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

The fact that Li Yuan dared to tamper with military supplies indicates that the internal struggle within the Heavenly Sword Pavilion had reached a fever pitch.

Although Zhang Qian, that little bastard, has been temporarily intimidated by Chen Baichuan, he certainly won't let this go.

And then there was that Northern Region assassin who died in the ruined hall.

All signs indicate that the Heavenly Sword Pavilion is about to descend into turmoil.

Without sufficient strength, one doesn't even qualify to be cannon fodder in this impending storm.

Zhou Lingxuan was planning for tomorrow.

First, go to the bottom of the waste mountain and dig up some fire-attribute waste ore. Combine it with the ground fire from the No. 3 fire pit and try to break through the seventh-tier barrier.

If that's not enough, go to the waste bin in the Pill Hall and take a few more waste pills.

I was just thinking about it.

A very faint whooshing sound suddenly came from the direction of the waste mountain.

The sound was very soft, like the sound of a sharp weapon cutting through the night wind.

Zhou Lingxuan's fingers, which were tapping the table, suddenly stopped.

He turned his head and looked in the direction of the waste mountain.

next moment.

A desperate, even shrill, cry for help suddenly pierced the quiet night sky above the abandoned hall.

"Manager! Help!"

"Pit No. 3... Something's happened in Pit No. 3!"

Zhou Lingxuan suddenly stood up.

The teacup on the stone table was jolted and jumped, splashing tea onto the stone slab.

Startled awake by the commotion, Lei Yang scrambled to his feet, gripping the Wind and Thunder Sword tightly in his hand.

"Grandpa Zhou, what's wrong?" Lei Yang rubbed his eyes and looked in the direction Zhou Lingxuan was looking.

Beyond the waste mountain, half the sky was bathed in a dark red light.

"Let's go take a look." Zhou Lingxuan didn't waste any words and strode towards the courtyard.

Lei Yang, sword in hand, followed closely behind.

The two crossed the front yard of the abandoned hall and headed straight for Pit No. 3.

Before you even get close, an extremely powerful heat wave crashes over you.

The air was so intensely heated that it was distorted, and everything in sight was shaking.

The pungent smell of sulfur assaulted the nostrils, making it hard to breathe.

Around Crater 3, the bluestone railings that were originally used to block Mars have been burned red-hot, and there are even signs of melting on the surface.

The magma at the bottom of the pit surged wildly, and the dark red liquid kept spraying upwards, making a deafening roar.

Several menial workers on night duty collapsed to the ground, scrambling and crawling away, not even bothering to pick up their lost shoes.

Zhou Lingxuan frowned and took a few steps forward despite the heat.

As soon as he crossed the ten-zhang boundary, an extremely terrifying pressure instantly enveloped his entire body.

This oppressive force is not just high temperature, but also carries a destructive power of heaven and earth.

Zhou Lingxuan's body, which had been baptized by heavenly lightning and repeatedly hammered by the Heaven-Forging Hammer, was actually emitting waves of stinging pain.

A fine layer of red spots appeared on the skin's surface, and the flow of vital energy in the meridians became sluggish.

He stopped and did not go any further.

Going any further, this body can't take it.

"Manager! Manager, please don't go any further!"

Old Sun ran over from the side, covered in sweat. He had long since taken off his tattered cotton-padded coat, leaving only a single shirt, which was also soaked through with sweat.

He ran up to Zhou Lingxuan, panting heavily, his face all wrinkled together.

"This fire...this fire is weird!" Old Sun pointed at Pit No. 3, his voice trembling.

"What happened?" Zhou Lingxuan asked.

"This old man doesn't know either!"

Old Sun was so anxious that he kept slapping his thigh.

"Everything was fine when we were on patrol just now; the flames only shot up two or three feet high. Less than half an hour later, there was a sudden 'boom' from below, and lava surged upwards!"

Old Sun wiped the sweat from his face, leaned closer, and lowered his voice.

"Manager, do you think... it's because we haven't been putting enough waste into Pit 3 lately, and it's not enough to quell the fire down there?"

Zhou Lingxuan shook his head and didn't reply.

Was the waste material unable to quell the anger?

This is purely a layman's wild guess.

The earth fire veins of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion were not formed naturally at all.

The sect's records clearly state that this was a legendary swordsmith from ancient times who forcibly captured the earth's core fire using his great supernatural power to refine heaven and earth, specifically for tempering top-grade spiritual materials.

This earth fire vein has been burning peacefully beneath the Heavenly Sword Pavilion for over a thousand years without ever encountering any problems.

How could it suddenly go berserk just because a few less baskets of waste were thrown in?

Zhou Lingxuan looked at the churning lava at the bottom of the pit and quickly went through the recent events in his mind.

The only variable was that stormy night a few days ago.

When he forged the Wind and Thunder Sword for Lei Yang, he triggered heavenly lightning.

The lightning strike not only cleansed Lei Yang's physical body but also infused the essence of lightning into the sword embryo.

At the time, he was only focused on locking down Lei Li and didn't pay attention to the surrounding environment.

It now appears that the lightning bolt not only struck the sword, but also traveled along the earth's veins, striking deep into the third pit.

Thunder from the heavens represents the extreme of yang energy, while fire from the earth represents the intense and poisonous nature of yin energy.

These two forces of heaven and earth collided underground, completely shattering the balance that the earth's veins had maintained for thousands of years.

The earth fire was enraged by the heavenly lightning, and that's when it began its frenzied counterattack.

"Manager, what do we do now? If this fire overflows, our entire abbot's hall will be finished!" Old Sun was so anxious that he jumped up and down when he saw that Zhou Lingxuan didn't speak.

Zhou Lingxuan snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at Old Sun.

"What's the panic?" Zhou Lingxuan's voice was steady, without the slightest fluctuation.

The sound, when it reached Old Sun's ears, inexplicably calmed his wildly beating heart.

"Go, wake up everyone in the abandoned hall."

Zhou Lingxuan made the arrangements in an orderly manner.

"First, everyone retreat to the front yard. Without my order, no one is allowed to approach the waste pile even a step."

"Second, move all the metal drums containing the poison from the warehouse to the outermost open space, as far away from any source of fire as possible."

"Third, seal off the gates of the abandoned hall. Anyone who dares to gossip about what happened tonight will be thrown into the pit and fed to the fire."

Old Sun nodded repeatedly and turned to call for help.

"Wait a minute," Zhou Lingxuan called out to him. "Send someone fast to the Inner Sect Affairs Office to report that the fire in Pit No. 3 has gone berserk, and ask the steward to come and take a look as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir! I'll get right on it!" Old Sun accepted the order and dashed off to the servants' quarters.

Lei Yang stood beside Zhou Lingxuan, watching the towering flames, and gripped the Wind and Thunder Sword in his hand even tighter.

"Grandpa Zhou, this fire... it feels a bit familiar," Lei Yang suddenly said.

Zhou Lingxuan turned to look at him.

"familiar?"

"Um."

Lei Yang nodded.

"There seems to be a hint of lightning in this fire. It's somewhat similar to the aura of my sword, but not quite the same. It's very volatile, as if it wants to tear everything around it apart."

Zhou Lingxuan nodded inwardly.

This kid's perception of the energy of heaven and earth is indeed frighteningly sharp.

"Don't overthink it, and don't draw your sword," Zhou Lingxuan instructed. "This fire is beyond your control. When the inner sect members come later, hide your sword well and don't let them notice anything amiss."

Lei Yang obediently responded and hid the Wind and Thunder Sword behind his back.

Before an incense stick could burn, all the servants in the abandoned hall were woken up.

A group of people, disheveled, gathered in the front yard, staring at the firelight that illuminated half the sky from the back hill, their faces pale with fright.

The barrels of toxic substances were also brought out and neatly stacked at the base of the courtyard wall.

Zhou Lingxuan moved a grand chair and sat down in the center of the front yard with an air of authority, while Lei Yang stood behind him with a sword in hand.

With a foreman in charge, the servants, though afraid, dared not run around or shout.

A while later, a series of rapid whooshing sounds came from outside the gate of the abandoned hall.

Three middle-aged men dressed in the attire of inner sect stewards landed on their swords and strode into the courtyard.

The leader was a dark-faced man whose cultivation level was at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

After entering, he didn't even glance at Zhou Lingxuan, and walked straight towards Pit No. 3.

The other two deacons followed closely behind.

Zhou Lingxuan didn't get up; he just sat in his chair and watched their backs.

These inner sect stewards are usually arrogant and don't take the outer sect stewards seriously at all.

Now that the fire has occurred, they naturally need to go and investigate the situation first.

Half an incense stick later.

The three deacons retreated from the back mountain.

The leader, a dark-faced man, had a livid face, his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat, and even his breathing had become somewhat heavy.

The other two were in even worse condition; one of them couldn't even stand and was leaning on his companion, panting heavily.

Clearly, they had tried to approach Pit 3, but were injured by the overwhelming pressure of the heavens and earth.