Chapter 2041

This alone made Nan Ronghe feel much more favorably toward it. Other immortals wouldn't even spare a glance at mortals—where else could someone climb onto their backs?

Now wasn't the time to be fussy; He Lingchuan tilted his head at the two guards: "Come on up."

The two guards also felt the scorching heat beneath their feet, unbearable, with nowhere else to stand, so they muttered an apology and climbed onto the blue ox's back alongside Nan Ronghe.

Once up there, the surrounding heat dropped by ninety percent immediately, and breathing became smooth.

Xu Tuo's true form was that of a great water buffalo; flicking its tail could rapidly cool the surrounding area.

Elder Xu Tuo saw He Lingchuan still standing where he was: "You're not coming?"

He Lingchuan shook his head: "I can withstand high heat."

With the divine bone necklace, true fire couldn't harm him. Aside from the slightly irritating smoke and mist, he felt no burning sensation.

Elder Xu Tuo fixed his gaze on him and let out a surprised "eh."

He Lingchuan was like a human-shaped black hole—any true fire that struck him vanished completely, leaving not a trace of heat.

Relying on his immunity to high heat, he leapt onto the cauldron's walls and tapped around, especially circling the lid, hoping to find a weak spot.

This wasn't pointless effort; Lingguang's stone cauldron had a slight crack near the lid, which Sunyang Prefecture had painstakingly repaired. This was because some elixirs' formation process was extremely violent, slamming violently against the inner walls, sometimes even punching holes through.

However, after inspecting it, He Lingchuan felt somewhat disappointed—the Wood King Cauldron clearly possessed self-repairing ability; the earth was earthy, but he saw not a single scratch on the inner wall.

As he tapped, he asked: "Old ox, you're well-traveled—don't you have any ideas?"

If only Zhu Xiuer were here; though the subterranean spider queen's ancient memories occasionally had gaps.

"Eh..." Elder Xu Tuo had actually been thinking of solutions: "Mu Su must have used some method to reinforce this elixir furnace; even if I cause damage, it regrows instantly."

That wasn't wrong—He Lingchuan swung his halberd two or three times at the wall, the blade carving a three-foot-deep gash, but it immediately began to heal at a visible speed.

He Lingchuan actively deduced: "To deal with this, either smash it to pieces in one blow, or keep attacking until it can no longer recover."

The restorative power is not infinite for anyone.

But the problem is, can we outlast this furnace by stalling for time?

Xu Tuo suddenly let out two "oh"s: "Right, my master once said it hadn't yet become immortal when it was captured, thrown into the furnace, and nearly refined into an elixir."

Qianhuan True Person is actually a giant clam demon.

It's no problem for cultivators to refine demons into elixirs.

Nan Ronghe's throat was dry, and the guard beside him had already begun dry-coughing. Though not directly attacked by fire poison, the furnace's temperature kept rising, and eventually they'd be smoked dry. So Nan Ronghe interjected urgently: "Then how did your master escape afterward?"

If these two powerhouses kept chatting, they'd be five-tenths done.

The old ox hesitated for two sounds: "This, this..."

He Lingchuan thought inwardly: "Oh no—don't tell me you forgot!"

"Back then, maybe, probably, I walked away." The old ox gave himself an excuse: "Ah, it was just too long ago! My master only mentioned it in passing."

Everyone couldn't help but raise a hand to rub their foreheads.

Underachiever—this is absolutely an underachiever.

Not studying properly, and at critical moments, you'll lose your life!

This space isn't large either. He Lingchuan thought for a moment, then ordered the old ox to step aside, and with a casual gesture, he summoned a colossal figure:

Jin Jia God General!

He Shao's Jin Jia bronze general was battered and broken, but the Nine Nether Great Emperor's Jin Jia God General was radiant and splendid, fully upgraded. Since Yangshan developed and grew strong, he became rich enough to rival a nation, willing to spend money to forge, no—upgrade the Jin Jia God General, and even added many new functions.

This Jin Jia God General was forged from secret-留 steel, its entire body gleaming with beautiful golden light, thick and powerful.

Its height was five zhang; here it couldn't stretch fully, so it had to bend and crouch.

He Lingchuan pointed at the lid: "Smash it!"

The Jin Jia God General raised its massive hammer and slammed down hard on the cauldron lid.

Clang—clang—clang—resonance lingering.

The Jin Jia God General is mostly used in city siege and defense; He Lingchuan's version had ample materials, the hammer in his hand weighing three thousand jin, fully usable as a siege hammer. Earlier, when the Black Armor Army attacked a certain flashy gold tyrant, it only took three blows to dent the enemy's gate, even causing a large section of the city wall to collapse.

With each strike, the cauldron shuddered violently.

The Wood Host True Monarch outside also shook along, displeased: "Death struggle!"

Qingyang watched, eyes unblinking: "He always has something in his hand."

He Xiaosheng having overturned the sea, his treasures must be numerous. She felt some worry.

"Unless this Jin Jia God General can smash through the entire mountain, it can't do anything to the treasure cauldron."

If the Wood Host True Monarch's treasure cauldron could be smashed by a mortal-made siege weapon, that would truly be a heavenly joke!

The Jin Jia God General's attack effect was the same as the old ox's—denting the wall into a large hole, powder falling like snow. But this wall was like rubber; the dented part always bounced back and repaired itself. Under He Lingchuan's command, the Jin Jia God General clanged clang clang, striking the same point over ten times, the dent reaching one and a half zhang deep, with many tree roots and broken branches falling out, yet it never managed to break through to the outside.

The cauldron remained unbroken.

Seeing this, He Lingchuan had a question:

Just how thick is this cauldron's outer wall?

A thought popped into his mind, so he issued three consecutive commands to the Jin Jia God General:

"Big!"

"Big!"

"Even bigger!"

With each command received, the Jin Jia God General grew taller by a large section.

After He Lingchuan's three shouts, its height had grown from five zhang to twelve zhang!

Ordinary hills aren't even this tall.

The inner space of the cauldron is only about five zhang high. He Lingchuan wanted to use the Jin Jia God General to prop it open.

But who knew that when the Jin Jia God General grew one zhang taller, the furnace lid grew three zhang taller!

After becoming twelve zhang tall, the distance between the Jin Jia God General and the furnace lid actually increased further.

"Damn it!" He Lingchuan couldn't help but curse.

"Useless!" An abrupt voice rang out. "The Wood King Cauldron has refined who knows how many massive figures; its physique is no less than your Jin Jia Divine General. The treasure cauldron can transform at will — you wanting to burst it open is a pipe dream."

This voice? Mu Su Zhenjun?

Right, the enemy probably has some method to spy on the situation inside the cauldron.

Qingyang listened from the side and waved his hands repeatedly, signaling Mu Su Zhenjun not to speak further.

Facing an opponent like He Xiao, speaking more only means making more mistakes.

After hearing this, He Lingchuan also pondered silently. He jumped back to the ground and asked Old Ox again: "How much longer can you hold out?"

"At this rate, another seven or eight hours is no problem." Its immortal body is sturdy and impervious to water and fire, and on top of that it's wearing an ox hide! The Wood King Cauldron's true fire wanting to refine it would take a contest of time.

(End of Chapter)