Chapter 569: The Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace

“Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace?” Zhang Xiaohua frowned. What an overbearing name. Although he did not know what “Eight Trigrams” meant, the name itself sounded extremely impressive. Within his mind was also the method for refining this pill furnace. Zhang Xiaohua roughly looked it over, and the tightly knitted brows on his face gradually relaxed. Before this furnace could be used, it first had to be refined. Was this not precisely the method used for those high-grade magical artifacts described in [Refining the World of Artifacts]?

There was no need to say more. This Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace was definitely an excellent treasure.

“I’ve struck gold, I’ve struck gold.” Zhang Xiaohua was so delighted he almost jumped up on the spot. He was just about to form the hand seals and begin refining the furnace when he remembered that it was already late. Refinement could not possibly be completed in a short time, so he forcibly suppressed his excitement, steadied his mind, and prepared to leave the cave.

However, when he extended his Divine Sense forward, he could not help but laugh bitterly. The ventilated corner of the pill room led to a point about ten zhang outside, which was none other than the location of his own cave. It had merely been blocked off with dirt and other materials. If Zhang Xiaohua had not accidentally escaped into it, who could possibly have known that about ten zhang deeper inside this cave, there was actually a huge pill room?

Returning to his cave, Zhang Xiaohua calmed himself, took out a Yuan Stone from his robe, closed his eyes, regulated his breathing, and began his nightly cultivation.

After getting up at dawn and finishing his practice of the Big Dipper Divine Fist, Zhang Xiaohua did not continue cultivating. Picking up the wooden bucket beside the hut, he went to the spring to fetch water. Only after filling the enormous water vat completely did he stop. Then he picked up a hoe and was about to head to the fields to weed them. At that moment, a thought suddenly occurred to him. Could it be that the medicine attendants of the Immortal Dao also worked exactly like him, taking one step at a time through the medicinal fields and using hoes to remove weeds?

Just thinking about it made it seem impossible.

But then how did they do it? Zhang Xiaohua rubbed his chin and carefully searched his memory through the Herbal Encyclopedia and the contents of the other jade slips. There did not seem to be any records concerning this. Sighing, he had no choice but to prepare for a day of “hoeing beneath the midday sun”. He lifted his foot to step into the field, but suddenly thought of something. Should he not be able to skip this whole process of bending over to pull weeds?

Looking at the hoe in his hand, he knew his Divine Sense could not move it. Use Chasing Dream instead? How embarrassing. Using a flying sword to weed fields—if the seniors of the Immortal Dao saw that, they would laugh themselves to death.

“Eh?” Zhang Xiaohua suddenly cried out. Forming a hand seal, he made a beckoning motion with his right hand, and a wild weed was immediately pulled from the ground.

Then another one.

And another.

“Hahaha!” Zhang Xiaohua burst out laughing. Was this not the spell technique recorded in the jade slips of the Artifact Refining Sect? He had used it before while repairing the array flags in Spring Rebirth Valley, and had also unconsciously employed it while refining the Meridian Nourishing Pill. Previously, he had thought it could only be used on things containing the Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth. It now seemed that this technique applied to all objects.

Perhaps the medicine attendants of the Immortal Dao worked in exactly this manner as well.

As for how medicine attendants of the Immortal Dao actually weeded fields, let us leave that aside for now. However, using the Artifact Refining Sect’s Object Manipulation technique to pull weeds was probably something even dedicated weed-pulling attendants could not accomplish at such a profound level. Was this not rather like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut?

With a wave of his hand, Zhang Xiaohua cleared all the weeds from the medicinal field. He then walked to an inconspicuous corner of one plot and poured the spring water that had soaked Yuan Stones overnight onto several spots. Having scanned it with his Divine Sense, he knew this spring water was rich in the Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth.

Just then, a voice called out from behind him, “Junior Brother Ren, why are you up so early? Ah, you’ve already finished clearing the medicinal field, haven’t you?”

It was Bai Huan, who had just gotten out of bed.

Zhang Xiaohua turned around and said, “Morning, Senior Brother Bai. Why don’t you sleep a little longer? I come from a farming family. Getting up early to work is an everyday occurrence for me, so I’m used to it. There’s no need for Senior Brother to be so formal with me. Boss Chen doesn’t come here anyway, so you should simply sleep as much as you like.”

Bai Huan scratched his head and said, “Seeing Junior Brother work so hard makes me, as your senior brother, seem rather lazy. Still… hehe, I won’t stand on ceremony with you. Oh, since you’ve already finished clearing the weeds, leave the watering to me. You can go and rest.”

Zhang Xiaohua was not polite and smiled. “Excellent. Let’s do it this way from now on. I’ve already finished these tasks, so Senior Brother can take his time. I’ll go back and catch up on some sleep. If nothing important comes up, please don’t disturb me.”

“Alright, I understand.” Bai Huan nodded with a smile, then asked, “I’m heading down the mountain later. Is there anything you want me to bring back?”

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Xiaohua said, “No need. It’s just that my Sibu Xiang looks rather lonely sitting alone in the courtyard. Once I’ve had some sleep, I’ll go down and lead it up myself.”

“I can bring it up. It’s only a small matter. Why make Junior Brother take another trip?”

“Hehe, my Sibu Xiang has a bad temper. If it kicks Senior Brother, I won’t be able to take responsibility for it.”

Hearing that the Sibu Xiang was so ill-tempered, Bai Huan immediately laughed awkwardly and said, “Alright then, Junior Brother can go fetch it himself.”

After that, he turned around and picked up the wooden bucket to water the fields.

Zhang Xiaohua shrugged and smiled faintly before carrying his own bucket back to the cave.

He took out a jade talisman, intending to set up a restriction in front of the cave, but after some thought, he realized that doing so would only attract suspicion. Therefore, he used the Earth Escape Method and entered the pill room he had discovered the previous day.

The previous night had been too short, and Zhang Xiaohua had not had time to examine the place carefully. Looking again now, he saw that aside from the enormous pill furnace in the center, the pill room was completely empty. Even the shelves along one side, where jade bottles should have been placed, did not contain a single bottle. Directly ahead stood a long table that was likewise empty, but when his Divine Sense swept over it, he discovered a palm-sized jade slip resting neatly upon it.

Zhang Xiaohua was overjoyed. To be honest, although the pills that might have been on the shelves were also something he desired, jade slips containing pill formulas, alchemy techniques, or spells were what he wanted most of all.

With a light leap, Zhang Xiaohua arrived before the table and reached out to grab the jade slip. However, when his hand came within a few inches of it, a flash of light suddenly appeared, and a restriction blocked his way.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaohua was not surprised. Releasing his Divine Sense, he carefully examined the restriction protecting the jade slip.

After quite some time, confusion appeared in his eyes, yet there was also a hint of understanding. Forming hand seals, he struck the transparent restriction with a spell formula. The restriction flickered slightly before disappearing again, as though nothing had happened.

Quite naturally, Zhang Xiaohua reached into his robe to take out Chasing Dream.

Yet after his hand entered his robe, he hesitated and failed to withdraw the small sword.

“If I use Chasing Dream, I can draw out that warm current from the mysterious place in my left arm and break this restriction. But that is merely a shortcut. The last time I cut open Bairen’s golden sphere, the warm current had almost been exhausted. That means the warm current within my left arm is limited. If I need to use Chasing Dream even for such a simple restriction, wouldn’t that mean using up a little more of it each time? If I encounter another dangerous place filled with black qi in the future, what then?”

Zhang Xiaohua hesitated for a moment before making up his mind. “If I keep relying on tricks like this, I will never glimpse the mysteries of the Great Dao. It is better to proceed step by step and rely on the spell formulas I have comprehended myself. Besides, Chasing Dream’s ability to break restrictions should be saved for the most dangerous moments. It is, after all, a means of preserving my life.”

Resolutely, Zhang Xiaohua withdrew his hand from his robe without taking out Chasing Dream and continued studying the protective restriction before him.

After a long while, a smile finally appeared in his eyes.

The restriction was not a common one, yet neither was it particularly complicated. Its purpose was simply to prevent the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi within the jade slip from dissipating. It was quite similar to the red restriction at Piaomiao Manor. However, because the concentration of the Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth within the Incense-Spreading Sect was much greater than elsewhere, the restriction still retained its power and remained transparent.

Among the jade slips left behind by Old Fire Dragon, there were quite a few spell formulas for breaking restrictions, and Zhang Xiaohua had already comprehended most of them. It was just that with the Immortal Dao having long since declined, there were not many restrictions left for him to practice on.

Although this restriction was not particularly strong, it had still troubled him for quite some time. By the time he finally understood it thoroughly, he was already completely confident.

He rapidly formed more than a dozen complex hand seals and sent them into the restriction. The transparent barrier immediately flashed with brilliant multicolored light several times before bursting like a soap bubble with a pop and vanishing.

Well, vanishing from the perception of his Divine Sense, at least.

Zhang Xiaohua looked at the results of his efforts and felt extremely satisfied. The feeling of breaking a restriction through his own understanding was indeed completely different from taking a shortcut with Chasing Dream.

Holding the jade slip in his hand, Zhang Xiaohua unceremoniously sent his Divine Sense into it. As expected, it contained the pill formulas for the Incense-Spreading Sect’s secret pills. There were formulas for the Jade Restoration Pill, the Spirit Condensation Pill, the Spirit Cleansing Pill, and many others.

Overjoyed, Zhang Xiaohua carefully examined the formula for the Jade Restoration Pill. The jade slip clearly recorded the required principal herbs, supplementary herbs, the age requirements of the medicinal plants, the methods of preparation, and every other detail. The pill nurturing period was also fourteen days.

Zhang Xiaohua secretly nodded. It seemed that the Incense-Spreading Sect’s Jade Restoration Pill and the Meridian Nourishing Pill both belonged to the lower ranks of Immortal Dao pills.

However, when he examined the principal ingredients of the Jade Restoration Pill more carefully, he could not help but shake his head. The two main herbs required for the Jade Restoration Pill were both recorded in the Herbal Encyclopedia, and each required an age of more than fifty years. Yet according to his memory, none of the medicinal herbs he had just obtained matched either of them.

Then Zhang Xiaohua suddenly laughed at himself.

Of course.

The Jade Restoration Pill was one of the Incense-Spreading Sect’s secret pills. Every inner sect alchemist could refine it, so naturally, they knew exactly which herbs were required. Such medicinal herbs would certainly be carefully protected. How could they possibly allow ordinary disciples of Tuodan Hall to handle them?

He continued examining the formulas for the other pills, but likewise did not recognize any of the herbs described within. Zhang Xiaohua was not discouraged. With the Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth steadily dissipating from the world, obtaining this jade slip was already a tremendous stroke of luck. Now that he possessed the pill formulas, all he needed was to gather the required herbs before he could refine them. For the moment, refining the pill furnace was the more pressing matter.

Carefully storing the jade slip inside his money pouch, Zhang Xiaohua turned toward the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace, which stood a head taller than himself.

Under the glow of the luminous pearl, the massive body of the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace appeared especially majestic. Looking at it, Zhang Xiaohua could not help but wonder: Did high-grade treasures have to be large?

Sending his Divine Sense into the furnace, Zhang Xiaohua carefully reviewed the refinement method once more.

At first, his face was full of excitement, but as he reached the end, the relaxed expression gradually disappeared, and his brows once again knitted tightly together.

The instructions explained how to refine the furnace. The initial steps were similar to the refinement methods used for the items stored in his money pouch. However, the final step required the refiner to expel a thread of their Natal True Essence and merge it into the furnace. Only then could it be completely controlled.

“What exactly is Natal True Essence?” Zhang Xiaohua was utterly puzzled.