The cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning swept the battlefield with swift efficiency, hauling back everything regardless of whether it seemed useful or not. Many items, even if useless to others, seemed to find great purpose in Xu Henshui's hands.
Seeing Xu Henshui continuously stuffing severed limbs, shredded clothing, and fragments of magical treasures into his storage pouch, Wei Yuan grew curious and asked, "Martial Uncle Xu, you come from a grand and wealthy clan. What are you picking up these things for?"
Xu Henshui replied, "These are all prime alchemical ingredients. Why wouldn't I pick them up?"
Wei Yuan considered his own alchemical skill passable—perhaps just a hair above Xu Henshui's level—yet no matter how hard he looked, he could not see how any of this resembled alchemical material.
Xu Henshui rolled his eyes at him and said, "To think you've refined a spirit pill before, yet you lack even this bit of common sense! The *Supreme Scripture of Alchemy* states: 'Heaven and earth are the furnace, yin and yang the charcoal, and all myriad things the copper.' From this, it is clear that an alchemist's ultimate realm is to take heaven and earth as their cauldron and refine an entire world into a single pill. That is the pinnacle of the Dao of Alchemy! Therefore, in theory, everything in my hands can be used for refining pills. If one fails to refine something from them, it only means one's skill is lacking, not that the materials are flawed."
Wei Yuan truly hadn't read much of the alchemical scriptures; he had merely skimmed through them. In his own alchemy, he relied on the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World to simulate a flawless refining process on his first run, timing his movements down to the second. On the second run, he followed a process optimized by the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, likewise precise to the second. From there, it was a cycle of continuous optimization and refinement, repeated again and again.
Yet hearing Xu Henshui's words, Wei Yuan really couldn't help himself. "Martial Uncle Xu, is it at all possible that when that patriarch wrote those words, it was actually just a metaphor?"
Xu Henshui said, "Do you think I don't know that? But the predecessor was pointing out a path; he didn't need to be able to accomplish it himself. As juniors walking the path laid down by our predecessors, it is only natural that we go farther than they did—only then is it the true path. If our forebears dared to imagine it, we must dare to do it. In my lifetime, refining a whole world may be out of reach, but I ought to at least refine a grotto-heaven, a minor world, or some sect's mountain gate into a cauldron of pills, shouldn't I?"
Wei Yuan never expected Martial Uncle Xu's ambitions to be so vast. To refine a world in a single cauldron was practically resetting earth, fire, water, and wind! Who said alchemists lacked the heart to destroy worlds?
That belonged to the far distant future. For now, Wei Yuan stopped trying to keep Xu Henshui from scavenging trash. The intelligence Lei Dong provided had already included a detailed map of the area surrounding Nether Iron Mountain. After surveying the terrain in person, Wei Yuan confirmed the locations to construct fortified outposts for garrisoning.
Within a radius of several li around Nether Mountain, the cultivators erected five or six forts.
Pressed for time, Wei Yuan had no opportunity to dig tunnels, so he stationed a Dao Foundation warrior inside each fort. Afterward, he and the other cultivators retreated to Nether Mountain, where they built another fortress atop the summit. Commanding high ground, this vantage point overlooked several dozen li in every direction.
On Nether Mountain's summit, Wei Yuan arranged three cannons pointing in different directions. Cast from nether iron, these cannons were exceptionally sturdy, and their gunpowder was compounded with Dao power, giving them tremendous explosive might so that a single shot could reach several dozen li.
Once that was done, Wei Yuan also returned to Nether Mountain to study the scroll painting left behind by Shu Li's avatar together with the other cultivators.
After laying out formations around them and making thorough preparations, Wei Yuan finally opened the scroll. As it slowly unfurled in his hands, a landscape painting emerged, depicting a city nestled against the mountains and overlooking water. The city had an ancient air, and the architectural styles within leaned more toward human design.
In one corner of the painted city, a blaze was raging. Several buildings had collapsed, leaving scorched earth behind. Panicked Shaman commoners were running back and forth everywhere, while on an adjacent small plaza lay rows upon rows of corpses, with more Shamans being carried over continuously.
Every dozen breaths or so, ripples like water would wash over the painting, and the figures and Shamans depicted within would shift accordingly. Several Shaman Scholars were gathered around a burning building, summoning rain to put out the blaze little by little. Yet around other buildings, the fires burned all the more fiercely.
After observing this, the Palace of Grand Beginning cultivators exchanged glances. When they probed it with divine sense, they only felt a rippling, water-like membrane that barred all intrusion. A primordial spirit seemed able to pass through and enter the world inside the painting, but none of them was foolish enough to try.
Xu Henshui, hailing from a prominent clan and possessing broad knowledge, remarked, "The realm inside this painting is likely a minor world akin to a blessed land. This painting should be an entrance, not the blessed land itself."
Yu Zhizhuo agreed, "That makes sense. Otherwise, a portable blessed land would have to be at least an immortal artifact. Even immortals would fight over something like that if they knew of it—how could Shu Li, a mere Nether Shaman, possess such a treasure?"
Wei Yuan said, "It is a pity Shu Li's avatar died too quickly. Had we been able to interrogate him on how to use this scroll, it would have been a great harvest. The painting should contain a real world, not a realm of the primordial spirit."
Feng Tingyu was eager to try. "How about I go in and take a look?"
Wei Yuan flatly refused. "No! No one knows what the situation is over there. Traversing space like this is perilous in the extreme. If the entrance destabilizes while a primordial spirit is entering or exiting, that primordial spirit could be banished beyond the heavens forever, becoming food for extraterrestrial monstrosities."
After some discussion, Wei Yuan decided to send in a Dao Foundation warrior to scout. He selected an unawakened Dao Foundation warrior, attached a wisp of divine sense to him, and steered him to fly into the world of the painting.
As the Dao Foundation warrior locked onto the scroll and drew near, a voice rang out: *Do you wish to enter the Jade Spring Blessed Land?*
"Enter," Wei Yuan responded mentally. A suction force immediately emanated from the painting, shrinking the Dao Foundation warrior until he was the size of a grain of sand before pulling him inside.
Immediately, Wei Yuan's connection with him was severed. Within the painting, the Dao Foundation warrior appeared midair, plummeting helplessly as if he had lost all ability to fly.
He was not falling toward solid ground, but into a massive pit lined with rows of gleaming blades, with a pool of fiercely corrosive poisonous water sloshing at the bottom.
The Dao Foundation warrior tumbled helplessly into the pit of blades, his body impaled by the sharp edges. Then, the caustic water corroded him, sending billows of smoke pouring forth as his entire form quickly charred and dissolved into nothingness.
Wei Yuan felt a faint twinge of pain in his consciousness; he had permanently lost that Dao Foundation warrior.
The cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning were keen-eyed and could tell that rushing into the painting was pure suicide; that blade pit and acid pool had not been prepared for nothing. Furthermore, upon entering the painting, the Dao Foundation cultivator seemed to have lost the ability to fly, unable to cast even a single life-saving Dao technique. Falling into the blade pit, he had perished in an instant, no different from an ordinary mortal.
Once the sustaining Dao power dispersed, the warrior vanished into thin air, reverting to spiritual energy and returning to heaven and earth.
The cultivators stared at Wei Yuan and asked, "What did you feel?"
Wei Yuan smiled wryly. "The moment he entered the painting, the connection was severed. It truly seems to cross over into another world."
Zhang Sheng said, "A Dao Foundation cultivator of no small strength couldn't muster even a shred of Dao power after entering, lacking even instinctive protective shields. This indicates that the natural laws of that world are exceptionally rigid and impose extreme restrictions. We must not enter carelessly. The best course is to find the proper method for using this treasure."
Sun Yu asked, "That will likely depend on Shu Li's final avatar. What should we do next?"
Wei Yuan replied, "First, I'll transplant the immortal orchids Martial Uncle Xu gifted me. They can generate domains of their own to replace the kingdom here. Once I acquire the intelligence on the entire kingdom, we will use Nether Mountain as our center to extend our domain toward the kingdom's core. Wherever our domain reaches, our firepower will cover."
Zhang Sheng nodded in agreement. "Still, Shu Li is a Nether Shaman after all, and this is his kingdom. We must guard against any hidden trump cards he might have left. Let's all pitch in a bit more and pool together some useful magical treasures. The more treasures we have, the fewer surprises we'll face."
Xu Henshui's eyes flickered, and he suddenly spoke up: "A single immortal orchid's domain is limited; I'm afraid it won't cover much ground. Do you want more immortal orchids?"
Wei Yuan was pleasantly surprised. "You still have more?"
Xu Henshui nodded and said, "Every three orchids in exchange for one ancient immortal pill recipe. If you don't have them right now, you can put it on tab. I'll give you nine right away!"
Wei Yuan sucked in a breath of cold air, truly shocked and thrilled this time. Nine immortal orchids—that was a number far beyond his expectations. While an individual immortal orchid might be weaker than other immortal plants, quantity made up for it!
Yet the condition Xu Henshui posed put Wei Yuan in a tight spot. Ancient pill recipes were already difficult to find, and immortal recipes were rarer still. Only the Longevity Pill given by the Marquis of Xiang could qualify as an immortal recipe, and that was solely because its effect was the most critical of all—extending life.
Coming across even one such ancient immortal recipe was a stroke of fortune, let alone three. Still, Xu Henshui's request wasn't unreasonable in the slightest. Wei Yuan was about to grit his teeth and agree—after all, he was used to racking up debts, and it seemed none of those debts ever needed to be repaid.
Every time Wei Yuan paid back a portion, Patriarch Xuanyue would immediately lend him even more, and there were always people lining up to lend him money, which Wei Yuan found utterly bizarre.
Just as Wei Yuan was preparing to cultivate a few more layers of thick skin, Maiden Yin-Yang's thought suddenly reached him: *Agree to it!*
"Huh?" Wei Yuan was bewildered, not understanding why Maiden Yin-Yang was getting involved.
"I have ancient immortal recipes here."
"How many?" Wei Yuan asked hopefully.
"As many as you want."
That answer completely took Wei Yuan by surprise. "Where did these immortal recipes come from?"
"Legacies left behind by immortal predecessors."
"Let me see."
"You wouldn't understand them." Maiden Yin-Yang didn't spare the Creation Immortal Venerable even a shred of face.
Seeing Wei Yuan agree, Xu Henshui wore an expression that said *I knew it*, and said he would hand over the immortal orchids once they returned. After further discussion, the cultivators ultimately approved Wei Yuan's strategy of advancing steadily and maintaining defense through overlapping firepower. At the same time, they would make haste to study the Nether Cold Realm—especially its kingdom—to enrich the Daoist Canon of the Palace of Grand Beginning.
Thereafter, Wei Yuan acted with redoubled caution, strictly forbidding Feng Tingyu from stepping outside. Feng Tingyu agreed on the surface, but the moment the cultivators dispersed, she quietly slipped over to Wei Yuan and demanded to know why he wouldn't let her go out and play.
Wei Yuan had known she would think this way. But with only one of Shu Li's avatars left, who knew what tricks he still had up his sleeve? Wei Yuan was particularly vigilant against him lashing out in desperation, so naturally he didn't dare let any cultivator from the Palace of Grand Beginning take unnecessary risks outside.
So Wei Yuan said to Feng Tingyu, "There's something really fun you can try: practicing multitasking inside the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. The more tasks you can manage at once, the more it tempers your spirituality! It will be of immense benefit when expanding your dharma idol later on. Why don't you go try it first and see how many you can handle at the same time?"
Sure enough, Feng Tingyu was intrigued. "Have the others played it too?"
"They play it every single day!" Wei Yuan said with a straight face.
"All right, then I'll give it a try too." Feng Tingyu skipped cheerfully into the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, allowing Wei Yuan to breathe a sigh of relief. Only after she had left did Wei Yuan remember one detail—she hadn't returned the demon blade.
From then on, everything proceeded methodically according to plan. Wei Yuan was also waiting—waiting for Dream Eater to come looking for him.
Chapter 635