The old dragon sneered, "What are you refining pills for? You can't get out anyway."
Mo Qi's eyes were full of seriousness as he said, "To refine an elixir of immortality, so I can spend more time with you."
The old dragon scoffed, "Do you think an elixir of immortality can be refined just like that? However, I can accept your reasoning. Go ahead and refine it, consider it a way to pass the time."
Mo Qi suddenly looked at the old dragon and said, "Senior, may I ask you to stop telling me it's useless or that we can't get out whenever I'm about to do something? Even without your reminders, we know we can't get out, but we're still alive, aren't we? If you're alive, you should do something, otherwise, how are you different from the dead? If you think it's useless, it's because your heart has died. But for those whose hearts are alive, they will never stop doing what they want to do."
His words stunned the old dragon. With wide eyes, it was speechless for a long time. It felt offended and angry, but another emotion held it back, preventing it from venting.
"Hmm, that makes a lot of sense," the old dragon said after a long pause, turning back and walking towards the dragon pearl. "I also have many things I want to do, like sleeping. Your words have enlightened me, and I've decided to go have a good sleep."
Mo Qi prepared the medicinal ingredients, purified and pre-processed them. He placed the raw materials into the alchemy furnace and then put all the spiritual power pills from his storage bag into the raw material chamber.
He stole a glance at the old dragon. Seeing that its attention was not on him, he quickly placed the spear-shaped magical artifact he had just obtained into the crystallization chamber and also put several spirit stones into the raw material chamber.
In fact, he had originally intended to refine artifacts, but he didn't bring an artifact refining furnace in his storage bag, so he had to use the alchemy furnace as a substitute.
As long as he wasn't afraid of the furnace exploding, an alchemy furnace could sometimes substitute for an artifact refining furnace.
With everything ready, he began to ignite the fire for refining.
The Snow Woman had seen him put the raw materials, magical artifact, and spirit stones into the alchemy furnace all at once. She found it very strange, but then she thought that Mo Qi was a recognized alchemy prodigy, and he must have some unique alchemy secrets that ordinary people couldn't understand. He must be preparing to refine some special kind of elixir.
So, she didn't pay much attention. After just two glances, she closed her eyes and resumed her meditation.
Mo Qi indeed had his own plans. He wanted to refine a peerless magical artifact that would shock the old dragon and the Snow Woman.
However, such a magical artifact had no precedent, and the refining method was something he came up with on the spot. No one had ever tried it before, and he didn't know if it would succeed.
The flames under the alchemy furnace licked the bottom of the furnace like tongues of fire. The entire furnace emitted a faint glow, enveloping the surroundings, like light, or like qi.
Low humming sounds emanated from the alchemy furnace continuously, interspersed with gurgling noises. Mist occasionally pushed up the furnace lid and squeezed out from the gaps, causing a light haze of smoke to gradually fill the air.
Mo Qi stared fixedly at the furnace fire and the changes in the magical artifact inside the alchemy chamber, his brows furrowed, his thoughts racing. While refining, he pondered how to proceed next.
Time quietly slipped by. One day, two days, three days... After an unknown number of days, the Snow Woman finished her meditation and stood up to stretch. Feeling bored, she walked over to Mo Qi to watch him refine the elixir.
Watching Mo Qi engrossed in refining the elixir, she inexplicably felt a surge of melancholy. Would she spend the rest of her life here? She had no grand ambitions, but she didn't want to be a caged bird, spending her days turning in this small space, missing the infinite scenery of the outside world.
She looked at Mo Qi and couldn't help but sigh. If this was fate's decree, then so be it. At least she could be with him.
However, judging by his demeanor, he seemed to care about other, more significant things.
Mo Qi was not in the mood for sad thoughts at this moment; he was completely immersed in contemplating the magical artifact he was refining.
At this point, the raw materials in the alchemy furnace had gradually melted, showing signs of crystallization. If there were no other elixirs and spirit stones interfering, they would have crystallized long ago, forming new elixirs. But with the addition of the elixirs, although delayed, the spiritual herbs were still slowly forming into elixirs.
But Mo Qi's goal was not to refine elixirs. He immediately extinguished the fire and injected arrow qi into the furnace chamber, crushing the crystals that were about to form. Then, he reinforced them with spiritual power, slowly gathering the scattered spiritual qi and gradually merging it into the spear-shaped magical artifact.
The entire magical artifact was enveloped in thick mist, its full form obscured. Only the clanging sounds from the crystallization chamber could be heard, like something rapidly expanding to the point of cracking.
Mo Qi then crushed all the elixirs he had previously placed in the alchemy furnace one by one, and guided their spiritual qi to slowly merge into the magical artifact. Through his Heavenly Eye, Mo Qi saw that the spear-shaped magical artifact in the crystallization chamber was rapidly expanding like a rising steamed bun, becoming rounder and more bloated.
Concurrently, the spiritual qi from the spirit stones was continuously entering the crystallization chamber, causing the mist within the entire chamber to churn, almost forming a surging tide that expanded outwards.
Seeing that the various chambers within the alchemy furnace were expanding and deforming, and that the entire furnace seemed on the verge of exploding at any moment, Mo Qi immediately took out a suppression talisman, placed it in his palm, and pressed it against the furnace wall, activating his spiritual power.
A moment later, with a wisp of green smoke rising, the talisman merged into the furnace wall. He then took out three more talismans and, using the same method, merged them into the other three directions.
At this moment, he couldn't help but marvel at his foresight. Ever since he learned that Geng Xu's talismans were quite practical, he had sought him out again and requested various talismans. Of course, it wasn't a free request; Mo Qi's elixirs were more appealing to Geng Xu.
After the four talismans merged, the expansion of the alchemy furnace's chambers stopped. Spiritual qi continued to pour into the spear-shaped magical artifact, which was gradually transforming into a bun-shaped magical artifact and was still slowly expanding.
Time continued to flow quietly. Day, two days, three days... The Snow Woman began a new round of meditation and cultivation. In the meantime, the old dragon also came to observe. It even opened its Heavenly Eye to peer into the alchemy furnace, only to see an oval-shaped object in the crystallization chamber. It was somewhat surprised, "What is that?"
"An elixir," Mo Qi replied in an impatient tone, as if being disturbed.
"What kind of elixir is so big?" the old dragon clearly didn't believe it.
"My elixir is like this. This is not the final product yet. When it's finally refined, it will split into individual pills," Mo Qi said calmly.
The old dragon gave him a doubtful look. "Don't play any tricks. Be careful not to be too clever for your own good. I won't allow anyone to play tricks in front of me. Those who played tricks before, like them," it pointed at the white bones, then seemed to realize it was wrong and pointed at the air, "No, like them, they all vanished into thin air."
"Don't worry, senior. With your peerless cultivation and incredibly wise intellect, how would I dare to oppose you? Isn't opposing you courting death? In front of you, I'm just an ant. Even if an ant bites you with all its might, it would only be an itch, wouldn't it?" Mo Qi immediately changed his tone, winking and saying.
The old dragon laughed without concealment. "That's true. You have quite a bit of self-awareness and speak very aptly. In front of me, you are indeed an ant." Its eyes then flashed with a hint of sharpness. "If I wanted to kill you, it would only take a flick of my finger."
Mo Qi pretended to shiver and repeatedly said, "I wouldn't dare to be presumptuous, I wouldn't dare."
The old dragon nodded with satisfaction and went back to sleep.
As the spiritual stones' flow of spiritual power into the magical artifact weakened, Mo Qi stopped the spiritual power input and reignited the fire for refining. The spiritual qi began to circulate rapidly again, and the roaring sound grew louder and louder.
The Snow Woman, who was meditating, was disturbed. She opened her eyes and looked at the scene before her, her expression gradually turning fearful.
The entire alchemy furnace slowly began to rotate. Under Mo Qi's spiritual power control, it slowly levitated. The entire furnace was gradually expanding, its color changing from the inside out to red, as if it were filled with lava, about to melt the furnace.
The booming sounds were like rolling thunder, continuously exploding. However, the continuous sounds were muffled noises produced under some kind of pressure. No one doubted that after these muffled sounds, there would be a world-shattering, earth-turning explosion.
The old dragon also realized something was wrong. It emerged from the dragon pearl, its eyes flashing with piercing light as it looked at Mo Qi. "What are you doing?"
Mo Qi smiled slightly and said honestly, "I want to try again to break through the barrier."
After speaking, he raised his right hand and guided the still rapidly expanding alchemy furnace towards the barrier. The speed of expansion and the booming sounds were already proclaiming to the world that its power would be world-destroying.
The old dragon's face lost its previous calmness and composure. It also felt that the power was not to be underestimated. It dared not take the risk. This barrier was created by it in its prime. Normally, it only needed to use a portion of its cultivation to activate and maintain it. However, its cultivation was now declining. If the barrier were destroyed, it would be unable to set up a comparable barrier.
"Stop!" the old dragon roared sternly. Its body flickered, transforming into its true dragon form, and it lunged towards Mo Qi without hesitation. At the same time, it let out a dragon's roar, creating a sonic boom that swept towards Mo Qi and the Snow Woman like a tidal wave.
Mo Qi's eyes showed determination and resolve. He said, "Excellent!"
Before he finished speaking, he had already pulled the Snow Woman behind the alchemy furnace, which was expanding to almost fill the entire cave. The furnace body was almost transparent red, like a thin piece of paper, about to tear at any moment. However, with the talisman's suppression, only the final fuse was missing.
Mo Qi poured all his cultivation into a palm strike on the alchemy furnace, simultaneously flicking several reaction elixirs onto it. The alchemy furnace shot towards the old dragon like a meteor. The old dragon, in order to save the barrier, was fully lunging towards this direction. It never expected Mo Qi to suddenly change targets and push the alchemy furnace towards it. Only then did it realize it had been tricked; Mo Qi had never intended to breach the barrier; his target had been the old dragon all along.
However, it was too late to realize this. The alchemy furnace finally came into contact with the sonic boom. At first, it did not explode and continued to expand rapidly. Its furnace body was peeled off layer by layer, but it still flew towards the old dragon. The old dragon was greatly alarmed and immediately exhaled a breath of dragon's fire forward. A dark shadow surged and met the alchemy furnace.
The alchemy furnace was already completely red. The scorching temperature ignited the surrounding skeletons. The entire cave's temperature soared, and the surrounding stone walls turned red. The cave instantly became like a purgatory.
Finally, the alchemy furnace could no longer bear the strain. With a deafening roar, it shattered into pieces. Red light suddenly surged outwards in all directions, instantly engulfing everything.
Unsurprisingly, the red heatwave also surged towards Mo Qi like a tidal wave. Mo Qi pushed the Snow Woman, and using the force of the wave, they violently collided with the barrier.
Concurrently, the red ocean and the dragon's breath came into contact, creating an even greater impact force. The old dragon was forced to retreat rapidly by that force, but its entire body's spiritual power suffered a devastating blow at that moment. The power it had applied to the barrier vanished into thin air.
Mo Qi and the Snow Woman merged into a red light, their bodies flying over the stone steps until they fell heavily outside the cave. Mo Qi was wearing a protective battle armor he had refined. Under the powerful airflow impact, the armor was almost pierced, thus "honorably sacrificed," but Mo Qi was not seriously injured, only feeling a bit of pain from the impact. He ignored the pain all over his body, pulled the Snow Woman, and scrambled to flee further out.
At this moment, the entire mountain cave was rapidly collapsing. The booming sounds were incessant, and rocks from the cave ceiling kept falling. Mo Qi and the Snow Woman dodged the falling rocks while fleeing outwards.
The old dragon's almost hysterical roar reached Mo Qi's ears: "Kid, you can't escape. No one has ever escaped, no one ever..."
In fact, when the old dragon's dragon's breath collided with the red heatwave, the old dragon was forced to the wall. At the same time, the red heatwave had not completely dissipated and was still pressing towards the old dragon in waves.
The entire cave, subjected to this violent impact, was shaking precariously and on the verge of collapse.
The old dragon wanted to pursue Mo Qi quickly, but it had to pay attention to the crisis at hand.
It immediately summoned the dragon pearl. The dragon pearl immediately emitted a dazzling light. Wherever it passed, the red light was torn apart like smoke, and the collapsing stones returned to their original places one by one. The cave gradually restored its original appearance.
The old dragon seized the opportunity to fly out of the cave. As soon as it flew out of the cave entrance, its body began to dissipate into smoke layer by layer, as if being corroded.
The old dragon knew that going further would violate the forbidden curse, so it dared not try again. It immediately returned to the cave, but it was unwilling to give up. It immediately summoned the dragon pearl again and pursued Mo Qi along the mountain cave.