Pill Formed

Xiao Yan calmly looked around the square and spotted an unexpected figure.

It was a dense life force that was extremely well hidden. If Xiao Yan hadn't surpassed him in every aspect, he might not have been able to detect its existence.

Upon realizing he had been discovered by Xiao Yan, the man no longer concealed himself. He stepped into the air, clasped his hands in greeting to Xiao Yan, and said, "I have come uninvited, which is rather impolite of me."

"I never expected that the Elder Shennong would abandon his Pill Canon and come to me," Xiao Yan said with a smile.

Elder Shennong was also a Ninth Grade Alchemist. He tried to subdue the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame but failed. However, he later obtained the Life Spirit Flame by chance. He usually lived in seclusion in the Shennong Mountain Range and had some connection with the Yao Clan.

"This time, the Pill Canon... has the Nihility Devouring Flame providing the energy needed for each participant to refine the Ninth Grade Pill. The Nihility Devouring Flame is a member of the Soul Clan, and there is also a Soul Clan Alchemist among the participants. As a result, the outcome is inevitably biased," Elder Shennong explained.

So it turned out he was afraid of being killed by the Soul Clan. Xiao Yan nodded calmly and then said, "Elder Shennong, please take a seat."

The Old Yao, understanding the situation perfectly, placed an extra seat next to him.

"Hehe, then this old man will take the liberty of refusing." Elder Shennong smiled, and without further ado, he began to act.

Xiao Yan slowly floated into the air, waved his hand, and nine points of light, each emitting a faint green glow, fell into the square like a 3x3 grid. Then, piles of Medicinal Herbs, like small mountains, were stacked around the nine points of light.

"Those are Bodhi Seed? Besides refining Bodhi Pill, Bodhi Seed seeds have other uses?" Elder Shennong asked Old Yao in a low voice.

"Perhaps he created it himself? I only know the Pill Recipe for the Bodhi Pill." The Old Yao replied in a low voice, his face full of doubt.

Xiao Yan could naturally hear their conversation, but he didn't offer any explanation.

This Pills was naturally created through Hundred Generations of Reincarnation, and even among Ninth Grade Golden Pill, it would probably rank among the top. Therefore, Xiao Yan dared not be careless.

Xiao Yan flicked his finger, and nine tiny flames fell directly onto the nine Bodhi Seed. The flames swelled in the wind and instantly transformed into a sea of fire spanning a thousand feet.

As the flames surged, all the Medicinal Herbs piled up on the plaza were engulfed in the fire. Xiao Yan was about to extract thousands upon thousands of different Medicinal Herbs at the same time!

Another gasp rippled through the crowd, but the Ninth Grade Alchemist remained calm—this was the basic skill required to refine Ninth Grade Pill.

Even the lowest grade Ninth-grade Treasure Pill often require thousands of Medicinal Herbs as raw materials. If they are refined one by one, it would take several years to successfully refine them. The medicinal properties of the Medicinal Herbs refined earlier would probably have been completely lost.

But Xiao Yan's next move left them somewhat bewildered.

Countless Medicinal Herbs were either combined and refined, or their essence was repeatedly extracted and impurities discarded, eventually forming medicinal powder and liquid, which condensed in the flames.

Generally, the next step would be to categorize and fuse them together, but Xiao Yan continued to refine them with intense fire. The already refined Medicinal Herbs tumbled in the flames, and in the end, they could not withstand the power of the flames and were completely reduced to ashes.

Xiao Yan remained calm and did not replenish the Medicinal Herbs that had been refined to ashes. Instead, he continued to focus on refining the remaining powder and liquid.

Just when everyone was completely baffled, Elder Shennong suddenly discovered that whenever the essence of the Medicinal Herbs was burned to ashes, it would emit a very faint fragrance, hidden in the flames of various colors, almost imperceptible.

"What kind of alchemy technique is this...?"

Elder Shennong, could faintly sense the pure energy within those clear energies, but he had never heard of any Alchemist refining Medicinal Herbs to this extent.

"Compared to liquid or powdered medicine, this 'Medicine Qi' seems to be of even higher quality," the Old Yao said softly.

Having consumed the Heavenly Tomb Fate Fruit given to him by Xiao Yan, Old Yao's Soul Realm had also broken through to the Heavenly Realm Great Perfection, thus enabling him to detect a clue.

"Didn't you teach him?"

"I couldn't teach him anymore a long time ago."

"..."

As time passed, the essence of the Medicinal Herbs dwindled, while the Medicine Qi increased, gathering around each Bodhi Seed to form a faint, multicolored mist of energy.

As more and more people noticed the anomaly, another commotion broke out on the field, with many believing that Xiao Yan had pioneered a new path for alchemy.

Xiao Yan himself was not affected at all. He sat cross-legged above the nine seas of fire like an old monk, his mind almost completely immersed in the flames, constantly refining Medicine Qi.

It took three days and three nights of refining to exhaust the essence of the Medicinal Herbs, leaving only the Bodhi Seed and the surrounding mist.

Xiao Yan reached out and pressed down, and the nine seas of fire immediately began to shrink. The energy mist continued to contract under the suppression of the flames, and while its volume shrank, the density of energy within it also increased.

The sea of fire shrank to a size of a hundred feet before stopping. At this point, the Bodhi Seed was completely shrouded in mist, and even Elder Shennong and Old Yao could no longer detect Bodhi Seed presence.

What followed was another tedious tempering process, with the slightly murky energy mist occasionally emitting smoke of different colors or dripping some dark liquid.

These fumes and liquids were not useless impurities, but rather complex medicinal properties resulting from the mixing of different Medicinal Herbs, which could dilute the efficacy of the medicine. Xiao Yan used his flames to repel them all, and the mist became increasingly transparent.

After another ten days of tempering, the original color of the mist had disappeared, almost merging with the flames, and the Bodhi Seed emitting a green glow reappeared in everyone's eyes.

At this moment, the hundred-foot-high sea of fire continued to shrink at a slow pace, and the transparent mist was slowly compressed into the Bodhi Seed, enhancing Bodhi Seed medicinal power while also gradually sublimating its medicinal properties.

As if nourished by some kind of water, the Bodhi Seed began to grow in size, and its green luster completely subsided. In its place, the green skin gradually became transparent, and the inside seemed to contain a spiritual ocean, attracting everyone's attention.

The dazzling techniques and operations of the past were gone, replaced by methodical tempering. The nine seas of fire grew smaller and smaller, while the Bodhi Seed grew larger and larger.

In the end, the sea of fire had compressed into a ball of flame about ten feet in size, and the Bodhi Seed had grown to the size of a human head.

Another month had passed, and Xiao Yan, who had kept his eyes closed, finally opened them suddenly.

"Puff..."

A soft cracking sound rang out, and all the Bodhi Seed shattered at that moment. The light green outer skin drifted down and was scorched into useless ashes by the flames, while the spiritual ocean inside was completely freed from its restraints, forming nine streams of pure energy containing rich vitality.

Xiao Yan coordinated his ten fingers, and the nine flames were compressed together under his exquisite control, and then gradually began to rotate, forming a colorful vortex.

The moment the vortex took shape, the surrounding World Energy) seemed to go berserk, frantically converging around Xiao Yan as the core, forming a heaven-reaching energy tornado!

As soon as the tornado took shape, the speed at which the World Energy gathered accelerated once again. Everyone around the square felt as if their Dou Qi was about to leave their bodies and merge into the tornado!

Just then, a large array hidden in the void quietly appeared, separating everyone from the energy tornado and concealing them in the void, allowing them to continue watching while remaining safe.

There was no need to worry about the safety of these onlookers. Xiao Yan's Soul Power surged wildly, and the energy tornado grew larger and larger under Xiao Yan's push, directly covering most of the square!

A terrifying tornado, thousands of feet in diameter, raged across the square, gripping everyone's nerves.

This breathtaking phenomenon lasted for three days before gradually subsiding, leaving the World Energy of Sacred Pill City and the surrounding area for tens of thousands of miles much thinner.

Only after the tornado completely dissipated and everyone's vision was no longer obstructed could they clearly see Xiao Yan's figure.

At this moment, the flame vortex had completely merged together, its volume shrinking again to form a black flame the size of a human head, quietly floating in Xiao Yan's palm. Within that flame, a nascent core the size of a fist had already taken shape.

An invisible wave emanated from the light green Pills, spreading throughout the world. In everyone's mind, an ancient, towering tree appeared, and their souls leaped with joy in that wave.

The clear sky was instantly covered with dark clouds, and streaks of golden light emanated from the clouds, while Golden Lightning, carrying destructive power, traversed through the clouds.

Even the Ancient Clan Three Immortals showed slight changes in expression under the Golden Lightning. Such powerful Pill Lightning required even them to exert all their strength to withstand.

But this was not the limit of that Pills. Wave after wave of fluctuations continued to emerge, and the volume of the dark cloud expanded rapidly as if it had been inflated.

Upon closer inspection, nine bursts of energy erupted from the Pills, and nine golden bolts of lightning faintly appeared within the dark clouds.

The dark, heavy clouds exuded a destructive aura, prompting the Ancient Clan Three Immortals to immediately call upon Gu Yuan, fearing that Xiao Yan would be struck dead by the Pill Lightning.

However, Xiao Yan once again did something that shocked them.

Xiao Yan, carrying the ball of flame and the Pills, soared into the sky, heading straight into the dark clouds!

"Boom!"

Thunder seemed to be enraged by Xiao Yan's actions, and it suddenly exploded, followed by a Golden Lightning that fell towards Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan neither dodged nor avoided the lightning, but instead raised the flame in his hand, letting the Pills bear the brunt of the Pill Lightning!

Time seemed to slow down at this moment, and to the astonishment of countless people, the terrifying lightning completely engulfed Xiao Yan!

The Golden Lightning unleashed its boundless power the instant it struck Xiao Yan, but it was confined to an area of about ten feet in size, forming a golden ball.

"Click-click-click..."

A series of fine cracking sounds rang out, and the golden ball of light suddenly shrank, revealing Xiao Yan, black flames, and Pills encased within.

Several cracks appeared on the surface of the original fist-sized Pills, which then quietly broke apart, revealing a slightly smaller Pills with a layer of golden patterns on its surface.

Xiao Yan was actually using the power of the Nine Profound Golden Thunder to further transform the Pills!

One after another, bolts of Nine Profound Golden Thunder fell from the dark clouds, but they could no longer bring any shock. All eyes were focused on the light green Pills.

The Pills grew smaller and smaller, from the size of a fist at the beginning to the size of a longan at the end, and their light green color was almost completely covered by golden patterns.

Just before the Pills completed its final transformation, everyone's Storage Ring experienced a sudden disturbance. Endless Spiritual Qi surged into the Pills they carried, causing the Pills' spirituality to soar, as if they were about to Spirit Ascension to become Eighth Grade Spirit Pill!