Accumulating Virtue and Doing Good Brings Blessings, The Other Name of the Eternal Fire Spirit Stone Spreads

"Not good!"

From afar, Lu Xin panicked when he saw Heng Hua take out the feather fan.

"Is this a Spirit Tool on par with the Lingyun Fan?"

Now the folding fan was retracting its Spiritual Light and he wasn't activating it himself. If the opponent attacked with full force, wouldn't his fan be destroyed?

Even if it wasn't destroyed, merely erasing the Divine Sense he had placed on it could harm his soul, requiring three to five years to recover.

At this moment, Lu Xin knew he had gone too far.

Seeing Heng Hua's actions, Qing Xi hurriedly said, "Fellow Daoist, please don't. I--I was just asking, I didn't intend to refine the Lingyun Fan."

"It's fine, if you don't intend to refine it, you can sell it for money. When others use it, they will still need to deal with the Divine Sense on it. To prevent other Daoists from suffering, I'll help you resolve this Divine Sense for free."

A bird's cry arose, and a red bird appeared above Heng Hua's head.

Li Fire.

Vermilion Bird feather?

Qing Xi's heart stirred as he recalled the origin of this fan.

Back then, he had suffered Qi Deviation because of the Zhangshen Sword, and the man and woman who helped him resolve it, the man seemed to be holding a feather fan.

Could this young Daoist be the son of his benefactor?

While Qing Xi was lost in thought, he saw the Li Fire slowly descend.

Unable to hide his strength, Qing Xi quickly snatched the folding fan and escaped using Earth Evasion.

Heng Hua had intended to secretly use the "Earth Casting Gold Technique". But considering the other's background and the past connection with his father, he silently let it go.

Staring in the direction Qing Xi had left, Heng Hua glanced towards the hiding place of Lu Xin and the other. Although he couldn't see them, he still put on a smile and adopted a profound expression.

Lu Xin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Qing Xi snatch back the folding fan. He then asked, "Master Nangguo, did this brat discover us?"

"The Fu Family has a powerful expert guarding it, so perhaps we have already been discovered."

"Then--should we show ourselves?"

"Let's be cautious and hide. It's best."

After returning, Qing Xi handed the folding fan back to Lu Xin.

"Young Master, is it alright now? Please don't do things like this again in the future."

Qing Xi was still shaken, he remembered the power of that fan.

Back then, when he was controlling eight Spirit Swords, his benefactor had used a fan to burn his tentacles, causing all eight swords to fall into the water.

"I never expected this young brother of the Fu Family to be so kind-hearted."

Lu Xin took back the folding fan and reverted to his true form. Seeing that the folding fan was undamaged, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ahem... Since he's so kind-hearted, we can consider adding another candidate."

Whoosh--

A gentle breeze blew. Nangguo Yannian reacted quickly and used Water Evasion to take Qing Xi and Lu Xin back to the merchant ship.

"As expected, someone was hiding there."

Fu Xiangfeng looked in the direction Lu Xin and the other three had left. He leaped and appeared beside Heng Hua.

"What happened? Did that person try to trick you?"

"I don't know. Regardless, they brought a genuine Spirit Tool to ask me for an appraisal, so they probably had some ulterior motives."

Heng Hua lightly fanned himself. "We act uprightly and are not afraid of these petty tricks from Netherlings and Sprites."

Nie Xing and the others secretly suspected Qing Xi's origin when they saw him flee.

Mei Zhongtian's brows furrowed and then relaxed intermittently.

Heng Hua smiled and asked, "Fellow Daoist, do you still have doubts?"

"I just feel that the craft of artifact refining is very dangerous." Having just entered the cultivation world, learning about these dirty dealings out of the blue made him feel that the path of cultivation was extremely perilous.

Setting traps in Magic Treasures, there were even three types of evil Magic Tools.

As a Daoist of metallurgy, he would often deal with artifact refiners in the future, would he need to be more vigilant?

"Besides evil Magic Treasures made by artifact refiners, alchemists can also tamper with Pills. Three hundred years ago, the Blissful Cult, which once rampaged through the Yanlong Waters, didn't they rely on the 'Five Flavors Bliss Powder' to win over many Cultivators?"

Five Flavors Bliss Powder was an evil poison that could paralyze a Cultivator's spirit and make them addicted. Taking 'Bliss Powder' would temporarily double one's mental strength, accelerating cultivation. However, after the medicinal effect wore off, it would instead cause mental fatigue, madness, and irritability. Moreover, this drug was extremely addictive, and once taken, it was difficult to stop.

The Blissful Cult relied on this evil item to win over many Cultivators to their banner, dominating the central region of the Yanlong Waters, and even attempting to sweep across all directions to become the uncrowned king of the Yanlong Waters.

Both the Fu Family and the Divine Moon Sect had contributed to the extermination of the Blissful Cult.

In addition, one can also hide gu worms in Pills. Or take an ordinary Qi Replenishing Pill and only coat the pill's surface with a layer of medicinal powder, passing it off as a high-grade Pill.

Heng Hua fanned himself, chatting with Mei Zhongtian about various traps in the cultivation world.

"If you obtain a Cultivation Method left behind by an ancestor, you must also be careful. Ancestral Cultivation Methods might be family heirlooms or passed down through a master, requiring specific secret codes and incantations for decoding. Otherwise, some parts might be difficult to understand and could easily lead to Qi Deviation.

"Or they might deliberately leave behind misleading cultivation methods specifically to harm future Cultivators."

"Fellow Daoist, you must understand. Flowers have a thousand faces, and people have a thousand kinds. Not all cultivators are selfless good people willing to leave behind cultivation methods for future generations to practice according to the Dao.

"There are people in this world who seek not to benefit themselves, but only to harm others. Even without enmity, they will find a way to harm you. Much less so when they are about to die; seeing others achieve success in cultivation naturally makes them even more unwilling. Thus, they intentionally leave behind harmful cultivation methods, causing future generations to suffer Qi Deviation and accompany them in death."

Mei Zhongtian recalled the inheritance he received from a senior.

Looking at it this way, was he considered lucky?

"It's still considered good if they only leave behind harmful cultivation methods. Even worse, some leave behind cultivation methods that secretly contain evil arts for Body Seizure. As future cultivators practice, they automatically become vessels, allowing the deceased cultivators to be reborn."

Heng Hua had seen such a thousand-year-old evil art.

The Devilish Cultivator hid their Yin God within the lines of text. If someone practiced according to the cultivation method, they would gradually be assimilated by that sinister spirit, becoming a vessel for the Devilish Cultivator's revival.

Seeing through the scheme, Heng Hua sent the ancient book to Fu Danwei, directly erasing the Devilish Cultivator's imprint.

Mei Zhongtian, a novice, was frightened by the various examples Heng Hua gave, his face turning pale.

Although he knew that the cultivation world was full of dangers at every step, there were so many pitfalls in cultivation methods, pills, and Magic Treasures?

"Fellow Daoist Fu, why do you have to scare Fellow Daoist Mei?"

Xin Mao, who had just traded with Mei Zhongtian, said with a smile, "The cultivation world does have many traps, but as long as you are careful, guard your heart, and are not led astray by greed, there is nothing to worry about. A few years ago, didn't a Devilish Cultivator spread treasure maps outside, trying to lure fellow Daoists? But in the end, weren't everyone safe, except for a few like the Wei Family?

"As for those fake pills, Magic Treasures, and cultivation methods, if you buy them from regular Spirit Markets, there will generally be no mistakes.

"Fellow Daoist Mei, you don't move around much in the cultivation world. In the future, remember, in the eastern part of our Yanlong Waters, do not go to the reef market stalls randomly. Only the Fu and Yin families have credibility. If you want to buy things, it's best to go to their shops on Fengmen Island, or shops with the Fengmen brand. Only these three types are credible. Absolutely, absolutely do not deal with the Cheng family. Those people like to use poison, and you might die from poisoning at any time."

"Young Master, are you really going to add the Fu Family to the list of candidates for inspection?"

Qing Xi and the other two returned to the sea ship.

Lu Xin's expression was somewhat unnatural.

He just wanted to expose the hypocritical faces of the Fu family, but he almost lost his Spirit Tool.

"Cough cough... Naturally. Since the Fu family members are indeed kind and honest as you said, give them a chance."

Lu Xin thought to himself: I'll give Uncle Qing Xi some face first, and then I'll find an excuse to kick the Fu family out. But the Fu family's conduct is indeed good, if only...

He glanced at the gray-robed person beside him and shook his head.

Although he was a direct descendant of the Lu family in the Yulan Trading Company, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of Lu family young masters like him. He couldn't change the overall considerations of the Lu family.

The Lu family had not taken the Fu family seriously from the beginning.

When Fu Danwei and the Great Elder die, leaving only Fu Beidou to support the family, what future will the Fu family have?

No matter how powerful a sword immortal's Spiritual Power is, without the Fu family's Heluo Calculation Scripture, they can't even maintain their current facade.

In contrast, the Wei family has two Golden Core great cultivators in their early thousands, and eleven False Core cultivators. It is rumored that a direct descendant of the Wei family has gone to the East Sea Sword Sect to cultivate. Their future is promising, and they will be a Golden Core sword cultivator with unparalleled combat prowess. This one person alone is equivalent to Fu Beidou.

Compared to the Cheng family, which is skilled in poison and unpredictable, the Wei family is the Yulan Trading Company's first choice.

After the farce at Qing Xi's place, the market was also coming to an end. Xiang Feng put away the Coiled Dragon Seal, made a brief adjustment, and then set sail from Immovable Reef at dawn.

Xiang Feng stood on the deck, bidding farewell to the streams of light flying away from Immovable Reef.

Then, he silently controlled the gentle breeze and observed the west of Immovable Reef.

"Third Brother, are you looking at the origin of that group of people?"

"Yes, I can sense it. That group is to the west of Immovable Reef."

But because they had not taken any action, Xiang Feng was worried about affecting other fellow Daoists, so he had not made a sound earlier.

A faint sound came from beside him.

Xiang Feng glanced over and saw Heng Hua descending onto the deck, riding the wind.

"Landing still makes a sound; my wind-riding technique is not good enough." Heng Hua landed lightly, standing beside Xiang Feng.

"The person who appraised treasures with a fan, I have some guesses, they might be related to our family. I heard that he cultivated in the Baiqiang Waters in the early years, so he should be from there."

"Baiqiang? Cultivation merchant association? What are they doing here?"

There is a hierarchy in the cultivation world.

Cultivation families with a thousand-year heritage look down on cultivation merchant associations that only know how to amass wealth and scheme, deeming them rude, immoral, and driven by desire, unable to enter the path of immortality.

Sects with the orthodox inheritance of Shenzhou look down on thousand-year families, believing their family rules are complex, too worldly, and lack the bearing of immortals.

And the immortal sects and Daoist lineages holding immortal scriptures and secret techniques look down on the aforementioned three categories. They call them "seeking truth through falsehood, grasping at the moon in the water," and in the end, they will not attain the Great Dao, and it will all be in vain.

"What else can they do? Naturally, they want to open up the Yanlong market."

The Yanlong Waters is a cultivation world dominated by cultivation families. The Zhu Family on Huomen Island in the south, the Xiao, Lin, and Yang families on Shuimen Island in the north, and the Fu, Wei, Cheng, Bao, and Yin families on Fengmen Island in the east – these nine thousand-year families dominate and establish the current order of the Yanlong cultivation world.

Families with Nascent Soul cultivators as their foundation, and guardian spirits as totems, are upper-class families.

Families with Golden Core cultivators as their foundation, capable of passing down Golden Core cultivation methods for generations, and having a first-grade Spiritual Vein, are middle-class families.

All others are lower-class.

The goals of the cultivation families in the Yanlong region are to upgrade their family's Spiritual Veins and to cultivate their elite clansmen.

Heng Hua: "Water Demons frequently appear in the Yanlong Waters. Whether it's demon cores or demon bones, they are scarce items in the Baiqiang Waters."

"But with the three major families on Shuimen Island suppressing them, how could they possibly enter from the north? Although the western side has weaker family influence, those ascetic cultivators on Tianmen Island are not suitable trading partners for the Baiqiang Merchant Association. After much thought, they can only start from the east."

Fu Xiangfeng: "With our five families stationed in the east, can they even get in?"

"So, they'll find a certain aristocratic family to act as their proxy?"

Heng Hua chuckled, "Given our current situation, those snobs probably wouldn't look our way. The Yin family... they operate mysteriously, focused on emulating the ways of immortal sects. They don't even pay attention to their own shops, so they likely won't join forces with Baiqiang's merchant association."

"Then it's the Wei, Cheng, and Bao families? They want to invite wolves into the house?"

"How can they be called wolves? They're just a bunch of 'fat sheep' who are foolish with their money. Forget the Wei and Cheng families; even the two Golden Core ancestors of the Bao family can't outplay them."

In the thirteen waters of Donglai, Yanlong suffers from a water demon disaster, causing cultivation prodigies to often perish prematurely. There are only three to five cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage, and less than fifty Golden Core cultivators. However, due to constant battles with water demons, the cultivators here possess extremely high combat prowess.

Among the ten major merchant associations of Baiqiang Waters, if any single one were to come to Yanlong, regardless of whether they brought dozens or hundreds of escorts, the Bao family could easily handle them.

Heng Hua didn't take those people to heart at all and turned to leave.

"Two Fellow Daoists—"

At this moment, Mei Zhongtian caught up.

"Does Fellow Daoist have something else?"

"Are you two searching for a Spirit Tool called 'Eternal Fire Stone'?"

Xiang Feng's eyes lit up, "Does Fellow Daoist know the origin or whereabouts of this item? If there's any relevant information, the Fu family will offer a generous reward."

"I only remembered it by chance after returning. The Eternal Fire Stone is a special kind of fire within stone. It's formed when the sun's divine fire falls into the earth, merges with the subterranean poisonous fire, and is then sealed within the stone by the earth's essence over a thousand years."

As he spoke, Mei Zhongtian took out a piece of light red flint.

Heng Hua's Divine Sense swept over it, and he immediately said, "This stone carries the aura of the sun's divine fire. But the temperature of the fire seed within is likely insufficient. A hundred years of heat? Wait, is this the flint you use for striking fire to forge gold?"

"Yes, this is a hundred-year-old flint essence. If it had a thousand years of heat, it should be what you're looking for, right?"

Heng Hua blurted out, "Huomen Island's Sui Valley?"

The Eternal Fire Stone is the legendary thousand-year flint essence of Huomen Island?

Mei Zhongtian nodded silently. That's right, this was the flint he obtained from Sui Valley.

"As expected, it's a matter of thousands of years for one item. I didn't expect 'Eternal Fire Stone' to refer to that thing." Heng Hua's heart settled.

Sui Valley, the place with the most intense fire energy in Yanlong Waters, produces a peculiar type of flint called 'Hundred Profound Flint,' which can be used for alchemy and artifact forging.

But Heng Hua knew that the Zhu family possessed a treasured Spirit Tool passed down for a thousand years, named the 'Suihua Liguang Lamp.' Its wick was said to be refined from thousand-year flint essence. This treasure could ignite aerial fire, stone fire, and wood fire, making even Golden Core cultivators afraid to touch it.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist. Your words have been of great help to my family."

"I'm glad I could be of assistance." After delivering the message, Mei Zhongtian prepared to leave.

"Wait a moment." Heng Hua pulled him aside.

"Fellow Daoist has been a great help to my family. I shall also offer you a word of advice."

Heng Hua said solemnly, "The world knows that the Alchemy Daoist forged cauldrons for Golden Cores, primarily using the essence of the five metals, incorporating various metallic essences into his body to forge a pill of metal and stone. However, they don't realize that the quality of the Golden Core forged varies depending on the choice of the five metals. It's not that higher quality metallic essence is always better.

"Fellow Daoist, remember, to forge a superior Golden Core, you must prioritize Profound Gold. Use it to refine the energies of the five elements, forging five types of spirit metals...

"Taibai Golden Essence, Xuanlan Golden Essence, Qingyi Golden Essence, Chiyuan Gold Essence, and Yueling Golden Essence. These five types of metallic essences belong to the five elements. If you can forge these five types of spirit metals in the future, and then use these five types of metallic essences to engrave a five-element formation in your Dantian, your chances of forging a core will increase by ten percent.

"If you cannot forge these five types, you should choose other metallic essences that are imbued with the five-element attributes as substitutes. Remember, having all five elements is crucial for Core Formation.

"Also, the five types of elemental metallic essences must be of the same grade. If one is a mid-grade metallic essence, then all must be mid-grade. You cannot have four high-grade and one mid-grade, or four mid-grade and one low-grade."

This was summarized from Heng Hua's reading of hundreds of Daoist texts.

Mei Zhongtian pondered, vaguely feeling that Heng Hua's words would be of great benefit to him in the future, and quickly bowed in thanks.

"It's a small effort, just a few words. Believe it if you wish. If not, you can forge a core yourself using five types of miscellaneous metals like Profound Gold, Spirit Silver, and Red Copper. However, remember to use Cinnabar and Lead Mercury sparingly. Using these two in your pill can easily lead to Qi Deviation."

After advising Mei Zhongtian, Heng Hua prepared to leave.

"Wait—" Mei Zhongtian stopped him.

"The five types of Profound Gold you advised me on are all mid-grade metallic essences. What if I can find five types of high-grade metallic essences—"

"Don't be reckless!"

Heng Hua interrupted Mei Zhongtian's ambition without hesitation.

"I know you must think that forging a Golden Core with five types of the highest quality metallic essences will result in the strongest Golden Core with unparalleled power. But don't forget, your Samadhi True Fire cannot melt those high-grade materials.

Low-grade metallic essences, like Water Moon Silver, Separation-Combination Profound Gold, Nine-Degree Silver Copper, and Hundred-Lily Divine Iron, can be smelted by the 'Inner True Fire' of the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment. Some are even used by Golden Core cultivators to craft Spirit Tools.

Mid-grade metallic essences, like Taibai Golden Essence, Xuanlan Golden Essence, Qingyi Golden Essence, Chiyuan Gold Essence, and Yueling Golden Essence. Most are the preferred choice for Golden Core cultivators crafting Spirit Tools. Heng Hua selecting these five types of metallic essences for Mei Zhongtian's core forging was the optimal choice considering all aspects.

As for high-grade metallic essences, the lowest require a Golden Core cultivator's Natal True Fire to smelt. Some metallic essences even require immortal fire for smelting. Using such metallic essences for cultivation will only trap you at the Golden Core stage, preventing further progress.

"Regardless of whether you can smelt the five types of high-grade metallic essences into a Great Dao Golden Core, even if you succeed, can your Yin God be separated once it merges with the Golden Core? You must remember that Golden Core cultivators also have a lifespan limit. If you cannot enter a higher realm before the great limit of fifteen hundred years, you'll be waiting for death."

After giving Mei Zhongtian a crash course in relevant knowledge, Heng Hua sent him off the Spirit Boat.

Returning to Xiang Feng's side, Fu Xiangfeng had already written down the news about the Eternal Fire Stone in his 'Travel Log.'

Xiang Feng said smugly, "How about that? This boat market has been helpful to us, hasn't it? You were reluctant at first. Look how beneficial it is."

"It was just luck. Now that the whereabouts of the Eternal Fire Stone are known, we should focus on how to get the thousand-year flint essence from Huomen Island."

Similar to Fengmen Island's position in the eastern part of Yanlong, Huomen Island is also a center for cultivators in the south. Thousand-year flint is a rare commodity on Huomen Island. The Zhu Family keeps a tight watch on it, so the Fu Family will need to put in some effort to obtain it.

Fu Xiangfeng: "Let my father and a few uncles worry about it. We'll take our time. There are still two others."

Fu Liuhui frowned as she looked at the large pot, inside which a small silver beast was rolling around.

"Moo moo—"

The little beast had two small bumps on its forehead, its body covered in fine scales, and a bare tail that swayed back and forth.

Liuhui had already poured out the hot water in the pot, leaving only the eggshell and the little beast.

"Is this... a Kirin? No? A Thunder Beast, perhaps? It looks a bit like a Kui Ox, born with lightning, but it has four legs, so that doesn't fit."

The little beast's eyes were slightly narrowed, not yet fully open.

It struggled to stand up clumsily, then fell down with a plop.

It lay down by its eggshell and tried to burrow inside again. But the eggshell was broken, and the small fragment wasn't enough to cover its entire body.

"Caw?"

Yellow Jade let out a sound, curiously stretching out its beak, wanting to peck at it.

Liuhui quickly stopped him: "Wait, its scales haven't fully grown yet, don't mess with it."

The little beast played by itself for a while before starting to scratch its way out of the pot again.

Seeing that it was about to come out, Liuhui placed it back at the bottom of the pot.

"In its current condition, it obviously can't be eaten. But—"

Fu Liuhui thought of a huge problem.

How was she going to feed it on the boat right now?

"Spirit beasts need to be fed mother's milk when they are first born. But I..."

Liuhui quickly looked at Yellow Jade.

"Chirp?"

Yellow Jade tilted its head, looking foolishly at Fu Liuhui.

A crane, naturally, had no way to nurse.

Liuhui quickly took out a Pill and placed it beside the little beast.

But the little beast only sniffed it before turning its head to continue fiddling with the eggshell.

After a short while, it lost its strength and lay down by the eggshell, trying to gnaw on it. However, the young beast's teeth were not fully developed, and it could only gnaw on the innermost layer. It couldn't even bite the golden eggshell that had resisted the erosion of time.

"Strange. If it has the habit of eating eggshells, how can it not eat its own eggshell? Wait, why would a young beast be inside an eggshell? Shouldn't it be born from a placenta and eat the initial placenta?"

Liuhui considered herself well-read at home, often visiting Langhuan Pavilion to read. But facing this little beast, she had no idea of its origin, let alone how to raise it.

Yellow Jade stared at the little beast for a while, then suddenly ran to the water, caught two fish, and threw them into the bottom of the pot.

The little beast continued to gnaw on the eggshell, completely ignoring the carp that were still flapping around it.

"It can't eat these," Liuhui threw the carp back into the water and sighed faintly, "I must rendezvous with Sixth Brother quickly."

How to identify it, how to feed it – she could only seek Fu Henghua's guidance.

Taking out a jade plate, Fu Liuhui plucked a feather from Yellow Jade and began chanting.

Blue smoke curled upwards, and guided by the connection between Yellow Jade and Fu Heyi, it indicated the location of the Cai Luan Spirit Boat.

Today's two chapters are combined and will not be split further.

Addendum:

There are various theories on how Daoist Metallurgists cultivate.

However, one point is universally acknowledged by all Daoist Metallurgists—the Metal of the Five Elements, which is Profound Gold.

Profound Gold is the foundation of all spiritual metal materials.

The mainstream theory is that Profound Gold originated from alchemy. Ancient Qi Refiners, while making elixirs of immortality, discovered a special substance within metals and stones that could not be melted. Later experiments revealed that Profound Gold could be used as a material for Magic Treasures.

Some say that Profound Gold was formed from the primordial chaos. Cultivators collected natural Profound Gold from the spiritual veins of mountains and rivers to forge treasures. Later, due to the scarcity of Profound Gold, the art of artificial refinement was created.

Profound Gold is resistant to water and fire, stable in nature, can be preserved for a long time, and is not eroded by the passage of time, making it highly favored by cultivators. In ancient times, Profound Gold, along with spirit stones, served as the common currency in the cultivation world.

Some even rumored that the reason the Natal Core formed by Golden Core Cultivators is called a "Golden Core" is because it relies on the stable and long-lasting nature of Profound Gold, signifying "immortal golden nature." (The author personally believes this is the slander of artifact refining cultivators.)

--Miscellaneous Records of Cultivation, author Yu Yaozi, a master alchemist of the Futian calendar.