The Mythic Furnace

The Mythic Furnace is a classical xianxia novel by the web novelist Xueman Linzhong, running over two million characters and now complete. The title comes from the verse "Twin realms meet where the heaven-piercing lotus blooms; the Dao-heart is sealed within a jade vessel. In a finger-snap three thousand kalpas are cultivated; once the celestial balance is forged, a single furnace is brewed." It tells of a long road to immortality: the protagonist, carrying the memories of his past life's cultivation, is reborn into a classical transcendent world built on the framework of the nine-rank official selection system. In this world the divine way governs, the Human Sovereign suppresses, and the underworld dragon court holds its own domain; the power of the state overwhelms transcendents, dragon qi can shatter all arts, and the immortal path is still in its infancy and suppressed on every side. Born into a minor clan, the protagonist by all rights has no hope of reaching the summit, and can only secretly practice Daoist arts, carving out a path for himself step by step. By chance he saves another transmigrator and inherits the other's legacy—a world already in its dharma-ending age, an extraordinary lineage, and priceless treasures—and from then on enters the true gate of cultivation. As the mortal realm changes dynasties, the five Divine Emperors each scheme, and the immortal and divine ways war upon each other, the protagonist maneuvers among the great powers, leads his followers in a corner of safety, outlasts the heroes of his age, and finally carves out a domain of his own among the myriad heavens and worlds. Weaving fortune, factional power, and cultivation as its warp and weft, and combining hegemony struggles with wandering across the heavens, it is a commercial xianxia epic with a distinctive style.