Immortal Reincarnation Tribulation

Chapter 153 Flaming Palace

Du Fan then walked to the hollow mulberry branch. The moment he saw it, his eyes lit up. On the branch, half of the dozen or so tiny leaves that were originally somewhat withered and yellow had now turned lush and vibrant green.

The remaining ones are mostly green with little yellow, and it won't be long before they return to their peak condition.

Du Fan nodded in satisfaction. Just as he was about to summon the Xuanmu Silkworm, the little guy jumped out of the ground on its own, flapped its wings, and flew to Du Fan's side.

Du Fan smiled slightly and extended his palm.

Upon seeing this, the silkworm immediately fell into Du Fan's palm and affectionately shook its antennae.

After a brief mental communication, Du Fan learned that the silkworm had been dormant during this period and that nothing unusual had happened.

"Very good, go and eat a hollow mulberry leaf." Du Fan's expression changed, and he pointed to the hollow mulberry branch on the ground with one hand, giving the order.

The Xuanmu Silkworm chirped happily for a moment, then its body flashed and it appeared on the hollow mulberry branch. With a snap of its mouth, it tore off a whole green hollow mulberry leaf and quickly swallowed it.

Not long after swallowing the hollow mulberry leaf, the Xuanmu silkworm felt a strong sense of drowsiness.

Du Fan was amazed by this. He immediately gave the silkworm an order not to eat hollow mulberry leaves on its own, and then sent it back underground to sleep.

Next, Du Fan inspected the other spiritual herbs in the medicinal field, especially those he had obtained from Hundred Flowers Valley. After finding everything to be normal, he returned to his cultivation room with satisfaction.

……

A month later, Du Fan, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, let out a soft groan. His forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and a look of pain appeared between his brows. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, shook his head with a bitter smile.

Three days later, the same scene happened again.

Another month passed before a burst of exhilarating laughter erupted from Du Fan's training room.

"Haha... You've finally broken through to the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage, Vice Alliance Leader Xiao. Now you have nothing to say, haha..."

In just four months, Du Fan advanced from the initial stage of the fourth level of Qi Refining to the fifth level. This terrifying cultivation speed was enough to shock even the core disciples of Qixia Sect who had multiple spiritual roots.

He no longer needed to cultivate day and night, because after the breakthrough, he entered a stabilization period that left him speechless. Taking medicine to improve his cultivation had little effect, and the process of purifying his mana was not too important to him.

Therefore, Du Fan made a plan: during the stabilization period of the fifth level of Qi Refining, he would only spend three or four hours cultivating each day.

After pondering for a while and finding no problem, Du Fan drank the last of the small bottle of ginseng essential oil and closed his eyes again to consolidate his cultivation.

A day later, Du Fan left the villa and went straight to the Elder Hall on the main peak.

There, he personally collected his monthly elder's salary for the past few months and inquired about alchemy and alchemy furnaces. Finally, Du Fan swaggered away under the astonished gaze of the Foundation Establishment elder.

Next, Du Fan went to the Scripture Pavilion on the main peak and obtained several introductory books on alchemy for free. He then went to the Treasure Pavilion and spent eight hundred spirit stones to purchase a very ordinary alchemy furnace.

Instead of returning to the villa, he went straight to a place within the clan called "Enjo-gyu Palace".

Yanshang Palace is located on the mountainside of Nanfeng Mountain. It is a place for alchemists in Qixia Sect to refine pills. Different grades of earth fire exist in it, which is an essential material for alchemy.

Of course, there are also mobile types of earth fire that alchemists can use to refine pills conveniently in their own residences, but in terms of quality, these types of earth fire are far inferior to the natural earth vein fire of places like Yanshang Palace.

Du Fan only needed to learn the basics of alchemy to achieve a semblance of its essence, so there was no need to spend a large amount of spirit stones to purchase a mobile earth fire. Therefore, he decided to rent a low-level alchemy room from the Flame Palace.

When Du Fan was still several hundred feet away from Yanshang Palace, he felt a wave of heat rushing towards him. With a sharp look on his face, he slightly circulated his internal magic power, which produced a cool sensation on his body before he stepped forward.

After passing through a bright red gate, Du Fan arrived at a rather spacious hall. Behind a counter, a slightly plump old man dressed in a red brocade robe was meditating with his eyes closed.

After Du Fan entered, the red-robed elder's expression shifted. He opened his eyes, slightly surprised to see the other man, then his powerful Foundation Establishment stage divine sense swept over him, his face darkening as he coldly said:

"Where did this disciple come from, so ignorant of the rules? How can you dare to come to this sacred place of alchemy? Considering this is your first offense, I will not make things difficult for you. Leave at once."

Du Fan felt embarrassed upon hearing this; he didn't want to cause any misunderstandings or do anything that would make him look bad.

So he flicked his finger and quickly took out the honorary elder's identity token, gave it a friendly smile, stepped forward and handed it to the other person.

The old man in the red robe was slightly taken aback when he saw this. After a moment's thought, he realized that something was amiss. So he relaxed his expression, glanced at the other party, and took the token.

"So it's Elder Du. Oh, I am Lü Xun. My apologies for my rudeness earlier." The old man glanced at the token, his expression changed, and he immediately stood up, returned the token to Du Fan with both hands, and politely clasped his hands in greeting.

"Steward Lü, there's no need for such formalities. My sudden arrival was rather presumptuous," Du Fan replied politely, returning the greeting with a cupped hand.

"Elder Du, is there anything you need me to do here? Please speak freely without hesitation." After his initial hesitation, Lü Xun calmed down and, after a moment's thought, took the initiative to speak.

"Since Steward Lü has said so, then please arrange a low-level alchemy room for me." He didn't need to hide anything, so he smiled slightly at the old man and said directly.

"What? Elder Du actually wants to refine pills himself?" The red-robed elder's mouth dropped open upon hearing this.

Du Fan smiled but remained silent.

"No problem. This is the token to open the low-level alchemy room. The opening method and specific location are engraved inside the token. Elder Du can find out by simply probing with his divine sense."

After a moment, the old man came to his senses, coughed, and then with a flick of his hand, took out a fiery red token.

Du Fan took it, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Deacon Lü, how is the rental fee collected?"

"Elder Du is joking. It's just a low-level alchemy room. How could I dare to charge you? It's completely free." The red-robed elder waved his hand and shook his head.

"Oh, thank you very much then." Du Fan naturally wouldn't refuse such a good thing. After saying it politely again, he walked towards the side corridor.

The ground and walls here are made of fiery red stone, and it is unknown whether this is their original color or a result of the long-term geographical environment.

The deeper Du Fan went into the Flame Palace, the more intense the heat became. Fortunately, the low-level alchemy rooms were scattered throughout the outer area of ​​the Flame Palace, and Du Fan could easily resist it by circulating his magic power.

After making two turns and walking for more than ten feet, Du Fan stopped in front of a red stone gate.

At this moment, he released a wisp of divine thought, which entered into the crimson token in his hand. After a moment, he nodded and embedded the token into a groove next to the stone gate.

Du Fan's lips moved, and he whispered a spell. A few breaths later, the stone door slowly opened with a low rumbling sound.

The moment the stone door opened, a scorching heat ten times stronger than outside surged out, startling Du Fan. He immediately activated the Water Transport Technique, causing his internal magical power to circulate wildly, and only then did he gradually adapt.

Only then did Du Fan let out a soft breath, his heart filled with shock. It was just a low-level alchemy room, yet the temperature was already so high. What would it be like if it were a high-level alchemy room or even a top-grade alchemy room?

Du Fan steadied himself and narrowed his eyes to get a clear view of the overall situation in the alchemy room.

The entire stone chamber was only two zhang long and wide, and was entirely red. Only in the center of the chamber was there a bronze lid about one foot in diameter covering the floor. Presumably, beneath this lid lay the legendary subterranean fire.

Upon closer inspection, an S-shaped crack was found in the middle of the bronze lid, revealing that the lid was composed of two parts.

Du Fan took a deep breath, went inside, closed the stone door, and then took out the alchemy furnace and placed it on the bronze.

Then, with a flick of his hand, a book appeared. He glanced at it briefly, then tossed it onto a nearby stone block and ignored it.

Du Fan flicked his sleeve, lifted the furnace lid, and, following the method recorded in the classic texts for refining Qi pills, added various spiritual herbs in a specific ratio before closing the furnace lid.

Immediately, with a flick of his arm, an invisible force surged forth, pushing the bronze lid that was covering the earth fire open from the middle to both sides.

As soon as the lid was opened, a burst of crimson flames surged out, instantly enveloping the entire alchemy furnace. At the same time, a temperature several times hotter than before filled the entire stone chamber.

In just a few breaths, the alchemy furnace showed signs of melting and shattering. A moment later, with a loud bang, it exploded, and a considerable energy wave, mixed with fragments of the alchemy furnace, swept wildly in all directions.

As soon as Du Fan sensed something was wrong, he quickly released a Weak Water Shield spell to protect himself. At the same time, he retreated rapidly and leaned against the edge of the wall, which ensured his safety. However, he was still gloomy and had lingering fear.

After a moment of stunned silence, he suddenly moved his arms, and two invisible forces shot out, instantly closing the lid of the earth fire at the center.