Immortality Through Array Formations

Chapter 204: Pill Furnace_1

With Elder Yu concerned about the Qian Family’s affairs and Master Chen about the Refinery Shop, Mo Hua only needs to focus on Drawing Formation.

The construction progress of the Alchemist’s Business is going quickly, and Mo Hua’s drawings for the Formation are also completed swiftly.

Since it is the same Architectural Formation Map, Mo Hua just needs to draw it again.

Mo Hua spent more than half a month, and the Architectural Formation for the Alchemist’s Business was also finished.

Master Ban, brimming with joy, hummed an out-of-tune tune while leading his craftsmen and workers to wrap up the work.

Mo Hua also plans to invite Old Mr. Feng to have a look.

After all, it is intended for Old Mr. Feng to take over the management of the Alchemist’s Business ultimately.

When Mo Hua went to find Old Mr. Feng, the gentleman was still presiding over Apricot Forest Hall, treating Loose Cultivators and dispensing medicines, and occasionally firing up the furnace for Alchemy too.

Old Mr. Feng, who usually treats patients and saves lives, prescribes treatments, and conducts Alchemy, spends most of his time within Apricot Forest Hall.

He rarely leaves, except for house calls.

Mo Hua spoke to Old Mr. Feng about the matters concerning the Alchemist’s Business.

“So quickly?”

Old Mr. Feng was somewhat surprised; he had originally thought that such a big project as the Alchemist’s Business would take at least three or four months to reach its initial scale, and to be fully completed, it would take no less than half a year.

Moreover, the Alchemist’s Business was the second phase, after completing the construction of the Refinery Shop first.

But on second thought, the quicker, the better, he also wanted to see what the Alchemist’s Business would look like.

“Wait for me a moment.”

Old Mr. Feng said to Mo Hua, finished up with a few patients, instructed some disciples to watch over the hall, and after a brief preparation, he followed Mo Hua to the Alchemist’s Business.

Upon seeing the Refinery Shop, Old Mr. Feng’s eyes sharpened as he took a thorough look inside and out, and expressed his surprise,

“Did you draw this Formation?”

Mo Hua nodded, “Yes!”

“You did this by yourself?”

“I did it all by myself,” Mo Hua affirmed.

Old Mr. Feng smiled, “Not bad, no wonder others call you ‘Junior Formation Master’.”

Mo Hua felt slightly embarrassed and chuckled shyly.

The layout of the Alchemist’s Business is the same as that of the Refinery Shop, which is vast in scale and orderly arranged. Naturally, the Alchemist’s Business is the same.

Old Mr. Feng was very pleased.

Such a large Alchemist’s Business being completed meant that many Pills could be refined.

Then Loose Cultivators would have access to Pills for everyone, whether injured or ill, having Pills on hand could solve urgent needs.

If Pills become more affordable, many Loose Cultivators could also keep some on hand for emergencies, which would provide aid in times of danger.

This indeed was a great deed for the benefit of Loose Cultivators in Tongxian City.

Old Mr. Feng stroked his long white beard, nodding contentedly.

Before leaving, Old Mr. Feng went to have a look at the Refining Furnace.

Upon this inspection, Old Mr. Feng was stunned.

He walked around the large Refining Furnace, scrutinizing with a furrowed brow, and then, with a touch of incredulity, asked Mo Hua, “A First-grade Compound Formation?”

“Grandpa Feng, your eyesight is truly sharp; you recognized it at a glance!” Mo Hua said in surprise.

Generally, Cultivators can’t even identify a First-grade Formation.

Old Mr. Feng was able to recognize it as a First-grade Compound Formation just by looking at the Refining Furnace from a distance, which showed an impressive level of discernment.

After all, Old Mr. Feng was not a Formation Master.

“Did you also draw this?” Old Mr. Feng hesitated slightly, then asked.

Mo Hua nodded, “Yes!”

Old Mr. Feng was at a loss for words.

He had never underestimated Mo Hua’s level in Formation art and had always regarded Mo Hua’s natural talent in formation very highly, but he felt it shouldn’t be, or perhaps ought not to be, this outrageous.

A First-grade Compound Formation, indeed…

“`

He had not seen many first-grade Formation Masters who could draw a first-grade Compound Formation in his lifetime.

Old Mr. Feng was stunned for a moment before he noticed the pure fire in the furnace.

The fiery red color, so bright it gleamed, seemed almost solid, and in an instant, it firmly captured Old Mr. Feng’s heart and soul.

Old Mr. Feng’s heart couldn’t help but flutter.

“This fire…” he murmured.

“Elder Yu said that this is even stronger than the fire used by those in the Qi Refinement Realm,” Mo Hua explained.

How could Old Mr. Feng not know this, as he stood there for a long time, staring at the fire.

Apart from researching the Alchemy Dao to cure illnesses and save people, and having no desires of his own, Old Mr. Feng finally could not resist. Pointing at the furnace, he said to Mo Hua,

“Could you… make one for me too?”

Mo Hua also wanted to make a large first-grade Alchemy Furnace for Old Mr. Feng.

But such an Alchemy Furnace was not easy to create.

A regular first-grade Artifact Furnace could not serve as the Formation media for a first-grade Melting Fire Compound Formation, just as a regular first-grade Alchemy Furnace could not sustain the long-term operation of a first-grade Melting Fire Compound Formation.

Moreover, the formations used in an Alchemy Furnace needed to be more complex than those in an Artifact Furnace.

Artifact Furnaces only needed to consider fire supply, while other formation effects were supplementary. However, Alchemy Furnaces had to consider not only the fire supply but also the wooden properties of the herbs and the harmony of the Spiritual Energy.

Therefore, the Compound Formation used in an Alchemy Furnace would be more challenging.

This also meant that an Alchemy Furnace serving as the media for a Compound Formation needed to be of higher quality, with superior forging techniques, and it could not be small in size.

Mo Hua asked Elder Yu if there was a suitable Alchemy Furnace available.

Elder Yu found it a bit difficult since the large Artifact Furnace was, to begin with, a lucky bargain he had chanced upon.

But a large first-grade Alchemy Furnace was not that easy to find.

Mo Hua had no choice but to tell Old Mr. Feng the truth.

He could solve the problem with the Formation, but as for the Alchemy Furnace, he was unable to help.

Old Mr. Feng thought for a moment and then asked, “Can you refine it yourselves?”

“It’s possible, of course, but do you have an Artifice Manual?” Mo Hua inquired.

After considering for a while, Old Mr. Feng replied, “Yes, I do!”

“You actually have one?” Mo Hua was taken aback.

Old Mr. Feng went into the house, opened the storage chest in the corner, and from the bottom pulled out a beeswax-colored piece of cowhide recording the method for creating a large Alchemy Furnace.

After a glance at the manual, Mo Hua exclaimed in surprise,

“Grandpa Feng, where did you get this from?”

The design of the large Alchemy Furnace was extremely standard, and it was compatible with very complex formations. It matched well with Compound Formations, and one could tell at a glance that it was not an ordinary legacy.

Old Mr. Feng sighed and said, “This was passed down from my Sect. Before my master passed away, he entrusted all this to me. I’ve had no use for it and it’s been sitting at the bottom of this chest for seventy or eighty years. I would have forgotten about it if you hadn’t mentioned it. I suppose it would have gone into my coffin.”

“Do you think it can be used?” Old Mr. Feng asked again.

Mo Hua looked it over carefully again and said, “The Formation part is not a problem, but I don’t understand the crafting part; I’ll have to ask Master Chen and the others about that.”

Old Mr. Feng gave a nod, “Then take it and go ask.”

Mo Hua took the manufacturing diagram of the Alchemy Furnace to Master Chen.

Master Chen’s eyes sparkled after one look, “Great diagram, fantastic indeed!”

“Can it be made?” asked Mo Hua.

Master Chen stroked his beard and slowly said, “It’s difficult but not impossible to refine; I need to discuss it with the other Craftsmen.”

“And there’s also the matter with Elder Yu,” Master Chen added. “To forge this Alchemy Furnace, we’ll need a lot of fine iron and some special ores, like Melting Fire Stone, Golden Pattern Ore, and such. We’ll need Elder Yu’s help to prepare those.”

Elder Yu naturally agreed without hesitation and, once everything was ready, Master Chen and the other Craftsmen discussed it for several days before they started to craft the Alchemy Furnace.

This Alchemy Furnace was the most difficult Spiritual Artifact that Master Chen and the others had ever attempted to craft.

Mo Hua did not closely follow the crafting process, but he knew they had failed many times.

In the end, despite some flaws, they still managed to craft the Alchemy Furnace.