Chapter 60: The Frying Pan of the Alchemy Furnace World! The Dream Furnace! (1/2)

Si Qian watched as Ye Qingning fastened the hairpin for Bai Wei, wishing she could pull the three of them along faster.

As they walked, Ye Qingning and her three companions browsed, buying quite a few things along the way. They even sampled all kinds of snacks and pastries.

They even each bought a cup of a special cold iced tea from the Immortal Realm, which was said to be brewed with several types of spiritual herbs. Each cup cost eighty high-quality spirit stones.

Eighty high-quality spirit stones was the monthly allowance for a typical direct disciple of an average sect, but the tea was well worth it.

The moment they tasted it, the refreshing, sweet, and aromatic flavor immediately filled their mouths, and the cooling sensation left them feeling refreshed. Since it was brewed from spiritual herbs, one sip made them feel their spiritual senses sharpen. One word to describe it—worth it!

While they drank and continued strolling, they spent several hours touring the cloud sea city, exploring its markets.

Ye Qingning had actually wanted to buy an alchemy furnace, since she had been an alchemist in her previous life. However, by the time nightfall arrived, she still hadn’t found a furnace that suited her.

If swords were an alchemist’s companion, then an alchemy furnace was also an alchemist’s companion. Although alchemists often blew up furnaces while refining, comparing it to a companion seemed apt, as a new furnace might be blown up in the process.

But you couldn’t just settle for any furnace because you knew it might explode.

The city was still lively at night, but most of the bustling areas were taverns, stone gambling shops, and nighttime auction houses.

Ye Qingning had considered visiting the latter two, but stone gambling and auctions were places where one needed to spend a lot of money.

The raw stones that looked decent in the gambling shops would start at no less than ten thousand top-grade spirit stones, and in the auction house, even her thirty thousand top-grade spirit stones wouldn’t be enough to place a bid.

The four wisely decided not to go, knowing they could always come back when they had more spirit stones. However, as it got later, many of the street vendors began packing up and leaving.

The streets grew quieter, with fewer people around as most had gone elsewhere. But Ye Qingning’s attention was caught by a small, inconspicuous stall on the side of the road.

This stall was very simple, with just a piece of oil cloth spread out, displaying a few worn items that looked quite shabby, contrasting sharply with the nearby fancy stalls.

The stall owner was a rather ordinary-looking old man. While others were packing up, he was sitting behind his stall, with his head drooping and looking half asleep.

Not only did he seem indifferent to any potential customers, but he didn’t even care about his goods being stolen. His relaxed demeanor gave Ye Qingning a feeling that something was unusual about him.

Having lived another life, and once a web novel addict before transmigrating, Ye Qingning recognized this type of stall—a setup for discovering treasures, as was typical in novels.

However, when she walked closer and examined the items on the stall, she felt a little disappointed.

Si Qian, holding a book, also said with some disappointment: “I thought it would be some kind of rare treasure map or something, but it’s just ‘Introduction to Cultivation’ and ‘Spiritual Beast Care Manual.’ None of them are useful to me.”

“Everything is so shabby, I even wonder if the old man picked this stuff up from some corner,” Si Qian added, but still placed the book back politely where it had been.

Just as they were about to leave, Ye Qingning’s gaze caught something unusual—the old man’s seat.

It wasn’t really a seat, but more like an alchemy furnace.

From the looks of it, it was worn out, rusty, and had been used by the old man as a stool. Ye Qingning had mistaken it for just a large chunk of metal, thinking it had been picked up from somewhere.

But when she caught a faint scent of medicinal herbs, she turned her head and took a closer look, realizing it was an alchemy furnace.

It seemed strange, though. Who would use a furnace that looked like this?

Most alchemy furnaces, whether square or round, typically had three legs for support. Some had four or five, but never none. She had never seen one like this before.

It wasn’t a frying pan either, and certainly not one so tall!

Bai Wei and the others, seeing Ye Qingning staring at the rusty iron object, were puzzled. They didn’t understand what was so interesting about this big, ugly piece of metal.

“Junior Sister, are you looking at that iron stool? Is something wrong with it?” Bai Wei asked, his mind imagining that Ye Qingning might be thinking of using the iron slab as a weapon, picturing her smashing someone’s head with it.

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Chapter 60: The Frying Pan of the Alchemy Furnace World! The Dream Furnace! (2/2)

Ye Qingning shook her head, squatted down next to the old man, and began to carefully examine the so-called “frying pan” of the alchemy world.

The system, ever sharp-eyed, quickly realized something was off and shouted: “Ning Ning! Ning Ning! It’s an alchemy furnace! This ugly thing is an alchemy furnace! It’s an ancient furnace that was lost for ages, what was it called again…?”

“Floating Furnace,” Ye Qingning responded to the system, remembering the name as she examined it more closely.

The Floating Furnace was the only one of its kind in the world. It was said to have first appeared in the hands of an ancient alchemy master during the ancient era, but its whereabouts had been lost to history—until now, when she had found it right here.

The Floating Furnace was known as a divine-grade furnace. As the name suggested, it had no legs at all.

The entire furnace was square, made from a rare material known as “Floating Light Ore,” a type of meteorite with the unique ability to float and self-balance.

The greatest mystery of the Floating Furnace lay in its internal structure.

Although it lacked legs for support, its interior was inscribed with a complex array of spiritual formations. These formations not only kept the furnace floating but could also automatically adjust the heat and spiritual flow required for refining, depending on the materials placed inside.

When materials were added to the furnace, it would activate, and the spiritual formations at the bottom would emit a soft glow, forming an invisible spiritual support structure to keep the furnace stable.

Additionally, the top of the Floating Furnace had a special spiritual energy input port, allowing the alchemist to supply spiritual energy for adjusting the refining process.

In simple terms: if you wanted to refine manually, you could, but if you didn’t, you could activate the automatic refining mode.

The benefits of automatic mode were that it adjusted the heat and spiritual energy automatically, preventing the furnace from exploding due to improper control!

Ye Qingning thought back to her previous life when she often blew up furnaces, sending their covers flying to distant mountain peaks. She felt the Floating Furnace was just what she needed.

This was the furnace of her dreams!

“Sorry to disturb your rest, senior, but I’d like to ask how much you’re selling this furnace for?” Ye Qingning knew the old man wasn’t really asleep; otherwise, she could’ve waited for him to wake up before asking.

The system, however, grew anxious: “This is a trick! This is part of the trick! Ning Ning, how could you not realize that this is the Floating Furnace? Maybe the old man doesn’t even know what he’s sitting on!”

Ye Qingning rolled her eyes. The system must have watched too many novels, thinking that people selling items didn’t know what they were selling.

In fact, most of these sellers were highly skilled individuals who hid their identities, setting up stalls to see if anyone recognized the value of their goods. They weren’t idiots—they were waiting for someone with an eye for treasure.

Trying to be clever in front of these people would be seen through in an instant. Sincerity was the best approach.

Moreover, she could already smell the faint remnants of medicinal herbs. Pretending not to know would be too fake.

Bai Wei and the others were still in shock, staring at the rusty metal slab beneath the old man. Could this really be the Floating Furnace?

Had the old man removed its legs? How could it still be used for refining?

Bai Wei: “Junior Sister, are you planning to buy this furnace for refining, or is it just for smashing people’s heads? If you drop this thing, won’t it kill someone?”

The old man, hearing Ye Qingning’s question, slowly raised his head.

His sharp, wise eyes studied Ye Qingning for a moment, before he slowly spoke two words: “Not for sale.”

Not for sale?

Ye Qingning froze for a moment. If it wasn’t for sale, why was the old man sitting on it like a stool?

It seemed she wasn’t just up against a stubborn old man; she was facing a tough, unyielding metal block!

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Mini Theater:

Mysterious Old Man: “Not for sale! Why would I sell it to you when I’m sitting on it?!”

Ye Qingning: “…Alright, alright. You just need a proper seat, huh?”