Abruptly coming to a realization, Lin Jin asked, “Lord Shi, since many of the furnaces here have been used by the Shi family’s ancestors, they must be of significant value to the family. If I accidentally picked one of such, wouldn’t that be inappropriate?”
To his surprise, Shi Wenjun responded by shaking her head. “The only rule governing the Shi family is that we can’t pass our pelletization knowledge to those who do not bear our surname. If Appraiser Lin had asked for books or techniques on pelletization, there would’ve been nothing I could do, but sharing one of our many pellet furnaces isn’t prohibited. Moreover, our ancestors have said that pellet furnaces are merely devices, and devices are transcendental. We can give them away if an opportunity arises, so it’s alright. If Appraiser Lin happened to choose a furnace used by our ancestors, that would be fate. In our ancestor’s words, it wasn’t you that chose the furnace, but ’twas the furnace that chose you.”
That sounded mystifying!
But since their family didn’t explicitly prohibit sharing of pellet furnaces, Lin Jin could truly take his pick from all the furnaces here.
He had no idea that entering the Shi family’s furnace hall to pick out a pellet furnace was an honorary privilege even for the descendants of the Shi family.
Shi Wenjun didn’t let him in only because Lin Jin was a Rank 2 beast appraiser with a prospective future and she was trying to get acquainted with him, but because Lin Jin had also rescued Duo’er whom she grew up with. She wanted to repay his favor.
Lin Jin was looking around at the various furnaces as he contemplated.
For his own usage, he couldn’t choose a furnace of a certain attribute. Although the final product of the designated attribute can be enhanced, the device could only produce pills of that particular attribute.
Hence, Lin Jin had to choose a furnace that catered to all five elements.
As knowledgeable as he was in beast appraising, Lin Jin was clueless when it came to furnaces. He tried touching the furnaces but the Museum of Deadly Beast didn’t react.
How would he go about choosing the right furnace?
Shi Wenjun was just being humble when she said there were over a hundred furnaces here. Lin Jin’s rough estimate was at least three hundred of these furnaces, all of varying sizes in this hall. Some of the smallest furnaces were only the size of a palm while the biggest had the circumference of three adults standing in a circle with their arms extended.
However, it would be an inconvenience to carry such a large furnace around so the bulky ones would be omitted from selection.
The smaller ones wouldn’t be appropriate either, as they were used to pelletize certain unique pills.
And so, Lin Jin began choosing from the slightly larger ones.
After walking around, he still couldn’t tell what was what or how good the furnace was. Just as he was about to seek Shi Wenjun’s advice, one of the furnaces he touched triggered the Museum of Deadly Beasts.
Huh?
What was going on?
Lin Jin paused immediately. It was currently booming inside the museum with rays of light shining down. Then, Lin Jin saw a very strange ‘aberrant beast’ label.
The aberrant beast’s specimen shown in the museum was the creature’s original form, and this was one of the museum’s best features.
Having appraised so many beasts thus far, it was Lin Jin’s first time seeing such an odd creature.
This peculiar animal looked like a goat but had nine long tails, four ears, and goat horns. Its horns were spiral like a whorl with heavy lines. On its back were a pair of large emerald eyes while its head had no eyes.
One could imagine just how bizarre this creature looked.
“Rank 4 violent beast, Boyi, a rare species.”
“Attributes: Upper fire, lower water, lower earth, lower wood. Potential rate: 2.”
“Creature is deceased but bones and soul remain!”
“No treatment methods available. No evolution methods available!”
Lin Jin’s hair was standing on its ends as he studied the strange specimen inside the museum. This beast’s appearance was too abnormal, and its name was equally strange. However, it had four attributes and this was an extremely rare occurrence.
Not to mention the fact that it was once a Rank 4 beast.
What a pity that the creature was already deceased.
After the record was put away, Lin Jin opened his eyes and felt the furnace.
This furnace was of a peculiar shape. Now that Lin Jin looked at it, this device resembled the head of that creature he saw earlier with two spiral horns on either side. Those were real horns. It must have been post-processed by metal later on, so those who had no deeper understanding would never have been able to tell that the furnace’s base was actually a beast’s skull.
And because it was the skull of a beast, the creature’s soul remained, thus triggering the Museum of Deadly Beasts.
Was this considered fate?
Lin Jin didn’t know how to evaluate furnaces, but one refined from the skull of a Rank 4 beast was definitely not ordinary. It couldn’t be. So, why not choose this one?
Having made a decision, Lin Jin reached out and picked up the furnace.
“Lord Shi, would this furnace be alright?” Lin Jin asked casually.
Fearing that a furnace as unique as this one might be a Shi family heirloom, Lin Jin thought it was better for him to ask. If it was preloved by her ancestors and held significant meaning, it would be insensible for him to take it.
Shi Wenjun was visibly stunned as Lin Jin picked it up. Then, she asked, “Appraiser Lin, would you like to pick another one instead?”
Was it an heirloom after all?
Lin Jin was disheartened.
However, Shi Wenjun’s following explanation made Lin Jin aware that he had misunderstood.
“Appraiser Lin, our ancestor traded this furnace from an ascetic monk during his travels thinking it was a premium item. But when he returned and tried it out, not a single pill has been successfully made in this furnace, wasting quite a few rare ingredients in the process. My father tried using it later as well with no success. Whenever a pill was about to succeed inside this furnace, the pill would inexplicably crack and shatter. Since then, my father left it here and nobody had touched it since.”
Lin Jin hadn’t expected this to be the reason why she asked him to reconsider his choice. Shi Wenjun was clearly being considerate of him.
However, this furnace was indeed extraordinary.
Would he take it, or would he not?
After a brief moment of hesitation, Lin Jin decided he would take it after all.
If he followed the detailed pelletization instructions in the museum, things should progress smoothly. Maybe the Shi family’s ancestor just didn’t know how to use it.
Lin Jin was unnerved and felt uncertain.
But humans loved gambling and Lin Jin was no exception.
Seeing that Lin Jin had already settled for this one, Shi Wenjun chuckled before offering, “Appraiser Lin, why don’t we do it this? You can hold onto it and try it out. If things don’t work out as anticipated, you can exchange it for another one.”
“Deal!” Lin Jin could now rest easy.
Now that he had a furnace, what’s next was furnace fire. As explained in the museum, both internal and external fire could be used to pelletize the six shadow beast soul pill.
Comparatively speaking, using internal fire was much better so Lin Jin decided to borrow a furnace fire amulet.
As an alchemist, Shi Wenjun carried furnace fire amulets around with her. Hence, she could hand Lin Jin one on the spot.
“Appraiser Lin, will you be needing the incantation to invoke this furnace fire amulet?”
Shi Wenjun was careful with her words. In Lin Jin’s words, this woman had great emotional intelligence. Instead of asking if he knew how to invoke the furnace fire amulet, she asked if he needed it.
Although it was merely a matter of choosing the right words, it showed that she was considerate of others’ dignity. Even if he didn’t know how to invoke the amulet, he wouldn’t have felt that humiliated.
Thankfully, as long as the museum provided it, Lin Jin didn’t need anything else.
Everything from pelletization instructions to furnace fire amulet incantation was provided so Lin Jin waved his hand and thanked Shi Wenjun for her offer.
“We have an alchemy room here. If you’d like to proceed with pelletizing now, feel free to use it. There is incense burning in the room to calm one’s mind so it’s very suitable for alchemists like us!” Since Shi Wenjun put it that way, Lin Jin decided to go.
Outside one of the alchemy rooms, they met a few elderly men.
These men approached and paid Shi Wenjun their respects. After asking around, Lin Jin came to learn that these men all belong to the Shi family, bearing the same surname, and were currently the best alchemists within the clan.
