The Three Origin Ninefold Extreme Mystic Flame Pill Furnace
The pill furnace was large enough for one person to fit inside comfortably and enjoy a bath.
Its overall color was a profound, dark tone. Three sturdy legs supported the body with perfect stability, and the surface featured exquisite carvings of the heavens, earth, mountains, rivers, and every kind of animal and plant, all rendered in harmonious, lifelike detail. It was magnificent.
Even a glance at its appearance revealed it was no ordinary object. It did not feel like something a demonic cultivator would own.
When he examined it properly with his divine sense, even more astonishing details emerged.
Is this all… formation patterns?
What had looked like pointillist carvings on the surface were actually composed of extremely fine formation patterns. They varied in depth, protrusion, and density to create the images, yet they also seemed to carry a consistent thematic connection.
The antique-looking pattern along the rim of the furnace opening was in fact the object’s name, elegantly elongated.
Three Origin Ninefold Extreme Mystic Flame Pill Furnace.
Hmm.
It could roughly be interpreted as a mysterious black-flame pill furnace in which the three principles of heaven, earth, and humanity reached the ultimate through ninefold layering.
The name felt both unfamiliar and somehow known. The moment the thought occurred, a piece of knowledge that had been quietly sleeping in the corner of his mind rose to the surface.
Though its actual existence was uncertain, it bore a striking resemblance to the name of a famously powerful Xianbao-grade pill furnace: the Nine Heavens Ninefold Extreme Mystic Marvel Heavenly Flame Pill Furnace.
This meant the furnace before him was an imitation. If so, the mystical functions it contained were likely similar as well.
As expected, his guess proved correct, allowing him to assess its true value with surprising ease.
The formation patterns carved across its surface like pointillist paintings were all a form of alchemy secret art.
While they included recipes for specific spirit pills, they were also a vast repository of techniques and insights that could be applied to countless other pill refinements. In essence, it was a pill furnace that held a sea of knowledge where one secret art could combine with another to birth endless new combinations—an embodiment of the abstract phrase “three origins, ninefold extreme” that struck the heart before it reached the mind.
This is insane…
It lacked a spirit, so it could not be called a Tongcheon Lingbo, but it was clearly a spiritual-treasure-grade item. Still, the sheer volume of knowledge it contained gave it value far beyond its nominal rank.
To dismiss it as nothing more than a spiritual treasure, one would first need to possess enough mastery to ignore every possible combination of alchemy arts stored within it.
Despite the circumstances, Han Yujin examined the object with meticulous care until he finally devised a safe way to bring it back to reality.
He immediately deployed the Origin Power Great Hand. This version was infused with “Hard Metal Thick Earth,” one of the special elemental attributes from the Taiyi Five Elements Dao Scripture he had recently begun cultivating.
A massive hand formed of intertwined golden and black energy seized the pill furnace and carefully destroyed it—damaged to the point where its original shape could still be guessed, yet rendered completely unusable.
Then, switching from Hard Metal Thick Earth to Red Lotus True Fire, he burned away the furnace’s indistinct spiritual imprint and all traces of the demonic cultivator’s refinement. He did not hesitate even as the furnace sustained further damage.
Red Lotus True Fire was capable of attacking and incinerating even divine sense, making it perfectly suited for the task.
Only after he had damaged it to a satisfactory degree did Han Yujin store the furnace inside his spacer ring. As he moved toward the area behind it, a short thought crossed his mind.
If it’s damaged this badly, I’ll have no choice but to spend extra Karma at the waiting area to restore it to its original state.
And once restored, the furnace would naturally return to the condition it had been in right after its creation—completely untouched by the demonic cultivator’s hands.
He could be certain because he had already used the restoration function several times before.
The space behind the furnace was, as expected, an alchemy workshop.
Several jade containers and dozens of different materials were stored there. On a table inscribed with a complex formation, he could see spirit pills undergoing a maturation process.
He swiftly inspected and collected the jade containers and materials, then turned his attention to the six maturing pills.
They possessed an eerie blood-red hue interwoven with a captivating golden sheen. Unusually, they emitted emotional fluctuations detectable through his Six Paths of Reincarnation divine ability, and a faint line of dao pattern shimmered across their surfaces.
Dao-pattern spirit pills…
As expected from the owner of such an extraordinary pill furnace, the alchemist had clearly reached the level of an alchemy grandmaster, surpassing ordinary masters. And naturally, pills bearing dao patterns could not possibly be ordinary.
He retrieved one of the jade containers he had already collected and, once again refusing to fear any traps, boldly scanned its contents with his divine sense.
The gamble paid off. His guess had been correct—it was an alchemy log. It contained a wealth of precious knowledge: numerous trials and errors in pill refinement, the insights gained from them, and, of course, detailed information about the very pills before him.
Soul-Eating Dao-Achieving Pill.
A demonic pill created by grinding an entire sentient being’s soul and body into a cultivation and healing medicine unique to the demonic path.
The healing effect was merely a secondary benefit meant to offset potential damage incurred during cultivation. In emergencies, however, one could abandon the cultivation effect entirely and use it as a complete healing remedy.
No wonder he had sensed emotional fluctuations through the Six Paths of Reincarnation. The pills were literally made from a soul.
According to the log, they have already been maturing for several decades.
Because a sentient soul was involved, a process was required to subdue its malevolent energy. The log revealed this step had become necessary due to the demonic cultivator’s insufficient alchemy skill.
Even with mastery great enough to produce dao patterns, creating a perfect Soul-Eating Dao-Achieving Pill had apparently been difficult.
Considering the pill’s astonishing effect on cultivation progress, that was entirely understandable.
It even allows you to obtain the divine abilities of the subject used as material…
Acquiring the memories was merely a byproduct of obtaining those abilities. The pills had been divided into six because the subject’s emotions were categorized into six types, to be consumed sequentially in order to minimize side effects and maximize efficacy.
The classification of emotions into six types naturally reminded him of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
Time was short, so he collected the six pills along with the entire table and moved on. Whether he would ultimately choose them as his spoils was a decision he could ponder slowly at the waiting area.
Right now, something else occupied his thoughts.
The ingredients for the Soul-Eating Dao-Achieving Pill had not been natives of this planet or Xenos monsters.
They had come from a cultivator of the immortal cultivation world.
When he considered the length of the demonic cultivator’s stay on this planet alongside the timing of the pill’s refinement, one fact became clear.
The demonic cultivator had been periodically traveling back and forth to the immortal cultivation world while residing here.
Otherwise, procuring research and alchemy materials would have been nearly impossible, and they would never have located the cultivator who became the pill’s ingredient.
He wondered what kind of divine ability that cultivator had possessed to warrant such painstaking refinement into a Soul-Eating Dao-Achieving Pill.
Even more curious was the method they had used to travel between worlds while staying here.
This must be where that secret lies, right?
The third floor was a wide-open space without walls or pillars.
A vast and incredibly complex formation covered the floor, walls, and ceiling, all connected to a pure white stone formation plate at the center.
A transmission formation!
He had never seen one before, yet he recognized it instantly.
From its feel and the surrounding context, this was no ordinary short-range transmission formation. It was a great transmission formation capable of crossing the distance between distant planets.
It would not be an exaggeration to call it a dimensional transmission formation.
Could a mere mountain cultivator possess something like this?
Thinking about it again, even if the owner was a Nascent Soul cultivator, both the Three Origin Ninefold Extreme Mystic Flame Pill Furnace and this great transmission formation were far too valuable to belong to a simple mountain hermit.
What if it isn’t a mountain cultivator?
Then it made sense. If this was the work of a high-ranking member of a demonic sect who possessed both the power and the preparation, everything fit.
In that case, the other side of this great transmission formation might lead directly into the heart of that demonic sect.
It was truly a dragon’s lair and tiger’s den.
Naturally, he abandoned any thought of using it and instead began studying the great transmission formation spread before him.
Even if he could not understand it immediately, committing every detail to memory would prove immensely helpful later.
He considered taking the pure white stone formation plate that served as the formation’s core, but the strong conviction that touching it recklessly might sweep him into spatial-temporal turbulence and tear him apart stopped him.
It was not mere suspicion—it was certainty.
A cultivator’s intuition could sometimes approach precognition, especially when their own safety was involved.
It will be enough to touch it when I face a real crisis.
For instance, if the owner of this place returned and escape became impossible.
It was precisely when that thought crossed his mind that it happened.
They’re here…?!
Believing the owner had returned, he was about to rip out the formation plate regardless of the spatial-temporal turbulence when another presence made him freeze.
It was Lieutenant Colonel Brenar’s aura.
The demonic cultivator didn’t win and return!
Instead of risking the formation plate, he chose to hide. If the two were still fighting, he might remain undetected.
He activated the Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art at full power and shot out of the lair in an instant.
The elderly yet violently furious mental voice, thick with killing intent, crashed over him like a storm.
Immediately afterward, every Xenos biological tissue across the vast area—including the passage Han Yujin had just exited—writhed as though a single wave had passed through them.
Then they swelled explosively and began rushing madly in one direction.
Hmm…!
Because he stood inside a passage that had become an empty zone like the eye of a storm, he avoided the wave. As the tissues surged past, he slipped straight into the exposed ground beneath.
Suppressing his presence to the utmost with Monghwan Yusim, he began observing the situation.
The force that swept through the royal castle and underground facilities one step ahead of the Xenos wave was a strange flickering of white and black light—Lieutenant Colonel Brenar’s power.
The swirling energy that ground everything it touched with spatial-temporal distortion was hard to believe came from a single living being.
Yet despite the massive destruction, the surging Xenos biological tissues finally gathered in one place and began forming a colossal shape.
The terrifying roar and devastating mind-hacking wave that erupted were on a completely different scale.
Yet Brenar, though comparatively tiny, spread rings of mixed light and darkness and three pairs of wings, radiating a mountain-like presence. She appeared almost unaffected.
From her black-and-white wings, spread more than ten times the enemy’s size, an ether wave poured out and neutralized the mind-hacking pulse. During the cancellation, golden sparks flared like sacred flames.
Meanwhile, Han Yujin—now even more cautious—had dug so deep into the earth that watching the battle properly had become difficult.
His judgment proved correct.
The clash between the demonic Nascent Soul cultivator, Now, he fully mobilized the research findings on the Xenos biological tissue, and Lieutenant Colonel Brenar, a level-10-or-higher spiritualist of the Galactic Empire exerting her full strength, was brutally fierce.
Had he used ordinary earth escape arts instead of the Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art, he might already be dead.
The ground around him shook madly, twisting and churning like a deep-sea vortex. Lava erupted from deeper layers and brushed past him. Spiritual shockwaves from the two powerhouses’ battle rolled over him like tidal waves.
They say when whales fight, the shrimp’s back breaks.
He truly felt like a tiny shrimp caught between two colossal whales. Hiding his presence while enduring the onslaught was no easy task.
From what he could sense, Lieutenant Colonel Brenar was seizing the advantage—contrary to his earlier expectations.
He’s a Nascent Soul cultivator presumed to be a high-ranking member of a demonic sect…
It was common knowledge that core sect figures were several times stronger than ordinary mountain cultivators of the same realm.
In that light, Brenar’s performance was nothing short of astonishing.
The demonic cultivator must have initiated the fight with confidence based on the same logic, yet this time he had completely chosen the wrong opponent.
"NO—!!"
The roar, thick with rage and panic, shook the air.
Though he could not look openly, he had not fully withdrawn his divine sense and could still read the situation.
The great transmission formation has been destroyed.
With his escape route gone, the demonic cultivator began fighting with even greater desperation. Brenar met him head-on, raising her own momentum as if to say come at me with everything you have.
The battle’s aftershocks no longer stopped at destroying the royal castle.
With the demonic cultivator mobilizing massive amounts of Xenos biological tissue, any hope of a focused, contained fight had long since vanished. The resulting devastation spread far beyond imagination.
Even from his deep underground hiding place, Han Yujin could easily picture the catastrophe unfolding on the surface.
Then, suddenly, he sensed a thread of anxiety hidden within Brenar’s fierce and ferocious aura.
…Is this only a temporary advantage?
If so, she should have let him flee rather than cutting off his retreat and cornering him. Yet because she did not know exactly what lay here, her decision to first obstruct whatever the enemy desired was only natural. It was battle basics.
Still, if his guess was correct, the current advantage she displayed could prove meaningless. The outcome had become impossible to predict. Even if she won by a razor’s edge, it might not feel like a true victory.
And if a mutual-destruction scenario occurred, an opportunity might fall into the hands of Han Yujin, who was quietly hiding like a fisherman waiting for the fight to end.