Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 64 Refining the Heart in the Furnace, Confining the Body in a Cage

In the east wing of the front yard, Lin Yan stood by the window, playing with a small purple clay teapot in his hand. His gaze seemed to casually sweep over the small plot of land in front of his house, but in reality, his divine sense had already spread out silently like mercury, easily penetrating several courtyards and taking in the commotion at the back gate.

Director Wang's anxious commands, the staff's disgusted frowns and covered noses, Aunt Er's nagging with lingering fear and a hint of self-praise, and the nauseating stench of decay that permeated the air when the door was carried out, which could be clearly detected by his divine sense even from a distance... Especially the deaf old lady's emaciated appearance, almost devoid of life, was reflected in his mind without missing a single detail.

His face remained calm and expressionless, yet a faint hint of understanding and mockery flickered deep within his eyes. Watching the person being hurriedly carried out of the backyard and taken to the hospital, he withdrew his spiritual senses, took a sip of warm tea, and murmured to himself:

"Sigh, after all that trouble, it still ends like this. Last time I let you off the hook by letting you leave the hospital, but this time... I'm afraid you'll never be able to come back to this courtyard house again."

There was little sympathy in his tone. He didn't have much affection for the shrewd old woman who was ultimately betrayed by her own schemes. He only felt a sense of the impermanence of life because of her tragic end.

However, this sentiment was quickly replaced by another layer of thought. His gaze became deep and unfathomable, as if he could see through the wall between the front and back yards and foresee the scene that would soon unfold.

"The peaceful days that have just passed in this courtyard are probably coming to an end again..." A playful smile appeared on his lips. "Once that old woman falls, those three bright and spacious main rooms under her name will be completely empty. Those are the 'main rooms' in the backyard, facing south, warm in winter and cool in summer. In this cramped courtyard, they can be considered the best property."

"How could Jia Zhangshi, that greedy and hungry woman, not be tempted? Her son is getting older every day, wouldn't she be thinking about finding a wedding house? Liu Haizhong, that official-obsessed man, isn't well-off himself, wouldn't he be thinking about scheming for his eldest son? And Yan Bugui, he's been scheming his whole life, wouldn't he rack his brains to figure out how to get a share of this 'unclaimed' opportunity?"

Lin Yan scanned the underground space of the deaf old lady with his divine sense, and all the gold antiques there were now registered under his name!

"Alright," he said, downing the last of his tea in one gulp, as if warming up for a good show that was about to unfold simultaneously in the front, middle, and back yards. "Look, this yard is about to be in chaos again because of these few rooms, with people fighting tooth and nail. I'll gladly accept these things."

In this degenerate age where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is depleted, to possess such a blessed land and cultivate to this level is already an extraordinary stroke of luck. If the cultivation world still existed, such progress would be enough to cause a stir in all directions. However, Lin Yan's face showed little joy; instead, it turned into a barely audible sigh that dissipated into the silent air.

Power is indeed increasing, and divine sense can cover a wider area. But the carefree life of riding a sword through the void, traveling to the North Sea in the morning and Cangwu in the evening, remains like a mirage, something to be admired but never attained. That is a divine power that can only be initially touched upon at the Foundation Establishment stage, a leap in the essence of life. Even at the peak of the Qi Refining stage, it is still difficult to escape the shackles of "mortal" and cannot truly break free from the bondage of the earth.

Each time he returned to this cramped room from the open space, the suffocating feeling of possessing a treasure trove yet being trapped in shallow waters became particularly acute. The space itself was wonderful, utterly silent, a solitary journey; yet in reality, he had to play the role of a bedridden patient, confined within these four walls, his ears forever filled with the trivial, everyday noises of his neighbors. This double "isolation" left him with an indescribable sense of suffocation and utter boredom.

He rose and walked to the window, pushing it open a crack. Outside, a gray sky stretched out, revealing layers upon layers of oppressive rooftops and eaves. In this era, traveling far was harder than climbing to heaven. A letter of introduction was an invisible shackle; the mere thought of slow, bumpy trains and stuffy cars was enough to dampen any enthusiasm. As for soaring through the skies? That was an even more distant and heavily fortified existence.

For a cultivator like him, who possessed a secretive nature, these rules of the era were like countless invisible mountains, blocking all paths.

"If I could establish my foundation... if I could wield a sword..." He unconsciously tapped the windowpane, murmuring softly, his eyes revealing a deep longing, "What need is there for any documents or proof? What need is there to be concerned about the opinions of others? With a thought, wherever the sword points, that is my homeland. In a single day, I can see the ice and snow of the North, the lush green of the South, the vastness of the East Sea, and the lone smoke rising from the West Desert... That is true freedom."

Compared to the present, he felt like a bird whose wings were growing strong but was imprisoned in an exquisite cage. Space was his foundation, but this real world, this era, was a huge cage filled with iron laws everywhere.

A strong sense of frustration gripped him, more unsettling than any obstacle in his cultivation or any insurmountable barrier. Despite possessing the cultivation level of the seventh level of Qi Refining, he couldn't absorb even a trace of spiritual energy from the outside world, making every step difficult and limiting him at every turn.

He abruptly closed the window and returned to the room. The faint glow on his face from his improved cultivation had vanished without a trace, replaced by an urgent and resolute expression that bordered on desperation.

"It has to be faster!"

"Foundation Establishment! Only by stepping into the Foundation Establishment realm can one initially sever the shackles of this mortal world, unleash more profound mysteries, and possess the ability to roam freely!"

When that time comes, the world will be vast, and one can roam freely. All the patience and tedium of this moment are the price we must pay for that moment.

Within this space, time flows silently like water, at a speed two hundred and forty times faster than outside.

Lin Yan did not rush to light the furnace, but stood silently beside the vibrant field of spiritual herbs. His gaze slowly swept over each of the immortal herbs and medicinal plants, their leaves glistening, exuding a medicinal aura, each possessing its own radiance. His mind was calm as he repeatedly deduced the combination of the principal, assistant, and adjuvant herbs in the formula for the Nourishing Essence Pill, and the subtle changes in the interaction of the medicinal properties.

Upon reaching the ancient alchemy furnace, he did not immediately take any action. Instead, he first took out a thick, thread-bound notebook and a fountain pen—which he had modified from everyday objects to record his cultivation and insights into alchemy.

"The first batch." The pen fell, the handwriting neat, the expression focused as if performing a sacred ritual.

He activated the incantation, and the furnace fire gradually rose. The fire control technique flowed between his fingers, and the nascent flames were gentle and stable. His powerful divine sense, like the most precise sensory net, completely enveloped the furnace, meticulously sensing every bit of temperature rise in the furnace walls.

The first Purple Cloud Grass was placed into the furnace. Under the heat, the herb quickly curled up, releasing a glistening, emerald-green essence. However, just as the liquid was about to solidify, Lin Yan's brow furrowed slightly. His divine sense detected a very subtle fluctuation—a slight imbalance in the heat distribution within the furnace, with the western wall being slightly hotter.

"laugh--"

A soft popping sound, accompanied by a faint smell of burning, emanated from the furnace. The essence of the first main herb was destroyed; the furnace was now ruined.

Lin Yan remained expressionless. With a change of hand seals, the furnace fire instantly extinguished. He didn't immediately clean up the residue. Instead, using the remaining medicinal vapors and traces inside the furnace, he closed his eyes and meticulously scanned every inch of the inner wall with his divine sense, rapidly noting down the details in his notebook:

"Cause of failure 1: During the final stage of the purification of the Purple Cloud Grass, the temperature on the west side of the furnace rose abnormally, by about half a degree. It is suspected that the flow of spiritual energy in the Fire Control Technique was slightly sluggish, failing to heat evenly in time. It is necessary to maintain the smooth flow of spiritual energy, and the divine sense should evenly cover the entire furnace wall, not just focus on the spiritual material."

After a brief deliberation, the furnace was cleaned, and the second furnace was started immediately.

This time, he paid extra attention to maintaining even heat. The Purple Cloud Grass was successfully purified, and the Dew Flower was liquefied... the steps proceeded in sequence. At the crucial moment when all the medicinal liquids were fused, Lin Yan was completely focused, his divine sense transforming into countless nimble fingertips, carefully guiding the medicinal powers of different attributes to intertwine and merge.

However, just as the pill was about to be formed, the divine sense detected a very slight repulsion between the two medicinal energies at the core, preventing them from achieving perfect fusion.

The furnace was opened. All that was produced was a pool of dark-colored, foul-smelling medicinal mud.

"Second reason for failure." Lin Yan picked up his pen again, his gaze sharp as a knife, as if trying to dissect all the hidden errors from that pool of medicinal mud. "In the final stage of the fusion of medicinal power, the wood-type (purple cloud grass) and earth-type (three-leaf green ganoderma) medicinal liquids repelled each other at the core point. It is suspected that the timing of the fusion was off, and the activity of the earth-type medicinal liquid had begun to decline. Next time, try to advance the purification order of the three-leaf green ganoderma, so that it can be fused at its peak activity."

He was not discouraged; instead, his eyes lit up with a gleam as he discovered a possible root cause. Failure is not terrible; ignorance is the only dead end.

The third attempt. He adjusted the order and timing of the drug administration. Under his precise control, the flames were sometimes as gentle as a spring breeze, and sometimes as fierce as forged iron.

Finally, the incantation was cast, and the furnace lid opened. Three dark gray pills with rough, uneven surfaces lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace, emitting a faint medicinal aroma.

The elixir has been formed! However, it is only of inferior quality.

Lin Yan picked up one and carefully probed its interior with his divine sense. The spiritual energy flow within the pill was blocked, filled with undissolved medicinal dregs and tiny particles of residual heat.

"Too many impurities, flaws in the temperature control, and insufficient mental compression during pill condensation, failing to fully refine and unify the medicinal power." He noted in his notebook, his brow furrowed. "Unusable. The coordination between temperature changes and mental compression needs to be re-analyzed."

After that, Lin Yan became completely immersed in this cycle: attempt - failure - extinguishing the fire - reviewing the remnants inside the furnace with his divine sense - recording deductions and conjectures in his notebook - adjustment - attempt again.

Three days passed swiftly in the space. Beneath the alchemy furnace, the flames flickered uncertainly. The notebook beside him was now filled with dense handwriting, his unique symbols, and deductive diagrams.

His movements became increasingly fluid and natural, his fire control technique moved as if guided by his will, and his use of divine sense became increasingly refined and subtle. It was no longer just a rough covering, but transformed into thousands of tiny tendrils, precisely controlling the flow of energy and medicinal power in every inch of the furnace.

Finally, after what seemed like the umpteenth time the furnace lid was opened, a delicate and pure fragrance, refreshing the mind and spirit, wafted out! At the bottom of the furnace, nine flawless, lustrous, and translucent Qi-Nourishing Pills were clearly visible!

Nine pieces in the furnace, all of them are of the highest quality!

A smile of extreme exhaustion yet genuine relief appeared on Lin Yan's pale face. Three consecutive days of intense mental exertion without sleep had left his sea of ​​consciousness feeling as if it had been hollowed out, and his spiritual energy was nearly depleted.

He carefully placed the batch of top-grade pills into a jade bottle, then solemnly wrote his final insights in that thick notebook:

"On the 327th attempt (approximately three days), a superior product was finally achieved. The key points are: First, the purification of the dew flower requires a fire that is 'gentle yet firm,' not just a gentle flame; second, when the medicinal power is being combined, the consciousness must use a 'spiral' guiding motion, not a planar compression; third, just before the pill condenses, the fire must be suddenly increased for a moment ('quenching'), and then quickly switched to a gentle flame for nurturing, in order to remove impurities and condense the essence of the pill."

After writing the last word, he was almost completely exhausted and sat down cross-legged on the ground, too weak to even move a finger.

The goal: a flawless, top-grade Dao Pill. The road ahead is long, but the steps are already visible; each step is etched in my heart and recorded in my memory. I'll adjust my breathing, recover, and then move on to the next challenge.