Chapter 402: Chapter 315: Alchemy (3)
Pan Yong and Chen Hu stood before the stone wall, watching Duan Rong’s figure, faintly visible through the gaps in the forest trees.
Pan Yong said, "This kid, his skills are quite deep!"
Chen Hu said, "He might have some backing."
Pan Yong knew what Chen Hu meant. Being able to participate in alchemy right upon arrival, Duan Rong was the first.
"Get along well," Pan Yong suddenly said, as he clasped his hands behind his back and walked towards a certain direction in the forest.
Chen Hu looked at Pan Yong’s back with a cold sneer, muttering, "Even you have times of backing down..."
As he spoke, Chen Hu headed in another direction; he had no particular destination, he just didn’t want to follow the same path as Pan Yong.
By now, it was already three-quarters into the hour of 7 p.m. at night.
Duan Rong, Pan Yong, Chen Hu, and Yin Cong were inside a deep cave in the belly of the volcano.
Four torches were inserted into the stone wall of the cave!
The four torches burned fiercely, lighting up the cave brightly!
The cave floor had several intersecting stone channels, each as wide as two feet apart.
At the intersections of these stone channels, there were fairly deep stone pits.
On top of each stone pit stood a black tripod.
There were a total of four stone pits, four black tripods.
Duan Rong, Pan Yong, Chen Hu, and Yin Cong were placing prepared herbal ingredients beside the four black tripods.
Yin Cong placed a variety of bottles and jars, glancing peculiarly at the not-so-distant Duan Rong.
Yin Cong suddenly tutted, looked at Chen Hu, and nodded towards Duan Rong with his chin.
But Chen Hu pretended not to see, and slowly placed the bottles and jars he was cradling beside the tripod next to him.
Yin Cong glanced at Chen Hu’s demeanor, silently cursed.
Just as they finished placing the ingredients, a figure strode in from the mouth of the cave, it was Master Shang Xiangyu, wearing a wrinkled Daoist robe and with loose hair.
Shang Xiangyu’s head full of silver threads shone like snow under the torchlight.
Shang Xiangyu entered the cave, his eyes scanned over the group, pausing briefly on Duan Rong’s face, then looked at Pan Yong and asked softly, "Are you all prepared?"
"We are all prepared, Master Shang."
Shang Xiangyu nodded, went to a black tripod, and crouched down.
With a serious expression, he opened the bottles and jars one by one, sniffing them.
After sniffing all of them, Shang Xiangyu’s expression relaxed. He glanced over the bottles and jars beside the other three tripods.
Shang Xiangyu stood up, took out a black pottery jar, opened it, and poured the liquid inside into the black tripod beside him.
After pouring, Shang Xiangyu casually discarded the jar in his hand, then glanced at Pan Yong.
Pan Yong understood immediately, pouring similar liquid into the other three tripods.
Meanwhile, Shang Xiangyu had already walked to a corner of the cave, where a large black stone resembling black jade stood on the ground.
The stone was the size of a stone bed, entirely jet-black, its material difficult to discern.
Staring at the large stone, Shang Xiangyu suddenly took a deep breath, his internal Primordial Qi surged, as he gripped one side of the black stone with both hands and exerted force!
The enormous black stone was slowly lifted and set upright!
Shang Xiangyu exhaled a deep breath, just then, glowing magma like blazing sun surged from where the stone had originally pressed down.
Flowing like water along the stone channels!
Magma filled the stone pits beneath the tripods, overflowing and streamed to the next pit.
After magma filled all four pits, it flowed into a deep, bottomless dark hole on the other end...
With the flow of magma, the temperature inside the cave suddenly surged!
The four black tripods, within moments, turned red hot!
As the tripods turned red, the liquid inside instantly vaporized, white mist diffusing around the mouth of the tripod...
Duan Rong smelled a faintly fishy stench...
Just then, Shang Xiangyu’s figure suddenly moved, his body flickering like a phantom between the four tripods...
Bottles of herbal ingredients, following a sequence, were poured into the tripods one by one.
Moments later, Shang Xiangyu’s figure abruptly stopped.
By then, a rotten, woody smell had replaced the stench permeating the cave.
"You four, grab the pestles and stir!"
With Shang Xiangyu’s ominous tone, Duan Rong, Pan Yong, Chen Hu, and Yin Cong each grabbed a pestle almost as tall as themselves and as thick as an arm, and began stirring inside the tripods.
Shang Xiangyu occasionally walked past the group, inspecting the subtle changes of the medicines inside the tripods.
Duan Rong continuously stirred, paying attention to synchronize his motions with Pan Yong and Chen Hu.
After a while, Shang Xiangyu suddenly added all remaining herbal ingredients from the bottles and jars into the tripods.
"Hold your breath!"
As Shang Xiangyu’s charge fell, after the herbs were added, a faint purple mist rose from within the tripods.
As the purple mist dissipated, Duan Rong and the others continued stirring while holding the pestles.
"Stop now."
As Shang Xiangyu commanded, the four came away from the tripods.
Shang Xiangyu paced back and forth between the tripods, his loose silver hair, occasionally singed by the red-hot rims.
Yet Shang Xiangyu’s expression remained focused, his movements swift and mysterious.
Moments later, Shang Xiangyu suddenly flitted around, grabbed tripod lids, and sealed all the tripods.
Then, Shang Xiangyu sat cross-legged in a corner of the cave, closing his eyes in meditation.
Duan Rong, Pan Yong, Chen Hu, and Yin Cong had already set down their pestles and stood to the side.
The temperature within the cave was already very high, their garments drenched, foreheads dripping with sweat.
Thankfully they were Martial Artists; if ordinary people were here, they would’ve fainted from heat exhaustion long ago...
No telling how much longer it was, the four of them coped with the relentless heat, feeling like days passed with each moment, when Shang Xiangyu suddenly opened his eyes and flashed to a tripod. He leaned in and sniffed gently beside its mouth.
Following the same procedure, he sniffed the other three tripods.
Shang Xiangyu’s expression remained unchanged, but suddenly he darted to the large upright black stone and pushed it forcefully before leaping away.
The huge black stone crashed down with a loud slap, sparks scattering like a blazing sun exploding, countless embers scattering like steel fireworks...
Now, Shang Xiangyu stepped over, looking at Pan Yong, saying, "Pan Yong, the rest is yours to handle! Once the magma cools, you may open the tripods and retrieve the potion!"
Pan Yong clasped his fist, saying, "Yes, Master Shang."
With a sweep of his sleeve, Shang Xiangyu exited the cave.
Duan Rong, Pan Yong, Chen Hu, and Yin Cong waited by, as the magma gradually cooled.
The waves of heat within the cave slowly softened as well.
As the magma cooled down, from the gaps between the rims and lids of the tripods, thick aromatic scent of medicine slowly diffused, filling the cave...
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