Chapter 974 Xuanyang Furnace

After examining all the spiritual fruits, the Recluse of the Crescent Moon pondered for a moment and then said:

"There are thirty-five spiritual fruits that can replace the five elements materials, and they are slightly cheaper; the silver-white and light gold materials contain the power of yin and yang, and are more expensive, totaling fourteen."

These spiritual fruits can be exchanged for 50% of the materials for the alchemy furnace. If you add some fifth-tier spiritual items, we can refine one for you after we have already refined a defensive spiritual treasure for Fellow Daoist Xuan Shuang.

"The materials I advanced can be repaid by you within thirty years."

A sly glint flashed in his eyes; he knew Ji An possessed something he needed.

Spiritual fruits containing the power of Yin and Yang can be used in alchemy furnaces, and can be used to replace some mid-grade fifth-tier materials.

Ji An gently shook his head and said:

"These spiritual fruits are the first fruits that my Seven Luminaries Golden Branch bore after reaching the fifth level, and I have given them all to you, fellow Daoist."

"I have some soul-nourishing incense I've kept for my own use. Fellow Daoist, how much do you want?"

Obtaining the alchemy furnace as soon as possible would bring many benefits, so he was willing to sell high-quality resources.

Crescent Moon Hermit's heart immediately filled with joy, and he said gently:

"Fellow Daoist is generous; twenty plates of Soul-Nourishing Incense will suffice."

Ji An did not haggle and took out a sufficient amount of Soul Incense to complete the transaction.

After the other party had counted the quantity, he asked in a deep voice:

"Approximately when can it be delivered?"

“It will take about two and a half months to refine a spiritual treasure for Fellow Daoist Xuanshuang, but let’s calculate it as three months.”

The alchemy furnace requires fine-tuning of its protective barriers; many details need refinement, and a rough estimate suggests it will take about six months.

The Crescent Moon Hermit gave a conservative figure. Although it wasn't his first time refining a pill furnace with Yin and Yang attributes, he didn't have much experience, so he gave himself more than a month of spare time.

Ji An nodded emphatically, "Very well, I await good news."

He could wait less than a year. He would start refining the Five-Colored Pill as soon as he got the alchemy furnace. This would be the first time he had personally refined a fifth-grade pill, and he was quite looking forward to it.

Ji An returned to his cave and entered the gourd world. He said to A-Yun, who came to greet him:

"Once the spiritual vein here is upgraded, you should immediately allocate resources to the Lightning-Struck Azure Dragon Wood and strive to cultivate a fifth-tier spiritual level plant as soon as possible."

Of the five flags, only the Azure Lotus Treasure Flag is still a top-grade fourth-tier flag, which is his weakness and needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Once all five flags reach the fifth level, entering the Vast Ocean Realm will be much easier.

There are still nearly three hundred years before the opening of the Vast Ocean Realm. Apart from his natal spirit treasure, the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner, he probably doesn't have enough time to upgrade the grade of his other spirit treasures.

Ayun nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty. Please rest assured that I will store all kinds of resources in the warehouse and use them as soon as the time is right."

By the way, how many lightning-struck Azure Dragon Trees does Your Majesty require?

"At least three plants."

"Understood."

Ji An rode the clouds slowly, surveying this thriving land.

The five spiritual roots of heaven and earth are the foundation of the entire world. The Gathering Yuan Tree, the Fusang Tree, and the Seven Luminaries Golden Branch have all been harvested once. The Azure Jade Tree is now beginning to bear fruit, and the Panyun Tree will also bear fruit in a few years.

The Soul-Nourishing Wood has also reached the fifth rank, and there will be more and more fifth-rank spiritual plants in the small world in the future.

Even without a recipe to refine fifth-grade pills, as long as he has spiritual fruits to eat, he can still maintain a high-speed cultivation pace.

The following day, Ji An visited the cave dwelling of True Monarch Xuan Shuang. After exchanging pleasantries, he went straight to the point and asked:

"In my humble world, there is a fifth-grade low-rank Azure Jade Tree that has already borne fruit. I wonder if you have any relevant pill formulas?"

If the other party possesses the pill formula, he intends to spend some money to exchange for it.

Xuan Shuang Sanren's face lit up with joy, "Fellow Daoist actually has such a good product! I have collected many pill formulas that use spiritual fruits with the spiritual roots of heaven and earth as the main ingredients, including the Azure Jade Fruit."

However, the pill formula is not for sale. If you sign a contract with me to supply spiritual fruits long-term, why not give you the formula?

The spiritual veins of the small world she refined have reached the fifth level for over six hundred years, but their output is not abundant. There's no way around it; she doesn't know much about planting techniques and can't consistently produce various spiritual plants.

Ji An was secretly delighted upon hearing this, but his expression remained solemn:

"How many spirit fruits do you plan to take each time they ripen? And at what price?"

For him, the pill formula was more valuable. The spiritual fruits were harvested every hundred years, so it was perfectly reasonable to trade them and maintain a good relationship with the other party.

Xuan Shuang Sanren extended his right hand and spread his fingers, "Each time the fruit ripens, I will take five spirit fruits and give you three Azure Cloud Pills, how about that?"

"How many kinds of spiritual herbs are in the pill formula, and what is the maximum number of pills that can be made from each batch of herbs?"

After a moment of recollection, Xuan Shuang Sanren spoke:

"The Azure Cloud Pill has three main ingredients, twelve auxiliary ingredients, and two adjuvant ingredients. Each batch can produce five pills."

Her success rate in refining the Azure Sky Pill hovers between 60% and 80%, and if she is in good condition, it is possible to achieve a 100% success rate.

Ji An extended his right hand and, mimicking the other person's earlier gesture, spread his five fingers apart:

"Fellow Daoist is an alchemist, so you must be able to maintain a good success rate in making pills. I have given you five spirit fruits, so you should at least give me five pills in return, right?!"

He had never seen the pill formula and was unaware of the difficulty in refining the pills, but he knew in his heart that the other party should offer room for negotiation.

"Haha, fellow Daoist, that's going too far with your bargaining."

The effect of three pills is greater than that of five Azure Jade Fruits, which means you obtained a fifth-tier pill formula without paying any price.

"Fellow Daoist, you are mistaken. The pills are commanded by 'Azure Cloud,' so the Azure Cloud Divine Jade Fruit must be the most important main ingredient."

The scarcity of spiritual roots of heaven and earth is self-evident; having given up the most important main ingredient, it would be reasonable for me to receive even more pills in return.

The two held their own opinions and talked for a long time without reaching a complete agreement.

Xuan Shuang Sanren remained silent for a long while, then feigned a sigh and said:

"It's absolutely impossible to exchange five spirit fruits for five pills. Let's not be so petty. Let's compromise and exchange five spirit fruits for four pills."

However, I have one condition: you must guarantee to exchange for one hundred spirit fruits, otherwise the deal will fall through.

Ji Anwei nodded almost imperceptibly and asked tentatively:

"If I agree, when can I obtain the elixir formula?"

"If you sign the agreement and make a vow to uphold the Great Dao, I can give you the pill formula when I receive the first batch of spiritual fruits."

This decision was very disadvantageous; Xuan Shuang Sanren would not have agreed to it if it were anyone else, but her goal was to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with the other party.

All signs indicate that the other party has extremely powerful spiritual farming skills. Spiritual farmers at the Three Flower Realm level are even rarer than cultivators at the late stage of the Three Environments Realm.

With the support of such a cultivator, the current loss is nothing; she will have plenty of opportunities to make it back in the future.

"Okay, let's sign the agreement now."

Ji An was very satisfied with the other party's answer. He immediately took out two blank jade slips, discussed detailed terms with the other party, left each other's magic imprints, and made a vow of the Great Dao, declaring that he would never go back on his word.

Xuan Shuang Sanren put away the jade slip and asked:

When will your spiritual fruit ripen, fellow Daoist?

Ji An scratched his head, "I'm not sure either, the fruit only started to grow this month."

The ripening process of the spiritual fruit is a process of accumulating medicinal age. This is the first time that the Azure Jade Tree has borne fruit, and he has no reference to refer to.

Xuan Shuang Sanren pursed her lips and said with a wry smile:

"I thought it would be another ten or eight years before I could get the spiritual fruit, but now I'll have to wait a long time."

She once heard a fellow Daoist who possessed the Azure Jade Tree sigh. The spiritual vein where the tree he planted was located was of the fifth-grade lower level, and it would take about one hundred and twenty years from bearing fruit to full maturity.

Ji An smiled apologetically, "Fellow Daoist's waiting time will definitely be shorter than you expect. Let's wait and see."

"Hopefully," Xuan Shuang Sanren thought it would take at least a hundred years.

Time flows like a rushing river, never to return; another year has passed in a flash.

Inside the cave, the Recluse of the Crescent Moon pointed to a dark, ominous alchemy furnace:

"Although it took longer than expected, the quality of the alchemy furnace is much better than expected, so the wait was totally worth it."

The furnace body is as black as ink, yet it gleams with a serene luster, like moonlight, as if a galaxy flows within the iron core.

Nine yin dragons are carved in relief on the belly of the furnace, with their heads lowered and cloud-shaped flame patterns engraved where their fangs bite together.

It has round ears and three legs, all engraved with runes that resemble fine fish scales.

The furnace lid is a Qilin head carved from a single piece of Yin Po crystal, its hollow eye sockets seemingly containing a deep night sky.

A confident smile appeared on his lips. "Fellow Daoist, try activating your spiritual fire and see the effect."

The complexity of the alchemy furnace exceeded expectations. He was dissatisfied with several plans and had to redo them, which caused the delay.

Ji An sat down cross-legged and activated the Yin-Yang Spiritual Fire.

As the spiritual fire enveloped the bottom of the alchemy furnace, the patterns on those Yin dragons gradually turned white.

White flames erupted from the eyes of the Qilin on the furnace lid, and a blazing aura emanated from it.

Ji An felt that the spiritual fire was heating the entire alchemy furnace evenly, and the temperature was actually the same in any part of the furnace.

Soon, tiny, moon-white runes, each the size of a grain of rice, appeared on the furnace wall like a revolving lantern, while the belly of the furnace began to shimmer with pure white stars, like a cluster of brilliant stars adorning the night sky.

Xuan Shuang Sanren began his introduction: "The alchemy furnace can change the flames released by you according to the properties of the medicinal materials. Yang materials use Yang fire, which is silvery-white in color; Yin materials use Yin fire, which is dark in color."

When the elixir is successfully refined, the flame inside the skull on the furnace lid will turn pale gold, at which point the lid should be opened.

"Fellow Daoist, you can put away the spiritual fire now, and you can also give the alchemy furnace a name."

Ji An did as instructed, putting away the Yin-Yang Spiritual Fire, and nodded with satisfaction:

"Let's call it the Xuan Yang Furnace."

"Black is the color of darkness, and darkness represents yin. The name 'Xuanyang' indicates that the alchemy furnace contains yin and yang. It is a good name."

After chatting for a while, Ji An got up to take his leave. He couldn't wait to return to his cave and immediately entered the small world.

He spent three days completely refining the alchemy furnace, then stored it in his dantian and nurtured it in the fire of his primordial life.

A five-tiered alchemy furnace must be nurtured for a period of time to fully familiarize itself with its performance; this is a necessary process.

After two months of nurturing, Ji An took out various materials to prepare for alchemy.

Since it was his first time using a fifth-tier alchemy furnace, he didn't immediately start refining the Five-Colored Pill. Instead, he refined a fourth-tier top-grade pill to test his skills.

Ayun lit the Soul-Nourishing Incense and brewed Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea. Alchemy requires sufficient concentration and is an activity that quickly depletes one's spiritual energy.

Although he hadn't refined pills for many years, Ji An's movements were still fluid and graceful, with not a single movement superfluous.

Each of these alchemy furnaces can produce five pills, and in the past, the success rate was over 80%.

The first batch of pills failed to be refined, and the second batch only produced a pitiful single pill, which was of ordinary quality.

However, these two refining attempts allowed him to become completely familiar with the characteristics of the Xuan Yang Furnace. The third batch of pills yielded five pills, all of which were of the highest quality.

With a smile, Ji An put the pills into a jade bottle, stored the bottle in the Void Stone, and then drank the spiritual tea handed to him by A Yun in one gulp.

Once he was in optimal condition, he took out the materials for the Five-Colored Pill and began refining it.

One by one, various medicinal herbs were thrown into the furnace, and soon they were refined into divine essence. A faint fragrance of herbs and trees spread out, which invigorated people.

Ji An remained calm, maintaining a steady output of Yin-Yang spiritual fire. Black and white Yin-Yang energies appeared in the alchemy furnace, enveloping the condensed elixir.

The yin and yang energies rotated like a millstone, constantly releasing impurities that turned into black ash, which was then blown out from the air vent at the bottom of the furnace.

The talismans on the furnace wall rotated faster and faster, and the flames in the eye sockets of the Qilin on the furnace lid gradually turned red.

Ji An was under immense mental tension; his straight back resembled a pine tree standing proudly against the wind and snow.

He changed the hand seals, manipulated the object control technique to open the lid, and then released the pill-dividing technique, causing the elixir to split into two and solidify rapidly.

At the same time, the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner flew out of his dantian at his command, forming a spiritual energy shield outside that looked like an inverted bowl.

The condensed pill was black, as deep as the starry night sky, with three white pill patterns in the middle.

The patterns on the cinnabar pattern are constantly changing like clouds and mist, or like a flowing river.

The silence lasted only a moment. The patterns on the two pills suddenly brightened, and they immediately rose into the air, but their path was blocked by the spiritual energy shield formed by the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner.

Ji An chuckled. High-grade pills have a strong spirituality, and some top-grade fourth-grade pills know how to escape after they are refined.

If even a top-grade fourth-tier pill can do this, then a fifth-tier pill will surely do the same, which is why he summoned his natal spirit treasure.

Despite being blocked, the pills did not give up, flitting about inside the enclosure like bees lost in a house.

Ji An activated his magic power, transforming it into a large hand that easily grasped the alchemy furnace, bringing it close to his eyes for examination.

"Its entire body has turned black, so calling it the Five-Colored Elixir is no longer appropriate."

He muttered something, scraped off a little powder from the pill, dipped his finger in it, and tasted it.

A rich spiritual energy burst open in the mouth. The yin and yang energies contained in the pill split into two strands. The white part entered the middle dantian and was absorbed by the Qi and Blood Golden Elixir; the black part entered the upper dantian, and the nascent soul used a hand seal to devour it.

A wave of coolness spread through me, an indescribable feeling of comfort.

"It's done! Master Dao's good days are about to begin!"

Ji An smiled with joy. After breaking through to the Three Flowers Realm for hundreds of years, he could finally take the fifth-grade pills he had refined himself.

(End of this chapter)