Chapter 370

The alchemist Lu Dashi often buys elixirs from He Pingsheng's shop.

They weren't close, but they knew each other.

So he recognized He Pingsheng.

"Greetings, Master Lu!" He Pingsheng bowed respectfully.

Master Lu waved his hand. "Hey… no need for 'Master Lu.' Just call me Brother Lu from now on—no formality needed!"

"Alright, Brother Lu!" He Pingsheng reached into his sleeve and tossed a treasure onto the table before him: "Take a look—what do you think of this treasure?"

It was a Ten Thousand Souls Banner!

A top-grade magic treasure!

It bore twelve layers of sealing runes.

Technically, it was a third-rank treasure meant for Core Formation cultivators.

"Hmm… this treasure is quite impressive!" Master Lu examined the banner for a moment. "Remarkable, remarkable… it's a top-grade magic treasure!"

"Hehe… I couldn't have crafted such a high-grade treasure myself!"

"Over the years, I've forged artifacts for others. Though I've made magic treasures before, they were all low-grade."

"To upgrade this magic treasure, you must warm it in your dantian."

He Pingsheng nodded. "Yes…"

"Today, I've come hoping you'll help me upgrade this item."

Master Lu was clearly a third-rank artificer—he couldn't possibly forge a fourth-rank Ancient Treasure, as he'd just admitted, having only ever produced low-grade third-rank magic treasures.

But upgrading was different.

You couldn't ask him to forge one from scratch, but merely upgrading an existing item posed little difficulty.

Whether an upgrade succeeded depended mostly on the quality of the materials, not the artificer's technique.

"If you only want to upgrade it one level—to low-grade Mystic Treasure—it should be no problem!" Master Lu said. "But do you have suitable forging materials on you?"

"I don't have any such materials myself!"

He Pingsheng pulled out a storage bag and handed it to Master Lu: "What about this?"

Inside the bag was a piece of Extreme Yin Qingmetal.

About a foot in size.

Originally, He Pingsheng had obtained a piece of Extreme Yin Qingmetal measuring a zhang across from the Five Dragon Gorge's secret realm, but it was too large to fit into the Treasure Basin, so he'd cut it into ten pieces.

After strengthening them, the ten pieces became twenty.

Now he pulled out one piece and gave it to Master Lu.

"Is this… Extreme Yin Qingmetal?"

"Excellent! Top-tier yin-element forging material—perfect match for your Ten Thousand Souls Banner, absolutely perfect…"

"Brother He, unfortunately, your forging material is a bit scarce."

Master Lu chuckled awkwardly.

He Pingsheng asked: "How much do you need?"

Master Lu said: "At least three portions."

He Pingsheng waved his hand and pulled out three more pieces, tossing them to Master Lu: "I'll give you four."

"The remainder is yours as a gift!"

"Just upgrade it for me—your fee can be settled separately!"

"How much?"

He Pingsheng preferred to clarify all terms upfront.

Master Lu thought for a moment. "Upgrading a top-grade magic treasure is extremely demanding. It requires yin-element fire for forging, but I don't currently possess any yin fire—I'll need to go find some."

"The labor alone will be costly."

He Pingsheng smiled but said nothing.

Master Lu said: "Alright, I won't ask for spirit stones."

"I want one bottle of high-grade 【Juyuan Elixir】—twelve pills."

Twelve high-grade Juyuan Elixirs?

That was a steep price—on the Red Moon Trading Society's market, it would cost one million eight hundred thousand spirit stones!

But He Pingsheng agreed.

He immediately pulled out a bottle of elixirs and handed them to Master Lu.

Master Lu was ecstatic upon receiving them.

He Pingsheng also had a 【Nourishing Soul Banner】 that needed upgrading, but he didn't want to have it forged here.

Two top-grade magic treasures, both yin-element, would attract unnecessary trouble.

He'd find someone else later.

"Then it's settled!" He Pingsheng said. "How long will it take for my treasure to be upgraded?"

Master Lu thought. "Give me two months."

"Good!" He Pingsheng nodded. "I'll come back in two months to collect it."

"Master Lu, I have another question to ask you!" He Pingsheng said. "As an artificer, you must know where in Liang State large natural fire vents are located?"

"Large natural fire vents?" Master Lu frowned, then said: "Actually, yes—there is one."

He Pingsheng's eyes lit up. "Where?"

Master Lu said: "In the northernmost prefecture of Liang State—North Pole Prefecture!"

"I know that!" He Pingsheng said. "Legend says North Pole Prefecture is frozen, barren land."

"Indeed," Master Lu nodded. "But within North Pole Prefecture lies a great mountain called Ruokai Mountain."

"North of Ruokai Mountain lies a chasm called the Hell Abyss—its underground fires rage endlessly, a sacred haven for fire-element cultivators!"

"The abyss stretches for hundreds of miles and is unclaimed."

"If Brother He wishes to study fire-element Dao arts, you may meditate there—you'll gain unexpected insights."

He Pingsheng beamed. "Thank you, thank you…"

"My fire essence is weak—I always feel my alchemy lacks power, so I want to go refine it."

"I understand, I understand!" Master Lu said. "I'm the same—alas, alchemy and forging consume too much fire!"

After some polite chatter, He Pingsheng took his leave.

His true purpose wasn't to refine fire-element power—it was for the Phoenix Egg.

The Phoenix Egg had absorbed much fire-elemental rule energy, yet showed no sign of hatching.

He estimated that even if he devoured all his Crimson Fire Crystals, the egg still might not hatch—it needed a far greater flame.

Since the Hell Abyss lay just north of Ruokai Mountain, why not go try?

Hmm…

Ruokai Mountain?

Why did that name feel familiar? Had he heard it somewhere before?

As He Pingsheng pondered, he returned to his alchemy shop.

He spotted Cheng Daocai and Cheng Xiaohe behind the counter, and suddenly slapped his forehead. "Old Cheng… aren't you in seclusion?"

Cheng Daocai's face fell. "Young Master, I've felt my travels are insufficient—seclusion and pill consumption no longer yield progress."

"Perfect!" He Pingsheng said. "Then go travel—and do me a favor."

Cheng Daocai beamed. "Young Master, speak! What task?"

He Pingsheng said: "You know we're both from Qi State, not Liang State."

"In Qi State, I once belonged to a sect, but due to certain events, it was destroyed, and I lost contact with my Master, Senior Sister, and Senior Brother."

"Go to the Qi State Dingxiang Sect Alliance and find out what happened to them."