Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 887: Primordial Spirit

While the incarnation pondered in silence, the Daoist boy finished his explanation.

After answering a few of the incarnation’s questions, the boy took him away from Jade Finger Peak. Controlling an artifact, he flew with him across a great river to a crimson stone hall perched on the cliff at the riverbank.

Before they even drew near, a wave of scorching heat rolled toward them. The hall had been built from a rare stone imbued with the power of flame and reinforced with matching barriers, allowing the fire power to be preserved for a long time.

It was far easier to kindle spiritual fire here, which made artifact refinement twice as effective for half the effort.

The two landed before the hall but did not barge straight in. The boy released a strand of spiritual power that triggered the barrier on the door. Soon, heavy footsteps sounded from within. A burly man with bronze skin strode out, sweeping his gaze across them.

"Senior Brother Jin Yan!" The boy cupped his hands.

Jin Yan’s face held a trace of irritation, as if he had been interrupted at a crucial moment. Seeing the boy only eased his expression slightly. His voice rumbled, making the interior hum. "I’s Junior Brother Yang. I heard you were taken on as Senior Uncle Huayang’s personal attendant. How do you still have time to run around?"

The burly man's voice was loud and he spoke in a straightforward manner.

The boy and Jin Yan seemed quite familiar and took no offense. "I came to bring you a helper to tend the fires."

Jin Yan’s eyes flicked and finally settled on the incarnation. He chuckled. "And what can the person you brought do? If he doesn’t get in my way, that would already be a blessing. I don’t recall seeing this brat. When did he enter the sect?"

"Senior Brother, you are obsessed with refinement, so it’s normal you haven’t seen him. Zhang Yue only just entered. I asked Senior Brother Lu to assign him under you."

He beckoned the incarnation forward. "He studied artifact refinement before entering. You will know once you test him, Senior Brother."

"Oh?"

Jin Yan sized up the incarnation and said bluntly, "Then come in and try. I happen to have a batch of spiritual materials that needs refining. Junior Brother Yang, let’s be clear. You know how heavy my workload is. I cannot keep freeloaders from your Yin-Yang Branch. Friendship is friendship, but if you foist an incompetent on me, I won’t keep him."

"Naturally. If he truly knew nothing, I wouldn’t dare trouble Senior Brother Jin Yan." The boy sounded wholly confident.

Before setting out, he had tested the incarnation with several questions and confirmed the incarnation's refinement skills were solid. Still speaking, the burly man stood aside and invited them in. The aura inside the stone hall was even hotter.

Following behind, the incarnation entered a stone chamber where piles of purple ore were stacked high. He stared, startled. "So much Purple Wind Copper ore."

This ore could be smelted into Purple Wind Copper, ideal for refining metal-element artifacts.

Jin Yan gave a soft grunt. "You recognized it at a glance. Looks like Junior Brother Yang didn’t lie. Pick a piece and smelt the Purple Wind Copper. Let me see your handiwork."

"Yes!"

Head lowered, the incarnation stepped into the chamber, chose a moderate piece of ore, then moved to the fire duct at the center. Under Jin Yan’s direction, he activated the barrier.

***

An hour later, the boy left the hall smiling, his evasion light arrowing toward the Yin-Yang Peaks.

The incarnation stood at the doorway, turning a command token in his hand.

Given his attainments in artifact refinement, showing even ten percent of his skill would have stunned the two. Naturally, he had not been so ostentatious. He had honestly smelted a clean ingot of Purple Wind Copper, which was enough to meet Jin Yan’s requirements.

Once Jin Yan saw the refined copper, his hesitation vanished, and he immediately kept him on.

The boy, relieved as if finishing an errand, hurried back to the mountain and warned the incarnation to focus on condensing the Yin-Yang Armor and not to disturb him without serious cause.

"You already have a foundation in refinement. Have you considered dedicating yourself to this path?"

Jin Yan’s voice sounded behind him, but he shook his head at once. "Forget it. Pretend I never asked. You were brought in by Senior Uncle Huayang. The Yin-Yang Branch would never let me squander your talent. I won’t invite trouble. Come with me to meet a senior brother. He will allot you some materials each day. Complete the tasks and you can move freely. I won’t interfere more than that."

"Thank you very much, Senior Uncle Jin." The incarnation answered obediently.

They went deeper into the hall, turned a corner, and stopped before another chamber. Jin Yan handed him off to a disciple named Gao Yi and then left on his own.

Gao Yi said, "Since it is Master’s personal instruction, Junior Brother Zhang, refine this batch of red jade into round pendants. After you finish, I will take you to choose a cave dwelling. Our dwellings are on the nearby mountain, and quite a few are vacant."

He led the incarnation to an adjoining quiet room with a small stack of red jade. Another would have finished in an hour; the incarnation could do it faster. Compared with others’ assignments, his was much easier. Even Gao Yi looked a little envious.

After sending Gao Yi off and closing the door, the incarnation, constrained by his limited cultivation, still completed the task within half an hour.

He did not hurry to leave. Though the hall was hot, the spiritual qi was quite dense. He sat cross-legged in the chamber and decided to attempt condensing the Yin-Yang Armor here.

To condense the Yin-Yang Armor, one first needed to sense and refine yin-yang qi from the chaotic spiritual qi of the void. That posed no challenge to the incarnation. His true body was at the Core Formation Realm and was long familiar with all manner of condensation and refinement methods.

His fingers formed a seal, and the surrounding spiritual qi surged and gathered. A moment later, a funnel-shaped vortex formed above his head, spinning rapidly, faster and faster. Just then, a sudden change occurred. With a pop, the vortex burst apart.

A streak of flowing light shot from the incarnation’s Qihai, subduing the chaotic spiritual qi with ease. The Sky-Eyed Butterfly had secretly acted to help.

The incarnation smiled wryly to himself. "This body’s cultivation is too weak. I cannot succeed in one go. I will have to proceed slowly."

He adjusted his breathing briefly and began to invoke the spell again, much more gently this time.

Knock! Knock!

"Junior Brother Zhang..."

A knock sounded at the door. The incarnation emerged from meditation and, hearing Gao Yi’s voice, promptly halted the spell.

Counting the time, two full hours had passed. He opened his palm. A thread each of black and white qi swam across his hand like lively fish.

"Personally cultivating it, two hours only produced this sliver. New disciples without talent would not even make it through the gate, much less train in this art. It truly is a profound secret technique."

He murmured to himself, then closed his fingers. The yin-yang qi in his palm shot back into his body. Under deliberate guidance, it coursed swiftly along his meridians and, in the blink of an eye, entered the upper dantian.