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A buzzing sound echoed in Li Hong's mind, immediately reminding him of Chu Xi's words: someone was on guard here! It was too late to retreat. The figure in light ochre quickly grew larger, and in the blink of an eye, it was right in front of him. Li Hong felt embarrassed. He heard the person opposite him exclaim, "Isn't this Junior Brother Chu Hong? Are you here to check out our artifact forging area?"
Li Hong had initially turned to flee but halted upon hearing those words, turning to face the newcomer. Two more figures in light ochre swiftly approached. The smiling person waved his hand and said, "Don't panic, it's Junior Brother coming!" This person was short and stout, dressed in a light ochre robe with a Crimson Feathered Sword emblem embroidered on the cuffs—this attire belonged to a direct disciple of the Artifact Hall elder. His face looked somewhat familiar. After thinking for a moment, Li Hong realized he was one of Yue Changzi's direct disciples, which explained why he referred to him as "Junior Brother."
Quickly putting on a smile, Li Hong cupped his hands and said, "Greetings, brothers. I am Chu Hong, here today to take a look around."
"Hehe, I knew Junior Brother would come; I didn't expect you to have time tonight. I'm on duty today, so let's go; I'll show you around." He warmly took hold of Li Hong's arm, and they flew upward together. This person was Ling Yizi, Yue Changzi's eldest disciple, already at the Initial Golden Core stage of cultivation, which placed him a level above Li Hong from the Chu Lineage. However, since Li Hong was now a named disciple of Yue Changzi and also his closed-door disciple, it was not inappropriate for Ling Yizi to call him "Junior Brother."
Ling Yizi was very friendly towards Li Hong, chatting amiably without any hint of formality. He complained that Li Hong hadn't come sooner and that he had been looking forward to this visit for quite some time. Li Hong laughed heartily, feeling pleased; it was clear that this senior brother was easy to get along with and had helped him out of a tight spot. They soon approached several openings that appeared from a distance to be mere dark dots.
As they got closer, Li Hong realized these openings were not small at all. Although they were quite far from the central Fire Lake, the heat remained intense. Near the top of the cliff were two rows of straight holes about ten feet in diameter. Ling Yizi landed them at one of the openings and introduced it: "These are two rows of Fire Jade Caves; the lower row is specifically for our Artifact Hall's forging purposes while the upper row is reserved for disciples to enter seclusion and cultivate—hehe, you probably didn't know this! The Li Fire Aura here is the most abundant in the entire cave realm; cultivating here has great benefits. The upper row is usually occupied by disciples in seclusion. We also have people stationed here daily at the Artifact Hall. However, when the Fire Spirit Eye erupts, everyone must evacuate regardless of whether they are forging or cultivating."
Li Hong recalled how he had nearly been trapped during the last surge from the Fire Lake; that must have been when the Fire Spirit Eye erupted! It was indeed formidable; he had almost not made it out!
Ling Yizi continued, "I heard that last time Junior Brother accidentally entered during the eruption; we were really worried for you afterward. Do you know that when the Fire Spirit Eye erupts, the temperature suddenly rises? That's not too concerning; the real issue is that the concentration of Fire Spirit Energy in the entire mountain cavity increases dramatically—it can become terrifyingly dense! Those of us cultivating with the Li Fire Scripture dread such times as it's easy to fall into madness. So regardless of whether one is forging or in seclusion, everyone must evacuate before an eruption occurs. Fortunately, your cultivation level was low at that time and it didn't affect you much; plus you were promptly taken out by Senior Phoenix. Otherwise, even if you hadn't gone mad from your cultivation practice, you could have easily been burned alive—thinking back on that situation is truly frightening."
Li Hong keenly caught onto his words; it seemed Ling Yizi did not know he practiced the Six Spirit Salty Ritual. Yue Changzi had kept this secret from his eldest disciple as well. This thought added to his appreciation for his nominal master.
Ling Yizi pushed open a large door and led him into the Fire Jade Cave designated for forging artifacts. At first glance, it appeared to be a vertical cave about ten feet wide and three or four feet deep. At its bottom was a circular structure resembling a furnace platform. Additionally, there were various jars and bottles positioned against the walls.
As Li Hong followed Ling Yizi inside, he felt something unusual and inadvertently glanced at the cave wall beside him—he was immediately astonished beyond words. No wonder it was called Fire Jade Cave! He hadn’t realized until now that every visible part of this cave wall and floor was made up of beautiful red jade—crystal clear and vibrant—with an intense pulse of Fire Spirit Energy emanating from it. It was top-quality fire jade!
Seeing his astonished expression, Ling Yizi chuckled and said, "This isn't anything special! Why don't you take a look at that forging platform?" The circular structure at the bottom turned out to be called a forging platform.
Li Hong approached it and found himself speechless. The walls of this cave were not made from ordinary stone but rather from prime fire jade veins' essence! Below lay extremely high-temperature molten rock-like material being channeled into the forging platform through a hidden channel—it bubbled continuously like an eye of fire. Each time a bubble burst with a pop, the concentration of Fire Spirit Energy in the air thickened even more; this wasn't just ordinary molten rock—it clearly had something extraordinary about it—the bubbles themselves were rich with Fire Spirit Energy.
The "furnace platform" wasn't simply built from regular fire jade but rather from Supreme Fire Jade Essence—each piece clear and transparent with a bright red hue—each one priceless! A small piece of Fire Jade Essence could forge a High-Quality Magical Artifact-level Flying Sword biased towards fire elements; yet here they used large chunks to build this forging platform—it truly felt wasteful!
Li Hong couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Ling Yizi beamed with pride: "There are eight forging Fire Jade Caves here; you won't find better forging locations anywhere else in our Immortal Sect! Who could have guessed we Nine Li Sect would possess a Heaven and Earth Fire Spirit Eye?" However, he quickly grew somewhat bashful: "It's just too bad that we few brothers lack skill and haven't learned even a fraction of what our master can do! It's such a waste! Junior Brother is talented; your future achievements will surely far surpass ours."
Even with all his bravado, Li Hong felt greatly embarrassed; he hadn't even scratched the surface of artifact forging yet! He wondered where Yue Changzi's confidence in him came from...
After some idle chatter between them, Ling Yizi demonstrated how to use the forging platform. He sat cross-legged beside it on an extremely thick double-layered fire-weaving cloth and wrapped a small piece of ordinary iron in spiritual energy above the eye of fire.
In an instant, the ordinary iron melted into iron liquid which flowed back and forth between Ling Yizi's hands until it gradually took shape—a small iron crane emerged! The little iron crane spread its wings wide with its beak sharp and lifelike.
Ling Yizi placed the iron crane into one side water jar with a soft splash sound—the quenching process completed—and handed it over to Li Hong using long fire chopsticks: "Take it and play with it."
Li Hong reached out to take it but noticed Ling Yizi's lips curling into a faint smile.
Li Hong understood; he wanted to test his cultivation level. There was no need for testing—he chuckled inwardly because although he appeared to be at late Qi Refinement stage on surface level, he was actually approaching mid-stage Initial Stage of Caution.
Without saying another word, he infused Awareness into his palm as if nothing were amiss while taking hold of that scalding hot iron crane and squeezed hard.
With a loud crackling sound, what had been an iron crane forged from ordinary iron through high temperatures from Fire Spirit Eye had become brittle inside after being forcefully crushed by Li Hong’s grip—it instantly turned into powder!
Li Hong flipped his palm over as fine iron powder cascaded down from his hand—the color remained normal without even reddening his skin.
Ling Yizi recognized value when he saw it; he knew such strength required at least late Qi Refinement stage cultivation level to achieve.
He burst into hearty laughter: "Junior Brother is indeed impressive!" He stood up and rummaged through those jars and bottles before handing over a small box while winking at Li Hong: "Take this for fun."
It felt warm to touch—a lively pulse of Fire Spirit Energy danced within it—a box made from top-quality fire jade containing several pieces of Supreme Fire Jade Essence!
Li Hong rejoiced; he had initially come here hoping to resolve issues regarding Eternal Dragon Bone but unexpectedly found one of its auxiliary materials—Supreme Fire Jade Essence—already taken care of! What perfect timing!
He thanked Ling Yizi cheerfully but then thought about Eternal Dragon Bone... Would Master Spirit Stone deceive him? Moreover, he'd managed to extract information using clever means—how could he entice Ling Yizi into speaking further?
Unbeknownst to Ling Yizi who led him onward without realizing Li Hong's intentions—he took him up to see another upper-level Fire Jade Cave designated for cultivation purposes.
The upper row used for cultivation mirrored exactly those below used for artifact forging—the walls constructed entirely from prime fire jade—but lacked both forging platforms and eyes of fire.
Ling Yizi enthusiastically introduced everything while observing his stout smile made Li Hong feel guilty despite wanting Eternal Dragon Bone; he secretly regretted not being more straightforward.
He had always been like this: if someone treated him sincerely, he'd reciprocate wholeheartedly—but if someone like Chuxuan plotted against him behind closed doors? He would retaliate fiercely without mercy—an eye for an eye!
Ling Yizi seemed unaware that Li Hong harbored such thoughts as he slightly tilted his head in contemplation before saying with a smile: "Are you worried about that brother outside? Hehe! Take these things for him to play with! Waiting longer isn't an issue; he'll surely be pleasantly surprised."
He pulled out an enormous piece of prime fire jade from somewhere within his sleeve and tossed it over.
Li Hong caught it—it felt heavy in hand like a solid brick! It seemed Ling Yizi also possessed some sort of Cosmic Bag-like treasure—but this piece belonged personally to him.
Prime fire jade would be perfect for Chuxiong; holding such quality fire jade would greatly benefit anyone practicing Li Fire Scripture—it could last quite some time!
Surprised by Ling Yizi's generosity, Li Hong decided not to hide anything further: standing straight with cupped hands he said earnestly: "I actually came here seeking something—do you know about Eternal Dragon Bone?"
Ling Yizi's expression changed drastically as Li Hong felt anxious—but then heard him transmit sound: "Junior Brother should remain silent for now; follow me."
Ling Yizi led him down into one of those artifact-forging Fire Jade Caves where he closed off all entrances before speaking nervously: "Where did Junior Brother hear about this? This is considered our sect's Great Secret."
What does 'more lice than itch' mean? For Li Hong who had long grown accustomed to these so-called 'Great Secrets', he chuckled lightly: "I heard about it from my Master Spirit Stone—I need Eternal Dragon Bone as an ingredient for medicine; if Senior Brother could grant me one piece I'd be immensely grateful."
"Eternal Dragon Bone as an ingredient?" Ling Yizi pondered deeply: "What kind of medicine requires Eternal Dragon Bone?"
Li Hong hesitated unsure whether or not he should reveal details about why he needed it.
However Ling Yizi waved his hand dismissively: "Junior Brother doesn't need to tell me—I assume you have your own reasons for needing it. Fortunately it's only dragon bone; if it were dragon skin or dragon tendons or scales I wouldn't have any authority over those matters."
Li Hong silently opened his mouth—could it really be right here?
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