The Exploding Furnace Fairy Brings Perks

"Going to the Waste Hall?"

The steward was somewhat surprised and looked up at Li Ping'an.

After spending so many years in the inner sect, this was the first time he had heard of someone voluntarily asking to go to that place.

"Are you sure?"

The steward frowned and asked again.

He had originally only wanted to put the man in his place and squeeze a few spirit stones out of him, but he had no intention of getting someone killed.

Although Saintess Lu Xue had already drawn a clear line between herself and this old fellow, he did not dare gamble on what might happen later.

What if the Saintess suddenly remembered their old ties one day and investigated? He would definitely be the first to die.

The Waste Hall was a place where spiritual energy ran wild and poisonous miasma filled the air.

A third-stage Body Tempering cultivator would survive no more than five days there.

"I'm sure," Li Ping'an said calmly.

Seeing that he was determined, the steward said no more.

"Since you insist, this steward shall grant your wish."

"Here is the Waste Hall identity token. Take it. Collect these inner sect disciple robes and be on your way."

Li Ping'an silently put away the token, gathered up the clothes, and left the inner room.

Watching Li Ping'an leave, the steward stroked his beard and pondered whether he should make Li Ping'an write a statement.

Something saying that he had gone voluntarily, so no matter what happened, it could not be pinned on him.

Just as he was considering it, a young man in a green Daoist robe flashed into the room.

A powerful pressure from the Spirit Condensation realm radiated from him. Even without anger, he commanded awe.

The steward's expression changed when he saw who it was, and he hurriedly rose to his feet.

"Senior Brother Zhang, what brings you here?"

The newcomer was Zhang Lu, the chief disciple of the Heart Sword lineage.

Zhang Lu did not waste words and went straight to the point.

"Which mountain branch did you assign that old fellow named Li Ping'an to?"

At those words, the steward's heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat broke out on his brow.

Unable to gauge Zhang Lu's intentions, he could only stammer out an explanation.

"Senior Brother Zhang, I wanted to arrange a good place for him too, but he... he insisted on going to the Waste Hall. There was really nothing I could do."

"The Waste Hall?"

Zhang Lu paused for a moment, then laughed.

"Good. Very good. That saves me the trouble of doing it myself."

Hearing this, the steward quietly wiped away a sheen of cold sweat.

So this chief senior brother had not come to look after Li Ping'an. He had come to kill him.

Well, well. He had long heard that Senior Brother Lu had pursued Saintess Lu for years, only to be rejected every time.

It seemed he had nursed a grudge and intended to take it out on Li Ping'an!

Zhang Lu's smile faded as he gave the steward an indifferent glance.

"When he dies, remember to notify me."

The steward nodded and bowed repeatedly as he promised, "Rest assured, Senior Brother. The moment there is any news from there, I will report it to you immediately."

Zhang Lu nodded in satisfaction and drifted away.

Completely unaware that someone had set his sights on him, Li Ping'an had already changed into his new clothes and was on his way to the Waste Hall.

The Waste Hall lay in a deep valley wedged between several main peaks.

With only third-stage Body Tempering cultivation, he could not fly on a sword and could only travel on foot.

The mountain path was rugged. By the time he crossed two peaks, night had already fallen.

Just as he passed near the inner sect's alchemy chambers—

Boom!

Flames shot into the sky!

Billowing black smoke spewed from an exquisite stone house.

Then a young woman with a face blackened by soot stormed out of the smoke.

"That shouldn't have happened. Why did the furnace explode again?"

"I clearly refined it according to the formula Master gave me. Where exactly did it go wrong?"

As she scratched at her bird's-nest hair, the woman waved her sleeve and used spiritual energy to disperse the surrounding smoke.

Quite a few passing fellow disciples stopped to watch the spectacle.

Sensing the amusement around her, the woman planted her hands on her hips, her willow-leaf brows shooting upright.

"What are you looking at? Never seen a furnace explode?"

"Keep staring, and believe it or not, I'll add something extra to your pills next month and make all of you explode together!"

At the threat, the watching disciples' expressions changed, and they hurriedly scattered.

Clearly, this junior sister was someone no one in the inner sect could afford to provoke.

Li Ping'an merely glanced at her from afar before preparing to take a detour and leave.

Yet a breeze swept past, and the soot-faced woman was already standing before him.

"Stop."

"You're from the Waste Hall?"

The woman caught sight of the black wooden token at Li Ping'an's waist.

Li Ping'an stopped and cupped his hands. "I am."

"Someone from the Waste Hall is only at third-stage Body Tempering? Forget it, it doesn't matter. Come help me dispose of these wasted pills."

"I need to hurry up and clean this place so I can prepare to refine the next batch."

She pointed at the pitch-black medicinal dregs and wasted pills scattered across the ground before the stone house.

"Alright."

Li Ping'an did not waste words. He stepped forward, crouched down, and began cleaning them up.

Once he had gathered them into a pile, he untied his robe and prepared to wrap up the wasted pills.

The soot-faced woman was startled by his actions.

"Are you insane? You didn't even bring a poison-proof wooden box, and you're picking them up with your bare hands?"

"Do you have a death wish?"

Although these wasted pills had failed in refinement, the medicinal power within them had already fallen into complete chaos. The poisonous fumes they emitted were enough to corrode the meridians of low-level cultivators.

Yet Li Ping'an remained calm.

Where others could not see, the ancient iron hammer within his sea of consciousness trembled faintly.

The highly toxic fumes passing through his body were being absorbed by the Heaven-Tempering Hammer.

Not only did the poison fail to harm him, it instead became nourishment for the Heaven-Tempering Hammer.

But the woman did not know this. Seeing Li Ping'an, she frowned.

"Take this. It's a low-grade Poison-Repelling Pill. After you swallow it, it'll hold for three hours."

"And these two low-grade spirit stones are payment for your trouble. Hurry up and take the things away."

Li Ping'an caught the pill and spirit stones, somewhat surprised.

This young woman looked spoiled and overbearing, but her heart was kind.

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

The woman gave a delicate snort and turned her head away.

"What are you thanking me for? If you come to collect waste materials in the future, remember to pick things like scrap iron and broken artifacts. Touch fewer of these pills."

"Maybe then you'll live a few more days in the Waste Hall."

With those words, she hurriedly turned and returned to the stone house, slamming the door shut with a bang.

Li Ping'an looked at the tightly shut stone door and smiled faintly.

He wrapped up the wasted pills and hurried down the mountain.

When he reached a secluded forest halfway down the mountain, he could finally no longer suppress the excitement in his heart.

He looked around, made sure no one was nearby, and summoned the Heaven-Tempering Hammer from his sea of consciousness.

The moment the two low-grade spirit stones appeared, the Heaven-Tempering Hammer instantly drained them of spiritual energy, turning them into two piles of powder.

With spiritual energy to sustain it, the ancient iron hammer emitted a faint glow.

Li Ping'an placed five pitch-black wasted pills on a flat boulder.

He took a deep breath, swung the iron hammer, and brought it down.

Immortal Smelting.

Without a sound, the violent toxins and impurities were instantly stripped away. Beneath the hammer's shadow, the five wasted pills turned into a pool of pure medicinal powder.

Li Ping'an did not stop. He followed through with a second strike.

Divine Casting.

An invisible force compressed and condensed the pure medicinal power anew.

Two round pills emitting a faint glow lay quietly atop the boulder.

Low-grade, first-rank Body Tempering Pills.

Five wasted pills that had originally been enough to kill someone had actually yielded two intact cultivation pills.

Li Ping'an looked at the pills in his palm, his breathing growing hurried.

It worked.

It really could turn waste into treasure!

This Waste Hall truly was a place of creation for him.

Now he was going to strike it rich!

Yet before he could inspect them closely—

Another muffled boom came from the peak above his head.

Boom!

Li Ping'an instinctively looked up toward the alchemy chambers.

Billowing black smoke rose once more from that mountain peak.

It exploded again?