Xiao Yao took the black Fire Stone from Elder Huo's hand, only to discover that it Fire Stone also quite extraordinary.
The whole thing is an irregular dodecahedron, with each face divided into 9 small squares, for a total of 108 small squares. Although it is called a stone, Xiao Yao thinks it is more like a multifaceted Rubik's Cube.
The moment Xiao Yao's finger touched the Fire Stone, the Fire Stone at the point of contact changed from pure black to pale yellow.
Moreover, as Xiao Yao's finger lingered on the surface for longer, the color gradually deepened, clearly indicating that the Fire Stone had changed color due to the temperature of Xiao Yao's finger.
Xiao Yao looked at the Fire Stone and sensed something unusual about it, and asked:
"Elder Huo, this Fire Stone must be very precious, right? What if I break it?"
Elder Huo chuckled and said, "Don't worry, this Fire Stone was left behind by a senior member of the Alchemy Department. It can withstand the scorching heat of Sixth-Rank Beast Flame and won't be easily damaged."
Xiao Yao was relieved and threw the Fire Stone into the medicine cauldron, beginning to control the golden flames to scorch the Fire Stone.
During this process, Elder Huo also guided Xiao Yao on the techniques of controlling fire.
During this process, Xiao Yao gradually realized that the alchemy teaching in the Alchemy Department was indeed quite different from that of private tutors.
In the original novel, when Xiao Yan was learning alchemy, Xiao Yan Yao Lao directly gave him a prescription and told him to use the ingredients to refine the medicine. If one batch of herbs burned out, he would replace it with the next batch, and so on. He was definitely a hands-on practitioner.
However, the academy's alchemy teaching method is indeed quite different. At the beginning, Xiao Yao learns the basic knowledge related to alchemy, and then uses Fire Stone to train his Fire Energy.
In this process, the soul's perception controls the temperature of the flames, which in turn enhances the control and sensitivity of the soul's perception.
Once you've mastered fire control, then you can proceed with actual alchemy, just as Elder Huo said, achieving twice the result with half the effort.
Compared to the diverse teaching styles of private tutors, academic teaching is clearly more gradual and progressive.
In such cases, private tutors tend to seek out exceptionally gifted students to teach.
In contrast, academic alchemy instruction is more suitable for students with average talent, allowing them to gradually improve their alchemy skills.
Of course, this doesn't mean that students with great talent will face limitations in their studies at the academy.
On the contrary, this gradual learning process actually makes it easier to make progress.
At least after Elder Huo's guidance, Xiao Yao's Fire Energy has significantly improved.
The Fire Stone has a total of 9 colors, each of which is further divided into light, medium, and dark states, for a total of 27 colors, corresponding to different flame temperatures.
Under Xiao Yao's control, the Fire Stone in the medicine cauldron would turn completely blue one moment and then blue the next, repeating this process.
During this process, Xiao Yao also learned that the Fire Stone he was using was left behind by that senior Alchemy Department, and that he had personally refined it.
The academy's Alchemy Department was certainly not so shabby as to only have one Fire Stone for the students to use in turns.
Alchemists in the Alchemy Department also used this original Fire Stone to refine Fire Stone of different grades.
For example, when beginners practice fire control, they use a single, undivided Fire Stone, without any surface divisions or grids.
Senior students and mentors are the Fire Stone that distinguish the surface.
Elders in the Alchemy Department, like Elder Huo, use this type of Fire Stone that has both a surface division and grids.
Elder Huo jokingly remarked that giving Xiao Yao this Fire Stone was a bit too extravagant.
After Xiao Yao had practiced for most of the day, Elder Huo clapped his hands, looked at Xiao Yao with some surprise, and exclaimed:
"Your Dou Qi recovery speed is truly remarkable. You've practiced for so long, and your Dou Qi hasn't run out yet."
"However, this is also a good thing. Alchemists consume a lot of Dou Qi when refining medicine. If they don't have enough Dou Qi, they don't even qualify to refine high-level pills."
"However, although your Dou Qi is not exhausted, your Soul Power must have been significantly depleted. Too much of a good thing can be bad, so let's stop for a while."
Xiao Yao nodded. Indeed, his Soul Power did not have the same energy recovery ability as Dou Qi, and it needed time to recover.
At this moment, Xiao Yao took out the Fire Stone from the medicine cauldron and asked Elder Huo for advice with some curiosity.
"Elder Huo, I wonder to what extent fire control can be achieved with the help of this Fire Stone?"
Elder Huo shook his head and chuckled, then nodded at Xiao Yao.
Young people shouldn't be too ambitious.
Seeing the curiosity on Xiao Yao's face, Elder Huo shook his head helplessly, took the Fire Stone, and held up a ball of yellow and blue flames in his palm.
With a quick sense, Xiao Yao knew that the flame was a kind of Beast Flame.
In Elder Huo's hands, the flame flickered, and the Fire Stone within it exhibited a very peculiar state.
As mentioned before, this Fire Stone is a dodecahedron, with 9 squares on each face, for a total of 108 squares.
Within the Elder Huo's flames, the nine squares on each side are all different colors, and each square on each side is also distinguished by color.
Even Xiao Yao couldn't help but admire Elder Huo's Fire Energy; it was indeed extremely strong.
Precisely controlling the flame temperature in each cell, which varies from cell to cell, without affecting the adjacent cells, is incredibly challenging.
Seeing the admiring look on Xiao Yao's face, Elder Huo also revealed a smug expression.
Even among all the elders in the Alchemy Department, his Fire Energy is the strongest.
After demonstrating, Elder Huo extinguished the flames, patted Xiao Yao on the shoulder, and said...
"Practice diligently, and you too will be able to do that in the future."
Xiao Yao nodded and indicated that he would finish the bowl of chicken soup.
Then, he asked Elder Huo to lend him the Fire Stone so that he could practice on a daily basis.
Upon hearing this, Elder Huo revealed a hint of reluctance and hesitation.
However, seeing Xiao Yao's sincere eyes, he gritted his teeth and handed the Fire Stone to Xiao Yao, along with an ordinary medicine cauldron.
The several medicine cauldrons here were used by the elders; for Xiao Yao, they were somewhat extravagant.
He's currently in the initial learning stage, so using a regular medicine cauldron will suffice.
Xiao Yao didn't mind. He asked Elder Huo for a large number of books before bidding him farewell and returning to his residence to practice his Fire Energy.
His goal wasn't that ambitious; he first aimed to improve his Fire Energy to meet the Elder Huo's requirements, which was to control the flame temperature and change the Fire Stone to the corresponding color within a single breath.
As for deeper Fire Energy, we'll have to wait and see.
A few days later, Xiao Yao successfully achieved his goal and accepted Elder Huo's test.
Elder Huo casually uttered the colors, and Xiao Yao controlled the flame temperature, completing the corresponding color change within a breath.
Elder Huo nodded with satisfaction and said.
"Your talent for fire control is unparalleled, even within the Alchemy Department. To achieve the goal of controlling fire for a single breath in such a short time is truly remarkable."
"Next, it's time to officially try alchemy."