Chapter 51: Exploding Furnace

Two hours after the three slaves left.

At this moment Li Xuan was sitting upright on the grass, his eyes fixed on the copper cauldron in front of him that had turned blazing red; nevertheless Li Xuan kept pouring the flame within his own body into the cauldron, and the cauldron's condition was poor—it had been scorched by the searing fire for a long time and was now on the verge of melting.

This time Li Xuan was alchemizing a Fasting Pill; the Fasting Pill required a total of eight medicinal ingredients and four grains. Because the number of ingredients increased, the alchemy took longer than for a Yunling Pill, which caused the copper cauldron to struggle to endure the high temperature of the Burning Heart Divine Flame.

Li Xuan watched the copper cauldron anxiously; if the cauldron leaked and the flame temperature got out of control, it would explode the furnace!

If a basin‑sized copper cauldron exploded, it would be enough for Li Xuan to swallow a whole pot.

"Damn, I really can't make do! This copper cauldron is completely unsuitable for alchemy! I'll toss it away as soon as I finish this batch—it's far too unsafe!" Li Xuan clenched his teeth, poured in soul power desperately, steadied the flame lotus inside the copper cauldron, and tried to complete the alchemy before the cauldron gave out.

At this point the alchemy was at its final step; in a few more minutes, once the medicinal energy was smoothed out, the pill could be extracted, so Li Xuan was reluctant to abandon this batch and risked the exploding furnace as a gamble.

But this time the Lucky Four-Leaf Clover's buff had no duration, and problems still arose.

Just as the pill was about to form, a fine crack suddenly appeared at the bottom of the copper cauldron, the flame leaked out, and Li Xuan startled as the flame temperature spun out of control.

The temperature inside the copper cauldron rose sharply.

The next second…

"Boom!"

A massive explosion echoed across the open plain.

With the blast, a gust of wind hurled Li Xuan into the air!

"Whoosh…"

"Bang!"

Li Xuan was sent flying, soaring more than ten meters away, slamming onto the ground and rolling several times before finally stopping.

After lying on the ground for a while, Li Xuan got up, shaking the dust from his head.

Li Xuan couldn't help but complain, "That force was way too strong!"

At this moment Li Xuan was still dazed and suffering from ringing ears, so he decided to sit on the ground and rest for a bit before moving on.

"The power of this exploding furnace is unbelievably huge; this is only a First Grade pill. If it were a Nine-Grade pill, it would easily turn a Feng Hao Fo Douluo into ash!" Li Yuan, after resting a while and with the ringing and dizziness easing, couldn't help but continue to complain.

But using a Nine-Grade pill to blast a Title Douluo would be a huge waste, like using a cannon to kill a mosquito; even if Li Xuan had a Nine-Grade pill, he wouldn't be willing to use it to explode a Title Douluo.

Li Xuan sat on the ground to calm himself, then after a while got up and went to the spot where the copper cauldron had exploded; the cauldron's body now resembled a blooming flower. Fortunately copper's ductility prevented the fragments from scattering everywhere; otherwise it would have been like a hand‑grenade detonating on his face.

Li Xuan fixed his gaze on the inside of the copper cauldron.

Inside the copper cauldron, the alchemy had turned into a spread of black powder, emitting a strong burnt odor that was extremely unpleasant.

"The copper cauldron's quality is decent, but it can't withstand heat; if I had a proper Pill Furnace, I wouldn't have caused an explosion," Li Xuan said, picking up the cauldron's remnants with a sigh.

"Fine, let's eat first; we'll deal with it after we're full," Li Xuan said, tossing the shattered copper cauldron aside and returning to the carriage to have lunch.

Back in the carriage, Li Xuan took out two plates of stir‑fried dishes and a bowl of rice from the Void Pearl; they were steaming hot, and Li Xuan immediately dug in heartily.

After more than ten minutes, Li Xuan set down his utensils and began to consider whether there was any other way to replace a proper furnace. A legitimate alchemy furnace is forged from top‑grade materials and imprinted with countless talismans—some to control flame, some to stimulate medicinal properties, some to stabilize the furnace…

It's not that any vessel shaped like a cauldron can be used for alchemy.

On Douluo Continent, alchemists do not exist, so there is no hope of finding an alchemy furnace there.

And Li Xuan trying to forge his own alchemy furnace is even more unrealistic; he isn't a weapon‑crafting master, and even if he had a side‑job transmutation scroll for that profession, he wouldn't study it. Alchemy already consumes a large portion of Li Xuan's energy, leaving none for learning crafting.

For a moment Li Xuan didn't know how to find any container suitable for alchemy.

"Now I can only pray that the System Mall refreshes a Pill Furnace! Otherwise there's really no other way to get a new furnace," Li Xuan sighed helplessly while lying in the carriage.

"Open System Mall!" Li Xuan said to the system.

【System Mall opened successfully…】

【Yue Li Yue Jiaxin Binggan (Mango Sago flavor) ×1……1 point】

【Lei Bi (30‑year aged) ×1……3 points】

【Thirty‑thousand‑year Soul Bone (rare) ×1……50000 points】

【Break Barrier Pill (6th grade) ×…5000 points (original price 10000000 points)】

"System, are you messing with me? Look at the points I have—what can I afford? I just want a Pill Furnace, a Pill Furnace!" Li Xuan slammed his hand on the table in anger.

Li Xuan didn't expect that, with his soul power only at a few dozen levels, the shop would refresh a recipe for a Six‑Grade alchemy!

On Douluo Continent, a Five‑Grade pill corresponds to a Title Douluo, and even if a Six‑Grade pill were forged, a Title Douluo that ingested it would be blown apart by the overwhelming medicinal force.

Today the System Mall performed reliably; the items it refreshed were either useless or too expensive. Li Xuan, already accustomed to the mall's unreliability, sighed and closed it.

Leaning against the carriage, Li Xuan frowned at the ceiling, pondering how to solve the alchemy furnace issue.

Without a suitable alchemy furnace, Li Xuan couldn't continue alchemy, nor could he level up the alchemy side‑job.

Bored, Li Xuan lay in the carriage, summoned his martial soul Nine Hearts Nine Flame Lotus, and began to toy with it.

Looking at the Nine Hearts Nine Flame Lotus in his palm, a bold idea flashed through Li Xuan's mind.

"When this lotus closes, isn't it a ready‑made alchemy furnace?" Li Xuan exclaimed, delighted at the Nine Hearts Nine Flame Lotus in his hand.

Without hesitation, Li Xuan leapt out of the carriage compartment and sat on the grass.

Li Xuan hesitated, then abandoned the attempt to alchemize a Fasting Pill and instead worked on a Yunling Pill he had successfully made before, since it was a test of his martial soul and he preferred to start with a familiar pill.

He took out the materials for a Yunling Pill, filtered, ground, and weighed them himself, preparing as thoroughly as possible for the alchemy.

After all the ingredients were ready, Li Xuan inhaled deeply, then extended his left hand, letting soul power slowly gather in his palm, where a blue glow coalesced into a palm‑sized lotus.

Wishing all readers a happy weekend; if there's anything you dislike, feel free to leave a review, I'll read it seriously, please, dear readers.

(End of Chapter)