Chen Yang's heart raced. He knew midnight was approaching, and his time in this world could now be measured in minutes.
Indeed, there were no miracles in this world.
Only death awaited him.
At this moment, Chen Yang's heart was filled with an overwhelming sense of unwillingness. Of course, he wasn't ready to die like this. Orphaned at a young age, raised by his master, he had fought his way through countless dangers. He had defeated one opponent after another. How could he not have that iron-blooded spirit of ambition? Since childhood, Chen Yang had always felt he was different from others.
Of course, this wasn't his true uniqueness. Every person thinks this way at some point, believing they're the protagonist of their own world.
Especially after defeating one opponent after another, Chen Yang's sense of being the main character had grown stronger. Even in his dreams, he saw himself as an invincible warrior, holding off ten thousand foes.
Now, having learned from Cheng Jianhua that he was a Chosen One, this feeling of being special intensified. But he also knew that after tonight, it would all be over. Even if he managed to cling to life, with his destiny stolen, he would be finished.
No matter how Chen Yang pondered, Cheng Jianhua and his two followers had already pushed open the iron door and entered.
Moonlight spilled over the three of them. Cheng Jianhua stood at the front, his face stern. Ignoring Chen Yang, he ordered Li Yang and Long Xuan, "Throw him into the alchemy furnace."
"Yes, Master!" the two responded in unison. They approached Chen Yang, flanking him on both sides. Even at his peak, Chen Yang would have struggled against these two masters. In his current state, resistance was futile.
The alchemy furnace stood three and a half meters tall, with a ladder beside it.
Li Yang and Long Xuan carried Chen Yang up and roughly tossed him into the furnace.
With a loud thud, Chen Yang crashed heavily inside. His entire body felt as if it had been shattered, the pain unbearable.
Along with the pain came a sense of overwhelming dread. This was far from the casual scene of Sun Wukong being thrown into an immortal's furnace in some legend.
Chen Yang knew there was unspeakable horror awaiting him here. He had no idea what kind of refinement Cheng Jianhua had in store for him.
Then, the lid of the furnace was sealed shut, plunging the interior into absolute darkness.
Inside, Chen Yang felt the smooth, circular walls around him, offering no purchase.
Suddenly, he felt something hard digging into his backside. He reached down to feel it, and as his hand touched the object, Chen Yang froze in disbelief.
What the hell?
He was sitting on... an AK-47. The most formidable automatic rifle, capable of firing thirty-six rounds in rapid succession!
Chen Yang's heart leaped with joy, but then he felt something was amiss. How could there be a gun here? Was Cheng Jianhua playing some sick joke? Chen Yang hefted the AK-47 in his hands. He was intimately familiar with firearms, and this quick assessment told him the gun was in good condition and fully loaded.
"This doesn't make sense. Cheng Jianhua wouldn't have left this here. He has no reason to do so," Chen Yang's mind raced. He knew he was severely injured. Even with an AK-47, he couldn't turn the tables.
Nevertheless, Chen Yang felt a glimmer of hope. Although the chances were slim, it was better than waiting for death.
Why was there a gun?
Chen Yang's sharp mind worked quickly.
Soon, he thought of the deceased Grandmaster.
Chen Yang's eyes lit up as he realized, "That's it. Although Cheng Jianhua is incredibly powerful, the Grandmaster was the true leader of the Xuanyi Sect. Whatever Cheng Jianhua could foresee, surely the Grandmaster could as well. The Grandmaster must have left this gun for me to avenge him. But the gun alone can't change the situation. The Grandmaster must have known I'd be severely injured."
Chen Yang thought to himself, "If the Grandmaster could foresee my injuries, he must have made other arrangements. Perhaps there's something else in this furnace." With this thought, he immediately began searching the interior of the furnace.
His search yielded results - he found a small box. It was about the size of a ring box. Chen Yang clutched it, his heart racing with excitement. He knew this box must contain medicine left by the Grandmaster, some pill that could rapidly heal his injuries.
Although such a pill sounded like something out of a myth, almost ridiculous, Chen Yang felt that the Xuanyi Sect was already such a mysterious entity that nothing about them would be truly surprising.
With trembling excitement, as if opening Pandora's box, Chen Yang reverently opened the small container.
Despite the darkness in the furnace, Chen Yang's exceptional eyesight allowed him to see clearly. Inside was indeed a single pill.
The pill was golden in color, just like the legendary golden pills in Xianxia stories. Chen Yang brought it to his nose but couldn't detect any scent.
"Can this tiny pill really heal all my injuries?" Chen Yang quickly calmed himself, doubt creeping in. It all seemed too fantastical.
But Chen Yang decided not to overthink it. After all, things couldn't get much worse than his current situation.
Might as well treat a dead horse as if it were alive!
With this thought, he brought the pill to his mouth.
But he suddenly stopped.
A cold sweat broke out over his body as a terrifying thought struck him - could this be a trap set by Cheng Jianhua?
Cheng Jianhua was incredibly cunning. Could it be that his Minor Predestination Art required this golden pill? Could all of this be an illusion, part of the Minor Predestination Art?
Chen Yang was paralyzed with indecision.
He pondered for a moment, then after three seconds of deliberation, he put the golden pill in his mouth, bit down, and swallowed it.
To hell with overthinking, he thought. He couldn't afford to be overly suspicious now. If Cheng Jianhua wanted him to take a pill, why go through all this trouble? He could have simply forced it down Chen Yang's throat.
With this reasoning, Chen Yang consumed the pill without further doubt.
Afterward, Chen Yang sat cross-legged, quietly waiting to feel the pill's effects.
At first, there was no sensation after the pill entered his stomach. Five minutes later, Chen Yang felt a warmth in his abdomen, and then he sensed the pill's power beginning to spread.
The medicinal energy was incredibly potent and fierce.
Chen Yang's body was so weak that it immediately began to greedily absorb this energy. The power spread throughout his body, its rich nutrients being frantically absorbed by his cells. Chen Yang felt like a parched land finally receiving rain.
Normally, an ordinary person couldn't withstand such potent medicinal power.
If given to a normal person, it would cause instant death.
Even Chen Yang at his peak couldn't have endured this level of medicinal power; his meridians would have ruptured, killing him. But now, Chen Yang was in desperate need of nutrients. His body's foundation was strong, so it was perfectly primed to absorb this medicinal energy.
Chen Yang's mind cleared as the medicinal power caused his blood to surge. He could feel his cells frantically healing and regenerating.
Chen Yang's strength had always relied on an internal energy. When injured, this energy had been scattered. With this energy dispersed, he couldn't mobilize his qi and blood, couldn't regain his strength. Now, he was reconcentrating this energy, and it was leading his qi and blood to course through his meridians once more.
At the site of his gunshot wound, Chen Yang suddenly felt movement. His muscles contracted, squeezing out the bullet. Then, he began healing his internal organs. Endless nutrients poured into his organs, and under the action of platelets, his body began regenerating blood.
Twenty minutes later, Chen Yang's internal injuries had miraculously healed. Even more amazingly, his shattered teeth began to regrow, fine and dense.
It truly was a miraculous medicine, capable of mending flesh and bone, reviving the dying.
And the nutritious medicinal power continued to surge through him.
Chen Yang was elated. He knew he could break out of here today.
He felt that if he could cultivate here for another hour, he would be able to recover to his peak condition.
Damn it, he thought, this time with an AK-47 in my hands, even if ten more Li Yangs showed up, I could take them all down.
This was Chen Yang's confidence.
It's worth noting that although Li Yang was known as the Gun God, with divine marksmanship, Chen Yang's skill with firearms was also legendary in the mercenary world. It's just that Chen Yang didn't usually rely on guns, so people tended to focus on his physical abilities and overlook his shooting skills.
Earlier, when Chen Yang and Qin Moyao faced Li Yang and Long Xuan, even though Qin Moyao had a gun, Chen Yang couldn't take it from her. Li Yang wouldn't have given him the chance.
Moreover, Qin Moyao's gun wasn't good enough. Even if Chen Yang had taken that gun, he wouldn't have been a match for Li Yang.
Just then, midnight struck.
Chen Yang's heart skipped a beat as he sensed the transition of yin and yang energies, with yang energy surging.
Outside, Cheng Jianhua was unaware of what was happening inside the furnace. He had been burning incense to focus his mind. He sat on the Eight Trigrams diagram below the alchemy furnace.
The furnace had been raised into the air.
The Eight Trigrams diagram was created by Daoist masters, with numerous intricate details that could manipulate magnetic fields.
Cheng Jianhua began making complex hand gestures, coordinating with the magnetic fields he sensed in his meditation.
Various magnetic forces were mobilized by his powerful mental energy, then connected to the magnetic field of the Eight Trigrams diagram through the Dragon Jade he wore around his neck.
These forces merged, becoming a powerful brainwave energy.
In other words, psychic power!
At this moment, various streams of luck and fate lines, along with other mysterious magnetic fields, appeared in Cheng Jianhua's mind.
Long Xuan and Li Yang watched as Cheng Jianhua's hand gestures changed rapidly, like flowers blooming in quick succession. But each gesture had a mysterious rhythm.
Legend had it that true Daoist masters had opened the door to supernatural abilities in their minds, allowing their mental power to materialize. Such masters wouldn't need to rely on so many tools.
This Daoist theory might sound mystical and far-fetched.
But if explained in scientific terms, it could make sense.
At birth, humans only use about 4% of their brain cells. As they grow, this increases to about 10%. Those who can use 12% are considered extremely intelligent. Einstein, for example, was said to have used 14%.
Brain cells generate brainwaves.
Scientists have theorized that if a person could utilize 20% of their brain cells, they could communicate with all living things through powerful brainwaves. At that point, the mental power produced by brainwaves would be called "magical power."
If brain cell utilization reached 30%, one could use this magical power to condense magnetic fields in the air, forming a spiritual avatar.
It's said that if brain cell utilization reached 100%, a person could, while physically confined to a room, use their magical power to form a spiritual avatar capable of roaming the sky and even exploring the infinite cosmos.