Chapter 330 - 319: Dual-Furnace Alchemy

Chapter 330: Chapter 319: Dual-Furnace Alchemy

The Primordial Yang Sect’s directive concerning the reinforcement of defenses arrived at the marketplace five days after the Core Formation platform went missing.

Inside the management office, Chen Yi handed the document to Li Yuan.

The request was clear. As one of the frontline transfer points, the Mist Forest Marketplace had to completely overhaul and reinforce three sets of arrays: the outer Breath-Sensing Array, the linked Defense Array at the entrance, and the internal Demon-Exploring Array. The Sect had allocated a batch of High Tier Array Materials, which had been delivered along with the directive.

Li Yuan accepted the document, took stock of the materials, and led a team out of the marketplace that very day.

Reinforcement was not a simple repair. It required digging up the original Array Patterns and replacing them with Spirit-Guiding Stones and copper reinforcing plates that could handle a higher Spiritual Power load.

Li Yuan started with the outer Breath-Sensing Array.

He crouched in a patch of forest about two miles outside the marketplace. Spiritual Power surged from his fingertips, peeling away a section of old copper plating buried beneath the soil.

Four Divine Sense Lines unfurled naturally. The main line controlled his Spiritual Power to clear the foundation. The second guided a newly cut, high-purity Spirit-Guiding Stone into a node. The third line was connected to the Spirit Vein to monitor the flow of Spiritual Qi, and the fourth cast a wide net, covering a radius of several dozen yards around him.

The movements were swift and fluid, without a hint of wasted effort.

As soon as one node was finished, he immediately moved on to the next.

The Array Patterns were re-carved and deepened. Washed over by Spiritual Qi, the newly buried Spirit-Guiding Stones began to glow faintly, connecting with the adjacent nodes.

Next was the linked Defense Array at the marketplace entrance.

This part of the project was the largest. Li Yuan had his men re-chisel the stone walls on both sides of the entrance, forcibly widening the main Spiritual Power circuit from the thickness of a fingernail to the width of two fingers. A large quantity of Stabilizing Spirit Sand was packed into the new channels. When Spiritual Power was injected again, a dense, protective sheen appeared on the surface of the stone walls.

The overhaul of the Demon-Exploring Array was left for last. Li Yuan added new Demon Detecting Stone nodes at several key intersections within the marketplace, lowering the threshold for sensing Demonic Qi.

For three whole days, Li Yuan shuttled between the various Array Hubs and circuits.

While reinforcing the arrays, Li Yuan noticed something unusual about the surrounding situation.

’It’s too quiet.’

Something as crucial as the Core Formation platform had been lost, yet the Primordial Yang Sect’s reaction was surprisingly calm. Publicly, aside from ordering all marketplaces and strongholds to reinforce their defenses and strictly investigate for moles, there were no major movements.

There were no large-scale search parties.

There was no news of Golden Core Cultivators conducting a massive sweep of the Ghost Mist Forest.

Li Yuan stood on the newly reinforced southern high wall of the marketplace, his gaze fixed on the distant mountain forest.

’Perhaps the Sect really isn’t in a hurry. Or perhaps the Golden Core Cultivators have already been dispatched, but their movements are so secretive that not a whisper has reached a peripheral location like the Mist Forest Marketplace.’

Not only was the Primordial Yang Sect quiet, but the Dark Abyss Association and the Demon Cultivators around the marketplace had also gone dormant.

Ever since the night the Core Formation platform disappeared, there hadn’t been any sizable Demon Cultivator attacks outside the marketplace. Even the Demon Beasts, once corrupted by Demonic Qi, had retreated into the depths of the Ghost Mist Forest, rarely straying near the Spirit Vein tributaries.

It was as if both sides had reached some sort of tacit understanding overnight, each pulling back.

Li Yuan withdrew his gaze and turned to walk down from the high wall. The overall situation was something for Golden Core Cultivators to worry about. What he needed to do was use this rare period of peace to convert all the resources he could get his hands on into tangible strength.

Back in his stone house, Li Yuan set up his Pill Furnace and began to refine Tier Two Divine Soul Pills.

The Soul Condensing Grass melted rapidly under the heat of the flames at the bottom of the furnace, turning into a pool of emerald-green medicinal liquid. Li Yuan split his Divine Sense into two strands. One monitored the liquid’s temperature, while the other controlled the Calm Ore Powder, turning it into an extremely fine stream of dust that he slowly incorporated into the green liquid.

An hour later, the furnace lid flew open, and a rich medicinal fragrance filled the air.

Three Soul Condensing Pills landed on a jade plate.

Li Yuan took one and placed it in a small vial, then left his stone house and headed for the east side of the expansion area.

Rhythmic hammering sounds echoed from within Zhou Yuan’s Artifact Refining Room.

When Li Yuan pushed the door open, Zhou Yuan was swinging a heavy hammer, pounding on a piece of red-hot Red Patterned Iron. Sparks flew, and the heat in the room was oppressive.

Seeing Li Yuan enter, Zhou Yuan set down the heavy hammer and wiped the sweat from his brow.

Li Yuan placed the small vial containing the Soul Condensing Pill on a nearby wooden table.

"The Soul Condensing Pill you asked for. The first batch."

Zhou Yuan’s eyes lit up. He walked over in a few strides, picked up the vial, and uncorked it for a look. He took a deep breath, and as the medicinal aroma filled his nostrils, his expression immediately relaxed.

"The quality is excellent."

Zhou Yuan tucked the vial into his storage pouch. "Many thanks, Pavilion Master Li. With this, the hidden injuries to my Divine Soul can slowly heal."

Li Yuan looked at him and took the opportunity to bring up the Fire Evil Swords that Ji Huaiyuan had left behind.

"Brother Zhou, you were an artifact refiner back in Yunzhou. Are you familiar with the sales channels for Magical Artifacts?" Li Yuan asked.

"I have a few Tier Two Middle Grade Magical Artifacts of the Fire Evil Attribute, and I’m looking to find a market for them."

Retaining a habit from his mortal days, Zhou Yuan walked to a water basin, washed his hands, and then shook his head.

"I just fled to Liangzhou not long ago, so I don’t know anyone here. The familiar merchant houses and shops I knew in Yunzhou have either disbanded or I haven’t been able to contact them yet. I don’t have any established sales channels on hand at the moment."

He dried his hands and turned around.

"However, while I may not have channels, I do know a few people," Zhou Yuan said, lowering his voice slightly.

"There are several family cultivators who also escaped from Yunzhou. They still have their foundations and are holding onto a good number of Spirit Stones and materials. But they fled in a hurry and lost many of their Magical Artifacts. They’re now looking everywhere for suitable Tier Two Magical Artifacts for self-defense. If you trust me, I can make an introduction for you."

Li Yuan nodded in agreement.

"Then I’ll have to trouble Brother Zhou to put out some feelers. I’m willing to sell if the price is right. If they have good artifact refining materials, I’m also open to a direct trade."

"No problem," Zhou Yuan agreed at once.

Li Yuan then asked another question.

"How did you find those Fire Evil Stones I gave you last time?"

Zhou Yuan walked over to a rack of materials and pointed to a pile of dark-red slag in the corner.

"The Fire Spiritual Power and Evil Qi are very evenly fused, with no obvious boundary. The quality fully meets the standard for Tier Two artifact refining materials. I tried adding some to a batch of Artifact Embryos, and they passed the test for both toughness and Fire Spiritual Power conductivity."

Zhou Yuan paused and turned to look at Li Yuan.

"The material is definitely usable. It’s just that I’m currently more skilled with pure five-element Magical Artifacts, so I don’t have much use for Fire Evil Stones. My personal demand isn’t large."

"That’s fine. As long as it’s usable," Li Yuan said. Having gotten the information he needed, he didn’t stay long and turned to leave.

Returning to his stone house, Li Yuan sealed the door and windows and activated the arrays.

In the center of the stone room, two Pill Furnaces stood side by side.

To the left was a tall, dark-red, High Tier Pill Furnace. To the right was a slightly smaller bronze one.

Li Yuan sat cross-legged directly in front of the two furnaces, his hands resting flat on his knees.

All four Divine Sense Lines activated instantly.

His main line plunged directly into the dark-red furnace on the left. Spiritual Power surged through his meridians, transforming into a ball of crimson Pill Fire that enveloped the bottom of the furnace. Several types of Tier Two Spirit Medicine, including Vascular Grass and Bone-Birth Flower, were added to the furnace in succession, melting quickly in the intense heat.

Simultaneously, Li Yuan’s second Divine Sense Line shot toward the bronze furnace on the right.

He activated his Divine Soul Manipulation Skill.

An invisible force of Divine Soul power gathered at the bottom of the right-hand furnace, forcibly lifting a pre-ignited ball of Earth Fire. The Divine Soul power acted like a pair of invisible, deft hands, controlling the flame’s distance and size. Supplementary ingredients for Healing Pills were swept up by the Divine Soul power and precisely tossed into the furnace’s chamber.

He was operating two furnaces in parallel.

On the left, he used Spiritual Power to control the fire, refining high-difficulty, high-demand Tier Two Vessel Continuation Pills that required precision. His main Divine Sense line remained locked on it the entire time.

On the right, he used his Divine Soul to control the fire, refining common Healing Pills. This was a low-difficulty task with a high tolerance for error, and his second Divine Sense Line handled it with ease.

His third Divine Sense Line remained connected to the Spirit Vein, maintaining absolute control over the surrounding fluctuations of Spiritual Qi.

His fourth Divine Sense Line spread out around the stone house, acting as an early warning system.

Four tasks with a single mind, none interfering with the others.

The powerful effect of his Divine Split multitasking was on full display. It was as if Li Yuan’s mind had been forcibly partitioned into four independent zones. The left side calculated the optimal temperature for merging the medicinal liquids, while the right side calculated the purification time for common spirit herbs. The logic and operations for each were completely isolated, with no resulting confusion.

An hour passed.

The bronze furnace on the right let out a muffled THUD. The Divine Soul power yanked the lid upward, and five round Healing Pills shot out. They were caught steadily by the Divine Soul power and deposited into a nearby jade vial.

Immediately after, the flame at the bottom of the right furnace dimmed. New materials were once again tossed in by the Divine Soul power, and the second batch of Healing Pills began refining seamlessly.

Another thirty minutes went by.

The dark-red furnace on the left trembled violently, and the crimson Pill Fire instantly receded. Li Yuan slapped the side of the furnace, and three Tier Two Vessel Continuation Pills, still warm to the touch, landed in his palm.

The medicinal fragrance was rich, their color full and lustrous.

Without resting, Li Yuan stored the Vessel Continuation Pills and continued, feeding in the materials for Gathering Essence Pills.

Time flew by in a blur of alchemy.

For three solid days, apart from brief moments of closing his eyes to regulate his breathing, Li Yuan barely stopped.

Vessel Continuation Pills.

Gathering Essence Pills.

Soul Condensing Pills.

Healing Pills.

All sorts of essential wartime supply pills were created in his stone house at an absurd rate. They were packed into jade vials, which piled up in a corner to form a small mountain.

At first, Li Yuan was a bit unpracticed with the dual-furnace operation, needing to frequently adjust the precision of his Divine Soul-controlled fire on the right. But as he repeated the process, his proficiency with the Divine Soul Manipulation Skill steadily increased, and the entire workflow gradually became second nature to him.

The precision with which his Divine Soul could manipulate inanimate objects grew higher and higher. The quality of the pills from the right furnace went from barely passing to gradually approaching the standard of pills refined with normal Spiritual Power-controlled fire.

And under this kind of high-intensity, continuous refining, the efficiency of Li Yuan’s main line in refining Tier Two pills on the left was also visibly improving.

Every melting of a Spirit Medicine, every fusion of medicinal liquids, every minute adjustment of the Pill Fire—each action was building upon his Tier Two Alchemy skills.