After returning to the Forging Cauldron Palace, Nie Zhiyang began to plan the creation of eighteen pieces of golden kitchenware for Lin Qianxuan.

He first dealt with the matters at hand, and then contacted a friend he knew in the Celestial Food Department.

The next day, the two met.

“Brother, why are you in such a hurry to find me?” asked Yan Ming, dressed in a white robe with gold trimmings. “I’m quite busy over there!”

Although he and Nie Zhiyang were of the same rank, the status of the Celestial Food Department was slightly higher than that of the Forging Cauldron Palace.

After all, they’re in charge of consumables like food, making their days somewhat better.

It’s reasonable to take a small portion of the various dishes they make to taste the flavor.

“I want to go to the Profound Flame Department and borrow the Myriad Yang Profound Fire.” Nie Zhiyang said directly without any preamble.

“Are you crazy?” Yan Ming asked, his expression changing dramatically. “Can you even touch the Myriad Yang Profound Fire? You’re just forging some kitchenware, why do you need the Myriad Yang Profound Fire? Can’t you use the Divine Fire from the Celestial Forging Department? At worst, there’s still the Taiyi True Fire….”

“To be honest, I recently gained the favor of a Supreme Immortal. He gave me a piece of Chaotic Celestial Profound Gold and asked me to forge eighteen pieces of kitchenware. The Profound Gold is extraordinary; even the Taiyi True Fire might not be able to refine it,” Nie Zhiyang said. “The Supreme Immortal promised that if I successfully forge these eighteen pieces of kitchenware, the rest would be mine.”

“Why choose you? There are many in the Celestial Forging Department far more skilled, aren’t there? Are you well-acquainted with him? Such a precious thing for kitchenware?”

Yan Ming, however, was rational and inquired about various doubts in one breath.

“Brother, that piece of Profound Gold is not small. I calculated that after forging, one-third would be more than enough left, enough to make each of us a Profound Rank Immortal Robe, you should understand its value,” Nie Zhiyang hinted. “As to why the Supreme Immortal chose me, there must be some deeper reason.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Ming was also intrigued.

Regarding the matter of Nie Zhiyang being chosen for the kitchenware task, he had some guesses in his heart.

Their cultivation level wasn’t particularly high, just ordinary Immortals, unlike those Taiyi True Immortals.

Such levels of Immortals could easily calculate cause and effect, comprehend fate.

Perhaps, amidst the entanglement of infinite times and spaces, they glimpsed something and believed that Nie Zhiyang could accomplish it, hence they specifically sought him out.

These Supreme Immortals often love to make bets and strategic placements as a form of amusement. Perhaps, they are also involved in such a game at this moment.

The only fortunate thing is that Supreme Immortals somewhat have a sense of measure and, to avoid getting too entangled with cause and effect, usually when playing chess with lesser Immortals, they will offer some benefits to resolve the causality.

Therefore, it’s likely this matter is similar.

Despite the risks, the benefits are great too.

So great that, should they succeed this time, they have a chance to step into the Taiyi within a million years.

Yan Ming pondered for a while, then said, “Here’s the plan, in the next few days I’ll try to have our palace cook some difficult Immortal Cuisine, use up the Divine Fire, so that I can get a token from the Palace Master to borrow fire from the Profound Flame Department. Three days later, you and I will go together, you bring your materials, and we’ll forge your kitchenware in the Profound Flame Department, but we must act swiftly.”

“I’ll follow your lead, brother. Once the task is accomplished, your piece of Profound Rank Immortal Robe is assured,” Nie Zhiyang nodded and said.

“You just give me the raw materials, I don’t need external items. I plan to exchange them for some Taiyi Immortal Pills at the Profound Pill Department,” Yan Ming said.

…

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three days passed.

Upon receiving notification from Yan Ming, the two met.

“It took quite some effort, but I managed to persuade the Palace Master,” Yan Ming said, taking out a token and handing it to Nie Zhiyang.

“Thank you for your hard work, brother,” Nie Zhiyang said.

“Let’s skip the pleasantries and go. Be careful not to be detected by the Divine General guarding the Profound Flame Department,” Yan Ming said.

Without delay, the two boarded the Immortal Ship and crossed the Celestial Gate, heading towards the Profound Flame Department in the Thirty-Three Heavens.

After some time, they arrived near the Profound Flame Department.

The area, spanning ten thousand light years, had extremely high temperatures, with its core being the source of the Profound Fire created by the congregation of billions of Golden Crows.

In the Celestial Court, most departments that needed fire would generally come here to obtain it.

However, usually they would just take a bit of the scattered Divine Fire from the outskirts. It was rare to collect the Taiyi True Fire, and even rarer to obtain the Profound Fire source, usually only top-tiered Taiyi True Immortals or occasionally one of the twelve Celestial Monarchs would come and take a bit.

Only one Taiyi True Immortal guarded the outside of the Profound Flame Department.

He was of colossal size, reaching millions of feet.

He himself was an extraordinary celestial being named “Swallowing Flame.”

He usually perched outside the Profound Flame Department, practicing cultivation by consuming the scattered fire qi here.

If someone came to collect fire without carrying a token, he would block them.

The job was rather leisurely.

In fact, most Taiyi True Immortals in the Celestial Court enjoyed a carefree life.

Doing the real hard labor were the more than ninety-nine percent of the lower-tiered Immortals.

Yan Ming, with Nie Yiyang, intended to enter the Profound Flame Department this way.

But just as they were about to step in, Nie Yiyang was stopped.

An immense thought projected near the two.

“No token, no entry to the Profound Flame Department,” Swallowing Flame said.

“Supreme Immortal, we are from the Celestial Food Department. Our recent cooking of Immortal Treasures consumed too much Divine Fire, and we’ve come to replenish. I don’t know the temperature of the Divine Fire, fearing I’d take the wrong one, so I called a colleague who has fetched fire before. Kindly, Supreme Immortal, permit us,” Yan Ming said with courtesy.

As he spoke, he also took out a portion of cuisine burning with cyan true fire.

“Hmm, Cyan Simurgh Meat? It’s been ages since I last tasted it!” Swallowing Flame opened his mouth, swallowing the meat and the plate whole, then said, “Be quick about it, I’m about to take a nap.”

“Thank you, Supreme Immortal.”

Yan Ming pulled Nie Yiyang into a bow, then the two hurriedly proceeded inside the Profound Flame Department.

The flames here were divided into nine layers.

The first three layers were Divine Fire, the middle three layers were Taiyi True Fire, and the last three layers were the real Myriad Yang Profound Fire.

The further back, the higher the temperature of the flames.

Within the Profound Flame Department, the two of them drove the Fireproof Immortal Ship swiftly forward.

Soon they bypassed the Divine Fire Area and arrived at the crimson Taiyi True Fire region.

Yet they still did not linger, instead heading straight for the Myriad Yang Profound Fire area.

As soon as they arrived, the Fireproof Immortal Ship began to struggle.

Even though the fire source here is restrained by the Immortal Array and the structure of the Profound Flame Department, the dispersed temperature was still too much for their ordinary Immortal Ship to withstand.

Fortunately, they were well prepared.

Nie Yiyang took out a thumb-sized Ice Crystal and used his Divine Power to spread it over the Immortal Ship, finally preventing it from melting away.

“Alas, my Three-Breath Profound Ice!”

Seeing that high-quality Immortal Material now being used as a consumable, he couldn’t help but feel pained in his heart.

If this item were to fall to the Lower Realm, just a thumb-sized piece would be enough to turn an area of several trillion kilometers into absolute permafrost.

But here, it only allowed their Immortal Ship to stave off melting for a little longer.

There was no time to feel sorry, as Nie Yiyang maneuvered the Immortal Ship to a fire pit intended for fire extraction, where a golden-red Myriad Yang Profound Fire burned.

He took out the Chaotic Celestial Profound Gold given to him by Lin Qianxuan, intending to place it in the fire pit for smelting.

Under the scorching of the golden-red flames, it however showed no changes, or rather, the changes were extremely slow.

“No, we need to go deeper,” Yan Ming said.

“I only have two pieces of Three-Breath Profound Ice,” Nie Yiyang said.

Yan Ming hesitated for a moment, then said, “I also have a few pieces.”

“Alright, let’s continue then.”

Nie Yiyang nodded, and the two of them immediately drove the Immortal Ship into the location of the second layer of Myriad Yang Profound Fire.

The Profound Fire here had almost completely faded from its crimson hue, becoming mostly golden with just a hint of red glow.

Here, the Chaotic Celestial Profound Gold showed noticeable changes.

“At this speed, it would still take at least ten years to refine…” Nie Yiyang said in a deep voice.

This time would not be too long compared to their usual, but now it was far too long.

Taking fire at most would take a month; they couldn’t wait that long, nor could they stay here for so long, lacking the ability to do so.

“Borrow fire from the core,” Yan Ming said.

Nie Yiyang nodded; at this point, they had no retreat.

The two of them then arrived at the location of the core Myriad Yang Profound Fire.

The flames here had entirely turned golden, with temperatures unimaginably high.

Faintly, one could see golden crows leaping at the fire source.

They placed the Chaotic Celestial Profound Gold into the fire pit, visibly changing, the space-time disrupted by the Profound Flame, swiftly melting the Profound Gold.

“At such speed, we should be able to start crafting in just three hours,” Nie Yiyang said happily.

However, amidst the joy, he noticed that the layer of Ice Crystal spread over the Immortal Ship was quickly melting away, nearly half gone in a short time.

He hurriedly, though painfully, supplemented another piece of Three-Breath Profound Ice.

This item, though abundant as a consumable in the Celestial Court, owed its high quality, making it hard for him to acquire even these two pieces without some fortune.

Originally intended for use in artifact crafting later, it ended up being used here.

Yet, thinking of the rewards after succeeding in this endeavor, he felt it was worth it.

Soon, the Profound Gold melted, and he began crafting and shaping according to the blueprint.

The blueprint already had Immortal Patterns engraved, sparing him the redundant effort; he only needed to craft the pieces and imprint the Immortal Patterns onto them.

The only challenge in crafting these eighteen pieces of kitchenware was the need for Profound Fire.

Without the convenience of their job duties, borrowing this Profound Fire would not be easy under normal circumstances.

Above the Profound Flame Department lies the Celestial Fire Hall, and requesting fire from them would certainly come at a steep cost.

The sound of tinkering resonated as the eighteen pieces of Profound Tier kitchenware quickly took shape in Nie Yiyang’s hands.

The blueprint inscribed with Immortal Patterns was now imprinted onto the various kitchenware, transforming into actual Immortal Patterns, etched within their space-time.

In just eight days, they completed the crafting of eighteen pieces of Golden Kitchenware.

Looking at the kitchenware exuding profound Dao Charm, both Yan Ming and Nie Yiyang were momentarily distracted.

“It’s done! And there’s still so much left…” Nie Yiyang said, looking at the remaining at least one-third of the Profound Gold.

“Indeed.”

Yan Ming was also a bit happy, but his gaze couldn’t leave the kitchenware.

He had been in the Celestial Court longer than Nie Yiyang, and he truly cherished his identity.

Seeing these kitchenware, he couldn’t help but want to use them to cook a couple of dishes.

“Brother Nie, I have a favor to ask,” Yan Ming said.

“What is it?” Nie Yiyang asked.

“Could you lend them to me for two days? I promise to return them after two days,” Yan Ming pleaded, “For this, I can give you half of my share.”

Nie Yiyang hesitated a bit, then said, “What are you talking about, brother? Why talk about sharing? There’s plenty of time before the appointed day with the Immortal, go ahead and use them!”

“Thank you, Brother Nie!” Yan Ming said respectfully.

“Between brothers like us, why stand on ceremony?” Nie Yiyang laughed.

The two exchanged a glance, their camaraderie growing even deeper.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep