The Secret of Earth Fire

Han Li listened to the old man’s explanation, his expression unchanging, appearing neither convinced nor dismissive. When the man finished, he gave a slight nod without a word, reached out, picked up the copied jade slip, turned, and walked toward the passage.

“Young friend, since you intend to refine pills, how about also buying a furnace? I can give you a discount,” the old man hastily pressed, seeing Han Li about to leave.

“No need. I have no use for one yet,” Han Li said flatly without turning his head, waving a hand.

“What a pity. The furnaces I have here can withstand the high heat of Earth Fire, you know.” Old Xu sounded regretful that the deal had fallen through.

“Earth Fire?” Han Li, who had already reached the mouth of the passage, stopped in his tracks.

“That is, the fire of the earth’s core, which is even fiercer than innate true fire,” the old man said offhandedly.

“I thought one had to use innate true fire for alchemy. Can Earth Fire take its place?” Han Li tried to keep his voice calm, but his heart was pounding fiercely. He knew he might have found the way out of his dilemma over refining the Foundation Establishment Pill.

“Hehe! It seems you know nothing about the fact that cultivators have already long used Earth Fire to replace innate true fire for alchemy. That’s nothing unusual, really; basically anyone who has refined pills once or twice knows it. Well then, I’ll explain it to you free of charge!” The old man perked up at Han Li’s apparent interest, deliberately stressing the word “free.”

Han Li was no fool; he caught the implication and couldn’t help but wryly smile. The man was clearly telling him that while he said it was free, saying one sentence was free, but saying seven or eight sentences was also free—the difference between the two was enormous.

But the matter was too important. Han Li couldn’t afford to haggle over it any longer.

Thus, he walked straight back and said without hesitation, “If what you say about Earth Fire is true, then I will pick out a furnace here after all.”

“Hehe! My furnaces are all top-quality refined goods—they will surely satisfy you!” Old Xu saw his aim achieved and squinted with a grin.

“Actually, using innate true fire for alchemy is long out of date. In the current cultivation world, everyone borrows the earth core fire from Solar Yang lands to refine pills. Long ago, our predecessors discovered that Earth Fire is not only purer and hotter than a cultivator’s true fire, but also exceptionally stable and persistent, greatly increasing the success rate over the old method. It also works for artifact forging. Therefore, any sect or sizable immortal family that has the means maintains its own Solar Yang fire ground for its disciples to use. Only those solitary rogue cultivators, who have no way to borrow Earth Fire, still use the old method with its dreadful waste rate.” The old man swayed his head as he delivered this lengthy explanation.

“Then our sect has Earth Fire available for use as well? Old Xu, do you know where it is?” Han Li’s heart was flooded with joy. He suppressed his excitement and asked the crucial question in a clear, methodical manner.

“Haha!…”

When Old Xu heard this question, he burst into laughter, laughing so hard that Han Li blinked in puzzlement.

“When you first entered Yuelu Hall, did you see a passage without any sign? That’s the one leading to the Solar Yang fire ground. If you pay some spirit stones there, you can borrow the Earth Fire!” After laughing heartily for a moment, Old Xu finally told Han Li the truth.

“Is that so?” A smile of delight involuntarily appeared on Han Li’s lips.

“Do you think an old man like me would lie to a junior?” Old Xu said with some displeasure.

“I misspoke. Please forgive me, Old Xu.” Han Li felt that even if the man was greedy, he wouldn’t deceive him on such a matter, and so offered a sincere apology.

“Hmph. Seeing that you are young, I’ll forgive you this once.” The old man’s expression softened, but then he stiffened again and said, “But I won’t be giving you any discount on the furnace.”

Han Li was equal parts amused and exasperated. This old man truly never missed an opportunity to profit.

“Are these the furnaces you have in mind?” Han Li pointed at the various cauldrons on the man’s shelves.

“Of course not. Those are just ordinary goods, only fit for refining cheap pills. How could they withstand the scorching of Earth Fire? The true, high-quality furnaces are all right here!” The old man reverted to his merchant persona, grinned, and patted an unremarkable gray cloth pouch at his waist.

He took down the pouch, gave it a light tap on the empty ground beside him, and a flash of azure light swept over. A row of antique, strangely-shaped cauldrons appeared on the floor.

“What do you think? These are all top-quality furnaces in my collection. Every single one is a masterpiece—nothing like the common stuff!” The old man picked up the nearest cauldron, gave it a light tap, and said proudly.

“They are indeed fine.” The moment these cauldrons appeared, Han Li could feel the faint spiritual energy emanating from them and couldn’t help letting out a soft exclamation.

But what caught his attention even more was the unremarkable cloth pouch. That was definitely a high-grade storage pouch with far more than ten times the ordinary capacity; otherwise, it couldn’t possibly hold so many large items.

“Hehe, I’m not boasting. Old Xu here is a grandmaster of cauldron refining. Most of the furnaces used by our sect’s lower-grade disciples come from my hands, and these are the cream of the crop!” Seeing Han Li’s reaction, the old man was even more pleased.

Han Li smiled faintly, offered no rebuttal, and slowly walked over to the cauldrons. He bent down and began to inspect them.

“This is the Rahu Cauldron. It can absorb flame heat, increasing the success rate of pill refining, and it can also…”

Every time Han Li picked up a cauldron for a closer look, the old man prattled on beside him, praising each one as if it were a peerless treasure rarely seen above or below the heavens, as if not buying it immediately would be a crime against nature. It left Han Li quite helpless.

“This one.” After examining each cauldron, Han Li pondered for a moment and then pointed at the smallest one, a silver cauldron.

“Tsk, tsk. Young friend has excellent taste. This Silver Thread Cauldron is truly a masterpiece among furnaces, a rare superior magical artifact. It is the finest treasure among all my cauldrons!” Old Xu was slightly surprised that Han Li had chosen the smallest one, but quickly recovered and praised it profusely.

“What does taste have to do with it? I just don’t have enough space in my storage pouch for anything bigger,” Han Li thought dryly, listening to the old man’s chatter.

After some bargaining, Han Li purchased the cauldron for thirty-two low-grade spirit stones. Then, without hesitation, he left.

In the brief time he had spent with Old Xu, Han Li had expended over fifty spirit stones. Even with his considerable wealth, it hurt. He had no desire to stay a moment longer, despite the old man’s enthusiastic attempts to keep him.

Leaving Old Xu’s room, Han Li returned to the hall with the teleportation array. But instead of teleporting out immediately, he stood there for a moment in thought. Then, he walked down the unmarked passage.

At the end of the passage, a massive stone door blocked his way. Multi-colored light shimmered constantly across its surface, a clear sign that a powerful restriction was laid upon it, discouraging any rash action.

Beside the stone door was a small stone room. Inside sat an ugly man with a face full of bumps. This man had only reached the peak of the basic cultivation technique, yet he wore a haughty expression of barely concealed disdain toward Han Li, which greatly annoyed him.

But Han Li was who he was. Though inwardly disgusted, his outward composure remained intact. Even when he asked three questions and only got one grudging answer, he managed to learn everything he needed about the place, filing it all away in his mind.

Then, appearing unconcerned by the man’s rudeness, Han Li politely took his leave and walked away. But before he had gone more than a few steps, he heard the ugly man muttering under his breath.

“A broke loser among the low-grade disciples, and he thinks he can come here to refine pills? Has he fried his brain? All talk and no action, making the master waste his breath!”

Han Li’s stride did not falter at the words, but the face he kept turned away from the ugly man was cold enough to frost the air. A flash of killing intent flickered briefly in his eyes.