If the furnace fell over and the flames shifted, then it’d be burned up by its own flames. Moreover, any fire that leaked out of the furnace would reduce the Medicine Requesting Cave to ashes!
“No! You guys can’t do this!” Pill Furnace Master shouted, his eyes wide with fear.
He never thought that Long Feiye would be the most formidable, ruthless foe! Like a madman, he rushed towards the fissure and tried in vain to support the Celestial Fire Qian Furnace. The disciples hidden nearby all ran out to help, sending their internal energy to their master. With their assistance, the shaky furnace was steadied again. However, this was simply trying to put out a cartload of flaming firewood with a cupful of water. Their efforts wouldn’t last.
Long Feiye watched coldly while his blade glowed with energy.[1]
If they needed to wait five years before getting a Returning Dragon Pill, he didn’t mind finding a completed pill somewhere else. As for Pill Furnace Master, he was going to use his next slash to tell him that trying to toy with his woman would have severe repercussions!
The Medicine Requesting Cave floor had already caved in halfway, leaving the Celestial Fire Qian Furnace to totter in Pill Furnace Master and his disciples’ hands. If Long Feiye slashed with his sword again, then this legendary cave would be nothing more than a legend for good. Pill Furnace Master could sense the keen edge of the sword awn and whirled back to see Long Feiye preparing to slash down.
“No...don’t!”
If Pill Furnace Master had been furious at Gu Qishao scratching his furnace before, he was now filled with nothing but dread and fear! Long Feiye’s slash would ruin the furnace he’d protected for a lifetime, as well as this Medicine Requesting Cave.
“No...you can’t do this, you’re not allowed!”[2]
Pill Furnace Master even forgot to stop the furnace from falling over as he shot two fireballs at Long Feiye. Unfortunately, they were easily avoided. And because he’d let go, his disciples had no way to keep the furnace standing. It keeled to one side and let out a sonorous roar. All of the ingredients inside had shifted places and knocked against the metal.
Panicking, Pill Furnace Master quickly turned back to catch the furnace. But he couldn’t bear the load this time. Something so heavy, once it began to fall, had frightening momentum. The uneven floor, combined with its teetering, made it impossible to stop its fall without ample strength. Pill Furnace Master could even feel the ground beneath his feet giving way.
Finally, he admitted defeat!
“Long Feiye, this old man has a way to cultivate Returning Dragon Pill within one and a half months! You stop this! Stop it!” Pill Furnace Master howled.
But Long Feiye wasn’t easy to deal with as Gu Qishao or Han Yunxi. He neither replied nor stopped the movement of his sword.[3] Anyone would fear this man when he truly grew angry.
Pill Furnace Master didn’t dare to waste words and got to the point. “As long as you can combine your energy into flame and send it into the Celestial Fire Qian Furnace, you can use human flame to nourish the dan pellet. You and Gu Qishao can definitely manage it within one and a half months!”
Hearing this, everyone rejoiced. Gu Beiyue could still be saved! Before Long Feiye could retract his weapon, however, Han Yunxi stopped him and asked, “Old man, just what are the origins of this Celestial Fire Qian Furnace? Why can’t we see any flames inside?”
Pill Furnace Master dearly wished they could help straighten the furnace first, then ask their questions, but he didn’t dare to wrangle any more terms. He hastily explained, “As the Celestial Fire Qian Furnace, this is a heavenly furnace that is constantly burning inside since time immemorial! The fire has never gone out! Celestial fire cannot be seen, but one can use its strength to transform inner energy into flames. Human energy as fire is thus called ‘human flame!’ One needs human flame to create dan pellets, not celestial fire, although the latter can support the former! As long as inner energy is converted into flame and increases the human fires, then more celestial fire can be used to supplement it!”
Pill Furnace Master was almost at his limits as he shouted, “Hurry and help! If this furnace really falls over, you’ll really lose your chance to get the Returning Dragon Pill!”
But Han Yunxi still forbade Long Feiye and Gu Qishao from budging a step.[4] She continued to question, “Since there’s a celestial fire furnace, is there an earth fire furnace too?”
Ever since they started searching for Fire of Ten-Thousand Poisons, Han Yunxi had paid special attention to all sorts of special flames. Medicine Requesting Cave’s furnace was very peculiar, but she had eliminated it as a possibility long ago. For one thing, she had never detected anything poisonous about the thing; for another, if this furnace really did contain Fire of Ten-Thousand Poisons, then wouldn’t all the medicine it made be poisonous too? For a third, Gu Qishao had stayed here for so long that he would have told him about anything suspicious.
If celestial fire wasn’t poisonous, then what about earth poison?
Pill Furnace Master was pressured to a point that he’d definitely tell them anything he already knew.
“Yesyesyes! That furnace is called the Earthly Fire Kun Furnace, a pair with the Celestial Fire Qian Furnace. Celestial fire helps human flame just as earthly fire helps ghost flames. Human fire create dan pellets capable of becoming medicine, while ghost fire creates poison dan pellets capable of poisoning humans!”
Interested, Han Yunxi looked back at Long Feiye and said, “Could that be Fire of Ten-Thousand Poisons?”
“Very possible!” Long Feiye was thrilled. They hadn’t suffered any losses on this trip if they could find news like this.
Gu Qishao was excited as well and asked Pill Furnace Master, “Old man, how does ghost fire make poison pills? Do they use poisons as ingredients, or some other method?”
Pill Furnace Master’s feet were in the sunken in portion of the cave floor, his face toasted bright red by the furnace. On the verge of tears, he exclaimed, “This old man doesn’t know! I’ve never seen the Earthly Fire Kun Furnace either, this is all I know! I’m begging you, hurry here and help!”
Han Yunxi believed him. If Pill Furnace Master knew the location of the Earthly Fire Kun Furnace, he would’ve gone to find it ages ago.
“Remember this and have Xu Donglin send people to investigate it immediately!”
But as Han Yunxi dropped her hand, Long Feiye continued to slash downwards with his sword!
He….why is he?
Everyone was stunned except for Han Yunxi. She calmly watched Long Feiye’s sword qi shine with the light of a rainbow before it slashed forward. It hurt no person or thing, but rocked against the surface of the Celestial Fire Qian Furnace. The shockwave was enough to send the furnace bouncing into the air, giving Long Feiye time to fly up and lash at its body with his whip to drag its weight straight down.
Like this, the furnace straightened out and landed on the ground, creating a depression three chi deep. However, it was standing stably once again. Long Feiye withdrew his whip expressionlessly and returned to Han Yunxi’s side. While everyone was still gaping, they slowly came to realize the extensive depths of Long Feiye’s inner energy reserves.
Gu Qishao had to acknowledge his loss against the man once again. Is Long Feiye’s current strength already on par with Celestial Mountain’s three Honored Elders? How much higher will it rise once he successfully completes his dual cultivation?
Gu Qishao couldn’t help but wonder if a Long Feiye that had harmonized the Lustbite energy with Nirvana Heart Arts would kill him with one kick. Of course, he hide these thoughts inside his heart. Although he privately acknowledged Long Feiye’s strength, he’d never tell him to his face!
Pill Furnace Master and his disciples all let out a collective sigh of relief once they saw the Celestial Fire Qian Furnace back on its feet. Han Yunxi and Long Feiye didn’t give him time to breathe as the latter demanded, “How to change inner energy into fire? If this crown prince and Gu Qishao starts now, how many days will it take? This crown prince wants clear answers!”
If it took a month and a half, then it’d be spying by the time the Returning Dragon Pill was completed. At the same time they cultivated the dan pellet, they were supposed to arrange for a rescue team to Tiger’s Prison and cooperate with the Ning Clan troops to head north! More importantly, they had to figure out how to deal with Bai Yanqing!
Cloud Realm Continent’s current chessboard only needed East and West Qin to cooperate. Long Feiye refused to believe that Bai Yanqing could raise any big waves in the meantime, so his only consideration was their personal safety. These next one and a half months were crucial. Long Feiye needed an accurate time estimate!
Pill Furnace Master was deeply threatened by Gu Qishao but thoroughly defeated by Long Feiye. Although he had written a few letters to Han Yunxi in the past, he understood that their current strength far differed from their first visit to the Medicine Requesting Cave. Still, he never expected Long Feiye’s martial arts to be so consummate!
Pill Furnace Master said truthfully, “With your inner energy, cooperating with Gu Qishao is absolutely unnecessary. Join hands with this old man instead.”
Long Feiye immediately flew to the top of the furnace with Pill Furnace Master, while Gu Qishao remained expressionless for a while before looking up to see what they were doing. Han Yunxi almost laughed when he rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, she herself had only showed her martial arts when dual cultivating with Long Feiye, which hadn’t stopped during their journey from Qingzhou Water City. She had no idea what her current reserves were either. Still, she had a feeling that it was probably better than Gu Qishao’s. Han Yunxi had no idea that despite her lack of martial arts skills, she was still capable of beating Gu Qishao in a fight right now because he’d never strike her in his lifetime.
Han Yunxi and Long Feiye had been dual cultivating for a total of two months now. She only hoped that the remaining month would pass smoothly. Atop the furnace, Pill Furnace Master began to explain the process while demonstrating how Long Feiye could borrow the celestial fire’s strength to change his own inner energy into flame. As a martial arts genius, Long Feiye learned it after one demo and set the lid of the furnace flying up with a single tap from his hands. As the fireball in Long Feiye’s hands grew, it soon eclipsed the intensity of Pill Furnace Master’s own. Pill Furnace Master was seeing such a genius for the first time and forgot his unhappiness in the moment.
Smiling wildly, he cried, “Not bad, not bad. Just maintain this for the next three days and three nights. Don’t you dare stop mid-way, or else--”
Han Yunxi cut in with alarm. “Why can’t he stop midway?”
If he couldn’t stop, then how were they supposed to dual cultivate?
1. Now Long Feiye’s the one acting like a two-bit villain. Like wife, like husband...
2. How slow is LFY moving for this old man to make exclamations twice? Author’s action scenes have weird pacing again...one of my nitpicks with PGC as a whole.
3. He must be doing this slashing in slow motion for this to be even possible. And I guess the furnace must be falling in slow-mo too. Apologies for all the unnecessary commentary, it’s because I’m getting annoyed with ML and FL….argh.
4. Our FL has gotten into the habit of asking lots of questions to people under pressure. She has realized that the author’s style of writing action scenes means nothing ever happens in real time! >:D