Chapter 71 Thunderfire Alchemy Hall

Inside the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall, Qin Ming’s body swayed violently. He felt as if a raging storm was crashing against the shore, and he was a small boat on the sea. If it weren’t for the crowd of people, he might have really fallen to the ground.

Inside this golden palace, etched with the marks of time, the overwhelming emotions were so intense that he could hardly bear it, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

“No, I want to live! I can’t die here!”

“Alan, wait for me to come back and marry you. I can withstand the erosion of the heavenly light!”

“I am 120 years old and my life is coming to an end. I yearn for divine enlightenment to help me reach a higher realm and prolong my life, but in the end, it is not possible.”

…

In an instant, Qin Ming resonated with dozens of emotions, all incredibly intense, carrying with them the resentment and unwillingness of dying, all rushing towards him at once.

Moreover, even more emotions were surging behind him, crashing down on him like waves crashing one after another.

If it were just an emotion, he could observe the other person’s life and savor it slowly. But now there are so many, it’s like a torrent, and he really can’t handle it.

Qin Ming immediately exited the resonance state; if this continued, he feared his mind would be overwhelmed and collapse.

He naturally understood what the situation was like. Over the years, countless people had died in the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall. Every person died in despair and pain, filled with intense resentment. The combination of those emotions was truly terrifying.

Qin Ming rubbed his temples, trying to recover from the discomfort, but his heart was filled with turmoil.

Besides the secret manuals containing the hard work of predecessors, the fact that a place like the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall could also achieve spiritual resonance caused Qin Ming’s thoughts to surge.

Then, he stared at the ancient temple, wondering if any newborns, before their deaths, had experienced mental fluctuations involving certain secret techniques.

He shook his head. It was probably difficult to find someone with such a strong will who would fight back with special methods even in the face of death. He estimated that more than 90% of people would spend their final moments in fear, pain, and despair.

Qin Ming cautiously tried again, quickly contacting more than twenty intense emotions, and as he expected, they were all predominantly negative.

In his perception, those chaotic emotions were like a black sea, and he was somewhat unwilling to give up, wanting to fish out a few “treasures” from it.

“I’ll try it next time.”

That’s definitely not going to work now, because the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall is full of people, and Qin Ming is being swept along as he’s about to leave this ancient hall.

“I’m never going to join in the fun again.” Wu Zheng said with a long face when he returned to the inn. He had also lost his other shoe and had come back barefoot in the snow.

Even though he was a newborn and had a strong physique, he still couldn’t handle it, so he took off his outer clothes and wrapped them around his feet.

“I really didn’t see what Crimson Cloud Mountain and Thunderfire Alchemy Hall looked like!” Wu Zheng felt wronged.

Xu Sheng laughed and said, “In a while, it’ll be early spring, time for outings. You really aren’t going? All the young ladies will be going on trips then. Don’t you want to go and see them?”

Wu Zheng stammered, “Well… we’ll talk about it later.”

Qin Ming asked, “Brother Xu, judging from the current situation, the spring thunder may appear in a few days. If we want to receive the light of heaven, should we go up the mountain in advance to wait, otherwise we will definitely miss it?”

Xu Sheng became serious and said, “You actually want to go? Saying it’s a hundred times more dangerous than a hundred times is not enough to describe the danger there. You’re still young, don’t gamble your life because of a momentary impulse.”

Wu Zheng also spoke up: “Brother Qin, don’t be impulsive. We’re not even twenty years old yet, and you’re a freshman in your prime. What’s the rush?”

Xu Sheng naturally strongly opposed it, not wanting him to take the risk.

Helpless, Qin Ming revealed some details, saying, “When I was in Black and White Mountain, I accidentally fell into a special node with sunlight, but I survived it.”

He felt that if anyone wanted to investigate him, these things wouldn’t be a secret at all, because the locals all knew about it.

Wu Zheng suddenly realized and said, “Oh, right, when you came to my house to read, my grandfather seemed to have mentioned this as well, saying that you have a very strong life.”

“You were just an ordinary person back then, and it was really lucky that you survived. But the intensity of the light in the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall was many times higher, and you couldn’t withstand it at all.”

Qin Ming could tell that Xu Sheng was indeed a good person, and he was genuinely afraid that something might happen to him, which was why he repeatedly tried to stop him.

But Qin Mingzhen couldn’t explain to him in detail that he could indeed withstand the erosion of the sunlight.

“Brother Xu, you’re a good person. Even though you’re trying to stop me, I’m still going.”

Xu Sheng sighed and finally told him that he needed to go up the mountain ahead of time, saying, “I will personally go there and pull you out with ropes.”

This is clearly a disguised way of saying that they helped him collect the body.

Qin Ming said, “Brother Xu, find someone to drag me out and take me away as if I were dead. Hmm, I’ll try to make myself look as disheveled as possible so that my appearance is hard to recognize.”

Xu Sheng was taken aback and asked, “What are you trying to do?”

Qin Ming said, “Isn’t this because I’m afraid of being recognized the second time I go? The first time, you shouldn’t show up either. Find someone to take me away. After all, you used to be a traveling merchant and know a lot of people. If you show up, those people might notice me.”

Xu Sheng could hardly believe his ears. What was this kid saying? He had even thought about the second time. Was he incredibly audacious, or was he just ignorant and fearless?

“Brother Xu, I’m not joking.” Qin Ming thought Xu Sheng was indeed a good person, so he decided to ask him for help.

Seeing his confidence, Xu Sheng actually thought he might survive.

Only afterward did he come to his senses and realize that he had gone mad as well, actually helping Qin Ming find people so he could “collect his body” later.

The next day, Qin Ming treated Xu Sheng to dinner at the best restaurant to express his gratitude, leaving the latter somewhat speechless, and Wu Zheng was also speechless.

Because both of them felt that Qin Ming was almost certain to die on Chixia Mountain and that they couldn’t persuade him otherwise, yet he was still so cheerfully inviting people to dinner.

Qin Ming said, “Actually, I still want to ask Brother Xu for help to see if there are any families in the area whose ancestors were once prominent but have now declined. I’d like to pay to read their secret books; the price is negotiable.”

Wu Zheng’s eyes were strange, and he felt that he had been “hurt” without his knowledge, and had been unintentionally offended by Brother Qin.

Xu Sheng said, “You’re very confident. You think you can survive in the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall and learn a power technique in advance so that you can integrate it into your Heavenly Light Power on the day of your death.”

Qin Ming indeed meant that. He already knew that the combination of spring thunder and otherworldly light not only gave birth to special spiritual substances that could rejuvenate people, but also had a stronger effect than the three-colored flower because it was accompanied by rich heavenly light.

Those who survive can increase the total amount and quality of their own spiritual energy, making it the perfect time to integrate different techniques.

Xu Sheng agreed, saying, “I’ll go ask around for you. Hmm, what kind of technique do you need? It’s very particular; you can’t just combine them randomly.”

Qin Ming really wanted to say that any kind of force technique was fine, but after thinking about it, he decided to keep a low profile and said, “If there isn’t a more powerful force technique, you can try other ones.”

Recently, he has been practicing Yellow Mud Palm and has mastered the soft force. It is obvious that this force is very remarkable. It must have been combined with a variety of Heavenly Light Forces. Now he can just learn one or two more and that won’t be a waste of this opportunity to enter the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall.

The next day, Xu Sheng brought news that a declining family still possessed remnants of their ancestral practices, and their current situation was truly indescribable.

Qin Ming immediately went with him, and when he saw the dilapidated courtyard wall and the old house that looked like it was about to collapse, he realized that this family had really fallen into complete ruin.

Xu Sheng sighed, “The Sun family used to have a big mansion. Alas, life is unpredictable. More than ten years ago, the old man of the Sun family was seriously injured and died not long after. His son also died unexpectedly two years ago, and his daughter-in-law ran away with someone else. Now, only an old lady is left in the Sun family, raising her three-year-old grandson. It’s really not easy for her.”

When Qin Ming saw the old lady from the Sun family and the young child, he was immediately moved. The old lady’s face was full of wrinkles, her edges worn down by life, and her eyes were unfocused and without any luster. Only when she saw her little grandson did they show some light.

It is said that she used to be a wealthy young lady who was very glamorous when she married into the powerful Sun family. However, her husband and son died mysteriously one after another, and the family business was lost, leaving her with only a grandson.

Qin Ming felt that if someone was deliberately targeting the child, then something bad would happen to the child sooner or later.

When he saw the child, he felt a pang of emotion, as if he were seeing himself as a child.

This three-year-old child, whose clothes were patched in many places, was practicing some kind of martial art without making a sound, and was very stubborn.

Qin Ming had seen it in those faded memories: his childhood was very difficult and impoverished. He was raised by an old man who was probably his grandfather, who taught him the laws on the silk scroll.

“Take a look. It’s not worth much anymore. It’s always being stolen. It’s completely incomplete. I usually show it to children who want to learn for free,” the old lady said, taking out a secret book.

She and her grandson lived a very hard life, and their neighbors often helped them out. She would show this book to others as a way of repaying them.

Qin Ming took it and found that only the cover was old; the dozen or so pages inside were probably not antiques. The new method was fragmented and incomplete, the description of the technique was not detailed enough, and the handwriting was rather messy.

Both the animal hide cover and the paper exude a strong emotional resonance.

After receiving the book, Qin Ming thanked the old lady, sat down in the dilapidated chair, and began to study it seriously, concentrating intently.

In an instant, he saw some truths.

“Xinyi Hall, you are too ruthless. My Sun family has declined, and it is indeed no longer viable in my generation. So you want to steal my family’s secret manual. Ge Qianxun, I treated you as a brother, but you tried to kill me.”

An old man coughed up blood repeatedly and was severely injured by the people of Xinyitang. They took away the secret book, and he only managed to grab a cover page in his hand.

At this moment, he slumped over the table, trying to write down the contents of the lost secret book, but he was already too weak. After writing about twenty pages, he collapsed and died vomiting blood.

Obviously, something else happened later, and the tattered book eventually only had a dozen or so pages left.

“This must be the truth behind the bloody incident from over a decade ago.” Qin Ming sighed, believing that the death of the old lady’s son was most likely related to the Xinyi Hall.

He then focused his mind again, resonating with the emotions conveyed in the leather cover, and obtained the complete contents of the secret manual.

This is a hammer technique, quite extraordinary, containing two types of Heavenly Light Force: hammering force and whipping force. Only after mastering both can the power of this hammer technique be unleashed.

This book cannot compare to ultimate techniques like the Yellow Mud Palm and the Heaven-Slaying Blade Intent, but Qin Ming is still very satisfied. Having two more power techniques at this critical juncture will be of great help to him.

Looking at the pitiful grandmother and granddaughter, he seemed to see his own past life with his grandfather. He took out thirty gold coins and, in front of the old lady, flicked them one by one into the ground, saying, “Grandma, I don’t mean any disrespect. I’m just afraid that bad people might cause you trouble. Whenever you need them, just take one out carefully. In the future, if I master the hammering technique, I will write a new book for you to improve this method.”

Then, he took out a few silver coins, placed them in her hand, and turned to leave before she could speak.

Xu Sheng, who was waiting in the courtyard, asked, “You finished reading so quickly?”

“Okay, watch carefully, let’s go.” Qin Ming nodded.

The old woman chased after them, but found that the two were walking very fast and she knew she couldn’t catch up. In the end, her old eyes filled with tears, and her cloudy tears fell silently.

…

The earth was bathed in rosy light, the weather grew warmer day by day, and sunlight danced in the mountains and forests as the snow melted rapidly. Qin Ming had already climbed Chixia Mountain, and in the past few days, the place had finally become much quieter, no longer teeming with people.

On Chixia Mountain, there is a mountain god temple with very popular incense offerings. A worshipper, seeing that there were quite a few people who had moved up the mountain early to prepare for the baptism of the heavenly light, couldn’t help but say, “These days, do you even have to queue up to die?”

Qin Ming wasn’t angry when he heard these words; instead, he couldn’t help but laugh.

This time, he had the opportunity to appreciate the scenery of Chixia Mountain.

When spring arrives and flowers bloom, the entire mountainside is ablaze with red, with all the vegetation predominantly red. At present, one can only admire the spectacular scenery of cliffs and strange rocks.

For the next few days, he entered the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall, its tiles gleaming and shiny, enduring the onslaught of various resentful energies, carefully searching for something.

He tried to salvage a treasure from the dark ocean of chaotic emotions, and he never gave up.

Boom!

On this day, the first spring thunder rumbled, its dull sound echoing in the distance.

Qin Ming suddenly looked up. Was it finally coming?