Qin Zhou didn’t hesitate, taking some fresh Lingxin Fruits from Yuanqing Mountain’s fields. He also carried away a bag of third-tier fruit seeds.

He estimated that after planting the second-tier seeds from the village’s rear mountain and then planting this bag of third-tier seeds, the small mountain village should be able to advance to Level 4.

Level four—he wondered what new functions might be reactivated then.

Lost in his calculations for the next steps, Qin Zhou failed to notice the distinctly strange looks the other disciples harvesting in the fields were giving him.

This must be him!

The rumored master of the Apricot Grove Alchemist, the great-grandmaster of their sect leader. They had repeatedly confirmed with senior disciples present at the time—no mistake, the sect master had indeed called him “Great Grandmaster.”

So, was the man before them suppressing his cultivation? Xinglin Danxian was already a revered figure among Yuanqing Mountain disciples. How could he possibly have a master’s? This elder before them must be at least ten thousand years old!

They wanted to speak, yet hesitated.

Qin Zhou finally noticed all eyes were on him.

“What is it?”

At his voice, the disciples perked up instantly. “Senior, nothing!” they chorused in unison.

Qin Zhou:?

Weren’t these people all higher in cultivation than him?

Qin Zhou immediately realized it might be due to generational hierarchy.

“Senior, are you truly our Sect Master’s great-grandmaster?” One disciple plucked up the courage to ask. After all, Qin Zhou didn’t look the least bit intimidating, nor did he carry the air of a mighty elder.

He was even out in the fields with them, inspecting the fruit.

Qin Zhou: “You could say that. But I’m not skilled in medicine; I just know a little alchemy.”

Alchemy! They exchanged glances. Alchemy! That’s great!

“So you taught Xinglin Danxian his alchemy techniques!”

Xinglin Danxian?

Qin Zhou paused for a second, then recalled Lu Er’s similar title—Cangyun Jianxian. Therefore, Xinglin Danxian must refer to Lu Wu.

His villagers were all ‘Immortal Lords’ now.

“Mhm.” Qin Zhou nodded.

Disciples:!

Whoa!

“Senior, do you know the Lord of All Heavens?”

Qin Zhou: “……”

The Lord of All Heavens?

“…Who is that?” What a pretentious name—even he felt like rolling his eyes.

“Have you been to the Immortal-Demon City? Above it floats a sky city called the ‘Pavilion of All Heavens.’ At its gate stands a stone stele bearing the Lord of All Heavens’ engraved seal.”

“Legend says the Lord of All Heavens ruled our world ten thousand years ago before ascending and departing. That’s why our realm is called the ‘Zhutian Realm.’ This year marks the 10,001st year of the Zhutian Era. They say even great beings like the Alchemist Immortal of Apricot Grove were mere children back then.”

If this elder before him truly was the Alchemist Immortal of Apricot Grove’s master, then surely he must know the Lord of All Heavens!

“I’ve also heard the Lord of All Heavens guided and instructed many cultivators—including several city lords of the Immortal-Demon City and the Sword Immortal of the Cangyun Sword Sect…” The disciple scratched his head. “Though I admit, I only heard this secondhand.”

Yet they were genuinely curious about this legendary figure—the only powerful being associated with ascension.

Qin Zhou paid little heed to this Lord of All Heavens, merely asking with a peculiar expression, “…What does this stele look like? Have you seen it?”

“Of course we have,” one disciple described. “A square stele, smooth-surfaced, about waist-high, inscribed with the characters ‘Zhutian’.”

Qin Zhou: …

There used to be a stone tablet engraved with the name of their small village at the village entrance. No wonder it was missing.

So someone had taken it.

“Senior, the Lord of All Heavens…” The disciples blinked innocently, looking very obedient.

Qin Zhou: “I’m not entirely sure either. I’m Xinglin Danxian’s master, but I might not even be older than him, right?”

“True!”

“The elder speaks wisely.”

Qin Zhou brushed it off effortlessly.

He found it all a bit absurd.

Lord of All Heavens, ascended?

Hmm, surely they weren’t referring to him…

After thousands of years apart, his villagers had concocted some identity for him.

Lord of All Realms? 

Qin Zhou refused to admit it, but the term “All Realms” was indeed a relic from his adolescent fantasies. Back then, he’d named his fictional village ‘Zhutian Small Village’. In those days of binge-reading novels, who hadn’t dreamed of being the protagonist in a thrilling adventure?

Oh well, he simply wouldn’t acknowledge it.

If he denied it, no one would know who he truly was.

“Senior, the Sect Master requests your presence.” Suddenly, a Yuanqing Mountain elder burst into the orchard. “The Dan Immortal and the Sect Master are ready.”

Qin Zhou nodded.

He rose and walked outside.

It seemed Lu Wu and his disciple had made their decision.

The Dao-Protecting Alchemy Furnace could begin.

 ━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Yuanqing Mountain lacked kilns for furnace firing, which was precisely why Qin Zhou had forged the items in the blacksmith’s shop before bringing them out.

Two pitch-black alchemy furnaces sat in the courtyard. Refracted sunlight made their blackness seem even more translucent.

Celestial meteorite iron—the ultimate material for forging artifacts—was also the reward from the Heaven-Piercing Rankings back in the day.

As the village that had held a top-100 position on the Heaven-Piercing List for eight consecutive years, Qin Zhou’s villagers had accumulated a considerable amount of this meteorite. Among all cross-server player villages, Qin Zhou was likely the only one daring enough to use celestial meteorite to forge such large objects as alchemy furnaces.

Qin Zhou never spared any expense when forging furnaces for its villagers.

They never had, and they never would.

None of Yuanqing Mountain’s people could discern the material of these two furnaces, only noting the peculiarity of their deep black hue.

But when Qin Zhou picked up the hammer, the elder-generation healers were stunned.

Wasn’t Qin Zhou the master of the Alchemist Immortal?

Why was he wielding the hammer?

They’d just received the sect leader’s order yesterday to seal off the Dan Hall for furnace casting. They’d assumed Senior Lu San himself had arrived—never expecting Qin Zhou to be the one wielding the hammer?!

“Senior… you also know how to forge?” an elder couldn’t help but ask.

Qin Zhou didn’t exactly look like a blacksmith.

He was handsome, certainly not effeminate, but he didn’t fit the rugged image of a blacksmith either!

Qin Zhou detected the elder’s hesitation. Holding the hammer, he nodded at him: “No need to worry. I have some understanding of the art of forging.”

The elder was even more puzzled.

A smattering of knowledge, and he dares to forge a furnace?

Forget the furnace—aren’t those two already forged? They seem extraordinary, but their exact grade remains unknown.

“No need to worry,” Lu Wu emerged from the Alchemy Hall, smiling. “Even if Lu San were here, he’d still have to call you Master.”

Elder:!

“You still have the nerve to smile?” Qin Zhou shot him a glare.

Lu Wu pressed his lips together.

“The Dao-Protecting Alchemy Furnace tolerates no mistakes. If it fails, do not force its refinement—simply dismantle it,” Qin Zhou said sternly.

Lu Wu nodded obediently.

Truthfully, Lu Wu knew that if he didn’t force the refinement, the furnace would be ruined.

This black furnace before him looked unremarkable, yet it had cost the village chief a great deal of effort.

“Baixing, you and the elders stand by to guard the process. Observe the formation of this Dao-Protecting Alchemy Furnace closely. “ Qin Zhou instructed, ”If I signal you to pull Lu Wu away, you must act immediately.“

”Understood.”

Both their sect master and the Pill Immortal obeyed Qin Zhou without question. Though the elders were filled with doubts, they dared not speak further.

Meanwhile, Qin Zhou had rolled up his wide sleeves, revealing arms brimming with power.

Having labored in the fields, his arm strength was formidable.

Though not as bulging as a blacksmith’s, it was still not to be underestimated.

A surge of spiritual energy pulsed through his hand.

The energy, symbolizing the Golden Core stage, instantly enveloped the Silver River. Simultaneously, a golden-red light—the emblem of an eighth-tier divine artifact—adhered to the river’s surface like a special effect.

The indigo-black celestial river seemed instantly illuminated.

This was… binding the artifact to its master! Not just the elders, even Baixing’s pupils contracted.

“Blood.”

As the words “blood” fell, Lu Wu instantly slashed his arm. Blood gushed forth, dripping onto the furnace body and emitting a blinding light.

Lu Wu watched with a tense expression.

He tried to ask himself: Can I do this?

He who couldn’t even refine a sixth-tier Soul-Stabilizing Pill, he whose Dao Heart was shattered—could he truly possess a Dao-Protecting Pill Furnace?

Qin Zhou timed it perfectly, raising the hammer high—

Clang!

The hammer struck the furnace, sending a surge of spiritual energy skyward. The deafening clang shattered every last trace of Lu Wu’s nervousness.

If it could be visualized, he would have seen the hesitant words “Can I?” in his heart smashed to pieces by that hammer.

This was the village chief telling him.

You can do it.

Lu Wu’s face remained tense, but his mind was now free of distractions.

“Spiritual energy.”

Lu Wu drew a strand of pure spiritual energy from his qi sea, enveloping the entire furnace body.

But this time, things were different.

Images of his fellow disciples flashed through his mind.

“Fifth Brother, how is it? Can you save them?” Lu Yi’s hands were drenched in blood, his voice hoarse.

This was a side of Lu Yi that Lu Wu hadn’t seen in a long time. Not even when they learned the Village Chief had vanished had he looked like this. Panicked and helpless, his eyes bloodshot.

Xiao Liu was slung across his back, while the other disciples lay motionless on the ground behind him.

That scene had become Lu Wu’s recurring nightmare.

He scanned them one by one. First, Little Six is on Lu Yi’s back. His bright, gentle junior sister, utterly lifeless, her face as pale as a corpse. Blood covered her body and hands.

Then came the thirty-odd brothers behind him.

Each still clung to a thread of life.

But their wounds were too severe.

Lu Wu even took a step back.

He wanted to question Lu Yi, but the agony in Lu Yi’s eyes left no room for further words.

Nor could he afford to delay another moment.

Only a seventh-tier elixir could save them.

But he couldn’t refine one.

Lu Wu slammed his Dao-Protecting Alchemy Furnace with fury. The normally gentle man finally lost his mind as his fellow disciples succumbed one by one, screaming, “Why can’t you refine a seventh-tier elixir!”

And so, the Dao-Protecting Pill Furnace shattered.

Lu Wu had spent his entire life healing others, yet in the end, he couldn’t save a single one of his own kin.

“It’s not the furnace’s fault. It’s mine.”

After the Dao-Protecting Alchemy Furnace shattered, Lu Wu’s resolve to heal and save others shattered too.

He could smile and agree to recast the Dao-Protecting Alchemy Furnace for the village chief.

But how could he forget? How could he ever forget…

Lu Wu stood rooted to the spot, tears welling in his eyes but refusing to fall. He stared blankly at the new furnace, utterly speechless.

Qin Zhou witnessed this scene, his brows furrowing deeply.

Baixing clenched his fists even tighter.

Thus, Qin Zhou raised the second hammer.

Clang—

The deafening sound made Lu Wu’s entire body tremble.

“Lu Wu, you must move forward.”

Qin Zhou looked up, noticing the starlight drifting out of his Cosmos Bag. Suddenly, he said, “I think they all feel the same.”

Lu Wu snapped his head up.

The starlight, like fireflies, wasn’t dazzling in the sunlight. Yet, they all fluttered to Lu Wu’s back, pushing him forward, closer to the new furnace.

As if saying—

“What are you waiting for, Xiao Wu? Go on!”

“Brother Wu, hurry up~.”

“The furnace the Village Chief made for you—you don’t want it?”

“A new Dao-Protecting Pill Furnace—you’ve got to refine it properly!”

Lu Wu closed his eyes, and two streams of tears finally fell.

Finally, he stepped forward. Spiritual energy ignited into a raging flame, melting the jet-black alchemy furnace.

Golden-red light continued to flicker.

The tiny points of light strung into a circle, surrounding Lu Wu and the furnace, as if guarding them.

Witnessing the power erupting between them, even the onlookers couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

The protective power had directly formed a barrier. Its terrifying aura struck directly at the soul, sealing off any external interference and forbidding anyone to touch it.

Watching this scene, Baixing also smiled softly.

That was the power of his thirty-odd uncles and aunts.

Even without physical bodies, they remained formidable.

Master, he’s emerged.

Qin Zhou lowered his hammer upon witnessing this.

He knew it had succeeded.

Now, he could prepare for the farming season with peace of mind. Second-tier Spirit Heart Fruits ripened only once a month—farming was still too demanding.

But a little busyness was good.

This small mountain village needed to rise faster.