficult! Difficult! Difficult! We can only try our best to climb up."
Her mind was slightly distracted, and her eyes, which had been gazing at the rippling water, turned to look at his profile. She let out a barely audible sigh and whispered to herself: "Can it really have an outcome? I don't ask for much, all I want is... if he could just glance at me once more every day, that would be enough for me."
Qing Le, who was standing close to Yi Xin, suddenly felt that Yi Xin looked very pitiful, just like a rabbit with a broken hind leg she had once found in the mountain garden. Qing Le carefully stretched out her hand and gently stroked Yi Xin's wrist. Qing Le quietly gazed at Yi Xin, her eyes filled with a kind of innocence, purity, and unadulterated compassion!
A disciple of the Yuan Sect who hadn't even mastered the most basic Qi-refining techniques, actually dared to look at a senior elder seven or eight generations her senior with such a pitiful gaze! If it were any other elder, Qing Chu might have gotten into big trouble. But Elder Yi simply looked at Qing Chu, gently pinched his earlobe, and slowly lowered his head.
But a group of Taoist priests had already begun their activities.
With Lin Xiao's cultivation, he was fundamentally unable to drive this enormous and extremely heavy dan furnace. He could only entrust a group of Daoist priests and several Yuan Zong elders to slowly move the dan furnace to an empty space by the lake where he lived. The huge dan furnace was surrounded by nearly a hundred Yuan Zong elders, with a colorful cloud supporting the dan furnace and the elders, and behind them followed nearly a thousand senior disciples who had status and positions within Yuan Zong. This procession marched from Tian Huo Peak to Lin Xiao's lakeside pavilion, disturbing countless Yuan Zong disciples along the way.
Those with low cultivation stood on the ground, looking up at the mountains; those with high cultivation rode flying swords or treasures and rose into the air, following far behind the group. They looked at the huge cauldron in shock. Even dozens of disciples who manipulated flying boats couldn't hold back their curiosity, and amidst the cheers and shouts of their fellow disciples on the flying boat, they followed Lin Xiao and his party, pointing and gesturing as they went.
Not long after, nearly a thousand sword lights followed from behind, making the scale of this team even more grand. It was the various disciples of Yao Shan who carried all sorts of medicinal materials needed by Lin Xiao in their storage bags and were summoned over by a certain Daoist halfway.
The team arrived at the lakeside where Lin Xiao lived, and a large area of flat land had been cleared using magic. The ground was covered with white jade boards, perfectly level. Along the edges of the clearing were massive warehouses, surrounded by arrays that maintained a constant temperature and humidity, prepared for the large quantities of medicinal materials that Lin Xiao would need. In the center of the clearing stood two hundred young Daoists wearing green robes, standing at attention with their hands clasped behind their backs, each one looking up towards the direction from which Dan Lian was flying. These were the disciples arranged by Yi Dao to assist Lin Xiao, all of whom had more than twenty years of experience working in Yao Shan and were responsible for refining medicinal materials according to Lin Xiao's requirements, as well as helping him with various miscellaneous tasks during the alchemy process.
The treatment was much better than when Lin Xiao first arrived at the Yuan Sect over a hundred days ago. Since he had memorized the entire Da Luo Dan Jing, he had been promoted to the highest level of "Tian Ji Gong Feng" in the Yuan Sect, which was far superior to his original position as a "Xing Meng Gong Feng". The five levels of cultivation in the Yuan Sect were Tian Di Ri Yue Xing, and Lin Xiao, who possessed the complete inheritance of the Da Luo Dan Jing, naturally became a Tian Ji Gong Feng. Even just the Condensed Mind Array he had offered was enough to warrant such treatment from the Yuan Sect.
