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Novel: [Night Without Boundaries]
Chapter 117: [A Near-Immortal Artifact]
Author: [Chen Dong]
Translator: [Shadow Knight AK]
Editor: [Shadow Knight AK]
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In the heart of the massive crater, crystallization was even more severe.
The ground lay barren and pockmarked, an impossible place for the imagined Immortal Medicine Herb to take root and flourish.
Everything here was laid bare.
Qin Ming's eyes burned with anticipation as he stood mere inches from the Near-Immortal Artifact.
It was a badly damaged Pill Furnace, riddled with holes.
Yet even in its dilapidated state, it radiated Immortal Light, wreathed in auspicious clouds, with white mist swirling from its mouth.
The furnace was accompanied by extraordinary phenomena.
Within the luminous mist, visions of pill formation flickered—dragons and tigers harmonizing, medicinal vapors soaring skyward—as if the furnace were about to release some miraculous elixir.
This was why Chen Shuhang and Jiang Congyun had suddenly ambushed Qin Ming.
The sight of expanding medicinal vapors and the roars of dragons and tigers had driven them mad, convinced that remnants of Immortal Medicine lingered within.
These wondrous sights alone proved the Pill Furnace's extraordinary nature.
Even after a thousand years, it still manifested such awe-inspiring phenomena, far surpassing any imagination.
The furnace was small, barely the height of a palm, its surface etched with countless runes.
The half-broken lid lay nearby.
"No wonder those old geezers left it behind for future generations," Qin Ming muttered. "This thing's practically leaking air—it's too badly damaged."
Qin Ming counted nine holes on the palm-sized furnace body, not counting the cracks, and a missing piece from the lid.
"Could such a small furnace really forge weapons?" he wondered, noticing faint, hazy images of weapon-making within the swirling light emanating from it.
Qin Ming's eyes widened in surprise.
This Near-Immortal Artifact likely possessed other extraordinary uses.
The furnace itself appeared ancient and rustic, yet it was enveloped in auspicious, radiant clouds.
Hesitant to touch it directly, Qin Ming drew his Jade Iron Sword to test its reaction.
When the sword showed no response, he cautiously tapped the furnace with his fingertip.
The furnace emitted a clear, metallic resonance, like the ringing of a bell.
After confirming it posed no immediate danger, Qin Ming finally picked it up, cradling it in his palm to examine it closely.
"It's forged from multiple rare metals, each seemingly more precious than Jade Iron," Qin Ming realized, suddenly feeling his peerless sword pale in comparison.
Various characters adorned the furnace body, some engraved, others inlaid, and some crafted from special materials not directly fused into the furnace wall.
Certain characters glowed with a pure, warm white light, their radiance restrained yet Qin Ming sensed they were even more extraordinary than Jade Iron.
Other characters, inlaid with "Strange Metal," bore natural texture and emitted faint wisps of purple qi.
"I'd like to melt it down and forge a weapon," Qin Ming mused, though he knew it was just a fleeting thought.
This furnace was practically a Near-Immortal Artifact—who would dare sacrifice it to forge another weapon?
He understood that weapons forged from Jade Iron already possessed extraordinary properties, such as the ability to kill unseen, mysterious creatures.
Moreover, if damaged, they could regenerate by absorbing Heavenly Light
.
Qin Ming was certain that the material of this Near-Immortal Artifact was even more remarkable.
Despite the nine holes in its body, if an Outsider carefully nurtured it, it might one day fully restore itself.
However, this Immortal artifact had suffered catastrophic damage, ravaged by unimaginable forces.
It would undoubtedly require eons of gentle cultivation to heal.
After all, millennia had passed, yet it hadn't recovered on its own.
"That's probably why it ended up in the hands of the core disciples," Qin Ming recalled Li Qingyue mentioning.
Even in its damaged state, a Near-Immortal Artifact held boundless utility for Outworld Disciples, primarily because it could channel Heavenly Splendor.
The true masters of the Beyond the Mortal Realm could truly "dine on twilight and rinse their mouths with dew."
But their sustenance wasn't the sunset's glow; it was the rare spiritual substance from the highest-grade Fire Springs.
Nor did they drink the night's moisture and dew; instead, they imbibed the mysterious Heavenly Splendor from the depths of the night sky.
If a disciple could drink Heavenly Splendor, the benefits would be immeasurable.
Thus, every disciple coveted it, even the aloof Cui Chonghe, who risked breaking the rules to enter the arena.
Qin Ming held the furnace, examining it closely.
It wasn't perfectly round but had eight distinct faces, each marked with clear trigram symbols.
"This is... an Eight Trigrams Furnace." He thought that its unique shape alone suggested an extraordinary origin.
Tapping the furnace wall, Qin Ming listened intently to the reverberation.
A mysterious Dao Resonance seemed to emanate from it, clearing his mind.
"What a treasure! I wonder if it would carry this dao resonance if I used it to smash someone? The power would be unparalleled."
If anyone from Beyond the Mortal Realm heard him say this, they would likely curse him as a barbarian.
Qin Ming set down the Eight Trigrams Furnace and placed the broken lid on top.
Next, he turned his attention to another artifact: a "sheet of paper" forged from Strange Metal, which intrigued him even more.
He had examined the Near-Immortal Artifacts first because he had heard so many legends about them.
Everyone spoke of them, and he naturally wanted to handle them himself.
This sheet of paper was even more damaged than the Eight Trigrams Furnace, with only a corner remaining—less than a quarter of its original size.
Holding the Fragmented Scripture, Qin Ming examined the dense scripture and diagrams etched across its surface.
The weight of the page felt immense, and he realized that anything worthy of being stored alongside the Eight Trigrams Furnace must possess unimaginable value.
This "page," forged from a fusion of strange metals, was riddled with twelve holes.
The already small corner offered little legible content, with missing characters and incomplete illustrations.
To an ordinary person, this Fragmented Scripture would be utterly useless.
Attempting to cultivate based on its incomplete teachings would undoubtedly lead to disaster.
Qin Ming set it down and rubbed his hands together, hoping for a stroke of luck that would allow him to resonate with it.
"Near-Immortal Artifact, grant me some immortal fortune!" Qin Ming lifted the Eight Trigrams Furnace again.
He valued the Fragmented Scripture more, but decided to test the waters with the Eight Trigrams Furnace first.
Focusing his consciousness with intense concentration, Qin Ming prepared to resonate with the Near-Immortal Artifact, hoping to glean some insight from it.
Then, his eyes went blank.
With a clang, he dropped the Eight Trigrams Furnace to the ground, gasping for breath.
The Heavenly Light, now condensed into a scorching mist, burned his lungs with each inhale.
Yet this physical pain paled in comparison to the turmoil in his mind.
This was the first time he had encountered such a phenomenon: "reading" an ancient artifact, sensing the lingering emotional resonance of the past, and nearly being overwhelmed by it.
"Just how powerful was that old geezer?"
Qin Ming wondered, his heart pounding. He sensed lingering emotions and chose the strongest one.
The result nearly shattered his consciousness through resonance.
This wasn't mere emotion; it was Dao Resonance, a mysterious vibration.
Even its faintest trace felt like facing a colossal tidal wave—one crash could send him flying.
"Are all the old fogeys from Beyond the Mortal Realm this terrifying?" Qin Ming mused, lost in thought.
He recalled the elder who had casually obliterated the Peerless Overlord with a flick of his hand.
The old geezer he had resonated with earlier couldn't have been Li Qingxu's Master, but he was undoubtedly another major figure from Beyond the Mortal Realm.
"I've been relying on my physical mutations to claw my way forward, step by step. It seems I still have a long way to go!"
It took Qin Ming a long time to recover.
This time, he approached with extreme caution.
He picked up the Pill Furnace, focused his mind, and carefully selected weaker emotions, avoiding the old geezer radiating Dao Resonance.
After a moment, he set down the Near-Immortal Artifact, rested briefly, and resumed his "communication."
Qin Ming resonated with the Pill Furnace again and again, repeatedly experimenting.
Eventually, he even dared to provoke that dangerous emotion once more.
Sweat drenched Qin Ming's body, his head felt like it was about to explode, and his consciousness seemed on the verge of ignition.
This was far more exhausting than his battles against Jiang Congyun and Chen Shuhang.
Yet Qin Ming was utterly satisfied, his eyes and brows radiating with joy.
If anyone had been there, they would have thought he was grinning like a fool, completely losing his composure.
Qin Ming had reaped a tremendous reward this time.
Through resonating with the Near-Immortal Artifact, he had discovered a mysterious incantation—one that spoke of the Six Ding Divine Fire!
Only this fire could activate the Eight Trigrams Furnace, allowing him to refine elixirs and forge weapons.
Qin Ming had naturally heard of the Six Ding Divine Fire.
It was an incredibly high-level flame, associated with the Near-Immortal creatures and godlike beings deep within the vast Night Mist World.
Such terrifying flames could only be witnessed during the Great Pioneering Era.
Qin Ming suspected that the Eight Trigrams Furnace hadn't been crafted by the Outsiders themselves.
More likely, it had been obtained from Near-Immortal creatures or godlike beings during the Great Pioneering Era.
The Lihuo Scripture he practiced was already considered a precious and extraordinary technique, but the Lihuo it produced paled in comparison to the Six Ding Divine Fire.
The only flame that could rival it was the Southern Bright Li Fire, a divine flame wielded by godlike beings.
"Truly worthy of being a Near-Immortal Artifact! You've given me such a wonderful surprise!" Qin Ming exclaimed, patting the Eight Trigrams Furnace as if it were a musical instrument, listening to its resonant tones.
His thoughts drifted as he murmured to himself, "The Night Mist World is boundless and immeasurable, clearly concealing countless secrets. Near-Immortal, quasi-divine... even developing a small corner of this realm would yield immense value."
He quickly snapped back to reality, realizing such grand ambitions were still far beyond his reach.
Even the immediate challenge before him left him somewhat helpless.
The Six Ding Divine Fire was simply too advanced.
Despite having the incantation, he couldn't cultivate it in his current state.
Even with the Lihuo Scripture, a remarkable cultivation technique, he had only reached the second realm.
It was only after enhancing his foundation at the Mountain River Spiritual Nest that he managed to master a portion of the Outer Saint Domain here.
"I'm guarding a treasure mountain in vain," Qin Ming muttered.
Then he shook his head and chuckled, "Not entirely. I'll save it for the future, to be gradually unearthed."
There was no doubt that the Six Ding Divine Fire was an extraordinary treasure, capable of serving as a cornerstone for any sect or organization.
"I wonder if this incantation still exists Beyond the Mortal Realm. Perhaps I've just brought it back into the world."
Qin Ming touched the Near-Immortal Artifact, set it aside, and picked up the Fragmented Scripture again.
After calming his mind, he began to resonate with it.
As expected, the terrifying old man's emotions, imbued with Dao Resonance, were present within the scripture.
Qin Ming avoided these, focusing instead on resonating with the other lingering emotions.
Once, twice... he repeatedly made contact, constantly sensing, and in the final stage, even "provoked" the old man's presence to confirm the scripture's authenticity.
He dropped the Fragmented Scripture, collapsing onto his back, gasping for breath.
He endured the searing pain of the Heavenly Light and mist burning his throat and nostrils for a long while before finally recovering.
"Qingyue is truly blessed," Qin Ming muttered to himself. "This is undoubtedly a genuine fragment from a true inheritance scroll!"
Indeed, this single "sheet of paper" was the only one present, coexisting with the Eight Trigrams Furnace and bearing an astonishing secret technique.
"Its origins are extraordinary!" Qin Ming observed, noting the paper's material closely resembled that of the Eight Trigrams Furnace.
"I wonder if I'll be able to cultivate this technique once my cultivation realm reaches the required level," he mused, stroking the Fragmented Scripture.
On the metallic paper, he saw the old man's warning to his disciples: "Do not even think of attempting this until you reach the third realm. Do not even touch this scroll before then, or you will face dire consequences and cultivate yourselves to death."
"No need to overthink for now!" Qin Ming stood up.
The road ahead was long, and the future remained distant.
For now, he needed to focus on taking steady, practical steps forward.
He began searching the area for any remaining items.
"Hmm?!" Qin Ming exclaimed in surprise.
On a whim, he dug three feet into the ground and actually made a discovery: embedded within the crystalline soil were small lumps of metal.
He examined them closely, his heart racing.
The materials were extraordinary.
Some resembled purple-gold but were clearly distinct, their surfaces etched with intricate, mystical patterns.
Others were as pure white as jade, yet more restrained than Jade Iron, concealing an inexplicable divine essence within.
Qin Ming patiently scoured the area, digging until he had gathered a handful of metal fragments, none larger than a fist.
He could tell these mysterious materials had once been integrated into powerful artifacts.
For instance, the piece of purple-gold still retained a faint sword-like edge.
The "red bronze" fragment had originally been a spear tip!
This suggested that many extraordinary artifacts had been completely destroyed, leaving behind only the essence—these strange metals—scattered among the ruins.
Qin Ming's eyes widened.
The handful of fragments in his hand might be worth a fortune!
Mountain Luo Fu, once a supreme Blessed Land, served as a major foundation for Outsiders.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have sought to transform it into a Heavenly Cave.
The remnants here were truly astonishing.
Qin Ming stuffed the handful of strange metal lumps into his robe and searched the area several more times, but found nothing else.
He prepared to leave, ready to face the challenges awaiting him outside.
He tucked the broken furnace lid and the tattered page into his robe to prevent them from being lost in the coming battle.
Then, carrying one of the furnace legs—a Near-Immortal Artifact—Qin Ming strode through the dense Heavenly Light toward the exit.
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END OF CHAPTER
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