After spending more than a day, Wang Hong finally found several suitable Jade Scrolls in the Book Tower and hid away in his Space for over a year to study them.
He summarized the reasons for his previous failures.
On one hand, as he suspected, the lack of firepower was indeed a problem. Naturally, more materials required greater firepower, and he needed to use a higher-tier spirit charcoal.
Another issue was the insufficient quality of his pill furnace. He needed a larger pill furnace with better heat conduction performance to evenly heat the Medicinal Herbs.
There were also some details that needed improvement.
Currently, his first task was to purchase spirit charcoal and a new pill furnace. He had been using a medium-quality pill furnace before and decided it was time for an upgrade.
He had already inquired with Cheng Zan and Xun Rui, and there were tens of thousands of cultivators within the sect, indicating the existence of a market.
The Sect market was located at the foot of the Heavenly Authority Peak. Although Wang Hong had been to Heavenly Authority Peak a few times before, he always used the Windsoar Boat to fly directly to the top without stopping at the base.
Arriving at the Sect market, Wang Hong found it more prosperous than Azure Void City. Sect disciples seemed to be wealthier than loose cultivators.
The trading area for stalls and the commercial district were separate. Setting up a stall here was free, a benefit provided by the Sect for low-tier disciples.
All the shops belonged to the Sect and were for rent only. Task individuals could also rent shops, but if sect cultivators rented them, they received a ten percent discount on the rent.
Wang Hong decided to first explore the stall trading area. He had heard stories of people finding treasures on street stalls, buying invaluable items at low prices from seemingly worthless goods.
Due to the free stall setup, some low-tier disciples had only a few Spiritual Medicines or a few self-made Talismans or Elixirs on their stalls. If it were like Azure Void City, where stall fees were required, they might not even earn back the fees.
As Wang Hong walked and observed, most items here were things Qi Cultivation disciples either couldn't use or had crafted themselves.
Most of it was worth only a few dozen Spirit Stones, and he didn't find any particularly valuable treasures. It seemed that treasures were not meant for him. Feeling a bit disappointed, he left the stall area.
The commercial district presented a different scene, with fewer people bustling about.
Tall buildings stood magnificently, and in the center was the Myriad Treasures Tower, over ten stories high. The crowds here appeared more glamorous.
It was said that Myriad Treasures Tower was a powerful trading company, and nearly every city with cultivators had a branch.
Wang Hong went directly to Myriad Treasures Tower. He had a favorable impression of Azure Void City's Myriad Treasures Tower.
Upon entering, he informed the nearby maid to take him to choose a pill furnace.
Since Qingxu Sect primarily practiced Alchemy, Myriad Treasures Tower, in response to market demand, had more Alchemy furnaces for sale compared to other cities.
Reaching the shelf with pill furnaces, there were sixty to seventy furnaces of various shapes.
"Which of these furnaces are of top quality?" Wang Hong inquired.
"There are five top-quality pill furnaces here, each one is exquisite," the maid said, pointing to the top shelf.
Wang Hong used his spiritual sense to examine the five furnaces above, confirming their exquisite craftsmanship and meticulous formations, though they seemed a bit small for him.
"They are indeed excellent, but do you have larger pill furnaces?"
"I wonder how big Senior would like the furnace. We also provide custom Magical Weapon services."
"Oh, it can be customized. Of course, the bigger, the better."
"If you provide the materials, it will only take ten days. If we need to find the materials, it will take two months."
At this point, the maid thought of something else and asked, "Is bigger really better?"
"Then please wait a moment; I'll be right back."
The maid found a seat, arranged for Wang Hong to sit down, and then left with a mysterious smile on her face, which made Wang Hong feel uneasy.
After a while, more than ten strong men carried a massive object towards him, causing other customers to avoid them along the way.
The group stopped in front of Wang Hong with a muffled thud, gently placing the huge item in front of him.
At this point, the maid returned from behind.
"Senior, this pill furnace is twelve feet long, eight feet wide, one foot high, and weighs thirty-six thousand kilograms."
Though Wang Hong had initially thought bigger was better, he didn't expect something this colossal.
Seeing Wang Hong hesitate, the maid added, "Originally, this item was meant to be refined into a Spiritual Weapon-grade pill furnace. It was supposed to be able to shrink for alchemy and expand for defense or attacking enemies. However, due to unexpected interference during the refining process, there was a mistake, and it can't be easily reduced in size. Now, its quality is somewhere between a Spiritual Weapon and a Magical Weapon."
"Can this Magical Weapon still be used for alchemy?" Wang Hong questioned, unable to imagine throwing a few Spirit Herbs into such a massive furnace.
"Of course, it can. Our Myriad Treasures Tower Alchemist personally verified it. However, due to the large size, it requires higher-tier and more spirit charcoal than a regular pill furnace."
The maid seemed a bit uneasy as she spoke. Alchemy was indeed possible, but the amount of spirit charcoal needed was excessively high.
For a regular Condensing Qi Pill, one only needed a piece of low-tier spirit charcoal, costing just one Spirit Stone. However, for this furnace, making the same pill would require at least five medium-tier spirit charcoals, doubling the cost to ten Spirit Stones.
So, while the cost for a single Condensing Qi Pill was originally twenty Spirit Stones, with this furnace, it increased to thirty Spirit Stones.
"Senior, you can also use it as a combat Magical Weapon. Although it failed as an alchemy tool, all the materials used are of the second tier, capable of defending against Spiritual Weapon attacks, surpassing typical defense Magical Weapons."
The maid hastily added, lacking confidence.
Wang Hong, with a troubled expression, said, "Even if it's sturdy, I need to be able to wield it. Who can move something over thirty-six thousand kilograms? I can't just carry it onto the battlefield with a few people. If it falls, it might crush me. I think only a body-cultivating cultivator could handle this. It's not suitable for ordinary cultivators like us. You should find a body-cultivating cultivator and sell it to them."
Wang Hong showed clear refusal; this Magical Weapon was too impractical, a true oddity.
Body-cultivating cultivators were already rare, and those intending to use a pill furnace as a weapon were even rarer.
Most Alchemists didn't need such a large pill furnace, and as a weapon, it required strength beyond what an average cultivator could muster.
He doubted anyone, except perhaps himself, would be interested in this furnace.
"Senior, if you can't move it, you can place it in your Alchemy room. We can offer a discount, considering its cost. The refining tool materials alone cost us a hundred thousand Spirit Stones, but we'll sell it to you at a loss for just forty thousand Spirit Stones. Moreover, this is a better pill furnace than even a top-grade Magical Weapon. Once you reach Foundation Building, you can still use it. It's quite a cost-effective deal."
Originally, the maid intended to suggest fifty thousand, but seeing Wang Hong's lack of interest, she lowered it by another ten thousand.
The refining tool master disliked the sight of this Magical Weapon and had specifically instructed to lower the price if it could be sold.
Wang Hong understood that Alchemy furnaces, due to higher material requirements and difficulty in crafting, were at least twice as expensive as defense Magical Weapons of the same tier.
This time, he had initially planned to buy a top-grade Alchemy furnace, which would have cost at least ten thousand Spirit Stones.
"I don't have forty thousand Spirit Stones."
As he spoke, he made a motion to stand up.
"Senior, please wait. Other Spiritual Objects can also be used as compensation."
In the end, Wang Hong used some Spiritual Medicine from his Space as compensation and bought the peculiar pill furnace for twenty-five thousand Spirit Stones.
On the way back, Wang Hong was in high spirits, humming a tune while steering the Windsoar Boat.
Although he didn't find any incredible deals at the Sect market, he acquired something useful for himself at an incredibly low price.
Despite its seemingly excessive size, he only needed it for Alchemy, and he intended to attempt batch processing, which required a larger furnace. As for the weight, being a body-cultivating cultivator, he was thinking of acquiring a heavier melee weapon lately, and this over thirty-six thousand kilograms pill furnace falling down could likely crush anyone in its path.
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