Daoist Competition

Within the Earth Fire Sky Furnace, the blaze roared fiercely, the flames illuminated brilliantly. Among the hundreds of Earth Breath Fire Veins, seventy-two had been captured by the banners wielded by Liang and Wei, releasing a sky-soaring inferno visible from a hundred miles away, with trails of red light flaring up into the sky.

Such a scene had not been witnessed by the Zhenluo Alliance disciples for countless years, naturally attracting many to stop and watch.

Even the disciples guarding outside the Heavenly Furnace were watching intently. However, with the Guardian Array already in operation, they did not fear any outsiders causing trouble here.

Liang and Wei sat respectively before the southern and northern fire mouths of the pit, with five-colored banners standing behind them. At this moment, they were each managing thirty-six Earth Veins, slowly directing the fire Qi.

This fire is divided into Yin and Yang Qi, constantly changing with the flow of the Earth Veins. The two had to carefully maintain the balance of Yin and Yang, as any mistake could lead to the collapse of the Earth Cave from the disruption of the Qi Veins.

An artifact refiner with only an ordinary refining furnace, regardless of how high their cultivation, could not withstand sleepless refinement for years on end. At most, within a month, a Dharma Treasure could be accomplished.

The remaining work was to slowly nurture it within their own acupoints, much like cultivating. First, remove the impurities, then refine the elite essence, and when the Dharma Treasure is flawless throughout, it may nurture True Recognition and ascend in rank.

However, nurturing an artifact with one’s own body requires a long time, at least several hundred years, possibly over a thousand, to achieve a Mystical Artifact; it demands unknown amounts of painstaking effort.

But with the Earth Fire Sky Furnace present, the treasure refiner need not worry about running out of strength, as they can utilize various means to complete all required tasks within the Heavenly Furnace. Thus, once the cultivator obtains the Dharma Treasure, they can nurture True Recognition within a very short time, and with opportunity, might even achieve a True Artifact.

Zhang Yan sat on a stone platform by the Heavenly Furnace, continuously observing the changes within, awaiting the moment for the essence blood to sacrifice to the furnace.

Day passed to night, and an entire day elapsed. By the first quarter of the Mao time, the two saw that enough Earth Fire had been drawn and simultaneously shouted, pulling the blue banner behind them and shaking it, immediately releasing a breeze falling from the banner, drifting to the field and sealing the fire gate.

Seeing that the conditions were ripe, Liang Changgong loudly declared, "True Master Zhang, the time has come; you may use the essence blood to sacrifice the furnace."

Without hesitation, Zhang Yan bit the tip of his tongue, spraying three mouthfuls of essence blood inside in succession. Then he didn’t look at the results, instead taking some elixir pills and sitting in meditation. Even with his profound cultivation, those three mouthfuls of essence blood took quite a toll on his primordial Qi, his complexion slightly pale.

Liang and Wei saw the fire head suddenly dim and withdraw, as if a large bucket of cold water had been poured over it.

The two were secretly amazed, not expecting Zhang Yan’s essence to be so vast and pure as to suppress even such an Earth Fire. Judging from the appearance, it wouldn’t be refined away anytime soon.

After about an hour, the fire barely flickered a few times before slowly reigniting, and the two breathed a sigh of relief, exchanging bitter smiles.

Artifact refining in Central Pillar Continent differs from other continents in that the recognition happens as soon as the furnace opens rather than after the sacrificial refinement succeeds. The essence blood ritual within the fire is therefore exceedingly important. If the two delayed further and could not completely refine those three mouthfuls of essence blood, they would have to reignite the furnace from scratch, wasting all three mouthfuls of essence blood.

During their first collaboration to refine a treasure for a Nascent Soul True Master, lacking experience, they generated an excessively intense fire, causing the cultivator to expend several mouthfuls of essence blood without affecting the fire, resulting in a near-death experience before barely passing the stage.

This time, fearing Zhang Yan’s essence blood might not suffice, they intentionally suppressed the fire according to past experiences. However, to their surprise, Zhang Yan practiced both the God Contract and possessed the body of a Power Cultivator, as well as forming a first-class elixir. His essence was far beyond their expectations, almost leading them to failure from the onset.

After adjusting his breathing for a moment, Zhang Yan recovered from the essence depletion, noticed the pair’s expression calm and untroubled, and remained seated without moving.

Seven days later, the fire refined by Liang and Wei was completely subdued.

Almost simultaneously, they plucked the red banner from behind, shook it, and pointed downwards, causing the fire to fall still and steadily rest, no longer the rampant and formidable force it was before.