Chapter 874: Chapter 874: Nether Fire Stone (5th Update)
Looking at the sword tower, Liu Zixuan’s mind was preoccupied with quickly obtaining the Nether Fire Stone needed to save his beautiful master.
Although he didn’t know exactly why the Medical Immortal Sect wanted that Nether Fire Stone, it was the only thing that could save his beautiful master, so no matter how difficult, Liu Zixuan had to get it.
Liu Zixuan turned his head and asked, "Old Qing, I’ve heard that there’s a Sword Tomb in the Profound Sword Sect. Is it inside this sword tower?"
"You know quite a bit." Old Qing nodded with a smile, "That’s right, the Sword Tomb is beneath the third underground level of the Sword Tower."
"Then take me in to have a look." Liu Zixuan rubbed his hands together and smiled.
"Taking you inside is not a problem, but I guess once you’re in, you won’t be as excited." Old Qing smiled meaningfully and directly opened the door to the sword tower.
Straight away, they saw a long sword placed in the middle of the first level, standing upright like a sculpture, though it was merely stone and stood three meters tall.
"There’s a rule when cleaning the sword tower, you have to start from the top and go down, so if you want to see the Sword Tomb, you have to first clean the eleven layers above." Old Qing said.
"No problem." Liu Zixuan thought of the Sword Tomb being right here and didn’t care whether sweeping was tiring.
"Then let’s go."
"No need, you can rest here, I’ll finish this small task in no time!"
Liu Zixuan snatched the broom from Old Qing’s hands and ran directly to the top floor.
Old Qing shouted from behind, "You can clean all you want, but don’t touch those swords."
"Don’t worry, my sword is better than theirs!" Liu Zixuan wouldn’t pay attention to those swords.
The reason for not letting Old Qing go up was also because he was worried that Old Qing would be too strict. Now that he wasn’t going up, Liu Zixuan could clean a floor in no time!
The top floor was full of books. Liu Zixuan glanced at them casually; most were Heart Scriptures or Sword Manuals. The lower floors varied between meditation rooms and rooms full of all kinds of swords, somewhat chaotic and mixed.
About twenty minutes later, Liu Zixuan walked back down to the first level from the second, wiping sweat from his forehead: "Done!"
"Damn it, so quickly? You certainly didn’t clean it well." Old Qing cursed irritably.
Liu Zixuan grinned cheekily: "How could that be? I was very careful and serious."
"You brat!" Old Qing shot Liu Zixuan a look, "Then follow me to the Sword Tomb."
Speaking, Old Qing walked to the sword sculpture, lightly twisted a protruding piece of stone, and suddenly stairs leading down appeared on the ground.
Liu Zixuan followed Old Qing down, asking midway in doubt, "Old Qing, aren’t we supposed to go from the top down? Why are we directly going to the third underground level?"
"The first and second underground levels are forbidden areas of the sword tower; no cleaning is needed, we’re directly heading to the Sword Tomb." Old Qing said these words with an extremely solemn face, as if reluctant to mention anything about those first two levels.
Liu Zixuan wasn’t concerned about these matters; he waved his hand and continued to follow him downward.
The further down they went, the higher the temperature rose. Soon, Liu Zixuan was sweating heavily, and a feeling of extreme oppression swept over him.
"Whew!"
Hearing Liu Zixuan’s labored breaths, Old Qing scolded, "What’s wrong? You were just eager to come down, yet you can’t handle this heat? If you go near the fire stone, wouldn’t you directly faint?"
"What kind of fire is this, with such high heat, feels like it’s going to bake me." Liu Zixuan inquired.
"The fire from the Nether Fire Stone is different from common flames. You cannot extinguish it with water. Using a term from mythology, the flame emitted by the Nether Fire Stone is the Samadhi True Fire!" Old Qing explained.
"So aside from sword forging, does the fire stone have other functions?"
"The way you speak makes it seem like you’re very interested in the Nether Fire Stone?" Old Qing countered.
Liu Zixuan shook his head, "It’s like a rustic entering the city — everything is full of curiosity."
Old Qing looked disdainfully at Liu Zixuan, explaining, "The Nether Fire Stone has existed since the Profound Sword Sect was founded, though it was much larger then, the size of a room. Over time, now only a very small piece remains. As for its uses, besides creating sharper swords, it is also of great use to those skilled in alchemy."
"Alchemy?" Liu Zixuan raised his eyebrows.
"Common flames in alchemy have a certain failure rate, with elixir quality being poor or insufficient in effectiveness, but using the Nether Fire Stone guarantees success every time, with the best quality and effectiveness. Thus, it is also coveted by Alchemy Grandmasters."
Listening to Old Qing’s words, Liu Zixuan was enlightened; this made sense now.
Though filled with healers, the Medical Immortal Sect boasts experts in the Medical Dao, highly skilled in alchemy. They likely want the Nether Fire Stone to refine particularly potent elixirs.
Seeing Liu Zixuan nod in understanding, Old Qing asked curiously, "Why? You seem like you can do alchemy too?"
"I know a little, learned some medical skills before." Liu Zixuan did not hide it.
"You know medical skills too? Can you possibly..." Old Qing suddenly stopped saying.’
"Can what? Are you ill?" Liu Zixuan stepped forward for a look; though Old Qing appeared aged, there were no visible symptoms.
"Never mind, speak about it outside." Old Qing’s eyes flashed with a peculiar light as he pointed ahead, "We’re here!"
Liu Zixuan turned to look; ahead appeared like an immense furnace.
Beneath the stair platform he stood on were numerous floating swords, unformed and varied in length, with a half-red, half-blue stone below, small in size but emitting flames that made approach impossible.
The scene before him was expansive; hundreds of swords floated within this space, beneath them lay an extremely peculiar stone. It was quite awe-inspiring.
If some master simultaneously wielded these swords in attack, it would be a grand spectacle indeed.
Liu Zixuan marveled for a moment, his gaze ultimately landing on that stone, roughly the size of his fist.
And this was the item he intended to take away, the Nether Fire Stone!
Old Qing chuckled, "That stone may be small, but not even Emperor Realm experts can lift it."
"Why?" This line unavoidably struck a blow to Liu Zixuan.
Old Qing did not elaborate, he picked up a nearby scrap of iron and tossed it onto the stone, and in mere breaths, the iron transformed into molten slag, settling beneath a deep pit.
Liu Zixuan’s mouth twitched, seeing the iron melt so quickly; if a hand were placed on it, not even bone fragments would remain.
Thus, how would he take the Nether Fire Stone away?
"Alright, you’ve seen what you came to see. Begin cleaning, gather the scrap into a pile and give a light sweep," Old Qing patted Liu Zixuan’s shoulder before sitting on the stairs.
