Volume 3: A drop in the ocean Chapter 32: Netherworld Fire Helps with Alchemy
Ping Lili quickly picked up the short black iron blade and carefully put it into the brocade bag that could accommodate anything. However, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the old man from the Kongming tribe lying on the ground, his life or death unknown. Curious, she walked timidly to the old man and took a closer look. Only then did she discover that there were several silver rays faintly visible on his neck. It was the same silver needle that the white-haired old man had thrown at her just now. However, she did not expect that the effect would be so different due to the different location of the needle.
At this moment, Ping Lili's awe for the old man grew even stronger. With just a few tiny silver needles, he could change the world, kill people, and save people. Who could this white-haired old man be?
"Follow me!" The white-haired old man's urging voice sounded again. Ping Lili did not dare to neglect and hurriedly followed him. Although he did not know what the other party was up to, Ping Lili had an inexplicable intuition that he might be able to learn more secrets from the old man. So, he subconsciously obeyed him and decided to test his strength first.
Ping Lili followed the old man floating in the air and walked a few steps quickly, turned out of the secret room they were in before, and entered a long dark secret passage. The secret passage was extremely narrow, with rocks underfoot and moss-covered stone walls, but a thin ray of light could be seen from somewhere, barely illuminating the way ahead.
Along the way, Ping Lili also tried to have some simple communication with the white-haired old man, at least to know his name, but she was disappointed to find that the other party almost ignored her questions. After several times, Ping Lili simply shut up. Since the other party didn't want to say, she was too lazy to make herself bored. She thought with some sarcasm in her heart, could it be that the so-called masters all like to pretend to be cool and profound?
After walking for a while, Ping Lili felt some pain in her feet. Then she remembered that she was barefoot. She had been so focused on saving her life that she hardly felt anything before. But now she felt the pain from the uneven ground under her feet. However, she did not want to be looked down upon by the white-haired old man, so she gritted her teeth and did not say a word.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, a stone wall appeared in front of them, and the road ahead suddenly became a dead end. Ping Lili was wondering if the other party had taken the wrong road, when he saw the white-haired old man suddenly took out a bronze mirror from his sleeve. He shook the bronze mirror slightly, and a green light hit the stone wall. At this time, the stone wall was like a sparkling water surface, and thousands of ripples appeared. Ping Lili was fascinated by it, but he felt his body being sucked over by a strong suction force, and was completely sucked into the stone wall.
At this moment, the white-haired old man suddenly disappeared. Ping Lili felt as if he had passed through a curtain of water and entered another world.
She opened her golden-brown eyes wide and looked around, only to find that behind the stone wall, there was actually an enclosed stone chamber that was even wider than the previous one, and this stone chamber was much weirder than the previous one.
The four walls were empty, and the first thing that caught Yan Lili's eyes was the alchemy furnace floating in the center of the stone chamber. It was about one person tall and pitch black, made of neither gold nor wood. Above the furnace, three golden dragons were lifelike, and black mist was faintly spewing out of the dragon's mouth. The most amazing thing was that there were no firewood or crystals or other burnt objects under the furnace, but two deep cracks in the shape of a cross. Between the cross-shaped crack and the furnace, there were several purple flames floating in the air. This furnace relied on these purple flames to refine pills .
Ping Lili looked at it curiously, thinking, could it be a magic trick? How could fire appear out of nowhere from underground? Moreover, how hot could this strange-looking purple flame be? Could it really be used to make elixirs?
She took a few quick steps to get a closer look. Before she got close to the furnace, she felt a strong sense of heat coming towards her. Ping Lili subconsciously stopped, but still walked around the furnace curiously. Now, when she passed the furnace, she found that an old man with a blurry face and white hair was sitting on a stone platform about ten feet away from the back of the furnace, seemingly meditating with his eyes closed.
Ping Lili subconsciously took a few steps forward, trying to see the other person clearly, and when she got closer, cold sweat couldn't help but pour down.
This was clearly the same person as the white-haired old man just now, except that he was not floating in the air this time. Instead, he was actually sitting cross-legged on the stone platform with his eyes closed, as if he was sleeping or meditating. He had no intention of opening his eyes or speaking. Ping Lili became even more curious. What was going on?
At this time, Ying Lili was a little confused. She couldn't even tell whether what she had seen before was real or an illusion. She thought to herself, the other party went through so much trouble to lead her here, could it be that just for her to stand here and watch him meditate?
I felt it was extremely weird, but had no clue what to do. I thought, there are so many weird things in this underworld!
Just when Ping Lili wanted to get closer to take a closer look at the white-haired old man, a voice like a bell suddenly rang out from behind him: "Don't move!"
This shout really frightened Ying Lili. She screamed "Ah" and jumped far away. Then she turned around and found that the person who was floating in the air just now suddenly appeared behind her. She patted her chest, rolled her eyes, and muttered in dissatisfaction: "Are you a human or a ghost? Don't come out suddenly like this to scare people, okay?"
For some reason, at this moment, Ping Lili no longer felt the fear she had before, and she even started to joke with the other party half-jokingly. Perhaps it was her intuition that told her that this white-haired old man should not be a bad guy, although he looked even more unfathomable than the dead old man from the Kongming clan.
The white-haired old man floating in the air ignored Yan Lili's complaints. He looked at her coldly, then continued without emotion: "Use your netherworld fire to help me refine the elixir."
This was not a tone of asking for help, but an imperative tone. Ping Lili felt a pang in his heart, thinking that there really was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. It turned out that this person had ulterior motives in saving him. But he changed his mind and felt relieved. Fortunately, he only asked him to use the Netherworld Fire to help him, and did not throw him into the furnace. This was a blessing in disguise. As long as his life was not at stake, everything would be fine.
Moreover, I was just saved by him, so there would be no harm in giving him a hand.
Thinking so, Ping Lili actually obediently followed the floating figure and walked back to the alchemy furnace in the center. Looking at the alchemy furnace and the purple flame under the furnace, she was stunned again. She thought in her heart that she knew a little about using this Netherworld Fire to kill people, but she didn't know how to use it to make pills.
Just as he was wondering, the loud bell-like voice suddenly sounded behind him: "Lead your Netherworld Fire to merge with the fire at the center of the earth." Upon hearing this, Gong Lili's body trembled and he rolled his eyes again. He wondered if this person was a human or a ghost. Why was he so erratic? He was clearly in front of him just now, but he was behind him in the blink of an eye: "Old senior, let me make a deal with you. Can you please not play tricks like this? I will do whatever you tell me to do, but please don't scare me, your junior, anymore, okay?" Gong Lili's tone was both rude and helpless.
"You girl, why are you so sharp-tongued!" Although Jing Lili didn't expect the other party to give her a good tone, the other party's abrupt counter-taunt made her widen her eyes again. Did she hear it wrong just now? The old man seemed to be mocking! Jing Lili thought, it turns out that he still has seven emotions and six desires, so it seems that he is indeed a mortal, so there is nothing to be afraid of. The cold look before made her doubt whether she was facing a demon or a ghost.
This discovery made Ping Lili even more relieved. She simply stopped thinking about it and just took one step at a time. She carefully stretched out her five slender fingers, then closed her eyes slightly. With a slight movement of her mind, the dark Netherworld Fire suddenly jumped up from her fingertips again. At this moment, Ping Lili actually had some understanding of how to control the Netherworld Fire.
According to what the white-haired old man said, Ping Lili slowly directed the Netherworld Fire that jumped up from his fingertips like a fire snake towards the purple flames. The purple flames actually jumped up in an instant and intertwined with the dark green flames, making a hissing sound.
Then, a strange phenomenon suddenly occurred! The dark furnace began to tremble slightly, and then, with a loud bang, the heavy furnace cover on the furnace was forcefully opened, and a strong light that seemed to come from the chaos suddenly shot out from the open furnace, covering Ying Lili and sucking her entire body into the furnace!
