Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 320 – Whether The Furnace Exploded Or Not

Chapter 320 – Whether The Furnace Exploded Or Not

After a long period of silence, the stunned crowd finally erupted.

“This bastard, he dares to play with all of us! He must be tired of living!”

“He dragged it out for all this time and yet he just took out a low-grade pill furnace. I feel as if I’m about to go blind!”

“If it weren’t for the competition sternly forbidding fighting between contestants, I’d show him how big my fist is!”

“I can’t believe a lady like me looked at him with so much respect just now and was just thinking about how I could…mm, wait a moment, if I think about it, does this count as me being tainted by him?”

The surrounding cultivators all glanced at this big sister whose waist was thicker than their own and their complexions paled. They hurriedly suppressed the urge rising up their throats and rapidly retreated. Hey, if you have such an ugly appearance, you shouldn’t think so beautifully like this. Although this person is disgusting, he isn’t deserving of death…moreover, if he’s with you, that’s probably ten times worse than death!

Zhao Jiutian coldly snorted and turned away. This fellow was just a clown trying to gain some attention with some little tricks; he wasn’t worth bothering with. He looked around, thinking to himself, ‘just who was the one who subdued the wild bull pill furnace on the ninth level?’

Black Beibei let out a puff of air and rubbed his eyes. His angry expression was of someone who had caught their lover in an adulterous lie. “It definitely wasn’t that person; all my expectations have been in vain!”

White Fengfeng nodded. As she looked over, there was a bit of joy in her eyes. For a moment, she thought that person’s figure looked a bit similar to her Big Brother Baoyu. Uncle Ming also said that her Big Brother Baoyu had a high chance of being in this competition. Luckily, this person had quickly exposed his true colors, otherwise she might have really been tricked by him. If that happened she would have eaten a great loss.

Thinking of this, her eyes suddenly took on a vicious look. She seemed like a little cat that would claw anyone who approached.

On the pagoda, Yun Yilan supped a cup of tea as he shook his head. “These days, the younger generation have been gradually influenced by the network too much. They are willing to do anything to gain attention.” Then he leaned back on his chair, his eyes furrowed together in thought.

For this sort of clown-like junior to waste even a few words of his time was already his greatest fortune. Right now, what Yun Yilan was thinking about was just who had obtained that pill furnace from the ninth level?

Both the Great Desolate Lake and Cleansing Temple had sent out numerous juniors to participate in the competition. Their strength and talent were quite good and they all had a chance of obtaining the pill furnace from the ninth level.

There had to be one point made explicitly clear. In Yun Yilan’s eyes, not to mention the ninth level, even in the entire Pill Furnace Pagoda there was just a single pill furnace for which the Pill Furnace Pagoda seemed to exist. It had been quiet for so many years, nearly forgotten by others, but it had suddenly made a choice. Could this mean that it highly regarded the cultivator it chose?

“Exalted Yun, would you like us to secretly investigate and find out who obtained it?” A Southshine Nation official asked in a low voice. His eyebrows were furrowed together, and a strange atmosphere swirled around him. He clearly wasn’t some common figure.

Yun Yilan smiled and shook his head. “It’s not that simple. You cannot imagine its abilities. Since it doesn’t want to be found, then don’t worry about it. After the competition begins it will naturally show up.” As he spoke, a sharp light flashed in the depths of his eyes. Since it had awakened, then it could only belong to the Southshine Nation; no one could take it away.

With this, the selection of the pill furnace was finished. Today’s schedule reached its end, and the official refining of pills would begin tomorrow.

With Qin Yu’s powerful willpower, he disregarded the eyes all around him that looked as if they wanted to tear him to pieces. He quietly returned to his own cabin.

He flipped his hand and took out the pill furnace. He stared at the cracks that seemed as if they were laughing at him, and anticipation filled his eyes.

Although he hadn’t been in the Land of Divinity and Demons for long, he had heard a considerable deal about those television dramas. In the scripts, earth-shaking and heaven-shocking treasures were normally extremely ordinary when they first appeared. For instance, some legendary weapon disguised as a fireplace poker or something. This pill furnace in his hand might have a pitiful appearance, but Qin Yu had clearly seen how fierce it really was in the Pill Furnace Pagoda’s ninth level. Its current appearance must be because it was intentionally disguising itself since it wanted to keep a low profile.

Yes, this had to be it!

Thinking of this, Qin Yu felt a bit guilty. He originally thought it was just a prideful pill furnace that liked to show off, but it seemed that he had misunderstood it all this time!

It had actually kept such a deep and low profile!

Hey, there isn’t anyone here right now, so you can stop hiding. If you have any skills, hurry up and reveal them! Or, maybe there is a white-bearded grandpa living inside or something. Yes, he remembered that there was some show called ‘Battle Through’ the something something that had a ring which was occupied by an extremely fierce old grandpa. This was a pill furnace so its interior was definitely much larger than a ring. If several of you jump out together, I can definitely accept you all.

He widened his eyes and waited. The pill furnace remained silent, its common appearance not changing at all. Qin Yu frowned for a moment before he was suddenly enlightened. “Aiya, I was too careless. No wonder you’re so careless, is it because I didn’t set up a formation? Don’t worry; I will do that right now!”

After spending a great deal of time and effort, Qin Yu set up an array formation within the cabin that isolated out all aura. He looked around, satisfied with his work.

“Pill furnace, hey pill furnace, it's fine now. You can begin demonstrating your strength!”

Silence followed.

Qin Yu’s face became a bit more dignified. “On the ninth level you were so unstoppable, your might must shake the heavens and earth. I’m sure you have worries in your heart, but I don’t need you to erupt with all your strength. It's fine as long as you show me your true form.” He eyed the cracks that ran along the pill furnace and his lips twitched. He wanted to say ‘you really are too ugly right now’, but he swallowed those words.

Unfortunately, nothing happened as before.

Qin Yu’s complexion turned serious. He carefully lifted the pill furnace, wanting to probe it with his divine sense.

An hour later, there was still one person and one furnace in the cabin.

But by this time, Qin Yu’s originally expectant expression had vanished, replaced with a gloomy look. The air was so heavy it seemed as if it would rain. He tried every method at his disposal, but the pill furnace didn’t respond at all. It seemed it really was some incomplete ruined thing.

Qin Yu stared at it. Although he didn’t want to acknowledge it, a thought grew within the depths of his heart that made him subconsciously clench his jaws.

Perhaps, on the ninth level…he had been played by that wild bull pill furnace!

That’s right, it must be like this. Why had it suddenly chosen me, as if it had to follow me out no matter what? It must have been a scam from the beginning!

You played with this young master’s emotions so much and yet in the next moment you decided to send me this incomparably rotten pill furnace!?

Good! Very good.

He clenched his jaws again. Endless litanies of curses flowed out from his heart, but no matter what he thought, none of that would change the current reality.

That was…tomorrow he would have to take this low-low-low-low-low grade pill furnace to the competition.

Could this thing even refine pills? Qin Yu didn’t have any confidence at all.

He thought of experimenting a bit, but as he saw this furnace that seemed as if it would blow up if he put even a tiny bit of strength in it, he let out a long sigh and finally gave up on this thought.

If he activated the furnace and directly blew it apart, then there was no need to participate in the competition or anything like that.

I’ll endure, I’ll endure this! Perhaps there might be some favorable turn for me tomorrow.

The annoyed and exasperated Qin Yu simply didn’t know of everything that happened in the night. Those divine senses that entered the ninth level and had the qualifications to know the truth, as well as the other cultivators involved, used every possible means at their disposal to find out just who took away that legendarily powerful pill furnace from the ninth level.

Of course, they didn’t find anything at all.

The next day, when Qin Yu pushed open the cabin door, he had a strange complexion. This was because he really thought he would have to go back disappointed this time.

He picked up the pill furnace in his hand and bitterly smiled. Then he walked towards the competition area.

Along the road, many cultivators pointed at him, frowned at him, jeered at him, or laughed at him. After yesterday’s events, Qin Yu and his pill furnace had become famous.

Qin Yu was in a poor mood. He could only pretend that he was surrounded by a bunch of pigs and keep his head lowered, not saying a word.

Luckily, an official appeared when he arrived at the competition area, saving him from those numerous mocking eyes.

“First, I would like to congratulate everyone who managed to pass through the first two opening events and truly obtain the qualifications to enter the alchemy competition. According to regulation, even if I waste your time, I still need to review the competition rules with everyone. Today, the competition is limited to 24 hours and will end at this time tomorrow. Within the designated area, with ten sets of materials as the maximum limit, you need to successfully refine a fourth-grade pill at the medium-grade or higher in order to smoothly proceed to the next stage. Alright, I’ve wasted enough of your time. Everyone may choose a pill to refine and then all that is left is to purchase the materials.”

That’s right, time began from choosing the materials. This was because strictly speaking, the process of choosing materials was also a part of the alchemy process. Moreover, what was even more important was that these pill materials need to be purchased with one’s own funds.

Within the Land of Divinity and Demons, the materials for a fourth-grade pill weren’t considered too precious at all. But that was dependent on quantity. Today, there were 7000-8000 alchemy cultivators. If each one purchased their own materials, that was 70-80 thousand sets of materials. That was a truly extraordinary amount.

Of course, ‘extraordinary’ was only relative. This wasn’t anything at all to a powerful nation. However, who called for the Southshine Nation officials to advocate simplicity and saving money?

Qin Yu didn’t put on an act. He honestly purchased the ten sets of materials for the magic power increasing Overwhelming Pill he was most familiar with.

There was nothing he could do about it. If he used even a bit of strength on this pill furnace, it might break. He could only hope that during the refinement process he was a bit more careful, a bit gentler, and proceeded a bit more smoothly, and pray that it would last.

Although the Southshine Nation was a bit simple and frugal at heart, when it came to the competition area, they paid a bit more attention. In order to ensure fairness, everyone was given a small room. Of course, small was not just a saying – it really was small. After placing down the pill furnace, one only had room left to turn around.

Moreover, there weren’t any protective measures.

Countless previous generations of seniors, crying tears of pain, passed down blood-drenched lessons to the future generations. Before beginning any pill refining, they needed to set up an array formation. Otherwise if the pill furnace of the person next door exploded, then they would follow them to tragedy.

Thus, when everyone entered their respective small rooms, the first thing they did was set up a defensive array formation. The numerous rooms lighting up with dazzling lights was a magnificent sight.

Qin Yu followed suit. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the spirited nature of yesterday, and his array formation’s arrangements were a clear step down. He placed down the pill furnace and struck out a law formula, restoring it to its normal size. As it grew, those cracks and the missing section also grew. It was like an old woman smiling and missing a front tooth. No matter how he saw it, it was incomparably weak.

Qin Yu hesitated for a long time. Finally, he clenched his teeth and drew a finger across the void. A flame fell into the pill furnace and it was activated. Heaven and earth spiritual strength started to pour inside, turning into flames.

Once the pill furnace had heated up, he took out the first set of materials for the Overwhelming Pill and carefully placed them inside. Whether the furnace would explode or not, he would let the heavens decide!