Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 74 – Soul Mushroom and the Eighth Furnace

Ancient spiritual wood could develop a soul if a number of coincidences joined together. Once the tree died, the soul could survive within the grain of the wood, circulating about. In a hundred years it would be possible to form a Soul Mushroom that would wither after seven days. However, if a Soul Mushroom had the good fortune of living to a hundred years of age, it would become a precious treasure of the heavens and earth. If one were to swallow this, they could obtain the soul attributes of the spiritual wood, allowing one’s soul to never disperse or extinguish. If a Soul Mushroom could reach a thousand years of age, it would become a magic tool. Once this magic tool was refined into the body, it would form the renowned and eminent Partner Soul of ancient times!

Legends said that in ancient times there was a famous deviant beast of slaughter. With its cruel and vicious nature, it massacred trillions of people, finally triggering a joint alliance of human powerhouses to work together to suppress it. In the ensuing war, light faded and the world collapsed. The power of the mighty deviant beast surpassed all expectations and 70 some human powerhouses fell from the skies. But, using their blood essence as the catalyst, they managed to activate a secret technique that killed it.

The reason for the beast’s immense power lay in the Partner Soul. After this undertaking, the world was left in chaos and all sorts of information related to Partner Souls began to spread out.

A Partner Soul could be called an avatar of the soul, nearly the same as the soul of the main body. But, it could automatically draw in the spiritual strength of the heavens and earth, transforming this into a never-ending stream of energy used to grow the main body’s soul. This could be called an incredible tool for accelerating the cultivation of the soul, but, its effects were not confined to just this. The strength of a Partner Soul lay in its ability to superimpose itself onto the soul of the main body, doubling the cultivator’s soul cultivation immediately. In a critical life or death situation, the Partner Soul could even be destroyed in place of the main body’s soul, allowing one to avoid a life or death catastrophe. For instance, when facing Nascent Soul heavenly tribulation’s most horrifying soul burying thunder tribulation. With a Partner Soul, even if one couldn’t resist it, they could still survive it unscathed.

And this was only some of the information presently known about Partner Souls. Up until today, no one knew what the true strengths of a Partner Soul were. This was because after the deviant beast perished, only a little of the information related to Partner Souls were recorded in the ancient texts. And as the river of time slowly washed everything away, those that now knew about this treasure were exceedingly few!

The Medicine Codex had records about the Soul Mushroom and also had attached information related to the Partner Soul. When Qin Yu had free time between his cultivation periods beneath the Radiant Red Wood, he had looked through the records and knew a little about it.

Soul patterns, Soul Mushroom, Partner Soul, if it were anyone else, even if they were aware of the Partner Soul they could only bitterly smile and give up. But, Qin Yu was different. With the little blue lamp he could accelerate the growth of spiritual plants. No matter how mystical and odd the Soul Mushroom was, it still fell beneath the category of spiritual plants.

And the little blue lamp had never disappointed him.

He took out a jade hoe from the storage bag and carefully cut the Soul Mushroom from the wooden frame. Then, he placed it in a prepared jade bottle.

After sticking on a vitality sealing talisman, Qin Yu turned and left. Although the Medicine Codex recorded that the Soul Mushroom could survive for a day after being separated from the wood, Qin Yu didn’t want to take the risk. After several steps he realized it was still going to be a while until night arrived, so no matter how he worried he could only wait.

He was worrying over this far too much. He still needed to temper his heart!

Taking a deep breath, Qin Yu took the jade bottle and walked to the exit of the wooden pavilion. With a push of his hands, darkness surrounded him once more and he arrived outside the building.

Pill Crucible’s eyes brightened. He smiled, “Junior-apprentice brother, let me see what treasure you have chosen! But let me tell you ahead of time, you need to have carefully considered it. If you impatiently chose something from the front, you will regret it!”

The old fellow narrowed his eyes, but as his gaze fell down, his complexion turned strange. “This…what is this? How come I’ve never seen it before?”

Qin Yu cupped his hands across his chest. “Senior-apprentice brother, this is something I obtained from the last wooden frame. Without accident, it should be the rumored Soul Mushroom.”

Pill Crucible’s mouth fell open. He began to mutter, “Yes, it should be…calculating the time, it is indeed time for the Soul Mushroom to be born.” He slapped his forehead and suddenly said, “What do you want to take that for? It’s useless!”

Qin Yu smiled. “The Soul Mushroom is incomparably mysterious and I just happened to inadvertently learn a little about it. Since I saw it today, I have no intention of missing it. Since senior-apprentice brother wanted me to choose a treasure from the wooden pavilion, it shouldn’t be breaking the rule for me to choose this Soul Mushroom. I’d also like senior-apprentice brother to consent to this.”

Pill Crucible waved his hands, “That’s no good, I wanted to gift you a powerful treasure, not something useless like that. Hurry back and choose something else.”

The figure of the young girl suddenly appeared. She lightly said, “Pill Crucible, don’t reach for a foot after taking an inch.”

Qin Yu’s eyebrows arched up. In Immortal Eclipse Valley there were actually some people that dared speak to his cheap senior-apprentice brother like this?

Pill Crucible coughed. “Spirity, you also saw what happened. This stupid boy Qin Yu took that completely useless Soul Mushroom. Just let him go in and choose one more time. One hour…no, a quarter hour should be fine. I promise I won’t bother you any more in the future too.”

The young girl shook her head, “No.”

Pill Crucible clenched his teeth. “I’ll add on another 30% of spirit stones!”

“No.”

“50%.”

“No.”

“Twice as many!” Pill Crucible’s face twitched. “Spirity, this person is my only junior-apprentice brother. If others know that I gave him a Soul Mushroom as a first meeting gift, I won’t have any face left at all!”

The young girl glanced at him. “Even if you offer me ten times as much I won’t agree. Allowing him to enter the wooden pavilion is already a violation of the valley rules. I cannot allow a second violation to occur.” Her gaze swept over. “Moreover, in a sense, the Soul Mushroom is more precious than all the other treasures in the wooden pavilion. If he chose something like that, it could only be said that his judgment is unique.”

Pill Crucible’s old face fell.

Qin Yu was filled with curiosity. Although he hadn’t known his cheap senior-apprentice brother for long, he knew that he was a person who cared about honor and face. Normally, he would act virtuous and dignified in front of others, yet before this young girl he didn’t put on any act at all and actually seemed quite relaxed. With his thoughts racing, he cupped his chest across his hands and said, “Senior-apprentice brother, what this young miss says is right. The Soul Mushroom is my choice and I am very satisfied with it.”

It was only now that the young girl truly looked at Qin Yu. But, her indifferent gaze was as if she were looking at stone and wood.

Pill Crucible still wanted to say something, but the young girl interrupted him. “He cannot be allowed into the wooden pavilion again. But, if you want to compensate, there is another masterless treasure outside the pavilion. If he can manage to refine it, his benefits will be endless.”

Pill Crucible’s complexion turned ugly. “The Eighth Furnace?”

“That’s right.” The young girl took out a circular token. “If you agree, then take this token. He will be allowed an exception and given a single chance to refine the Eighth Furnace.”

Qin Yu said, “Senior-apprentice brother, there is no need to say anything more.”

Pill Crucible sighed. “It’s fine. Just don’t regret it in the future!” He took the token and with a large wave of his sleeve, he drew in Qin Yu, the two people immediately vanishing from sight.

The young girl looked towards the direction that the two people went in. After a long time she gently furrowed her eyebrows. “Soul Mushroom, is it…”

Shua –

She dispersed into motes of light.

…

“Junior-apprentice brother, aiya, how am I going to explain this to the world!” Pill Crucible said, looking helpless. “You had such a good opportunity but you wasted it in such a manner!”

Qin Yu smiled. “To see the Soul Mushroom and hold it in my hands is already an extremely rare chance, so how can it possibly be considered a waste? There is no need for senior-apprentice brother to feel regret over this.”

Pill Crucible coldly humphed, “What will me regretting or not regretting do? Since things have gotten to this point there isn’t anything I can do either. Whatever, it is fine, just come with me.” He mumbled, “Although it’s only a pitifully small chance, the token has already been handed over. For better or worse, we might as well give it a try.”

Shua –

Two figures appeared within a massive pavilion tower. The air was hot and a light medicinal fragrance lingered about. Qin Yu wasn’t a stranger to such a scene; this was all caused by the refining of pills.

A cultivator guard hurriedly bowed and said, “Greetings, Old Ancestor.” Then his eyes fell on Qin Yu for a moment and he said, “And greetings, Junior Uncle.”

Pill Crucible had a faint expression, looking like a high and otherworldly great expert.

Eclipse Yan hurried over. He bowed, not caring much about it, or at least not revealing what he thought on the surface. “Old Ancestor, Junior Uncle, what orders do you have?”

Pill Crucible cursed inwardly. He had been bathing in his sadness and had completely forgotten that Eclipse Yan was here. He turned and placed the token in Qin Yu’s hand. “I suddenly remembered that I have something to do. Eclipse Yan will guide you to the next step. I will be leaving first.”

Shua –

As he finished speaking, he disappeared from sight.

Qin Yu looked down at the token in his hand. As he felt Eclipse Yan’s heavy and dark gaze on him, he suddenly understood why his cheap senior-apprentice brother had fled faster than a bunny in danger. He shook his head inwardly and said, “Whatever. I have no intention of refining the Eighth Furnace, so just bring someone here to lead me out.”

Eclipse Yan straightened his body, his eyes cold. “Junior Uncle is too exaggerated. Since the Old Ancestor has brought you here, he surely must have great expectations for you. The Eighth Furnace has been masterless for many years, so how could I possibly think of stopping you. Junior Uncle, please follow me!”

As he turned, a sneer formed on his face.

Just what sort of character was the Old Ancestor that he wouldn’t know the gravity of the current situation? This little fool must have used his status to forcefully request a chance and the Old Ancestor had no choice but to agree. And, the Old Ancestor hurrying away just now was the best proof of this. Not only that, but this person was even pretending to act like he didn’t come here on purpose and deliberately put on some sort of virtuous play; what a joke!

No one knew this, but after Eclipse Yan suffered almost a hundred years of making no progress at all, it seemed that his actions had moved the heavens and he was finally showing signs of making a breakthrough. Right now, he had half refined the Eighth Furnace. He hid this news, wanting to amaze the world with a single feat, and only reveal this to the public once he had successfully and completely refined the Eighth Furnace.

But as it happened, Qin Yu also wanted to refine the Eighth Furnace. Good, then I will give you a chance! With the strength of the Eighth Furnace, once it had an initial recognition of a master and someone else tried to refine it, then there would definitely be a backlash of some sorts. With Qin Yu’s mere Foundation Establishment cultivation, he would at least lose seven or eight layers of skin!

Eclipse Yan had already lost his patience with this so-called Junior Uncle. Moreover, Qin Yu even dared to try to seize the Eighth Furnace from him and destroy the foundation that created Immortal Eclipse Valley. How could he possibly not use this chance to make him suffer a loss?

The group hurried along.

News of the young Junior Uncle arriving to capture the Eighth Furnace rapidly spread through the loose lips of several disciple guards. It passed through the station of the Eighth Furnace and spread outwards at an even faster speed.

Countless eyes fell on Qin Yu, filled with contempt and ridicule. Just how great of a treasure was the Eighth Furnace? Even their teacher, who had a late Golden Core cultivation, hadn’t been able to refine it with a hundred years. And during that hundred years of time, there were at least ten extraordinary geniuses of their time who had each attempted but had eventually failed.

For a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator to have such ambitions, it was simply laughable!

In particular, there were the true lineage disciples of the Eighth Furnace who all had personal knowledge of how Eclipse Yan’s efforts to refine the Eighth Furnace had progressed so far. They couldn’t even cover up their sneers as they waited for this young ‘Junior Uncle’ to shame himself.

Eclipse Yan stopped. He coldly said, “Junior Uncle, we’ve arrived.”

In front of them was a 10,000 foot mountain. It was crimson red with not even a single blade of grass living on it. Steam belched out from the rock below, heated by thermal energy in the earth. Waves of heat constantly surged into the air; one didn’t need to approach to know how terrifyingly high the temperature was. At the base of the mountain, there was a round and closed stone door. The temperature here was even more dreadful. The scorching air distorted one’s line of sight.

“The Eighth Furnace is named the Deepest Earth. It is located in the magma below. Junior Uncle, when you push open the door you will see it once you continue downwards.” Eclipse Yan’s lips curled up. “I will wait here for Junior Uncle to return.”

Qin Yu could clearly feel Eclipse Yan’s hostility as well as the hostility from the disciples of the Eighth Furnace. He sighed inwardly, helpless. It seems that after becoming Immortal Eclipse Valley’s Junior Uncle, there was no way to escape from this abyss of suffering. He looked at the deep red 10,000 foot mountain in front of him and stepped forwards.

For many years, Immortal Eclipse Valley had been unable to find a new master for the Eighth Furnace. He was well aware of his own abilities. If he ignored the little blue lamp, his skills in alchemy were only barely passable, so how could he subdue such a great treasure?

He’d just have to have a brief waltz around before leaving!