A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Sword-Forging Servant and Ascending to Immorta

When Deacon Sun looked at the broken piece of cold iron, the fat on his face twitched violently twice.

He stared intently at Zhou Lingxuan, his back teeth grinding together.

He did indeed tamper with these materials.

Someone gave him a large sum of money to replace Xue Yi's refining materials with inferior ones.

If Xue Yi uses these materials to build a pill furnace, it will definitely explode during the pill refining process.

Not only would that ruin Xue Yi's reputation, but it would also make it easy to shift the blame to Fei Tang.

The plan was flawless.

Who would have thought that an old man burning trash in an abandoned hall, without even starting a fire, could uncover all the trickery just by feeling it?

"You old fool, stop spouting nonsense!"

Deacon Sun pointed at Zhou Lingxuan's nose and began to curse.

"The materials in the Weaponry Hall undergo rigorous checks at every level, how could there be a problem! It's clearly you, old handyman, trying to embezzle the spiritual materials and making up excuses!"

Zhou Lingxuan patted the iron filings off his hands without even lifting his eyelids.

"Whether it's an excuse or not, take these pieces of red copper back to the ware hall, throw them into the earthen furnace and burn an incense stick. Whether they explode or not, you know the answer."

Xue Yi finally realized what was happening. She rushed to Deacon Sun, pointed at the Fire Poison Sand on the ground, and trembled with anger.

"Fatty Sun! You dare to scheme against me!"

Xue Yi's voice was sharp and piercing.

"No wonder the previous two furnace explosions were so strange; it turns out it was your Weaponry Hall that was behind it all!"

Deacon Sun was so humiliated by Xue Yi's scolding that his face turned pale and then red.

He suddenly drew his sword from his waist, the tip pointing directly at Zhou Lingxuan.

"Junior Nephew Xue, don't listen to this old madman's nonsense! He's taking on unauthorized weapon-forging work; according to sect rules, he must be severely punished! Men, tie this old bastard up!"

Two disciples from the Weapon Hall immediately stepped forward and reached out to grab Zhou Lingxuan's shoulders.

"Click."

A crisp cracking sound of a sunflower seed shell rang out in the yard.

Old Qin sat on the wooden stool, slowly popped a melon seed into his mouth, and clapped his hands.

Just as Deacon Sun was about to reprimand him, he suddenly felt his legs go weak. An extremely heavy pressure fell on his shoulders without warning.

The surrounding air instantly became viscous, making it difficult to even breathe.

He stared in horror, his gaze straining as he turned to the gaunt old man sitting in the corner, cracking sunflower seeds.

Old Qin didn't look at him, but instead looked down at the ground looking for sunflower seed shells.

"Making such a racket in the middle of the night, can't a person get any sleep?"

Steward Sun broke out in a cold sweat instantly.

This oppressive aura is definitely not something a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator could possess!

How could a master of this caliber be hiding in a godforsaken place like the Abandoned Hall? He swallowed hard, his hand gripping the sword beginning to tremble.

"Steward Sun, shall we continue tying him up?"

Zhou Lingxuan stood still, his tone indifferent.

Deacon Sun abruptly withdrew his longsword, taking three steps back and nearly bumping into the disciple behind him.

"You're lucky today! Xue Yi, I'll settle the score with you tomorrow for misappropriating spiritual materials! Let's go!"

He didn't even bother to pick up the red copper and cold iron on the ground, and led a few of his men to scramble out of the courtyard.

The courtyard fell silent again.

Xue Yi watched Deacon Sun's retreating figure and spat fiercely.

Turning her head, she saw the scattered red copper and cold iron on the ground, her eyes reddened, and tears almost fell.

"It's all over." Xue Yi plopped down on the ground, hugging her knees, her voice trembling with tears. "It's all over."

Zhou Lingxuan walked over, picked up the pieces of red copper from the ground one by one, and piled them back up next to the anvil.

"The materials are all here, how come it's over?"

"What do you know!"

Xue Yi raised her head, her face filled with despair.

"Copper and arsenopyrite are associated minerals. Once formed, the arsenopyrite is completely integrated into the texture of the copper."

"To remove it, it must be slowly simmered with top-grade spiritual fire, and also requires a special formation. Even if the elders of the Weaponry Hall were to personally handle it, it would still take ten to fifteen days!"

She became more and more discouraged as she spoke, and reached for the storage bag at her waist.

"Where am I supposed to find top-grade spiritual fire? This alchemy furnace is ruined. And don't even think about that Foundation Establishment Pill."

Zhou Lingxuan stopped moving. He turned around and looked at Xue Yi.

"Miss Xue, you just said that as long as I create the alchemy furnace, the Foundation Establishment Pill will be mine. Does that still stand?"

"All the materials are wasted, what are you going to use to fight?" Xue Yi replied irritably.

"Whether the materials are wasted or not is up to me to decide," Zhou Lingxuan said, pointing to the wooden stool beside him. "You sit there and watch. I'll forge this alchemy furnace for you tonight."

Xue Yi was stunned. She looked at Zhou Lingxuan's wrinkled face, half believing and half doubting.

"Can you really remove the fire poison sand?"

"Why don't you try and see?" Zhou Lingxuan didn't waste any more words and turned to walk to the forging table.

He pulled open the fire valve.

call!

A deep blue flame suddenly shot up from the bottom of the furnace, illuminating the entire courtyard.

Zhou Lingxuan picked up the iron tongs, grabbed a piece of red copper mixed with fire poison sand, and threw it directly into the furnace.

Xue Yi quickly got up from the ground, went to the furnace, and stared intently at the red copper inside.

Old Qin also stopped eating sunflower seeds and looked at Zhou Lingxuan with great interest.

Time passed little by little.

Zhou Lingxuan gripped the bellows handles with both hands and pulled them rhythmically.

The flames of the subterranean fire shot higher and higher, and the temperature continued to rise.

The surrounding air was scorching hot, and a thin layer of sweat quickly seeped out of Xue Yi's forehead.

The time it takes for an incense stick to burn has passed.

The copper in the furnace still retained its original shape, only its surface had developed a faint reddish glow.

Zhou Lingxuan frowned and increased the speed at which he pulled the bellows.

Another incense stick burned.

The copper had deepened in color, turning a dark red. But it was still a long way from melting.

Xue Yi sighed, took two steps back to avoid the oncoming heat wave.

"Don't waste your energy."

She pointed to the underground fire pipes under the stove.

"This abandoned hall doesn't even have a proper fire-gathering array. The quality of this earth fire is too low; it's only good for burning garbage."

"Red copper is a mid-grade spiritual material with an extremely high melting point. Even if you break the bellows, this broken furnace still won't be able to melt it."

Zhou Lingxuan stopped what he was doing and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

Xue Yi is right. The temperature of the underground fire in the abandoned hall has reached its limit.

Ordinary refined iron, when thrown in, will turn red-hot in half an incense stick's time. But even after being inside for so long, the copper's outer layer hasn't softened.

If the temperature is not high enough, the copper will not melt, and the fire poison sand cannot be forced out.

"Brother Zhou, do you need my help?"

Old Qin strolled over from the side, lowering his voice.

"Shall I use my spiritual power to help you ignite the fire?"

Zhou Lingxuan shook his head.

Elder Qin is at the Golden Core stage, and his spiritual power can indeed forcibly raise the temperature of the earth fire.

However, the distribution of fire poison sand in red copper is extremely uneven.

If the temperature gets out of control, the fire poison sand will expand when heated, and the entire piece of red copper will explode directly in the furnace.

Not only will all the materials be destroyed, but the borrowed forging workshop will also have to be scrapped.

"Need not."

Zhou Lingxuan picked up the iron tongs and took the slightly reddish copper out of the furnace, placing it steadily on the anvil.

Xue Yi looked at his actions with a puzzled expression.

"What are you doing? It hasn't even dissolved yet, what's the point of taking it out?"

Zhou Lingxuan did not answer. He put down the pliers, turned around and walked to the tool rack.

His gaze swept over the row of hammers of varying sizes, finally settling on the very edge.