The Five Elements Furnace

Within the Chaos Pearl, there was no distinction between day and night, nor the four seasons. Only the pervasive chaos qi and the Five Elements True Fire slowly rotating in an arcane trajectory before Li Cha illuminated his focused and serene face.

Refining a Postnatal Five-Colored Divine Stone was by no means a simple matter of smelting and stacking; it required supreme magical power and Dao realm to guide the power of the Five Elements Origins, causing them to generate and sustain each other in an unending cycle, ultimately merging into a single whole. Li Cha held his breath and concentrated, the steps he had deduced countless times in his mind unfolding with crystal clarity.

He first picked up the extremely sharp Essence Gold Stone and cast it into the core of the Five Elements True Fire. As the true fire calcined it, the Essence Gold Stone gradually transformed into a white-gold, scorching-hot molten slurry. The innate Geng Metal Qi within was fully activated, emitting a clanging resonance. Next, he drew upon the water-veiled Cold Dew Stone, wrapped it with his divine sense, and carefully approached the gold essence slurry.

When the Cold Dew Stone, containing the Ren Water Origin, touched the supremely sharp Geng Metal slurry, it was not severed by it. Instead, as if nourished and guided, the stone instantly transformed into a deep blue water mist, actively entwining the white-gold slurry and merging into it strand by strand. The sharp metal qi seemed to find an outlet and a path for transformation, becoming softer and full of vitality, with a hint of blue water rhyme beginning to show through the white-gold light. This process appeared simple, but it consumed an entire year of Li Cha's focus, requiring him to constantly maintain the balance and transformation of the two forces without the slightest error.

A year later, the Essence Gold and Cold Dew had perfectly fused, forming a singular liquid substance with golden light within and watery ripples without.

Next came the vibrant Green Willow Stone.

Li Cha cast it into the fused mass. The Green Willow Stone, containing Jia Wood Vitality, touched the liquid rich in water rhyme and golden light, and instantly, like a seed falling into fertile soil, it unfurled. A brilliant emerald radiance blazed forth, transforming into countless fine cyan Dao patterns that, like the veins of a plant, rapidly spread and took root within the liquid. The originally somewhat fluid and unstable fused mass gained a tough "skeleton" and vigorous vitality from the addition of wood qi, its color becoming deeper and more complex. This step consumed ten years of Li Cha's time, requiring the wood qi to perfectly penetrate and become a bridge connecting metal and water.

Following that was the blazing and domineering Fire Bath Stone.

Li Cha's expression grew even more solemn as he guided the golden-red divine stone toward the nascent fused mass.

As soon as the Fire Bath Stone approached, the flourishing wood vitality seemed to become the best fuel, instantly igniting! Boom! Even the Five Elements True Fire surged, and the golden-red Bing Fire Origin poured in like a breached flood. The original balance was shattered; the fused mass violently roiled, as if it might explode at any moment. Li Cha exerted his full magical power and divine sense, guiding this violent firepower, using the wood qi as a medium to blend with the water qi (water and fire complementing each other) and coexist with the metal qi (fire refining true gold). This was an extremely dangerous and delicate process; the slightest misstep would ruin all his previous efforts. For a full hundred years, Li Cha dared not relax for a moment, until he finally tamed the violent Bing Fire power, perfectly integrating it, causing the fused mass to take on a semi-solid state with inner five-colored light and a dazzling treasure radiance.

Finally, there was the heavy and steady Kunlun Stone.

Li Cha slowly sent it into the center of the fused mass, which now contained the four origins of metal, water, wood, and fire, its light flowing and unstable.

The violent fire power, after a hundred years of taming and guidance, seemed to have found its final destination and support. The pure Wu Earth Origin of the Kunlun Stone, upon contacting the fire, was not scorched. Instead, like a sponge absorbing water, it began to absorb and settle the restless fire qi, transforming it into its own heavy, sustaining power. An earthy yellow radiance spread out, like the veins of the great earth, pacifying all the previously restless forces one by one. White, blue, cyan, red, and yellow—the five-colored lights began to slowly rotate with earth as the core, generating and sustaining each other, forming a stable and perfect cycle.

This step was the foundation, the most time-consuming. Li Cha spent a thousand years, like the most patient craftsman, adjusting the rhythm and balance of the Five Elements cycle bit by bit, allowing the earth element power to truly become the foundation supporting the other four elements.

When the final earth element Dao pattern perfectly connected with the other four, forming a naturally complete, endlessly cycling Five Elements Dao Ring, the entire space within the Chaos Pearl trembled slightly!

The light converged; the Dao resonance formed on its own. A divine stone, one foot square, its surface flowing with a warm five-colored radiance and bearing Five Elements Dao patterns, floated quietly before Li Cha. It no longer emitted any sharpness or heat of a single attribute, only a kind of harmonious, heavy, and majestic aura as if it could give birth to all things.

The Postnatal Five-Colored Divine Stone was complete!

Gazing at this divine object, which had cost him one thousand one hundred and eleven years of painstaking effort and gathered the Five Elements Origins, Li Cha's pale face finally broke into a relieved smile, the corners of his mouth involuntarily lifting slightly. Though his mental energy was greatly depleted, this sense of achievement was unparalleled.

He did not immediately begin refining the tea furnace. Instead, he sat cross-legged, brewed a cup of Enlightenment Tea, and savored it to soothe his mind and recover his nearly exhausted mental energy and magical power. This rest lasted ten years. Only after ten years did he feel his condition had returned to its peak, with even a slight improvement.

Meanwhile, the outside Primordial World had long since undergone earth-shattering changes.

The Dragon-Phoenix Calamity had reached its most tragic final chapter.

The Dragon Clan, once the hegemon of the Primordial World, now had only four of its nine great elders remaining under the Ancestral Dragon, and each was injured. The Candle Dragon, whose strength rivaled the Ancestral Dragon and who wielded the power of time, was also severely wounded in successive battles, coiling with closed eyes at the North Sea Eye, unable to participate in battle. Fewer than one in ten of the Dragon Sons and Grandsons survived.

Of the Phoenix Clan, under the Primordial Phoenix and the Beginning Phoenix, only three of the nine great Phoenix branches remained; the other six, along with their entire clans, were nearly completely annihilated. The Beginning Phoenix, due to her severe injuries, flew back to the Immortal Volcano, used all her origin and remaining life force to give birth to two Phoenix eggs, and then fell into eternal slumber, merging with the Immortal Volcano.

Of the Kirin Clan, under the Beginning Kirin, the six major branches suffered the most tragic losses in the Jade Kirin clan, which was completely wiped out, and Kirin Cliff shattered. Of the Ink Kirin clan, including Mo Ran, whom Li Cha had taken in, fewer than ten remained alive. The Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind clans were also severely weakened, with the total number of surviving members likely less than a hundred.

Even in such a state of decline, the leaders of the three clans, their wisdom completely clouded by the Tribulation Fiend Qi and racial hatred, refused to stop. They gathered at the foot of Buzhou Mountain, the Celestial Pillar of the Primordial World, assembling their final remaining forces, preparing for the ultimate showdown, vowing to decide life and death.

At the same time, deep in the sky above Buzhou Mountain, the World-Destroying Thunder Tribulation, bred from the immeasurable Tribulation Fiend Qi, Karma, and the Heavenly Dao Laws, had fully taken shape! Pitch-black Tribulation Clouds covered billions of miles of sky, their oppressive might causing the souls of all living beings in the Primordial World to tremble. Yet, the three clans, their eyes bloodshot from slaughter below, seemed oblivious to this impending doom.

Li Cha would not be distracted by irrelevant matters. He gathered his mind and focused all his attention on the Five-Colored Divine Stone before him.

Adjusting to his optimal state, he once again summoned the Five Elements True Fire to envelop the Postnatal Five-Colored Divine Stone. This time, it was not for smelting, but for shaping and inscribing!

Using his divine sense as a carving knife and his ultimate understanding of the Tea Dao, the Five Elements, and "heat control," he carefully inscribed countless fine and arcane runes onto the divine stone. These runes were not carved randomly; each one contained his insights into laws such as "spirit gathering," "fire control," "constant temperature," and "Five Elements transformation." He carved extremely slowly, each stroke consuming a great deal of mental energy.

As time passed, these individual runes began to be connected by increasingly complex Dao patterns, gradually forming a naturally complete Postnatal Spirit Treasure restriction system containing forty-five restrictions!

A hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

When the final restriction Dao pattern perfectly connected, the entire tea furnace suddenly trembled, emitting a low, pleasant hum! The Five Elements True Fire then receded, revealing a tea furnace of simple and elegant design before Li Cha.

The furnace was about three feet high, a standard pentagonal shape corresponding to the Five Elements. The furnace body was a deep, mysterious black, but from different angles, it would refract the inner five-colored light. On the five furnace faces, natural Dao patterns representing metal, wood, water, fire, and earth respectively appeared, with the Five Elements qi circulating endlessly.

The Postnatal Supreme Spirit Treasure—the Five Elements Furnace—was complete!

Because this furnace was refined from the combined Five Elements Divine Stones, its core function lay in "fire." Therefore, during its refinement, Li Cha deliberately amplified its fire attribute power and cleverly used the furnace's Five Elements generation restrictions to transform the metal, water, wood, and earth attributes into an endless source of fuel and support for the core Five Elements Fire. Once activated, the furnace fire would generate itself, requiring no external ignition, and the fire's intensity and temperature could be precisely controlled by thought. This was precisely the ideal tea furnace form in Li Cha's mind!

"Finally... it's done!" Li Cha stroked the Five Elements Furnace, still carrying residual warmth, his eyes full of joy and satisfaction.

With such a precious furnace, how could he not use it? He eagerly took out the Shouyang Pot, drew the spiritual spring derived within the Chaos Pearl, and poured it into the Five Elements Furnace. With a slight thought, the Five Elements Fire within the furnace ignited softly, heating the water in the pot gently and steadily.

He then brewed some of his own Innate Enlightenment Tea leaves. When the boiling water met the tea leaves in the Shouyang Pot, another phenomenon occurred! The Dao patterns on the pot shone brightly, faintly resonating with the Five Elements Dao resonance emitted by the Five Elements Furnace, making the tea fragrance even more mellow and lingering, and the Dao resonance more harmonious and penetrating.

Li Cha poured himself a cup. Upon savoring it, he found the flavor had indeed reached a higher level! The Five Elements Furnace's perfect control of the heat thoroughly stimulated the essence of the tea leaves, complementing the Pure Yang Golden Qi of the Shouyang Pot. The tea soup entered his mouth, the five flavors flowing more smoothly and naturally, and its auxiliary effect on comprehending the Great Dao had also faintly increased.

He even cheerfully took some tea leaves produced by his "descendant" Cloud Mist Spirit Tea Trees and brewed them with the Five Elements Furnace and Shouyang Pot. Although they were Postnatal Spirit Tea, their flavor and Dao resonance had also improved considerably, becoming more sweet and mellow, with noticeably enhanced spiritual effects.

"It wasn't in vain that I exhausted my efforts to find these Five Elements Divine Stones!" Li Cha laughed heartily, the fatigue of days of artifact refining swept away. This set of utensils, specially created for the Tea Dao, had taken its initial form, marking a solid step forward toward his goal of brewing the number one tea of the Primordial World—the Primordial Chaos Spirit Tea.

He sat leisurely within the chaos, savoring the fragrant tea, his gaze seeming to pierce through the pearl's wall, looking out at the Primordial World, where the Karmic Tribulation permeated the air and thunderclouds pressed down from above.

"A storm is brewing... but first, let me finish this cup of tea."