Chapter 200: Furnace Fire_1
After the refining furnace had cooled down, Master Chen instructed his disciples to dismantle it.
Mo Hua continued to complete the unfinished formation diagrams, including a first-grade Melting Fire Formation, an ordinary Cold Air Formation, and a Gold Stone Formation.
The function of the Gold Stone Formation was to reinforce the furnace’s inner walls, making the refining furnace more durable.
The Cold Air Formation was intended to cool down the refining furnace.
Once Mo Hua had finished the formation diagrams, Master Chen had the refining furnace reassembled.
All the formation pivots and formation diagrams in the Melting Fire and Controlling Spirit Compound Formation were now complete.
Mo Hua let out a long sigh of relief.
This compound formation was much more complex than he had thought, and in practice, there were many small issues that had not been anticipated.
But now, at last, it was complete.
This was a compound formation that included not one, but two first-grade formation methods.
Mo Hua felt somewhat proud, and then he had Master Chen reassemble the refining furnace. Through the formation pivot, he activated the Spirit Gathering Array.
Spiritual power flowed inside the furnace, and the flames rose.
Master Chen circled around the refining furnace and frowned, saying,
“The fire doesn’t seem to have grown larger; it seems even smaller than before.”
Previously, he could feel the scorching temperature of the furnace fire from a distance, but now, even close to the refining furnace, he didn’t feel overheated.
Mo Hua also noticed that, even though the fire was being stoked, the temperature around it was not high.
“Could it be that something was drawn incorrectly?”
Mo Hua stroked his chin, pondering to himself.
Just then, Master Chen took another look at the fire and suddenly became completely stunned.
His hand tremulously pointed at the flames, “This fire… it’s bright red.”
Hearing this, Mo Hua looked over and noticed that indeed the flames were different than before; they now looked purer and were shining red, almost as if they were solid.
“A bright red furnace fire…”
Master Chen murmured, full of disbelief.
“Is this good or bad?” Mo Hua asked, somewhat confused.
“Good!” Master Chen said.
He wanted to explain why it was good, but his excitement made him at a loss for where to begin.
Elder Yu suppressed his astonishment and said to Mo Hua,
“The purer the color of the fire, the fewer impurities it has, and the stronger the spiritual power it contains. A bright red and pure fire has already exceeded the scope of the spiritual power of the Qi Refinement Realm; it even shows faint signs of solidifying.”
“When spiritual power is pure and accumulates to a certain degree, it will solidify. The spiritual power of the Qi Refinement Realm is gaseous, while that of the Foundation Establishment Stage is condensed like a liquid. That’s what is commonly said: spiritual power like mercury, breaking through to establish foundation.”
Elder Yu explained, and then with a flip of his hand, pale golden spiritual power condensed in his palm, indeed like mercury, incredibly pure.
Is this the spiritual power of the Foundation Establishment Stage…
Mo Hua was shocked inside and then asked, “Then is this furnace fire considered to be of the Foundation Establishment Stage?”
“Where is it that simple?”
Elder Yu shook his head and looked at the fire, saying, “This is merely showing faint signs of solidifying; it is far from the intensity of the Foundation Establishment Stage’s spiritual power. But compared to the spiritual power of the general Qi Refinement Realm, it is much stronger.”
Mo Hua nodded, quite satisfied in his heart.
This was the real effect of the first-grade Melting Fire Compound Formation – truly extraordinary!
It was worth the considerable time, the exertion of his divine sense, the use of so much Spiritual Ink, and the many rehearsals he went through.
Looking at the results, it was all worth it.
Mo Hua couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
Elder Yu’s expression remained unchanged, but he couldn’t hide the shock in his heart.
Although he knew that the Formation Diagram Mo Hua drew this time was no ordinary one, he never expected it to be extraordinary to this extent.
The furnace fire was pure, the color a bright red, as though it was congealed.
Is this really a Formation Diagram that a First-grade Formation Master could draw…
Elder Yu took a glance at the Refining Furnace, then felt something was amiss, and frowned, saying,
“Logically speaking, this fire should be stronger, and the temperature higher, so why don’t I feel the heat even though I’m so close?”
“That’s right.” Mo Hua also remembered.
He walked around the Refining Furnace, thought about the formations within the Compound Formation, and then had a sudden realization.
“It’s the Cold Air Formation.”
“The Cold Air Formation?”
Mo Hua nodded and explained, “Inside the Compound Formation, there is a Cold Air Formation drawn on the furnace walls, which can isolate the leakage of fire qi, thus making the refining process feel less dry and hot…”
When Mo Hua was Drawing the Formation, he hadn’t thought of this point and just followed the Formation Diagram. Only now did he realize that including a Cold Air Formation in this set of Compound Formation was a very meticulous detail.
In this way, Artifact Refiners would not be constantly subjected to the baking of the furnace fire, making the refining process much less arduous.
The senior Formation Master who designed this set of formations had indeed been very thorough.
Elder Yu also sighed with admiration, saying, “This formation truly is… very considerate…”
Meanwhile, Master Chen still stood dazed in front of the furnace fire, looking at its extravagantly bright red flames that made his blood boil, rendering him unable to calm down for a long time.
Such pure furnace fire was something he had never even dreamt of…
Once the formation on the Refining Furnace was complete, the Refinery Shop could start operations.
The preparation of refining materials, placement of the Refining Furnace, arrangement of Artifact Refiners, and the types and procedures of the artifacts to be refined—all of these were managed and organized by Elder Yu and Master Chen.
Elder Yu had long overseen the Monster Hunters, and Master Chen had a wealth of experience in Artifact Refining.
As the two discussed and managed the affairs, virtually everything of the Refinery Shop was arranged in a well-organized manner.
As these matters were not Mo Hua’s specialty, he did not inquire further.
However, he was still a bit worried and asked Elder Yu, “Elder, how many First-grade Refining Furnaces does the Qian Family have?”
“I think there are three or four,” Elder Yu thought for a moment and said.
“Then, with just one Refining Furnace, will it be enough?”
Elder Yu pondered for a moment and replied, “Probably not enough, but one Refining Furnace is too costly, and buying more would be a waste of Spirit Stones.”
“Can we refine them ourselves?”
Elder Yu looked somewhat helpless, “I’ve asked Master Chen, and refining it ourselves is somewhat difficult, mainly because we lack the Artifice Manual for the Refining Furnace and do not know the method of refining, with no way to begin.”
“Are these Artifice Manuals very rare?” Mo Hua asked.
“Artifice Manuals for First-grade Refining Furnaces are scarce since few people can refine them,” replied Elder Yu. He then furrowed his brows and thought for a while, “I’ll think of a way; one Refining Furnace might indeed be too few.”
A few days later, Elder Yu obtained an Artifice Manual through a Taoist Friend with whom he had some rapport in earlier years, after spending some Spirit Stones to make the exchange.
The Artifice Manual was a little worn, the pages yellowed, and while the writing was still legible, it was somewhat blurred. Fortunately, the method for refining the Refining Furnace was recorded quite clearly.
Elder Yu said that the Artifice Manual was passed down from the ancestors of his Taoist Friend.
His friend’s family had started out with Artifact Refining, and once flourished. Unfortunately, the subsequent generations preferred leisure over labor and did not think of Artifact Refining, leading the craft to fall into disuse.
Without the craft, they rapidly exhausted their resources, and the family quickly went into decline.
By the time it came to his friend’s generation, not a single one in the family knew the method of Artifact Refining; instead, they lived on other trades.
This Artifice Manual, serving as a family heirloom and a keepsake, was of no practical use.
It would be difficult to sell because those cultivators or powers capable of refining First-grade Refining Furnaces naturally had the methods for their refining, and other cultivators, even if they bought it, would not have the ability to refine.
Now, this Artifice Manual had fallen into Elder Yu’s hands.