Senior Brother Hao Yun

"Firewood is a vast field of knowledge!"

And so, Senior Brother Hao began explaining the principles of firewood to He Pingsheng.

The firewood used in pill refining came in two types.

One was hard firewood!

The other was soft firewood!

Soft firewood was used as kindling and generally had no special requirements. [Dried thatch] would do.

Hard firewood, however, had many more categories.

Depending on the type of wood, it was divided into elm firewood, chestnut firewood, jujube firewood, paulownia firewood... and so on.

Each type also came in different sizes, such as large, medium, and small pieces.

Different pills required different types of firewood!

And when refining a single batch of pills, the heat had to be adjusted at different stages. That was done by using different combinations of large, medium, and small pieces.

"Of course!" Senior Brother Hao said. "You don't need to understand exactly how to control it. Tending the fire is my job. Yours is chopping and gathering firewood!"

"Go up the mountain and cut wood according to my requirements. Once you've dried it in the sun, split it into the sizes I need!"

"The specific sizes are over there. Go take a look yourself!"

He Pingsheng left the main hall and went around to the back.

There was a shed behind it specifically for storing firewood.

He took a look. There was plenty of firewood inside, neatly sorted by type and size and stacked in orderly piles.

"No one's coming to refine pills for a while!" Senior Brother Hao had followed him over at some point. "You can head up the mountain to gather firewood first and get familiar with the work!"

He Pingsheng immediately grew curious. "Senior Brother, how do you know no one's coming to refine pills soon?"

Senior Brother Hao smiled. "That's simple. If the immortals on Bamboo Peak want to refine pills, they notify us a few days in advance so we can prepare. They also have to tell me what kind of pills they're refining and when!"

"Otherwise, if we aren't ready, how the hell are they supposed to refine anything when they get here?"

He Pingsheng was instantly filled with respect. "You really are impressive, Senior Brother. Even those immortals have to apply to you in advance?"

"Heh heh heh..." Senior Brother Hao chuckled. "Of course... our status may be low, but sometimes they still have to come asking us for help, don't they?"

Still, there was a trace of uncertainty in his smile.

After looking around, He Pingsheng took an axe up the mountain and began cutting down trees.

He recognized the different types of trees, too.

Gathering firewood was no easier than carrying water. Unlike carrying water, however, there was no fixed quota he had to meet each day, and firewood was consumed far more slowly than drinking water.

Overall, then, the work was relatively easier.

After dinner that evening, He Pingsheng locked himself in his little room, took out his remaining [Golden Bone Pill], and gently placed it in the battered earthenware basin.

Then he set the basin beside his bed and stared at it without blinking. He wanted to see exactly how the Treasure-Gathering Basin turned one treasure into two.

But even after he waited until midnight, the basin still hadn't stirred.

There was nothing he could do!

He simply couldn't stay awake any longer and had to sleep first.

The first thing he did upon waking the next morning was look into the dark earthenware basin.

To his utter astonishment, however, the single pill inside hadn't changed at all.

There was still only one!

Its quality hadn't changed any further, either!

He examined the basin from every angle, a faint sense of disappointment rising within him. Could I have judged it wrong? Could this basin not be a Treasure-Gathering Basin at all?

Is it just an ordinary basin?

Then how do I explain what happened before?

Was someone playing a joke on me?

"Why are you so distracted?"

"He Pingsheng, something's on your mind!"

After finishing his meal, Senior Brother Hao pushed his bowl across the table. "Want to tell me about it?"

He Pingsheng hurriedly replied, "No, no, nothing..."

"Good, then!" Senior Brother Hao said. "Wash my bowl, and I'll tell you some good news!"

He Pingsheng took the two bowls outside, washed them clean, and returned to the main hall.

Senior Brother Hao said, "Five days from now, Martial Uncle Yuxuan from Bamboo Peak is coming to refine pills... and he'll be refining Foundation Establishment Pills!"

He Pingsheng naturally had no idea what a Foundation Establishment Pill was, but a flicker of apprehension rose in his heart.

Someone had already told him that the most dangerous time was when an immortal refined pills.

If the refining failed, all the precious herbs they had poured their hearts, souls, and wealth into gathering would be lost.

Then, in their fury, they might take it out on the pill attendants and Servant Disciples. Being beaten or crippled would be getting off lightly.

How could he not feel apprehensive?

"Whew..." Senior Brother Hao drew a deep breath. "Go get ready... refining Foundation Establishment Pills requires a lot of chestnut firewood. Prepare it properly, and prepare plenty!"

"You'd best pray Martial Uncle Yuxuan succeeds!"

He Pingsheng didn't know what a Foundation Establishment Pill was, but Hao Yun certainly did.

The ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills were unimaginably precious. If the refining really failed... hiss... the consequences didn't bear thinking about!

"Yes... I'll go right away!"

Putting the Treasure-Gathering Basin out of his mind for the moment, He Pingsheng picked up his axe and headed up the mountain.

A full day of exhausting work!

But he had gathered enough chestnut firewood.

Over the next few days, he only needed to split it into pieces of the appropriate sizes.

Night fell!

He returned to his room!

Once again, he saw the black earthenware basin.

Still unwilling to give up, He Pingsheng went outside, filled it halfway with clean water, and set it beside his bed!

Unable to sleep, he kept watching the basin.

In the deep stillness of the night, moonlight poured down like water from high in the sky!

A thread of moonlight passed through the lattice of He Pingsheng's bedroom window and fell across the flagstone floor in scattered patches, soft, serene, and beautiful.

Just then, He Pingsheng suddenly noticed tiny motes of light emerging from the moonlit floor. They gathered together and drifted toward the black earthenware basin.

This...

At that moment, excitement surged through He Pingsheng once more.

There's nothing wrong with it!

There really is nothing wrong with this Treasure-Gathering Basin!

Moonlight and lunar essence merged into the water.

The water seemed unchanged.

But after He Pingsheng watched it for two hours, he noticed that it seemed to have taken on a faint green tint.

There also seemed to be a little more of it.

When he got up the next morning, he looked at the earthenware basin with dark circles beneath his bloodshot eyes, only to discover that it was now filled to the brim with water!

Green water.

Green as precious jade, it reflected the morning sun in a wash of emerald.

Whew...

He could rest easy now!

This proved that it truly was a Treasure-Gathering Basin!

Splash...

As quickly as he could, He Pingsheng poured the entire basinful of water onto the floor beneath his bed.

Whatever this stuff was, he couldn't keep it.

Once it was gone, he could gather more.

But if anyone discovered even a hint of anything unusual, it would all be over.

As the water splashed onto the floor, an incomparably fresh scent immediately filled the air.

A single breath left him feeling refreshed in body and mind.

He Pingsheng thought, I wonder if this stuff is safe to drink?

But now wasn't the time to investigate. Later, he would catch a squirrel and test it out.