Zombie Bodyguard-Chapter 1436 - 1433: Sword Furnace

"Old Tang, am I going into the Qingshuang Pavilion?" Lin Tian asked curiously.

"Of course not." Tang Banqing immediately denied it, changed direction, and headed towards the pagoda.

Tang Banqing fumbled a few times outside the tower door. With a clicking sound, the stone door of the pagoda opened. The door of the Nine-story Pagoda used a heavy Big Stone Gate, which surprised Lin Tian greatly.

He had explored the entire Qingshuang Pavilion Ruins, and all the other halls used wooden doors, except this pagoda, which used a stone door. The use of such a heavy stone door could only mean one thing: the pagoda was a vital place of the Qingshuang Pavilion.

The four of them entered one by one. As they went inside the tower, they found it not to be dark. The top and sides had windows, letting in sunlight that brightly illuminated the interior.

The layout of the first floor of the pagoda was also very simple, so simple that apart from the staircase leading to the second level, there were no furnishings at all. Just when Lin Tian and the others thought Tang Banqing was going to continue upwards, she pressed five times on the wall, each time at a different position and with different pressure. After pressing, there was a muffled clanking sound.

In the astonished eyes of the three, a gap slowly opened up in the floor, revealing a stone staircase leading downwards. It was yet another basement, and Lin Tian was quite speechless; recently, he’d been going into basements more often than regular buildings.

Seeing the three of them a bit surprised, Tang Banqing smiled faintly and said, "Go on in, are you afraid I’ll lock you up?"

Without thinking, Lin Tian was the first to follow her in. Ghost and Yun Xiaotian followed right after. The stone stairway was neither long nor short. Lin Tian estimated its vertical height to be similar to the height of the tower.

At the end of the stone stairway was another stone door, on which Tang Banqing pressed five times near the edge. With some creaking noises, the stone door slowly opened.

What lay before them was a large underground space, the size of two basketball courts, far exceeding the base of the tower, with a height of over four meters.

The surrounding rock walls were clearly man-made, not a natural cave. Moreover, once inside the underground space, Lin Tian felt the surrounding temperature rise suddenly by a few degrees.

What caught his eye most was a raised platform in the center of the space, upon which stood something resembling both a furnace and a tripod.

The tripod furnace was much taller than a person, with its top about a meter away from the cave’s roof, meaning it was at least three meters high. Surrounding the gigantic tripod furnace were eight dragon heads, their heads facing downwards, with their bodies climbing the furnace’s body.

On top of the tripod furnace was a ninth dragon, coiled with its head pointing upwards. Nine coiling dragons, born attached to the tripod, exuded an extraordinary aura. As he took a few steps closer, Lin Tian also noticed that the eight downward-facing dragon heads had open mouths, hollow inside, seemingly connected to the furnace chamber.

From this, one could surmise that the top "Ascending Dragon" was also open, probably serving the purpose of exhaust and fire control. Being a pharmacist, Lin Tian was quite familiar with such furnaces. Although this was not an alchemical tripod, the principles must be similar.

"You probably don’t know what this is. This is the Sword Furnace, the Sword Furnace of the Qingshuang Pavilion. Since the founding of the sect, the ancestral master erected it here," Tang Banqing said, unusually putting aside her casual demeanor and speaking very solemnly.

"A sword-forging furnace?" Lin Tian exclaimed and then looked at Tang Banqing, "So does this mean you are indeed the swordsmith of Qingshuang Pavilion?"

Tang Banqing smiled calmly, unconcerned, and said, "Whether you say swordsmith or blacksmith, it’s fine. I’ve forged plowshares and hoes for people before, and I can even make kitchen knives. Do you need one? I can make one for you."

Lin Tian shook his head with a wry smile. That really was a casual attitude. Sweeping the floor could be seen as cultivating one’s character, but making kitchen knives seemed a bit off the mark.

This swordsmith truly had a unique personality. In Lin Tian’s view, a swordsmith should be an exalted person, like those important figures who always maintain their poise. But Tang Banqing, not only was she not poised, she was extremely down to earth. Just for this, Lin Tian couldn’t help but admire her.

Tang Banqing didn’t care about Lin Tian’s reaction. She said to Ghost, "Open the safe." The safe was in Ghost’s hand.

Lin Tian didn’t know what she intended to do but opened the box as per her instructions. Tang Banqing nodded satisfactorily and, without picking up the metamorphic stone, walked to the sword furnace and patted one of the dragon heads.

With a click, the sword furnace shook. A half-person-high furnace door slowly opened. A few seconds after the furnace door opened, Lin Tian felt a wave of heat on his face. The sword furnace was clearly unlit, yet it made people feel that the surrounding temperature was rising as the furnace door opened.

"Young man, put the stone inside the sword furnace," Tang Banqing said to Ghost again.

But Ghost hesitated for a moment, looking at Lin Tian, obviously seeking his opinion. In his view, placing the stone into the sword furnace, if the old lady burnt it, would be a substantial loss.

Lin Tian naturally understood Ghost’s concern and couldn’t help but smile, "Rest assured, for a swordsmith, damaging a good material is something they fear even more than we do. Also, if it’s a material that can be easily ruined, it’s not worth regretting if it gets destroyed."

"You’re quite sensible." Tang Banqing smiled in approval.

With Lin Tian’s assurance, Ghost picked up the metamorphic stone and walked towards the sword furnace, bending to enter the furnace door, placed the metamorphic stone in the center of the sword furnace, and then retreated.

As soon as he emerged, Ghost exhaled forcefully, exclaiming, "What kind of sword furnace is this? It’s so hot even before being fired."

Lin Tian looked at Ghost and saw his forehead was already sweating. In and out of the sword furnace in less than a minute, Ghost was already sweating this much. Then he looked at Yun Xiaotian, who, although not close to the sword furnace, had cheeks baked rosy by the heatwave. His already pretty face now looked even more like a beautiful little girl’s.

Tang Banqing didn’t care whether anyone was hot; she patted the dragon head, and the furnace door closed again. Then she pressed a button on the base, and a dull roar suddenly came from deep underground, shaking the ground fiercely a few times.

The sudden sound startled the group, making them think the basement was about to collapse, but Tang Banqing acted as if nothing was happening, proceeding with her actions in front of the sword furnace.

"Brother Lin, do you feel that it’s getting hotter and hotter here?" Yun Xiaotian wiped sweat from his forehead and spoke while exhaling the hot air.

"Hot is an understatement. At this rate, it’s going to turn into a sauna," Lin Tian said with a frown. Tang Banqing clearly hadn’t lit a fire or added any fuel, yet the temperature of the sword furnace had started to rise, making the basement’s temperature rise as well.

"Brother Tian, she didn’t add any fuel, so where’s the heat coming from? Could she be using some kind of magic?" Ghost also asked curiously.

Before Lin Tian could speak, Tang Banqing stood up and said, "The sword furnace uses Earth Fire, so you naturally didn’t see me adding any fuel."

"Earth Fire? What’s that?" Ghost and Yun Xiaotian asked simultaneously.