Ignoring the cowardly Xue Ziqi's subsequent fury and humiliation—emotions Lin Feng cared nothing for—he headed straight back to his dwelling. Securing the doors and windows behind him, he retreated to his bedroom.
He retrieved the newly acquired storage ring. With a flick of his right hand, a muffled Thump! echoed through the room as a large cauldron, easily taller than a man, materialized in the center of the small space, occupying nearly half of it.
This was the most ordinary pill furnace imaginable: circular in shape, utterly unremarkable, even visibly worn. Its origins and age were unknown; it could have been in use for decades.
Lin Feng gave the furnace a brief inspection before placing his right hand firmly on its cool metal surface, focusing his will.
"Equipment Damage Level: 55%"
"Materials Required for Repair: Grade 1 Refined Iron - 0.5 cubic meters, Grade 1 Fire-Essence Ore - 0.3 cubic meters, Grade 1 Crimson Copper Ore - 0.2 cubic meters, Grade 1 Chi Yao Stone - 500 cubic centimeters."
Recalling the information that flashed into his mind, Lin Feng frowned slightly. "Damaged by more than half already? Seems we Outer Sect disciples really aren't valued much... Or perhaps I'm just particularly 'unlucky'?"
Had he been saddled with this dilapidated furnace while others received better ones? Thinking of Xue Ziqi and Di Xuan, he couldn't rule out the possibility of deliberate sabotage once more.
However, just like Xue Ziqi's earlier scheme to reduce the scrap pills delivered and undermine him, even if they had intentionally given him a broken furnace to hinder his pill refining, their underhanded plot was doomed to fail.
What did "old and damaged" even mean in front of Lin Feng?
The materials required for the repair were all only Grade 1. Lin Feng had abundant reserves of such materials in his storage rings. After rummaging for a moment, he extracted the necessary ores and stone.
The sheer volume was significant. Lin Feng opened the furnace's lid and dumped all the materials inside, packing it almost to the brim—so full that the lid wouldn't properly close.
This was Lin Feng's first time repairing such a large piece of equipment. He took a deep breath, pressed both hands firmly against the furnace's side, and commanded inwardly: "Repair."
Thump!
A low thud reverberated as a flash of fire erupted before him. A fierce blaze sprang into existence from the point of contact with his hands, swiftly engulfing the entire furnace in searing flame.
Lin Feng felt his Essential Energy begin to drain, though the rate and volume were modest. Despite its size, the furnace was, at best, a Mid-Grade Magical Artifact. Repairing equipment of this caliber was effortless now.
...
In scarcely a few minutes, the information signaling completion appeared in his mind, and the flames vanished instantly. Standing before him was a furnace transformed—looking as good as new.
Satisfied, Lin Feng retrieved the small amount of leftover material from inside the furnace's belly. He then pulled out a meditation cushion, placed it before the refurbished cauldron, sat down cross-legged, and began examining the spirit herbs stored within the storage ring.
These were merely starter herbs issued to novice disciples for 'practice'—essentially, for them to 'waste.' Naturally, they weren't high quality. Uniformly Grade 1, and among the poorest quality Grade 1 at that, they could only be used to concoct one specific pill: the Qi Condensing Pill, the very one Di Xuan had demonstrated during the day's lesson.
Lin Feng quickly estimated the quantity. The herbs were sufficient for roughly five refining attempts. The next herb allotment would come in ten days, during the following lecture. This meant that, barring any personal means to acquire more herbs, he could practice only about once every two days on average—a painfully insufficient number.
This limitation, however, was irrelevant to Lin Feng. His personal stockpile of spirit herbs was immense, easily allowing him to practice at will. His current knowledge was also limited to refining the Qi Condensing Pill, so focusing on mastering this single pill was the logical next step.
He took out one set of herbs. After settling his mind and steadying his breathing, his heart filled with anticipation, Lin Feng embarked on his very first pill refining attempt...
...
Lin Feng placed the set of herbs into the furnace. He slapped the furnace's side with his palm, channeling a stream of Essential Energy into it. The cauldron resonated with a low hum, its entire surface shimmering with a faint crimson glow. With a Whoosh!, vigorous refining flames ignited within its chamber.
Though basic, the furnace was functional and designed specifically for beginners. It housed a simple Fire Gathering Array capable of concentrating fire elemental energy into refining flames, activated solely by the infusion of Essential Energy or Qi. This design even allowed those at the Qi Refining stage to use it.
While Lin Feng, at Foundation Establishment Layer Four, could theoretically generate his own spiritual flames, doing so would be prohibitively draining on his Essential Energy. Utilizing the furnace's built-in array was the practical choice.
Carefully recalling every step demonstrated and explained in the lecture hall, Lin Feng focused intensely, meticulously controlling the intensity and flow of the flames within the cauldron as they worked to purify and fuse the herbs.
Within mere minutes, a sheen of sweat had broken out on Lin Feng's forehead. His brow furrowed intermittently, clear signs of intense concentration and exertion.
Thump!!
A muffled explosion sounded from within the furnace barely ten minutes later. Wisps of acrid black smoke curled out, accompanied by the unmistakable stench of burnt herbs.
Lin Feng lifted the lid and peered inside. Forget about a scrap pill; there wasn't even a vaguely round lump. Only a pile of dark, powdery ash greeted him—undeniable failure.
He casually swept the ash out with a pulse of Essential Energy. Disappointment didn't cloud his features; instead, his expression was contemplative. After a moment of thoughtful silence, he produced another batch of herbs and tossed them into the furnace...
...
Over the next hour, Lin Feng made four more attempts, exhausting all the herbs he had received. Each met the same fate: reduced to fragrant, albeit useless, charcoal.
Despite five consecutive failures, a glimmer of understanding dawned in Lin Feng's eyes. He had identified several key issues and points of failure. Far from discouraged, he reached into his own herb pouch and retrieved a substantial quantity of Qi Condensing Pill ingredients.
Sensing his Essential Energy reserves were critically low, Lin Feng paused the refining. He pulled out a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone and began absorbing its energy to replenish himself. Once his energy was restored, he selected another set of herbs and prepared to start again.
This time, however, he did not activate the furnace's Fire Gathering Array. Instead, a flick of his right wrist summoned the Deep Crimson Molten Flame. Staring at the flickering, potent fire dancing on his palm for a heartbeat, he decisively flicked it into the open furnace.
Whoomp!!
Instantly, the intense, deep crimson flame erupted. It didn't just fill the furnace's interior; it overflowed, licking the exterior edges as well. Before Lin Feng could even begin the refining process, the batch of herbs inside vanished in a puff of dark smoke, utterly incinerated.
"Ugh... Just as the records warned, the Molten Flame really isn't suited for pill refining..." Lin Feng muttered, staring blankly for several seconds.
Undeterred, he threw in another set of herbs. This time, he exerted immense control over the Molten Flame's intensity, desperately holding back its destructive fury. He succeeded in preventing immediate incineration. Yet, merely minutes into the delicate process of purification, a momentary lapse in concentration resulted in another pile of ash.
After two more attempts, Lin Feng finally began to grasp the extreme finesse required. He learned to suppress the Molten Flame's power to an almost impossibly low level, initiating the slow, painstaking work of purifying the herbs grain by grain.
While the Molten Flame might be 'unsuitable' compared to other, specialized Spirit Flames, its sheer potency still vastly outperformed ordinary refining flames when controlled. As Lin Feng's mastery grew incrementally, the process felt noticeably smoother and more responsive than when he'd used the furnace's standard flames.
Failure remained his constant companion, but each attempt lasted longer than the last. He progressed further through the refining stages, inching ever closer to that elusive first success.
Nearby, Xiao Qiu yawned expansively, utterly bored by the repetitive flashes of fire and recurring smell of ash. Finding the spectacle utterly uninteresting, the furry creature eventually burrowed under the blankets and drifted off to sleep.
Lin Feng, however, remained utterly engrossed, refining pill after pill with tireless focus, seemingly oblivious to the passage of time and the world around him.
...
He lost track of how many attempts he had made, or how many hours had passed. But during this particular session, a spark of exhilaration began to ignite in Lin Feng's eyes.
"It's working... It's finally working!!"
Lin Feng couldn't suppress the surge of excitement. His gaze locked onto the furnace, his senses finely attuned to the transformations occurring within. The herbs had successfully liquefied into a thick, viscous amalgamation. Now, under the precise dance of the Molten Flame, this mixture churned and rolled, gradually separating, coalescing, beginning to form distinct, nascent pill shapes...
"Junior Brother Lin, may I come in?"
Abruptly, a voice called out from just outside his door, shattering his absolute concentration like fragile glass.
Thump!!
The instant his focus wavered, a muffled detonation sounded from the furnace. Another plume of black smoke billowed upwards...