Entering this unfamiliar environment, where nothing looked familiar, Henry Carter was already feeling a bit depressed. But when he saw the huge furnace before him, which seemed to be made of brass, he suddenly became excited—finally, something he recognized.

The Eight Trigrams Alchemy Furnace...

That deep, heavy tone, not exactly familiar but heard several times before, echoed once again in Henry Carter’s mind.

An alchemy furnace? This is an alchemy furnace!

Unable to contain his curiosity, Henry Carter circled around the massive Eight Trigrams furnace again and again. So this was the legendary special tool used by alchemists, the alchemy furnace? Could the pills refined in this thing really be a hundred, a thousand, even ten thousand times stronger than the secret medicines made by apothecaries? So, there really are pills in this world!

It was said that pills weren’t just round medicinal balls kneaded from some herbs.

Henry Carter carefully approached the alchemy furnace. It was rumored that alchemy was a very dangerous business—one wrong move and the furnace could explode, leaving even martial artists with no remains.

Suddenly, the lid of the furnace slid off the opening and landed with a dull thud in the clouds. A wave of scorching heat burst from the mouth of the furnace. Inside the black furnace, a faint silver light flickered, and thick purple smoke billowed out, swirling around the furnace. It looked as if the sky at dusk was painted with purple clouds.

Henry Carter observed the purple medicinal aura. Clearly, it was just the aura of some pills, so why did it look as thick and heavy as brocade clouds?

A breeze blew by, stirring up a thin layer of mist from the purple cloud-like medicinal aura, which drifted in front of Henry Carter.

A delicate, refreshing fragrance naturally flowed into Henry Carter’s nose. As soon as a trace of the pill’s aura entered his body, his vital energy and blood immediately became restless—it was even more effective than the blood-boosting tonic carefully prepared by an apothecary.

“Just smelling it can stimulate my energy and blood like this. If I actually swallowed it…”

Henry Carter couldn’t help but lean a little closer to the furnace, wanting to take out the pill inside that was glowing with a silvery light, round like a ball. A wave of heat surged from the furnace’s mouth, slapping his face as if a pot of boiling water had been poured over him—scalding hot.

“So hot!”

Henry Carter looked at the furnace, which was still at least a hundred meters from his face, and felt frustrated! Judging by the heat waves inside, it wouldn’t dissipate anytime soon. Forget about reaching in to grab the pill—even getting within a meter or two of the furnace would probably turn him into roast meat. How could he cool this furnace down?

Pure Water from a Cold Spring! A familiar image flashed through Henry Carter’s mind. If only he could bring some cold spring water here and pour a basin over it, maybe this furnace would cool down.

“That should be enough to cool this strange furnace, right? But how do I leave this place? And if I leave, can I come back?”

Henry Carter looked at the furnace with concern. What if this was his only chance to enter here? No! To prevent this from being my only chance, I’d better go deeper—maybe there’s something even better hidden in the distant palaces.

“Yeah! Maybe, in one of those palaces, there’s an alchemy furnace that isn’t so hot, and even better pills inside.”

Chapter 6: Heavenly Court, Four Extremities Armory

Henry Carter adjusted his mood, fixed his gaze once more on the grand and ruined palace in the distance, and took another step forward—suddenly, he felt his body become much heavier! It was as if… he was carrying another version of himself on his back!

What’s going on? Henry Carter looked around in surprise. Ruins! Still the same ruins! Nothing had changed! Why did his body suddenly become so heavy?

Henry Carter took a step back, and the heavy pressure on his body immediately vanished!

“What…?”

Feeling the pressure disappear, Henry Carter stepped forward again, and once more felt that crushing weight.

He stepped back again, and the pressure faded away.

So, moving forward makes my body heavier? Henry Carter carefully examined his surroundings. There was nothing here—how could this be? Wait! It felt like some kind of aura was approaching! His body was getting heavier again! Could it be… a gravity chamber? The legendary gravity chamber of the Martial Academy?

Henry Carter recalled something he’d read in a book: the Martial Academy! The five great dojos that spread martial arts and selected talent, each with complete training facilities. To train the strongest warriors, they had something called a gravity chamber—a huge room where the weight of the air was altered by a secret martial formation. Those who entered would train under special pressure. The Martial Academy called this one times gravity, two times gravity… One times gravity meant carrying your own body weight. Just now, that must have been about one times gravity, right?

Could the area ahead be a natural gravity chamber? Henry Carter’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the vast expanse before him. Was all of this a gravity chamber? Wait! The air around him was getting heavier, his body was getting heavier… The pressure was spreading!

Not good! This place is about to become one times gravity too! Henry Carter’s butt suddenly felt a burning pain. His butt, already swollen and perky from being beaten with a board, hurt terribly even with the lightest touch. Now, with the gravity doubled, it felt like his whole butt was about to be crushed and burst.

“It hurts!”