251: Chapter 250 Alchemy!!

The morning mist of Red Fire Peak had not yet dissipated when Jiang Hanzhou stepped onto the bluestone path and returned to Hanzhou Residence. From a distance, he saw three figures standing before the entrance of his Immortal Cave.

Zhou Lie leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, Liu Ningshuang stood below the steps with her hands behind her back, and beside them stood a delicate-looking youth.

It was the small medicine boy of the Medicinal Cuisine Hall, named A'cheng.

"Senior Brother Jiang is back!" A'cheng was the first to notice him with his sharp eyes.

Zhou Lie looked up, grinned, and strode forward to meet him: "You're finally back! This trip took you a full five days; Junior Sister Liu and I were almost worried sick. I heard you went to the Black Wind Abyss? That's a place even Dragon Fetus Realm Cultivators don't dare to step into lightly—"

"It's fine," Jiang Hanzhou interrupted him, taking out the fist-sized Mystic Fire Ink Squid Inner Core from his sumeru pouch and waving it before Zhou Lie's eyes.

Zhou Lie's words came to an abrupt halt.

His eyes bulged, his mouth hung open, but he couldn't say a single word.

The Inner Core was deep red all over, with black and white patterns interwoven on its surface. It felt warm but not hot in his hand, yet the restrained spiritual power fluctuations coming from it made one's scalp tingle.

"Is this... the Inner Core of a Mystic Fire Ink Squid?" Liu Ningshuang stepped forward, her gaze solemn. "Three hundred years of cultivation?"

"Yes." Jiang Hanzhou put the Inner Core back into his sumeru pouch. "The main materials for the spirit essence pill are complete."

Zhou Lie took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, and said with a bitter smile: "Junior Brother Jiang, you do this every time. You say you're going out to handle some business, and then you come back and pull out something that keeps people awake at night. Last time it was a Dragon Essence Fragment, this time it's a three-hundred-year-old exotic beast Inner Core—next time you go out, are you going to bring back a Dragon?"

Jiang Hanzhou didn't respond but looked at A'cheng: "Did Elder Qu send you?"

A'cheng nodded quickly, took out a letter sealed with wax from his robe, and presented it with both hands: "Pharmacist Qu said that if Senior Brother Jiang returns, he should open and read this letter immediately."

Jiang Hanzhou took the letter, tore open the seal, and unfolded the paper.

There were only a few lines of text on the letter, written in Pharmacist Qu Fengchun's own hand:

"Han Zhou, the Alchemy Hall has prepared the auxiliary materials for the spirit essence pill, three sets in total. However, while inspecting them, I found that the quality of the 'Ice Soul Stamen' in one of the sets was questionable, as if it had been tampered with using special methods. I have secretly replaced it, but you must inspect the materials in person when you collect them. Furthermore, rumors about you within the Sect have been intensifying lately, and some in the Alchemy Hall harbor ill intentions; you must be extremely careful. Signed: Qu Fengchun."

Jiang Hanzhou put the letter into his sumeru pouch, his expression unchanged, but waves of shock surged in his heart.

There were twelve auxiliary materials for the spirit essence pill, of which the 'Ice Soul Stamen' was the most critical.

Its function was to harmonize the violent attributes of the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence within the spirit essence pill, ensuring the Medicinal Pill would be as smooth as jade and easy to absorb upon completion.

If the Ice Soul Stamen had been tampered with, at best, the quality of the Medicinal Pill would plummet; at worst, the pill would be destroyed and the person injured.

It could even cause the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence to go out of control during consumption, leading to the consumer's Meridians being completely destroyed.

"People from the Alchemy Hall?" Zhou Lie leaned over to take a look, his face changing instantly. "Those bastards, they have a lot of nerve!"

Liu Ningshuang didn't speak, but a cold glint flashed in her cool eyes.

"Don't spread word of this," Jiang Hanzhou said calmly. "A'cheng, thank Elder Qu for me. Tell him that Han Zhou has taken note of it."

A'cheng nodded, bowed, and retreated.

Jiang Hanzhou turned and walked toward his Immortal Cave, with Zhou Lie and Liu Ningshuang following behind.

The moment the stone door closed, Jiang Hanzhou stopped and said without turning around, "Senior Brother Zhou, Senior Sister Liu, I will be in seclusion for the next three days for Alchemy. During this time, I need you to do something for me."

"What is it?" Zhou Lie asked.

"Investigate." Jiang Hanzhou turned around, his gaze as calm as a deep pool. "Find out who in the Alchemy Hall is working for Han Qing, clarify where that batch of tampered materials came from, and see if anyone else is involved. Once you find out, don't alert the enemy; organize all the evidence and hand it over to Master Xue."

Zhou Lie grinned: "I'm familiar with this kind of work."

Liu Ningshuang nodded without saying much.

After the two left, Jiang Hanzhou stood alone in his cultivation room for a long time.

He took out the Mystic Fire Ink Squid Inner Core from his sumeru pouch and examined it carefully in his palm.

The Inner Core emitted a gentle glow in the darkness, and the black and white patterns slowly flowed. With every rotation, a faint wisp of spiritual essence escaped from it.

That was the aura of the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence.

It was of the fire attribute, yet it contained the ultimate truth of the fusion of Yin and Yang.

"Dragon Fetus Realm," he murmured.

He put the Inner Core back into his sumeru pouch, took out a communication talisman, and probed it with his Divine Sense.

A moment later, Master Xue Mu's voice came through: "You're back?"

"I'm back," Jiang Hanzhou said. "Master, I need a quiet place for Alchemy. Refining the spirit essence pill has extremely high environmental requirements; the slightest interference will cause everything to fail at the last step."

Master Xue Mu was silent for a moment before slowly saying: "There is a Secret Realm in the back mountain of Red Fire Peak called the 'Fire Cloud Cave'. It was the place where I cultivated in my younger years. The cave is equipped with a Great Cycle Spirit Gathering Formation and an Isolation Formation, so no external interference can penetrate it. Three years ago, when I was in seclusion to Breakthrough to the Dragon Fetus Realm, I was there."

"I am willing to go."

"Good." Master Xue Mu's voice carried a hint of gratification. "Come over immediately, and I will take you there. However, Han Zhou, before you begin your Alchemy, I have a few things to tell you."

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Jiang Hanzhou stood before a cliff wall on the back mountain of Red Fire Peak.

Master Xue Mu stood with his hands behind his back at the edge of the cliff, beside a bare stone wall.

The stone wall was about a hundred feet high, its surface covered in dark red vines, appearing no different from an ordinary mountain wall at first glance.

But Jiang Hanzhou keenly sensed faint spiritual power fluctuations coming from deep within the stone wall, which were the traces of a Formation in operation.

Master Xue Mu raised his hand and lightly tapped the stone wall.

Buzz—

The vines on the surface of the stone wall writhed, contracted, and receded like living things, revealing a stone door about ten feet high.

Densely packed runes were carved onto the stone door. These runes were dark red and flowed slowly in the darkness. With every rotation, a wisp of scorching aura escaped from the crack in the door.

"We have arrived at the Fire Cloud Cave." Master Xue Mu pushed open the stone door and stepped aside to let him pass.

Jiang Hanzhou stepped through the door, and the view suddenly opened up.

The space inside the cave was even more spacious than he had imagined. The cave was about fifty feet high and over a hundred feet in diameter. The four walls were embedded with fist-sized fire attribute Spirit Stones, which emitted a blazing light that illuminated the entire cave as bright as day.

In the center of the cave, a three-foot-high stone platform stood quietly.

The stone platform was circular, and its surface was covered with the patterns of a Spirit Gathering Formation. These lines were dense and layered, each one containing the exquisite Dao of Formations.

In the very center of the stone platform was a fist-sized recess, perfectly suited for placing a Pill Furnace.

At the four corners of the cave stood four stone pillars, each about ten feet high.

Runes for an Isolation Formation were carved on the stone pillars. These runes were silver-white, and they complemented the red light of the fire attribute Spirit Stones on the walls, forming a thin curtain of light that enveloped the entire cave.

"A Spirit Gathering Formation, an Isolation Formation, and a Protective Formation—three Formations in one." Master Xue Mu pointed at the four stone pillars. "I spent ten years having an Elder from Tianji Peak personally set this up. No attack below the Dragon Fetus Realm can shake it in the slightest."

He took out a palm-sized Pill Furnace from his sumeru pouch and placed it in the center of the stone platform.

The Pill Furnace was dark gold all over, with dense flame patterns carved on the body. There were seven small holes on the lid, corresponding to seven different heat levels. Four ancient characters were carved on the bottom of the furnace: Li Fire Heavenly Craft.

"This is the Pill Furnace I used back then, an Earth Rank High Grade furnace named the 'Li Fire Furnace'," Master Xue Mu said, stroking the body of the furnace with a trace of reminiscence in his eyes. "Using it to refine the spirit essence pill will give you twice the result with half the effort. Today, I am gifting it to you."

Jiang Hanzhou knelt on one knee and gave a solemn salute: "Thank you, Master."

"Get up." Master Xue Mu helped him up, his expression becoming solemn. "Han Zhou, refining the spirit essence pill is extremely dangerous. Although you have cultivated the Heart Furnace Artifact Forging Art and your control over flames and materials far exceeds that of ordinary people, the spirit essence pill is no ordinary Medicinal Pill—it requires drawing in the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence, using the pill as a medium to seal the most primal power of heaven and earth within the pill."

He paused and said word by word: "During the refining process, the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence will constantly assault the Pill Furnace; the slightest carelessness will lead to the pill being destroyed and the person injured. You must use your heart as the furnace and your intent as the fire to tame and refine those violent energies of the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence one by one. This is a triple test of your Heart-Nature, will, and cultivation."

Jiang Hanzhou took a deep breath: "I understand."

Master Xue Mu nodded and took out a Jade Slip from his sumeru pouch, handing it to Jiang Hanzhou: "This is the complete Pill Formula for the spirit essence pill and my refining insights, which are the experiences I summarized when I made my Breakthrough back then. Take it back and study it carefully. At this time tomorrow, I will come to act as your Protector."

Jiang Hanzhou took the Jade Slip and solemnly put it into his sumeru pouch.

Master Xue Mu turned to walk out of the cave, but after a few steps, he suddenly stopped and said without turning back: "Han Zhou, I will give you a fifth piece of advice—"

"Alchemy is like tempering the heart. If the pill is formed, the heart is formed. If the pill is destroyed, the heart is broken. But no matter the result, do not forget why you are performing Alchemy."

As his voice fell, he strode out of the Fire Cloud Cave, and the stone door slowly closed behind him.

Jiang Hanzhou sat alone in the cave, took out the Jade Slip, and probed it with his Divine Sense.

The Jade Slip was densely recorded with the Pill Formula, heat levels, and techniques for the spirit essence pill, as well as various dangers Master Xue Mu had encountered during his refining process back then. One passage, written in blood-red characters, was particularly striking:

"The most difficult part of the spirit essence pill lies not in the purification of materials, nor in the control of the heat, but in the moment of drawing in the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence. The Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence is formless and substance-less, yet it is everywhere. It will not actively cooperate with you but will only frantically assault the Pill Furnace, attempting to break free from its shackles. You must use your chains of mental intent to lock them firmly within the pill. This process can take at least one hour, or as long as half a day. Any distraction during this time will cause all previous efforts to be wasted."

Jiang Hanzhou read this passage three times and firmly memorized it.

He put the Jade Slip into his sumeru pouch, closed his eyes, and began to regulate his breathing.

Within his body, four types of True Intent flowed slowly through his Meridians. The length of the Tide, the intensity of the Pure Yang, the sharpness of the Metal Sharpness, and the mutability of the Heavenly Fire—the four were perfectly integrated and as easy to control as his own limbs.

Deep within his Dantian, the three-colored flame burned quietly. Around the flame, the dark-gold halo grew increasingly rich, with faint shadows of flood dragons swimming within it.

The threshold of the Dragon Fetus Realm was already within reach.

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

Everything would wait for tomorrow.

The next morning, Master Xue Mu arrived at the Fire Cloud Cave on time.

Today, he had changed into a mysterious black Daoist robe, with a crimson longsword hanging at his waist, and a faint scorching aura lingering around him—this was the sign of the Dragon-Elephant Intersection Realm, where the externalization of True Intent resonated with heaven and earth.

Behind him followed two figures.

Zhou Lie and Liu Ningshuang.

"Junior Brother Jiang!" Zhou Lie shouted as soon as he entered the door. "Guess what we found?"

Jiang Hanzhou looked at him.

Zhou Lie took out a stack of letters from his robe and waved them in front of Jiang Hanzhou: "A deacon of the Alchemy Hall named Fang Demao, at the Middle Stage of the Primal Form Realm, joined the Sect twelve years ago. On the surface, he's just an ordinary deacon of the Alchemy Hall, but in reality, he's the brother-in-law of the distant nephew of Cold Frost Master from Heavenly Sword Peak—the relationship is seven or eight layers deep, but at the root of it, he's the one who tampered with the materials for Han Qing."

Liu Ningshuang took over the conversation, her voice cool: "That batch of tampered Ice Soul Stamen was purchased from the black market in Flying Fish City. Fang Demao used the excuse of 'material wastage' to replace three sets of auxiliary materials from the Alchemy Hall's stock, swapping one of them for the contaminated stamens. If Pharmacist Qu hadn't discovered it in advance, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Jiang Hanzhou took the stack of letters and flipped through them quickly.

The letters recorded in detail the correspondence between Fang Demao and the Disciples of Heavenly Sword Peak, including times, locations, and people. There was even a transaction voucher from the Flying Fish City black market, clearly stating 'Ice Soul Stamen, three taels, five thousand taels of silver,' with the buyer's name being Fang Demao.

"The evidence is conclusive." Jiang Hanzhou put the letters away. "But don't spread word of this yet. After I have successfully refined the spirit essence pill and broken through to the Dragon Fetus Realm, we will settle the score together."

Zhou Lie nodded, then scratched his head: "Should we keep an eye on Fang Demao first?"

"Watch him," Jiang Hanzhou said calmly. "But do not alert the enemy. Let him think his tampering hasn't been discovered, and let him continue working for Han Qing. The more he does, the more leverage he will leave behind."

Liu Ningshuang nodded and turned to leave.

Zhou Lie patted Jiang Hanzhou's shoulder: "Brother, I don't understand Alchemy. But I believe in you. When you come out of seclusion, we'll trample those bastards under our feet together."

He grinned and strode away.

Only Jiang Hanzhou and Master Xue Mu remained in the cave.

"Are you ready?" Master Xue Mu asked.

Jiang Hanzhou nodded.

He took out the Mystic Fire Ink Squid Inner Core from his sumeru pouch, then took out the twelve auxiliary materials—Ice Soul Stamen, Dragon Blood Vine, Purple Gold Lingzhi, Seven Star Grass... each one had been personally inspected by Pharmacist Qu Fengchun to ensure there were no issues.

He arranged the materials one by one on the stone platform, then sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

"Master, how long will I need?"

"At least three days, at most seven days," Master Xue Mu said solemnly. "The time it takes to refine the spirit essence pill depends on the activity level of the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence. If your luck is good and you encounter a time when the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence is docile, it can be completed in three days. If your luck is bad and it is violent, even seven days might not be enough."

He took out a dark red token from his sleeve and placed it on the edge of the stone platform: "This is the control token for the Fire Cloud Cave. If an accident occurs midway, crush it, and the Protective Formation in the cave will operate at full power to ensure your safety."

Jiang Hanzhou opened his eyes and looked at the token.

He didn't speak but simply nodded.

Master Xue Mu looked at him, was silent for a moment, and then turned and walked out of the cave.