Chapter 254: Contending for the Furnace

"What are your thoughts on how to divide these items, fellow Daoists?" Lin Shiqi said, licking his somewhat dry lips.

"Let's first see what's inside these jade bottles and that jade box," Lin Jiu said, grabbing a white jade bottle with one hand and opening its lid.

Han Li also picked up another jade bottle and opened the lid.

Two identical fragrances spread from the two bottles. The three of them felt refreshed and invigorated with just a sniff.

The jade bottles in their hands each contained over a dozen yellow pills, thumb-sized, with a faint crystalline glow on the surface.

Although Han Li could not identify the pills by name, based on his alchemy experience, these yellow pills were likely for advancing cultivation and were far more potent than Tongyuan Pills.

"These are... Huachen Pills, greatly useful for True Immortal realm cultivators in condensing immortal apertures!" Lin Shiqi said with a hint of delight.

"They were probably intended for Ping Yaozi's own use," Lin Jiu nodded.

Saying this, he placed the white jade bottle back, picked up the purple jade box, carefully examined the silver talisman attached to it, then waved his hand and cast several hand seals.

Suddenly, a layer of silver light emerged on the jade box, deflecting the hand seals.

"This..."

Lin Jiu let out a soft exclamation of surprise. After a moment's thought, he pressed a palm against the jade box, murmured incantations, and a golden light blazed from his palm.

Han Li and Lin Shiqi exchanged a glance, both seeing curiosity in each other's eyes.

As a rule, the more tightly sealed the jade box, the more unusual its contents.

Lin Jiu had clearly noticed this and intended to use a somewhat forceful method to break the restriction on the jade box.

As low incantations emanated from his mouth, a dazzling silver light rose from the jade box, intertwining with the golden light from his palm, producing a series of sharp crackling sounds, completely blocking the golden light.

Lin Jiu frowned, and the golden light from his palm suddenly brightened, faint golden runes appearing within it.

Strangely, the silver light from the jade box also intensified, emitting a clinking sound, still showing no sign of being broken.

Lin Jiu's expression darkened slightly, and beads of sweat as large as beans appeared on his forehead, rolling down his cheeks. But his palm did not leave the jade box, and the golden light grew increasingly dazzling.

The silver light on the jade box also churned and gradually emitted a blinding radiance.

A trace of surprise flickered in Han Li's eyes. He had not expected the restriction on this small jade box to be so profound that even Lin Jiu, a late-stage True Immortal cultivator, seemed somewhat at a loss.

After a moment, the golden light from Lin Jiu's hand became too dazzling to look at directly, and the silver light seemed to reach its limit, gradually being covered by the golden light and dimming.

Lin Jiu was initially pleased, but then his expression suddenly changed, and he immediately withdrew his palm.

The silver light on the jade box flickered a few times and quickly returned to its original state.

"Fellow Daoist Lin Jiu, why did you stop?" Lin Shiqi asked in confusion.

After all, it had seemed that the silver light restriction was about to be broken.

"The one who set this restriction was quite cunning, hiding a self-destruct restriction deep within. If I hadn't been cautious and stopped in time, this jade box and its contents would have been reduced to ashes by now," Lin Jiu shook his head.

"Is that so!" Lin Shiqi's expression darkened upon hearing this.

Ping Yaozi had been killed; where could they find the method to open it? Especially since this involved the Immortal Palace, making it even more troublesome.

Han Li also frowned.

"In my experience, it's not entirely hopeless. It requires careful study and thorough preparation; perhaps it can be attempted. I am powerless. If either of you is willing, you can try," Lin Jiu shook his head and handed over the jade box.

A look of interest appeared in Lin Shiqi's eyes. He took the jade box first, and a yellow light emanated from his hand, enveloping the purple jade box.

A silver glow immediately rose from the jade box, resisting the yellow light, and the two intertwined.

A hint of seriousness appeared in his eyes. The yellow light in his hand gradually brightened, and he murmured incantations, shooting out hand seals that surged toward the box.

The silver light from the purple jade box immediately brightened, resisting the invasion of these hand seals.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, a layer of sweat appeared on Lin Shiqi's forehead. His hands moved like wheels, forming hand seals that condensed into yellow threads of light wrapping around the jade box.

Upon closer inspection, those yellow threads of light were actually composed of countless yellow runes.

Under the encirclement of these yellow threads, the silver light on the jade box was gradually suppressed.

Seeing this, Lin Jiu's eyes lit up, and Han Li couldn't help but step forward.

At that moment, the silver runes on the jade box flashed, suddenly burst into intense light, and shook off the surrounding yellow threads.

The yellow threads trembled and shattered inch by inch.

"What kind of damn restriction, just a trick!" Lin Shiqi's expression darkened, and he snorted, but he did not continue to force it and withdrew his palm.

Lin Jiu sighed in disappointment and turned his gaze to Han Li, saying:

"Fellow Daoist Jiao Shiwu, why don't you give it a try? Perhaps you might succeed."

"Be careful, fellow Daoist. If it's damaged, it will count against your share," Lin Shiqi said with a dry laugh, handing the jade box to Han Li.

"I'll give it a try. But since neither of you succeeded, I likely won't either," Han Li said nonchalantly, taking the jade box and waving his hand to send a stream of green light enveloping it.

His hands formed hand seals at varying speeds, and the green light wrapped around the jade box in strands.

A silver light surged from the jade box, blocking the green light.

The green light and silver glow intertwined, flickering unsteadily.

But in just five or six breaths, the silver light on the jade box suddenly flared, tearing apart the surrounding green light.

"Alas, it seems I am also powerless," Han Li shook his head and placed the jade box back on the ground.

"Since the restriction on this jade box cannot be broken, we shouldn't force it. Time is limited; let's discuss the distribution of the remaining treasures," Lin Jiu sighed and said.

"In this operation, we followed your lead, Fellow Daoist Lin Jiu. What is your opinion on how to divide these items?" Han Li said.

Lin Shiqi also looked at Lin Jiu.

"Spiritual herbs, materials, pills... and immortal essence stones are abundant and easy to handle; we can just split them equally. The more troublesome items are this golden furnace and the waste Dao Pill inside, these several magical treasures, and this jade box," Lin Jiu said thoughtfully.

"That's not difficult. There are three of us: one takes the furnace, one takes the treasures, and the remaining one takes this jade box... plus the waste Dao Pill. How about that?" Lin Shiqi immediately said.

"Your suggestion is not bad, but who takes the furnace and who takes the treasures?" Lin Jiu asked leisurely.

"Fellow Daoists, I have always been quite interested in the art of alchemy. How about I take this furnace?" Lin Shiqi said with a cupped fist salute.

"What a coincidence. I am also passionate about alchemy," Lin Jiu said with a meaningful smile, his eyes flickering.

Lin Shiqi's expression darkened upon hearing this.

Han Li stood by without moving, his mind racing.

These three choices were hardly comparable. The golden furnace was of the highest grade, clearly a post-natal immortal artifact, and thus the most valuable. The talk of interest in alchemy was merely an excuse. In the entire Candao Sect, how many earth-grade alchemists were there? How could two appear here at once?

He was currently planning to use the Dao of alchemy to break through his cultivation bottleneck, so he was naturally very tempted by this treasure. As for the magical treasures, they were of decent grade and worth a considerable amount if converted into immortal essence stones. In comparison, the jade box, whose contents were unknown, seemed the least valuable.

While calculating inwardly, he outwardly remained a cold observer, showing no intention of contending for the furnace.

Because when his divine sense swept over the furnace, he sensed something hidden within it, similar to the feeling he had when he obtained the unknown black long blade from Fang Pan years ago.

Given the earlier protection of Ping Yaozi by the Immortal Palace's Golden Immortal Gu Jie, it was likely that something had been tampered with inside the furnace.

If coveting this treasure increased the risk of being tracked by a Golden Immortal, he would never take that risk. Thus, he forcibly suppressed his greed.

That said, Lin Shiqi, a mid-stage True Immortal, might not have noticed with his divine sense, but Lin Jiu, a late-stage True Immortal with a meticulous mind, surely must have detected something, right?

"I have been stuck at a bottleneck for many years and urgently need this furnace to refine pills. If you two can yield this treasure to me, I will take one-third less in the distribution of other items," Lin Shiqi said with a forced smile, glancing at Han Li.

"Ahem, since..." Han Li cleared his throat, as if about to say something.

"To be honest, I have spent no less than a thousand years searching for a suitable furnace. Now that I have finally found one to my liking, I ask you two to part with it. As for the distribution of other resources, I can take two-thirds less," Lin Jiu interrupted before Han Li could speak.

Han Li's eyes lit up, as if he was tempted.

"Wait! How about this: I'll take only this furnace and none of the other spiritual herbs or materials; they'll all go to you two. What do you say?" Lin Shiqi's gaze swept over the furnace, and he gritted his teeth.

"Hehe, I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Lin Shiqi to be so attached to this furnace. Since you've said that, it would be unkind of me to continue contending for it. But what does Fellow Daoist Jiao Shiwu think?" Lin Jiu said with a light laugh after a moment's thought, turning his gaze to Han Li.

"Since you two have already decided, it is my habit to help others achieve their wishes, so I naturally won't take what others love. Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Lin Shiqi. Speaking of which, if you had had this furnace by your side when you were unconscious earlier, you might have woken up sooner!" Han Li smiled slightly and cupped his fist toward Lin Shiqi.

"Thank you for yielding, thank you."

Lin Shiqi caught the sarcasm in Han Li's words and was inwardly angry, but recalling Han Li's impressive skills earlier, his anger subsided considerably. With a great weight off his mind, he said nothing more and waved his hand to send a yellow light, storing the furnace away.

Looking at the precious materials scattered on the ground, he felt a pang of regret, turned his head away resolutely, and walked aside.

"As for the remaining treasures and the jade box, which one would Fellow Daoist Jiao Shiwu like?" Lin Jiu looked at Han Li and asked.