Dragon's Origin

Chapter 429: Clearing the Area (Part 2)

When Wang Sheng entered the underground space, he discovered that it had changed a lot.

Each alchemy room had been refurbished, and the biggest change was the addition of a ventilation array to each room. This was because Wang Sheng had previously mentioned that the air inside might contain a trace amount of toxins, which could be harmful to the body if one were to refine pills there for a long time, and the refined pills would also carry a slight toxicity.

Earthly fire is a good thing, but not everything within it is good. Without Wang Sheng needing to verify it with chemical methods, the faint smell of sulfur was enough to explain everything.

Not only did the alchemy rooms have ventilation arrays, but the entire underground space had four or five sizable ventilation openings. Standing in the underground space, one could feel a faint breeze on their face, which was very comfortable.

The original smell of sulfurous earthly fire had now been diluted to the point of being almost undetectable. Only Wang Sheng's nose could still detect that pungent gas.

The largest alchemy room's array had already been cracked by experts. Over a year was enough time for several array masters to study it thoroughly.

As Wang Sheng expected, there were about a hundred people in the underground space. The earthly fire burned continuously, and the alchemy furnaces above were constantly in use. In the past year or so, the Old Lord Temple had refined tens of thousands of various pills here. Some were slightly more common, while others required more time and skill, varying widely.

"This place not only stimulates cultivation, but it is also a very good place for refining pills," Old Daoist Ling Xu introduced. "When you left, those alchemy disciples had just been sent here and were only at the ordinary level. But now, any one of them could be considered an intermediate-level alchemist. They haven't yet reached the level to refine top-grade pills, but they can handle medium-level pills without any difficulty."

Wang Sheng was not surprised at all. Here, there was a continuously burning earthly fire and so many alchemy furnaces, which saved a lot of fuel for refining pills. It could be said that the people rested, but the furnaces didn't, and with constant practice, it would be hard not to improve!

How high were the costs of refining pills outside? For ordinary alchemy furnaces, the fuel consumption alone was a significant expense. Plus, one had to control the flame temperature and so on. Refining pills required at least four or five people to serve, adding fuel and controlling spiritual energy. How could it be fast? This place saved so much cost, and the medicinal materials used were all harvested from the Thousand Absolutes Land, which also saved a lot of money.

At least six members of the Qing generation were guarding this place, two of whom were at the same level as Qing Chen. Every time pills were refined, there were experts of this level to guide them, which reduced many detours. How much time was saved? It would be strange if their alchemy skills didn't improve.

Wang Sheng and Old Daoist Ling Xu stayed in the underground palace for a day, and seeing that it had completely become a training camp for the Old Lord Temple's disciples, and that a small Old Lord Hall was already being built outside, they left the camp with peace of mind. With six Qing generation experts guarding the place, plus array protection, there shouldn't be any problems in the outer area of the Thousand Absolutes Land.

Wang Sheng and Old Daoist Ling Xu no longer needed to consider the direction or route to enter the core of the Thousand Absolutes Land. They went straight ahead, avoiding only the most powerful arrays. In less than a day, they had reached the edge of the Ice and Snow Basin.

"Kid, are you really going to kill people if you encounter them?" Old Daoist Ling Xu specifically confirmed again before entering the Ice and Snow Basin. "Aren't you afraid of your conscience being uneasy?"

"What's there to be uneasy about?" Wang Sheng laughed. "This is the fiefdom that the Emperor bestowed upon me. I allow you to enter, so you can enter. If I don't allow you to enter, but you come in on your own, then don't blame me for being impolite! Old Daoist, if you can't understand, then just think of this place as the Old Lord Temple's scripture library. If someone breaks in without permission, what would you do?"

"Understood!" The old daoist nodded. Wang Sheng told him to kill people, and Old Daoist Ling Xu would definitely agree first, and would definitely strike first if they encountered anyone. Wang Sheng didn't doubt this. But it would be even more perfect if he could make the old daoist kill people without any psychological burden.

"Also, Old Daoist, don't think that I'm deliberately provoking trouble," Wang Sheng further explained to Old Daoist Ling Xu. "Believe me, once we encounter someone, they will definitely attack first."

The old daoist wasn't stupid. After thinking about Wang Sheng's words, he immediately understood. Those who could enter were definitely experts at the legendary realm, or at least in the middle or late stages. If they suddenly encountered strangers, their subconscious reaction would definitely be to kill them to silence them. Who would allow others to know the secrets inside?

If they didn't encounter anyone, then they didn't. But if they really did, the other party would definitely attack. Even if they knew it was Wang Sheng, it would be the same. Wang Sheng couldn't possibly bring a large number of man-eating ants here. Although Wang Sheng was currently cooperating well with the various vassal states, if the experts of the various vassal states had the opportunity to kill Wang Sheng in the core of the Thousand Absolutes Land, they would never let it go. Which vassal lord would want Wang Sheng to nod before everyone could enter the core of the Thousand Absolutes Land?

Before entering, Wang Sheng had prepared a large animal skin. He first recorded the array distribution of the Treasured Map of the World on it. Mei'er had once given Wang Sheng a copy of the array distribution map, but Wang Sheng had not yet reached the area marked on the map. He might be able to combine Mei'er's distribution map to complete the map after he obtained it.

This time, the main purpose was to cultivate and draw maps, so Wang Sheng and the old daoist did not immediately go deep. Instead, they went about ten miles from the edge of the jungle, and then began to circle along the edge of the Ice and Snow Basin, first supplementing the terrain and array distribution of the outer area.

Just two days after walking along the edge of the basin, Wang Sheng and the old daoist discovered an expert active in the core of the Thousand Absolutes Land. He seemed to have been inside for a while and was heading out. Unfortunately, he did not discover the traces of Wang Sheng and Old Daoist Ling Xu, and was trudging towards the edge area with difficulty through the waist-deep snow.

Suddenly, this unfamiliar expert stood still, vigilantly observing his surroundings. The footprints left by Wang Sheng and Old Daoist Ling Xu on the snow had not disappeared immediately. When he walked into this area, he had already discovered them.

"Who's there?" The expert had just taken out his weapon and shouted. The arm holding the weapon was firmly grasped by Wang Sheng's hand, which suddenly stretched out from under the snow.

Before the expert could react, the back of his neck was pinched by another hand, which was Old Daoist Ling Xu's hand. In just an instant, the expert lost consciousness and slumped down softly. From beginning to end, he only saw two snow tracks in the distance, but he never expected that Wang Sheng and Old Daoist Ling Xu had moved hundreds of meters under the snow, accurately ambushing him on his inevitable path.

An expert in the legendary realm was captured in one fell swoop.