Now This Was an Immortal

Over the next few days, He Pingsheng worked while secretly experimenting with various objects.

He had no treasures on hand, so everything he found was quite ordinary.

One day, a wild idea struck him. He brought his wood-chopping axe into his room, removed the axe head, and placed it in the black earthenware basin.

Since water, spirit rice, and pills could all be enhanced in the Treasure-Gathering Basin, would it work on this ordinary axe too?

Give it a try!

Unable to sleep that night, He Pingsheng secretly watched the basin.

When the moon rose, that miraculous sight appeared once again.

The patches of moonlight on the ground slowly condensed into moonlight essence, then flew toward the Treasure-Gathering Basin.

The moonlight essence gradually settled onto the surface of the axe head.

"It really works..." He Pingsheng scarcely dared to breathe. He watched silently until he could no longer stay awake and fell asleep.

The first thing he did upon waking the next morning was look at the axe head in the Treasure-Gathering Basin.

He sucked in several sharp breaths...

Two!

That was right!

He had put in one axe head yesterday, and this morning there were two.

Moreover, the quality of the axe heads seemed to have improved.

Although the axe had been gleaming before, its finish had been somewhat lacking. Now the axe head was a deep black, not particularly shiny, but pleasing to the eye.

"Let's try it!"

He Pingsheng put one axe head away, fitted the other onto the handle, and headed outside.

After eating, he went straight to the timber storage area behind the main hall and began chopping wood.

First, he took a log and stood it upright, then swung the axe down hard.

Crack...

With that single stroke, the axe split the log cleanly in two.

This... this was jujube wood!

He Pingsheng remembered perfectly well that jujube wood was the hardest to split. Before, a log like this would have taken a good ten strokes or more.

And now!

It had taken only one?

Naturally, he did not think his own strength had increased.

There was only one possibility: the axe had become sharper.

He Pingsheng continued his experiments.

After several days of testing, he discovered a few characteristics of the Treasure-Gathering Basin.

First, this pitch-black earthenware basin was unquestionably a formidable, heaven-defying treasure.

Second, so far, it seemed that whatever he put inside, the Treasure-Gathering Basin could enhance it. Not only did it enhance things, it also increased their number, doubling one into two.

Third, anything enhanced by the Treasure-Gathering Basin could not be enhanced a second time.

Take the [Golden Bone Pill] from before, for example.

After being enhanced by the Treasure-Gathering Basin, it had gained four pill marks. When He Pingsheng put it in a second time, nothing happened.

For a while, that had made He Pingsheng suspect something was wrong with the basin.

Soon, the crucial day arrived.

Early that morning, Senior Brother Hao Yun called He Pingsheng outside and had him clean the main hall again, then deliver the required quantities of timber in various sizes to the Alchemy Hall ahead of time.

Besides the timber, they also prepared a large vat of clean water.

"Uncle-Master Yuxuan has a good temper!" With everything ready, Hao Yun wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "On Bamboo Peak, apart from the elders at the Golden Core Stage, his cultivation is the highest. They say he's already reached the tenth level of the Foundation Establishment Realm. He's probably refining Foundation Establishment Pills this time for the disciples!"

"Of the dozens of immortals of all ranks on Bamboo Peak, Uncle-Master Yuxuan has the best temper. You needn't worry. Even if the pill refinement fails, he won't beat us!"

He Pingsheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Hao Yun continued, "Even so, we must be careful. The Foundation Establishment Pills Uncle-Master Yuxuan is refining this time are second-grade pills. Preparing the ingredients alone is extremely complicated. You need both substantial wealth and extensive connections, or you simply can't gather everything!"

"Come on. Follow me to the entrance, and we'll kneel to welcome Senior Master!"

Without waiting for He Pingsheng to speak, Hao Yun tugged at his clothes and pulled him to the courtyard entrance of the Alchemy Hall.

Hao Yun took out two rush cushions and tossed them onto the ground. "Kneel!"

Then came the wait.

After all, Uncle-Master Yuxuan had only said he would come to refine pills today, not at what time.

It might be early morning, late morning, afternoon, or even evening.

They could not afford to show any disrespect.

Just as He Pingsheng had spent the entire morning kneeling, his back aching and his knees on the verge of cramping, a streak of light suddenly flashed across the distant sky.

"Reverence... reverence, reverence, reverence..." Hao Yun repeated the word four times before saying, "Senior Master is here... kneel properly, quickly!"

He Pingsheng hurriedly put on a solemn expression and knelt respectfully with his head lowered. His eyes, however, rolled upward as he stole a glance at the immortal light flying toward them from afar.

The streak of light moved extremely fast, reaching the sky above the Alchemy Hall entrance in roughly a dozen breaths.

He Pingsheng saw him clearly: an elderly Daoist with white hair and beard, dressed in blue-green Daoist robes and holding a white horsetail whisk.

Beneath his feet was an immortal sword.

Sword Riding!

He sucked in several sharp breaths...

He Pingsheng marveled in envy. Now this was a damned immortal!

Whoosh...

The next instant, Uncle-Master Yuxuan descended from the sky.

"You two, get up. There's no need to kneel!"

A commanding voice rang out.

"Yes!"

The two stood.

The blue-green-robed elder waved his hand, and the three-foot sword floating beside him shrank into a tiny sword no longer than a finger and landed in his palm. He then opened a black cloth bag at his waist and put it away.

He Pingsheng's parents had both been Outer Disciples of the Great Void Sect, so he did possess some basic knowledge of cultivation.

He knew that this black bag was called a Storage Bag, also known as a Heaven and Earth Bag.

It looked only palm-sized on the outside, but a whole separate space lay within. Its size varied according to its quality, though even the smallest measured roughly ten feet across and could hold many treasures.

Although He Pingsheng had heard of these before, today was the first time he had seen one.

His parents had never owned one either.

Never mind Outer Disciples like his parents-even among Inner Disciples, not everyone necessarily had one.

A Storage Bag was essentially a treasure that cultivators could only possess after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He Pingsheng practically drooled with envy.

If I had one of those, wouldn't I have somewhere to keep the Treasure-Gathering Basin?

And another thing!

The Treasure-Gathering Basin can enhance one object every day. Wouldn't I have somewhere to store those enhanced objects too?

As things stood, He Pingsheng had accumulated more and more enhanced objects. With nowhere to put them and fearing exposure, he no longer dared to enhance anything.

"Come inside with me!" Uncle-Master Yuxuan flicked the whisk in his hand and walked ahead. "Hao Yun... back when the elder brought you in from outside and placed you in this Alchemy Hall, it was because your name, [Hao Yun], sounds like 'good fortune.' He hoped you would bring this old man good luck!"

Behind him, Hao Yun's face was wreathed in smiles. "Absolutely, absolutely! Senior Master, your pill refinement will certainly succeed this time, and every pill will be top-grade!"