Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Refining Pool

Dao Sansheng and Chao Xiong followed Elder Tong into a room marked "Outer Sect Disciplinary Hall." Inside, two men were sitting, sipping tea.

“Elder Yang, I’ve brought you a couple of troublemakers,” Elder Tong announced. “These two just beat up Elder Liu’s beloved son, apparently over some stolen pills. You must give them a proper place to be taught a lesson.”

Elder Yang, setting down his teacup, replied, “Educating the younger generation is our duty. Since this is the Disciplinary Hall, of course, we’ll ensure that any disciple who errs learns from their mistakes. Rest assured, I’ll put them to good use.”

He invited Elder Tong to sit. Before long, a disciple hurried in.

“Take the new brothers to the Materials Refinement Pool. Each is to be given a month’s quota as required by the sect. Once they’ve finished refining, they’re free to go. Hurry along.”

Dao Sansheng and Chao Xiong followed the disciple through winding paths. After an hour and a half on the road, they reached the lowest peak in the Forging Heaven Valley.

Halfway up the mountainside stood a vast complex of palaces, the largest bearing the inscription: "Icefire Peak."

At the entrance, four disciples stood guard with strict vigilance. “State your names, present your identity plaques, and submit to inspection.”

“Iron Rooster of the outer sect, escorting punished disciples for their sentence,” the guide said, handing over the disciplinary writ.

The four guards quickly allowed them through. Dao Sansheng and his group headed toward the mountain’s rear in silence.

A blast of sweltering wind swept over them, quickly replaced by a biting chill. Dao Sansheng couldn’t help but sneeze. “What a peculiar place,” he thought. “Good thing this is for cultivation, or I’d have caught a cold by now.”

“Senior sister, I’ve brought you some people!” the guide shouted before they even reached her, earning Dao Sansheng’s scorn.

A gentle voice responded, as refreshing as a spring breeze. “Rooster, you’re delivering errant disciples again? What’s the quota this time?”

“Senior sister, I’m Iron Rooster, not just Rooster. These two brothers are each assigned the regular monthly amount,” he replied.

The young woman’s mouth fell open in surprise.

Only then did Dao Sansheng have a chance to study her. Her eyes were dark and bright, though rather small, and her jet-black hair fell to her waist. Short, sparse bangs framed her forehead, and her mouth was so large it could fit an egg.

“Is there a problem, senior sister?” Iron Rooster asked hurriedly.

“No, no problem at all. You may go,” the young woman replied, leading Dao Sansheng and Chao Xiong into the woods behind the peak.

In the midst of the forest lay a large cave, flanked on either side by murals—one of the sun, one of the moon. Dao Sansheng was absorbed in the art when Chao Xiong pulled him inside.

The cave was deep and winding; they descended several hundred meters underground before the woman stopped. She turned a mechanism in the wall, revealing a narrow passage. The three of them traversed it in a few steps.

Stepping out, they were greeted by a marvel: a vast cavern containing two pools—one boiling hot, steaming fiercely, the other cold as ice, exuding frosty mist. Dao Sansheng felt the alternating heat and chill assault his body.

Unable to bear it, his skin began to peel. The young woman, by contrast, seemed utterly unaffected.

“Brothers,” she said, “I forgot to mention—you’ll need to use spiritual power to protect yourselves. The temperature here fluctuates wildly and most people can’t stand it. The materials are here; I’ll leave you to it.” Tossing them a storage pouch, she departed.

Dao Sansheng and Chao Xiong activated their spiritual shields and immediately felt better. Still, both were only at the third level of Qi Refinement—how long could they last? Chao Xiong frowned in concern.

Peering into the storage pouch with his spiritual sense, Dao Sansheng found it packed with enough ore to fill half a mountain. He glanced at Chao Xiong for guidance, having never refined materials before.

Chao Xiong examined the contents and turned pale. “I should have known. This is enough ore to keep us busy for three years. The sect uses furnaces now—nobody refines materials like this anymore. This is the ancestral method of Forging Heaven Valley. Looks like you’ll have to rely on me; I have a refining furnace that’s much faster.”

Dao Sansheng saw Chao Xiong produce a black furnace, which must be the refining furnace, though Dao Sansheng had never used one himself. He couldn’t help but ask, “How do you use that thing?”

Chao Xiong realized Dao Sansheng was a novice at this as well and felt even more discouraged, but acknowledged that Dao was only trying to help.

Chao Xiong began to teach Dao Sansheng step by step. First, they placed the materials into the pool, then used spiritual power to ignite flames and burn the ore. The addition of spiritual energy made the flames blaze even hotter.

After a few hours, Chao Xiong retrieved the ore, now reduced in size, and plunged it into the icy pool. Instantly, it froze and the icy residue fell away, leaving the ore clearer and purer.

“That’s what it looks like after refining,” he explained. “But you’ll need to repeat this several times.” Chao Xiong repeated the process four times before finally stopping. Only then was the refinement complete.

“At this rate, it’ll take forever to finish all this ore,” Dao Sansheng observed.

Chao Xiong, meanwhile, sat before his own furnace, channeling spiritual power into it. The flames within rose high as he carefully controlled the heat, refining the materials bit by bit.

As the materials reached high temperatures and began to melt, impurities separated and were gradually purged, leaving behind a pure, translucent substance—without the need for cooling.

Curious, Dao Sansheng asked, “Why doesn’t your furnace require cooling? Mine needs to be cooled before I can refine again.”

“That’s the oldest refining method,” Chao Xiong replied. “The new way is to keep refining nonstop until the best quality is achieved. The furnace fire is easier to control—not perfect, but responsive enough to purge impurities directly. If you use the pools, you can’t control the temperature or changes, so you have to cool and reheat over and over. That wastes too much time. If you had a pill furnace, you could save a lot of effort.”

Dao Sansheng understood. This punishment—refining so many materials—was meant to waste his time and keep him from advancing to the inner sect.

So the two of them continued their labor at the refinement pools: Dao Sansheng busied himself at the pools, while Chao Xiong focused on his furnace. Piles of spent residue accumulated at the side. The young woman checked on them once, saw how diligently they worked, and left without a word.

A month passed in this fashion. Dao Sansheng, unwilling to accept his fate, pondered whether there might be another way—he couldn’t stay here forever.