Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 8 – Separating Waste Pills

Fortunately, he hadn’t emerged with nothing.

The violent poisons within the poison pill had been extracted by the little blue lamp and suppressed into the index finger of his right hand. With the terrifying powers of the poison bead, if he were to directly touch a Golden Core realm master they would have no choice but to suffer a tremendous loss. This was a great killing move!

But as he mulled over it some more, he wryly smiled. While the poison bead was strong, if he wanted to use its violent poison powers then he would have to arrive next to that person and touch them.

If he were really to make enemies with a Golden Core realm master they would only need to casually wave their hands from afar to kill him. How would he find a chance to approach them?

This thing was simply worthless!

“It’s better than having nothing at least. I might be able to use it in the future.” Qin Yu thought, consoling himself. He looked around.

Then, his gaze froze.

He quickly hurried several steps and picked up a large cloth bag that was hidden in the weeds. It didn’t seem as if it were woven from cloth, but rather like some sort of animal skin. The opening of the bag was bound by two gold and silver threads. As Qin Yu opened it, he was stunned silly.

Storage bag!

This was actually a storage bag!

He sucked in a breath of cold air. His heart raced, beating like a drum in his chest.

After carefully probing it with his divine sense, he discovered that there was a space around 10 feet wide within; this was undoubtedly a real storage bag.

This was a high grade item. Within the entire Eastern Mountain Sect, there was unlikely to be more than three!

10 feet of space wasn’t too large; this could only be considered an ordinary storage bag. But to Qin Yu it was an unimaginable valuable treasure. It had to be known that storage bags were treasures that only Golden Core realm powerhouses had the qualifications to use.

Qin Yu took several deep breaths before he managed to suppress the tumbling emotions within his chest. As he carefully checked that the storage bag was intact and in good condition, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Luck, this was luck. But if he were to think of it another way, this was destiny!

He had found the little blue lamp and then Cang Mangzi’s remains; these were all matters of destiny.

However, strokes of destiny were often accompanied by dire events. This could be seen from the things that Qin Yu had experienced recently.

But now, Qin Yu didn’t have any thoughts of caring about this; the bliss of finding a storage bag had flooded his mind. Perhaps it was because Cang Mangzi had utilized any means at his disposal to extend his life before he died, but the storage bag was empty.

Wait. No…there were actually two things inside.

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With a touch of his divine sense, a black robe appeared in his hand. The quality of material seemed like some sort of icy silk that was cool to the touch. If a hollow Nascent Soul boundary powerhouse had collected this robe, then that proved this black robe wasn’t normal. Qin Yu lifted his hands and donned it.

The black robe was large and voluminous and included a hood. As he put it on, it completely covered him. He immediately discovered that his divine sense was unable to pass through the black robe. It was clearly a treasure used to hide one’s identity and conceal one’s aura. In the future, if he were doing things and didn’t want his identity to be discovered, then wearing this black robe would be the best choice.

The second object was a medicine cauldron the size of a palm. There were marks of heavenly thunder and fire carved into the side as well as many mystical runes; it was obviously an alchemy treasure.

This must have been the treasure cauldron that Cang Mangzi mentioned in his final words. However, it needed to be refined before he could use it, and he couldn’t see just what was so special about it right now.

He suppressed his thoughts of immediately refining it. Qin Yu took off the black robe and placed it back in the storage bag along with the medicine cauldron. He carefully searched through the thatched hut one more time, but didn’t find anything else.

“This storage bag alone is already an unimaginable harvest. I need to stop being so greedy.” Qin Yu said, slapping himself back to his senses. His eyes fell onto Cang Mangzi’s grave, and a complicated light appeared in his eyes.

This person had died with a hollow Nascent Soul cultivation. He should have been at the precipice of breaking into the Nascent Soul realm, and if he had managed to do that his lifespan would have increased by 800 years and he would have survived this crisis. Unfortunately, he lacked that final bit of destiny and ended up dying here instead.

But one could not avoid destiny no matter how hard they tried; every bite and sip was preordained. If Cang Mangzi had survived in the past then the Eastern Mountain Sect would have suffered disaster, and Qin Yu wouldn’t be standing here today.

He shook his head, ridding himself of these dark thoughts. He cupped his hands against his chest and bowed, “This junior will excuse himself.”

He turned and left the thatched hut.

As he looked around, he discovered something peering at him from afar.

Qin Yu sneered, “Didn’t you run away? And you still dare to come back!”

The chicken overlord listlessly lowered its head. If it could speak then it definitely would be stamping its feet pitifully right now.

If I didn’t fear the poison, then I wouldn’t be so stupid to come back!

Qin Yu crooked his finger.

The chicken overlord sauntered over, snorting and puffing the entire way. Its small eyes were bright and intelligent, and it cheerfully swung its tail around.

Qin Yu laughed. “Stop trying to put on a front! I will consider the previous matter settled. After all, I still benefited from your good luck.”

He walked over to the spirit grasses, spirit plants, and spirit fruits he had placed to the side. As he counted them to make sure they were all there, his smile brightened. He placed them in his storage bag and left a spirit fruit in his hand.

“This is for you. Eat it.”

The chicken overlord immediately brightened up. It waved its wings and raced over, quickly eating up the spirit fruit in several bites. Its small eyes glistened with pleasure.

Qin Yu lightly kicked it away. “Stop enjoying yourself. Come with me to verify something. Otherwise, if we’re trapped here for the rest of our lives, how is that different from being dead?”

His voice faded as he spoke, as if he were reminding himself.

In Cang Mangzi’s final words, he mentioned that the array formation of the Eastern Mountain Sect’s Pill Disposal Department was incredibly cruel and sinister; it only allowed entry and not exit. Qin Yu did not forget this detail. Moreover, he recalled that there really hadn’t been anyone that had ever reappeared after they entered the disposal department.

He quickly leapt back up the hole and crawled up to the disposal department. He rapidly ascended through the passage until he reached the entrance, and then took out the entry token and poured his magic power into it.

Hu –

Even without wind, his robes fluttered about him. Qin Yu stuffily coughed as if someone had stabbed a needle into his mind. His vision darkened as a wave of black entered his sight and his magic power of the eighth level of Energy Refining was instantly sucked away. Still, the array formation showed no sign of opening. It was like his magic power was a stone that was dropped into the sea.

He really couldn’t leave!

Qin Yu backed up several steps until he hit the stone wall and slumped to the ground. Fear and despair began to rise on his pale face. In the end, he was still a young man. Even though he could forcefully calm himself down in certain situations, when he encountered such a desperate scenario his mind was still left in chaos.

Cang Mangzi had possessed a Golden Core realm cultivation and yet he had been stuck in here without any means to leave. As for himself, he was a mere Energy Refining amateur. The difference between them could be described as the heavens and earth. He feared he wouldn’t be able to leave in his entire life!

No wonder there were so many bloodstains at the entrance to the disposal department and so many traces of people digging. These were all left behind by former residents here, and they had done all of that in desperation after they discovered they couldn’t leave.

Don’t panic!

Qin Yu took several deep breaths. Then, his eyes began to harden. He didn’t believe he would really die here. He closed his eyes and began to meditate. He regretted that he had swallowed up all his pills in his impatience. Fortunately, there weren’t any dangers here so he had as much time as he needed.

Four hours later, Qin Yu opened his eyes. He took out a jade slip; this was Cang Mangzi’s attainments in alchemy. Soon, he found the part detailing separating materials from waste pills. Qin Yu carefully read through it, but soon, a bitter smile formed on his lips.

He managed to understand it and had memorized all the steps, but what did it matter if he knew the methods of a Golden Core master? He simply wasn’t able to mimic them!

He grit his teeth and put away the jade slip. Propping himself up, he glanced at the exit before turning back around. Now, there was only one possibility remaining, and if that were also useless, then he might...

He shook his head, causing beads of sweat to rain down. His face hardened. Even if he failed, so what? Cang Mangzi had stayed here underground for hundreds of years, never giving up on finding a way out. If Cang Mangzi could do that then so could he!

Pushing open the stone door, Qin Yu looked at the center of the room where there was a force that connected from the top of the stone chamber to the floor. This furnace had existed here for an unknown period of years and was built when the Eastern Mountain Sect had been in its most glorious era. It could draw the power of destructive fire and destroy the waste pills within.

The upper channel was the entrance where the waste pills came in and the lower channel was where it drew the power of destructive fire from the earth. Even Cang Mangzi hadn’t dared to think about using this furnace to escape, so Qin Yu naturally wouldn’t court death like that. He stared at it for several moments. Then, he leaned forwards and grabbed the rails at the mouth of the furnace. His muscles quickly tensed and with a loud screeching sound, the mouth opened.

Hu –

A flow of heat rushed out, causing Qin Yu to stream with sweat that soaked his robes. But, what was even more terrifying than the billowing heat was a fog that rushed out along with it and fell upon his body before directly fusing together with his flesh and blood.

These were pill toxins, but not only pill toxins. Rather, the pill toxins had fused together with the power of fire, causing it to rise to a dreadful degree of toxicity! Luckily it just happened to be nighttime and beneath the foot-long range of the sea-blue light, all the toxins that invaded Qin Yu’s body were immediately suppressed into his index finger.

Qin Yu might have been the first person in history to open this furnace and come out unscathed. He picked up a black shovel that was placed to the side and thrust it into the furnace.

In just a single breath of time, the edge of the iron shovel began to glow red; it was obvious just how terrifyingly hot the inside of the furnace was. Ignoring the heat waves surging past his face. Qin Yu lowered his head to stare at the black ashes covering the shovel. There were over a hundred waste pills, most of them in a half-melted state.

How come there were so many?

Qin Yu was startled. He was a bit puzzled. Why would the small Eastern Mountain Sect have so many waste pills? It had to be known that every waste pill here consumed a considerable amount of precious materials. But as this thought appeared in his mind he put it to the side. He didn’t have the time to care about such matters at the moment.

He tossed the ashes to the ground and thrust the iron shovel in once more, going back and forth seven or eight times. Slowly, a pile of waste pills began to accumulate at his feet. There were likely 600-700 waste pills here, and with the poison gas from the fire and pill toxins spread through the air, it filled the room with a faint haze.

Bang –

With a hard push, the furnace was closed. Qin Yu straightened himself up and tried to compose himself. Even though he had prepared himself for the worst possible situation, he still couldn’t prevent himself from being anxious. The poison gas in the furnace room began to gradually thin out, and one could see that it was slowly pouring into Qin Yu’s body!

When the last traces of poison has disappeared, he opened his eyes and crouched down. He took out the little blue lamp from his chest. He opened his fingers and a foot-wide range of sea-blue light quietly bloomed, covering dozens of waste pills within.

Failure or success, it all came down to this moment!

Time slowly passed. Then, Qin Yu’s eyes began to brighten. He discovered that beneath the deep blue light, the temperature of the waste pills began to rapidly drop.

Soon, a light layer of frost appeared on the surface of the waste pills. As more and more time passed, the frost didn’t thicken but instead turned blue in color, just like a diluted version of the blue sea!

Kacha –

Kacha –

Countless cracking sounds spread out into his ears. In Qin Yu’s gaze, the waste pills weren’t able to withstand the low temperature and began to shatter. Parts of the pills began to evaporate, leaving behind two-thirds that resembled tiny icy crystals.

It worked!

Qin Yu gasped with excitement. He moved the little blue lamp to another pile of waste pills, and watched carefully as these waste pills also broke apart into ice crystals.

After separating from the blue light, the temperature of these ice crystals began to rise. In several breaths of time, they turned into unremarkable black balls. Picking up a few of them, Qin Yu licked his lips. His eyes continued to brighten as joy appeared on his face.

He had succeeded!

Although he didn’t recognize all these materials, he knew from taste alone that these were pure pill materials. Moreover, when he tasted one of these pills there was a sour taste to it, just like when he took a minor spirit pill. Without a doubt, this was the acidic grass material used to refine some pills.

With materials, with the alchemy technique and alchemy furnace that Cang Mangzi had left behind, and in addition to the little blue lamp that could upgrade a pill…Qin Yu finally found a ray of light in this hopeless situation. It might be difficult, but as long as he persisted there would be a chance.

….

There was no sense of time beneath the mountain. In the blink of an eye, the weather seemed to change.

Qin Yu constantly formed seals with his hands in a training room. The power of fire rushed out from the alchemy furnace in front of him.

Suddenly, the power of fire emitting from the pill furnace turned unsteady. Dull thumping sounds echoed out from within.

Qin Yu’s pupils shrank. His fingers moved faster and faster as he formed 49 seals in seven breaths, as if his ten fingers were all connecting together in a single stretch.

“Open!”

With a loud explosion, the pill furnace blew open. Seven rays of light shot upwards, overflowing with medicinal fragrance. Qin Yu was already prepared for this. He waved his sleeve and gathered all of them.

He spread open his palm to see seven pills quietly lying on it. With excitement on his face, he pumped his hand up in success.