Purification

"Are you asking about azure lead ore? That's not the sort of thing you can find just because you want to. Old Dad only told me a few locations, and they're basically all mixed ores."

Lu Li waved a hand, his thin little face written all over with innocence.

Though they had failed to find any high-purity spirit ore, the mixed ores beneath their feet were enough for everyone to make a small fortune. Fortunately, Lu Li's greatest worry did not come to pass. Those people did not renege on their debt, and willingly scraped together the remaining silver to hand over to him.

It was already noon. Drowsiness washed over Lu Li, and he forced himself to row the boat back to the ferry crossing. He curled up inside the cabin, ate a pear, then began catching up on sleep.

By the time Lu Li woke again, it was already night.

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Glancing at the sky, Lu Li reckoned he had slept for around three hours. His head was still somewhat foggy at first, but the moment he stepped out of the cabin, a gust of cold wind hit him and instantly blew him fully awake.

At the thought of his debt—if he could not forge the Qi-Combining Cauldron within a month, his lungs would vanish into thin air and he would drop dead on the spot—Lu Li felt immense pressure, and sobered up considerably.

Several sheds had been erected along the shore. People within them hawked all kinds of food and sundries. Aside from those who had brought their own provisions, most gold prospectors came here to make do for their three daily meals.

Though that group had sounded utterly pitiful during the day, gold prospectors generally earned more than the workers at the stamping workshop in reality—at the very least, more than the journeyman clamp smiths. And gold prospecting was grueling physical labor.

At a glance, Lu Li saw that the stalls offered quite a variety of meals. While the gold prospectors' three meals a day could not compare to those of his previous life, they clearly ate better than the workers in the stamping workshop.

Lu Li ordered a bowl of buckwheat noodles. While they were being made, he watched the noodle-stall owner the entire time. The noodles had been boiled in the same pot of water as everyone else's; only after he saw other customers finish eating did he dare pick up his chopsticks.

"Kid, why must you go this far?"

"I'm afraid he'll drug me with knockout powder."

Elder Duan had intended to argue, but she seemed to recall some traitorous disciple who had deceived his master and betrayed his ancestors. In the end, she deflated and could only force out one sentence.

"Your caution is justified."

"Don't immortals fear poison?"

"If you remove your spleen later and make yourself a [Transformation Furnace], then no matter what poison it is, you'll be able to refine it away in an instant."

"Hmph. I won't fall for your tricks again."

"No. You certainly will."

Lu Li buried his head in his noodles. His bowl of buckwheat noodles came with two taels of beef. They tasted decent, though they were a little salty. After finishing them, Lu Li passed a fruit stall and could not resist giving it a few extra looks.

There were no restaurants nearby, and naturally no cheap fruit peels for sale either—only fruit that was not quite fresh.

Prices for all kinds of fruit were written on a wooden board before the stall. Lu Li scanned it from top to bottom. Whether it was simply how this world was or merely a local custom, pears were always the cheapest fruit.

As for bananas, which had been even cheaper in his previous life, they were not sold here at all.

Though his purse had grown considerably fuller, Lu Li still could not bear to spend money. After hesitating for a while and swallowing several mouthfuls of saliva, he ultimately spent only three copper coins to buy two jin of pears.

"Kid, look at that miserly little face of yours. Tsk, tsk, tsk. How do you look like someone who's about to cultivate immortality?"

Elder Duan sighed with feeling and regret. Carrying the bag of pears, Lu Li returned to his boat, poled it away again, found a deserted spot, and activated the Qi-Combining Cauldron.

[Qi-Combining Cauldron · Liberation by Violence State]!

The Qi-Combining Cauldron was unleashed, and a sudden hum rang out.

Lu Li took out the gray silver that had undergone one round of purification, wrapped it in astral qi, and began spinning it at high speed.

He was not planning to sell this gray silver. He intended to use it himself. Elder Duan had previously told him about the spirit materials required to forge the Qi-Combining Cauldron, two of which were spirit-conducting copper of ninety-five percent purity and gray silver of ninety-six percent purity.

High-purity spirit ores were extremely expensive. Especially once they exceeded ninety percent purity, every additional two percent of refinement would at least double the price.

Lu Li had silently calculated while eating. If he could use the Qi-Combining Cauldron to refine these two ores to the required purity, he could save thirty to forty spirit stones.

When that group of disciples saw azure lead at eighty-five percent purity during the day, every one of them had been overjoyed. That was because azure lead of such purity could be used directly to forge most first-rank puppet devices.

Compared to that, the demands of ninety-five percent purity naturally spoke for themselves.

They were both first-rank puppet devices, but Lu Li vaguely felt that his Qi-Combining Cauldron was something extraordinary. Not only had it easily crushed two Azure Sun Hall disciples back then, the materials used to make it were also exceptionally high-end.

After the second round of purification was complete, the spirit-conducting copper had reached ninety percent purity.

The third round brought it to ninety-one percent. Switching the Qi-Combining Cauldron into Heavenly Cycle State, Lu Li sat cross-legged and breathed in and out to rest briefly. Then he completed the fourth and fifth rounds of purification in succession, yet the spirit-conducting copper remained at ninety-one percent purity.

So Lu Li rested again and continued refining it. Only after the sixth round was complete did the spirit-conducting copper barely reach ninety-two percent purity.

The farther he went, the more difficult purification became. The effect of every round diminished.

Two hours had passed so far. At this rate, even if Lu Li purified it a hundred more times, he still would not reach the required standard.

Thirty or forty spirit stones amounted to roughly two or three days of his income. Taking a step back, even if he managed to reach the standard through repeated purification, if it took more than three days, it would still be a losing proposition in the end.

Lu Li was weighing the pros and cons when Elder Duan suddenly interrupted him.

"Kid, this definitely won't work. When all is said and done, this still needs this old woman."

"You? How would you do it?"

"Relax your mind and hand control of the Qi-Combining Cauldron to me. This old woman will refine it for you and let you see what the Qi-Combining Cauldron's true power really is."

"Hand it to you?"

"That's right. Give this old woman control of the Qi-Combining Cauldron. Forget ninety-five percent—this old woman can refine it to ninety-eight percent for you to see."

At those words, Lu Li instantly became wary.

The cold wind outside the boat cabin poured in, making Lu Li shudder.

When something is abnormal, there must be a demon behind it. Lu Li could more or less guess Elder Duan's situation—there was no way this old thing was the merciful immortal she claimed to be.

Based on Lu Li's experience reading fantasy novels in his previous life, this old thing was most likely some cultivator's remnant soul, lingering will, or something of the sort. She definitely had her own agenda, but some restriction or concern prevented her from using force directly.

The Qi-Combining Cauldron was practically his lungs now; his breathing depended entirely on this thing. If he handed it over to someone else, wouldn't that be the same as letting them seize him by the throat?

No, he absolutely could not agree. This old thing was rotten to the core.

At that thought, Lu Li could not help but suck in a sharp breath. That inhalation would have been harmless enough, but the Qi-Combining Cauldron was currently in a fully operational Liberation by Violence state. With that unconscious motion, he directly sucked all the spirit-guiding copper sand floating in the air into his lungs.

Achoo!