Chapter 33: Alchemy Furnace, Spirit Refining

“Big brother, your price is…”

He Pingsheng stared blankly.

Three times five spirit stones, two per time?

“Young man, how would you like to buy it?” the middle-aged vendor sighed. “If I sell you one spirit stone, I’d be at a loss—this isn’t something I made myself; I bought it from a shop!”

“But if I sell it to you for two, you think it’s too expensive!”

“How about this: I sell you this for two spirit stones, and I throw in another treasure—how’s that?”

He Pingsheng asked: “What treasure?”

The middle-aged vendor said: “Wait a moment… let me find it…”

He opened his backpack, rummaged inside for a long while, then pulled out a scroll made of some unknown animal’s hide.

“Look here…” the vendor said. “This records a divine technique—take it, study it well!”

“If you ever comprehend it, it’ll be incredible!”

“My ancestors were great alchemists; this came down from them. Shame my descendants can’t learn it at all… sigh…”

The middle-aged vendor handed the item to He Pingsheng and sighed again.

He Pingsheng took the treasure, glanced at it, then frowned: “Big brother, this… the general outline is missing?”

“The first chapter is gone!”

“The second chapter is mostly missing!”

“The third chapter is eighty percent gone!”

“The fourth chapter doesn’t exist at all…”

He Pingsheng was dumbfounded.

The general outline said there were six chapters total!

But this…

What the hell am I supposed to cultivate?

And because the general outline was missing, He Pingsheng had no idea what this technique even did.

Even the title—“Tong Shen”—revealed nothing.

So he couldn’t help asking: “Also, what does the book’s name, ‘Tong Shen,’ mean?”

The middle-aged vendor scowled: “It’s ‘Tong Shen Fa’—one character’s missing. Look here… time’s worn it away!”

He Pingsheng was speechless.

The middle-aged vendor added: “If this were complete, do you think I’d give it away?”

“Young man, don’t be ungrateful—master this method, and if you gain even a sliver of insight, it’ll benefit you for life!”

“Fine!” He Pingsheng thought for a moment, then pulled out two spirit stones.

The deal was done.

Of course, he knew he’d bought something useless.

But it didn’t matter—he’d just put it in the Treasure Basin later and strengthen it; maybe it’d become a complete version.

And even upgrade.

“Brother Wang!” After finishing, He Pingsheng pulled out the remaining three spirit stones: “If you still need them, I’ll lend you these three!”

“Good good good… Brother He, thank you so much!”

“Don’t worry—I, Wang Dun, am the most trustworthy. I’ve got an alchemy furnace at home; I’ll leave it with you as collateral!”

Alchemy furnaces existed in this world.

Small ones could be used by individuals.

But compared to large furnaces, small ones heated unevenly and were hard to control—only cultivators with strong spiritual sense usually used them.

Especially for low-rank disciples.

“Fine!” He Pingsheng handed the three spirit stones to Wang Dun.

Wang Dun cheerfully spent twenty spirit stones to buy a furnace of [Juzi Dan].

Of course, the price was fair—at least much better than buying from the Sect’s Changyi Pavilion.

“Alright, Brother He, it’s getting late—we should head back!”

Wang Dun retrieved his paper crane from Fenghe Zhuang; the two mounted it and shot straight upward, heading back toward Grand Void Gate.

Mount Matou was under the Daoxuan Alliance’s territory; dozens of sects surrounded the area. Since Wang Dun and He Pingsheng wore Grand Void Gate robes, they faced little danger.

Ambushes, robbery, murder for treasures—none of that had happened in Daoxuan Alliance lands for many years.

Of course, since both were broke with nothing valuable, no one would even notice them.

As the sun set, the two finally returned to Spirit Herb Valley.

“Brother He… wait a moment…”

Wang Dun brought out a palm-sized copper furnace from his quarters: “This is my alchemy furnace—I’ll leave it with you as collateral. When I get three spirit stones back, you return it to me!”

“You can use it too—just channel spiritual power to open it.”

“Ah…”

He Pingsheng nodded, didn’t refuse, and took the furnace outright.

Since Elder Kumu hadn’t returned, He Pingsheng couldn’t leave.

He settled in the valley, cultivating while he waited.

Night fell, all sounds vanished.

The valley, usually shrouded in mist, now cleared; the night sky glittered with stars like pearls, the full moon hung large as a cartwheel in midair, and streams of moonlight bathed the entire valley.

He Pingsheng shut each stone door of his cave, then eagerly pulled the Treasure Basin from his body.

All other items inside the basin he’d placed on his bed.

He tossed the tattered, incomplete [Tong Shen Fa] into the basin.

Shhh…

Then shoved the basin under his bed.

The cave was pitch-black, no light at all.

Yet the moonlight condensed into moon essence, drifting like semi-transparent mist through the stone doors into the bedroom, where the basin absorbed it.

He Pingsheng ignored it, rolled over, and fell asleep.

He woke early the next day.

First thing, he pulled the Treasure Basin from under the bed.

He glanced inside—and burst into joy: two books were inside!

He pulled them out.

The first was titled: [Tian Mo Zhong Shen Fa].

He Pingsheng didn’t study it—he immediately grabbed the second.

The second was titled: [Xuan Men Jing Xin Zhen Jue].

This one was good!

He Pingsheng immediately opened the [Xuan Men Jing Xin Zhen Jue].

The first page held only one character: Heaven.

The second page—the general outline—was complete.

Chapter One: Qi Refining—complete.

Chapter Two: Foundation Establishment—complete.

Chapter Three: Golden Core—complete.

Below it were Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, and Void Refinement chapters!

All six chapters were intact.

But what exactly was this?

He Pingsheng took a deep breath and carefully studied the general outline of the [Xuan Men Jing Xin Zhen Jue].

An hour later, he finally understood what it was.

“That vendor didn’t lie to me!”

This was a cultivation method for refining the spirit.

Practicing it strengthened one’s spiritual soul.

A strong spiritual soul brought endless benefits to a cultivator.

First, it better supported alchemy.

Second, during combat, a cultivator with strong spiritual sense controlled spells more precisely.

For example, two Qi Refining fourth-layer cultivators had similar spiritual sense—both could project about ten zhang.

But if you practiced this spirit-refining method, your spiritual sense could extend to twenty zhang—or even fifty.

Wouldn’t that let you crush your opponent with sheer range?

Your attack range just increased.