Chapter 39: Technique of the Fire-Forged Furnace

Zhao Chun possessed the *Swift Sword Technique* as her foundation in the Way of the Sword, supplemented by the *Single-Line Flying Dagger*, and she was not lacking in footwork or strength-augmentation arts.

In her previous battles, Gold and Fire spiritual qi had proven immensely useful, but her personal reserves were insufficient to use them extensively. She intended to address this by selecting suitable cultivation methods to assist her.

The *Great Creation Spirit-Soothing Art* was a rare meridian-expansion technique capable of accumulating more spiritual qi to strengthen the self. Zhao Chun flipped through it with hesitation; her entire body was filled with violent and sharp spiritual qi, and if she were to further open her gates to allow more in, it might not only fail to help but could potentially prove harmful.

If she could find a body-tempering technique—one that forged the physical body externally like Han Meng—then this *Great Creation Spirit-Soothing Art* would likely become usable.

Furthermore, Zhao Chun preferred to choose a technique that aligned with her attributes, but within the Wan Zang Pavilion, most techniques that increased spiritual qi were of the Wood or Earth attributes.

As she walked further in, Zhao Chun suddenly paused. Seeing the volume titled *Fire-Forged Furnace Technique*, she read the portion available to disciples more closely, and her expression grew even more solemn.

This technique was strange!

It was indeed a body-tempering manual, true; it forged the physical body like iron while simultaneously tempering the meridues and dantian from within, making it an excellent method.

However, the four words "Fire Attribute: Practice with Caution" written in vermilion on the manual caused Zhao Chun's breath to hitch slightly. Her thoughts shifted, yet she continued reading.

The *Fire-Forged Furnace Technique* derived its name from its cultivation method: one must find a large cauldron, place oneself inside, and like a piece of equipment being forged, use fire to temper a golden body. This was an extremely orthodox Gold-attribute method, perfectly matching Zhao Chun's Gold spiritual root.

As for why it warned to practice with caution regarding the Fire attribute, it was due to its bizarre cultivation method. Whether refining artifacts or pills, one did not use ordinary mortal fire, but rather Earth Fire drawn from beneath the ground, which was far more violent than common flames.

Earth Fire, capable of bearing the heavy responsibility of alchemy and artifact refining, invariably possessed a degree of spiritual qi and was inherently lively by nature. If drawn by a cultivator with a Fire spiritual root, it would grow even more powerful; if one were careless, the backlash could result in a loss far greater than any gain.

Even alchemists and artifact refiners had to be cautious in controlling fire, let alone other disciples who had never drawn Earth Fire before.

It was not that Zhao Chun lacked concerns, but this technique was simply too suitable for her to let go. If she could succeed in practicing it, she would also master a method of fire control.

She usually reminded herself not to be greedy, but when faced with a true choice, she understood the difficulty.

The path of cultivation was inherently rugged and perilous; without trying, there would be no achievement. The trials of the human path were fraught with danger, and even Jing had lamented her inability to participate. Now, with such a magnificent method laid out before her, she truly had no reason not to try!

Zhao Chun took it out and steeled her heart, telling herself that everything comes with a price. If one only pursues stability and ease, then what is the purpose of cultivation? She sought to reach the pinnacle of her individual potential; how could she do so without paying a price?

After copying the technique, she returned to her residence. Her next step was to find an Earth Fire furnace to begin her cultivation.

The sect's Earth Fire furnaces were limited in number. Artifact refiners or alchemists could borrow them for free with credentials, but for a disciple like Zhao Chun who practiced neither, she would need to pay萃石 (Essence Stones) to gain entry.

With connections, getting in wouldn't be difficult.

Zhao Chun still had plenty of wealth remaining, which should be enough to cover such expenses.

She continued reading the *Fire-Forged Furnace Technique* and discovered it was divided into three stages: the entry stage resulted in a Bronze Body, the minor success stage in a Golden Body, and great success in generating a Golden Armor. The first two stages involved forging the physical body until it was exceptionally robust, while the final stage used Gold spiritual qi to cast armor, achieving external defense.

The forging of the physical body included the skin, flesh, and meridians, greatly increasing their toughness and strength. Once she achieved great success, she could safely accumulate Gold and Fire spiritual qi without needing to switch between them temporarily during battle.

With such an offensive and defensive technique, combined with her swordsmanship and the Qingyu Twin Fish Bracers she would obtain later, she was confident she would find few rivals among cultivators of the same rank.

However, the *Fire-Forged Furnace Technique* placed extremely high demands on the manipulation of spiritual qi and the capacity of one's personal reserves. Zhao Chun intended to wait until her cultivation progressed further before attempting the entry stage.

Additionally, news had arrived from Xu Feng; he sent word that after exiting the small world, he would head straight to other places for tempering and would not return to the sect for a short while. Zhao Chun comforted Hu Wanzhi to stay and settle in, while she herself went into seclusion to focus on her cultivation.

In this manner, another half year passed...

Two years after Zhao Chun arrived in the Hengyun World, she crossed the threshold of the fifth level of Qi Refinement and headed straight for the sixth.

She was not surprised by this achievement; this period of seclusion was intended specifically to accumulate spiritual qi to break through. Furthermore, the middle stage of Qi Refinement focused on accumulation and had almost no major bottlenecks, except for the transition from the sixth to the seventh level, which would require several years of effort.

Upon emerging from seclusion, she had not yet reached the sixth level of Qi Refinement, but she had reached the peak of the fifth. She only needed to connect her upper and lower dantians to step into the sixth level; it was not far off.

However, pressing matters forced her to push her cultivation aside for a moment. Xu Feng, who had been traveling, finally returned to the sect three days ago.

Having matters weighing on her heart was ultimately unsettling. She led Hu Wanzhi to the outer sect's spirit plant garden to summon the person who had once been bribed by Xu Kuangrui, and then they headed toward Wangduan Cliff, where Xu Feng was located...