Chapter 205: The Alchemy Furnace
Elder Yu handled the affairs of the Qian family, Master Chen oversaw the Artifact Refining Workshop, and Mo Hua only needed to focus single, mindedly on inscribing formations.
The construction of the Alchemy Workshop progressed swiftly, and Mo Hua's formation work kept pace.
Since the architectural formation diagrams were the same as those used for the Artifact Refining Workshop, he only needed to redraw them.
After half a month of work, Mo Hua completed all the formation diagrams for the Alchemy Workshop's construction.
Master Ban was overjoyed, humming an off-key tune as he led his craftsmen to finish the final touches.
Mo Hua, meanwhile, planned to invite Elder Feng to inspect the site, since the operation of the Alchemy Workshop would later fall under his supervision.
When Mo Hua went to find Elder Feng, the old man was still at the Apricot Medicinal Hall, treating rogue cultivators, prescribing medicine, and occasionally refining pills.
Elder Feng spent nearly all his time there, healing and refining. Unless called out for a special consultation, he rarely left.
Mo Hua explained the situation with the Alchemy Workshop.
"So soon?"
Elder Feng was surprised. He had expected such a large project to take at least three or four months just to establish a foundation, and perhaps half a year to complete.
Moreover, the Alchemy Workshop was the second phase of the plan, following the Artifact Refining Workshop's completion.
Still, he thought, the sooner the better. He, too, wanted to see what this Alchemy Workshop would look like.
"Wait a moment," he said.
After finishing consultations with a few remaining patients, he instructed several disciples to watch the hall, tidied himself up, and followed Mo Hua toward the Alchemy Workshop site.
When he arrived and saw the Artifact Refining Workshop, Elder Feng's gaze sharpened. He examined it inside and out before asking in astonishment,
"You drew this formation?"
Mo Hua nodded. "Yes."
"You drew it all by yourself?"
"Yes, I did," Mo Hua replied.
Elder Feng smiled faintly. "No wonder they call you the 'Little Formation Master.'"
Mo Hua scratched his head with a sheepish grin.
The Alchemy Workshop was modeled after the Artifact Refining Workshop, spacious, well-ordered, and grand in scale.
Elder Feng was deeply satisfied.
Once the Alchemy Workshop began operation, vast quantities of pills could be produced.
Rogue cultivators would have access to medicine; whether wounded or ill, they could alleviate their troubles.
With cheaper pills available, many would be able to keep a small stock for emergencies, bettering their chances of survival in dangerous situations.
This was indeed a benevolent endeavor that would benefit all rogue cultivators in Tōngxiān City.
Elder Feng stroked his long white beard and nodded in approval.
Before leaving, he decided to take a look at the Forging furnaces.
When he saw the large one in the courtyard, he froze.
He circled around it, frowning slightly as he examined every detail, before turning to Mo Hua with disbelief.
"A First-Grade Composite Formation?"
"Grandpa Feng, your eyesight is amazing, you recognized it right away!" Mo Hua exclaimed in surprise.
Ordinary cultivators could not even discern a First-Grade formation, let alone identify a compound one at a glance.
Yet Elder Feng had merely observed the furnace briefly and already seen through it, his insight was remarkable, especially since he was no formation master himself.
"This was your work too?" Elder Feng asked after a pause.
Mo Hua nodded. "Yes."
Elder Feng was left speechless.
He had never underestimated Mo Hua's skill in formation arts, and had always regarded his talent as extraordinary, but this was beyond all reason.
A First-Grade Composite Formation…
Even among First-Grade formation masters, few could successfully draw such a thing.
Elder Feng stared blankly for a moment, then his gaze was drawn to the pure crimson flames within the furnace.
They glowed vividly, solid and bright, instantly captivating his attention.
A tremor passed through Elder Feng's heart.
"This fire…"
"Elder Yu said it's even stronger than the flames a Qi-Refining cultivator can produce," Mo Hua explained.
Of course Elder Feng understood. He stood there silently, staring at the furnace fire for a long time.
A man who had spent his life healing others and refining medicine, never tempted by greed or power, now felt a rare stir of desire.
Pointing at the furnace, he asked, "Could you… make one for me as well?"
Mo Hua, too, wished to craft a large First-Grade alchemy furnace for Elder Feng.
However, it would not be easy.
An ordinary First-Grade forging furnace could not serve as the medium for a First-Grade Molten Fire Spiritual Control Composite Formation, and likewise, a common alchemy furnace could not sustain such a formation's long-term operation.
Moreover, the formations used on alchemy furnaces were inherently more complex than those on forging furnaces.
A forging furnace merely needed fire-supplying formations, with auxiliary effects as support. An alchemy furnace, however, required not only proper heat control but also the balance between herbal wood-nature and spiritual energy harmonization.
Thus, the Composite Formations required were far more intricate.
Consequently, the alchemy furnace acting as the medium for such a formation had to be of high quality, finely forged, and large in scale.
Mo Hua asked Elder Yu whether any suitable furnaces existed.
Elder Yu frowned; that large forging furnace had been a lucky find to begin with.
But a large First-Grade alchemy furnace? That was far more difficult to come by.
Mo Hua had no choice but to explain the situation truthfully to Elder Feng.
He could handle the formation itself, but the furnace was beyond his means.
Elder Feng pondered for a while, then asked, "Can we forge one ourselves?"
"We can try… do you have a forging manual?"
Elder Feng thought for a moment and replied, "Yes."
"Really?" Mo Hua blinked in surprise.
Elder Feng went inside, opened an old storage chest in the corner, and took out a piece of yellowed cowhide parchment from the bottom. It contained the forging instructions for a large alchemy furnace.
Mo Hua studied the diagram carefully, then exclaimed in astonishment,
"Grandpa Feng, where did you get this?"
The design was exceptionally refined, capable of supporting highly complex formations and perfectly compatible with Composite Formations. It was clearly no common heritage.
Elder Feng sighed. "It was passed down from my sect. Before my master passed away, he entrusted these to me. I had no use for them, so they've sat at the bottom of that chest for seventy or eighty years. If you hadn't brought it up, I'd have taken it with me to the grave."
"See if it can be used," he added.
Mo Hua examined it again and said, "The formation part is fine, but I don't understand the forging techniques. I'll need to ask Master Chen."
Elder Feng nodded. "Go ask him, then."
Mo Hua brought the design to Master Chen.
After a glance, Master Chen's eyes gleamed. "Excellent! This is an excellent design!"
"Can it be forged?" Mo Hua asked.
Master Chen tugged at his beard and replied slowly, "It will be difficult, but not impossible. I'll need to discuss it with the other forgers."
"And Elder Yu," he added. "Forging this furnace will require a large amount of fine iron and several rare ores: Molten Fire Stones, Gold-Streak Ore, and the like. Elder Yu will have to help us gather them."
Elder Yu readily agreed. Once all preparations were complete, Master Chen and the other forgers spent several days studying the design before beginning the process.
This furnace was the most challenging spiritual artifact they had ever attempted to forge.
Mo Hua did not observe the entire process, but he knew they failed several times.
Though some flaws remained, they eventually succeeded in forging the alchemy furnace.
(End of Chapter)