Dominator Emperor

Li Qiye had exposed his condition in a single sentence. How could this not shock him? He had been so focused on a breakthrough in the Nirvana Realm that he’d left behind a small flaw. This was something he had never told anyone else. He never imagined that Li Qiye could understand the entire situation just by glancing at his Dao Foundation. What a discerning eye!

Such insight, such knowledge, shouldn’t be possible for a boy of thirteen or fourteen. Even as an Elder, his own perception wasn’t nearly so sharp. Even if he were facing another cultivator at the Heroic Realm, he couldn’t possibly discern their depth and flaws just by observing their Life Wheel and Life Palace! This kind of insight and knowledge required time to temper, to be accumulated through an extremely high realm of cultivation!

But the thirteen-year-old disciple before him was clearly neither of those things!

As Elder Sun stood there in shock, Li Qiye gave him one last look and said, ”Elder, you possess the Red Refining Body, also known as the Red Refining Snake Body. You wish to cultivate your Red Refining Body into a Red Dragon Body, don’t you?”

Hearing Li Qiye state it so bluntly, Elder Sun’s old face flushed, and he gave a dry laugh. ”I was indeed thinking of giving it a try.”

Elder Sun had an Acquired Physique; he was born with the Red Refining Snake Body. However, he wanted to cultivate his physique into its ultimate form—the Red Dragon Body!

”The problem lies with your Furnace God,” Li Qiye said, now completely confident and at ease.

”My Furnace God?” Hearing this, Elder Sun immediately shook his head in denial. ”That’s impossible. My Furnace God has been with me for several hundred years. I’ve used it ever since I obtained it during my Yun Body Realm. It has accompanied me through countless alchemies and has nourished my body for centuries. It has never had a single problem.”

”Your physique has flourishing fire energy, yet it also absorbs yin energy. Your blood flows through your muscles and bones, but the flow is sometimes interrupted, correct?” Li Qiye asked calmly. ”If you don’t believe me, Elder, take out your Furnace God and let me have a look.”

At Li Qiye’s words, Elder Sun was visibly shaken. He hadn’t mentioned his symptoms, yet Li Qiye had described them perfectly. How could he not be shocked?

Hesitating between shock and doubt, Elder Sun finally took out his Furnace God. It was the size of a fist. Three intertwined snakes, mouths open and tongues flicking, jointly held a small furnace in their maws.

”A Three-Snake Fire Stove. I’ve seen plenty of Furnace Gods like this,” Li Qiye said with a small smile as he took it from Elder Sun.

A Furnace God was an essential tool for every Pharmacist who practiced Alchemy. Even for those who weren’t Pharmacists, most Cultivators would possess one.

To put it simply, a Furnace God was a Pill Furnace used for Alchemy. However, only Mortals used furnaces forged from metal and stone. The Elixirs of Cultivators were spiritual in nature and could not be created in such mundane vessels.

When Cultivators practiced Alchemy, they had to use a Furnace God. A Furnace God was, in essence, a naturally formed Pill Furnace. However, these Pill Furnaces possessed spirituality, or even life itself. That was why a Cultivator’s Pill Furnace was called a Furnace God.

There were many theories about the true origin of Furnace Gods. One legend claimed that back in the untraceable Mythical Era, Furnace Gods were Divine Beings who tended the flames for Immortals to practice Alchemy.

Of course, this theory wasn’t widely believed. A more accepted explanation was that a Furnace God began as a mineral or plant nurtured by the heavens and the earth. After absorbing Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, it would transform into a mountain spirit. Then, after enduring the ordeal of lightning and fire from a Thunder Tribulation, it would develop a Fire Source within it, ultimately transforming into a Treasure Furnace and becoming what Cultivators call a Furnace God.

Therefore, every Furnace God was a Treasure Furnace nurtured by the world itself, containing a Fire Source within. Through the nurturing of a Cultivator or Pharmacist, it was fed Spirit Medicine Treasure Grass, allowing it to develop a Medicine Treasure. Using the Fire Source for alchemy and the Medicine Treasure to nourish the medicine, a Pharmacist could ultimately use the Furnace God to refine Body Ointments, Longevity Medicines, and Life Pills!

Li Qiye carefully observed Elder Sun’s Three-Snake Fire Stove. Finally, he placed both hands on the fist-sized stove and shouted, ”Open!” As the word fell, he unleashed the Three-Snake Fire Stove.

Once the Three-Snake Fire Stove landed, it was no longer the size of a fist. A huge Treasure Furnace appeared in the hall, as large as a tabletop. The Treasure Furnace was coiled by three Spiritual Snakes formed from Heaven and Earth Essence Qi. Although they were not real snakes, they looked incredibly lifelike.

The three Spiritual Snakes all opened their mouths wide, jointly holding the furnace’s opening. At this moment, waves of heat surged from within the opening, while the open mouths of the three Spiritual Snakes also emitted waves of a medicinal fragrance.

This Three-Snake Fire Stove was Elder Sun’s Furnace God. The elder himself had lost count of how many Body Ointments, Longevity Medicines, and Life Pills he had refined with it.

The waves of heat surging from the opening came from the Fire Source within the Furnace God, which was the key to refining elixirs. The medicinal fragrance came from the Medicine Treasure within the Furnace God. The quality of an Elixir depended, to a great extent, on the Furnace God’s Medicine Treasure!

Li Qiye peered inside the furnace, then said, ”Elder, this furnace was naturally born with Blazing Fire. This fire is its source, a relatively common type of Fire Source.” At this point, Li Qiye’s gaze shifted as he continued his observation.

”Elder, you often feed this furnace Earth Fire to strengthen its Fire Source, and you also often add various Spiritual Medicines to build its Medicine Treasure. Although you have fed the Furnace God all sorts of Spiritual Medicines, from what I can see, the one you’ve fed it most is Yin Flame Peacock Grass. Am I right?”

”How did you know?” Li Qiye’s words made Elder Sun’s body tremble!

”A simple deduction,” Li Qiye said nonchalantly, continuing to peer into the furnace. ”However, it’s obvious you haven’t been feeding it Yin Flame Peacock Grass recently. If I’m not mistaken, what you’ve recently put into your Furnace God is Fire Dragon Grass. Am I correct, Elder Sun?”

”You... you... how do you know?” Elder Sun was so shocked he could barely speak! He had recently been trying to achieve a qualitative leap in his physique to lay the foundation for cultivating the Red Dragon Body. For this, he had spent a fortune to buy Fire Dragon Grass and fed it to his Furnace God to strengthen its Medicine Treasure!

Many Cultivators, even if they weren’t Pharmacists, would carry a Furnace God with them. This was because a Furnace God was naturally born with a Fire Source, which would grow stronger when fed fire seeds. At the same time, every Furnace God would be fed large amounts of Spiritual Elixirs and Herbs. After being fed these, the Furnace God would refine their essence and store it within its body, forming a Medicine Treasure.

A suitable Furnace God was extremely beneficial for a Cultivator. For example, if a Furnace God was naturally born with a Sun Essence Fire source, then a Cultivator born with the Lesser Yang Body—one of the Twenty-four Emperor Bodies—could use that Furnace God’s Sun Essence Fire to temper their own physique.

At the same time, the Medicine Treasure within the Furnace God could nourish one’s physique, replenish Blood Qi, and even heal injuries and cure illnesses.

It was precisely because of these many uses that even those who weren’t Pharmacists would keep a Furnace God with them.

As for Elder Sun, it went without saying. He was a Pharmacist, and one of the two great Pharmacists of the Xiyan Ancient Sect at that. It was even more of a given that he would have a Furnace God by his side.

For a Pharmacist, what Spiritual Elixirs and Herbs they fed their Furnace God was a secret they would not easily share with others.

Yet now, Li Qiye had only taken a single glance to know what kind of Spiritual Elixirs and Herbs he fed his Furnace God. How could Elder Sun not be shocked? What an incredible understanding of medicinal properties! What a profound knowledge of a Furnace God’s refinement process!

Li Qiye didn’t answer Elder Sun’s question, simply saying, ”And that’s where the problem lies. You’re right, Fire Dragon Grass is indeed beneficial for cultivating the Red Dragon Body. However, Elder Sun, your Furnace God has been fed Yin Flame Peacock Grass for centuries. Its Medicine Treasure has already accumulated a large amount of the essence of Yin Flame Medicine Juice. The essence within the Medicine Treasure is Yin Fire Qi, whereas Fire Dragon Grass belongs to the category of Strong Dominating Yang Qi...”

”...Because of this, when you suddenly fed it Fire Dragon Grass, the grass’s Strong Dominating Yang Qi assaulted your Furnace God’s Medicine Treasure. If the situation becomes severe, it could damage this fine furnace of yours and seriously affect the quality of your Alchemy in the future! More importantly, your physique has been nourished by this Treasure Furnace for so long that it has grown accustomed to Yin Fire Qi. Now that this Treasure Furnace is suddenly emitting Strong Dominating Yang Qi to nourish you, it is suppressing the yin fire in your body and stagnating your Blood Qi!”

Li Qiye explained everything eloquently, speaking with the intimate familiarity of a Grandmaster in the field. This left not only the nearby Guardian Mo dumbstruck, but Elder Sun as well.

Finally, Li Qiye spoke with calm composure, ”Elder Sun, as one of the two great Pharmacists of the Xiyan Ancient Sect, you should understand. A Pharmacist must not only focus on their Medicine Dao Power, but also take meticulous care of their Furnace God. A Furnace God’s innate Fire Source, and what kind of fire seeds it is fed later on—this is all a profound study of the Dao. Furthermore, once a Furnace God’s Medicine Treasure has formed, the Spiritual Elixirs and Herbs it is fed afterward have a critically important relationship with the medicinal properties of that Medicine Treasure...”

”...Whether refining Life Pills or brewing Body Ointments, a good Life Pill or a good Body Medicine is not only determined by the Pharmacist’s Power, but also by the quality of the Treasure Furnace. It is equally critical to know whether the attributes of a good furnace’s Fire Source and the essence of its Medicine Treasure conflict with the ingredients for the Life Pill or Body Medicine.” Li Qiye explained calmly, ”The matching of medicinal ingredients with the Furnace God is a profound field of study that requires long-term accumulation of knowledge. Only a Pharmacist who treats their Furnace God as their second life is a qualified Pharmacist.”

Li Qiye’s lecture on the study of Furnace Gods left Elder Sun completely dumbfounded. At this moment, the disciple before him didn’t seem like a newly initiated, thirteen-year-old boy at all. Instead, he was like a Grandmaster of the Medicine Dao, eloquently explaining the profound study of Furnace Gods. He was clearly not someone who spoke arrogant nonsense.

”Then... then what should I do?” Without even realizing it, Elder Sun had been completely won over by Li Qiye. Unconsciously, despite his status as an Elder, he couldn’t help but ask the boy for guidance.

Li Qiye smiled. ”Elder Sun, your problem isn’t serious. In fact, it’s very easy to solve. Stop feeding it Fire Dragon Grass. If you are truly determined to cultivate the Red Dragon Body, I suggest you use the Yi River Fire Tree. The medicinal properties of the Yi River Fire Tree are very similar to Yin Flame Peacock Grass, but a level higher. More importantly, the Yi River Fire Tree is far more compatible with the Red Dragon Body!”