Chapter 2042: The Great Dao Is Simple

Ancient immortals refining elixirs—supposedly there's a record of a furnace refining for three hundred years. The process isn't difficult because forming the elixir is hard, but because the materials are especially difficult to refine.

"But your subordinates can't hold out." The green fire continued heating; the temperature inside the cauldron had long been enough to roast a person. Shituo propped up the barrier, only then could he preserve these few lives, but the barrier always has a limit—"At most two quarters of an hour, they'll turn to ash."

The temperature inside this Wood King Cauldron rises in leaps; by the end, even Old Ox couldn't bear it, and only then would he be refined.

Nan Ronghe and the others all heard it, their faces changing dramatically.

Old Ox again snorted angrily: "Mu Su Zhenjun must have borrowed external power, otherwise he couldn't make the furnace so sturdy!"

At this moment, the green fire on the ground suddenly tangled together, taking shape—like a tiger, like an elephant, like a snake—rushing swiftly toward everyone.

These green fire monsters pounced onto the Golden Armor Divine General; though they couldn't instantly melt it, they left blackened scorch marks on the metal.

This shows how formidable the true fire of the Wood King Cauldron is. You should know that the most commonly used technique in upgrading the Golden Armor Divine General is fire quenching—repeatedly returning to the furnace, reforging at high temperature.

Ordinary true fire's damage to the Golden Armor Divine General is nearly zero.

This Wood King Cauldron's true fire truly lives up to being the immortal's treasure fire for alchemy.

Meanwhile, Shituo had already flung two green fire monsters aside, but once these monsters were shattered, the temperature inside the furnace would rise accordingly.

Their number is endless; new monsters are constantly generated at every moment.

"Outrageous!" the Soul-Capturing Mirror cursed, "Master, give them a taste of their own medicine!"

But the master said to it: "Nan Ronghe and the others can't hold on—you take them inside."

Even if the fire doesn't kill people, Nan Ronghe and the others cannot survive long in the poisonous smoke environment.

Now looking at them, their faces are all purple, coughing continuously.

"Is... ah?" the mirror blinked, then realized—the master wanted it to take all three people into the mirror world.

The mirror world naturally isn't affected by smoke and fire; the one suffering is the mirror itself. It originally lay comfortably in the master's bosom, but opening its mouth brought this great trouble upon itself.

How many years has this talkative flaw gone uncorrected?

"Hurry."

"Eh, yes." The mirror sighed, "You'd better think of a way out of the furnace quickly—I'm afraid I can't hold on much longer either!"

It's not an immortal's body—how could it withstand the immortal's true fire?

Thus He Lingchuan, taking Shituo as the center, used the Floating Life Blade to swiftly carve a circle within ten zhang, drawing a white trace, then slapped his palm onto the ground.

A fire-blocking barrier was thus established.

All the green fire monsters rushing in from outside, upon stepping into this white circle, instantly dissipated into nothingness.

They weren't shattered, but vanished in place, so they also didn't aggravate the furnace's temperature rise.

Outside, Mu Su Zhenjun's face sank like water.

These green fire monsters are products of the Wood King Cauldron; he could feel that He Xia's drawn barrier was like a vacuum—all true fire flames and high heat, upon approaching, were sucked away!

He Xia himself couldn't possibly have such cultivation; he must possess a miraculous fire-warding artifact on his person.

If this continues, refining these few people will have to wait until the Year of the Monkey and Month of the Horse?

Inside the furnace, the mirror landed and opened the mirror world. He Lingchuan pointed, and Nan Ronghe and the others hurriedly jumped in.

Inside and outside two worlds, the mirror world remained peacefully tranquil.

Saved, saved! Upon entering, the three all gasped deeply.

Having resolved the urgent problem, He Lingchuan also worried endlessly, discussing with Shituo: "Think again—immortals' memories couldn't possibly be that bad!"

Why did he bring into the furnace not the top student Liu Qingdao!

Shituo twisted his neck, straining to recall, and after a while said: "Oh, I remember the master at that time seemed to have said, said a line—fortunately he had ten zhang of Golden Body!"

"Ten zhang Golden Body?" So Qianhuan True Person was already that large before becoming an immortal?

Among the countless seashells in the world, only he could become an immortal—truly no coincidence.

The Blood Demon immediately said: "Qianhuan's true form, among the true immortals I know, is the largest in size."

He Lingchuan deeply agreed—it could wrap the entire overturned sea within it, a giant clam; only by seeing it in person could one feel its grandeur.

"So he used his true form to burst the enemy's elixir cauldron?" He Lingchuan murmured, "Such a giant clam—one cauldron couldn't hold it?"

Although Old Ox's memory is a bit unreliable, He Lingchuan thought this made sense. In their other attempts, outsiders just laughed and said nothing; only when he used the Golden Armor Divine General to stubbornly resist the elixir furnace did Mu Su Zhenjun speak mockingly.

What does this indicate? He felt guilty, deep down unwilling for him to continue trying in this regard.

"This Wood King Cauldron must be stronger than the enemy Qianhuan faced back then—your Golden Armor Divine General growing twelve zhang taller still couldn't burst it." The Blood Demon was pessimistic, "And you lack the ability to manifest Qianhuan's true form."

"Pouring cold water—you're quite good at that." Speaking of helping, yet useless. He Lingchuan said angrily, "Do you have no solution for this elixir furnace either?"

"You know, I can change endlessly, but I most dislike true fire and goldstone—this furnace has both." The Blood Demon's constitution is special; these two things counter it. It couldn't help but sigh, "The interior of this elixir furnace has been fire-quenched by true fire for countless years, harder than refined gold by who knows how many times. You and I trying to break the cauldron wall—difficult. Moreover, Mu Su Zhenjun and Qingyang are still outside desperately supplying it power."

So, how to get out?

Back then, Qianhuan escaped the furnace by maximizing his true form;

Although this Wood King Cauldron is miraculous, its internal space cannot be infinitely expanded—it must have a limit.

Combined with what Mu Su Zhenjun just said, He Lingchuan felt his initial approach wasn't wrong—if he could break that limit...

Dealing with such a treasure, clever tricks won't work. Only by adopting the simplest, most violent method can it be broken.

The Great Dao is simplest.

But what could be larger than the Golden Armor Divine General's bulk?

The first thing He Lingchuan thought of was the red chaotic giant shadow in the Great Square Vessel.

That fellow's size, among the giant objects He Lingchuan has seen, ranks third—this small medicine cauldron definitely couldn't contain it.

But Chaos never comes out of the Great Square Vessel; He Lingchuan couldn't persuade it.

Seeing him standing in the cauldron, lost in thought, Qingyang immediately said: "Don't let him get too comfortable."

The implication was to interrupt He Xia's train of thought, not let him truly ponder something.

She turned half her body, about to signal others to act, but Mu Su Zhenjun said: "Not necessary!"

Immortals naturally have their own measure; Mu Su Zhenjun is also a wooden-headed blockhead, stubborn as ever, so Qingyang couldn't defy his face—she could only suppress her anxiety.

Mu Su Zhenjun was already displeased with their stubborn resistance, and at this moment he flicked his hand, forming a seal: "You think only true fire refines inside the Wood King Cauldron? How naive."

He Lingchuan had only turned a few thoughts in his mind when he suddenly felt something amiss under his feet, and hastily flicked away.