Chapter 277
Dan Xuan and Dan Chen ultimately couldn't resist Xiao Yan's sweet talk.
Of course, even if the two go back and discuss it with their elders, the outcome will not change; it will only be delayed by a few days at most.
Xiao Yan's offer was far too generous, to the point that Gu Xing's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
As for the Fallen Heart Flame, Xiao Yan did not intend to separate his own Fallen Heart Flame and pass it on to Dan Chen. Instead, he planned to give another Fallen Heart Flame from within the Gu Clan to Dan Chen.
Gu Yuan did not intend to hide anything from Xiao Yan; Xiao Yan knew exactly how many Heavenly Flames the Gu Clan possessed.
The other Fallen Heart Flame was only in its initial stage of formation; in terms of its state, it was the same as the Green Lotus Core Flame, which was still in the process of taking shape after a hundred years.
The initial form of the Green Lotus Core Flame is about the size of a small mountain, and its color is blue with a slight white tinge. It still needs to continuously devour magma and compress and temper the Origin Fire Seed before it can finally form a Green Lotus Core Flame the size of a finger.
The Fallen Heart Flame initially takes shape as a ball of white flame. It needs to continuously absorb fire-attribute World Energy, as well as some Spiritual Qi, and then continuously compress and refine the Origin Fire Seed before it can finally grow into the formless and colorless Fallen Heart Flame.
Since Xiao Yan didn't have the time to slowly cultivate the Fallen Heart Flame himself, handing it over to Dan Chen was just right.
Dan Chen's physical body was extremely weak, and the only thing he could rely on was his Soul Power.
If it were a fully-formed Fallen Heart Flame, Dan Chen might trigger her talent if she tried to refine it, causing her soul to begin devouring the Fallen Heart Flame. However, Dan Chen's soul quality is clearly not comparable to a naturally formed and nurtured Heavenly Flames, and she would not be able to withstand the power of the Fallen Heart Flame.
The soul is directly scorched by the Fallen Heart Flame, and the Dou Qi will also lose control. Refining the Heavenly Flames will naturally become absurd. Even with the protection of Eighth Grade Pill, death is inevitable.
However, the newly formed Fallen Heart Flame is very good. Its origin is not yet that strong, and its energy fluctuations are roughly at the Dou Wang level. If it is fed with Dou Qi for a period of time in advance, it can even directly imprint Soul Imprint and then be swallowed into the body, so that the soul is not damaged by the Fallen Heart Flame.
Of course, if Dan Chen could also have a Peak Dou Saint elder like Xiao Yan, refining the Fallen Heart Flame to perfection wouldn't be a problem...
In short, Xiao Yan has already planned how to handle Dan Chen's problem. With the face of a Ninth Grade Alchemist with a clean identity, the elders of the Gu Clan are willing to temporarily put aside unnecessary face and focus on cultivating him.
"You should attend the Pill Gathering as usual first, and then come with me after the Pill Gathering ends," Xiao Yan instructed Dan Chen.
Dan Chen nodded obediently without raising any objections.
Although she couldn't win the Pill Gathering Champion, Dan Chen still longed to compete against Cao Ying, the enchantress of the Cao Family, at the Pill Gathering.
As the most outstanding young generation among the Pill Tower Five Great Families, the two have been competing for many years, with each winning and losing. They are both determined to outdo the other at the Pill Gathering...
Outside the Pill Realm, in the Sacred Pill City, lies a vast plaza.
The square was comparable in size to a city, but at this moment it was empty, with only many Stone Platform suspended in mid-air.
These Stone Platform were reserved for the participants to refine medicine.
The square was surrounded by a dense crowd of people, like a swarm of ants, so large that it was impossible to count them.
Today is the last day of the second round of the Pill Gathering, which is also the opening of the Pill Realm. The Alchemist have successfully emerged from the single realm will compete in the final showdown under the watchful eyes of everyone.
Amidst everyone's anticipation, in the center of the plaza, a colossal gate constructed entirely of black rock slowly opened, revealing a spatial passage.
Amidst much anticipation, the third round of the Pill Gathering commenced.
One by one, the contestants selected their chosen Stone Platform, took out their treasured alchemy furnaces, activated their Dou Qi to ignite the flames, and began refining medicine.
Dan Chen followed Xiao Yan adorably until Xiao Yan selected Stone Platform, and then she and Gu Xing landed on the Stone Platform next to Xiao Yan.
What struck Xiao Yan as somewhat remarkable was that, although the flames on the field were diverse in appearance and color, including some special flames that would even make Dou Zun expert take notice, there was only one Heavenly Flames that did not belong to Xiao Yan.
Yao Xingji seemed to have been injured in the fight and did not participate in the third round. The Heavenly Flames was the Red Lotus Karmic Fire of the Yan Clan. The user was a man in his prime with a cultivation level of Dou Zun expert and Eighth Grade Alchemist.
Since it was not feasible to directly seize the Yan Clan's Heavenly Flames, Xiao Yan's plan to collect Heavenly Flames fell through. He could only take out an ancient and imposing medicine cauldron to prepare for refining medicine.
This medicine cauldron has one mouth, two handles, and three legs. Its body is covered with some blurry patterns. At first glance, it seems to be old and worn. However, upon closer inspection, one can see that countless threads have been compressed together to form a Formation on the cauldron.
There is also a ranking system for medicine cauldrons, but the accuracy of the ranking system is negligible—anyone who has reached the Eighth Grade Alchemist has a medicine cauldron that is no worse than the ones on the list.
Xiao Yan's medicine cauldron is a treasure of the Gu Clan. Even the power of the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame can be perfectly contained inside the cauldron without any waste. The inside of the cauldron may be at a terrifyingly high temperature that can burn mountains and boil seas, but it feels cool to the touch from the outside, thus greatly reducing the Alchemist's energy consumption.
At the same time, the Formation inscribed on the medicine cauldron is also derived from a Heavenly Grade Cultivation Method, the Ancient Saint Treasure Mirror, which allows it to draw upon the World Energy effortlessly, and also greatly enhances the refining of Ninth Grade Pill.
Under normal circumstances, Xiao Yan only Old Yao's Black Demon Cauldron to refine Eighth Grade Seven-Color Pill Lightning Pills, but with this Ancient Emperor Cauldron, he could refine Eighth Grade Eight-Color Pill Lightning Pills.
One by one, the Alchemist fell silent, their minds completely focused on their respective cauldrons. One Medicinal Herbs after another was continuously added to the cauldrons, causing the flames to surge and emitting bursts of Medicinal Fragrance.
The Pill Tower Three Greats stood on the platform in front of the square, their eyes constantly scanning the contestants while remaining on guard.
Alchemist medicine, Pill Gathering, where participants are extremely focused. If the Soul Hall were to launch a surprise attack at this time, things could get very interesting.
The Pill Realm has already been invaded by the Soul Hall, and the Pill Tower can still find reasons to say that the Pill Realm is inconvenient to manage. If problems arise again in this third round, the Pill Tower will surely lose face.
Besides the Pill Tower Three Greats, there are also elders in the shadows, as well as some powerful individuals who owe favors to repay or want to get to know the elders of the Pill Tower Elder, constantly on guard against the possible appearance of the Soul Hall Venerable Elder.
However, the Soul Hall did not seem to intend to provoke public anger at this critical juncture, and no "hehehe" laughter suddenly emerged, which made the Pill Tower Three Greats breathe a sigh of relief.
"Is that Yao Chen's disciple?" Xuan Yi asked Xuan Kongzi.
Xuan Kongzi nodded. He had compared Cao Ying and Xiao Yan during this time and concluded that they were incomparable. He was feeling depressed at the moment.
That bastard Yao Chen is absolutely outrageous!
"They're all such ladies' man. It's only been ten days in the Pill Realm, and this kid has already hooked up with Dan Chen from the Dan Family." Xuan Yi's attention was elsewhere, and his tone carried a hint of resentment.
"..." Xuan Kongzi fell silent for a while before replying, "Don't cause him any trouble. He is the son-in-law of a great figure from the Gu Clan."
"And it might not be as you think; Xiao Yan might just be poaching talent from someone else's side."
"Undermining someone?" Xuan Yi asked, puzzled.
"Ying'er used a communication Jade Slip to ask me about Xiao Yan's identity. In the Pill Realm, Xiao Yan expressed his intention to take Ying'er as his disciple, but since Ying'er had already become my disciple, the matter was dropped," Xuan Kongzi explained.
"Are you saying that Xiao Yan took Dan Chen as his disciple? He's only in his early twenties, right? Does he have time to take on a disciple?" Xuan Yi asked with a surprised look.
Alchemist are the most time-consuming and labor-intensive profession. Even when they take on apprentices, it is often because they are old and it is extremely difficult for them to make further progress in their alchemy skills. They may even have encountered a bottleneck, which is why they think of passing on their unique skills.
"...I reckon Yao Chen is pretty free." Xuan Kongzi said with a smirk.
Yao Chen Pill Gathering Champion back then, and later even entered the Small Pill Tower and became a core member of the Pill Tower. However, he ran away because he didn't want to be in charge.
Tian Lei Zi remained silent throughout, and the exchange between the three giants came to an end. The onlookers were also completely silent, and only the sounds of flames burning and Medicinal Herbs being refined filled the square.
Time flies like water, and in the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.
During this period, some contestants ruined the Medicinal Herbs and then quickly started refining them; others completed the refining and collected the Pills.
However, in any case, half the time had passed, and the remaining contestants had all begun to integrate the medicinal liquid and complete the process of condensing the pill.
As more and more participants successfully refined their Pills, the vast plaza was gradually enveloped in a rich fragrance of elixirs.
With the fragrance of elixir lingering in the air, the audience grew increasingly excited, and the fatigue caused by the long wait gradually dissipated.
Gu Xing had finished refining the medicine. He had refined a Sect Breaking Pill, a peak Sixth Grade Pills. The energy fluctuations when it was successfully refined were not small. However, no Alchemist would be disturbed by the appearance of a Sixth Grade Pill. They all calmly continued refining the medicine.
"Boom!"
After some time, a deep rumble of thunder suddenly echoed in the sky, drawing countless gazes to its source.
Suddenly, a dark cloud appeared in the once cloudless sky, emanating a low rumble of thunder and faint flashes of silver lightning.
The appearance of Pill Lightning naturally pushed the Pill Gathering to a new climax.
After being silent for more than half a month, the square was finally filled with a commotion. Countless eyes were fixed on the direction of the thundercloud, and following the thundercloud, they locked onto a Stone Platform to watch the first person to draw out the Pill Lightning.
This level of skill was naturally insufficient to win the Pill Gathering Champion, but as the first contestant to attract Pill Lightning, the middle-aged man still showed a happy expression and was quite proud of himself.
After this first appearance of Pill Lightning, it was as if a switch had been completely flipped, and new thunderclouds continued to gather in the sky, with flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder.
In the following days, which were also the final days of the third round of the Pill Gathering, the square became completely lively, no longer as quiet as before.
Almost every now and then, a new Pill Lightning appears. The energy fluctuations of these Pill Lightning are not exactly the same, but they generally fluctuate between the low and middle level of the seventh rank, with not a single one being of the high level of the seventh rank.
Xiao Yan couldn't understand why the audience was so excited. Even in the worst Pill Gathering, the champion had at least refined a peak seventh-grade Pills, and the emergence of Eighth Grade Spirit Pill was not uncommon.
The enthusiastic audience posed a significant challenge to the remaining contestants. The combined shouts of thousands of people made it difficult to completely isolate themselves, even when they tried to envelop themselves in their Soul Power, which inevitably caused them considerable distress.
Xiao Yan calmed his mind and focused on refining the medicine.
By the last day, only a handful of contestants remained in the square— Xiao Yan, Cao Ying, Dan Chen, Yan Clan Alchemist, and an unfamiliar old man.
Xiao Yan even took a moment to glance at the unfamiliar old man, only to find that he was not a member of the Soul Hall, or perhaps just a rogue cultivator attracted by the Three Thousand Burning Flame, so he withdrew his gaze.
The final result was beyond doubt: Xiao Yan refined a top-tier Pills with Eighth Grade Eight-Color Pill Lightning, winning the championship in one fell swoop. This caused the crowd to take flight, and the exclamations even dispersed the thunderclouds.
It is worth mentioning that Dan Chen finally refined an Eighth Grade Pills with Two-Colored Pill Lightning, which is at the bottom level among Eighth Grade Spirit Pill. Cao Ying barely managed to refine an Eighth Grade Pills with Three-Colored Pill Lightning. Although the third color of the Pill Lightning was extremely faint, it still surpassed Dan Chen's.
Cao Ying was quite satisfied with this, while Dan Chen was naturally extremely unwilling. However, the young girl secretly resolved to learn alchemy from Xiao Yan and surpass Cao Ying as soon as possible.
The Pill Gathering to an end, and as the Pill Gathering Champion, Xiao Yan naturally obtained a scroll of Soul Cultivation Method from Xuan Kongzi.
After comparing the methods, Xiao Yan found that among the Soul Cultivation Method recorded by Xiao Xuan, there were some that were inferior to the one given by Xuan Kongzi. In other words, the rewards from the Pill Tower were indeed quite good.
After the Pill Gathering, it's time for the participants to rest.
This is understandable. In order to refine the highest-grade Pills possible, the top-ranked individuals have been refining pills continuously for a full month.
Those at the Dou Zun Realm were fine, but Cao Ying and Dan Chen, who were only at the Dou Ancestor realm, had difficulty keeping up with the consumption of Dou Qi when refining Eighth Grade Pill. They even had to take a few Pills to replenish their Dou Qi along the way to barely persevere.
Even so, in the end, both women were deathly pale and nearly lost their lives.
In this state, it is naturally impossible to subdue the Three Thousand Burning Flame.
Xiao Yan was also quite concerned about Dan Chen's condition, and he took off a Green-Gold Lotus Seed and handed it to the pale-faced girl.
During the waiting period, Xiao Yan visited the Dan Family at Dan Xuan's invitation.
I won't go into detail about alchemy.