Third-grade Pill

"It's been a long time since I last refined pills. I'll start with Qi Replenishing Pills!"

The Qi Replenishing Pills he refined were second-grade pills and had a decent restorative effect for Dou Zhes up to Da Dou Shis.

He tossed the medicinal ingredients into the Pill Cauldron one by one. Under the refinement of the crimson flames, each herb gradually melted into a mass of medicinal liquid.

"Heavenly Flames really are fierce. In the past, with this amount of time, I could have refined at most half of them. Yet now, I've finished refining them all. Heavenly Flames truly are the most suitable for pill refinement."

The Heavenly Flames had indeed given Xiao Heng quite a surprise. Refining pills with Heavenly Flames was not only faster, but it also purified the ingredients more thoroughly. Fewer impurities would naturally result in pills of higher quality.

However, Heavenly Flames were not without their drawbacks. They were far more difficult to control, and a moment of carelessness could turn the medicinal ingredients to ash. Still, that was only because he was not yet proficient with them. Once he used them more often, this flaw would naturally disappear.

Bang!

As a soft sound rang out from the Pill Cauldron, a pained look appeared on Xiao Heng's face. Those were all Gold Coins, ruined just like that, merely because the temperature had been a tiny bit too high while he was fusing the pill.

With a casual wave, he cleared the medicinal ash from the Pill Cauldron. Xiao Heng gathered himself, poured Dou Qi into it again, and began refining once more.

This time, with his full concentration, the Qi Replenishing Pill was successfully refined. He placed it in a porcelain bottle and set it aside. One pill was far from his goal for the night.

The next day!

Looking at the dozen or so Jade Bottles on the ground, Xiao Heng wore a satisfied smile. Pill refinement truly was the fastest way for him to master the Heavenly Flames. Over the next few days, Xiao Heng devoted himself entirely to pill refinement, producing a great number of second-grade pills and even several third-grade pills.

For the past few days, he had refined pills at night and sought out Bear One and Bear Two for battle during the day. Though they were not life-or-death fights, they were more or less enough for honing his Dou Techniques at this stage.

Aside from one's own talent and a good teacher, one of the most important factors in improving alchemy was having sufficient resources. With an endless supply of ingredients for refinement, the more pills one made, the more one's alchemy naturally improved.

Having inherited the legacy of a Third-grade Alchemist, his foundation in refining third-grade and lower pills far exceeded what any teacher could impart. Perhaps he could not compare to the guidance of high-grade alchemists in certain advanced refinement techniques, but in terms of fundamentals alone, he was inferior to no one.

What he needed now was to repeatedly work through the knowledge already in his mind according to his own circumstances and habits. It was like a mathematics textbook: he had already memorized the entire book, and all that remained was to solve problems and fully grasp its contents. There were no shortcuts at this stage—only refining pill after pill until everything in his mind became second nature.

Carefully controlling the flames, he tossed a Second-tier Ice Attribute Magic Core into the Pill Cauldron. Magic Cores were generally the hardest materials to refine among ingredients of the same grade, and this pill was no exception.

He was currently refining the second-grade pill Xiao Yan had given him, the Ice Heart Pill. Its grade was not low even among second-grade pills. He had only dared to begin refining it after successfully making quite a few third-grade pills. After all, although he had plenty of medicinal ingredients now, they had not fallen from the sky.

The ice-attribute Magic Core could not hold out for long beneath the Heavenly Flames. It quickly melted into a snow-white liquid. Though wrapped in the Heavenly Flames, its chill did not diminish in the slightest—and that chill was precisely what Xiao Heng needed.

Letting out a long breath, he controlled four or five differently colored masses of medicinal liquid as they gradually merged and rounded out. But this was not yet a success. At most, it resembled a pill; the energies within the various medicinal liquids had not completely fused.

He carefully controlled the temperature of every part. The snow-white medicinal liquid slowly began devouring the others, gradually occupying the entire pill. Ice-attribute energy enveloped it, and even within the flames, clusters of frost still condensed and settled upon the pill.

Joy appeared on Xiao Heng's face as he muttered, "It's done."

After heating it a while longer to let the pill solidify completely, Xiao Heng extinguished the flames. With a pull of his left hand, the Ice Heart Pill immediately flew into his grasp.

Taking out a Jade Bottle, he stored the Ice Heart Pill inside and nodded in satisfaction. Xiao Heng then began recovering his Dou Qi. Refining pills still consumed a considerable amount of his energy, especially a high-grade pill among second-grade pills like this one.

Once his Dou Qi had recovered, Xiao Heng began refining the Pulse Protecting Pill and the Cold Ginseng Pill.

He had not opened Myriad Beasts Venerable's Storage Ring. As far as Xiao Heng was concerned, his current cultivation method and Dou Techniques were already sufficient. In fact, considering his present cultivation, the techniques and methods he practiced were already somewhat above his level. So he had not opened Myriad Beasts Venerable's Storage Ring. There might be many good things inside, but he did not need them yet.

What he needed now was the accumulation of time. Perhaps everything he had now would already be enough until he broke through to Dou Wang. Do not aim too high—this was a useful lesson he had learned in his previous life's workplace. Every achievement required time to accumulate; a high-rise built in a single day would never be sturdy.

Still, absorbing the Heavenly Flames was something he needed to begin soon. He checked the system and found that two Heavenly Flames could be fused, but he had to devour them first before they could merge.

He had also considered whether to absorb the second Heavenly Flame. But after thinking it over, he decided devouring it was better. The Myriad Beasts Spirit Flame was not weak, but it was only ranked twenty-second among the Heavenly Flames. As for the White Lotus Fire, although it was a Heavenly Flame not found in this world, it likely would not rank much higher than the Myriad Beasts Spirit Flame. Therefore, he planned to fuse the two Heavenly Flames.

However, none of this was urgent. He planned to deal with it a few months later. During those months, he mainly intended to thoroughly master his cultivation method and Dou Techniques, as well as raise his alchemy to the fourth grade if possible.

Then he would make another trip to the Tagor Desert before returning to the Xiao Family. By then, the timing should be about right. He still needed to return to Wutan City to enroll in Jia Nan Academy. Jia Nan Academy would be an excellent transitional place before his strength broke through to Dou Emperor, and there were so many events there. How could he not go and see it?

Xiao Heng's dream in his previous life had been to travel, see the scenery, and, if possible, live a more magnificent life. He had failed to achieve that in his previous life, so he would fulfill all those regrets in this one. If he could do that, then even dying would not matter.

An hour later, the Pulse Protecting Pill emerged from the cauldron. Xiao Heng recovered his Dou Qi once more before starting to refine the Cold Ginseng Pill. His first attempt failed. After reviewing the reason, he found that it was because his two previous successes had made him careless.

Fortunately, he still had two stalks of Cold Bone Ginseng. His second attempt succeeded. He put the Cold Bone Pill into a Jade Bottle, and the sky had begun to brighten faintly. After recovering some Dou Qi again, daylight had fully arrived.

When he pushed open the door, Xiao Yi Xian was standing in the valley. Seeing Xiao Heng, she gave him a sweet smile and said, "Going out again?"

Xiao Heng smiled and teased, "What is it? Does the little beauty want to go out for a stroll too?"

Xiao Yi Xian smiled shyly. "Oh, it's just that I'm so bored staying in this valley every day. My strength is too weak, so I don't dare go out on my own. Let me come with you!"

Xiao Heng had not expected that his joke would actually hit the mark. Still, the valley truly was boring, and the outside was full of Magical Beasts, so Xiao Yi Xian naturally did not dare wander out casually. After giving it some thought, he felt there did not seem to be any problem with taking her along.

"Alright, then. I'll take you out, but you can't run around. The place I'm going is full of high-level Magical Beasts."

To Xiao Yi Xian, this place truly was full of high-level Magical Beasts.

Hearing that Xiao Heng was willing to take her with him, Xiao Yi Xian nodded excitedly. "Don't worry, I'm very well-behaved. I definitely won't run around."

Seeing how happy Xiao Yi Xian was, Xiao Heng smiled faintly. It seemed these past few days had truly stifled her.

"Then let's go!"

"Mm!"

The two climbed onto Blue Eagle's back! After leaving the valley, they landed on a nearby hillside.

"Xiao Lan, remember to come pick me up tonight!"

Blue Eagle nodded and let out a cry, "Screech!" to show that she understood, then spread her wings and flew away.

"We'll have to walk from here. Can you manage?"

Xiao Yi Xian smiled sweetly. "No problem!"

Being with a beautiful woman always put one in a pleasant mood.

"Then let's go!"

"Mm!" the beauty nodded.

Half an hour later, Xiao Heng regretted it. Xiao Yi Xian was simply too slow. After all, she had only recently broken through to the Dou Zhe level. Forget speed—being able to walk for this long was already pretty good. At this pace, by the time they reached Bear One and Bear Two, it would probably be time to immediately head back to the valley.

Helpless, Xiao Heng could only look at Xiao Yi Xian, who was recovering her Dou Qi. "I'll carry you for the rest of the way," he said. "Otherwise, we probably won't get there before dark."

Xiao Yi Xian stuck out her tongue cutely and said playfully, "I didn't know it was this far!"

"But how are you going to carry me?"

The Purple Cloud Wings spread open. Xiao Heng scooped Xiao Yi Xian into his arms, answering her with his actions.

Caught off guard by being picked up so suddenly, Xiao Yi Xian was a little dazed. Once she came back to her senses, she was used to flying into the sky, but being held in Xiao Heng's arms like this made her unbearably embarrassed. Her face immediately turned red, and she did not know what to say.

Held like this, she could practically feel Xiao Heng's heartbeat. But they were in midair now, so she could not worry about anything else and could only wrap her arms tightly around his neck. Her face burned fiercely. After a while, once she had calmed down, she said with a blush, "You're taking advantage of me!"

Xiao Heng smiled openly. "I don't want to take advantage of you either! But can you go any faster?"

Xiao Yi Xian knew she was in the wrong and said nothing more.

But Xiao Heng had no intention of letting her off so easily. He continued teasing her, "Come to think of it, beauty, you're not light at all!"

Hearing that, Xiao Yi Xian lightly punched him and shot him a glance. "Who talks to a girl like that?"

That little attack could not hurt Xiao Heng at all, but he deliberately dipped downward a little, startling Xiao Yi Xian. He said seriously, "Don't mess around, or we'll fall."

Though Xiao Heng sounded serious, Xiao Yi Xian had already seen through his true nature. She gritted her teeth and, unable to do anything about it, said nothing more. She merely thought about how she would get revenge once they returned to the valley.

Seeing Xiao Yi Xian's resentful yet helpless expression amused Xiao Heng. Still, he did not dare keep pulling the tiger's whiskers. He poured more Dou Qi into the Purple Cloud Wings and said, "Hold on tight. I'm speeding up."

Xiao Heng did not fly very high, staying close to the ground, and the journey remained peaceful. At this altitude, aside from the magical beasts in the sky, very few magical beasts in the Monster Mountain Range could fly. By the time they spotted Xiao Heng and reacted, he had already carried Xiao Yi Xian far away, and they could not be bothered to chase them.