Kan Water overflowed, Li Fire blazed, and the Azure Gold furnace walls, which radiated a clear, precious light, gradually corroded.
The pale, emaciated man rose. His chest swelled as he drew all the water and fire on the floor into himself, restoring a little color to his face.
He turned and gently stroked the Water-Fire Not Yet Fulfilled Furnace, exposing his deathly pale back. Each vertebra protruded, with scorpion-stinger-like spikes jutting from it.
His back was covered in rotten flesh, pitted and foul-smelling. Crimson cinnabar traced fine lines across the decayed, blackened skin. Xu Xuan looked closely and saw an upside-down character for "blessing."
Silence surrounded them. No one knew the origins of the man who had crawled out of the furnace, and none of the cultivators dared act rashly. They watched him quietly.
In the direction of the Kan trigram, several Rogue Cultivators near the secret passage thought of fleeing and rode the wind toward it.
Xu Xuan had expected the man from the furnace to intervene, but he did nothing, only gazing blankly at the Azure Gold treasure furnace as though possessed.
Just as those present began thinking of retreating and leaving as quickly as possible, sounds came from the stone passage in the Kan direction. The heads of those Rogue Cultivators were tossed out, landing together on the floor in a neat row.
Everyone present was shocked. One of the cultivators who had left was at the seventh level of Qi Refining. His soundless death sent a chill down many backs.
A man slowly emerged from the stone passage in the Kan position. His face was grim, his bearing imposing, and he wore Reed-Pattern Heavy Armor. He casually surveyed the cultivators present, a mocking smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Foundation Establishment."
Xu Xuan watched