325 Refining the Ghost Hand

He Ping stared intently at the towering pill furnace. Its design was also quite distinctive: shaped like a massive cauldron, it stood a full zhang tall, with sixteen neatly arranged semicircular apertures. A qilin's open maw on its belly served as the fire gate, while its base rested upon three beast-shaped legs.

The lid of the pill furnace had sealed itself shut, fitted so seamlessly it seemed cast whole from a single mold. Three holes pierced the lid, with only a wisp of mist curling and drifting out. Faint jade-colored rays also shone through the sixteen semicircular apertures, showing that something truly was hidden within the furnace...

He opened his mouth and expelled a stream of true qi. With a hum, the lid of the cauldron-like furnace was lifted by an immense force. Yet the furnace was fine left unopened—once opened, however, disaster struck!

Boom!

The instant the pill furnace opened, vast sheets of green fire surged into the sky, turning into tens of millions of yellow-green sparks that came swarming toward him like a hive unleashed.

"Disperse!"

Faced with this sight, He Ping's gaze did not waver in the slightest. He pointed a finger, and Ninefold Vermilion Profound True Qi flowed from his hand, forcibly erecting a mandala altar-city barrier around himself.

Sizzle, sizzle!

The sound of flames scorching the air rang out. The green fire formed a pillar that shot a hundred zhang into the air. Fortunately, this stone chamber of the cave dwelling had been excavated to an immense scale, as though the heart of the mountain had been hollowed out. Otherwise, the flames would have long since burned through the mountaintop and burst into the open.

Ninefold Vermilion Profound True Qi hummed and trembled. At once, the outer layer of the glowing barrier appeared to ignite.