He Xian's aura resonated with this place, and the Gu Clan soon learned that an honored guest had arrived.
This time, he did not rashly enter.
For he had not come to provoke them.
He Xian waited quietly. Now, his every movement drew upon a mighty momentum. Heaven's will watched over him, and he represented the dignity of the Foreign Realm.
"The foremost figure of our realm has graced us with his presence! Hurry and invite him in!" Soon, an old man appeared in the Gu Clan's ancestral grounds.
He was short, hunched, and shriveled, but his eyes shone brilliantly like golden lamps.
His hair should originally have been golden, but his great age had long since turned it white. Now, pale gold glimmered amid the snowy strands.
The old man possessed an imposing presence that shook the soul, making others instinctively want to kneel and prostrate themselves in worship.
A supreme expert of the Gu Clan! They had actually sent a supreme expert to welcome him, showing just how much importance the Gu Clan placed on He Xian.
"Venerable supreme expert, you jest!" He Xian smiled gently, taking no offense at the joke.
"I have come to borrow your clan's treasured furnace for cultivation." He Xian strode forward, unperturbed by the supreme expert's might.
This astonished the Gu Clan's supreme expert all the more.
"Truly, heroes emerge from the young!" He let out an aged laugh.
He looked He Xian over a few more times. "Excellent! Excellent! As expected of the foremost member of our realm's younger generation-you defeated that little fellow Gu Rong despite being below him in cultivation!"
"Come with me!" Though decrepit with age, the Gu Clan's supreme expert led the way with a voice full of vigor.
"Perhaps you can temper an invincible body that looks down upon past and present!" he added leisurely.
The Gu Clan claimed to sever space-time with one hand and the flow of years with the other. Naturally, they were exceptionally sensitive to certain karmic ties involving their clan and had foreseen He Xian's arrival, though they had not known the exact date.
That was why a supreme expert had refrained from entering seclusion and had been waiting in advance.
"Would you permit us to place one of our clan's children inside as well?" The Gu Clan's old supreme expert brought He Xian to an ancient site enclosed by stone mountains and dismissed everyone who had followed.
No one else was permitted to set foot within ten thousand zhang of this place.
It was extraordinary. Not only was there chaos energy, but there were also genuine immortal flames.
"Very well!" He Xian fell silent for a moment. The stone valley was vast, and even the ground was made of stone, hard and cold, with a metallic sheen.
The Gu Clan was seeking an opportunity for its younger generation. When He Xian tempered his invincible body, countless laws and orders of heaven and earth would manifest. This was a tremendous blessing!
"However, you must contribute some other precious materials!" Since he was borrowing another clan's treasure, He Xian did not deliberately make things difficult.
Still, he would not let himself lose out for nothing.
"Of course!" The Gu Clan's old supreme expert laughed heartily.
Heat surged through the stone valley, pouring out from underground.
The surrounding stone mountains also radiated terrifying heat, producing unparalleled flames.
He Xian glanced around.
All in all, this place was exceedingly unusual. Its temperature was frighteningly high. Ordinary creatures could forget about entering, or they would melt on the spot.
Thus, anyone who entered the valley was far from ordinary. Generally, even the weakest needed the strength of the Self-Slaying Realm.
Clatter!
The next instant!
He Xian tossed a great heap of vicious beast corpses into the valley. The Time Beast and the Heaven Devourer Bird were both members of Emperor Clans.
These were the corpses of the seven Emperor Clan members he had slain.
He intended to place them in the Yin-Yang Furnace to analyze them and reveal the origins of their clans' Great Daos.
This violated a taboo, but to him, that was all it amounted to.
For Immortal Kings such as the Red King and the ancestor of Heaven Devourer, who were truly invincible throughout the world and looked down upon the universe, anyone who studied their paths would be suppressed by them. They would not care at all.
Nor would such a person have any hope of ascending to the "King Realm."
The Gu Clan's supreme expert's eyes lit up at the sight of these Emperor Clan corpses.
The enormous risk their Gu Clan had taken had not been in vain.
Certain acts were fundamentally different depending on whether He Xian or the Gu Clan performed them.
Before long, the Yin-Yang Furnace was carried out, guarded by several powerful members of the Gu Clan!
"Come, place these corpses and the great medicines we prepared into the furnace!" the Gu Clan's supreme expert ordered.
The Gu Clan had long since prepared various world-shaking medicines, stones stained with king blood, and a Golden Immortal Herb!
The Yin-Yang Furnace appeared to be a single whole, but inside, it was divided into a yang furnace and a yin furnace. The yang furnace broke things down, while the yin furnace brought forth creation and manifested the Great Dao.
Soon, everything was ready, and the person arranged by the Gu Clan arrived as well. His name was Gu Hong.
He was of medium build, with a calm expression and long, pale-golden hair tinged with blood-red. He stood beside He Xian, utterly composed.
"Let's go!" He Xian paid him no mind. He stepped into the center of the yin furnace, closed his eyes, and sat cross-legged on the floor.
Gu Hong followed closely and silently sat cross-legged in a corner.
Both the yang furnace and the yin furnace were spacious enough to accommodate more than a dozen beings.
"Seal the lid!" the Gu Clan's supreme expert shouted.
The lid descended, sealing the furnace completely, and the tempering began!
"Burn!"
At the same time, the Gu Clan's old supreme expert gave a sharp command, uttering just one simple word: "Burn!"
The next instant, everyone from the Gu Clan departed, leaving only the old man.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Divine flames rose throughout the valley, some surging out of the stone mountains, others emerging from underground.
This was a fire valley, nurturing extraordinary power of the Dao of fire, well suited to refining medicine and heating the Yin-Yang Furnace.
Boom!
The stone valley shook. The flames pouring out grew ever fiercer, burning furiously until they nearly engulfed the Yin-Yang Furnace. Divine radiance shone everywhere, and the temperature was terrifying.
These were not Dao flames conjured by human effort. They already existed within the stone valley, and with the slightest stimulation, they surged upward.
There were various explanations for the flames here.
Some said this was a sacred ground for comprehending the Dao, where tangible traces of the Great Dao lay buried. They had merged with the underground lava flames to form Dao fire.
Others said that the Gu Clan's ancient ancestor-the being who had fought the True Dragon-had spent years refining medicine here and had also comprehended the Dao in this place. The stone valley had imprinted his Dao and carried supremely powerful Dao fire.
In short, opinions varied widely.
Flames spouted upward. The Yin-Yang Furnace hovered in midair, bobbing as though rising and sinking in water. It continuously endured the burning of the Dao fire, refining the various precious medicinal essences and corpses within.
This furnace was extremely mysterious and extraordinarily powerful. It had been brought over from the other side of the Imperial Pass and had become the Gu Clan's supreme treasure.
Even throughout the Foreign Realm, this furnace ranked among the foremost treasures. It was one of the few supreme treasures that could stir even Immortal Kings' hearts. Had they not accepted the Gu Clan, they would surely have stormed its gates and seized it long ago.
It had borne the onslaught of countless ages and received the baptism of the Great Daos of untold powerful experts. A hundred refinings could not destroy it, nor could ten thousand tribulations break it. It had witnessed countless great battles.
It could refine medicine, but no one had ever classified it as a medicinal furnace, simply because it was far too powerful.
Unfortunately, for more than half an epoch, this furnace had never been moved. It could only remain in this valley, for it concerned the Gu Clan's rise and fall, survival and destruction.
According to legend, the clan's ancient ancestor was still alive, but he needed this furnace to suppress his own body. Rumor held that he was buried here.
They had made an exception this time only because He Xian's reputation was too great, and they did not wish to antagonize him.
They were earning a favor from a future Immortal King.
And the Gu Clan had also secured benefits of its own.