7: Chapter 7 Residue

The temperature inside the Earth Fire Room was terrifyingly high.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Acrid black smoke darted wildly through the narrow space. Several apprentices standing nearby were choked to tears, covering their mouths and noses as they shrank back.

That half-person-tall bronze Pill Furnace was currently billowing with hot steam, its walls glowing red; it was clear it had just experienced a violent furnace explosion. At the bottom of the furnace, a pool of black, viscous waste residue, thick as asphalt, was sizzling and emitting a nauseating, burnt stench.

"What are you all standing there for? Are you waiting for me to sweep it myself?"

Alchemist Chen's face was dark. He flicked his sleeves and walked angrily to a nearby pavilion to drink tea. A furnace of Medicinal Pill had been completely ruined, and dozens of Spirit Stones had gone down the drain; he was currently furious.

Manager Wang Tong also looked miserable. Covering his nose with a handkerchief, he roared at the group of apprentices, "Hurry up and clean it up! Don't delay the time for Alchemist Chen's next furnace!"

The apprentices looked at each other, none willing to move.

The medicinal dregs from a fresh furnace explosion carried the heaviest fire poison. If even a speck touched them, skin ulceration was a minor matter; if that baleful fire energy entered the body, it would damage one's cultivation. Usually, this kind of work was decided by drawing lots; whoever drew it was unlucky.

"Manager Wang Tong, I'll do it."

A dull, hoarse voice broke the stalemate.

Everyone turned their heads to see Gu Shen walking out with his head lowered. In his hands, he carried a specially made black iron shovel and two heavy black iron buckets. His face was covered in soot from the smoke and fire, making his expression unreadable, though it was clear his dusty short tunic was already soaked with sweat.

"It's you again?"

Manager Wang Tong raised his eyebrows, a flash of surprise in his eyes, which immediately turned into mockery. "Alright, Gu the Sick Ghost, you're quite diligent today. Since you want to show off, I'll leave it all to you. Remember, scrape it clean. If you leave even a speck of residue that affects the medicinal properties, you'll be held accountable!"

"Yes, Manager, rest assured."

Gu Shen replied subserviently and walked clumsily to the Pill Furnace.

The surrounding apprentices cast looks of sympathy or schadenfreude, then scattered like birds and beasts, hiding far away, fearing that the fire poison would contaminate them.

Gu Shen ignored the others.

He crouched down, enduring the oncoming heatwaves, and reached the shovel into the furnace chamber.

Sizzle!

As soon as the shovel touched the black medicinal dregs, a visible wave of heat rose up.

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes, appearing to be struggling to shovel out the waste, but in reality, his Divine Sense had already silently covered the clump of black mud on the tip of the shovel.

[Detected abandoned medicinal dregs.] [Composition: 30% withered wood grass charcoal, 20% baleful fire energy, 50% undissolved qi gathering pill medicinal liquid.] [Can be refined.]

In his Sea of Consciousness, the Great Furnace vibrated, sending back feedback.

"As expected."

Gu Shen felt a surge of joy.

This was no mere waste; it was clearly the essence wrapped in fire poison!

Although Alchemist Chen had exploded the furnace, it was because the last auxiliary ingredient hadn't been controlled well, leading to an imbalance of the Five Elements. The main ingredient, the qi gathering pill grass, had actually retained most of its medicinal power; it was just locked inside this charred mixture, unable to be separated by ordinary people.

"Rise!"

Gu Shen gave a low shout, exerting strength in his arms, and shoveled a large scoop of the black medicinal dregs into the iron bucket.

He worked hard, and before long, both iron buckets were filled to the brim.

"Manager Wang Tong, I've finished cleaning it up."

Gu Shen wiped the black soot from his face and lifted the two iron buckets, each weighing a hundred catties. Although his steps were a bit unsteady, he stood firmly.

Having just achieved a Breakthrough to Qi Refining Level 3, he still had this much strength.

"Go, go, pour them into the Earth Lung Well behind the mountain." Manager Wang Tong waved his hand impatiently, as if shooing away a fly.

Gu Shen felt as if he had been granted an amnesty. Carrying the buckets, he hunched his back and walked quickly out of the Earth Fire Room.

...

Behind the mountain, the Earth Lung Well.

This was the place where Baicao Pavilion specifically processed discarded medicinal dregs and toxic waste. A natural deep well led directly to an underground magma river; anything thrown down would be instantly burned to ashes.

Usually, there were few people here.

Gu Shen carried the buckets to the edge of the well and looked around.

This place was remote, surrounded only by a few withered, crooked trees; there wasn't even a crow.

He put down the iron buckets and did not rush to dump them.

If he poured them directly into the well, it would truly be a waste.

He reached out a hand and pressed it against the edge of the left iron bucket, his fingers touching the scalding hot medicinal dregs.

"Collect."

With a thought.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the [Heaven and Earth Furnace] suddenly opened its furnace mouth, and an invisible suction force transmitted out through Gu Shen's fingers.

Hum!

The black medicinal dregs that had originally been overflowing in the bucket seemed to melt like snow, instantly decreasing by a large portion.

Those visible black solids, along with the fire poison and medicinal liquid contained within, vanished into thin air, forcibly ingested into the Great Furnace located in the dimension of his Sea of Consciousness.

In a few breaths, the left bucket was empty.

Gu Shen followed suit and sucked the bucket in his right hand clean as well.

Both buckets of medicinal dregs were entirely in the furnace.

[Refining...] [Stripping away baleful fire energy, removing charcoal Impurities...]

Gu Shen dared not delay. To complete the act, he grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and sprinkled it into the empty buckets, creating some residual marks. Then, he pretended to exert effort, "dumping" the empty buckets towards the well opening, while letting out a sigh of relief.

After finishing all this, he carried the light, empty buckets and walked back slowly.

As he walked, he diverted a wisp of his mind into his Sea of Consciousness.

Inside the Great Furnace, a raging ethereal fire burned.

Those two large buckets of foul-smelling medicinal dregs were undergoing a transformative change. The black Impurities were incinerated into nothingness, converted into fuel for the Great Furnace; the red baleful fire energy was extracted and dissipated at the edge of the Sea of Consciousness.

In the end, only a cluster of emerald-green liquid remained at the bottom of the furnace.

It was about the size of a fist, crystal clear, like a pool of green amber, emitting an extremely rich, fresh herbal fragrance.

[Refining complete.] [Obtained: Qi Gathering Spirit Liquid (Pure).] [Medicinal effect: Equivalent to ten Low Grade qi gathering pills, and contains no pill toxins.]

"Hiss..."

Gu Shen stumbled, nearly dropping the buckets.

Ten!

This round of "taking out the trash" had actually resulted in ten Spirit Stones!

You know, as an apprentice at Baicao Pavilion, working himself to the bone for a month, his monthly salary was only two Spirit Stones. The harvest from this one trip was equivalent to half a year of work!

And it was pure spirit liquid without any pill toxins!

"This business is worth doing."

Gu Shen suppressed the urge to laugh up at the sky, biting his lip hard and using the pain to calm himself down.

Wealth moves the heart.

Although this spirit liquid was good, how to use it was a problem.

Drink it directly? Too wasteful. If he could refine it back into pills, or combine it with other auxiliary materials...

No, now is not the time to think about this.

Gu Shen took a deep breath, adjusted his facial expression, and once again resumed that dull, cowardly appearance.

Returning to the Earth Fire Room, he respectfully put the shovel and iron buckets back in their original places.

"Manager Wang Tong, I've finished disposing of it."

Manager Wang Tong was lying in his chair picking his teeth. He glanced at him and casually tossed over a spirit crystal: "Alright, consider yourself sensible, kid. A reward for you."

One spirit crystal.

Trying to dismiss a beggar.

If it were before, Gu Shen would surely have picked it up with a face full of gratitude and thanked him profusely.

But now, looking at the spirit crystal rolling to his feet, covered in dust, his heart was calm, and he even wanted to laugh.

He bent down, picked up the spirit crystal, wiped it clean carefully, and tucked it into his bosom.

"Thank you for the reward, Manager Wang Tong."

Mosquito legs are still meat; one shouldn't despise them. This is the self-cultivation of the Dao of Survival.

"Alright, get lost. Come earlier tomorrow. The task in the pill room is heavy these few days; if you dare to be late, I'll skin you alive," Manager Wang Tong cursed impatiently.

"Yes."

Gu Shen lowered his head and backed out of the pill room.

Walking out the gate of Baicao Pavilion, the sky outside had already turned completely dark.

The cold wind was still biting, but Gu Shen felt warm all over.

He touched the center of his brows, where his greatest secret was hidden—it was also his capital for survival in this cutthroat Cultivation World.

"With this clump of spirit liquid, plus the Spirit Stones exchanged for that refined iron..."

Gu Shen looked up at the pale moon overhead, his gaze firm.

"Next, it's time to go buy a defensive Spell."

At Qi Refining Level 3, having cultivation alone is not enough.

In this market where people kill for treasure at the slightest disagreement, if you don't have a blade in your hand, you are just a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

He tightened his tattered cotton-padded coat, turned, and merged into the night, walking towards the "Ghost Market," the most chaotic place in the market with the most black-market goods.