(It looks like I’ll have to pull another all-nighter tonight! I really can’t catch a break! Waaah! I don’t want to be a night owl!)
"Hehe! Good, good! I’ll arrange it for you right away, Junior Brother!" The ugly man was overjoyed when he saw that Han Li had actually handed him a mid-grade spirit stone.
One had to know, although the exchange rate of a hundred low-grade spirit stones for one mid-grade spirit stone was universally recognized in the world of immortal cultivation, in reality, very few were willing to trade mid-grade spirit stones for low-grade ones.
Everyone knew that under the same circumstances, mid-grade spirit stones could absorb spiritual energy at a much faster rate than low-grade ones. For this reason alone, everyone wanted to keep mid-grade spirit stones and naturally looked down upon low-grade ones.
Of course, the exchange situation for high-grade spirit stones for mid-grade ones was much the same.
The ugly man beamed with joy after receiving the fire-attribute spirit stone. He became even more attentive toward Han Li. He immediately led Han Li to a massive, five-colored stone gate and took out a purple, arrow-shaped token from his breast pocket. He pointed it at the stone gate and gave it a wave.
A red light flashed on the purple arrow, and a ray of rosy light shot out from it, striking the gate precisely. Instantly, the swirling five-colored light began to spin rapidly. After a few loud creaks, the stone gate slowly rose, revealing a black passage behind it. The passage was about ten feet high and square in shape.
"Junior Brother, once you pass through this Wushi stone tunnel, you’ll reach the room with the earthfire. Let’s head over now!" The ugly man squeezed out a few smiles and said to Han Li in a fawning tone.
"Mmm." Han Li gave a noncommittal nod and walked into the passage first.
"This Wushi stone isn’t exactly a rare material, but it’s not something you’d find in the mortal world either. To find so much of it and use it to build tunnels and rooms—it took several great-ancestors with remarkable abilities, who racked their brains to accomplish it. However, thanks to Wushi stone’s unique properties of being heat-resistant and impervious to melting under earthfire, no major accidents have ever occurred here since this earthfire site was opened!" The ugly man explained with a touch of pride as he led the way.
Han Li listened with great interest. He couldn’t help reaching out to touch the black stone wall on one side, finding it smooth and cool to the touch.
"Where does this Wushi stone come from? To be able to resist earthfire, which is even fiercer than true fire, it truly is peculiar." Han Li rarely offered such agreement and casually asked.
"Well, I’ve heard that although it’s not too rare, our Yue Kingdom doesn’t actually produce it. Our ancestors had to go through a lot of trouble to get it from the far west, from other countries. It was quite a hassle!" the ugly man explained.
Thus, following behind the ugly man, Han Li soon passed through two more identical, towering stone gates. Finally, they exited the Wushi stone tunnel and appeared in an enormous, circular hall.
This hall was also constructed from Wushi stone, but its diameter was forty or fifty feet, and its height over ten feet, truly shockingly massive! Around the hall, identical white stone doors were evenly spaced, numbering over thirty.
At that moment, the hall was empty, save for the newly arrived ugly man and Han Li.
After Han Li looked around with curiosity, he heard the ugly man say with a grin: "This hall is situated directly above the most concentrated source of earthfire. That’s why our sect has established a total of thirty-six earthfire chambers here for artifact refining and pill refining. The best pill refining rooms are numbers eighteen and nineteen.
However, number eighteen has already been claimed by a senior uncle, so Junior Brother, you should use room nineteen! Although it’s slightly inferior to number eighteen, its fire intensity and stability are still exceptional." As he spoke, the ugly man led Han Li to a door painted with the golden characters "Nineteen" and broke into a wide smile.
Han Li listened without comment, simply nodding silently in agreement.
Seeing this, the ugly man immediately took out a white jade token and pressed it against the door. The white stone door automatically swung open. Then, the ugly man and Han Li entered the room.
The room was square in shape, of average size—only about twenty feet across—but in the center stood a round, low platform about ten feet wide. On each of the four walls hung a gourd the size of a fist, and not far away in a corner sat a cyan-green meditation cushion.
The round platform was also made of Wushi stone, quite flat and only about half a foot high. However, embedded around its outer rim were eight small, fiery-red dragon heads, lifelike and exquisite. The dragon heads’ mouths were slightly raised, pointing toward the space directly above the center of the platform as if spitting fire, making them look very realistic.
After taking in the room’s layout, Han Li was slightly surprised, but before he could ask any questions, the ugly man had already walked over to the platform and began explaining it to Han Li of his own accord.