Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron

Chapter 28: Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron

"Thank you all for your hard work."

Lu Qingfeng held the Alchemy Furnace in his hand, ready to return and test its efficacy.

In these past eight years, all his achievements in artifact refining were poured into this Alchemy Furnace. Now that it was complete, it was time to go back and verify the results.

He moved towards the exit of the Artifact Refining Room.

As he passed a certain area, Lu Qingfeng couldn't help but stop.

Bang!

Ding!

Clang!

Rhythmic striking sounds reached his ears, full of cadence.

He looked closer and saw that in one of the artifact refining rooms, a forging platform was placed in the center. A bare-chested burly man, holding a hundred-pound hammer high, was striking it repeatedly.

While it seemed crude, in reality, every strike landed precisely, like Zhang Fei doing embroidery!

The hammer swung in his hand, as delicate as an embroidery needle.

Lu Qingfeng found himself immersed in this strange rhythm.

An outsider might not notice, but he could vaguely see that with each hammer blow the man delivered, the artifact on the forging platform underwent significant changes.

A large hammer replaced by a small one, a small hammer replaced by a large one!

As these alternated, the artifact was repeatedly cooled in icy spring water. Using only a few hammers, the man had actually carved the patterns and designs onto the artifact.

Lu Qingfeng watched, mesmerized.

It wasn't until the man stopped and placed the fully forged sword into the cold spring that Lu Qingfeng snapped back to reality amidst the hissing sound.

The burly man had already spotted him and was walking towards him.

"Old Lu, here to refine another Alchemy Furnace?" Zhang Zong walked up to Lu Qingfeng, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked casually.

"Yes, it's done," Lu Qingfeng replied, gesturing to the Alchemy Furnace in his hand.

The person before him was the owner of this Seven Profound Artifact Refining Room, Zhang Zong, one of the two vice presidents of the Yuan Yi Guild.

Lu Qingfeng's pursuit of artifact refining naturally required practical experience, so the Seven Profound Artifact Refining Room, the only artifact refining room in the Yuan Yi Guild, had become his frequent haunt over the years.

Over time, Lu Qingfeng had become as familiar with Zhang Zong as he was with Wang Tao and Yue Ran, those top Alchemy Apprentices!

"Not bad, not bad."

A hint of surprise flashed in Zhang Zong's eyes as he took the Alchemy Furnace from Lu Qingfeng. In moments, the Alchemy Furnace shifted in size, Spiritual Energy surged, and flames flickered.

Zhang Zong was testing it.

A moment later, the surprise in Zhang Zong's eyes deepened. "I never expected that besides your exceptional talent in alchemy, Lu, you'd also possess such skill in artifact refining!"

"Brother Zhang, you flatter me."

"I think the artifact refining technique you just used, Brother Zhang, was truly incredible!"

Lu Qingfeng said humbly, then praised.

"That's the 'Wind Thunder Hammer' technique. I've been studying it for decades and have only just managed to get the basics," Zhang Zong replied casually, his mind still on the Alchemy Furnace Lu Qingfeng had refined. "Old Lu, how did you think of changing the arrangement of those sets of Talismans? This change—it's simply brilliant! It's like the finishing touch, elevating an ordinary Alchemy Furnace by at least one level!"

In the realm of artifact refining, Zhang Zong considered himself the foremost expert in the Yuan Yi Guild.

Yet today, he was astonished by Lu Qingfeng's creation.

"It was just a flash of inspiration. I originally thought it might fail, but I didn't expect the final result to be quite good," Lu Qingfeng said with a smile.

He naturally wouldn't reveal that this was the result of strengthening it with Experience Points!

"A flash of inspiration—"

Zhang Zong couldn't help but nod.

Artifact refining often required inspiration. Sometimes, when inspiration struck and the conditions were right, one could perform at an extraordinary level!

"It seems you truly have a talent for artifact refining. If Boss Mu knew, he probably wouldn't bother me anymore," Zhang Zong said with a smile towards Lu Qingfeng.

Mentioning Mu Yuanyi, Lu Qingfeng couldn't help but smile.

In recent years, he had been distracted by artifact refining, and hadn't paid much attention to refining various Low Grade Pills. This had dealt a significant blow to Mu Yuanyi's plan to make 'Yuan Yi · Qingfeng' branded mid-to-low grade pills their flagship products and dominate the pill market.

Mu Yuanyi had approached Lu Qingfeng more than once to have a heart-to-heart talk, urging him to focus all his energy on alchemy. However, Lu Qingfeng paid no heed, agreeing verbally but still heading to the Seven Profound Artifact Refining Room without fail the next day.

This also led to Zhang Zong being constantly pestered by Mu Yuanyi.

After chatting with Zhang Zong about artifact refining insights for a while, Lu Qingfeng returned to the 'Black Sand Pill Refining Room'.

Eight years had passed, and the Black Sand Pill Refining Room now had six Alchemy Apprentices, forty-two Medicinal Herb Apprentices, and the sole Advanced Alchemy Apprentice, who was Lu Qingfeng.

"Master."

"Grand Elder Lu."

Upon entering the Pill Refining Room, all the Alchemy Apprentices bowed respectfully to Lu Qingfeng.

Lu Qingfeng nodded slightly and walked straight to his own Fourth Grade Pill Refining Room.

This Pill Refining Room was simply furnished. In the center stood an Alchemy Furnace of Fourth Grade Talisman Artifact level, with various bottles and jars, along with processed Medicinal Herbs, scattered around. Beside it was a meditation cushion, allowing Lu Qingfeng to meditate and recover his Inner Breath after refining pills, or to cultivate.

"First, let's check out this 'Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron'!"

Lu Qingfeng placed the Alchemy Furnace he was carrying, the 'Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron', on the ground. He placed his hands on it, and his Inner Breath surged forth.

Instantly.

The Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron flashed with Spirit Light and suddenly grew larger, stopping only when it was as tall as a person.

"The talisman array for size alteration is stable!"

Lu Qingfeng patted the wall of the Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron and channeled another stream of Inner Breath into it.

Centered around the Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy began to gather. Lu Qingfeng had not yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage of Qi Guiding, so he could only sense it vaguely.

The next moment—

Bang!

A wisp of flame ignited between the three legs of the pill cauldron. The flame was crimson red and quite hot.

"The talisman array for gathering Spiritual Energy is stable!"

"The talisman array for inducing the crimson flame is stable!"

Lu Qingfeng removed his hands. The crimson flame continued to burn beneath the cauldron. Although it flickered unstably, it never extinguished.

"A great success!"

Lu Qingfeng's eyes lit up, and he was overjoyed.

The 'Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron' was originally an Alchemy Furnace of First Grade Talisman Artifact level, composed of nine Talismans. Lu Qingfeng spent several hundred Experience Points to strengthen its Artifact Refining Method five times.

The originally scattered and disorganized nine Talismans were immediately optimized into three groups of talisman arrays, arranged in threes.

Not only was its stability greatly enhanced, but the effects of gathering spirit and intensifying flames also increased significantly.

Although it was merely a First Grade Talisman Artifact containing nine Talismans, in reality, it far surpassed many Second Grade Talisman Artifacts that contained over thirty Talismans.

This was the reason why Zhang Zong was astonished.

"Due to material limitations, there is a limit to the number of Talismans a Talisman Artifact can contain. If it exceeds this limit, the materials cannot bear the load and will collapse, leading to the failure of artifact refining. The better the quality of the materials, the more Talismans they can accommodate, and the higher the power and quality of the refined Magic Artifact will naturally be."

"A good Artifact Refiner, and a good Artifact Refining Method, can use ordinary materials to arrange the Talismans reasonably, thereby maximizing the efficacy of these Talismans when the materials can only accommodate a limited number."

"The Derive Arts enhancement of the 'Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron's' refinement method follows this principle."

Lu Qingfeng stroked the Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron.